Reformation B

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted an academic paper titled “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” on the doors of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, where Martin was a professor of theology at the town’s university, and as a professor he was permitted to call for public theological debate to discuss ideas and interpretations as he desired.

Yet this debate was not merely academic for Luther. According to a letter he wrote to the Archbishop of Mainz explaining the posting of the 95 Theses, Luther also desired to debate the concerns in the Theses for the sake of conscience.

Luther’s short preface explains:

“Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publicly discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the reverend father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology and regularly appointed Lecturer on these subjects at that place. He requests that those who cannot be present to debate orally with us will do so by letter.”

The original text of the 95 Theses was written in Latin, since that was the academic language of Luther’s day. Luther’s theses were quickly translated into German, published in pamphlet form and spread throughout Germany. [The 95 Theses: A reader's guide – The Lutheran Witness (lcms.org)]

“Out of love and zeal for the truth and the desire to bring it to light” - how refreshing does that sound? What a wonderful way to start a discussion about something controversial! Can we get some more of this, please?

But what was it that drove the young professor to post this paper? You heard it in the title of the post - “indulgences”. These small pieces of paper could be yours for a small fee, and they would pardon the sins of a person of your choosing — once you paid that fee — to assure their release from “purgatory” and entry into eternal life. And yes, this piece of paper was signed by the pope himself. It would be discovered later that these “papal pardons on paper” were being peddled to raise money to build a new basilica in Rome.

Years before Luther witnessed this dubious practice take money from people who didn’t have it to give, he had struggled with his own repentance and sin and sought desperately for God’s forgiveness. During his time in the monastery, the more he studied the Holy Scriptures, the more he came to fear God’s wrath, and the more unworthy he felt of anything God had to offer him. He began going to confession more than just weekly, sometimes daily…and eventually started going to confession multiple times in the same day. Finally, his confessor would hear his confession no more. He told young Martin something to the effect of: “I won’t take your confession any more until you go back and read Romans again.”

So he did. And it was this fresh look at St. Paul’s epistle that inspired in Luther a much deeper understanding of what divine grace really means, and the only way we can ever get it - through the cross of Christ, and we can only receive this gift through faith. The pope and the Church cannot cause true repentance in a Christian and [neither of them can] forgive the sins of one who is guilty before Christ. The pope can only forgive that which Christ forgives. True repentance and eternal forgiveness come from Christ alone. [The 95 Theses: A reader's guide – The Lutheran Witness (lcms.org)]

With that fundamental understanding of God’s grace, and the clear view of abuses and corruption happening all around him…with the people of his country buying into the practice both literally and figuratively, Martin Luther thought he would get his colleagues at the university to hold a healthy debate about the whole thing and perhaps set the Church he held so dear back on the straight and narrow path. Little did he know that his essay would get copied and spread like a wildfire across the continent, and it would change the history of not only the Christian church, but the Western world.

The passage we have from Romans today is one of those passages that speaks deeply to the issue that drove Luther to raise his criticisms. This morning I want to let Martin Luther explain this passage:

Luther’s Works, Volume 25 (Chapter Three)

v.19 Now we know, there is no need of faith, because this is sure, that whatever the Law says, either in promising good things or threatening evil, it speaks, because it was given to them, to those who are under the Law, therefore also that psalm speaks to the Jews and about them, for they had no doubt about the Gentiles that they were sinners, but concerning themselves they were in great doubt, indeed they did not believe it, so that every mouth, boasting proudly of its own wisdom and righteousness and telling it to others, may be stopped, and the whole world, as a debtor and a guilt-ridden sinner, may be held accountable, by recognizing that in actual fact it is already a sinner, to God, although in its own eyes it may not be so, for the world previously had proudly made itself equal with God.

Did you catch that? “the world previously had proudly made itself equal with God.” But in God’s eyes, those who try to follow the letter of the Law - and fail to keep it consistently - are still sinners. Recognizing that is the first step toward repentance.

v.20. For no human being will be justified in His [God’s] sight by the works of the Law, but rather, on the contrary, the works of the Law are accomplished as a result of justification and righteousness. For we are not righteous because we act according to the Law, but because we are first righteous, therefore we then fulfill the Law; since through the Law (For what purpose, then, is the Law? That it may humble the proud.) comes, or is, the knowledge, but not the forgiveness, and thus not justification, of sin, so that proud men who do not know their sins may be humbled.

“For we are not righteous because we act according to the Law, but because we are first righteous, therefore we then fulfill the Law.” Our obedience is a response to what God has already done for us and in us. The Law humbles us and tells us we are sinners. We need to hear that part, too. In fact, we often need to hear that FIRST.

v.21. But now, in the day of grace, apart from Law, without the necessity of keeping the Law, that is, without the aid of the Law and its works, the righteousness of God, by which God justifies us, has been manifested, through the Gospel which is preached, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it, for it was foreshadowed and promised by them long ago, but it was not manifested by them, but apart from them.

