Jesus said that whoever comes to him would never again hunger or thirst. Now that is satisfaction: to never be hungry or thirsty — and to never worry about being filled.
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Everything that we have comes from God. Both our physical and spiritual lives are gifts. Since all comes from God, why would we think righteousness and eternal life come from another source?
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It pleases God to answer our prayers when we pray according to his will. So, just as we are careful to ask that his “will be done” in heaven, we should be as concerned that God’s “will be done on earth.”
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Christian prayer must be founded upon both God’s promise and the merits of Christ. We may confidently approach God because he has promised to hear our prayers.
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God’s law and holiness demands perfect holiness from us. Sadly, we do not act so devoutly. The just punishment for our failure is death. Happily, God sent Christ to become our substitute.
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The rest that Jesus gives is rest despite the work, and further, regardless of the troubles of life. Jesus provides something more than physical rest; he gives spiritual rest, comfort, and peace.
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Jesus is teaching us to have confidence in God each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, saying “Our Father.” Who else addresses the Father than his children?
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More than 80 times in the Old and New Testaments, the prophets, apostles, and others indicate the importance of what has been written in the Bible as a test of truth.
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What we are really discussing here is God’s ability to keep his promises. Does he forgive and justify those who have faith in Christ? Or not? We confess that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and does so for Christ’s sake
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It is no accident that solus Christus (through Christ alone) was as central a slogan of the Reformation as sola fide (by faith alone). We have bold access to God through Christ alone.
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“The prayer of faith” is an important dimension in Lutheran Christianity. But like too many other Christians we may have developed a misunderstanding of the prayer of faith.
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One cannot invoke the saints of heaven with confident faith because the practice is based on human tradition instead of Scripture. It is based on the word of man, not upon the Word of God.
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If we teach as command, promise, or an example to be followed that which is not found in Scripture, we run the risk of heresy and worse, pulling others down with us.
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Why is there so much confusion about this matter, other than that Scripture is ignored, in favor of human traditions? The prayers of saints and angels do not compare to the prayers of Jesus.
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We have already noted two honors that we ought to give to the saints: thanksgiving and the strengthening of faith. Let us be clear what we mean by honor. The honor that we give to “sleeping” saints is not the veneration of their images or praying to them.
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Who could be more guilty of sin toward Christ and his Church than Saul of Tarsus, who would become better know as the Apostle Paul? Because of his persecution of Christians, Paul eventually considered himself to be the greatest of all sinners.
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To be sure, the Confession is not referring to the invocation of saints. Rather, like Paul, the Lutheran Reformers taught the churches to honor those who have been made holy and called saints because of their faith in Christ.
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Let us clarify our terms again. Saints are those who have been made holy by God’s grace; they are not those whom we have declared holy. Indeed, they are those whom God has declared holy for Christ’s sake.
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We receive salvation, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit because of God’s grace — not because we deserve these gifts or have earned them. There is no merit in keeping the law, since it cannot save us, even if we could keep it, which we cannot do at any rate.
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We do good works for three principal reasons. One, we are to bear good fruit so that God is glorified, and two, to prove that we are real disciples of Jesus. Doing good in Christ’s name not only shows others whom we follow, it also shows us that we are his disciples.
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The Holy Spirit calls us to faith through the Word, and thereby grants us eternal life. The promises of God have already been gifted through belief in the promise. To this we are to add the qualities of faith
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We confess that for salvation, nothing else needs to be added to faith in Christ, or what is also called belief. Much is said in the record of Scripture about doing good works but never so that one would be justified with God by doing those works.
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A promise has been made. All that remains is for us is to believe in God’s commitment to save us from sin. There is no need to do something in order to obtain his promise
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Anyone who earnestly reads the Bible will soon observe that the teaching that we obtain the forgiveness of sins by faith freely for Christ’s sake has its foundation everywhere in the Bible.
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When medicine cannot revive you, and doctors are of no use, and when death is imminent, your good works will give you no solace. You must have a reliable treatment for your condition when the despair of sin and death overwhelm you.
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We must hold the ground of the gospel and not give an inch. When the choice is between Scripture and tradition, the choice is clear even if it is sometimes difficult.
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The Father’s purpose in sending his Son into the world was so that the Christ would bear our sins. Nowhere has God’s plan been that we should bear our own iniquities.
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God, who is faithful and just, forgives us of all sins and cleanses us from unrighteousness. He alone is legally and ethically righteous and honorable to forgive. He is the just justifier.
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It is hard to believe. But it is true and must be believed. Christ came to save poor sinners — and he does not need our help. Our works are not the way; Christ is. Religion is not the truth; Christ is. Our devotion is not the life; Christ is.
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The gospel clearly teaches that people are forgiven for Christ’s sake. The Apostle Paul instructs us in no uncertain terms that we are not saved from sin and death because of our works.
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God did not establish a world where sin existed. He created all good things and all things good. He did not create evil. Nevertheless, it is within his will that we may sin — otherwise, we could do no evil.
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The young man in Matthew 19 had been keeping the commandments his whole life, or so he claimed, but still knew something was lacking. So he asked Jesus, “What good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?”
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Everyone is able to abide by the laws of the land, else the Scripture would not command us to do so. Furthermore, one may choose to obey the laws of the land or not.
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Faith is a gift from God; it is not something that we can conjure by reason or industry. Do you truly fear, love, and trust God? Then you have been regenerated or born again and faith is at work in you.
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A person who is not enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit — an “unspiritual” or “natural” person — does not, by natural reasoning or abilities, perceive or receive anything pertaining to God’s will and divine gifts.
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But when one comes to the understanding that he is a sinner, through and through, always has been, and always will be, that person may then have the hope of finally pleasing God.
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Without the Spirit, people walk along the natural course of the world. This is the path of sin and death. We cannot do otherwise; we cannot move toward God on our own.
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Without having ever taken a confirmation class, everybody knows that they should honor their parents. Do we need to understand that it is the sixth commandment in order to know we ought to be faithful to our spouses?
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Lutherans reject the Pelagians and others who teach that we are able to love God above all things and keep his commandments by the power of human nature alone, without the grace of the Holy Spirit.
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Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we confess that on the last day of the world, he will bring with him all who have died in the Lord to be with him forever.
