**R.C. Sproul: For Justification By Faith Alone — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/rc-sproul-justification-faith-alone/ R.C. Sproul discusses the critical importance of justification by faith alone and the challenges evangelicalism faces today. ## Key Takeaways - Justification by faith alone (sola fide) remains a non-negotiable core doctrine of the gospel. - There is a growing crisis within evangelicalism due to misunderstandings about justification and scripture. - Claims of unity between evangelicals and Roman Catholics on justification are deeply problematic. - Evangelicals must maintain confidence in the authority of scripture (sola scriptura). - Historical Protestant theology must be properly understood and defended. ## What the video covers - R.C. Sproul reflects on the unity and challenges within evangelicalism, particularly regarding justification by faith alone. - He highlights the erosion of confidence in sola scriptura and sola fide within evangelical circles. - Sproul discusses the historical context of the Protestant Reformation and its foundational doctrines. - He addresses the controversy sparked by some evangelicals claiming unity with Roman Catholics on justification. - Sproul critiques evangelical leaders who misunderstand or misrepresent Roman Catholic and Protestant theology. - He emphasizes the essential nature of justification by faith alone to the gospel message. - Sproul recalls the Lordship Salvation controversy and its implications for evangelical doctrine. - He warns against abandoning the historic Reformation doctrine and stresses the importance of standing firm. - The video includes reflections on biblical criticism and its impact on evangelical confidence in scripture. - Sproul shares personal experiences and conversations with other evangelical leaders on these theological issues. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction and Conference Reflections 2. 03:13 Biblical Criticism and Challenges to Scripture 3. 06:42 The Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone 4. 09:55 Apostolic Astonishment and Gospel Integrity 5. 13:32 Theological Divisions and the Reformation Legacy 6. 16:44 Roman Catholic Doctrine and Justification 7. 20:06 Controversies and Evangelical Responses 8. 24:05 Faith, Righteousness, and Salvation Answers ## Questions about this video Why does R.C. Sproul emphasize justification by faith alone? Sproul stresses that justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel and that without it, one does not truly have the gospel. He argues it is a foundational doctrine that must be defended within evangelicalism. What concerns does Sproul raise about evangelical unity with Roman Catholics? Sproul is concerned that some evangelicals claim unity with Roman Catholics on the gospel, despite significant theological differences, especially regarding justification. He questions how true unity can exist if these differences are ignored. How does Sproul view the current state of evangelicalism regarding scripture and doctrine? Sproul observes an erosion of confidence in the authority of scripture and historic doctrines like sola scriptura and sola fide within evangelicalism, leading to confusion and controversy that threaten the church's theological integrity. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:02 Speaker A Oh, it's been such a delight these last couple of days to be with you for this conference. We're very much encouraged to see so many of you out for it, and I have basked in the glory of listening to the messages from the other men that have been brought. I hope that we've all been edified by them. I particularly was interested in John's last address when he was so candid about his feelings when he wrote The Gospel According to Jesus. 00:16 Speaker A messages from the other men that have been brought and I hope that we've all been edified by them I particularly was interested in John's last address when he was so candid about his feelings when he wrote The Gospel According To Jesus 00:34 Speaker A How shocked he was that he would have to write a book like that in the Evangelical world. I remember being just as shocked at that time that the doctrine of justification would ever become an issue within evangelicalism. 00:54 Speaker A since evangelicalism is a broad spectrum of denominations prot and denominations dating back to the Reformation and we all have our different distinctives but the two concepts that unified evangelicalism for hundreds of years were first of all solos scriptura the final authority of 01:17 Speaker A Since evangelicalism is a broad spectrum of Protestant denominations dating back to the Reformation, we all have our different distinctives. But the two concepts that unified evangelicalism for hundreds of years were, first of all, sola scriptura, the final authority of scripture, and secondly, sola fide, the doctrine of justification by faith alone. 01:39 Speaker A 16th century and this Unity Through The Years had been so strong the last thing I really ever expected would that there would be a debate within evangelicalism on either one of these topics well first came the erosion of 01:57 Speaker A Sola scriptura was considered the formal cause of the 16th-century Reformation, and sola fide the material cause, the matter, the substance of the issue that provoked the Reformation in the 16th century. This unity through the years had been so strong. The last thing I really ever expected would be that there would be a debate within evangelicalism on either one of these topics. 