The righteousness of God that Paul talks about here is not simply God’s own perfect righteousness, but specifically the righteousness that He gives to us, to justify us, to make us right with Him. This is what we could not do on our own, no matter how hard we might try.

v.22. The righteousness, that righteousness, I say, of God, from God, through faith in Jesus Christ, that is, the faith by which we believe in Jesus Christ Himself, for all, both Jews and Gentiles, that is, to all, meaning it is manifested and offered to all, so that motion to a place is indicated, such as in “Their voice goes out through all the earth” (Psalm 19:4), and upon all, that is, it remains among all of them and is described through the concept of rest, as in Isaiah 11:2, “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,” who believe in Him, they are made believers, all of them, I say, for there is no distinction, as if it were necessary for some but not for others.

To receive this amazing gift of grace, we need only believe in our savior Jesus Christ. Faith in him allows us to take hold of that grace and make it our own.

v.23. Since all have sinned, have been made and declared to be sinners before God, and fall short of, that is, lack, are empty of, the glory of God, something they can boast about, by and in God, as he says below in Romans 4:2, “He has something to boast about, but not before God.”

No one in all of creation, since the dawn of time until Judgment Day, can say they are without sin except the Son of God Himself. The rest of us have no room to do anything but beg for God’s mercy.

v.24. They are justified as a gift, that is, all, as many as are justified, are not justified except freely, by His, God’s, grace, without merits or works. This grace is not given except through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. By this grace He Himself alone has redeemed those who were “sold under sin,” Isaiah 40, making satisfaction for us and freeing us.

It bears repeating that this free gift of grace that justifies us is only available to us because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Only because we are redeemed by Christ are we redeemed at all.

v.25. Whom God put forward, established now or foreordained from eternity, as a propitiation, or rather, “a place of propitiation” in which alone He willed to be satisfied, by faith; our place of propitiation is not won by our merits, but in His, Christ’s, blood, that is, in His suffering, whereby He made satisfaction and merited propitiation for those who believe in Him. This was to show His righteousness, to show that His righteousness alone makes men righteous. And He performed this also “in forbearance,” even before it was shown in the time of grace, that is, before it was made manifest that He forgives sins, so that He might show, prove, and convince us that He Himself alone justifies, because He had passed over, which showing forth of righteousness takes place, I say, when He forgives sins which He has patiently endured until the remission of former sins, that is, sins which preceded the remission in His long-suffering, in His divine forbearance, that is, toleration or endurance (Augustine calls it “patience” ),

This is the Good News, right here. The Creator of the Universe has every right to be angry with His children who are in a state of continuous and constant disobedience. But because God is not only loving but also patient, He has offered us this gift of grace, and His gift has demonstrated the kind of God that He is: a loving Father whose love for his children is, in every sense, *perfect*.

v.26. It was to prove, manifest and reveal, or commend and proclaim, His righteousness, by which He justifies us, at the present time, that is, by His grace, that He Himself is righteous, that is, that He may be known by His nature as the only God, as we have said above, “But let God be truthful” (v. 4) and “that Thou mayest be justified, etc.” (v. 4), and that He justifies, through His grace, him, every man who has faith, not the man who is of the Law, in Jesus Christ.

This is who God is, and His grace is available to all who believe in Christ.

v.27. Then where, it is as if he were saying, “nowhere,” is your boasting? whereby they proudly boast of their own righteousness. It is excluded, it is thrown out and rejected, and they are made sinners, On what principle? On the principle of works? No, this principle actually increases the boasting, because when it is followed, it makes people proud. No, but on the principle of faith, because this humbles a man and makes him confess that he is a sinner before God.

We don’t have any room to boast about anything we’ve done. If what we have done earns us any part of our salvation, it would only serve to foster boasting and pride. But when it is faith that drives us, we are humbled and brought to confess our sins.

v.28. For we hold, recognize and affirm, we conclude from what is said that a man is justified, reckoned righteous before God, whether Greek or Jew, by faith, apart from works of the Law, without the help and necessity of the works of the Law.

It is not what we do that saves us; it is what Christ has done and *is* doing that saves us, that makes us right with God. That’s it. That’s the only thing there is.

Today, we are celebrating what Christ has done for all of us by following his command to share His meal. In this meal, we recall the pain and suffering he endured - the breaking of his body and the spilling of his precious blood - the suffering which he did not deserve, but which ultimately served to pay the price for our sins.

But it is not just a meal of suffering. It is a meal in which we remember that Christ suffered so that we could be forgiven. THAT is what it is meant for us. To actually taste forgiveness on our lips and not merely hear it with our ears. To drink in the presence of our Lord and Savior and encounter him with a closeness that is unmatched by anything else. When you come to the table this morning, I hope you think to yourself “thank you God for loving me and forgiving me”. That is precisely what that meal is for - to remember what Christ has done for us. As he said himself “do this in remembrance of me.”

This is the message that Luther wanted us to hear - that God’s grace is free, and we cannot earn it. Yes, this message has been twisted and infected may times since Jesus’ day, and it’s been manipulated in many ways. But when you look at what the Bible actually says, it’s quite clear, and Paul says it over and over again: God’s grace cannot be earned by anyone, because it already WAS earned, once…for everyone.

As we practice our faith in our worship, and in our daily lives, let us always remember this one fundamental truth - that God’s grace is given freely. The rest of our lives of faith are built on that truth. And let’s follow Dr. Luther’s “love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light.” This truth that he loved and fought for is the perfect antidote for the poison-tipped arrows and spears being hurled at us by the forces of the world every day. This is most certainly true.