Romans
3:19-28: 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who
are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God. 20 Therefore
no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law; rather,
through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been
made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to
all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, 24 and all
are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus. 25 God presented Christ
as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood--to be received
by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he
had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as
to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is
excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the
"law" that requires faith. 28
For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from observing the
law.
This Sunday
is commonly observed as "Reformation Sunday," in which we transfer
the Protestant festival from its historic date of Oct 31st (the day Luther
nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel in 1517) to the
nearest Sunday.
The
readings for this festival are always the same. They include the promise of a
new covenant based on grace as found in the words of Jeremiah; they include the
TRUTH setting one free in the words of St. John's gospel; and they include the
above, powerful words of St. Paul about justification. There are 2 key thoughts
in this passage that remain as relevant to us today as they did in Luther's day
(to say nothing of Paul's day). They are:
--The truth
that righteousness before God is based on faith in The Truly Righteous One.
This is the gist of vss 21-22: 21
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. It
was, and perhaps still is, a very 'stretching' concept to think of the
Righteousness of God as an individual, as opposed to a concept. Indeed, in
Luther's day it was very common to think of the righteousness of God as being JUDGMENT.
This is when the jig is up! If you encounter the righteousness of God, you are
in essence standing at a toll booth owing more .... much more... than you have.
If you encounter the righteousness of God, this is where your own good works
get placed on a scale and measured against God's goodness and holiness.... and
guess what... it's NO CONTEST. You lose! And so with this thinking in place,
it's no wonder that the "best news" the Official Church could think
of was to invent the doctrine of Purgatory. Here's a place you can go after you die that will give you a
chance to work off those extra tolls you owe. It's a horrible, painful,
experience, but at least it's not hell and at least it's not forever. ALL of
this comes from missing the point
that Paul is making in vss 21-22. Encountering the righteousness of God isn't
encountering his legal code, or his judgment; it is encountering a PERSON; the
babe of Bethlehem; the suffering savior on the cross. And in encountering
**HIM, in faith, a wonderful exchange happens. His righteousness is GIVEN to
YOU as a free gift.
--The other
main thrust of this text is found in the last verse, vs 28: For we maintain that a person is justified
by faith apart from observing the law. Actually, this is one of those rare
occasions when I do not prefer the TNIV translation.... primarily because
"observing the law" is a bit nebulous compared to the original Greek.
So for our purposes I'll choose the ESV translation which reads: For we hold
that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. I think it's important to get that word "works"
(or deeds) in there, as it is clearly stated in the Greek "ergon." So
in other words what's going on here is that the 1st point expresses that God's
righteousness becomes ours BY FAITH, whereas the 2nd point expresses the truth
that this results in a *status known as "justified"... that has nothing to do with the performance of deeds (religious
or otherwise). To be justified is to be in a currently right/acceptable
relationship with God. To be justified means to be vindicated; to be found as
'just' in a law-court.
Why
does any of this matter? As Luther knew, this is the very heart of the Gospel.
Humanity has one basic core problem: we are broken. We are sinful. On our best
days we build hospitals for the poor and feed the hungry, but our best days are
woefully few and far between. In the creation story of Genesis it says that
initially God looked around and pronounced it all "GOOD,"... meaning GOOD by His holy and righteous standards. But
we all know that this isn't the world we live in anymore. Our attempt at
'righteousness,' on the rare occasions that we even try, is tainted at best.
And so the point is this... either GOD FIXES THIS PROBLEM himself, or it
doesn't get fixed. And so in part, Reformation Day is about celebrating the
truth of the Gospel; it's about celebrating the fact that we can faithfully
proclaim that God has fixed this problem
by virtue of sending us His Own Righteousness, in his Son.
But
there's another angle to this thing. I know we live in an age when it's not
polite to 'dis' our neighbor's religion. And certainly no Protestant is happier
with the new Pope (Pope Francis) than I am. He is a breath of long-awaited
fresh air when compared to Benedict or even John-Paul II. His personal piety of
living in simplicity, and his public statements of tolerance have made him the
darling of the media. But as others have pointed out... and as he has said himself, he has
not changed the teaching of 'The Church.'
Newsflash: The Pope is still Catholic. The catechism of the Catholic
Church is still in place; the pronouncements from the Council of Trent are
still in place. Purgatory is still the official teaching of the Church, as is
justification by a combination of faith + works.
Now
and then well-meaning people start to wonder if there's a 'reason' to be
Protestant anymore; is there a reason to be Lutheran; is there a reason to
celebrate Reformation Day; does the Reformation even matter in 2013? One need
look no further than the smiling friendly face of Pope Francis. By Rome's
standards, he is and will be a wonderful Pope. But by biblical standards, he still stands in OPPOSITION to St. Paul's
words: For we hold that one is justified
by faith apart from works of the law.
Sola Scriptura
Sola Fide
Sola Gratia
Cheers,
TM
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