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
· Has the message of
the Reformation really gotten through to people? Has the message of the
Reformation really gotten through to me?
Those are questions we each have to answer for ourselves; they are that
personal.
· One of the hinges of
the Reformation is a concept of what is called the “5 Solas.” These are 5 ideas or statements about vital points of the
Christian faith. Lutherans hold to these as do most Christians in the tradition
of the Reformation, although the list was not completed and accepted by many
theologians until about sixty years ago.
· The “Solas” are
statements in Latin which was the language of theology at the time of the
Reformation. They are short, simple, and powerful. In English, they are
· “Scripture alone”
(Sola Scriptura)
· “Faith alone” (Sola
Fide)
· “Grace alone” (Sola
Gratia)
· “Christ alone” (Solus
Christus)
· “To the glory of God
alone” (Soli Deo Gloria)
· In short, Scripture
alone carries the message that is grasped in faith. It is by grace that we are
saved and all grace comes through Jesus Christ. In and through him, all glory
is to God.
· If we rely on
understandings and beliefs about God that are not found in the Scripture, the
Reformation message has not gotten through.
· If we believe that
there are other means of salvation other than the grace and mercy of God known
to us in faith, the message has been lost.
· If we hold that
salvation can be earned or bought or achieved, we need to hear the message again…
and again!
· If we say that Jesus
Christ is not enough, we haven’t been listening.
· If we say how we live
and what we do has nothing to do with God, something is missing.
· Part of the on-going
issue is the fact that we humans like to achieve and we like to do it
ourselves. If fact, many believe that we can save ourselves by “banking” good
deeds and then showing our resume or coupon book to God when we meet face-to-face.
Grace and faith are forgotten and the “ME” is worshipped.
· We say that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in the Scripture alone and it is grasped by
“faith alone.”
· God alone acts to
save the sinner.
· Good works are
important as an expression and result of faith. They do not determine
salvation. Faith does not ignore doing the right things; if anything, it
directs us to them.
· Jesus alone is the
only mediator and without him, there are no sacraments. The sacraments are what
Jesus as left us as a church to celebrate as a way to show and acknowledge the
presence of God’s grace in a sensible way.
· All glory is due to
God alone, now and always. There is nowhere else to find the glory of mercy and
grace. There is nowhere else to turn.
· Since faith, grace,
and the glory of God in Jesus Christ are the main points of the Reformation,
they are just as valid and important today as they were in 1517. The
Reformation has not passed; it is with us today and will be so long as humans
are intent on doing their own will and not the will of God.
· Now almost every
Sunday, we recite and hear something that hits the target of the Reformation:
·
Most merciful
God, we confess that we are in bondage
to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word,
and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not
loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us,
and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the
glory of your holy name. Amen. Then I say these words, words I need to hear for myself and I get to hear them once in a while: In the mercy of
almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us and, for his sake, God
forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of
Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness
of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy
Spirit.
· We’d do well to
remember Jesus’ first words in the Gospels, his first statement about his
mission. A simple and repeatable call, daily or even hourly: Repent
and believe in the Good News. (Mark 1:15b)
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…
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