02:18 Speaker A trying to encourage the church and particularly the Evangelical Church not to abandon their confidence in the inspiration and authority of sacred scripture but I I understood something of that crisis because of the Avalanche of criticism that the church has been 02:37 Speaker A Well, first came the erosion of confidence in the authority of scriptures within evangelicalism. You might recall the book that was written by Harold Lindsell, The Battle for the Bible, and then the formation of ICBI, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, which had a 10-year initiative trying to encourage the church, and particularly the evangelical church, not to abandon their confidence in the inspiration and authority of sacred scripture. But I understood something of that crisis because of the avalanche of criticism that the church has been exposed to on the doctrine of scripture in the last couple of hundred years. 02:52 Speaker A of the 19th to the 20th century that uh it was said that biblical criticism had degenerated into biblical vandalism so severe had been the attacks on sacred scripture so I wasn't caught completely off guard that the issue of scripture 03:13 Speaker A I remember that at the turn of the century—I don't remember it, but I remember reading about it. I'm thinking when I say the turn of the century, I mean the turn of the 19th to the 20th century—that it was said that biblical criticism had degenerated into biblical vandalism. So severe had been the attacks on sacred scripture. So I wasn't caught completely off guard that the issue of scripture would emerge even within evangelical churches. But that the doctrine of justification by faith alone would become an issue, and in the Lordship Salvation controversy where John MacArthur fought for the angels, that was a total shock. But not nearly the shock of what came in its wake, where leading evangelicals declared to the world that there was now a unity of faith in the gospel between Roman Catholics and evangelicals. That really surprised me, radically. 03:32 Speaker A of what came in its wake where leading evangelicals declared to the world that there was now a Unity of faith in the gospel between Roman Catholics and evangelicals that really surprised me uh radically and before I get going with 03:54 Speaker A And before I get going with this today, I just want to say I've heard many, many statements by leading representatives of various sections of Christendom over the last 20 years about this, where I've heard one scholar write that the Reformation is over. I've heard others say that the Protestant Reformation was, quote, a tempest in a teapot. Another evangelical leader saying that the Protestant Reformation was all a misunderstanding. I heard another leader say that in the 16th century Luther was right, but not today. I've heard many leaders say that Vatican Council II changed the Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation and of justification. And again, all of these statements indicate, you know, that the confidence that people have said that the Roman Church has changed her doctrine on justification. And that, again, the proclamation of evangelicals and Catholics together was that we now have a unity of faith in the gospel. And that provoked a radical crisis within evangelicalism, and I was a lightning rod in that, as well as was John MacArthur. 04:16 Speaker A Protestant Reformation was quote a tempest in a teapot another Evangelical leader saying that the Protestant Reformation was all a misunderstanding I heard another leader say that in the 16th century Luther was right but not today I've heard many leaders say that 04:44 Speaker A And I said to my friends that those evangelical leaders who were involved in that, I said, I'm puzzled because you say you have a unity of faith in the gospel with men who still strongly affirm the Council of Trent. I know I don't have a unity of faith in the gospel with those men. So my question is, if you have a unity of faith in the gospel with them, and I don't have a unity of faith in the gospel with them, how can I possibly have a unity of faith in the gospel with you? 05:05 Speaker A justification and that again the proclamation of evangelicals and Catholics together was that we now have a Unity of faith in the gospel and that provoked a radical crisis within evangelicalism and I was a lightning rod in that as well as was John MacArthur 05:27 Speaker A And so this activity that was supposed to bring believers together actually drove a serious wedge within the evangelical world itself. And I came to the conclusion after reading ECT1, ECT2, ECT3 that many of our evangelical leaders simply either did not understand Roman Catholic theology or they didn't understand historical Protestant theology. I came to the sad conclusion that many of them didn't understand either. And what I want to look at today is how critically important it is that we stand firm on this essential doctrine of the Christian faith. 