“5 benefits of Going to Church” - Heath Mooneyham in Joplin, Mo

From the Sermon Series: Why Church? 

“5 benefits of Going to Church” from, what I can only assume is either a non-Christian pastor or at least a person unfit to be a pastor, Heath Mooneyham in Joplin, Mo. Who is without a doubt the WORST preacher/pastor I have ever heard in my life…and I study Church History so I regularly listen to & read Theological liberals, Emergents & full on Heretics as well as Classic & Modern scholars, preachers & pastors regularly.

And don’t worry its nothing boring like to learn about Repentance or the Forgiveness of Sins or Eternal life or God’s Word, to learn Discipleship, join in corporate Worship, or to receive Baptism or the Lord’s Supper or hear about Christ & Him crucified for our sins or boring old Namby-Pamby stuff like that….No, no, no. This is sure to please a “What’s in it for me” generation.

            1          A lower risk of Depression – supposedly 22% less likely

            2          Better Life & Time Management  

            3          Better Grades & Higher Education prospects – for kids, better at Math & Reading

            4          Significantly lower risk of DEATH & longer life expectancy

            **5       Better Sex Lives – Church going Women get significantly higher rates of AWESOMENESS during Sex 

(**Heath’s favorite)

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for more on Pastor Heath find him online…like at Fighting for the Faith or here:

Pastor of 'America's manliest church' which once gave away assault rifles to members steps down after being busted for DWI

• Heath Mooneyham relinquished control of Ignite Church on Sunday after saying in a statement that he had 'let his family down'
• He will undergo alcohol treatment after failing a breathalyzer on September 16 in Joplin, Missouri while driving home from a bar 
• Mooneyham, a heavily-tattooed 36-year-old, launched his church in 2008 from his home and has grown membership to 800 followers
• He has given away guns to get people through the doors and has a sermon series titled 'Grow A Pair'

By Louise Boyle for MailOnline

Published: 11:57 EST, 23 September 2014

Sola Fide Sunday:

Sola Fide Sunday:

Last week we spent a lot of time looking at the Works-less-ness of Sola Gratia & a few verses that expressly stated that.

But this week we're looking at a doctrine that Luther himself declared was the doctrine on which the Universal Church of Christ stands or falls. Sola Fide or Justification by Faith which ties the other Solas together. The way this is commonly described is that our standing before God is entirely dependent on God's Grace (Sola Gratia) & His mercy, and Christ's work done for you (Solus Christus) and that Salvation is not something you earn for yourself & is instead on account of the merit of Christ. The question becomes then how is this merit of Christ applied to you the individual? Answer: Sola Fide.  

As Scripture says: Christ is the Vine and we are his branches John 15:5, and when we are connected by Faith Alone to him, we enjoy as Eph 1:3 says “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” therefore ALL works in the Christian life are the FRUIT (or result) of our Salvation, not the CAUSE of our Salvation.

However for a RCC member, Catholics continually apply the merits of Mary, the Saints & Christ to themselves which are issued by the activity of the priesthood via Masses, baptism, penance & even doing the sign of the cross. So in practice human salvation is entirely linked to the organized institution of the official RCC & to human works & earning or meriting Salvation

The RCC’s understanding of the church is tied to their idea of Gospel & the ritual activity of the priesthood which denies the completeness of Christ’s work done on the cross.  In my eyes (personally) it would be a sin to even attend a Mass as each Mass or more specifically the Eucharist is a re-sacrifice of Christ denying the once & for all completeness of the Atonement.

Faith Alone = means only faith & like Sola Gratia excludes good works as necessary for salvation, Sola Fide is the teaching that Justification (or being declared just or righteous by God) is received by faith and that that faith is only in the completed works of Christ done for you, without any mixture of good works.

Some Protestants summarize the relationship between faith & works thus: “Faith yields justification & good works” where the RCC says, “No; faith & good works yield justification.”

**The RCC’s main argument against Sola Fide is James 2:14-17, let’s read that. Tell me what you think its saying?

My personal impression is James is talking about one justifying oneself horizontally before men not vertically before God. Because, I cannot “see” your genuine repentance & faith & conversion BUT I can see the results of one’s true conversion in some of their actions. 

Everyone has faith in something: themselves or others or oblivion but what God does is continually destroys any self-righteousness or self-reliant faith & replaces it with more & more holy respect & worship for Christ & trust in His work done for us.

The def. of Justification for Protestants means to be “declared righteous” a definitive event & for RCC Justification means being “made righteous” which is conditional journey & a process.  

