Remain in the truth of grace, faith, and Scripture alone

Sermon for the Festival of the Reformation

Galatians 2:16-21  +  John 8:31-36

Lutherans traditionally stick to the ancient lectionary of the Christian Church, going back over a thousand years for most Sundays of the Church Year. But for almost 500 years, Lutherans have taken one Sunday out of the Church Year to thank God for the Reformation of the Church that He graciously brought about in the 16^th century. Yes, we thank God for the Reformation, although many people curse this event in history, out of ignorance, or out of spite. We should thank God for it, not because it made the Church on earth perfect. It certainly didn’t do that. No, the Lutheran Reformation of the Church was about nothing more and nothing less than telling the truth, the very truth that Jesus spoke about in our Gospel, the truth that sets men free. The Lutheran Reformation was about telling the truth boldly, telling the truth courageously, telling the truth steadfastly, no matter what the consequences might be, because the truth sets men free, while error, falsehood, is poison to the soul. The Reformation was about standing up to popes and rulers and church councils, and demonstrating that they had not been telling the truth, that they had introduced poisonous lies into the Church, lies that needed to be exposed and eradicated. It meant turmoil in the Church and turmoil in society. It meant men like Martin Luther risking their reputations, their livelihoods, and their lives. And it meant congregations all over Europe having to choose between the glory and the prestige and the cultural heritage of Roman Church, on the one hand, and the truth as taught by a humble German pastor, on the other. What could cause men to take such a stand? What could move congregations to follow them—to give up so much, to sacrifice so much, including earthly peace? Only the power of the Truth and the strength of Spirit-worked conviction.

The truth that was revealed by the Reformation has been neatly summarized in three simple phrases (which Luther didn’t actually use, by the way, but which certainly describe his teaching): By grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone. That is the Truth in which we, the heirs of the Reformation, must remain.

We’ll begin with Scripture alone, the Word of God, because that’s where we learn about the grace of God toward the human race, and the faith by which sinners are justified before God.

Jesus spoke in the Gospel “to the Jews who had believed Him.” There were many who disbelieved Him, but these believed. How had they come to believe Him? It certainly wasn’t because the Church—religious leaders of the day—told them to! Quite the opposite! The Church told them that Jesus was a heretic who deserved to die. No, they believed by hearing the word of Jesus. They had heard from the Old Testament Word of God that the Messiah was coming to save them from their sins and to bring sinners into His eternal kingdom. They had heard Jesus’ word calling them to repentance and faith in Him, the promised Messiah—the Christ. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is always at work in the Word, they had believed Him.

Now Jesus says to them, “If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” What does it mean to remain in Jesus’ word? It means to go on hearing it and to go on believing in, depending on it, hanging onto it for dear life. It means to stick with what Jesus says, no matter what anyone else in the world might say. It means to stay firmly rooted and planted in Jesus’ word, not as a part of your life, but as the very source of your life, for now and for eternity. Those who remain in Jesus’ word are truly Jesus’ disciples. They are the ones who know the truth. They are the ones who are set free.

But you know how crafty the devil is. He is constantly casting the Scriptures into doubt, always sending people back to their own reason and strength, back to their own human philosophies and traditions, back to what fallible men have said, in order to obscure the pure light of the Holy Scriptures, to keep men captive in his kingdom of darkness, or to bring the children of the light back into his darkness.

But the Word of God will never be silenced. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus said, but My words will never pass away. The light of the Gospel will never go out. And for those few, for us few who believe God’s word and promise, the Gospel is still the power of God for salvation.

The Reformation principle that Luther helped to restore was “by Scripture alone.” Not “by Scripture and church tradition.” Also, not “by Scripture alone and we don’t care what the Church has ever taught before.” But by Scripture alone God has revealed Himself and His saving purpose and plan to mankind. By Scripture alone we learn to know God the Father, and Jesus Christ, whom He sent. By Scripture alone the Holy Spirit teaches us the truth and enlightens our hearts to believe in Jesus. From Scripture alone all doctrine is to be drawn. And by Scripture alone we judge all doctrines, to see which are from God and which are from men. Men can err. Popes can err. Councils and theologians and priests and pastors and seminaries and synods can and do err. But the Word of the Lord remains forever. And those who remain in it will know the truth, according to Jesus’ own promise.

That truth centers around God’s grace in Jesus Christ. By Grace Alone, another Reformation principle.