05:45 Speaker A Unity of faith in the gospel with those men so my question is if you have a Unity of faith in the gospel with them and I don't have a Unity of faith in the gospel with them how can I possibly have 05:56 Speaker A I'll just say this, further aside, during the heat of that controversy, I was in conversation in a room with several of the leaders, and I asked one of them, I said, do you believe that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel? And he looked at me and he said, well, I would say it's central to the gospel. I don't see how anything can be central to the gospel and not at the same time be essential to it. But I said, that's not what I asked you. I asked you, do you think that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel? No matter how hard I pled, it was like pulling teeth. I could not get the man to say that sola fide was essential to the gospel. This when the Apostle Paul had seen that it was not only essential to the gospel, but without it you don't have the gospel. You have another gospel, and there, of course, is not another gospel. So there's been massive confusion about the doctrine of justification. 06:22 Speaker A of our Evangelical leaders simply either did not understand Roman Catholic theology or they didn't understand historical Protestant theology I came to the sad conclusion that many of them didn't understand either and what I want to look at today 06:42 Speaker A Here's one other thing I've heard. I've heard it said 100 times, well, after all, we're not saved by believing in the doctrine of justification by faith alone. And beloved, there is no doctrine that's ever been confessed in the Christian church that would more strongly assert that one cannot be saved by believing in the doctrine of justification by faith alone than the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Because the doctrine of justification by faith alone is only shorthand for saying that we are saved by—that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by faith in the doctrine of justification by faith alone. 07:00 Speaker A the leaders and I asked one of them I said do you believe that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel and he looked at me and he said well I would say it's Central to the 07:20 Speaker A I mean, a person can believe and affirm the doctrine of justification by faith alone and not be saved. On the other hand, I worry about those who deny the doctrine of justification by faith alone and wonder if they indeed can be saved while at the same time denying an essential truth of the Christian faith. 07:31 Speaker A justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel no matter how hard I pled it was like pulling teeth I could not get the man to say that solid was essential to the gospel this when the Apostle Paul had seen that it was not 07:52 Speaker A Well, having said that by way of preface, let me read for you a few verses from Paul's letter to the Galatians, the first chapter, beginning at verse three, where the Apostle, in characteristic fashion, addresses the people by saying, grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 08:13 Speaker A well after all RC we're not saved by believing in the doctrine of justification by faith alone and beloved there is no Doctrine that's ever been confessed in the Christian church that would more strongly assert that one cannot be saved 08:36 Speaker A Then the Apostle articulates his apostolic astonishment, where he says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another. But there are some who would trouble you that want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than that which you have received, let him be accursed. There is nowhere in sacred scripture where the Apostle Paul speaks more strongly and more vehemently than he does here. If anybody pr— 08:54 Speaker A not by faith in the doctrine of justification by faith alone I mean a person can can believe and affirm the doctrine of justification by faith alone and not be saved on the other hand I worry about those who deny the 09:13 Speaker A doctrine of justification by faith alone and wonder if they indeed can be saved while at the same time denying an essential truth of the Christian faith well having said that by way of preface let me read for you a few verses from 09:32 Speaker A Paul's letter to the Galatians the first chapter beginning at verse three where the Apostle in characteristic fashion addresses the People by saying grace to you and peace from God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins 09:55 Speaker A that he might Deliver Us from this present evil age according to to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory forever and ever amen then the Apostle articulates his Apostolic astonishment where he says I Marval that you are turning away so 10:21 Speaker A soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who would trouble you that want to pervert the gospel of Christ but even if we or an angel from 10:41 Speaker A heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you let him be accursed as we have said before so now I say again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than that which you have 10:56 Speaker A received let him be a curse there is nowhere in sacred scripture where the apostles Paul speaks more strongly and more vehemently than he does here if anybody preaches any other gospel than that