Let’s review some verses - Romans 5:1-2, Eph 2:-9, John 3:16-18

Read Romans 5:1-2

We read some of Romans 4 last week & Paul’s example of Abraham which said Abraham was saved by faith before he’d done the “good work/obedience of circumcision” (some people would substitute baptism in here as well) in order to show us that we also are saved by faith before any good works we do that we might recognize that Salvation is a gift of grace & not a reward due us because of obedience.

How do we receive Justification?       Faith

And Peace with God?             Faith

And Grace?     Faith

On account of who’s works; ours or Christs?            Christ’s

Eph 2:1-10

Who made us alive together with Christ?       God

By what have you been saved?       Grace

Through what means?            Faith

Vs. 8 & this Salvation by grace through faith is not a result of your worth or works but God’s mercy.

Now that that is settled should we do NO good works? No, why?

The point of God saving us by grace, through faith is so that we will do good works but I think it’s in order to curb our sinful motivation to do good in order to earn rewards & replace it with doing good because of thankfulness to God & genuine love for others.

Read John 3:16-18

Why are only some saved?   Only some believe

What was God’s action?        Sent Son

Why did God act?       Love

What is our response to this action?              Believe & love in turn

All Reformers unite in declaring– We are justified by Faith Alone, which lies ahold of the Alien righteousness of Christ that God freely credits to the account of the believers.

Protestant faith includes 3 aspects: 1 knowledge of Christ & what he’s done, belief that that is True, Historically, Factually & finally that it was done FOR YOU, this is Salvific faith!

Sola fide and the Early Church Fathers

Sola fide and the Early Church Fathers

·       There are several Church Fathers whom Protestant apologists believe taught the doctrine of Sola Fide. Here are some of them:

·       Clement of Rome (c. 30-100) - “And we [Christians], too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”^[37]

·       Justin Martyr (d. 165) - in his Dialogue with Trypho: “No longer by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer . . . are sins purged, but by faith, through the blood of Christ and his death, who died on this very account.”^[38]

·       Didymus the Blind (c. 313-398) - “…a person is saved by grace, not by works but by faith. There should be no doubt but that faith saves and then lives by doing its own works, so that the works which are added to salvation by faith are not those of the law but a different kind of thing altogether.”^[39]

·       Hilary of Poitiers (c 315-67) on Matthew 20:7 - “Wages cannot be considered as a gift, because they are due to work, but God has given free grace to all men by the justification of faith.”^[40]

·       Basil of Caesarea (329-379) - “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord, that Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, redemption. This is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is (or has been) justified solely by faith in Christ.”^[41]

·       Ambrose (c. 339-97)- “Therefore let no one boast of his works, because no one can be justified by his works; but he who is just receives it as a gift, because he is justified by the washing of regeneration. It is faith, therefore, which delivers us by the blood of Christ, because blessed is he whose sins are forgiven, and to whom pardon is granted.”^[42]

·       Jerome (347-420) on Romans 10:3 - “God justifies by faith alone.” (Deus ex sola fide justificat).^[43]

·       Chrysostom (349-407) - For Scripture says that faith has saved us. Put better: Since God willed it, faith has saved us. Now in what case, tell me, does faith save without itself doing anything at all? Faith’s workings themselves are a gift of God, lest anyone should boast. What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and benevolence of God may become apparent.^[44]

·       Augustine (354-430) - If Abraham was not justified by works, how was he justified? … Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:3; Gen. 15:6). Abraham, then, was justified by faith. Paul and James do not contradict each other: good works follow justification.

·       Augustine (354-430) - Although it can be said that God’s commandments pertain to faith alone, if it is not dead [faith], but rather understood as that live faith, which works through love.^[27][28]

·       Augustine (354-430)- “When someone believes in him who justifies the impious, that faith is reckoned as justice to the believer, as David too declares that person blessed whom God has accepted and endowed with righteousness, independently of any righteous actions (Rom 4:5-6). What righteousness is this? The righteousness of faith, preceded by no good works, but with good works as its consequence.”^[45]

·       Ambrosiaster (4th century), on Rom. 3:24 - “They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God.”

·       Cyril of Alexandria (412-444) - For we are justified by faith, not by works of the law, as Scripture says (Gal. 2:16). By faith in whom, then, are we justified? Is it not in him who suffered death according to the flesh for our sake? Is it not in one Lord Jesus Christ?^[46]

·       Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) - Therefore the hope of justification is not found in them [the moral and ceremonial requirements of the law], but in faith alone, Rom 3:28: We consider a human being to be justified by faith, without the works of the law.^[27][28]

Sola Gratia – Sunday School (5 Solas)

Sola Gratia –

Through the last several weeks we’ve seen that the RCC taught that we are saved through a combination of God’s grace & the merits that we accumulate through penance & good works, & the superfluity (excessively large amount) of merits that the saints before us had already accumulated that we can earn or purchase. The Reformation’s response, “Sola gratia.”

