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[0:00] What's one thing that stood out to you? I know it's early. We've got to get ourselves out there.!

[0:30] A powerful concept, isn't it? It's so important, too. It's like a guardrail for... Guardrail from Heresy, actually.

[0:44] You know? But, yeah, it's good. What else? I think for me, you know...

[1:02] Like, yeah, I think thinking a lot about faith alone and prepping... Just opening my eyes.

[1:13] Are you shutting those doors? Yeah. Thank you. Just how elaborate and confusing assurance and a relationship with the Lord, let alone, like, a confidence of receiving Christ's saving benefits, was just so confusing.

[1:38] And still is in Roman Catholicism. And so that stood out to me. Like, working through it. Obviously, there's some agreement.

[1:49] There's some mutual gratefulness. And yet, there's a decisive difference. I mean, not decisive difference. There's a clear difference. And what does it mean to be saved?

[2:02] And how can I be sure I'm saved? And I'm sure I'm a Christian. Those are great. All right. Any other comments? Yes.

[2:12] I guess the one that I have to tell myself all the time is, you know, it's Christ's... It's not me trying to be good enough.

[2:25] You know, it's no. It's not going to be mad at me. Or I'm not going to fall short if I don't do this thing. You know, I know it's Christ's moment. But that humanness creeps in to the story.

[2:38] It's just like agency. What you were talking about. The Catholic, what they believe. And how when you stray from the scripture, it's easy for our human minds to get to peace.

[2:53] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's well said. I think the way you articulate it, too, it captures... Some people, I think, can talk about Roman Catholicism and Protestantism as if it's just like a thing that happened back there.

[3:06] It doesn't really matter. But what you're talking about illustrates the challenge... Or this back and forth. Where do we go to for security, for confidence, for assurance?

[3:20] And that is every day. Like, that is every day. You're either going to base your relationship with God on what you're doing in trying to obey God.

[3:33] Or you're going to base your relationship with God on what God has done for you. And I think the way you said that illustrates this constant tension.

[3:44] And that's why, you know, in my mind... That's why we're teaching a class like this. It's not mere history. And as grateful as we are for history and for the Reformers, it has very significant value.

[4:00] And that's where... I mean, a great book for you would be... For anybody, I was thinking about this, this week, would be Jerry Bridges, the discipline of grace. You know, and Jerry Bridges is kind of...

[4:15] He's gone to be with the Lord now. But he was a 5'6", 120-pound man. Just a gentle, wonderful guy. And yet, if you're like a legalist, if you're living like your...

[4:29] Your relationship with God is based on what you do, or you're better than other people because of what you do, You will be ready to throw Mr. Bridges across the room.

[4:41] Because he's so ruthless in applying grace. And one of the things he says in there is, talks about, you know, It's so easy to relate to God on our good days like we don't need God's grace.

[4:55] And on our bad days like we don't deserve God's grace. You know, and yet, the reality is, on our good days, we're no less in need of God's grace. And on our bad days, we're no less recipients of God's grace.

[5:10] And so, it just kind of helps us to live. And I think that's so critical. And I hope all you young people are hearing that because I think, you know, we live in this culture where you could argue that, believe it or not, Justification is still the battle we need.

[5:25] You live in a culture that constantly says, Am I good enough? Am I beautiful enough? Am I attractive enough?

[5:36] Am I well-rounded enough? Am I gifted enough? Am I athletic enough? Or whatever. And then you capture it, you put it on social media so other people can help vote whether you're good enough.

[5:48] And so, what is that? That's justification. And what the Reformers say, You are wonderfully good enough. Not because of anything you've done.

[5:59] Not because you're hidden in Christ. And when Christ, who is your life, will appear, you also appear with Him in glory. And so, it's so critical, you know. Another way I've heard Tim Keller put it, The Christian life is not living for approval but from approval.

[6:19] And yet, guys, this is not, so this, you know, this, I know this is, I got into condign merit and different types of merit last week.

[6:29] But this is not out there stuff. This is, this is where we live every day. You know? And so, that's very good.

[6:41] All right. Well, let's dive in. We have three solas today. So, but, you know, I think it's, they're ordered appropriately. Although you could technically say Christ alone deserves all the time.

[6:53] But, we've learned sola scriptura is the formal principle of the Reformation. The, kind of the what. And then the, or the why, I guess.

[7:09] And then the sola fide is the material principle. The what. It's kind of this, you know, what was all the fighting about? And so, we've talked about that justification by faith alone.

