Salvation by Faith—The “Watchword of the Reformation”

The great text of the Protestant Reformation was that which is found in the Old Testament, in the book of Habakkuk and three times in the New Testament as though to draw special attention to it; in the Epistle to the Romans, in the Epistle to the Galatians, and in the Epistle to the Hebrews— “The just shall live by faith.” That text, I might say, was the mainspring of the Reformation, and it is the great truth that we are seeking to stress today, and we need to stress as long as there is a poor sinner seeking salvation. “The just shall live by faith.” “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” Paul said, speaking in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38, 39). Look at that. Through personal faith in the Lord Jesus one may be assured that his sins have all been forgiven and that he stands justified before God.
What is justification? It is the sentence of the judge in favor of the prisoner. And when man, a guilty sinner, comes before God and confesses his sin and puts his trust in the Lord. Jesus Christ, God says this man is justified. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God” (Rom. 8:34). God will not hear one charge against the man who has put his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
These are the great outstanding truths for which thousands upon thousands of men and women and even little children actually laid down their lives; and these are the truths for which Bible Protestantism stands today.
Should Protestantism be liquidated? Liquidated? That would mean throwing overboard all these precious truths! It would mean turning away from the simple Word of God, and putting our faith in the statements of men as fallible as ourselves. It would mean ignoring the one Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, and turning to lesser mediators. It would mean refusing to believe that by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified, and instead seeking salvation through many offerings that can never put away sin. It would mean endeavoring to save ourselves by works of righteousness that we might do, by human merit, by deeds of kindness, by charity, by reformation of life, by prayer, and supplications, by penances. And the Scripture declares that all these are but as dead works from which we have to turn in order that we may be saved by grace. Someone may say, “But don’t you believe in charity, don’t you believe in almsgiving, don’t you believe in reformation of life, don’t you believe in good works, in penitence for sin?” Yes, we believe in them all, but not as having anything to do with the salvation of our souls but rather the results, the effects of that salvation wrought in us by the Holy Ghost when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“I would not work my soul to save,
That work my Lord has done:
But I would work like any slave
For love to God’s dear son.”