Living Faith

Today I visited a blog that I occasionally read because reading the posts there often moves me to dig more deeply into what the Spirit has given us in His blessed doctrine in His Holy Scriptures.  The blogger very often says much that sounds right, because parts of the truth are presented.  Yet these things only sound right to those who do not listen for the truth as a whole.  The truth cannot be broken apart with only part of the truth being embraced and told.  If this is done, what is told is not the truth, but only part of the truth.  The statements made are true insofar as they reach, but without the rest of the truth these true statements are false.  The various articles of the truth cannot stand alone.

I share this not as an attack upon anyone, but so as to remind us all that this false premise that the truth can be in any way truncated is truly a false premise that causes us to cling to a faith that is powerless to save us.  This false premise manifests itself in the ways that we express ourselves concerning the faith and life as Christians.

In We are Christians not Faith-ians the blogger attempts to address a very serious faux pas or false step among those who profess to be Christians.  The issue that Pr. McCain attempts to address is truly a serious issue.  It is good that he and others recognize this and desire to correct the misstep.

However, if one is careful in reading this post, one observes that the true problem is not really addressed. McCain’s concern is the misunderstanding of what it is that makes one a Christian and gives absolute assurance of one’s salvation and security in that salvation.  This is a valid concern.  He makes some valid points regarding this concern.  He attempts to direct his readers to the true definition of the faith in which true believers have their hope.

He makes a very valid point when he says:

Do not confuse faith in faith, with trust in Christ. There is a key difference.

What he is expressing is that the individual’s personal faith is not the faith that regenerates the person into the kingdom of God.  A common way in which this faux pas is expressed by those who profess to be believers is to call this “personal faith in Christ as one’s personal Savior.”  If one pays attention, the problem with this becomes “self” evident.

In this regard, consider this question:

Does a person who believes tell oneself,
“I must believe”?

McCain writes: “Never look to your subjective feeling that there is faith in your heart.”  And again he says:

Salvation rests on objective realities that have absolutely nothing to do with feelings or emotions. Faith is merely and only the receiving hand God gives us and into which He pours His good gifts, it is not the cause of our salvation.

We are Christians, not Faith-ians.

His warning against the feeling that people mislabel as faith is certainly correct.  But does that really get to the issue?

He says that faith is not the cause of our salvation.

How then will one respond to those who object to this quoting the Lord Jesus saying: “Your faith has saved you”?  How will one respond to the many “by faith” passages in the New Testament Scriptures, especially in the epistles of St. Paul?  For example, how many times does St. Paul write that we are justified by faith?  Actually, he writes “out of faith.”  Does this not call to remembrance what the Lord Jesus teaches Nicodemus concerning Baptism in John 3 and what St. Peter declares in 1 Peter 3?

Can we really say that faith is not the cause of one’s salvation?

Is this really even the issue?  Could it be that the real issue is one of a false definition of faith being embraced?  Could it not be that the real issue is what is taught by the author to the Hebrews?
 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:2)

Is not the real issue the one whom we count as the worker of faith for us?  Is it not true that the problem is not really that we count faith as the cause of our salvation, but really that we only give lip service to counting God and His means of grace as the cause of our faith?  Additionally, is the problem not also that we look to our personal faith rather than the faith of Jesus in which all true Christians have their being?

St. Paul writes: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:17) This is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4,

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

The Septuagint translation gives an interesting insight as one observes how they translated this text:

If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.

With Hebrews12:2 in mind, does this not bring clarification to the issue under consideration?

Does this not bring to the fore that the real issue is not whether we are Faith-ians, but rather, whose Faith in which are -ians?

When a person understands the life of being a Christian from this perspective, it changes the person’s entire understanding of life as a Christian.

It is notable that McCain does not even mention the means of grace in this article.  Some of those who commented mentioned them, but this seems not to be what McCain had in his mind as he wrote this.

Perhaps this is because the means of grace are not regularly thought of by people as the means of faith.  It is common, especially among those who call themselves Lutherans, to speak of faith as God’s gift and the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel and through the Sacraments, but then to look away from them as if what has been said is not what really matters.  A powerful example of this is the way that 1 Corinthians 11:28 is misapplied concerning the Sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord.  This misunderstanding and misapplication leads to people and entire churches counting one’s personal faith as the cause of worthiness for coming to the table of forgiveness and life in God’s kingdom.

But the apostle is teaching the opposite.  He is teaching that a man, as the head of his wife and household should examine himself, that is, his household, to be certain that they recognize their need for the body and blood of their Lord so as to be moved by the faith that He has worked in them to come to the table, and that this man also examine himself to be certain that the table to which he brings his family is truly the table of the Lord and not a table of adulteration of the Sacrament.

When people share in this understanding, what is taught is that each head of each household should be instructed and reminded to look back with his entire household daily to the promises made in their baptism, that is, God’s promises made in their baptism.  Looking back to one’s baptism causes one to realize that being a Christian is not the product of one’s faith, but rather one’s faith is the produce of being remade to be a Christian.  Perhaps this point should be repeated.

Looking back to one’s baptism causes one to realize that being a Christian is not the product of one’s faith, but rather one’s faith is the produce of being remade to be a Christian.