[7:22] It's not that the Reformation only had to do with justification by faith alone. But these five solas, because we believe justification by faith alone is the core of the gospel. Anything, justification by works is not good news.

[7:37] It might be good advice. It might be good counsel. It might be a good way to live or something like that. But it's not good news. It's not something finished.

[7:49] And so, justification by faith alone is something finished. And so, you're trying to preserve that. And that's what they're all, that's what, that's what these five solas are all about. So, by grace alone.

[8:02] And, you know, we have a little bit less to accomplish today. And I'll try to provide a little bit more time for Q&A or interaction afterwards. But, by grace alone.

[8:13] So, understanding, it's critical to understand the, to come to see the understanding of grace by the Roman Catholic Church. Now, as we learned last week, justification and justification by grace was taught by the early church.

[8:28] There's another example. I put it back in there from last week. John Kreiselstam commenting on Taylor's favorite verse. For this is the righteousness of God. When we are justified not by works.

[8:40] That's key. When you see that, okay, they're talking about grace. In which case, it would be necessary that not even a spot could be found but by grace. So, there's the contrast. Not by works but by grace.

[8:52] In which all sin is done away. And this, at the time that it does not allow us to be lifted up for it is entirely the free gift of God. Teaches us also the greatness of what is given.

[9:04] What came before was the righteousness of the law and of works. But his is the righteousness of God. Now, as we learned last week, justification came to be talked about by some of the early church fathers.

[9:19] And particularly during the middle ages as this process, not of being declared righteous, but as becoming righteous. So, this movement from unrighteousness to righteousness.

[9:32] Less talking about, or not talking about it, or at least less talking about a judicial thing where God declares us righteous.

[9:42] But as a moral thing. You know, as God has to kind of rid my life of this unrighteousness in order to be acceptable to Him.

[9:53] And obviously, that is true. But we're arguing about where it lands in the Christian life. And so, justification, therefore, meant not merely forgiveness of sins, but inner renewal and sanctification.

[10:07] Now, sanctification has that root word, like to make holy, which just means to be set apart. And so, this setting apart of vessels in the Old Testament, you know, washing things to sanctify them.

[10:23] So, it's saying that renewal needs to happen inside the person. And so, but how did this renewal take place? That became the critical question. So, you know, man is born in sin, right?

[10:34] We know that. It's called original sin. It's not that man sinned when, or we all sinned when we were born, and so it became original to us. Original sin is this understanding that we inherited sin.

[10:49] Like, we're sinners not because we sin. We sin because we're sinners. That makes sense. And all you have to do is have children, and you'll come to believe this doctrine very strongly.

[10:59] Because, you know, I had to teach them to lie and bear false witness. You know, you don't teach them to steal or whatever or say, mine!

[11:10] You know, it just flows out. You know, and so, there was a big problem. What are we going to do? How does that change? So, you know, the Roman Catholic Church, some would say, well, baptism, grace, washes away, pass in.

[11:28] But that's not enough. We need grace to do something more. And so, we began to articulate this change of nature that happens by grace.

[11:39] So, grace is infused. And that's a critical word. Because we'd say the work of Christ is imputed to us. It's arguing this infused in the center in baptism resulting in a change of nature and renewal and sanctification.

[11:54] So, the result of justification, the result is justification, consists of forgiveness of sins and this infusion by grace.

[12:06] And it's really critical what would be articulated, well, this infusion of grace is the basis for forgiveness. So, the dilemma in the Roman Catholic Church was how could we forgive someone who just, who hasn't been changed?

[12:25] Okay. So, well, we need to wash all this away. So, this infusion of grace results, it becomes the basis for forgiveness. And we have the Catechism from 1995, which all Catholics would agree represents the Roman Catholic teaching.

[12:41] The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift, the free gift, that God makes to us of his own life. And so, this Catechism is going to be hard to read because there's things, it can be, it can be hard to know what they're saying sometimes.

[12:56] And so, that's the argument.

[13:07] And so, that's the argument.

[13:21] And so, how is justification both forgiveness of sins and sanctification? Well, it is through this infusion of grace through which the heart or the nature is rid of sin, at least in part, and thus secures forgiveness from God.

[13:42] Now, crucially, it moves forgiveness of sin from the beginning of the Christian life to the end. Because as we said last week, that, you know, the infusion of grace, the work of God by Roman Catholic teaching doesn't ensure acceptance for God.

