Simply the Gospel

Romans 3:19-28

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Reformation Day 10/30/22


Simply the Gospel

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Luther was a stubborn German. On October 31st of 1517, he posted an invitation to debate the sale of indulgences on the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg. He did not intend a reformation of the church. He was still a faithful priest of the Roman Catholic church. His action was a typical call for a debate on an issue by a Doctor of Theology in his day and age, and Luther's issue was the sale of indulgences. Forgiveness was not for sale, in Luther's opinion.

It seems that everybody found Luther's tract interesting, and although he never got the formal, academic debate he had been aiming for, Luther sparked a war of pamphlets with the chief salesman of indulgences for the Pope in Germany, Johann Tetzel, and an escalating controversy which caused Luther and the whole of Christianity to rethink many issues and doctrines of the faith which resulted in what we call the Reformation. So, October 31st is known as Reformation Day among most Lutherans.

As Luther debated, he found that the Gospel itself was at issue, ultimately, and being a stubborn German, he would not let go of the issue. Being a sincere Christian he could not let go of the Gospel — the simple Gospel laid out by the Apostle Paul in our epistle lesson this morning. Our theme today is Simply the Gospel.

Paul began with the law and sin. That is where we must always begin. The law teaches us that every single one of us is a sinner, and as such deserve nothing but God's wrath, death and Hell. The function of the law was never primarily to teach us how to behave, but to demonstrate before our eyes and intellects that we are sinful through and through. We need to be rescued, and we lack the character and ability to do anything about that need.

So God did what was needed. He sent His only-begotten Son into the world and into our flesh to do two things: keep the law of God perfectly, and then die innocent of any personal fault or need to die – He was to take on our need to die for us and die in our place. Having done that, the death our sins demanded before the justice of God was accomplished, used up, if you will. Then God justified us, counting Christ's perfect righteousness as our own because Christ counted our sins as His own. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Simply the Gospel. There was nothing left to buy. Our forgiveness is the gift of the Gospel. Everyone is covered by this gift. The only way out of it is to reject it and deny it and to refuse to be covered by this grace of God. Because man's nature is sin and hostile to God, being ignorant of God and His grace is the most common way of rejecting the gift of grace, but many do so deliberately as well. They simply will not believe it and will not accept it, and sometimes believe that they must do something that makes them fit for God's grace – which is to call God a liar both in the judgement of the law and in His goodness, grace and mercy in the Gospel.

The Gospel - the life and death and resurrection of Jesus – was to show [God's] righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Faith is all that is required, and God gives faith and creates faith when and where the good news of His love is proclaimed. He has to give faith because we are unable to believe accept, or truly understand the Gospel without the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 2:14, a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

So we celebrate simply the Gospel on Reformation Day. God pushed that stubborn German into a fight he did not want, first by making such a big deal of the 95 theses, then making Luther dig into Scriptures to defend himself – where he discovered that his religion had been missing the gospel all along. And God taught Luther to believe and forced him to teach and defend what God had shown him in the Scriptures, what I have called simply the Gospel, For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
(Let the people say "Amen")