It is taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness, as Paul says in Romans 3:21-26 and 4:5. Augsburg Confession Article IV
On the night in which our Lord was betrayed into death, he offered up to his heavenly Father a prayer for all believers in every place and time. This prayer is known as the great high priestly prayer of Jesus. In one part of the prayer he prayed thus: Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me–so that they may be one as we are one.
Jesus intended (both then and now) for His Church to be one–without sinful divisions. And yet at this moment there are hundreds, if not thousands, of divisions within the visible Church. This month we will celebrate an event, the Reformation, that is seen by many to be the cause of this sinful division. What do we Lutherans have to say about this? Are the differences we have with other Christians substantial enough to cause us to remain separate?
Regrettably, I believe that they are. I say this with a great deal of pain in my heart for, whenever I hear someone confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, I see a fellow believer, no matter what their denomination. So why is there division among Christians?
The central question of all of Holy Scripture is this: What must I do to be saved? This is not only the central question of Holy Scripture but of our human existence. Faced with my own sinfulness and the holiness of God, how can this chasm be bridged?
The answer of course is the perfect life of Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross. Or to state it in the form of the biblical answer to the question we initially asked: What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!
That we Christians are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus apart from the good works which will follow such saving faith is the *article on which the Church stands and falls. Our gracious God has declared us right in his sight through faith in the person and work of Jesus. The Lutheran Church correctly and faithfully teaches this wonderful Good News! Other churches do not.
Some churches teach that our works (even if it is just a decision) must be added in to earn, at least in part, our salvation. Other churches teach that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was not for all people but only for some. The simple Good News of forgiveness of sins and salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus is obscured in these churches. The Lutheran Church is truly the evangelical church–the Church of the Gospel.
This is not an opportunity for sinful pride or hostility towards other Christians but rather an opportunity for thanksgiving to God for graciously preserving this Good News in our midst. With the deepest humility we speak forth this Good News to the world and to our brothers and sisters in Christ in every Christian Church, seeking reconciliation through the Truth of God’s Holy Word.
We endeavor to live out the reality of our forgiveness in Christ by showing forth with our lives Christ’s love and mercy to all people, especially to other Christians. And we pray, along with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that the divisions in the Church would be healed.
Pastor Eckert: Hello! My name is Gary, and I found your blog at random, and I'm quite glad I did! I don't have any Lutherans to dialogue with, though I have a passing understanding of the works and life of Martin Luther himself.
ReplyDeleteI've recently been delving into the book of Romans, along with "Paul in Fresh Perspective" by N.T. Wright and "The New Perspective on Paul" by James Dunn. While I've not yet finished reading these books, they make an interesting case that Paul's concern in Romans/Galatians is not "good works" vs. faith, but rather that "works of the law" are the things that would set you apart as specifically Jewish. That is, that Paul's argument was faith vs. the nonmoral attributes of the Law, such as circumcision and dietary restrictions.
But getting back to your note: I also am saddened by the division among Christendom, and it seems that each conflict resolved is like chopping off a hydra's head: two more grow to replace it.
Let us indeed shine our light and pray for the Church to be healed.