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As God has established all civil authorities, he would have us pray for them—whether we like them or not. Christian love demands that we hold them before God in prayer.
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Because Jesus said, “Do not take an oath at all,” we may feel guilty when we do make contractual promises. The issue here is not what we sometimes think it is.
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It is dangerous to souls for us to concede that anything people do produces perfection. We are only made perfect by God through faith in Christ.
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It is God who makes us perfect. There is nothing we can do or not do, possess or not possess, that makes us perfect or complete in the eyes of God.
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If someone wrongs you, are you to take matters into your own hands, taking vengeance on the one who has wronged you? No; vengeance is the Lord’s.
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When the Lord says that vengeance is his, one way his retribution is felt is through our governments, the political kingdoms in which we live.
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The gospel does not give us new laws, nor does it call us to replace existing laws with the old Jewish law code. Instead, we are to obey the laws of the land while also living according to the rule of a higher kingdom, a spiritual kingdom.
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God is the final authority; all authority comes from him. Every governing power exists because of God. This is why Christians may serve in public office or be otherwise employed by governments.
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I was declined in a congregation’s consideration as a new pastor once, in part, because the church I was serving at the time did not use the Nicene Creed as much as the church in deliberation.
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What difference does it make if you eat so-called unclean foods? Will you go to hell because you ate some rabbit stew? Will God withhold his forgiveness because you had a pork chop?
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Start to read through the Bible in a year, and you will probably get behind at some point. Guilt will likely set in, especially if you do not catch up right away.
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It serves us well to discipline these human wills, bringing them in line with the will of God. This the very thing we ask so often, praying, “Thy will be done.”
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Paul exhorts the young pastor to devote himself to three practices in his ministry: being sure that the Scriptures are read in services of worship, and preaching and teaching the Word of God.
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The gospel of God’s grace through Christ was snubbed as something “Lutheran” in the 16th century. In the 21st century, other gospels persist in churches.
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Holy Communion is not a ritual that is to be performed as though it were a good work done by us. Communion is a means of grace, something done by God for us and for Christ’s sake.
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Toward the end of my pastorate in her church, I visited Lucy on a day when she seemed a little upset about something that she could not put into words.
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Jesus says, “Hear and understand.” This is important. A person’s righteousness is not earned in the keeping of traditions or rituals or doing good works.
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Do you have hope? If so, what is the reason for your hope? The Apostle Peter says that we should be ready to give a reliable reason for the hope that is in us.
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Christ alone has the authority to institute rites in the Church that justify, reconcile, and forgive. Why is it though, that the Church or its bishops cannot establish these ceremonies?
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If we are going to follow a command of God, let us keep this one: believe in his Son, Jesus Christ. For “this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”
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When one takes time for study of the Scripture, it is easily discovered that no one merits God’s favor, forgiveness, et cetera through these human traditions in the Church.
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How can there be a secure and sincere hope of glory when that hope is based in one’s own ability to perform? That would be to despair of glory. Our hope is based on a truer self than self.
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There is no need to enter a religious order to be righteous or lead a holy life. Christ makes husbands, wives, and parents as holy as priests.
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Human righteousness tends to look down its nose at those not religious in the same way. It is always watching to see what others are not doing so that it can compare all it does.
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I have enjoyed wearing the most comfortable jeans. But it seems that just a few months after I get them broken in, they wear out and I have to start all over. Who knows how many pairs of jeans I have worn out in my life?
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Maintaining rites for the sake of order in the Church is one thing. But to contend that these rites justify God is in opposition to the doctrine of the Apostles, and contrary to both the Old and New Testaments.
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We will surely sink, for our focus has become the wind of our opinions, instead of Christ. When this happens, even those things meant for good order will divide us.
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The face of Christianity is changing in many places. Things that were once considered true because they are the testimony of Scripture, are now cast aside in favor of personal and public opinion.
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Since rituals invented by people — instead of those instituted by God — have no testimony in the Word of God and no demand on his people, how could they have anything to do with real unity in the Church?
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Our own will — and willpower — has nothing to do with being part of the family or kingdom of God. We are reborn into the kingdom of Christ because of faith in the King of the kingdom.
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Our robes are washed and whitened — that is to say, we are cleansed from sin — through the blood of the Lamb. This is not done at the neighborhood laundromat; it must be believed.
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The highest service of God is to have faith in him. There is nothing you can do that is more precious to God than to trust him, believing his promises — to have faith, which is “more precious than gold.”
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“You can’t make this stuff up,” people sometimes say when they hear something incredible — like the guy who called 911 because he was locked in his car. You can’t make this stuff up.
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There is no clearer teaching in all of Scripture than that which teaches us how and why we receive grace. God’s grace is received by faith, and only for Christ’s sake.
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God does not start a process that we must then finish. The Father sent his Son to accomplish a mission, not to partially complete the task. That task was to save the world through faith in Christ.
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God did not tell Abraham that if he kept certain traditions and fulfilled various commands, that he would be blessed. Rather, he promised him a son and descendants that would bless the whole world.
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The traditions of the Church, though often useful for devotional purposes, can not make us right with God. Pastors and priests are not mediators between God and sinners. But they can point the way. And that way — the only way — is Christ.
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I do not have a truck payment this month. In fact, I have not had to make my monthly payments for years. By making regular payments until my debt to the bank was paid off, I received the title to the truck.
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God has accomplished something wonderful that the wisdom of the wise will never comprehend, the strength of the strong will not possess, and the piety of the religious can never earn.
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We love a lie, especially when it seems like it just might be true. That kind of untruth seems to be especially attractive.
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Our works will never earn us salvation, nor were they meant to do so. We cannot reconcile ourselves to God, earn his grace, or otherwise make satisfaction for our sins by keeping the law.
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The Golden Rule is another way of stating the second half of the greatest commandment. It helps us put the commandment into action by telling us how to love our neighbor as ourselves.
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Is the result of your doctrine love or hate, peace or discord? Do you find that you are often agitated with people, politics, the news, life in general?
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When there are divisions in the Church that are based in human reasons or traditions, they must be either resolved or condemned. In the end, after patient and prayerful dialogue, only the truth must stand.
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There should be a form of order and discipline in the Church, as there is in every organization. The Lutherans had no squabble with the Roman Church about the ordering of such matters.
