I’ve experienced a similar thing myself and know how you feel. A few short years ago, to make a story short, I was on the verge of suicide or at least the thoughts pervaded my thinking, alone with “are you really elect”. It was through reformational teaching, primarily Luther, that I was brought from that and the Gospel was once again the Gospel. In my previous churches nobody would simply give you Christ, nobody would dare say, and stick to it, “justification by faith ALONE, in Christ ALONE”, the Christ FOR me was always missing. You’d “get saved” up front by Christ alone but you’d have to prove that faith. What is ESPECIALLY lost in today’s Christian church broadly in America is not so much “up front justification” but two, I think, crucial elements; that the saint/sinner is a continuous thing for the converted, and thus the Gospel is a continual application and not a “one time” and move on. And second, a complete loss of the active obedience of Christ for you. The combination of those two are killers to the real faith, regardless of initial “conversion” and justification and Christ’s passive suffering for our sins.

I was once told by a wise wise wise pastor on a national radio show, and many others including this one, to look to Christ, trust there and the good works will come. I thought that was the most absurd thing I’d ever heard in my life, how could that simple thing do it. But I’ll tell you what it’s reoriented my entire faith.

The Gospel opened my eyes to many things concerning good works that I’d never before saw. So many things!

For example; there is a crucial difference in just thinking (believing) Jesus died for your sins and even your sins in your future “post conversion” works; and trusting that Jesus died for your sins and fulfilled all righteousness so that now you stand with “nothing left to do” quite literally. The former sends one back to perdition, as in Galatia, the later is the true salvation we have.

The former produces works that are not good works but at the heart are selfish works unto a false sanctification (99.9% of American Protestantism today), a “I must get better” attitude to be assured and sanctified. In such, NO love of neighbor can be had even if one does the best of works all the time, because the self is at the heart of these hypocritical good works. And as much as one is now worrying and concerning one’s self with one’s self, one is putting one’s self in the office of God and violating the first Commandment, “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods in front of Me”. From the violation of the first commandment issues forth all the violations of the rest of the commandments. Denying the active righteousness of Christ produces the tightening that legalism always produces and an ever narrowing of “what constitutes a good work”. The works, thus, become more narrow (killing of other works) and what is actually done is done for self (self deification). This is why Luther would say that “faith” fulfills the first commandment, not that it does as a merit, but so trusting nakedly, passively in Christ alone, it brings with it a trust that God is INDEED your God.

The later, Christ FOR YOU both taking your sins and giving you ALL righteousness, produces the relief of the Gospel which only the Gospel can do. Because Christ’s active perfect obedience has ALREADY brought to perfect completion all one’s works unto the end of the age, vocations, and such that one cannot fail at their callings, and this is given to the believer so that his/her services in their offices of calling as life comes to us is ministered to the neighbor in which Christ is to receive them (the One Who perfects them in the first place). Because they are perfected in Christ’s office, then the relief of the Gospel comes so that one can now RELAX, be at peace, and truly love our callings, no matter how insignificant they seem and stop trying to seek “glorious things”. Thus, we begin, with much sin still there, to truly just love our neighbor without the hidden agenda of false sanctification underlying it or seeking out the most glorious looking of works, the ordinary thus becomes glory to God. God is now God and man is now man again in Christ. And THIS is true sanctification. True sanctification is not a climb up but a descending down, but not a descending down like false humility, but a laying down of seeking glory as we trust in Christ alone. This produces the relaxing that the Gospel always produces. And this is where works begin to change as to their nature arising out of the fertile soils of faith and not vice versa which is false works. So an ever widening of “what constitutes a good work” as a simultaneous release of selfishness and concern for self occurs as the flesh is killed and the truster called into being by the very Gospel continually in Word and Sacrament feeding him/her. No longer must fallen man pretend to be his own god, a violation of the first command, but is now creature to the Creator again. In the Kingdom of heaven the beggar is the owner, the welfare recipient is the true creature of the Creator and knows God as God and man as man. Pulling yourself up by your own boot straps is Satanic religion under whatever title it goes, even if it falls under the term “Christian”.

So, we see that the root of legalism lay much in that which teaches against or confuses against the active righteousness of Christ for the believer. But this is not apparent to the wisdom of man that attempts to produce “works”, man’s wisdom under ANY name both narrows the works (the list of what is “God pleasing”), killing off other works, which shows the murderous underlying slander of Satan. Second, law motivation kills at the heart level, due to the flesh not the Law, why the work is done (for self, assurance and sanctification – all false – and again a violation of the first commandment).