[14:09] You can only kind of do these works in the hope that there may be acceptance and forgiveness from God in the end. And that's where purgatory and all those things came from. And so, forgiveness of sins becomes not the beginning of the Christian life, but its goal, which I have massive problems with because of a number of scriptures.

[14:32] But Romans 2.38, Acts 2.38, when preachers preach in the gospel and Pentecost, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is the central.

[14:44] Or you could say it like this. The combination of forgiveness, and this goes against Paul's teaching, in my opinion.

[14:57] The infusion of grace being the basis of forgiveness. I know this is a little bit tedious, but the infusion of grace being the basis of forgiveness means God forgives us because he makes us forgivable.

[15:10] Do you understand? Because he cleanses us. That goes against Romans 5, which says God justifies the ungodly. All right.

[15:24] So, sorry, getting a little excited. But, all right. So, B. So, contrary to that, the Reformers taught grace is favor with God and the free gift of righteousness.

[15:35] So, Luther broke from this prior definition of grace. Luther, we have a quote there for you. Grace is not an infusion of equality which henceforth resides in man, but a free, loving, giving act of God, whereby he elects us in Christ, justifies, and forgives us for Christ's sakes, blesses, sanctifies, and saves.

[15:58] It's almost like he just came, you know, and all that freely given out of his grace in Christ. Our statement of faith.

[16:10] In their union with Christ, believers freely receive all the benefits of the gospel. Those whom God effectually calls to himself, he justifies in Christ, forgiving all their sins and declaring them righteous and acceptable in his sight.

[16:22] This declaration is judicial, addressing not our nature. Okay? Sorry to get animated, but this stuff really matters. Not our nature. That's a state.

[16:33] That's a reformational statement. Not our nature, but our status with regard to God's law. It is definitive, being neither gradually gained nor able to be lost.

[16:44] And it is gracious. A free gift of God's righteousness based on nothing worked in us or by us, but received freely by faith. The sole ground of our justification is the righteousness of Christ.

[16:57] And so grace is favor with God and the gift of righteousness towards those who are undeserving. So in salvation, in God's justifying work, grace is favor with God and the gift of righteousness.

[17:08] Obviously, grace does other things in the Christian life. Titus 2.11 says, The grace of God trains us to renounce on God and this worldly passion to live self-controlled, upright lives in the present age.

[17:21] But in salvation, that's where this is going. So God does not forgive us because we have become forgivable or have favor on us because He has made us favorable.

[17:34] Grace is God justifying the ungodly, the unrighteous, the unforgivable. The unfavorable. It's the story of the Bible.

[17:46] You know, God did not call Abraham because he was a fine young man ready to lead the people. He's a moon worshiper most likely. Right?

[17:58] Moses, a murderer. It's the story all throughout the Bible. Relationship with God is never based on something we do. So Ephesians 2.8.9. For by grace you have been saved through faith.

[18:10] This is not your own doing. It's the gift of God. Not a result of work so that no one may boast. Romans 3. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift.

[18:22] Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It's a gift. So it's crucial that you understand these differences. For the Reformers, grace was given primarily to reconcile enemies.

[18:33] For the Roman Catholic Church, grace was given primarily to subdue bodily passions. We don't think grace does that work.

[18:46] It's just not the basis of the saving work of God. Does that make sense? We do think we press on by grace. You know, by grace in which you...

[18:57] Well, 1 Corinthians 15, you know, the gospel in which you stand, in which you've been saved, in which you're being saved, in which you will be saved. We don't believe, like, grace stops. But it's so crucial.

[19:10] And so the difference is, like, if grace is about reconciling enemies, then salvation means, first of all, justification with the fruit of love and good works. Contrary to the Roman Catholic Church, which salvation means, first of all, love and good works with the result of final justification.

[19:27] So it actually moves true justification, which is, you know, where we stand before God for all eternity. It moves that to the last day.

[19:40] And it makes it on the basis of works, not on the basis of grace. All right. So by grace alone, in Christ alone. And Deb helped anticipate this for us.

[19:52] You know, we're not saved by grace through faith alone. We're saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And that's what's critical.

[20:04] One of the things that's so critical here to see is that one of the reformers said, one of the reasons they were so opposed to the definition of grace is because grace, the Roman Catholic Church defined grace as this substance separated from Christ.

[20:24] A substance that kind of comes into you, changes you wonderfully. And so grace, I mean, the Roman Catholic Church teaches a system of salvation built on love and good works that not only opposes grace, but opposes Christ.

[20:45] And Galatians 2 agrees. And so it's critical. So it's by grace alone because it's in Christ. It's not by like this substance or by God having kind thoughts as much as we want God to have kind thoughts.

