If you are not clean on the inside, your outside will never be clean, despite regular religious washings. Outward ceremonies do not cleanse the person who is unclean within.
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Luther wrote: "We do not deny that Christians ought to imitate the example of Christ; but mere imitation will not satisfy God."
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"To bless simply means to spread abroad the knowledge of Christ’s salvation. This is the office of the New Testament Church..."
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We must hear God's promised with some common sense, which would inform us that giving from the heart means one expects to gain nothing from the gift.
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The blessing is the promise of the Gospel. All nations are to be declared righteous before God through faith in Christ Jesus.
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Passages, when considered in context, frequently produce their own interpretation. This is the simplest way that Scripture may interpret Scripture.
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Religion knows no end of satisfactions that must still be made. Faith knows and relies on the cross of Christ alone. That is the all and everything.
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Our works are not good works, as they do not please God unless they are done in faith. They are not good works, no matter how fine they may seem to us.
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Faith in God’s Christ robes us for heaven while dressing us for action on earth. As Ambrose said, “Faith is the mother of a good will and doing what is right."
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Because Christ is the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, those living under the New Covenant are to offer sacrifices of praise to God.
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We esteem Abraham because he had faith in the Christ who would come 14 generations later. We do not regard him because he created a religion.
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The Father sent his Son into the world to save sinners from sin and death. When people have faith in his sacrifice for their sin, they are saved, justified, reborn.
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Our faith in his Word, which is the promise of his very self, is what upholds us until there is no time to measure — and will uphold us forever.
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The great mystery of the ages has been revealed in Jesus Christ who has redeemed all people from sin and death through faith in his atoning work.
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The promise of forgiveness is bound to repentance. They are inseparable. “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.”
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If Abraham’s works did not justify him to God, then how could any follower of Father Abraham be justified by his works? They cannot, nor can we.
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God, the loving Father, sent his only Son, the Light of the World, into this dark world. He insists that we have faith in him. Nothing else will do.
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The greatest idolatry is when the “conscience ... seeks help, comfort, and salvation in its own works and presumes to wrest heaven from God.
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Abraham’s faith being reckoned to him as righteousness must be the same faith that justifies us also to God for there is “one faith” by which we all are saved.
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Our religious, old man wants to know what good deed he still lacks so that he may earn eternal life, as he will always sense he lacks some fine deed.
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The preaching of the law must have its rightful place among us. The law sets necessary boundaries in society so that we may enjoy a measure of order and civility.
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The faith of Abraham was directed to the Messiah who was to come, while ours rests in the Christ who has already come and is coming again with great power and glory.
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You may work all day and night, trying to prove yourself worthy to God, only to discover at the break of day that you do not believe he finds you worthy.
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Faith believes God when he makes the promise of eternal life, without knowing the particulars, just as Abraham believed God for the seed of blessing.
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Consider this teaching from the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive, and you will be forgiven. The first part in this doctrine demands amendment of life and good works, while the second part adds the promise.
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Local LCMC and NALC pastors are invited to bring their families to be our guests for traditional German fare.
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Cheats like Jacob may become children of Abraham — because they have faith in the promise. And that is good news for the likes of you and me.
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The physical offspring of Abraham are born in sin into wrath and condemnation but the spiritual offspring to pardon and heaven.
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Nowhere does the gospel require works or the earning of God’s freely-given grace. How could it be considered grace if it had to be earned?
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"Paul’s argumentation runs... 'Since this is the unmistakable testimony of Holy Writ, why do you take your stand upon circumcision and the law?'"
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When we come to our senses and trust in God through Christ, our sins will be forgiven and forgotten. There will be healing for our offenses.
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We are not protected from eternal wrath and damnation by doing a blessed thing. Like Abraham, we are justified to God by believing him.
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Even the prophets of old required faith because faith conveys the promises of God, for faith has us trust in the one making the promise.
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"This is the main point of Paul’s argument against the Jews: The children of Abraham are those who believe, not those who are born of Abraham’s flesh."
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The law makes us aware of when we fail to keep God’s ways, and creates in us a need of forgiveness. However, the law does not meet this need.
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Our sin-debt should cost us our lives but God forgives us and makes us new persons. He now expects his new people to live like citizens of his kingdom.
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Because sin lingers in us, and God hates sin, a transfusion of alien righteousness becomes vitally necessary. So, faith justify without works.
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God commands us by the prophets to do good yet makes it clear that righteousness does not come from the works worked, but from the Lord himself.
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Our Mediator has become our righteousness. Our deeds are not the final answer; our faith in Christ Jesus is what makes us just before God.
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"On one occasion Jesus said to His disciples: “The Father loveth you.” Why? Not because the disciples were Pharisees, or circumcised, or particularly attentive to the Law."
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"It is evident that we are not justified by the law. Why would there be need of Christ or the gospel if the preaching of the law alone would be sufficient?"
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Those justified through faith in Christ are expected to act righteously, but are not forgiven of their sins because they act in accordance with God’s will.
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Do not consult that quack doctor, Reason. Rely upon the heavenly Physician, Christ, who heals the broken-hearted and makes a joyful heart..
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Those who imagine they are becoming good enough for God are fooling themselves, and they know it with every pious effort they make at holiness.
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Any keeping of the law requires God’s help. Before we can ever keep the law in a way that God finds acceptable, we must have faith in Christ.
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"Faith is weak, but it means enough to God that He will not lay sin to our charge. He will not punish nor condemn us for it. He will forgive our sins..."
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We must first be accepted by God for Christ's sake. Works will not make God favorable toward us if he was not already gracious to us for the sake of Christ.
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"God 'winks' at my sins and covers them up. God says: 'Because you believe in my Son I will forgive your sins until death shall deliver you from the body of sin.'”
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Trees do not bear fruit because they have somehow decided to do so. They produce fruit because they were created for that purpose.
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Every good gift comes from the Father, even new birth in Christ. Salvation is a gift. Forgiveness of sins and justification are not things that can be earned.
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"Because the shadow of Christ’s wing covers me I have no fear that God will cover all my sins and take my imperfections for perfect righteousness."
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