which you have received let him be 11:13 Speaker A anat let him be anathema let him be damned is what he is saying and then he goes on to say for do I now persuade men or God do I seek to please men for if I still pleased men I would 11:37 Speaker A not be a bond servant of Christ how is it possible in this day and age that the gospel has been so broadly negotiated within Evangelical the only answer I can give is the church has been and undated with the influence of the 11:56 Speaker A secular culture of relativism ISM and we want so much to get along with everybody we want to please men we want to avoid conflict and I don't know anybody who enjoys conflict I surely don't the Apostle Paul here when he writes to the 12:21 Speaker A Galatians said May Grace and peace to you we love peace and I hear people say Doctrine divides yes it does doctrine has always divided Jesus and the Pharisees were sharply divided over the identity of the Messiah that was a doctrinal issue every 12:49 Speaker A epistle that comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul has to address divisions caused by false doctrines entering into the church now let me say to you before again I go over this historical reconnaissance with you that I'm talking now today about the 13:12 Speaker A difference between the reformation and biblical view of justification by faith alone and the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification I'm not I understand that there has been a tremendous split within Rome since since the mid 60s of the 20th 13:32 Speaker A century between the so-called T Nel the new theology the progressive wi wing of the Roman Catholic Church particularly in Germany Switzerland Holland Canada and the United States and what was called the Latin wing of the church found in Spain 13:52 Speaker A Portugal and Italy and a lot of France and Latin America and Eastern Europe and when I'm talking today about the Roman Catholic view of justification I understand that there are many priests in America who really affirm what we 14:13 Speaker A would call the doctrine of justification by faith alone and probably millions of Catholic adherence who actually believe the doctrine of justification by faith alone we call them crypto Protestants they are Protestant they don't know that they're Protestants but they are now the 14:33 Speaker A vast majority of Protestants on the other hand if you ask them are you a Protestant then they say yes and then you follow it up with the next question what is it that you're protesting they don't have a 14:47 Speaker A clue and that's why some church historians are saying there was a great battle over this Doctrine in the 16th century but people really don't care that much about it today and so it's not that big of a deal all that's at stake 15:00 Speaker A here is the simple question how's a person saved when deseras arasmus wrote his diet tribe against Luther in Luther's response he said to arasmus I thank you that you haven't bothered me with trivial matters such as the authority of 15:20 Speaker A the Pope or the place of Mary or the sacraments in Rome but you have asked me about the essence of the gospel and we could focus our attention on this now again I'm going to be saying today my 15:34 Speaker A understanding of the Roman Catholic understanding of the Gospel not the London Catholic Church not the Berlin Catholic Church not the burn or Zurich Catholic church or the Amsterdam Catholic church or the Boston Catholic church or the Los Angeles Catholic Church I'm talking 15:58 Speaker A about the Roman Catholic Church the one whose headquarters is in Italy in Rome which church has official Dogma defined in church councils and in papal encyclicals and at the time of the Protestant Reformation the most important response of Rome to Lutheran Calvin's wingley and 16:28 Speaker A Knox and the rest of the m adist of reformers came by way of an ecumenical council that was held in trento which is called the Council of Trent and in the sixth session of the Council of Trent the Roman Catholic 16:44 Speaker A Church did two things in that Session One it defined her doctrine of justification in the decrees and then the second section was the Cannons or the anathem that were written against the Reformation understanding of the Gospel so in the 16th century though many of 17:08 Speaker A the Cannons of Trent missed the mark and failed to really capture the essence of protestant teaching they hit the bullseye when it came to solop and there's no doubt that at Trent in the six session the Reformation Doctrine and understanding of the Gospel 17:29 Speaker A was given the anathema of the Roman Catholic church and some people say well that lasted until Vatican 2 when everything changed no Vatican 2 did not alter in any way the Roman view of justification in fact John the 23rd when he convened 17:47 Speaker A the council which was called the unexpected Council made it very clear that the point of the council was to deal with ecclesiology and not with Theology and Doctrine like issues of justification and if you're familiar with the Catholic 18:00 Speaker A Cate catechism of the decade of the 1990s you will see that that catechism strongly and categorically reaffirms what was taught at the Council of Trent with respect to justification of course it reaffirms