by John H. Gerstner

Augustus Hopkins Strong used the analogy of the coupling that joins a train of railroad cars to a locomotive. The coupling has no power in itself; it cannot move a single car one inch. All the power is in the locomotive; but the coupling is the line by which the power of the locomotive is transmitted to the cars. Faith has no power in itself; it is not a ground of salvation; it is not a good work. It is merely that by which all the goodness, grace, and glory of Christ comes to the sinner.

How emphatically Romans 4:5 states this central truth of the Bible: "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." From this one verse we learn that:

• The justified person is one who does not work for it.
• He believes rather than does.
• He is ungodly when justified, rather than godly, or one who has something to his credit.
• It is his faith, not his deeds, that is the instrument of his justification.
• His justification is counted or reckoned to him rather than awarded him on the basis of merit.

If it were possible to state the gratuitousness of justification more clearly than this, I doubt if even divine inspiration could find the words. Five separate expressions in one part of a sentence setting forth the absolute freeness of salvation leave no room to doubt that the way to God is wide open. There is nothing standing between the sinner and his God. He has immediate and unimpeded access to the Savior. There is nothing to hinder him. No sin can hold him back because God offers justification to the ungodly. Nothing now stands between the sinner and God but the sinner's "good works." Nothing can keep him from Christ but his delusion that he does not need Him, that he has good works of his own that can satisfy God.

If men will only be convinced that they have no righteousness that is not like filthy rags; if men will see that there is no one who does good, not even one; if men will see that they are all shut up under sin--then there will be nothing to prevent their everlasting salvation. All they need is their need. All they must have is nothing. All that is required is acknowledgment of guilt. Just confess your sins and repent of them. But, alas, sinners cannot part with their so-called "virtues." They have none that are not imaginary, but they are very real to them. So grace becomes unreal. The real grace of God they spurn in order to hold on to their own illusory virtues. Their eyes are fixed on a mirage, so they will not drink real water. They die of thirst with water all around them.

Why do men not accept the gospel? How can they refuse the tender overtures of the gracious Son of God? Why do they even take offense at the cross? Let us consider an analogy. An etiquette book is a very valuable accessory. It is useful on many important occasions. A good one costs considerable money. Who would not be glad to have one if it were given to him?

You wouldn't? Why wouldn't you be glad to be given a book on etiquette? Because it would imply that you needed it! And that is the reason proud sinners do not come to Christ! Their coming would imply that they needed Him. They are too proud and self-righteous in their natural state to admit that!

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This is part eighteen of John H. Gerstner's small book entitled Theology for Everyman, originally published in 1965 (Moody Press, Chicago). That book was subsequently republished by Soli Deo Gloria in 1991. It has since fallen out of print and we thought it would be good to revisit this book here on the blog. Over the next couple of months, we'll work our way through the book. Here is where we've been so far: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5.