{"id":1226,"date":"2017-11-28T08:49:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T16:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/?p=1226"},"modified":"2017-11-28T09:27:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T17:27:06","slug":"five-solas-of-reformation-3-5-b-sola-fide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/blog\/five-solas-of-reformation-3-5-b-sola-fide\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Solas of Reformation (3\/5 b): Sola Fide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reconnecting to the Source<\/strong><\/p>\n

My phone needs charging constantly. Its battery starts with 100% but the number goes down quickly. It will cease to be functional if I don\u2019t connect it to a power source in time. Yes, all the wonderful designs are still there. But without power it\u2019s just a dead phone.
\n<\/p>\n

We human beings are like phones. Just as a smartphone can\u2019t be functional without regularly connecting to a power source, neither can we be functional without connecting to God. God is the source of our being, he sustains and empowers us. Cutting yourself off from God doesn\u2019t mean you instantly lose everything. No, there\u2019s still some battery life left inside of you. But the number goes down quickly.<\/p>\n

In order to reverse the trend, indeed to avoid the ultimate consequence, which is death in all aspects, you need to reconnect yourself to the source. But there is a problem about reconnecting, a big one. The connection was broken as a result of our sins, which separate us from a holy God. In order to reconnect we first need to take care of the sin problem. This is done by the salvific act of Christ on the cross. The Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world died in our place. With the shedding of his blood the price of our sins was paid in full. Upon his sacrifice a new and living way to God is opened for us. (Hebrews 10:20) Put your faith in Christ and you\u2019re reconnected to God.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Reward<\/strong><\/p>\n

Putting your faith in Christ brings you justification, a biblical word for \u201cgood standing with God.\u201d It means God accepts you. He sees you as a person without sins (justified) and desires to have a loving relationship with you. He wants to be your father.<\/p>\n

The Bible reminds us that justification is not a reward, but a gift. You get it not because what you have done, but what Christ has done for you. In Romans chapter 4 Abraham, father of God\u2019s chosen people, is portrayed as a prime example of justification by faith:<\/p>\n

What does Scripture say? \u201cAbraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.\u201d Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:3-5)<\/em><\/p>\n

Abraham believed God and he was justified. Before he did any good works, he was justified. The God of Abraham is a God who justifies the ungodly. Believe him and it is credited to you as righteousness. No, righteousness is not something you have earned, but something credited to you. It\u2019s a free gift.<\/p>\n

Some people has a hard time accepting the concept of free gift. This is because we\u2019re accustomed to the idea of work and pay. We get paid because we worked. We\u2019ve earned it. But this kind of mentality is actually arrogance in disguise, thinking we\u2019re good enough to make contribution to our own salvation, not realizing by doing so we\u2019re trivializing the sacrifice Christ has made. No, dear brothers and sisters, no amount of good works can ever earn us justification. It\u2019s not a reward, but a gift. Don\u2019t work for it, just receive it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Formality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abraham was justified before he was circumcised. Circumcision is a form of identification. It identifies a person as one of Abraham\u2019s decedents, God\u2019s chosen people. But the fact that Abraham himself was justified before circumcision was ever practiced tells us an important truth: what matters to God is not formality, but genuine faith.<\/p>\n

We have been saying that Abraham\u2019s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Romans 4:9-11<\/em><\/p>\n

Abraham was justified not by circumcision, but by faith. It\u2019s not religious formality that saves you, but your faith in Christ. Get all the baptisms and sacraments and rituals you want, without faith you are still a sinner. Many nominal Christians fall into this trap, mistaking salvation as something can be obtained through observing religious formality. They think baptism can wash away their sins and good deeds will get them to heaven. The case of Abraham has proven them wrong.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the performance factor that has dogged Luther in his early life. He tried very hard to make himself acceptable to God. Like Luther some people think justification is based on performance. Am I doing well enough to be justified by God? Do I need to observe all the rules and regulations to maintain my salvation? What if I break God\u2019s law? Am I still saved?<\/p>\n

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. Romans 4:13<\/em><\/p>\n

Salvation has nothing to do with your performance. We WILL break God\u2019s law, that\u2019s a given. But that doesn\u2019t affect our salvation. We don\u2019t get salvation by observing the law, and we will not lose it by not observing the law. We\u2019re saved through our faith in Christ. That faith alone supersedes, and overrides, any imperfect performance we can come up with.<\/p>\n

It is Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason that a simple act of faith saves you eternally is Jesus Christ. He is the reason for your justification, redemption, and salvation. Because of Christ, the charge of your indebtedness has been canceled, taken away, and nailed to the cross. (Col. 2:14) Because of his death your sins are forgiven, his resurrection your lives are renewed. It is out of God\u2019s mercy that a sinner is granted to lay claim to the unfathomable richness in Christ, all through his faith. As it is said:<\/p>\n

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24<\/em><\/p>\n

The righteousness God is given to not only the Jews or the gentiles, but all who believe. If salvation is obtained through material offerings some may not be able to afford it. If it is obtained through good deeds some may not able to do it. But it is given through faith in Christ, a matter of changing your heart. We all can do that.<\/p>\n

From Faith to Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your life in Christ starts with faith and continues on with faith. As the Bible says, it is \u201cfrom faith to faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, \u201cBut the righteous man shall live by faith.\u201d Romans 1:17, NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

This precious verse reveals the secret of Christian living. The righteous man<\/em>, that\u2019s us, people who are justified through faith in Christ. Shall live<\/em>, we\u2019re now able to live the abundant life that glorifies God. By faith<\/em>, by faith we\u2019re saved, and by faith we shall live. From faith to faith<\/em>, Christian living is by faith from beginning to the end. There\u2019s never a moment we can live without faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reconnecting to the Source My phone needs charging constantly. Its battery starts with 100% but the number goes down quickly. It will cease to be functional if I don\u2019t connect…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,49,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotionals","category-life-is-a-song","category-pastor-warren-wang"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1226"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1230,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions\/1230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}