There’s a small part of me that kind of misses being a kid and going to school and getting grades. Our teachers told us, “Put in the effort, and you’ll do well.” But I knew a lot of kids who tried really, really hard in school, only to get failing grades. This is all of us in our spiritual condition. But God doesn’t grade us on our performance, but on that of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:22-28 says:

The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

In 2008, a church building in a small village in Russia disappeared.

Apparently, it was taken apart and moved brick by brick.

Unfortunately, many churches even in the United States are in danger of disappearing. Brick by brick, we’re at risk of losing what it means to be a church. This is why doctrine is important: so that we believe and do what God has called us to.

This is our second week looking at the five principles of the Reformation. Once again, they are Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Christus, Sola Scriptura, and Soli Deo Gloria. Today, we’ll be talking about Sola Fide.

Our passage this morning uses the word “faith” 5 times, so I want to see how each one encourages us to believe. The first one tells us that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to become righteous (v. 22-24). We can’t make ourselves righteous. God makes us righteous as a gift. We receive His gift through believing in Jesus. It’s kind of like a tunnel that takes you from one place to another.

God’s grace is the car, and faith is the tunnel. We are saved by grace through faith.

The second use of the word faith in this passage connects us to God’s work in and throughout history (v. 25). We don’t have faith in a vague concept of God, or a vague notion of hope or love. No, we believe in the God who is real and active in history. God gave the Jews this elaborate system of sacrifices in order to understand forgiveness. And even then, the mercy seat, God’s presence, was off limits to the Jews.

But through faith, we come to know the real and true and holy God personally, because this God paid the price for our sin Himself.

So, third, Paul writes that we have faith in the sacrifice of Jesus, and are justified (v. 26). Jesus’ sacrificial death is the means by which our sins are atoned for.

This atonement is only applied to us through faith. Without faith in Christ’s sacrifice, the benefits of His atoning blood are not yet ours.

Therefore, fourth, faith excludes boasting (v. 27). Faith leaves no room for pride or boasting because it’s entirely about trusting in what God has done through Christ, not what we have done. It would be like a kid bragging about the cookies she didn’t make, as if she made them.

Works-based righteousness would allow boasting, but faith makes us all humble recipients of grace.

And this is true because, finally, faith alone justifies us (v. 28). Justification comes by faith alone. There is no combination of works and faith that brings salvation; it is solely by faith, independent of any observance of the law or human effort.

So, reflect on where your faith lies. Are you relying on your works or fully trusting in Jesus Christ? Faith is the only means through which we receive God’s grace of salvation and righteousness, which is freely offered to all as we come to believe.