Here is the pure Gospel, and nobody attending to it but
you! How radical this is, his Grace, a gift, God's sheer unmerited
love and forgiveness. His generosity pouring down. Totally
unconditional love. No demands to deport the illegals.
No demands to stop sinning, no demands to be good, no
demands to clean your plate, no requirement to accept Christ as your
personal savior (what strange language that is in the light of the
Scripture), no four spiritual laws, no high priesthood to bow down to,
nothing you can do to make yourself acceptable, nothing anyone can do
to save you, all that is needful has been already done. all you have
to do is a accept the gift...no,no. that's wrong too, because it is a
subtle way of making the cross less than the cross of Christ. All that
is needful has been granted...done...finished...in the work of Jesus
Christ. And there is nothing more to say.
Pastorsamp
This Sunday we celebrate confirmation. As a part of their confirmation requirements, students have to meet with me for a brief discussion/interview. I ask them about faith, life, God, etc. - see if they learned anything during confirmation. One question I always ask is "How will you get into heaven? How are you saved?" Most often I get the answers - "Pray. Go to church. Do good deeds." And I shake my head and ask myself "Didn't I emphasize grace enough?"
Finally I said to the class, "Listen, you are saved purely by God's grace as a gift. I will ask you how you are saved in your confirmation interview. If you don't remember anything else I've taught during these two years, remember this, "You are saved by God's grace!"
Why is it so hard to remember? Probably because we've been taught not to trust anything we might get for free, even if it is from God.
Erik in WI
I was reading for this week some suggestions for celebrating Reformation Sunday. One suggestion was to have your sermon follow the outline of the Affirmation of Baptism service. What do we want to do? How shall we live? The answers are found in the Affirmation of Baptism service. We declare our intent to continue in the covenant God made with us in baptism by...living among God's faithful people; hearing God's word and sharing Christ's holy supper; proclaiming the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; serving all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and striving for justice and peace in all the earth. That's what we want to do. This is most certainly true!
In response to Michelle's comment on the "guilty before God verse"--
Interesting, indeed. I had a more positive reaction: It is precisely the "guilt" that the Law puts upon all of us (no one can be perfect or approach the righteousness of God, who is perfect) that makes the Gospel and our salvation so incredible. God "gifts" us with his own righteousness via his Son--so that even though we are interminably guilty (sinful), we are cleansed by Christ's blood and have God's eternal love and the promise of life and joy with him now and forever.
Romans 3:19-28: Paul writes to the church at Rome on the subject of the New Covenant. The Law (the basis for the Old Testament) brings a consciousness of sin, but through faith in Jesus Christ we are redeemed from sin by His sacrifice. Our redemption is an act of God's grace, evidence of his love for us. We don't earn our righteousness, so we have no reason to brag. We are not "better people" than others, but if we accept God's gift in faith, the kingdom is ours forever. It's all about faith. That's the good news.
Hmm. Not NRSV, right? "a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law." So, how is a woman saved?
Also, it is strange to see capitalized pronouns for God in the scriptural text - that practice carries a theological message that I'm never sure I understand .... any ideas?
Gotta confess: I'm in trouble in my congregation for a church newsletter entitled "Yes, but ...", about how everyone always wants to put a condition on grace. I said there was nothing we had to do to be right with God, and nothing we could do. Someone took me on - yes, we have to pray a certain prayer, and believe, and this and that ... And here I thought it was such good news.
As a theology professor of mine used to say, if God prepares salvation for us, and ultimately gives us the choice of accepting it or rejecting it, then in whose hands is the whole event? If it's left up to me, I'm doomed. I always choose to follow my own way, not God's .... except when grace intervenes. Thanks be to God! kbc in sc
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." This is actually 1 John 2:1
kbc in sc