it because the church Embraces the doctrine of 18:19 Speaker A infallibility and Rome suffers from the problem of what I call theological hemophilia you scratch her she bleeds to death she can't say Maya kalpa our doctrine that we expressed ecumenically at the acumenical Council of Trent was wrong they can change 18:41 Speaker A their attitude their rhetoric instead of calling us schismatics and Heretics they can refer to us that they did at Vatican 2 as separated bre they can be much nicer gentler and Kinder but their Doctrine hasn't changed and let me give 18:59 Speaker A you a brief summary of the Roman Catholic understanding of the gospel and don't take my word for it check it out yourself study the decrees of the Council of Trent particularly in the six session now let me Begin by saying that 19:21 Speaker A so often Protestants falsely accuse the Roman Catholic Church of teaching something they don't teach and never have taught some Protestants say well we believe in justification by faith Rome believes in justification by works we believe in justification by Grace Rome believes in 19:43 Speaker A justification by Merit we believe in justification by Christ Rome believes in justification by the person themselves that is pure slander against Rome Rome teaches now it taught in the 16th century it has always taught that faith is necessary for justification well let 20:06 Speaker A me just say they taught it in the 16th century and they've taught it for most of their their lives they're beginning to be shaky on this as John MacArthur just pointed out a few uh moments ago some of them are saying now they don't 20:20 Speaker A have to have faith in order to be saved but in the main the Roman Church has said that faith in Jesus Christ is a necessary condition for justification that is to say you can't be justified without it at Trent the 20:38 Speaker A Rome said three specific things about faith they said faith is in the first instance the initium the fundamentum the second part and the third point the rics of justification that is the inum it is the beginning of justification the 20:58 Speaker A fundamental the foundation for justification and the rodex the root of justification so you can see with these three affirmations in the succession that Rome took a strong view of the importance and Ne necessity of having faith in Jesus Christ in order to be 21:23 Speaker A saved and though they say that faith is a necessary condition to be saved it is not a sufficient condition meaning you can have what we would call saving faith and not be saved you have to have faith to get 21:41 Speaker A it but that faith is not enough to get it indeed when Rome spells out the Dilemma of the commission of mortal sin they maintain that a person can have saving Faith commit mortal sin lose justification lose your salvation while 22:02 Speaker A you still have the faith so obviously faith is not enough it's not faith alone that gets you into Christ and into salvation there has to be something more now how does it work well justification in the first instance according to Rome 22:20 Speaker A is communicated sacerdotal that is through the sacraments and Rome is careful to Define it this way that the instrumental cause of justification the means by which justification is communicated to the person the instrument that causes it is in the first instance the 22:48 Speaker A sacrament of baptism at baptism the righteousness of Christ the grace of justification is poured in or in infused ex Opera operado that is by the working of The Works into the soul of the person who receives that Sacrament now the sacrament itself 23:12 Speaker A doesn't automatically save you it automatically infuses the grace of justification but in order to be saved you have to do two things according to Trent cooperar and aent cooperate with and Ascent to that infused Grace now if you cooperate with 23:34 Speaker A the grace of baptism Ascent to the grace of baptism then you are in a state of justification all right this is the gospel now this is how you're saved now the good news is you're now in a state of 23:53 Speaker A justification the bad news is if you commit a mortal sin you lose your justification you lose your salvation it's gone but that's not the end of the world because as Rome defines it in Trent there is a second plank of 24:16 Speaker A justification for those who have made shipwreck of their faith and the way you make shipwreck of your faith again is by committing mortal sin mortal sin is distinguished from venial Sin is Sin that is so severe that it kills the 24:33 Speaker A Saving Grace in your soul that's why it's called mortal and if you commit mortal sin you lose your justification but it can be restored again through a Sacrament in this case it is the sacrament of penance which was at the eye of the tornado in 24:54 Speaker A the 16th century because the elements of Penance have several parts to it first of all there is confession you come to the priest and you confess your sins father I have sinned because I've done this that and the other thing that wasn't the 25:11 Speaker A issue in the 16th century nor was it the issue that after you give your act of contrition and confess your sins where the priest then pronounces your forgiveness he says t abvo I absolve you and even that wasn't 25:31 