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One must believe that God acts in the sacraments according to his promises. This is not difficult to comprehend. Simply going through the motions of a ritual is of no effect.
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When the sacrament is used with faith in God to do as he promises, great comfort is had, and anxious minds are conferred the peace of God, who is Christ Jesus himself.
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What advantage are the sacraments if they are not believed, if there is no faith in the promises attached to them? Without faith in the Word of God connected with it, baptism is only water. Without faith in God’s promise of grace, Holy Communion is only bread and wine.
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Faith is absolutely necessary. Christianity is not a list of things to do; it is faith in the one who has done what we could never do.
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God does command his people to pray. Rewards are promised to those who pray. However, there is no promise of grace attached to prayer.
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We do not quarrel over whether marriage is instituted by God. Still, it is not commanded that all marry but only that there is faithfulness among those who do marry.
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There are groups who claim that there is something better than God’s Word. They believe that the Holy Spirit counsels them directly, without the aid of Scripture.
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The Bible says much about the command to preach and teach the Word, and to administer the sacraments. It bids the Church to appoint such persons who are called to this ministry of Word and Sacrament.
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Every Christian is a priest before God. Each Christian’s faith in God’s grace is representative of the old priesthood. It is faith itself that is is the duty of the new priesthood — not ceremonies
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Are we to make sacrifices? Yes. For example, John teaches us that we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Paul teaches us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
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By definition, confirmation and extreme unction, or last rites, are not sacraments. They do not contain the clear command of God in Scripture, nor do they have a promise of his grace.
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We find in God’s gracious commands, in the sacraments, the essence of New Testament. For these things must be received in faith. We must come before the Word with soft, believing hearts.
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The sacraments are not merely indicators of who we are, in the sense of someone thinking that since a group baptizes in water, and ceremonially eats bread and drinks wine, they must be Christians.
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The sacraments are not merely indicators of who we are, in the sense of someone thinking that since a group baptizes in water, and ceremonially eats bread and drinks wine, they must be Christians.
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There are times when it is difficult to believe that God really loves us. When we sin, we sense an estrangement with God that must somehow be overcome. The instinct is to make an offering...
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There are no confessed sins that Christ Jesus cannot or will not forgive. Therefore there is no confessed sin for which a minister of the gospel cannot and should not give absolution.
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The purpose of the keys involves both peace and terror. For those who believe in Christ and confess their sins, there is the comfort of knowing that they are forgiven because Christ alone is God’s satisfaction.
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Where is it written? Where do the Scriptures teach that we pay the price of freedom from eternal death? How do our punishments replace the excelling merit of Christ’s satisfaction for sin?
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In order for us to produce good fruits, we must depend upon God’s promises. We must have faith in him. Otherwise, we would eventually despair of doing much, if any, good.
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Does God say to do something? Then it must be done. You shall love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself. These are not options.
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You may have all of the outward signs of a Christian but if you neglect the greatest commandment, you are headed for trouble.
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Repentance means a changed mind. We might think of it as a change of heart. It follows that a real change of heart would include different fruits or results in that person’s life.
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God will do what he must for the good of those he loves — even if it means inflicting them with some corrective troubles. Perhaps the psalmist’s bones were not actually broken but...
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It has long been known that sparing the rod creates spoiled brats. Just like good, earthly parents, God sometimes punishes us so that we will not spoil.
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When a child says, “I’m sorry,” sometimes a parent responds, “Then act like it.” This is no different than the relationship that a child of God has with the Father.
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Works of repentance are required of us. They are not non-compulsory things that we can use to purchase our redemption or righteousness.
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Saul of Tarsus was a scholar, presumably with good eyesight, able to read scrolls and manuscripts. Then he was blinded by God on the Damascus road.
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Many people think that our troubles originate in our sins. Often enough, this is precisely the case — but not always. Sometimes our troubles are meant to point us and others to the glory and the power of God.
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We should learn to regard our troubles as signs of impending grace. God is at work in these afflictions. When we have gotten to the other side, we can see that suffering drew us back to God, and caused us to rely upon him, and persevere.
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In the reasoning of God, we are to be holy, yet we are not holy, nor can we become holy, so God makes us holy through Christ. This does not make sense to our natural reason.
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God may impose certain punishments for sins, by way of making an example of some people, and to discipline others. But these punishments are corrections and examples, not a means of grace and forgiveness.
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Life happens. There are going to be troubles throughout life. All of them, whether they come from God or not, are allowed by his will.
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Martin Luther proclaimed in his sermon, “On the Hymn of Zacahrias,” that as long as we are clothed with this flesh, sin is not extinguished, nor can be wholly subdued.
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God disciplines his children because he loves them. He does not require this discipline as some means of grace. For how could this be grace, if it is required of us to endure?
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The human heart that is heartily sorry always turns to God. But when we are not really contrite, we seek human remedies to our guilt.
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Imagine a husband or wife who has truly wronged his or her spouse, offering a box of chocolates, a bouquet of roses, or even a fancy meal, in an effort to gain their forgiveness.
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Being a disciple of Jesus Christ involves taking up one’s cross and following him. That means one is willing to die rather than stop trusting God.
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When we imagine that there is something we can do to appease God’s wrath toward our sin, we soon discover that we have deceived ourselves.
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We are threatened on every side. Ten things are listed in Romans 8:37–39, over which we have no power or control. Indeed, the tenth thing Paul lists is anything not mentioned in the first nine.
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Do not make the mistake of thinking that you need to do something special to conjure up the feeling of religious success.
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He would have us do good and seek justice because he commands these righteous acts. However, the works themselves do not make us righteous
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Honest people should be able to admit that they do not keep even the one, greatest commandment, let alone all of God’s law.
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Imagining that extra works (supererogation) must be performed in payment for sin, casts aspersion on the character of Christ. Does Christ save — or not?
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Melancthon seems to depend upon the Vulgate (the Latin translation) here. The Old Testament of the Luther Bibel would not be available for three more years.
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Do good works because God commands them to be done and because they bring him glory. But never hold the delusion that by doing good works, your sins will be forgiven or you will go to heaven.
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The commands of God’s Word are not negotiable. We are obliged to obey God. To disobey is to sin. After sinning, we are unable to work off those sins by either deeds or devotion.
