Romans
3:19-28
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it
speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and
the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For "no human being
will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for
through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now, apart from law, the
righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the
prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice
of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his
righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins
previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is
righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what
becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by
the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from
works prescribed by the law.
For there is no distinction, since
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by
his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
· This wonderful passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us
again what we need to know. I say again because we can often forget this and
get tangled up in the web of worthiness the world around us weaves.
· The question “am I worthy?” will tie us in knots and weigh us
down, or rather, drag us down into the drowning depths of sin and fear and even
despair.
· Speaking of webs and knots, there is an old saying which you may
have heard: When you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
· As Lutherans, we actually have five
knots to hang on to. These knots are expressions of what we have received.
Theologians call them the “Five Solas”,
which we could call the “Five ‘Alones’ ”
· To list them – although you know them well - the Five Solas are:
ü Scripture alone
ü Faith alone
ü Grace alone
ü Christ alone
ü Glory to God alone
· Our understanding of what Jesus has done for us is based on “Scripture alone.” In the past, other legends
of what Christ had done were found all around. Lovely stories for the most
part, although some were bizarre and even frightening. Our faith in God is
formed and settled in the revealed Word of God found in the Scriptures. The other
stories might be worth reading and they might be enjoyable, but only the Word
of God enlightens us to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
· This redemption is given to us and is grasped by faith alone. No works of mercy or of
religious practice can reach out and take that redemption. As Paul wrote For
we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the
law. It is by faith that we know and live in the redemption freely
given to us.
· It is by grace alone that Christ’s redemption comes to us. It is
not based on our own piety, or worth since all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God… It is not bought and paid for my anything less
than the blood of Christ and it come to us now justified by his grace as a gift…
God’s gift is freely given out of the love God has for us, shown in Jesus, and
sustained in us to this very hour and minute by the Spirit of God.
· Where does this graced salvation come from and how does it come to
us? Through Christ alone! There is nowhere
else to look for grace. The free gift of grace from the Father comes to all
through Jesus Christ, whether this is known and acknowledged or not.
· If all this touches us, our only response could be gratitude. That
gratitude finds its expression in praise and prayers of thanksgiving. Whether
those prayers are simple “thank you’s” spoken before meals, thanksgivings
offered between yawns just before our heads hit the pillow at night, or sung
around the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper here at our altar (or any altar)
in the Great Thanksgiving, the glory is
given not to any human or living spirit of some type or other, but to God alone.
· Our thanks also finds expression in the service and care we give
to our neighbors. We live by faith, and that faith leads us to action. To quote
Luther: “What is it to serve God and do
his will? Nothing else than to show mercy to our neighbor. For it is our neighbor
who needs our service; God in heaven needs it not.”
· These Five knots in our rope – the Five Solas are pieces of our
history. They are also pieces of our present day living.
· Sola scriptura –
Scripture alone
· Sola fide – Faith
alone
· Sola gratia – Grace
alone
· Solus Christus – Christ
alone
· Soli Deo Gloria – Glory
to God alone
· We commemorate 500 years of Reformation with these principles in
the front. We don’t celebrate the Reformation as a finished or dead thing
because it still goes on… with these principles in the front. God grant that we
might live them out.
For there is no distinction, since
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by
his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment