God’s Righteousness
Romans 3:21
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 3:21-24 But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… When our Lord Jesus Christ was on trial Pilate asked Him, “What is truth?” Of course, Christians know how to answer that question. The answer is, “Jesus Christ “is the way, and the truth, and the life.” And we are quick to remember Jesus’ words, “No one comes to the Father but by Me.”
There is no true truth apart from Jesus Christ. There is no true peace apart from Jesus Christ. There is no true comfort apart from Jesus Christ. There is no true joy apart from Jesus Christ. There is no forgiveness of sins apart from Jesus Christ. There is no access to the one true God apart from Jesus Christ. There is no heaven and eternal life apart from Jesus Christ. For the Christian there is no compromise on those statements, for to do so would be to compromise Christ; it would be to reject Christ.
That conviction, that zeal, that uncompromising spirit was the driving force behind the Reformation which, to many, began October 31, 1517, 505 years ago. Far from the popular perception of an outraged monk inciting riot and rebellion in the church, it was on this date in 1517 that Martin Luther, Doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenburg, Germany, did a rather ordinary thing. He publicly posted 95 theses, 95 statements for debate, 95 theological propositions on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. In those days the church door served as a public “bulletin board” of sorts.
And by posting these statements for debate Luther’s intent was to open a discussion of, among other things, the matter of indulgences and the authority of the pope. An indulgence, as you may know, was a piece of paper signed by the pope which, when purchased, stated that a person’s sins were forgiven and time in purgatory reduced. Purgatory is still taught today by the Roman Catholic Church as a place to which the Christian soul goes after death in order to undergo final purification and to “achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030, page 291).
Luther’s concern then – and our concern today – is the same, for there can never be any compromise regarding the Word of God. To compromise, to mis-teach, and to mis-apply God’s Word can at the very least cause confusion and doubt. At worst it can bring eternal death as it not only robs Christ of His glory but also the Christian of his certainty of God’s love for him in Christ. This is precisely what the sale of indulgences did in the 16th century, and it is why Luther rightly attacked and condemned that teaching so vigorously.
There never has been nor will there ever be a time in the history of Christ’s Church on earth when there will be no such thing as “contending for the faith,” or arguing in God’s Church about truth and doctrine. That is as true today as it ever has been.
It is probably too simplistic to put it this way, but it is nonetheless true that any even seemingly minor departures from God’s Word – especially as these departures pertain to the person and work of Jesus Christ – are from the devil himself who wants no one to trust in God or in His love for all mankind shown in His Son Jesus.
In 1517 God had brought Martin Luther to understand this clearly. He knew that to give people a false hope in a piece of paper that they coughed up their bread money for – a piece of paper that told them their sins were forgiven just by buying it – he knew this was a lie from the very pit of hell itself. It is of the devil because it caused people to focus on their own works, their own merits, and their own abilities rather than on the person and work of Christ who suffered and died for them and whose sacrifice was fully accepted by God in their place. These indulgences were and still are evil because they take attention and focus away from Christ. And any time a person’s attention is drawn away from Christ for whatever reason, it is blood in the water for the devil.
This truth is summed up in our text for today. Listen again to St. Paul’s words which the Holy Spirit gave him: “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
The first point Paul makes in verse 23 is “all have sinned.” This truth goes back to the Garden of Eden where your first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned by disobeying God and listening to the devil and despising God’s Word and command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From that time on, every person ever to be born has had the sinful nature passed on to him by his parents. Your parents passed it on to you, and you pass it on to your children.
“All have sinned,” says Paul. And “The wages of sin is death.” What you deserve for your sins is eternal death and damnation, for no man can ever pay for his own sins; no man can ever do anything to make God love him; no man can work his way into heaven. And most certainly no man can ever expect any comfort from an indulgence or the false teaching of purgatory. No, dear friends, we poor sinners left to our own devices will surely perish eternally. Paul is correct: we “fall short of the glory of God.”
But Paul goes on to say, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Now we come to the heart of the matter – the person and work of Christ for you. To be justified has nothing whatever to do with your work as a human being. On the contrary, it has everything to do with God’s work. To be justified is to be declared not guilty by God on account of Christ’s suffering and death for your sins and in your place.
To be “justified freely” is exactly how it sounds – it is free to you, but it cost Christ His life. It is to have God look at you, acknowledge that you are condemned for your sins and sinfulness, but then to accept Christ’s perfect and complete suffering and death in your stead. And by faith and faith alone in this work of Christ for you, you are justified, acceptable to God, and made right with Him. For Christ willingly took your place on the cross – not because there was anything in it for Him, but because there was everything in it for you. His perfect and substitutionary life, suffering, death, and resurrection for you and in your place has earned full forgiveness for all your sins. And not only is there tremendous freedom and joy in your forgiveness, but also the peace of mind which comes in knowing that it is His work, not yours, that God accepts.
This, then, is how our Lutheran Confessions speak about justification. In Article IV of the Augsburg Confession, these brilliant, excellent, and perfectly correct words are written: “It is also taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for His sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us, for God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness, as Paul says in Romans 3:21-26 and 4:5.” By grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith when we believe. There is no justification without faith in Christ.
And immediately following that article, in Article V on the Office of the Holy Ministry, this is how we speak of how Christ delivers His gifts to us: “To obtain such faith God instituted the office of the ministry, that is, provided the Gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, He gives the Holy Spirit, who works, faith, when and where He pleases, in those who hear the Gospel. And the Gospel teaches that we have a gracious God, not by our own merits but by the merit of Christ when we believe this. We condemn those who teach that the Holy Spirit comes to us through our own preparations, thoughts, and works without the external word of the Gospel.”
That is the true Reformation spirit: to declare God’s truth, and to call error what it is and condemn it in order that those who err may repent and be brought back to the truth, and that God’s people may not be burdened with their own works, but rather strengthened by Christ and His work for us.
The freedom, peace, and strength of the Gospel continue to be delivered to God’s people in the very specific ways that God alone has provided. Those gracious gifts of God of forgiveness, life, and salvation do not come to us by any of our own work or simply because we may pray for them. This also is one of the blessings and benefits of the Reformation, for Luther and his fellow confessors uncompromisingly pointed God’s people to God’s work for them in Christ.
We believe, teach, and confess, as our Lutheran Confessions say, that “we must hold firmly to the conviction that God gives no one His Spirit or grace except through or with the external Word” (SA III VII:3). For the sake of our faith and salvation we cling only to what God says in His holy Word, for His “Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Ps 119:105).
We trust in God to work in the ways He has given to us. Therefore, as the Lutheran Confessions further state, “we should and must constantly maintain that God will not deal with us except through his external Word and sacrament” (SA III, VII:10). Again, we cling only to what God in His Word has given and commanded; we cling to the ways God has given through which He has promised to work.
And what are the true Sacraments? What are the only ways God has given through which he will deliver Christ to us? Again our Lutheran Confessions state: “The genuine sacraments, therefore, are Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and [holy] absolution for these rites have the commandment of God and the promise of grace, which is the heart of the New Testament” (AP VIII:4).
For the sake of our peace of mind and the clarity of the Gospel of Christ, we turn and cling to God’s Word and Sacraments alone wherein He delivers to us the benefits of Christ’s work on the cross. We turn in repentance and faith to the sure and certain Word of God and His magnificent gifts as He gives us His very self through the spoken Word of the Gospel and the sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Supper. In and through these gifts God lavishes Himself upon us in order that we may be kept in the one true faith unto life everlasting, and that we may be strengthened against all threats and opposition to our eternal life.
It really is very easy, dear friends. In fact, it could not be any easier. We are saved by God’s grace alone, through God-given faith alone in the person and work of Christ alone.
We have already sung some of the finest Reformation words in our service today in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress.” And, in excellent Lutheran fashion, the words of that hymn teach the faith correctly and clearly. “Through might of ours can nought be done, soon were our loss effected.” We can’t save ourselves; we can’t forgive ourselves; it’s a losing battle. “But for us fights the Valiant one whom God Himself elected. Ask ye who is this? Jesus Christ it is.” Christ’s substitutionary life, suffering, death, and resurrection have defeated sin, death, and the devil for you, and by God-given faith His victory is yours.
God grant us the certainty, the peace, and the comfort that comes from Christ alone, and the full joy of God’s declaration to all sinners that we are “justified” – declared NOT GUILTY – “freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