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Scrub and scrub; scour as much as you like. Invent cleansing agents, potions, and rituals. You will still be unclean. The stain of your guilt will remain before the Lord.
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Jesus Christ is so completely holy and meritorious before the Father that he is holy and worthy for me. God is so pleased with his Son that he is well-pleased with those who believe in him.
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If one may buy off the need for the satisfaction, what then really, is the point — that if we have enough money, we may buy God’s remission of temporal punishments?
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When Scripture tells us to repent it is not speaking of something one may do beyond this life. All that goes with repentance is to be done in this life.
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Good works are mandatory. But they do not appease the wrath of God against sin. Repentance is required, as it is commanded by Christ. This requirement does not make one righteous...
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We are either slaves to the devil, sin, and death, or to God, righteousness, and life. Whichever we are bonded to will determine the fruit we get. The fruit or the wages of sin is death.
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We are indebted to God in Christ to no longer live in the sin for which he died. This does not mean that we no longer sin, for as long as we are in this flesh, this mortal body, there is sin and death.
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The only one who is able to heal you, restore your soul, and give you peace, is near you right now. He is “at hand.” So there is no need for anxiety.
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Political and civil peace would be nice. Family peace would be a true blessing for many people. And of course, better finances and health would afford to many a certain peace of mind.
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When I was a boy, I learned to carry a full cup of coffee to my father. I walked through the kitchen, down the carpeted hallway, and in to the living room, then handed it to him without having spilled a drop.
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People doubt from time to time. Jesus said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” It is unrealistic to think that everyone will always be strong in faith.
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Life is hard enough without those in authority leading people astray. Scripture teaches us to have faith in Christ for forgiveness and justification.
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Misrepresentation of Holy Scripture will upset the faith of some, those who have itching ears, but also those who are unlearned. Such deception even leads people into lives of ungodliness.
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It is important for us to keep the faith —both in the sense continuing to believe in God, and in remaining true to the Word of God.
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It has already been stated here, more than a few times, that genuine faith is shown in its works. This is an entirely different matter than saying that forgiveness happens because of those works.
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Lutherans confess with Scripture that sinners are justified before God — that is, absolved of all sins and condemnation, without any worth or work of their own — through God’s pure grace.
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In the worldly kingdom, there are many disciplines we might bring to bear in order to make things more civil and orderly. Requiring certain satisfactions can even make folks feel better for a time.
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We do well to appeal to the highest authority. The academics of scholastic theology turned to Peter Lombard, who wrote the standard medieval texts on theology, as their authority.
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Guilt and punishment alike are borne by God in Christ alone. We are set free from all bondage — from waterless pits to the depths of hell — because God promised to do so.
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It bears repeating: our love, devotion, good works, and religious activities do not satisfy God’s justice. Only God’s Son propitiates, appeases, or satisfies God’s just demand for holiness.
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Recently, a car rental company called, wanting to know when I was going to pay the bill on a transaction from over a month ago. I let them know that the company had paid that bill, informing them of the transaction details
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God’s justice requires the punishment of sin. We either take the punishment or pay the penalty. However, we cannot make restitution. We can neither keep from sinning, nor pay the penalty of that sin.
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It doesn’t mater how far you have fallen, how respectable you are, or if you are downright notorious; God cleanses the worst of sinners.
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Your remorse does not merit God’s forgiveness. Being sorry — even though you go on at length about your specific regrets — does not repair your sinful condition or your broken fellowship with God.
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Luther, in particular, was tortured by guilt, and would therefore wear out his confessor with hours of specific lists of sins.
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So, the penitent must always be reminded of God’s grace. For God has promised to not remember our sins. He does so for Christ’s sake...
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We have been born again to the image of Christ. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is causing us to grow up into new people who share the mind of Christ.
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Anyone who wants to achieve righteousness or justification with God through religious devotion, doing good deeds, or by other things they imagine gain them merit with God, will be dreadfully unsuccessful.
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We are in bondage to sin, just as the ancient Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. We can no more free ourselves than they could.
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Always interpret Scripture in the plainest sense, using the clear meaning of the words. If a parable is being used, we might allow our minds to wonder what Jesus meant — until he tells us plainly.
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God is the Judge from whom no secrets are hidden. Yet he is Judge of a different kind of court than we may have experienced...
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These are the words of forgiveness—or indeed, the refusal of forgiveness. These messengers open the gates of heaven, and shut them as well.
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An indulgence was a certificate purchased with either prayers, good works, or money, that claimed to reduce the amount of one’s time spent in Purgatory.
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Of what use is repentance, if it is merely being sorry for sins and then doing something good? People will remain in guilt, knowing that they are never good enough to merit forgiveness.
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Because the guiltless and incarnate God died for our iniquities, bearing upon himself the sin of the world, he carried our sins to the grave.
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Should you try not to sin? Certainly; but your ability or inability has nothing to do with forgiveness. Should you be sorry when you sin, and seek to do better? Absolutely, yet again, this has nothing to do with forgiveness of sin.
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Faith must always be in the forefront because it makes us think of Christ. Even sorrow, though necessary but, because it naturally causes us to try to settle our own sins, must never be considered alone.
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Let us be reasonable. Were we to depend upon our own righteousness and faithfulness, who could survive the wrath of God? They are deluded and arrogant persons...
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Someone better make us holy and righteous or we are in eternal trouble. We have faith that Jesus was sent by his Father to accomplish this very thing.
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It is not possible for someone to have a peaceful conscience, if they doubt that God is gracious toward them. No matter how hard they try to do right and be religious, they still question whether they have forgiveness of sins.
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James is speaking to the topic of receiving wisdom from God in this passage of Scripture. However, the same exhortation may be applied to anything one asked of God. Ask in faith. Believe!
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How can I keep the law without Christ’s help? I cannot, for I will either not do it at all, do it imperfectly, or as likely as not, do it with an impure devotion.
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Cleansing from sins has always been necessary to God. Atonement has been required since the earliest days of Judaism. Even the first sin needed covering with death.
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If we believe that we must keep the law in order to be forgiven by God, then we are saying that justification, righteousness, and forgiveness are not matters over which Christ has any power.
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The law incarcerates; it does not free. Only faith in Christ frees us from captivity to sin and death. Yet, thank God for the law, for without its accusations, we would never know our need for salvation and God’s grace.