[21:00] The only basis for God to have kind thoughts about us is Christ. And so it's and so faith alone, then, is the instrumental means by which we receive Christ and all his benefits.

[21:16] And so this, you know, this is why, you know, it is a little bit arbitrary to kind of slice these things up. Well, in particular, faith alone, grace alone, and Christ alone. Because they're a package.

[21:29] And so in our statement of faith, that section on the benefits of the gospel says, in their union with Christ, believers freely receive all the benefits of the gospel. It is and only is in Christ that we receive the benefits of the gospel.

[21:43] Well, John Calvin said, and this is one of his most famous quotes, how do we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on his only begotten Son? Not for Christ's own private use, but that he might enrich poor and needy men.

[21:56] First, we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value to us.

[22:10] Therefore, to share with us what he received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us. Dwell within us. You know, it's articulating this idea that there's two words.

[22:20] The most important word in the New Testament might just be in. Because over 125 times in the New Testament, it underlines this reality that all the saving benefits come to us in Christ, in him, in him, in him.

[22:36] You think about Ephesians 1, just a riddle disease out of why. It's underlining in this mysterious union with Christ is by which we receive all his saving benefits.

[22:48] Now, kind of as a bit of an aside, it is important to understand that the Reformers did uphold what the Roman Catholic Church taught about the person of Christ.

[22:58] They're very grateful for Nicaea, grateful for Chalcedon. These councils defining the person of Christ. They did not argue about, you know, how does Christ have two natures in one person, indivisible with no mixture and all those things.

[23:12] They're not arguing about that stuff. They received that. Their argument was on the work of Christ. What does it mean that Christ died for us? And so I broke this out. It's a little bit arbitrary, but our salvation is the gift of God through the work of Christ for us.

[23:28] So we said that, you know, God's basis is not, you know, firstly, what is reckoned to us, what is imputed to us, what is given to us by free gift of God, such that the ungodly, the unrighteous are made righteous before God.

[23:47] And so Romans 4 captures this really well. Well, no belief, this is talking about Abraham, no belief made him waver concerning the promised God, but he grew strong in faith.

[23:58] I go down that next sentence. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. I helped us out by boldly encountered, reckoned. But the words, it was counted to him, were not written for his sake alone, but for ours.

[24:14] Okay? So Romans 15, 6 was written not just for Abraham, but for us to understand something about justification. It was counted to us who believe, who raised, us who believe in him, who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

[24:32] So it was counted to us, though nothing had happened to us, objectively, because our belief was in the objective work of Jesus Christ and that his death was for us, on our behalf.

[24:50] He was the sacrifice for our many sins, paying the penalty with his death, and raised again as God's state affirmation.

[25:01] God accepted his sacrifice and so, too, gives us forgiveness of sins and new life through Christ. So we're counted righteous because of the work of Christ.

[25:12] But how could the death of Christ, and this is where you do it in the Bible, how could the death of Christ 2,000 years ago have value to us? Like, I mean, what does the death of someone 2,000 years ago have to do with me in the 21st century, living in the day of the iPhone?

[25:36] I mean, what does it have to do with me? Well, crucially, Romans 5 answers this question for us. If you look down there in verse 12, and this is where I don't know how much is in the outline, but Romans 5, verse 12, it begins, I want to tell you a little bit about this argument, what Paul is doing.

[26:03] So how does the work of Christ apply to us? Essentially, kind of the question he's answering. And he's making an argument, like, in the same way that we were born in sin in Adam, like, we weren't there, but we are treated as if we were there because of the sinful nature we inherited from Adam.

[26:23] You know, death came to us. Why do people die? They do not die because of cancer. Ultimately. They die because of their union with Adam, because of sin.

[26:37] And so, in the same way, Christ is our... So Adam's our representative. He's our forefather. We're sons of Adam, daughters of Eve, as C.S. Lewis likes to say.

[26:51] And in the same way, Christ is our representative. Okay? So his work, you know, firstly flows to us because he's representative.

[27:02] He's the head. He's the new head. And so that's the argument he's making. And look down there, Romans 5, 12. For just as sin came into the world through one man, that's talking about Adam, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sin.

[27:18] Now, all men were not there, but because of that union, original sin, remember, all sinned. All inherited this sinful nature to the degree that all sinned.

[27:32] For sin, indeed, was in the world before the law was given, but sin was not counted where there is no law. So that's just talking about sin preceded the law.

