Reformation Sunday – October 30, 2011

The spiritual situation in Europe during the late 1400’s and 1500’s was in pitiful shape. So much so, that about this spiritual ignorance Martin Luther had written:

No one knew what was Gospel, what…Christ, Baptism, Confession, [and] Sacraments [were]…what was righteousness, sin, and the forgiveness of sins…In a word, we knew nothing of what a Christian ought to know.

This tragic spiritual ignorance overwhelmed Martin Luther. It disturbed him and saddened him. In 1528, after visiting a number of congregations in Saxony, Germany, he wrote about it saying:

The deplorable condition which I recently encountered when I was a visitor constrained me to prepare this brief and simple Catechism or statement of Christian teaching. Good God, what wretchedness I beheld! The common people, especially those who live in the country, have no knowledge whatsoever of Christian teaching, and unfortunately many pastors are quite incompetent and unfitted for teaching. Although the people are supposed to be Christian…they live as if they were pigs and irrational beasts, and now that the Gospel has been restored they have mastered the fine art of abusing liberty.

And the reasons for this situation were, in fact, many. There were a lack of schools; no well-trained ministry; few capable teachers for the schools; and few spiritually-knowledgeable parents who could teach their children the major truths of the Christian faith. In addition to all this, and certainly not least, the church itself was guilty of placing so much emphasis upon good works that the main truths of salvation were hidden. Yes, the Roman Catholic Church was guilty of teaching a salvation by works, or in other words – work-righteousness.

Now, work-righteousness means exactly what it says. It is a teaching that says a person, as long as they do enough good works, can be found to be right before God. The problem is, such a teaching is condemned by our Lord. Such a teaching leaves a person trusting in themselves for their salvation. And such a teaching leaves a person spiritually bankrupt.

It was against this teaching of work-righteousness that Martin Luther took his stand. And it is against this teaching of work-righteousness that Paul takes his stand in the words he wrote to the Christians in the church at Galatia. Here he reminds them that it is not by works that one is saved, but by faith in Jesus as Savior. Yet, it’s important to see that our sermon this morning isn’t about Martin Luther. It isn’t about the false teachings within the Catholic Church. And it isn’t about the spiritual state of Europe in the 14 and 1500’s. No, our sermon is about salvation by faith alone and how work-righteousness is completely opposed to that scriptural truth. By faith alone: Sola Fides. Listen to the words of our Lord recorded for us in the 5^th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 5:1-6 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. ² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Earlier in this letter, Paul had reminded his readers that they had been justified, that is, declared to be sinless, holy and righteous in God’s sight, purely by God’s grace. It was their gracious God who had sent his Son, their Savior, who had fulfilled God’s law perfectly and died an innocent death as their substitute, thereby paying for all their sins. As a gift of his pure grace, God had credited Christ’s merit to their account and they had received that merit by faith – a faith worked in them by the Holy Spirit.

But now, false teachers had wormed their way into their midst and were attempting to convince the Galatians that they needed more than just faith in Christ. In addition to their faith, these false teachers were teaching that they needed to add works of the law. In this case they were talking about circumcision. They were saying, “If you want to get to heaven, if you want to make sure that you are right with God, you must DO this act to be saved.” In other words, they said faith was not enough.

And this was not just some minor addition to the truths of Scripture that Paul had taught them. It was more than just “doing a few Old Testament things.” This was a tragedy! And Paul brings that across very clearly in 3 separate ways. First he says, “do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” If they were to buy into the teachings of these false teachers they would be saying, in essence, that Christ’s work was not sufficient. They would nullify what Christ’s work had accomplished. They would once again be making themselves slaves to the law, which meant their only hope of righteousness before God would be to keep the law absolutely perfectly, 100% according to God’s standards.

Next Paul says, if you buy into this evil way of thinking “Christ will be of no value to you at all.” Paul didn’t want the Galatian Christians thinking that they were somehow doing Christ a favor, when in reality they were putting him on a shelf because they had no real use for him. He wanted them to realize that the natural conclusion of trusting in their works was to make Christ useless.

But it is even worse than that! If the Christians in Galatia were to trust in their works instead of Jesus, they weren’t putting him on a shelf, they were in fact throwing him and their salvation away: “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” If it sounds serious, that is because it is! If you think Paul is taking things a little too far, he isn’t! Trusting in one’s own works as the basis to be found righteous before God is unbelief.

And isn’t it obvious to see that Satan’s ploys haven’t changed. Whether we are talking about the time when Paul wrote his letter; or the years of the Reformation; or the days we live in right now – the false belief of work-righteousness is alive and well. And dear Christians, we are not immune to it! In fact, it is the default belief of our sinful flesh. So we must be on our guard because Satan has an ally within each and every one of us as he seeks to get us to make Christ useless and throw him away. That is why it is so necessary to listen carefully to the words of our lesson.