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Believe the promise of the gospel; it is the truth. Know that Christ’s own righteousness has been granted to you as protection against sin and death.
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We cannot read the law with veiled hearts and expect to find the grace of God. All we sense is God’s displeasure. So, we cannot expect the law to come to our rescue.
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Think for a moment how silly it would be for a person to look in the mirror and say, “You’ve been so good lately; I forgive you.”
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We preach and confess that Christ died for our sins and saves all those who believe. The world responds, “What kind of babbling is this?"
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Faith in Christ arouses good works, but it is faith in Christ that receives forgiveness. Although God certainly wills that we speak and do good, our salvation does not depend upon such goodness.
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It was common in Jesus’ time for people to think their physical ailments and disabilities were the result of their sins. Think of the paralyzed man being carried on a cot to Jesus.
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We must be sure to believe in the word of God, not the words of men. The testimony of men reasons that we must do good things to appease an angry God.
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In C. S. Lewis’ poem, “As the Ruin Falls,” he writes, “a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek.” People may sound authoritative; indeed, some birds may seem so. But by their singing, one may determine what sort of birds these authorities are.
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The doctrine of justification by faith is one for which people have given their lives. Luther himself, knowing that his life would be forfeit, declared that his conscience was captive to the Word of God, not to the doctrines of men.
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We are saved, forgiven, and made righteous through faith in God’s Christ. There is no other way to God; there is no shortcut.
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The whole of Scripture proclaims that forgiveness of sins is received only through faith in Christ. Those who suppose that God forgives their sins because they are good people, are led astray by their vain imaginings.
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Everyone acknowledges that, “You can’t take it with you.” Common sense wisdom understands that our works have no eternal value. So why do some try to stack them up as having merit with God? Belief in God’s promises is what counts as righteousness.
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The forgiveness of sins is received — not earned. Now a sizeable portion of the Church thinks otherwise. Yet this is clearly what Scripture teaches us. Forgiveness is received by faith.
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If you cannot believe God’s promise then you may as well insist that the sun will rise in the west tomorrow morning. For if you cannot believe that which is most sure, how certain is anything else that has been taken for granted up until now?
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Promises are laughable words, unless received with faith. Abraham and Sarai were promised a son in their advanced old age. Abraham laughed; he laughed so hard that he fell to the ground.
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We cannot place our trust in works wrought by ourselves. Surely, this is evident to everyone. Who among us has been found faithful — even to his own intentions?
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Being sorry for our sin does not merit forgiveness. You probably heard a retort something like this at some point in your life: “Sorry doesn’t fix what you broke.”
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These are important distinctions. Faith is different than sorrow or contrition. It is also different from devotion or works of penance. Faith stands apart, believing in the Redeemer...
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We are saved, forgiven, and made righteous through faith in God’s Christ. There is no other way to God; there is no shortcut.
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When David was brought up short by the knowledge of his secret sin, he was contrite and confessed his sin. After his confession, the prophet Nathan spoke words of forgiveness from the Lord.
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After we take the tantalizing fruit of sin, a frightening self-consciousness overwhelms us. All we want to do is cover our sin and hide from God. This terror is contrition; and it is not enough.
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The promise, though veiled, goes all the way back to Genesis. That very first sin demanded the declaration of a Savior from the loving God. For from those tragic bites of forbidden fruit...
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How strange it must seem to a child, for the parent who loves, to also seem so angry. For the threat of an oncoming car does not concern the unknowing child who is chasing a ball into the street.
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Life and death are in God’s hands. And there is nothing that we can do to deliver ourselves from the grave. The foolish harden their hearts to this fact of life. But the wise are contrite.
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Our ways lead us to certain death. They are low and dusty, clinging to the world and sin. Yet, God is always calling us to the way of life.
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We are in bondage to the flesh: these bodies of death with their natural inclinations that serve the law. We are bound by nature to sin “in thought, word, and deed.”
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It is the height of arrogance for someone to think that justification occurs through the human acts of contrition, devotion, or other acts of love or good works
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Paul speaks plainly about these two parts of repentance. He writes that we are dead to sin, this taking place through our baptism.
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It is not enough to only believe the history of the gospel. One must have faith in the one who is the incarnate gospel. One must trust in Christ for the remission of sins.
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To think of repentance in terms of contrition alone is to act in accordance with the law. This is unstable ground since it depends upon the person who is sorry for their sin.
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God has always been ready to forgive. Proof of his willingness is the ways he has provided for people to have faith and turn to him.
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Believe that you are truly forgiven in heaven when you hear such words as these on earth: “I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
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The promise of divine grace is received through hearing the gospel. This hearing occurs in many ways. It is received through the reading of the Scripture, both individually and corporately.
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We cannot fear, love, and trust God without faith. In other words, we cannot keep even the first of the commandments without faith, let alone the rest of the law.
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The witless child who does not believe his parents got him a birthday present, will never enjoy the gift. Perhaps he was sorry for having been a disobedient child but just could not accept that his parents loved him nonetheless.
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If repentance is only a matter of sorrow for sin, then human nature tries to appease God. But we cannot appease God by any means.
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As long as we live in this flesh, we will experience all of these feelings. For the law will never cease to accuse us of sin.
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We are very weak. Jesus reminds us if this fact of our human nature. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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Simply stated, contrition is when a person, because of love or fear, stops defending sin and confesses it instead.
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Repentance begins with a heart that is moved toward God’s mercy and then has faith that he forgives for Christ’s sake.
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The Lutherans, on the other hand, confessed that the power of the keys was the authority of Christ spoken by any confessor, and dependent upon two things: contrition and faith.
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The fault with indulgences lies not only in who it is that forgives sin, but in what this forgiveness costs. God’s gracious forgiveness is a gift.
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Going to church, doing good works, being president of Council, having perfect attendance, teaching Sunday School, and even knowing all three of the ecumenical creeds by heart mean nothing without faith.
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The Lutherans however, confessed that everything hinges on Christ. He bore our sin on the cross so that we would be made “the righteousness of God.”
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We have to admit that our sins are great in number, that they have gone over our heads as if if we were drowning in our iniquities. Who could confess such a volume of transgressions?
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So today, we ought to be teaching our people that God forgives sins for Christ’s sake, not because we perform certain rituals.
