This is not only the Last Sunday in the Church Year on 11/26/06; it is also the last time we will be using the present 3 year lectionary system of readings. Next week all the readings will be from the new 3 year lectionary system referred to as the Revised Lutheran Lectionary. For this Sunday there are 2 choices for the Old Testament reading: Isaiah 51:4-6 (Salvation has gone forth) and Daniel 7:13-14 (Ancient of Days); 2 choices for the Epistle reading: Jude 20-25 (Keep you from stumbling) and Revelation 1:4b-8 (Alpha and Omega); and 2 choices for the Gospel reading: Mark 13:33-37 (No one knows the time) and John 18:33-37 (Pilate and Jesus). The text chosen to analyze is Isaiah 51:4 which reads, “Listen to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, O My nation: for law will proceed from Me, and I will make My justice rest as a light of the peoples.”
Do you really want a god of justice? The theme for this Sunday is the great and awesome Day of Judgment. Every religion of the world teaches that on that Day God will judge you on the basis of His justice; that is, giving you what you deserve. Except for Christianity. It is not that the Christian faith has no concept of the justice of God; it is just that it is so different from any other religion.
As every other religion which has a personal god teaches, on that last Day the god will examine your life as to your own works and give you what you deserve. The more obedient you have been on earth; the greater your chance for salvation. But for the Christian your own works will not be the measure of whether or not you are saved. Instead, through faith in Jesus Christ, you will be declared to have received the righteousness of Christ that He achieved while on earth. A glorious exchange will have taken place at your conversion when God took your sins, placed them on the cross of Christ and gave you His robe or righteousness.
That God is “just” is correct but not according to the understanding of the world. His justice is not that He gives you what you deserve for that would be temporal and eternal punishment for your sins. Instead, he justly forgives you not on account of anything you have contributed to the process of salvation but because of the gift of the death and resurrecction of Jesus Christ. For Jesus did what you and I are unable to achieve; that is, pay for our sins and remove the curse of the Law from us which reads, “In the day that you sin, you shall surely die.”
Jesus took that curse upon Himself as is evident from His own words from the cross, “My God, My God, what have You forsaken Me?” In that way, God’s justice for you and me becomes a light that rests on us who were once in the darkness of unbelief. What a joy to realize that on the Last Day the believer has nothing to fear for He enters into everlasting Paradise wearing the robe of Christ’s righteousness forever and ever.
Name:Tom Baker
Tom
as I read your post I EMOTIONALLY DECLARE, I AM GUILTY, I AM GUILTY, I AM GUILTY!!!
One part of me cries out in internal horror while at the same time I am being overcome by the QUIETING SPIRIT OF GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE! aaaaaaaaaaah
You wrote: [[ Every religion of the world teaches that on that Day God will judge you on the basis of His justice; that is, giving you what you deserve. Except for Christianity. ]]
Now about a year and a half or so, give or take a day or a week or month ago, it has been that long since I was first introduced to you personally, or rather, I came up to you the first night you spoke at my Church in California and introduced myself to you. Ever since then, that I can remember, you mention that that I quoted that you posted above constantly.
Every religion of the world offers a DIFFERENT FAITH than the kind of FAITH God gives us to comprehend with His assistance, [the Holy Ghost] and [the Spirit of Christ], that GUILTY SINNERS can receive His peace even though guilty, guilty, guilty of sins of thoughts, words and deeds.
I am beginning to see THAT LAW Isaiah speaks about and is written about and recorded in Isaiah 51 for us who have received that FAITH from God. This FAITH is the KEY THAT OPENS THE DOOR to propitiation for our sins. God redeems us!
The LAW of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets me free from the Law of sin and death. This is a LAW that is not naturally discerned or understood. It takes Faith to discern and understand this LAW.
Sin and death are real. Religion is a man created thing to make a man made atonement for the guilty sinful results of our natures.
My question rhetorically asked is this: WHERE DOES THIS DESIRE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT COME FROM; this natural desire to do something about the sin and death, the guilt, the guilt, the guilt in me?
I would have to say, from an enemy of both God and man.
The “key” that unlocks the door to the mystery of the guilt of sin that my flesh speaks about continually to me as it realizes the sinful guilty conscience and as a looming consequence, DEATH for my thoughts, words and deeds, is this that has now come alive in the flesh, THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH/THE LAW OF RIGHTEOUSNESS from a JUST GOD. Now this LAW exists in my flesh.