[27:44] The law magnified sin in the sense that it revealed sin, you know. You don't touch weight. You don't. The law reveals what's in our heart.

[27:56] You know, you see a sign that says, don't touch wet paint, you know. What does everybody do? Touch it immediately. And so it begins to reveal. And so, yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who were sinned, and was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

[28:14] But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.

[28:27] Now look down at verse 21. I can't get into all the details of the argument here. But verse 21, So he's making this representative argument through Adam, through our union with Adam.

[28:49] 1 Corinthians 15 says, And Adam all died. Through our union with him and his trespass, his sin, we receive guilt, condemnation, and death. But Christ inserts himself.

[29:00] God puts him forward as our representative. He is like us in every respect, yet without sin, and therefore can represent us before God. Through him and his one act of righteousness, obedience, we receive justification in eternal life.

[29:15] And so that's that sweet exchange. So this objectively Christ dies for us. The work of God is for us, credited to us. Our bank account, our delinquent accounts, are supplied with all the grace they need to justify us before God eternally.

[29:33] Okay? But you could argue, you could add to that, our salvation is the gift of God through the work of Christ in us. So union with Christ doesn't just represent what God, Christ has done for us, but it represents what God, Christ has done in us.

[29:49] And I find this very provoking. If you, you should have your Bible open. I look down there at 520, it says, For the law came and decreased the trespass.

[29:59] That's just what I was talking about. The law revealed our sinfulness. And, and so then it continues, But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

[30:10] So this, this idea that even as we came to learn of more sin, you know, and you might, I think some ways this happens at the beginning of Christian life. You know, you, you're born again by the spirit.

[30:22] And, you know, when it was all darkness, you didn't see the darkness. When you're born again by the spirit, suddenly you're like, holy camoly. Holy, I am just a rotten person.

[30:35] And my heart is so fickle and so selfish. And it all, you know, you begin to see all these things. It's like dust on the summer afternoon, you know, when the rays of light come into the room.

[30:49] You're like, man, this place needs to clean, right? Because you see all the dust particles in the light. There's a similar thing that happens. And so grace, you know, grace abounds for all those sins that are brought to light.

[31:01] And, and then look at verse 6-1. So it says, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? So essentially asking that old question of, you know, if we've been justified, is it party on, Wayne?

[31:20] You know, is it like do whatever you want? And, and, you know, it might be helpful to think, how would you answer that question?

[31:38] Carson, if you've been, you know, if grace abounds, would you continue in sin so the grace abounds? We might say something like, do you not know that you owe God a debt of gratitude for what he's done for you?

[31:53] That's, I mean, that's not that bad. Do you not know that you've been baptized? Son, stop all this nonsense. You've been baptized. Do you not know you've been justified?

[32:04] So it should lead to a changed life. But Paul does not answer in any of those ways. And this is critical for helping, when Paul's articulating the gospel.

[32:15] He says, how can we who died to sin still live in it? Look in Romans 2, 6, 2 through 4. This is what I ask him to have somebody preach at my funeral.

[32:30] We've agreed that she's going to die long after me because I can't live without her, you know. By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ, Jesus, were baptized into death?

[32:43] We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we might walk in newness of life. And what he's articulating is salvation.

[32:55] It's not just about what Christ has done for us, but what he does in us. And those two things are not separated. So in believing in Christ, we are believing in his objective work on our behalf.

[33:06] But God does something in uniting us to him such that we die to sin and are raised up to new life and made to walk in him.

[33:16] So therefore, if your justification and sanctification are the beginning of sanctification, well, all of sanctification, justification and sanctification have one source, Jesus Christ. Not grace that's infused in us, separate from Christ, but grace from Christ, continually from Christ.

[33:34] And so we see this in the Christian life. In Christ, we're delivered, objectively, when he dies for us, we're delivered from the guilt of sin, making a relationship with God possible.

[33:47] The penalty of our sin is paid. The debt of our sin is canceled. We're completely forgiven. But in Christ, we're also caught up into that work such that we die, we're raised to new life, making godliness possible.

[34:00] So on the one hand, we have a relationship with God. We're delivered from the penalty of sin. And so a relationship with God is possible. But we're raised to new life, making godliness possible.

[34:13] We can pursue the Lord. We can become like him. We're delivered from the world of sin and separation from God that wants to find us, delivered from the domain of darkness. We're new and born again, new creatures, cleansed of our sin and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

[34:27] And so these works of justification and sanctification have the same source. And God does a wonderful work at a point in time of sanctification.