Speaker A the issue in the 16th century because the Protestants agreed that Jesus did give the authority to his representatives to bind on Earth to bind on heaven and to pronounce God's forgiveness for those who repented their sins we do that in Protestant churches 25:50 Speaker A all the time in the a promise of of the Assurance of Pardon for all of those who confess their sins where the problem came in was in the next point after Absolution came works of satisfaction which works of 26:13 Speaker A satisfaction are necessary to perform to be restored again to a state of grace so now you see you have to have faith plus what works these works are called works of satisfaction because they satisfy the demands of God's 26:40 Speaker A justice which justice has been violated when you commit a mortal sin now also Rome gives careful definition to how these works of Satisfaction by the way works of satisfaction at the time of the six Century included minor little things like saying so many our 27:05 Speaker A fathers say many Hail Mar's or giving alms through the giving of alms you can receive indulgences and a restoration to justification that's how it all started in Germany with the sale of indulgences and so on which practice continues to 27:25 Speaker A this very day go to Rome go to the uh uh the Church of the Lan and you see the sacred stairs there and the sign on the door that tells you how many uh indulgences you can gain by going up the 27:41 Speaker A stairs on your knees and saying so many our fathers on each step and so on but in any case these works of satisfaction were said to give the penitent sinner uh a kind of Merit which is called by the Roman 28:04 Speaker A Catholic Church congruous Merit now this is important because Rome makes an extremely important distinction between what they call conine c n d GN Merit and congruous Merit meritum de condo meritum day congr conine Merit is Merit that is so 28:27 Speaker A high so significant that it requires a reward from a just and righteous God congruous Merit is true Merit but not as high as Condy Merit and congruous Merit means that if you gain this congruous Merit through works of satisfaction it 28:56 Speaker A is now fitting or congruous for God to restore you into a state of justification do you get it it's not that he has to restore you to a state state of grace but it would be in congruous for him not to it would not be 29:14 Speaker A fitting of God to keep you from justification after you've done your works of satisfaction so you see you have faith plus Works necessary Grace you can't get the congruous Merit without Grace Grace is there but it's not grace alone it's 29:37 Speaker A Grace plus Merit now perhaps the biggest issue came with the next Point Rome points out that God never will ever declare a person just now listen to this until or unless righteousness inheres in the person the Latin is 30:06 Speaker A inherence in the succession God will never say that you're just until learn less you are just now you can't become inherently righteous without faith you can't become inherently righteous without Grace you can't become inherently righteous without the help of 30:29 Speaker A Christ but with the aid of faith and Grace and Christ you can become inherently righteous and if you want to be justified you must become inherently righteous and if you die while you're in the state of inherent righteousness you will go to heaven you 30:55 Speaker A won't pass go you won't collect your $200 you'll go straight to Heaven because God will at that point declare you just because when he looks at you he sees that you really are just just as my friend here 31:16 Speaker A is this was the heart of the issue because if you have one imperfection on your soul one padillo on your record no mortal sin you're faithful in church go to church all the time go to mass every day 31:38 Speaker A of the week you do good works you do all these things go to confession if you commit aortal sin all these things but you die with one imperfection on your soul you will not go to heaven then before you can go to heaven you 31:55 Speaker A first have to go to the purging place to have any impurities that remain in your soul when you die purified before you can go to heaven okay now that in the nutshell is The Gospel According to Rome to me it's 32:12 Speaker A the worst news I've ever heard if I have to be inherently righteous before I go to heaven then I have to write another book called not a chance I'm I'm going to sleep in Tom morning morning because that's not good 32:30 Speaker A news that's horrible news the great news of the Gospel of the Bible and of justification by faith alone is that I am declared righteous by God the moment I put my trust in Christ because when I put my faith in Jesus God 32:53 Speaker A assigns transfers or imputes the perfect righteousness of Jesus to my account you get that now is that good news or what that is that the basis the ground of my justification is not my righteousness no matter how I gain 33:25 Speaker A it but it is Luther said was an alien righteousness a righteousness that is extranos not inherent but outside of us it's somebody else's righteousness just as Jesus died for me because my sin was transferred to him it was imputed to 33:48 Speaker A him and then also his righteousness is imputed