The “key” that unlocks the door to the washing away of the guilt that has come alive now that the Law of sin and death has come “alive” in me is that that the Apostle speaks about in Romans and other places:
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The alarms that are always ringing and ringing in my conscience because of my flesh seem to silence as I grow in this gift of Grace and the Knowledge of the Truth which I can only receive by the FAITH GOD GIVES that helps me through to the calm PEACE of Life in, with and through the Lord Jesus Christ, who has now become the most unsearchable, unfathomable TRUTH from God who so loves the world He has given us this Savior!
thanks once again and again and again Tom for this Law Gospel blog and the words on Isaiah 51!
michael
Eureka, Ca.
Sin-man says “Did God really take away my sin”?
New-man ignores sin-man and knows what God says is true.
And yet, my believing anything does not make anything true.
The statement, “Believe in Jesus Christ and be saved”, is all law but, also very true.
The line from Martin Luther, “I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ” is true but, sin-man wants to reason this out.
The mystery of God’s gift of faith is impossible to reason , yet I try to reason it all the time.
“Trust but verify”.
New-man (faith) ignores sin-man and struggles to push away reasoning.
Sin-man (reason) believes a lot of things.
I believe things I hear.
I believe things I see.
I believe things I touch. (Thomas)
But the things I believe, I always use my reasoning.
“Trust but verify”.
Sin-man says “Why should I believe what God says?”.
New-man says “Thanks be to God for what God says”
What a struggle this is. (Romans 7)
It is a glorious struggle. Strange, but this struggle will constantly bring us to Jesus Christ.
God could have left us without the struggle but, He uses it to bring us back to Him.
We can take comfort in the sin-man vs new-man tug of war for the rest of our lives.
Reason says “Why take comfort in a struggle?”.
And on goes the struggle.
I can tell you one thing for certain, it is in Luther and the Lutheran tradition that I find the most Gospel being given at every point. When I was a SB, even during the last years not that long ago in a strongly Calvinistic SB church, even with a heavy emphasis upon Luther in the reformation, the one SINGLE thing that was not ever being preached or taught, or if it was immediately re-covered up by some “law” blanket, was the actual giving of the Gospel. I mean specifically the GIVING of it. The difference between, “Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved” and “Here is Jesus Christ FOR YOU” is the difference in communicating two separate religions, yet, using the same “christian/biblical” language elements. The difference in understanding baptism by God FOR ME versus an “after faith ceremony” is the difference in two separate religions. There can be NO doubt about it. The difference between a religion of Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and Justification by sanctification or the proofs of sanctification (a subtle but similar approach) is the difference between LIFE and a living hell. To me whatever the ‘law’ that was offered to ‘help resolve’ my troubled soul boiled down to “how much and how pure”. I could never find any comfort for my soul and I spiraled more and more inward, my wife could vouch for that. A lot of it boiled down, for me, to adjectives. Yes, those little noun limiting words. It is one thing to say, “if you believe you will be saved”, which is bad enough but quite another to say, “if you TRULY or REALLY believe (“then” implied) you will be saved”. While it is a true statement in and of itself, it’s not the Gospel and such a communication will withhold the life giving Gospel, though close in words, infinitely out of reach. It is speaking A truth of salvation, only true saving faith is saving faith, but it presents it as “gospel” or faith’s object. It’s very very subtle but to the ear the difference between life and death.
Just the other day driving to family for the holidays I was doing what I do often, pondering a piece of Scripture. I think I had a “Law/Gospel” moment if you will and Pastor Baker can correct me if I’m wrong. I was thinking through a verse that use to torment me at our former church. The one about taking up our cross and following Christ. That was always presented in some form of “you will sacrifice yourself if you are really in the faith or have true saving faith and so follow Jesus”. This “proof” is where you will find rest was the implication. Or in short another “Jesus is the example” verse. Which seems like nothing more than, “Work your way to heaven before you can rest (be assured)”. So, I began to meditate about “take up your cross” and “follow Me”. When it hit me that that verse is nothing more than restating Repent and Trust (Believe). But not in the normally understood way of “repent” meaning sorrow and proof of it is “I quit this or that sin” or a “faith” that some how arises out of me. If I might make a side point on this issue; is there really any discernable difference in the soul or mind of a man about the words that describe a ‘faith’ from within by the choosing power of man (a.k.a Wesley, et. Ali.) versus a ‘faith’ that I affirm by words is sovereignly from the Holy Spirit, YET, I communicate and direct myself or am communicated and directed to, none-the-less, some how ‘find’ that faith working within me just the same? Does it really matter if I think I somehow must “choose” or that I somehow must find that God has worked this faith within me? The end result for the soul of these two end up the same it seems, looking the same way, “Do I trust enough” (Wesley) or “has God REALLY worked faith within me” (Calvinistic Baptist). This seems to be what Luther was pin pointing when he said, ‘I cannot believe in Christ my Lord by my own power or reason but am called to Him by the Gospel through the Holy Spirit”. Luther seem to “get” how one “calls” people to faith and how we are NOT called to faith within the same biblical sounding language.