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The power of the keys binds things in heaven, not just on earth. When a “door” is unlocked or locked on earth in the name of Christ, it is done in heaven too.
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So we confess that our holiness, our works of contrition, is insufficient for the remission of sins, while faith in Christ merits forgiveness of sin...
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It is not enough to be sorry for our sin. Nor is it enough to do good. For we cannot assist ourselves. Instead, we must avail ourselves of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
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Although we should certainly “fear, love, and trust God” (Small Catechism), these things, including the fear of God (attrition), do not earn grace.
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You cannot reason or work your way into God’s grace. God’s grace is a free gift, something that is given by him for you.
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Since the consequence of sin is death, it is no wonder there is the felt need to confess all sins. Perhaps, we might imagine, if we could confess them all, we might overcome death.
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We confess that we are in bondage to sin, that we cannot free ourselves, and that Christ alone has redeemed us from sin.
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The first step in repentance is being contrite. God does not desire sacrifices from us, in order to appease him.
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There is nothing confusing about the gospel when it is heard with the ears of faith. We confess that Christ has killed our sinful old nature through his own death on the cross.
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Our anxieties about sin may be managed on the surface with words and semantics, but when the test is applied in the heart, these matters turn out differently.
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Look to the Word. What is written? How far does God say that he hurls our offenses? “As far as the east is from the west,” is how far he removes our sins from us.
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The power of the keys is the clear charge of Christ to preach the gospel, to remit and retain sins, and to administer the sacraments.
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Around the time of the Reformation, there was endless quibbling in the church about how and when things happened.
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Peace is only found in the grace of God. This is why Peter says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Who does this math?
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The doctrine of faith is no small matter, for true repentance depends upon faith. Repentance needs faith to believe that God is so merciful toward us that our sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
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What are we to do but to turn again and again to Christ? The heart of this turning, this repentance, is faith. We believe that in turning from our sins to Christ, those sins are blotted out.
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God creates clean hearts within us. This happens when we are first, stricken in our consciences, and then, have faith that God will forgive us and make us righteous for Christ’s sake.
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Confession must lead to Christ — not to more and more confession. Christ is the focus, not ourselves. Therefore forgiveness must be the outcome of confession, not the tyranny of a guilty conscience.
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Only a foolish or crazed person would undertake the task of counting the hairs on his head. There are too many to count.
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The imposition of rules and regulations will change no heart. The Holy Spirit changes hearts. The crucified Christ draws people near.
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Our focus should be Christ, not our sins. One can spend so much time in introspection and the endless recounting of sin that Christ is lost in the shuffle.
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Confession precedes Holy Communion. We are to earnestly confess our sins and hear the words of absolution before receiving Christ.
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As Christ is known to us in the breaking of the bread, the early Church assembled to know Christ in his Supper, the Apostles’ teaching, prayer, and fellowship.
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Confession and absolution provide persons of faith with the regular assurance that their sins are forgiven because of what Christ has accomplished for them.
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People recoil at the idea of fearing God because they believe that God loves them. “Why should I fear someone who loves me?” they might ask.
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Holy Communion is not something that we do; it is something that God does for us. It is not an act or ritual that we perform; it is an activity of God that we receive.
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We have been talking about Holy Communion, Baptism, the Church, justification, and other matters but in all of these topics, we are actually considering faith.
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Jesus called the bread that he broke and gave to his disciples to eat, “my body.” He said of the cup, “This is my blood.” This is what we believe.
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This participation, as the Revised and English Standard versions translate the word, is a fellowship or, as the King James Version phrases it, a communion.
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God gives authority to people to speak and act in his name through Holy Baptism. The pastor seems to be the one using the water, and if that were all the pastor did then that would be all there was to see.
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The universal grace and promise of the gospel is just that: universal. It is not applied to everyone except some persons.
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The divine promises of grace and of the Holy Spirit do not belong to the old alone, as if Jesus, who loved little ones, would have them wait for his promises.
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When a child, or anyone else in a household or family, is baptized, the will of God, the promise of God’s salvation is realized. The work of salvation continues through faith.
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It is important for us to distinguish between the two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and worldly kingdoms. Both Church and State are under God’s authority but they serve different ends.
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Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions urge us to be not only wary of false teachers and ministers, but to have nothing to do with them.
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The words of Christ spoken over the bread and wine insure the promise of grace to those who believe. When we believe his word over the elements, he is truly present in them.
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If I considered my musical preference to be a commandment instead of a tradition, I could cause a great deal of confusion and harm.
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The truth of the gospel is that righteousness and salvation come through faith in Christ — Christ alone. This is the word that sets us free.
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We may well suppose that if two Lutheran churches in the same county celebrated Easter on different Sundays that people would have something to say.
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There is nothing wrong with celibacy or fasting or many other disciplines. Even in marriage, abstinence can be a good thing, if the couple agrees together to abstain for some spiritual purpose.
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If others wish to abstain from certain foods on certain days, that is between those people and the Lord. Do not let them convince you that abstinence is a matter of righteousness.
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“It is written.” This was a favorite saying of the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles, and Jesus. Sometimes it is phrased as a questions: “What is written?”
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External is not eternal. These outward things will never secure everlasting life. Furthermore, they will never give us peace. The heart must be changed by God for these things to be ours.
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How heartbreaking it would be to run in a race, and to run so swiftly that you won the race, only to find out that you had been disqualified because of a false start or a lane violation.
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I have convictions but if I dare to make those things qualifications for your righteousness and salvation, please take me to task.
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The Church is that gathering of saints where the Gospel is correctly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
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We are not big on excommunication these days. But we still do a pretty fair job of driving people out of our churches.
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If you believe these things, we agree that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God” — no matter the particular manner of our ceremonies.
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The effectiveness of the sacraments depends upon Christ. Were you baptized in a stream or at a font, at the hands of a priest or a pastor, by a saint or a sinner?
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Every pastor who presides over Holy Communion is a sinner. Some are worse sinners than others. Some do not even believe in Christ or the Word of God.
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It is the duty of pastors to preach the gospel. It is each church’s obligation to make sure that they do. Yet, it is more than a duty; it is a joyful compulsion.
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The prophet Daniel presented the Antichrist along similar lines as this sarcastic paragraph from the Confessions. There is no ruler of rulers but Christ.