to me and the sole instrument by which I am linked to Christ and the benefits of his atonement and of his righteousness is Faith now it doesn't mean that we believe that we can be justified by a 34:09 Speaker A faith that has no fruit Luther says we are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone this is what St James was saying if you say you have faith and you have no works you don't have saving Faith 34:27 Speaker A because saving faith will always manifest itself in a changed life in the fruit of righteousness but that righteousness that is the fruit of faith is never the grounds of my justification it's never good enough to satisfy the perfect Holiness of God the 34:48 Speaker A only righteousness that is good enough to get me into the kingdom of God and you into the kingdom of God is Jesus and Jesus alone that's why the church can't save me the sacraments can't save me my good 35:02 Speaker A deeds can't save me my Penance can't save me only Christ can save me and he truly will save me if I put my trust in him and in him alone and what Paul is saying to the judaizers in the galatian community is 35:21 Speaker A they did the very thing that Rome did they wanted to mix works with faith they wanted the people think that they had to do their righteous deeds in order to be saved through the works of the law even after the Apostle had written 35:38 Speaker A so plainly by The Works of the law shall no flesh be justified therefore we are justified by faith and being justified by faith we don't just look forward to having peace with God when we get to heaven we have peace with God right 36:02 Speaker A now right now we're in a state of reconciliation the moment we put our faith in Christ our sins are forgiven we're adopted into the family of God I don't have to go through Purgatory to receive those things I receive them the 36:18 Speaker A moment I receive Christ and embrace him and trust in him and him alone do you see the difference between the two I would despair really if I had to be without imperfections before I could go to heaven I don't know how long 36:36 Speaker A I would have to go through Purgatory at least two million years because if I would die tonight I would take to my grave more than a slight padella more than a minute imperfection you know and if God would 36:53 Speaker A look at me apart from being clothed in the righteousness of Christ if he would look at me and my naked Humanity of who I am I would have no hope of being justified now Rome categorically reject the idea of the imputed righteousness of 37:11 Speaker A Jesus and here's the crazy part about it on the one hand they deny the imputation of the righteousness of Christ to the believer saying that the Protestant Doctrine involves God in a legal fiction God counting somebody righteous when in 37:28 Speaker A in fact they're not just as God counted Abraham as righteous when he believed God as in Genesis 15 as Paul labors in the Book of Romans that Abraham the father of the faithful didn't have to wait till he 37:45 Speaker A became actually righteous but rather the moment he believed God counted him as righteous before he did any works this is what again Paul labors that point in the gospel but what difference does it make having an hell that's what difference it makes 38:10 Speaker A because if I'm trusting in my works that much I have something in which to boast I've missed the gospel I've missed Christ it's a justification by faith alone means justification by trust in Christ alone and I said what's weird 38:34 Speaker A about this is that there's another kind of Merit there is supererogatory Merit merits of super arrogation not super irrigation where they're all wet but super arrogation works of super arrogation are defined by Rome as works so meritorious that they're above and 38:55 Speaker A beyond the Call of Duty and there were a handful of saints who've been canonized and beatified throughout church history who died with such a high level of righteousness that they had a surplus of Merit more than they needed people like 39:14 Speaker A St Francis of aisi St Augustine the Virgin Mary the holy family had enough not only enough merits of their own to go into heaven but they had excess Merit now where does that Merit go you don't know in the bank what 39:37 Speaker A bank into the treasury of merits the treasury of Merit which is that treasury that the pope has the key to the kingdom and he has the key to that treasury where all this these works of super irrigation are deposited 39:58 Speaker A along with the Merit of Jesus so the treasury of Merit contains both the Merit of Jesus and the Merit of his mother and the Merit of St Thomas aquinus and the Merit of the rest of these saints that I've 40:15 Speaker A mentioned and so what's so important about the treasury of Merit well this is how the indulgences worked if you wanted to get an Indulgence and you gave arms to the building of St Peter the giving of those arms was worth so 40:32 Speaker A much indulgences from the church and in the Indulgence the church takes from the treasury of merits merits that are there and give them to you I can't imagine any way they can do it except by imputation they don't believe in the 40:51 Speaker A imputation the Merit of Jesus for our salvation but they'll take the imputation of the