Yet, the great irony of the Gospel that the wisdom of man cannot see – is that in relieving one of sin (the passive righteousness and suffering of Christ) and giving all the active righteousness necessary such that it is finished PERIOD and the eyes of the believer are FIXED there and NOT upon works, it first produces fluently and profusely and ever increasingly widening what good works are (even sleeping and eating are good works something glory religions CANNOT grasp AT ALL) and, second, no ‘hidden agenda’ is now behind them for the self (the becoming my own god against the first command). So now we can see that faith cannot help but produce good works, just as a fish produces the state of “fishness”. Yet faith, like the fish, does so by not trying to do so, but rather by resting in Christ alone. Good works can by no other means be had in reality. If one desires true good works one must first stop trying to do them and trust without works always and continually, then they will arise on their own. Otherwise one will blow hard and much about good works and faith, yet know absolutely nothing of either. I mean nothing of either, that’s where I was.

This is the folly of God which is wiser and against the wisdom of man, the later cannot even comprehend the former let alone co-exist with it – the darkness cannot comprehend the light. This is the weakness of God which is more powerful than the power of man, the former calls into being all things and the later is utterly impotent and lifeless.

This is why too many preachers and teachers today, honestly, do not preach the Word of God and have abandoned their calling even though they exegete all the Greek, because they confound the Law and the Gospel and the Covenants. They forget Satan slanders first and foremost the very word of God using the very word of God against us. They truly do not believe Jesus when He said, “You search the Scriptures and think that by them you have life, but it are these that continually bear witness of ME”.

John Wesley once said that no man born of a woman knew more about justification than Luther, and no man was more ignorant of sanctification. Wesley was deceived and wrong, few men born of women where more ignorant of justification than John Wesley, and even fewer completely ignorant of sanctification. No man outside of the Apostles themselves understood reality as Luther did, what Luther rediscovered by God’s working through him was nothing less than utterly foreign to all the religions of the world, including false Christianity. Nothing is more counter to our glory eyes than saying, “Absolute free grace, that is Christ for you taking your sin and giving you ALL the righteousness necessary and finished is what makes true Christians, sustains them and ironically begins the fruit of good works.” All other religions including false ideas within Christian churches can be boiled down to “you need to try harder”.

Blessings,

Larry KY

I’ve paste as part of my message, a portion of a letter that is meant to be written to certain brothers in Christ that explained in deep and intimate detail, the falure of many braches of Christianity, and the assurance that I can only find in Reformed Theology. This particular portion especially critiques Dispensationalism and the baggage of rules that usually comes with them, since they reject that the Mosaic Law is for Christians today. I want to deeply thank AM 850 KFUO for bringing forth the Gospel the way it has into my life. I’m deeply changed in many ways and thank you Pastor Baker as well as the rest of the staff for taking the stand in where you have. Here below is the letter sent to the certain brothers. Hope I can get your commentary.

David,
North Bergen, NJ

Although the Fundamental Dispensational church that I went to had such a wonderful desire to emphasize the Bible above our opinions. It, like many other branches of Christianity has failed, due to the fact that they teach a man can be sanctified within himself by what he does. The refrain is heard over and over again, “we must separate ourselves from the world and by this we can be made holy!!!” This seems to be a fundamental (no pun intended) misunderstanding of sanctification. True sanctification only takes place when the Law is preached in all of it’s severity (Romans 2:13). In such a way that it brings the sinner (even and especially Christian sinners) to his knees by looking at his own unworthiness(Luke 18:10-14). And after he’s faced it, and is delivered the Gospel (Romans 1:15-16). His heart rejoices, faith grows, and out of that faith flows the good works that he seeks to do, because he’s created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). Even if those good works include those works that I disagree are necessary, don’t drink or go to the local tavern. Because they flowed out of that faith (Romans 14:23), and not out of a thinking that the works themselves make them more holy. God will see them as works of gold, silver, or precious metals. So you see, I’m not necessarily against a Christian abstaining from what they would consider worldly activities. What I am against is the whole notion, that by their own petty efforts, from their own sinful motives, which will prove to be works of wood hay and stubble, they can somehow still within themselves make themselves more holy (Isaiah 64:6). If God brought Christ to you to redeem you, and out of that brought justification. Why do you boast then, as if by your own petty abstinence, you can improve the work that He’s done, and make yourself more holy? If He who’s began a good work in you (justification) will be faithful to complete it (sanctification, and glorification), why not rather trust what He’s ordained to sanctify you, His Word, His Sacraments, and the fellowship of the brethren. Neither of these things which are within us, but all of these things that are outside of us. By looking within yourself, you can only find despair (like I have) or Pharisaical pride, because that is all that is within the heart . That same that is wicked beyond understanding (Jeremaiah 17:9). It’s a crying shame, that the Gospel, which Paul called the power of God (Romans 1:16-17), is somehow undermined by our own feeble efforts to purify ourselves. It’s no wonder why I as many Christians, then struggle to witness as regularly as we should. I fear that in the name of sobriety, we’re burning out Christians that would otherwise grow in the faith, and raising up a people that are absorbed in themselves by their own self affirming piety.