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We should not expect everyone in a collar or alb to represent the kingdom of God. Every preacher in a pulpit does not necessarily proclaim the Word of God.
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We must not replace Christ with works, offices, masses, or anything else. These things do not save; Christ alone saves and justifies.
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You will find the church wherever two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, that is, with faith in him, teaching the gospel, and administering the sacraments.
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Jesus was clear on this matter when he was brought before Pilate. His kingdom is not of this world. It is not temporal but instead, spiritual.
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Jesus was clear on this matter when he was brought before Pilate. His kingdom is not of this world. It is not temporal but instead, spiritual.
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As worshipers come forward for Holy Communion, many pause at the baptismal font, place their fingers in the water, and make the sign of the cross on their forehead.
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All those who by nature were born Jews, or Abraham’s seed, were given the law so that they might be an example to the nations of how God would have people live.
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The Body of Christ is not an organization that merely goes through the motions of ceremonies. The Church has gifts in the heart, namely, the Holy Spirit and faith.
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The “house of the righteous,” the church, is infiltrated by the wicked. Sometimes, they seem petty, though they are aggravating and ungodly.
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When we perceive the threat to the Church — a threat that exists both from within and without — we can be led to despair of her continued existence.
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We believe in the Church. This is the congregation of those who believe in Christ. They are spread throughout the ages — past, present, and future.
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So we must be careful to confess that sinful people, such as ourselves, become righteous and holy only through the grace of God.
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We deplore the condition of some church bodies, that they have abandoned the Word of God for culturally correct beliefs. Yet, we should not complain overly much.
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Some people attend church because they were raised to do so. They give no thought to faith; it is simply the right thing to do.
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Nearly 40 years ago, a half dozen people from a local cult attended my church, trying to get people to follow their false god.
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Jesus did not come into the world to teach sinners how to save themselves. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
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Declaring that a Christian’s deeds are required for justification and salvation both denies Christ and leaves the believer in despair
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The disciples were in hiding, very likely imagining that they were next, that the authorities would come for them too. They had crucified the Lord; what would they do to his followers?
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Surely, it is thought, there must be something we must do. This is the seed of religion and heresy, for faith knows that we can do nothing.
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It is human nature to imagine that we can buy our way out of problems. The person caught speeding, therefore, pays the court to keep the offense off the books so that insurance rates will not increase
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Let us continue to keep Christ at the center of all things. The promised Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin from the lineage of kings, suffered, was crucified and buried for our sins.
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The ability to love God is not something that we are born with or that we can develop on our own with this fallen nature of ours. In order to love God, one must first be born again.
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Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they valued their own traditions more than God’s commandments, so we must be careful to evaluate those things that we believe and do.
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It is easy for us to confuse the plain sense of things. Sometimes we need someone to come in to our midst and cut to the chase.
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Lift up the shield of faith in Christ every time the devil attacks. Do not trust your thinking and your doing. Trust Christ, who is your shield.
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Justification, righteousness, and salvation are not only received by faith, these gifts of God are preserved for us to the end of time.
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If we go to church, feed the hungry, and buy coats and mittens for the poor, but have no faith in the God who calls us to do such things, do those good works save?
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Jesus satisfied God’s requirement of keeping the law perfectly. Moreover, he paid the penalty for the sins of those who cannot keep the commandments.
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The living grace of God is Jesus Christ. There is no salvation available to us without this grace. There is no grace without Jesus Christ.
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We cannot reason our way to righteousness. Who has been able to say, “In this way, I shall be a good person” and been successful in the enterprise?
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Justification is that obedience to the gospel that hears and believes, that trusts God’s promise. Sanctification is the obedience that results from such faith.
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Lasting peace with God comes through faith. Our deeds can make us feel good for a while but that feeling is not only false, it does not last.
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Yes, God wants our good works, but he earnestly desires our hearts. Works that are done with an unbelieving, faithless heart are not good works; they are hypocritical.
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Be careful that you do not expect God to favor you on the merits of your offerings or works or religious activity. God only has regard for such things when they are done with faith in him.
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Works must always flow from a heart of faith. Abraham did not make an offering of his only son, Isaac, as a mere work. Nor did he expect that God would honor the work itself.
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We must remain aware of a dangerous temptation as we try to keep the law, that as we observe the law, we can be enticed to think too highly of ourselves.
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Do the things you are commanded and see if he will not pour out his blessings. But never expect him to justify you for the things you do.
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The issue here — and always — is Christ. Let us not think so much about rewards, but instead, about the reward. We must press on toward the real goal.
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We belong to Christ because of faith. This belonging means that we are his servants. So, we are to do his will and bidding, and receive his gifts.
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The Lord has fought the fight. He has gone before us and has won the long battle. He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.
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Some orders of monks placed their hoods upon dead bodies, indicating that their good works were transferred to the account of the deceased.
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The opponents’ conclusions were that if one pays for his own reward, he can pay more than is due and, therefore, the credit must be transferable to others.
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There is nothing worthy of forgiveness and the resurrection of the body to everlasting life, save the work of Christ. Imagining otherwise does great damage to Scripture and to troubled hearts and minds.
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Eternal life is a reward from God that is based on something very important: his promise. It is not based upon how much work we have done.
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You might wonder how there is blessing in poverty. Only when we admit our impoverished spiritual condition, may the kingdom become our possession.
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Faith is the means of justification, righteousness, and salvation. Only faith keeps our souls at peace before God. Our good deeds will never give us at rest.
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We are reborn with a purpose. But let us be clear; the purpose does not precede or cause rebirth. That purpose is the result of our being newly created.
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Thinking about the eternal result for the way we have lived this life can be terrifying unless we receive the true knowledge of a loving and caring God.
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We should recognize in ourselves that we are disposed to fall back into old ways. But we should also consider that others are just like us.
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When we sin against God once again “in thought, word, and deed,” we might worry sometimes that we have pushed God too far this time.
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As long as people depend in themselves, and trust in their works, peace in the conscience will be fleeting. They will always have troubled consciences.
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What came first, the chicken or the egg? Some love to deliberate over such things; these questions wear out other people and solve nothing.
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The difference that precedes salvation is easy to determine. That distinguishing feature is trust in the one who saves.