But maybe you are sitting there thinking, I don’t, I won’t, I couldn’t give into such a thought. If that is what you are thinking, just consider these examples. Isn’t it true that at times we are tempted, and even give into the temptation to think that we are right with God because of our worship attendance? Or maybe we point to our generous offerings as reason for God’s acceptance. Don’t we often try to make ourselves feel better about our status before God by comparing ourselves to others? Maybe, after having been told we are righteous, we’ve even responded by saying, “Well I try my best.”

But don’t you see what that is? It is no different than the Galatians to whom Paul was writing. They had no intention of throwing Christ out the window, but they would be doing just that if they trusted that something they did could or would be necessary for salvation. The same will be true for us if we start thinking that somehow we play a part in our salvation; or if we think that something we have done has made God more favorably disposed to us; or if we think that on account of the way we have lived our lives we can be certain of heaven. Then we would make Christ useless. We’d be saying that Christ didn’t live a perfect life; that his death wasn’t sufficient; that he didn’t rise from the dead; that our sins aren’t paid for; that Satan hasn’t been defeated; that hell hasn’t been conquered; that heaven hasn’t been opened. Then all we’d have left is ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That’s what happens when one trusts in one’s own works.

It puts us under fear. After all, who could be diligent enough? Who of us could obey the law well enough? How would we know if our works actually made up for sins? If salvation depended on the ability to live a God pleasing life, there would be no hope. But there is hope, because God’s anger over our sins has been appeased through his Son and the perfect blood he shed on the cross. God punished his Son on our behalf – it’s already done – the proof is in the empty tomb.

So, do you see why it is so important we have a right understanding of how we are saved? If we trust in our works, it cannot coexist with saving faith. The believer is declared sinless, holy, and righteous in God’s sight purely by God’s grace. Our Savior fulfilled God’s law perfectly and died an innocent death as our substitute - paying for all our sins. God’s favor and the gift of heaven are ours not by our own efforts, but by faith, by believing in God’s promises concerning the work of Christ. And this faith, too, is the work of the Holy Spirit. For Paul says, “By faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” By faith alone. In Christ alone. Nothing more. Nothing less. God, and God alone can, and does, get all the credit!

So as you sit here today, you are a child of God, not because you have come to church today to show God how good you are. You are child of God because at the waters of baptism he created faith in your heart to receive the blessings Christ won for you. You are a child of God not because this past week you did a “pretty good” job of obeying God’s commandments. You are a child of God because on a clear night a little over 2,000 years ago a child was born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, Christ your Lord, and that child perfectly obeyed God’s commandments for you, earning for you the perfection you couldn’t earn on your own. You are child of God not because you give 10% of your income to church. You are a child of God because that child born in Bethlehem willingly went to a cross on Mt. Calvary and there endured the wrath of God as a substitute for you sins, and now by faith you have received the forgiveness he won for you. You are a child of God not because you can find someone else who outwardly looks so much worse than you. You are a child of God because with Jesus’ resurrection, God has declared you innocent.

As far as our salvation is concerned – our works have no value. That is the main emphasis of our text; that was the theme of the Reformation. Salvation is only through faith in the perfect life, death, and resurrection of our Savior. Through Christ we are righteous before God. The only thing that counts is faith.

But before we close, let’s make sure we understand something. While faith alone saves, faith is never alone. You see, Paul was not anti good works. He was not saying, don’t do anything but sit on your behind and eat, drink and be merry. No, at the end of our text he says: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” That doesn’t negate the fact that the only thing that matters is faith in Jesus Christ, but, Paul says, that faith will show itself. That is the freedom Paul was speaking about at the beginning of these words. Instead of being burdened by the slavery of thinking we have to do this or that to appease an angry God, now we can gladly go out and serve a loving God who has already saved us by grace.

So go out there in the freedom of faith and live that life that demonstrates the salvation we have through Christ. Worship every week, because here God gives you the greatest blessings, and you know you need them. Sit down with your budget and put together planned offerings for the year that reflects the joy you have in the freedom you have from sin, Satan and death. Consider how you might support missions and the spread of the gospel so that more and more people can be freed from the tyranny of Satan’s lies and know that truth that sets them free. The Word of God encourages God’s people in their Christian living. It doesn’t tell us that we can earn a place in God’s family or in heaven by our works, but it does remind us that faith will be visible in the lives of the Christian whose heart and head have been filled with God-given faith. That’s true freedom.

Sola Scriptura – Sola Gratia – and Sola Fides. By Scripture alone; by grace alone; through faith alone. God help us to hold, as did Paul and the Reformation faithful, to Christ alone by faith as our only way to heaven. Amen.