This week's sermon focuses on justification by faith alone. It's a sermon maybe you've heard before; we are justified by grace through faith--a tale as old as time. But WHOSE faith are we saved by grace? Is it our personal faith or the faith OF Jesus Christ? What might seem like silly semantics actually proves to be quite big in terms of our understanding of the gospel. For if we begin to think that our faith is what justifies us, then we risk turning faith into work itself. The great news of the Gospel is that grace is a free gift given, not one that waits to see if you can muster up enough faith in order to bestow grace. Grace with strings attached is no grace at all. Our faith is the response of our justification through the faith OF Christ. OUR faith is not what justifies, it is all about Christ's. Our faith was never intended to act as a membership card or a birth certificate that displayed certain status. Christ's faith is the guarantor and fulfillment of God's promise and we are invited into that gift freely. Thanks be to God for a love like that.

This teaching was preached by Rachel Kennedy-Proctor at Knox Presbyterian Church in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, on the Sixth Sunday of Easter May 25th, 2025.

Associated Scripture: Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-21