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We are indentured servants, slaves to sin and death, and we can never earn our freedom. Either the master sets us free—and death and the devil are not going to do that—or someone pays our debt and sets free.
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The old nature believes that if one loves enough, is joyous all the time, at peace, patient and kind toward others, is good, faithful, and self-controlled, that person will have earned God’s grace.
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God may be trusted to save poor sinners. We are right to not trust in our religious skills and our good deeds. But we would be very wrong to not trust the promise of God.
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There is faith and there is the fruit of faith. Faith ought to have results in this life, not just the result of an eternal life to come. Faith saves, then produces fruit.
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God forgives us for the sake of his name. His reputation is at stake, so he will keep his promise. This is easy to understand.
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What great importance people place in their works. They value deeds so much that they distort the words of Christ. When he downplays works, they exalt them.
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When we think that we have earned God’s mercy and may therefore, demand it, we rob God of the glory that belongs to him alone.
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The First Commandment teaches us that God is faithful to deliver his people. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."
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Jesus tells us to pray, “Forgive us our sins” because our sin leaves us indebted to God. Matthew uses the word “debt," making it clear that we owe God for our moral failure.
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Pour some dirt into a cup of water and find out how many people will drink? Just so, we are not palatable; each person is just some good mixed in with the bad.
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We cannot make any offering for sin that produces mercy and forgiveness. Our virtue will not do it, nor will religious works, the right disposition, or remorse.
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Everybody sins. Anyone who claims otherwise, is kidding himself but God is not fooled. We were born into sin; it invades all of life.
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Some people have faith in their works. They believe that there are certain things they can do to earn God's grace. This imagined acquisition of grace is called condignity.
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The spirit is compelled to have faith in God but the flesh is weak. It is hard to stay awake and watchful against the accusations of the law.
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Those who consider themselves Christian would confess that Christ saves. But the later actions of some betray a different belief than what they confess.
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There is no good thing that we can do, or even a lifetime's collection of good works, that God would dignify as a righteousness worthy of eternal life.
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True faith is not shaken for long since it remembers the object of its faith. Faith does not seek to appease an angry God but to believe in a loving one.
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Faith is not a mere intellectual understanding of God. Many people believe there is a God but they neither know who he is nor put their trust in him.
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If you would be righteous, you must live by faith. For if you imagine that you can be righteous by being virtuous and religious, then you are misguided by conceit.
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Worship is truly worship when we receive these gifts from God through faith, even when our sins cause us to question if hope itself is hopeless.
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If you are looking for something that you must do, some righteous work that gains eternal life, there is only one thing necessary. Believe in Christ Jesus.
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Jesus took our sin upon himself and died with it on the cross. When our sin was transferred to Christ, his righteousness was assigned to us through faith in him.
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Alienated by sin, we cannot reason our way to God or become justified before him because we have come to some intellectual understanding of divinity.
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Surveys are often filled out by a person who marks the box, “Christian.” Often what this means is that the person thinks there is a God. In the public mind, believing there is a God is synonymous with being a Christian.
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Christ came to the law keepers first, to show the truth of God’s promises. God fulfilled those promises in the Messiah by fulfilling the law for them, something which they could not accomplish.
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What a blessing it is to be assured of eternity. Jesus gave us this assurance when he said that whoever believes his word and in the one who sent him has eternal life.
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What a burden it is to fulfill the law on our own. Who can keep the law? Is there anyone who can satisfy the demands of the law? Yes, there is one who did...
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When feelings, tradition, religion, or culture are allowed to interpret Scripture, the strangest interpretations result. But when Scripture is our authoritative word, we stay truer to God’s will.
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We are made children of God through his grace. We were not born to his house but have been reborn and adopted by his merciful will.
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Under the rules of baseball a coach is allowed to substitute a faster, pinch runner, removing the slower runner from the game. That does not seem fair.
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There is nothing for us to do but trust in the one who has stepped between us and the law, Christ our mediator, believing what he has accomplished.
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“Look toward heaven.” When we look to ourselves, we tend to get in trouble. Initially, Abram believed God’s promise of a son.
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We are easily led astray, imagining that we must do something to reconcile God, because we imagine that he must be angry about our sins.
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We inherit the kingdom through faith, just as an orphan receives a new family. When a child is adopted, she must follow her new family through the orphanage doors.
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The word “atoned” translated in Romans 5:11 in the Geneva and King James versions is abandoned in subsequent New Testament translations...
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Though God wants us to live lives that reflect his holiness, neither the inclination nor the fulfilling of the law makes us worthy of his grace or of eternal life.
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It is not the severity of our religious observances or the long list of our good works over a lifetime that makes us fit and worthy for the kingdom of God.
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The Scriptures are very clear. We believe in the gospel by the grace of God. We are his children because he has chosen us, not because we have chosen him.
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How may one know that they are forgiven of their sins, reborn, and are now children of God? May one be really certain that they have lived correctly?
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We are to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, yet we must not and cannot pin our hope of salvation upon these works, but upon Christ alone.
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The person who is clean does not do things in order to become clean. This would be like a person who steps from the shower in order to wash the hands.
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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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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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Passages, when considered in context, frequently produce their own interpretation. This is the simplest way that Scripture may interpret Scripture.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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"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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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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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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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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Chrysostom said it well: “As faith without works is dead, so are works without faith dead.” Good works flow from true and living faith.
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Propitiation means appeasement of God. The argument the Lutherans were making is simply this: Christ alone is the satisfaction for our sins.
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Faith that believes Christ is the satisfaction for sin will both save and produce good fruit. This is the substance of the Epistle of James.
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As we rejoice with thankfulness that God has covered our own sins. Just so, we ought to pray daily, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
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Think of how often the smallest spark of some perceived offense in a congregation is fanned into flame by someone who chooses to make the matter personal.
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Be careful not to build a doctrine of righteousness and salvation upon anything you do, for that house would surely fall, since it is founded on the limited and human instead of upon the infinite and divine.
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We should not worry over the actions of others toward us, instead being devoted to the gospel, we should love those who hate and hurt us.
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We should be eager to act like Christ so that there is unity and peace in the Church, without imagining that we have done some work that justifies us to God.
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Harmony often depends upon a quiet answer (Proverbs 15:1) instead of proving who is right. Sometimes, concord depends on no answer at all.
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