[34:39] When we come to Christ, he sets us apart for himself. He seals us by his spirit. He breaks the power. We don't sing that song, but O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, my great Redeemer's praise.

[34:55] He breaks the power of canceled sin. What is that articulating? This reality that Christ cancels a record of debt stood against us with his legal demand and also breaks his power in our lives.

[35:10] So we don't need to run around saying, Jesus break every chain. Jesus has broken every chain. In his death and in his resurrection, by breaking that power and uniting you to him.

[35:26] Calvin has a beautiful quote there that I won't share, but you can meditate on it just about Christ. And so, by grace alone and Christ alone, three to the glory of God alone.

[35:43] So all this means, our justification is all his initiative. Calvin said somewhere, man never anticipates God.

[35:58] Left to your own, you would never trust in Christ. You would take, you know, anybody ever seen the matrix, you know, what is it, the blue pill or the red pill?

[36:10] You would take, whichever one's the wrong one, you're taking the wrong one every time. Your will's not free. It's corrupted by sin.

[36:25] And so, justification by faith alone announces to us this, God's initiative to reconcile sinners to himself. And the whole Bible is telling this story.

[36:37] Why did God not wipe out everything when Adam and Eve sinned? You know, they got the best of the best living in the garden, living before the face of God.

[36:50] He didn't wipe it out. The first sacrifice was offered by God to cover them. Why did God not wipe them out when they just continue with corruption?

[37:03] And God brought out Noah. Yes, God judged the earth. But the wonder is that God rescued someone out. The question is not, why isn't everyone saved?

[37:18] The question is, why is anyone saved? And so, the whole Bible knits together announcing this story about a God who seeks and saves that which is lost.

[37:30] All of his initiative, all of the overflow of his heart. He doesn't need help. He saves people single-handedly. And so, we remember that in 1 Corinthians 1, people thinking they were hot stuff, you know, and the Lord says, not many of you are actually powerful or noble or special.

[37:47] You are not the dudes dudes or anything like that. You are weak and that's the way God likes it. He likes people that depend on Him. He didn't come to save the righteous, but sinners. He didn't come for the healthy, but for the sick.

[38:00] Our justification is all His gift. By grace you've been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it's the gift of God. That this there is not a reference to faith and that can be, you know, obviously faith is a gift.

[38:13] I think that's fair to say, biblically, but because it's a fruit of God's work and regeneration in our hearts and life, but it's saying all of salvation is not your own doing.

[38:25] All of it is a gift and therefore it's all to His glory. Only if it is all a gift will God receive all the glory. Only if it's based on nothing we've done will God receive all the glory.

[38:42] And so the Reformers guarded the Gospel, guarded justification by faith alone, ultimately for the glory of God.

[38:56] And there's few things that our culture cares less about than the glory of God. And that's at stake here. And so it's all for His glory.

[39:08] God Scott Manich, he quotes Calvin in here. I don't own the book he quoted, but he says, for Calvin, the source of worship is the Holy Spirit, the locus of worship is the inward faith of the heart, and the purpose of Christian worship is to bring glory to God alone.

[39:31] At its foundation, therefore, right and legitimate worship is to acknowledge God as He is, as the only source of virtue, justice, holiness, wisdom, truth, power, goodness, mercy, life, and salvation.

[39:45] And so to ascribe and render to Him the glory of all that is good, to seek all things in Him alone and to rely upon Him in every need. For this arises, from this arises, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, all of which testify to the glory we attribute to Him.

[40:03] Very well said. All glory be to God alone. So there you have it. The five solas, sola scriptura, sola Christus, sola fide, sola gracia, soli Deo gloria.

[40:19] The old guys used to sign letters, SDG. Another good tattoo you could get. SDG. Soli Deo gloria.

[40:30] All for God. It's His work. Let's start to finish and we give Him all the glory. Amen. Any questions or comments or cries of outrage?

[40:46] All right. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we pray that you would even this morning by your Holy Spirit draw our minds and hearts to Christ and to a life focused on your glory alone.

[41:12] God, deliver us from all man-centeredness and self-focus this day as we seek to gather.

[41:24] Even with our hearts that are still prone to wonder, we seek to gather into your presence and humble ourselves before you afresh and confess our need for your grace again.

[41:38] We pray that you'd exalt Jesus Christ. All that He's done for us and praise God all that He has done in us and is doing in us by the power of His grace.

[41:50] We praise You. We rest in You. We hide in You. In Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Thank you.

[42:01]  Thank you.