Grace is God’s free favor and love toward mankind. It’s God’s willingness and desire to be kind and good and merciful to those who do not deserve it. Grace, by definition, cannot be earned, cannot be purchased, cannot be bartered for. Grace is always a gift, intended for those who can’t earn it, which is why no one who tries to earn it will ever receive it.

That was the case with the unbelieving Jews in the Gospel. When Jesus promised that those who remain in His Word will know the truth and will be set free, they answered Him, “We are Abraham’s seed and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. Now, a slave does not remain in the house forever. But a son remains forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. You see, Jesus was offering them a gift, the gift of Himself, the gift of His sacrifice as payment for their sins, the gift of His righteousness as the replacement for their unrighteousness, the gift of freedom from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. He was the Son of God, the Son in the house who has the authority to set the slaves free. He was offering it as grace to needy sinners, but the sinners who stood before Him didn’t view themselves as needy, didn’t view themselves as slaves who needed to be freed. And so they remained slaves.

That’s why the Apostle Paul spends about two whole chapters in the Epistle to the Romans demonstrating from God’s Law that all flesh, all people, Jews and Gentiles, are sinners, condemned by God’s Law to death and sentenced to suffer God’s righteous wrath for all eternity. The main purpose of the Law is that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Why, then, does God justify anyone, if no one deserves it? Why, then, did God send His Son to redeem the lost and condemned human race, to be the propitiation, the sacrifice whose blood paid for all sin and whose righteousness satisfied the righteous requirements of the Law for all sinners? The answer is grace, grace alone.

Luther fought the battle against the Roman papacy, defending “by grace alone,” because the papacy had turned grace into an infusion of power by which God makes them able to earn God’s forgiveness and to merit eternal life. People do the same thing today when they think they are somehow worthy to be God’s children, worthy to be in heaven, deserving of God’s love and favor. But we hold to the Reformation principle that all people are, by nature, damned sinners, not worthy of a single favor from God, much less the free favor of eternal salvation and blessedness won for us by Jesus Christ. Sinners are saved from damnation, are justified, are made heirs of eternal life by grace alone.

That’s the reason why God saves and justifies sinners. How, then, are sinful human beings saved? How does God apply grace to people and to whom is it applied? How are sinners justified—counted righteous by God? You know this Reformation principle very well: Sinners are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

That’s what Jesus had been repeating over and over and over throughout the Gospel of John. You’re probably most familiar with what He says in John chapter 3: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

It’s what Paul says throughout Romans 3, 4 and 5. It’s what you heard in today’s Epistle from Galatians 2. The righteousness of God is not something we have to perform or a standard we have to live up to. It’s a promise that God makes, something He promises to give, something that faith alone receives.

And if God counts you righteous, what good thing can you possibly lack? If God counts you righteous, then what does it matter if the whole world thinks badly of you? If God counts you righteous, what does it matter if you are rich or poor or smart or simple or famous or a nobody, if you have lots of friends or not a friend in the world? You have Jesus, His blood, His righteousness, His place as the Son in God’s household, His love, His friendship, His power, His strength, and His promise to see you safely through this valley of the shadow of death into His eternal mansions. That’s what you have by faith, my friends. See what a precious gift faith is!

Faith was under attack at the time of the Reformation. Rome taught that sinners are justified by faith plus works, with the emphasis on works. No one could be sure if he had enough works, and so, no one could be sure he had any of those blessings that God promises. But Luther taught the simple truth of Scripture, that sinners are justified by faith alone in Jesus, apart from the deeds of the Law.

You know that this battle goes on still today, the battle to preserve this saving truth that faith is the how of justification, that sinners are justified by faith in Christ Jesus and in no other way, certainly not by works, and certainly not by the absence of faith.

Many Christians through the ages have shed their blood defending this simple truth. They’ve faced homelessness and imprisonment and the sword—in some cases, at the hand of the Roman Church itself—for taking a stand on the Reformation principles of grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone. Will we be less willing than they to take a stand? Will we be content to hide out and escape persecution and trial and hardship by keeping our mouths shut, by going along to get along? May it never be so! God has graciously preserved us in His truth and will preserve us still, if we remain in His word. Even that is something we can only do with the help of His mighty, Holy Spirit who will continue to strengthen us through Word and Sacrament, in every trial, in every hardship, in the face of every challenge. Let us remain in the truth, together with Luther, and with the apostles and prophets, and with all the saints in heaven and on earth. Let us remain in the truth of Jesus Christ, in the truth of the Reformation: by grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone. Amen.