For the 4th Sunday of Easter the 3 assigned readings on 4/13/08 are Acts 2:42-47; 1 Peter 2:19-25 and John 10:1-10. Chosen to preach on is 1 Peter 2:21, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps.”
Christ an Example? Does that not contradict the other passages in Scripture that say we are not saved by any works we do including following Jesus as an Example for us? That this verse can be misunderstood was underscored this week when a TV evangelist was asked about the passage that on Judgment Day Jesus will say that He does not know some who spoke of Him and did miracles in His name. The evangelist said that only those who do good works will be saved. It’s not enough to have faith.
This is a good example of the kind of confusion that exists when the distinctions between Law and Gospel are not held. The proper answer to the question would have been that there are those who speak of Jesus but do not believe in Him–the Mormons being a chief example.
Theology is the art of making distinctions. The distinction to keep in mind in regard to Jesus as an Example is that between justification and sanctfication. There are two kinds of righteousness from God’s point of view. There is the first kind of righteousness by which we become children of God and are saved. Then there is also the other kind of righteousness in which we respond to the needs of our neighbor. That kind of behavior uses Jesus as an Example who “when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten…” (verse 23)
The sermon could begin with showing the impossibility of any unbeliever following Jesus as an Example in order to be saved. Once the Law has done its hammering of our egos down to size, then the Gospel is proclaimed as to why there is no need on our part to do anything in order to be saved! While the sermon can speak of the kind of righteousness in which Jesus is an Example for us (civic or temporal good works), the sermon should still end on a note of Gospel for we are not in control of how the Law is heard.
Name:Tom Baker