By Grace Alone
Romans 3:21-24
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that comes by Christ Jesus.
Yesterday was Reformation Sunday – a big day for Lutherans. We celebrate the posting of the 95 theses challenging the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, and all that transpired afterwards to transform the church.
As I sat in the worship service, listening to one of our pastors deliver a sermon on this passage from Romans and the life of Martin Luther, I must admit my mind wandered – thinking about what it must have been like for Luther during those times. It’s not that the sermon was so boring, it’s just that I’m gaining a new appreciation of what it must have been like for this giant of the church.
He was in turmoil. The system in which he had been trained was shown to be fatally flawed when compared with Scripture. He could see it clearly when no one else could . . . or at least when no one else had the courage to speak up.
The very God he had been taught to worship and serve was not the God of Scripture. The faith he had been taught was based on works of service to and for God as a means of earning His favor. Imagine Martin Luther’s feelings when he realized for the first time what was said in
Ephesians 2:8-10:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Grace is translated by some as “kindness.” So when Luther understood, by the Holy Spirit, for the first time that his God was a God of kindness and mercy instead of a God of condemnation and anger, he had to have had a pretty powerful emotional response. He recognized – for the first time – that God loved him enough to send a Savior. He recognized that it mattered not that he was a monk, dedicated to service and humility before God. It mattered not that he was a well respected member and participant in the church. The only thing that mattered was that God loved him, He forgave him, and He saved him – by Grace alone.
But then, Luther had to realize what the second half of the Ephesians passage was saying. It says that God had prepared – in advance – the work that he (Luther) was to do. Good work. Godly work.
I wonder when Luther fully realized what that work would be? We’re taught that he was only trying to correct the church when he posted the 95 theses. We’re taught that he had no intention of forming a new denomination. But, at some point, he had to realize that the work of his life was to be this message – “by Grace alone” – regardless of the consequences to him, his family, or his standing in the church and community.
My appreciation for Martin Luther comes as I gain a deeper understanding of what God’s work is for me. As I come to understand that God created me and saved me – along with every one of His children – to do good works, as I come to understand that He has prepared this work in advance for me to do, and as I come to understand that I, too, must be willing to clarify my purpose and pursue it at all costs, I come to understand the kind of life Luther lived so that we might share in the good news that we are saved – by Grace alone!
May we go and do likewise – to the glory of God!