Back on point (take up your cross and follow Me): Rather, repent, that is ‘take up your cross’, stop trying to save yourself, stop trying to find life in your doing or your not doing, stop, stop stop, crucify that old man, the incurable “doer” and THEN TRUST in Christ, that is ‘follow Me’, that is LOOK to Me. I told my wife, “Don’t you see the repentance IS the dying of the old religious “doer” trying to have life in WHATEVER religious duty you think you will have it, and then the “follow Me” is just another way of saying “trust Me alone or look to Me” to have already saved you. Just like the “looking” in John 6 where Jesus likens His crucifixion to the bronze serpent on the pole, all they did was look to where God spoke, they did nothing. The “looking” and the “following” is a kind of metaphor or similar for naked bare trusting without ANY doing and not “follow ME”, as in “follow Me your example”.
That put a whole new life in that verse for me if I have not missed it. I told my wife, “Don’t you see, if that is how you understand that verse, THAT will give you the strength to suffer if/when whatever suffering and cross bearing comes your way and NOT IF YOU DO THIS, THEN YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR FAITH TRUE TO YOURSELF AND REST IN THAT. No real strength can be drawn from that.” I continued, “People say and quote Jesus saying, ‘You can do nothing apart from ME…”, but often say it in a way that is entirely apart from Jesus or at worse some unintelligible misty non-understanding of that statement, but rather just something vainly said because Jesus said it and it sounds like the answer to the struggling question being asked. They mean Jesus gives you the strength to DO something you otherwise couldn’t do, but yet you find you still don’t know what that strength IS and you find you STILL cannot do it…you are still waiting on that STRENGTH from “above”. You don’t know how its coming or how it shall manifest itself, but yet you look for it. You look for it like a thing you have no concept of what it will be or what it will manifest as and even if you thought it came, how would you know that was it. Would God come in such a questionable way to save? Then at length you fail, not having the power come upon you from above or thought you did but still failed and surmise, “God must have abandoned me I see no such ‘power’ given me”.” “But”, I continued to tell her, “What Jesus means when He says, ‘you can do nothing apart from Me’, is nothing more than more the Gospel. Jesus means, “You can do nothing apart from KNOWING WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT I HAVE SAVED YOU ALREADY AND NOTHING MORE IS NEEDED! YOU ARE BAPTIZED.” That takes it out of the shadowy mystical Gnostic ethereal ‘power’ waited upon that never comes and how would you know if it did, or some inward generation of that power, and places it squarely unto the already visibly manifest Gospel of Jesus Christ and HIM crucified, which is, as Paul clearly says, THE POWER.
Perhaps this too, if it is not a stretch, is why Jesus warned us against seeking signs and wonders, not just ‘charismatic’ ones, but even signs of “power” or grace as a substance power within us to do. Because the ONLY way we know for sure is the Cross of Christ for us, all else can be imitated by man, the devil or a combination thereof. Jesus answer to them was the ‘sign of Jonah’, that is to say, “MY crucifixion for you is IT, it is THE sign!”
Ldh
Good comments Michael, Randy and Larry. In response to Larry’s question on the verse about taking up one’s cross, you are correct in that it is nothing more than Repent and Believe. True repentance is both contrition and faith in Jesus as only Savior. In that context, therefore, repentance is a dying to self in the sense of carrying one’s cross. Of course, that specifically happens in our baptism according to Romans, chapter 6. The bottom line is that true repentance and true faith is indeed the work of God alone. The distinctions between Law and Gospel in the end demonstrate that God gets all the credit for our salvation and we receive salvation as pure gift without any merit or worthiness in us.