On March 23, 2008, we celebrate one of the earliest dates possible for the celebration of Easter. There are four possible readings because beginning with the Easter season the book of Acts becomes one of the readings instead of the Old Testament although an OT reading is listed. The four readings are Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6, Colossians 3:1-4 and Matthew 28:1-10. Selected for a sermon text is Acts 10:35, “But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”

Why choose such a text for the celebration of Easter? Would not the Matthew 28 record of the resurrection be more appropriate? In reality, since all Scripture is “Christ centered, cross focused” (Issues Etc.)means that every passage of the Scripture can be linked to Easter Sunday. The elements I attempted to include in every sermon were the cross, the resurrection, baptism and the Lord’s Supper all from a Law/Gospel perspective.

The apparent problem with Peter’s sermon in Acts 10:35 is that it sounds like God will only accept those who are afraid of Him and are doing a lot of good works. In fact, some translations give that impression by the English words used. But what exactly does it mean to “fear” God, to “work righteousness” and be “accepted” by Him?

First, unlike religions of the Law which encourage a fear of God in order to do good works, Christianity reveals that doing good works out of fear of God is idolatry because it is the wrong motivation. Then what does it mean to fear God? The 1518 Heidelberg Disputation by Luther taught that if you ever do a good work and not be aware that it could be mortal sin, then it is mortal sin. The reasoning behind that statement is that every good work we do is tainted with improper motivation and therefore cannot possibly be a sinless good work.

The “fear of God” that every Christian has is framed well in the confession of faith used in some liturgies, “I, a poor, miserable sinner…deserve temporal and eternal punishment…” Proper fear is recognition that God has every right to send every sinful human being to hell for an eternity. That fear is a result of a proper preaching of the Law to mirror our true condition and hammer our egos down to size.

But what about working righteousness? What is important is that what counts is not how we regard ourselves as Christians but how God regards us. Because of Easter, a tremendous exchange took place when Christ Jesus took your sins to the cross and gave you His righteousness earned through His active obedience while here on earth. From God’s point of view, every Christian works righteousness; first and foremost through faith in Jesus Christ for full salvation. Thus, while having the right to send us to hell, He decided instead to send Himself to hell for you!

The final element in the verse to expound is the idea of being “accepted” by God. This is an unfortunate translation of the adjective. It is not a verb. The adjective can be translated as “welcomed.” It is also true that most people make a distinction between being acceptable and being welcomed. For example, parents may welcome all their children for a Thanksgiving meal, even those children who are not that acceptable because of their lifestyle or behavior.

A proper paraphrase of this verse could be: “And throughout the entire world, all who realize that God has the right to send temporal and eternal punishment and who are seen by God as doing fruit of the Holy Spirit, are welcomed to be His children.” You can hear a lengthier explanation of this passage on the Internet by going to kfuo.com and then click on the AM side, click Law and Gospel and listen to the broadcast for 3/17/08.