"Justification Is the Article on Which the Church Stands or Falls" (Sermon, Reformation Day, Rom. 3)

“Justification Is the Article on Which the Church Stands or Falls” (Romans 3:19-28)

There is a saying attributed to Luther that, in the Latin, goes like this: “Justificatio est articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae.” Which, being translated, means: “Justification is the article on which the church stands or falls.” Dear friends, on this Reformation Day I submit to you that this is what the whole Reformation was about, namely, the doctrine of justification. This is the article of doctrine on which everything else depends. It is the article on which the church stands or falls. What’s more, it is the article on which you yourself will stand or fall.

There is no doubt that the doctrine of justification was at the heart and center of the Lutheran Reformation. Our primary confessional document, the Augsburg Confession, states that men “cannot be justified before God by their own powers, merits, or works. But they are justified as a gift on account of Christ through faith when they believe that they are received into grace and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins. God reckons this faith as righteousness (Rom. 3 and 4).”

The Apology of the Augsburg Confession calls justification “the chief topic of Christian doctrine.” It alone gives all glory to Christ and true comfort to troubled consciences. In the Smalcald Articles, Luther writes, “The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised for our justification. . . . Upon this article everything that we teach and practice depends.” And you can find these thoughts repeated over and over again throughout the Lutheran Confessions. Clearly, our church understands justification to be the chief thing in all of Christian teaching.

The right understanding of justification is foundational to the life of the church. The various practices that the Lutherans reformed and corrected, things like penance and the mass and so forth--what they discovered was that these were not isolated, disconnected abuses, but that there was a fundamental error underlying all these problems, that is, a different understanding of how people are put right with God. In a word, justification.

The medieval Roman Catholic Church was teaching, “To the one who does that which is within him, God does not deny grace.” In other words, if you just try your best, God will reward you with a booster shot of grace, so that you can then move further along in your efforts to get right with God. To this, Luther said, “Baloney! Hogwash! That’s not how it goes!”

One of the passages that most influenced Luther and shaped his thinking on justification is our text from Romans 3. There we get it straight and clear: “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.” “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

Dear friends, this is the article on which you will stand or fall! If you try to make it on your own, you will fall. If you rely on your works, if you rely on your own goodness--even your relative goodness, compared to the really bad people--you will fall and fail. God’s law requires perfection, 100%. God does not grade on a curve. You have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. On your own, judged by God’s law, you will surely die, eternally.

But thank God, that is not the end of the story. What Luther discovered is the good news I bring to you today. It is the good news of righteousness before God as a gift, for Christ’s sake. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came in the flesh and fulfilled God’s law in our place. He kept the commandments we broke. Jesus always did the right thing, loving God above all things and loving his neighbor as himself. And yet he, the only perfectly righteous one, bore our sins in his body and carried them to the cross. He took the punishment we deserve: abandonment and death under God’s judgment.

Why? So that we would not bear it! Jesus made the sacrifice that atones for our sins. For your sins. Is your conscience guilty? You are forgiven in Christ! Are you weighed down by your sins? Jesus lifts them from you! The blood of Jesus cleanses you from all your sins! Are you seeing only gloom in front of you? Christ gives you light and hope. His resurrection assures you that this is not all there is. There is life ahead, an eternal joy that will outweigh all our sorrows. In fact, joy even now, in the midst of our sorrows.

God pronounces you righteous, not guilty, for Christ’s sake. That, in a word, is justification. It is a free gift, received by faith. Trust in Christ and not in yourself for your right standing with God. And with that free gift comes everything that goes with it: Forgiveness and life and eternal salvation. God’s love, enfolding you in his arms. New life, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Hope and strength to carry on.

Brothers and sisters, justification is the article on which you will stand and take your stand. You will have the courage to confess the faith like Luther did, when he stood before the emperor and said, “Here I stand; I can do no other.” Justification is the genuine article. It is the real deal. God pronounces you righteous for Christ’s sake. You have been redeemed to stand before God’s throne. And so you can say, with real confidence, “On Christ, the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

Romans 3:19-28 (ESV)

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. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 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, 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. 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.

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. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

But they are justified as a gift on account of Christ through faith when they believe that they are received into grace and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins. God reckons this faith as righteousness (Rom. 3 and 4).”

Powerful! Powerful! Powerful!

The hardest part for humans to reconcile is that it is Christ's faith...not ours...His Faith...that Our Father counts as righteousness. Our role is simply to BELIEVE it.

Let that sink in. Once you recognize that, you'll shout THANK YOU LORD! I feel like shouting it right now! WOO HOO! THANK YOU LORD!

The Path to Restoration
7/21/19

We were created to live forever – forever at one with God – to walk with Him in the garden in the cool of the evening. But we blew it, and there was no way we could ever get back, because we were completely incompatible with the Holiness of God. We did not know this of course, believing that our efforts could earn a place with God – but it could not. It took over two thousand years for some to see this, but in the end, most did not. And even now, we still try. Only God could restore us, and though it happens all at once, there are three miracles embedded within our salvation: redemption, justification and adoption.

The story of redemption goes back to the land of Israel. God owned the land and gave it the tribes of Israel, who divided it among the families. A father may get in a hard way and sell his land, but it could be redeemed – purchased back – by a member of the family. No one else could do this – only a member of the family. In the same way, we are God’s, and we can be redeemed – purchased back – by a member of His family. It was for this reason that Jesus came – to pay the price of our redemption.

Justification is a legal term used in a court of law. To be justified is to be found without guilt and set free. Through justification, we are not only found to be without guilt – we are truly without guilt. Our sins are as far away from us as the East is from the West.

So now that we have been redeemed and justified, what more could we possibly want or need? Adoption goes way beyond anything we could ever imagine! We are now adopted into God’s family! This is even better than our position following our original creation – we never had the status of God’s sons. Yet this is exactly what has happened.

We could never accomplish any of this – it all had to be done by God. So, where does this leave us? Are we really living a redeemed, justified life as a true son of God? The world tries to convince us this is not true, that we have to continually strive to be worthy, to be Holy. When we fail (as we surely will), then, of course, we are deemed unworthy. What a waste of time. Accept your eternal value before God and begin living a fully restored life. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it in abundance. Only He could make this happen. Alleluia!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.