Sola Gratia means “only grace” & it excludes the merit done by a person to achieve salvation. SG is the teaching that Salvation comes from divine grace or “unmerited favor” only, not as something merited by the sinner. This means Salvation is an unearned gift from God for Jesus’ sake.

SG-Q#1- CH Spurgeon, All of Grace – “I think it well to turn a little to one side that I may ask my reader to observe adoringly the fountain-head of our salvation, which is the Grace of God. ‘By grace are you saved.’ Because God is gracious, therefore sinful men are forgiven, converted, purified & saved. It is not because of any thing in them or that ever can be in them, that they are saved; but because of the boundless love, goodness, pity, compassion, mercy, and grace of God. Tarry a moment, then, at the well-head. Behold the pure river of water of life, as it proceeds out of the throne of God & of the Lamb! What an abyss is the grace of God! Who can measure its breath? Who can fathom its depth? Like all the rest of the divine attributes, it is infinite.”

A central cry of the Protestant Reformation was Salvation by Grace. Though the RCC taught that the Mass is a “sacrifice [which] is truly propitiatory” meaning attending mass merited a good work – the Reformers returned to the Biblical doctrine of Salvation by Grace through faith. That our Righteous standing before God is imputed to us by grace because of the work of Christ Jesus our Lord. In contrast to the doctrines of self-merit taught by Rome, Sola Gratia & the accompanying Doctrines of Grace were preached by all the Reformers throughout the Protestant movement.

SG-Q#2 - As the Baptist Confession of 1689 says, “Christ, by HIS obedience & death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in their behalf;….their justification is only of Free Grace, that both the exact justice & rich grace of God might be glorified in the Justification of sinners.

**Stress** In denying Solus Christus or Christ Alone, RCC has to deny Sola Gratia & Sola Fide. The RCC still claims to believe in salvation by grace alone, if we accept their idea of grace. For them, grace is a spiritual blessing that Christ won which we continually apply to ourselves in Masses, penance & good works in our pilgrimage toward Salvation. So Salvation is a destination to obtain or get to for RCC & for Protestants it’s a definitive decision by God to declare a sinner “acceptable” in his presence. 

**Stress** If Christ’s work on the Cross IS complete (meaning we don’t have to earn it as he’s already earned it), then salvation MUST be a gift of God’s grace because he gives it free of charge. The inclusion of human works as a necessary requirement for Salvation is a denial of God’s grace. ML makes a big deal of this fact in his Commentary on the book of Galatians, where Paul is so white hot with anger that the Judaizers are putting his church back under the bondage of obedience to the Law that he calling down damnations on them & saying they’ve been lead astray by “another” gospel.

Why does God do it? God in showing mercy, grace, kindness – for his glory

Where does ‘faith’ come from? Faith is the tow rope of salvation

Sola Gratia – Quote #3 - Here are some great words from Luther on salvation by grace alone.  These quotes are from a sermon on Titus 3:4-8 and can be found in volume 3 of Baker’s 7-volume set of Luther’s sermons (edited by J. N. Lenker and others).
 “So he [Paul in Titus 3:5-7] discards all boasted free will, all human virtue, righteousness, and good works.  He concludes that they are all nothing and are wholly perverted, however brilliant and worthy they may appear, and teaches that we must be saved solely by the grace of God, which is effective for all believers who desire it from a correct conception of their own ruin and nothingness…He who does not receive salvation purely through grace, independently of all good works, certainly will never secure it…Truly, then, we are saved by grace alone, without works or other merit.”

Why Sola Gratia is important?

2 weeks ago we spent the whole hour exalting or lifting up Christ to a pre-eminent place of glory. Sola Gratia does that as well because behind all of the “we are NOT saved by works” rhetoric is a secret; we really are completely saved by works! The difference between Protestants & the RCC is that we are trusting solely in the fact that Christ’s many works are applied (or imputed) to us via faith in his holy life lived & atoning sacrifice for us on the cross.

Just like Paul said in the Romans 4 passage we studied at the beginning of class, which says, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” We cling to this works-less gifted righteousness applied by faith like barnacles cling desperately to boat-bottoms & mollusks cling to whales! They hang on for dear life. That is the way we cling to the Christ & the Cross, that is how he is exalted.