merits of the Saints if that isn't a ghastly perversion of the New Testament I don't know what is and the Apostle Paul said hey if 41:08 Speaker A anybody preaches to you any other gospel than that which you have received even if it's an angel from heaven if an angel comes in here and says wait a minute you can't get to Heaven by trusting Christ and Christ 41:26 Speaker A alone and having the reputation of his Merit and the angel came here and said for you to really be justified you have to have inherent righteousness you have to add Works to Faith Merit to Grace you to Christ if an angel from heaven came in 41:42 Speaker A here and said that this afternoon I would take him by the seat of his Celestial pants and kick him out of here Paul says if anybody teaches you any other gospel even if it's an angel from heaven let him be on 42:00 Speaker A a let him be anathema let him be damned and then Paul goes on to say if you didn't get it the first time let me say it again if anyone the Pope the bishop your priest your preacher teaches any other 42:21 Speaker A gospel then that which you has re received let him be an NA me because there is no other gospel and I'm interested because I can remember when I got involved in this uh debate back at the time of ECT and was 42:38 Speaker A losing friends faster than I could shake a stick at them and people saying you're dividing the church and all that same same kind of thing they said to joh MacArthur and I was alone one night and I went into church and I opened up this 42:53 Speaker A passage to Galatians and I had always stopped at verse 9 if any we said before so I said again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than that which you've received let him be a curse and I would stop 43:08 Speaker A there this time I went to verse 10 for do I now persuade men or God do I seek to please men for if I still pleased men I would not be a slave of Jesus Christ here is where when the gospel's 43:35 Speaker A at stake as Luther said in his great hymn A Mighty Fortress in the last verse let good and Kindred go this Mortal life also if we have to let go of our family let go of our friends let go of our 44:00 Speaker A church let go of our lives so be it otherwise we seek to please men rather than to please God and God has saved us with a gospel that is really a magnificent gospel a marvelous gospel and if I trade that in or NE 44:27 Speaker A negotiate it and say to people who affirm the Council of Trent this other gospel that I have a Unity of faith in the gospel with them what have I done I'll give up my relationship to any leader in christom over this 44:51 Speaker A Doctrine I'll split my family over this Doctrine split the church over this Doctrine this is the gospel if the Lord marks iniquity who shall stand well guess what he does Mark iniquity and blessed is the man to whom 45:08 Speaker A the Lord does not impute Sin from the Garden of Eden the first way justification entered the world was how God saved Adam and Eve by covering their nakedness by hiding their sin the whole system of atonement in the Old 45:30 Speaker A Testament when the blood came into the holy of holies and was sprinkled on The Mercy Seat it was to cover the sin of the people that's what the cloak of the righteousness of Christ does for all who put their trust in 45:47 Speaker A him his righteousness is my covering and that's how I can stand before a holy God again if I have to wait until through the minations of the church and the sacraments and all the rest on Purgatory make me 46:10 Speaker A pure before I can be justified I'm going to sleep in tomorrow morning because without solid you're without the gospel and without the gospel you're without hope but thanks be to God who gives us the Glorious Gospel of justification 46:33 Speaker A through trusting in the work of Jesus and the work of Jesus alone who alone is not only able but willing to save all who put their faith in him let's pray father help us not to be contentious or 47:00 Speaker A obnoxious or belligerent but also help us not to be acquiescent when the gospel is at stake help us to be willing to lose all to save that gospel for it is your gospel it is your good news not ours it is good news from you 47:25 Speaker A it is good news for us and to us thank you for the Merit of Jesus and his perfect righteousness thank you for Jesus who alone had righteousness that was inherent in him and for taking of that righteousness and using it as the ground 47:47 Speaker A of our own justification we have no other Hope Oh Lord except the imputation of his righteousness for our salvation but but with that hope we are not ashamed amen Topics: R.C. Sproul justification by faith alone sola fide evangelicalism Protestant Reformation sola scriptura Roman Catholicism Lordship Salvation controversy biblical criticism Ligonier Ministries Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=77800) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=77800) Free, made by AI from this transcript. No signup. --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/rc-sproul-justification-faith-alone/ — the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). Reuse and quotation are allowed with attribution and a link back. Machine-readable index: https://sozai.app/llms.txt · data API: https://sozai.app/api/