Sola Gratia Quotes

Sola Gratia-Quote #1- CH Spurgeon, All of Grace – “I think it well to turn a little to one side that I may ask my reader to observe adoringly the fountain-head of our salvation, which is the Grace of God. ‘By grace are you saved.’ Because God is gracious, therefore sinful men are forgiven, converted, purified & saved. It is not because of any thing in them or that ever can be in them, that they are saved; but because of the boundless love, goodness, pity, compassion, mercy, and grace of God. Tarry a moment, then, at the well-head. Behold the pure river of water of life, as it proceeds out of the throne of God & of the Lamb! What an abyss is the grace of God! Who can measure its breath? Who can fathom its depth? Like all the rest of the divine attributes, it is infinite.”

Sola Gratia-Quote #2 - As the Baptist Confession of 1689 says, “Christ, by HIS obedience & death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in their behalf;….their justification is only of Free Grace, that both the exact justice & rich grace of God might be glorified in the Justification of sinners.

Sola Gratia – Quote #3 - Here are some great words from Luther on salvation by grace alone.  These quotes are from a sermon on Titus 3:4-8 and can be found in volume 3 of Baker’s 7-volume set of Luther’s sermons (edited by J. N. Lenker and others).

 “So he [Paul in Titus 3:5-7] discards all boasted free will, all human virtue, righteousness, and good works.  He concludes that they are all nothing and are wholly perverted, however brilliant and worthy they may appear, and teaches that we must be saved solely by the grace of God, which is effective for all believers who desire it from a correct conception of their own ruin and nothingness…He who does not receive salvation purely through grace, independently of all good works, certainly will never secure it…Truly, then, we are saved by grace alone, without works or other merit.”

SS ?'s & verses on Sola Gratia

Titus 3

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. ⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ⁸ The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

What does this passage teach us about ourselves?

About God?

And about Christ?

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Eph 2

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^{[b] 4} But^[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

What contrasts between us & God can you find in this passage?

What does God do (look for verbs)?

What is God’s motivation to save?

What does the passage state that he saved us for?

Where does ‘faith’ come from?

Romans 4

What then shall we say was gained by^[a] Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but believes in^[b] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
⁸ blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

⁹ Is this blessing then only for the circumcised (Jews), or also for the uncircumcised (Gentiles)? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised (obeyed)? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ¹¹ He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised (justified even before he’d obeyed).

What does this passage tell us about Salvation (by works or not by works)? Does it come before or after obedience?

Why does Paul say Salvation is not by works? To prevent what?

What word does Paul use to describe someone whose owed Salvation because of works? Their Salvation is not a gift but a ….what?

Sola Scriptura outline (Daniel Brueske)

Sola Scriptura

·      What it means

o   Sola

§  only infallible authority for Christian teaching

§  Scripture is sufficient for Christian teaching

o   Scriptura

§  Canon

·      OT

·      NT

·      Apocrypha (Deutero-canonical)

§  Inspiration

·      2 Tim. 3:16-17

·      2 Pet. 1:19-21

§  Inerrancy/Infallibility

·      Chicago Statement

·      5 Views

o   Sola Scriptura means:

§  The Scriptures are the only infallible authority for Christian teaching.

·      What it doesn’t mean

o   There is no truth outside of Scripture

o   Tradition doesn’t matter

o   God cannot speak to his people today

o   The Holy Spirit does not guide us today

o   Me and my Bible under a tree

§  “Luther said of individualistic approaches to the Bible, "That would mean that each man would go to hell in his own way."” – Horton on Luther

o   Sola Scriptura applies at all times

·      Objections

o   We need an interpreter

§  Roman Catholics still have to interpret the doctrines established by the Catholic church

o   It leads to divisions

§  The unity within Roman Catholicism is largely superficial.  Not only are there many different communions, but Rome rarely excommunicates those who disagree with official Roman Catholic teaching.  The authority of tradition and the “magisterium” do not eliminate this problem.

§  When two people who hold to Sola Scriptura disagree, they may disagree, but they also appeal to the same authority.  And if they are consistent, they will change their mind when one is able to successfully defend their interpretation as the proper one.

o   It’s not taught in Scripture

§  Sola Scriptura is a logical deduction from the principle of inspiration:

·      We should not assume anything is infallible unless it comes directly from God, who is infallible, or unless God has said it is infallible.

·      Scripture is either fallible or infallible.

·      Scripture claims that it is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:15)

·      Scripture claims that it comes directly from God (1 Pet. 1:19-21)

·      Either these claims are true or they are not.  If they are true, then the Bible is infallible.  If they are not true, then the Bible is fallible.

·      If the Bible is infallible, then

·      Why it’s important

Why Scriptura?

Because it’s God-breathed

Why Sola?

Because nothing else is

Memes:

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