This realization then moves the person to rise up from the false reliance upon one’s own faith so as to approach the Table of the Lord’s Remembrance, where he remembers whom He has made us to be and with His body unites us with Him in His remembrance and renews us again in the forgiveness and life in His blood.

This is how God works His grace in us and for us, which we perceive through the faith that He engenders in us.  Then we simply say “Amen” to what He has done, as He continually gives and teaches it to us anew through His means of grace so that we do remember that He is the Father and we are the needy children.  Then we rejoice in the doctrine that St. Paul very carefully sets before us:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:4-10)

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Are You a Big Enough Sinner?

Are you a big enough sinner to be saved?

Little sinners with little sins do not need to be saved. They just need a little help to get them started in the right direction. Little sinners, those whose sins are not so monstrously wicked so as to require the judgment of condemnation, do not look to a genuine savior. Little sinners look to a cooperative agent to give them assistance in overcoming their sins.

Only BIG sinners look to a true Savior to rescue them from everything. Only those who have terrible sins, sins which cannot be excused or explained away, only those with monstrous sins despair of their own attempts at redemption so as to rely entirely upon a Savior from themselves. Only a sinner who believes that everlasting suffering in hell is the only wage that one’s actions have earned truly looks to a Redeemer.

How big are your sins? How big of a sinner are you? Do you really believe that you need to be saved, or do you just need to make a few improvements in your lifestyle and behavior? Do you count all of your righteousnesses, that is, all of your attempts at goodness and holiness and love and kindness and gentleness and faithfulness, to be filthy bloody rags that reek of death and decay, as Isaiah says:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

Or do you believe that your works have value because you try hard, or at least harder than most, or at least harder than some, or at least harder than someone? Do you really even believe that your sins are truly sins that need to be redeemed and forgiven? Are your sins really bad enough to need that?

Are you a BIG enough sinner to be saved?


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Was I saved then?

     When a person is confronted with the fact that false doctrine has been part of what has been embraced and believed and practiced it can cause fears to arise. A person can begin to ask: “Was I saved then?”

     Other related questions also can arise in the person’s heart.

     St. Paul answers these questions with the comfort of the Gospel. He says of himself:

     And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. (1 Timothy 1:12-16)

     Here the apostle speaks openly and honestly about his condition before the Lord Jesus appeared to him and called him to repentance and faith. Clearly, even though he had been committed in what he believed, fervently acting in accord with the faith that he believed, he was outside of the Holy Communion of Christ and His Church. He was a blasphemer and a persecutor. He was actually persecuting and injuring and attempting to destroy the Church of Christ.

     But he did these things ignorantly. Did this excuse him? Not in any way. Nevertheless, God continues to call to repentance those who are in ignorance. The Gospel is the call to repent of such damning ignorance and to be converted to the true faith. This call extends to one and all. The Gospel is freely proclaimed by Christ in His Church. His desire is to save sinners from their sinful ways.

     Thus St. Paul says that he was shown mercy and obtained mercy. God’s mercy is an established fact. God sent His Son to the world to save the world. Christ accomplished this salvation for all the world. God declared Christ’s sacrificial suffering and death to be sufficient payment to redeem all of mankind from the wages of their sin. He declared all the world to be justified in Christ. But the world remains in ignorance apart from the preaching and receiving of the pure Gospel. Any gospel other than the pure Gospel leaves people ignorant of God’s mercy. They remain outside of God’s kingdom of grace.

     This is why the Scriptures continually condemn the false prophets and preachers. This why the Scriptures warn against false doctrine of every kind. This is why the truth is proclaimed as whole and intact. This is why error is condemned and those who embrace it are called to be turned from it to the truth. The warning of how a little leaven leaventh the entire loaf is repeatedly set forth so as to call people to embrace the pure Gospel.

     So what of the question that arises concerning the past? The past is that from which we are being called to be separated. We are called to hear the Gospel now. We are called to believe the Gospel now. We are called to live in the freedom of the Gospel now.

     In the salvation that the Gospel proclaims we are set free from all of the errors of the past.

     We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

     The past has already been taken into account through the Lord’s suffering and death as our Redeemer. Each and every day is a new day for those who receive the salvation that He purchased for us. He died for all. He established His Church on earth so that this marvelous message would be proclaimed for all the world to hear and believe.

     We are not to trouble ourselves when we discover that we have been in error. Rather, we are called to receive the Lord’s repentance, to be turned from the bondage of our errors to live in the truth that sets us free. We cannot change our past actions and sinful ways. But in Christ, these are washed away in the flood of holy Baptism and we are conjoined in Christ in His body to partake of the ongoing renewal of His everlasting Communion. This is where He calls our hearts to be turned.

     When we truly hear this and believe this the regrets of the past are turned to the everlasting peace and joy that are in Christ Jesus the Lord. Our regrets become continual participation in the feast of Thanksgiving at the Lord’s Table which He has prepared for us. This is not something to fear but something to embrace with open hearts and arms. To this we may run with jubilant hearts. To this we may confess with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. To this we may give testimony to all who will hear it. Then in union with St. Paul and with all the saints of all time we can jubilantly say, “I acted in ignorance, but I have obtained mercy!”

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A Wide-ness in God’s Mercy

In the video and the transcript posted immediately below in the post: Billy Graham & the Future of Christianity, Robert Schuller makes a statement to which Billy gives absolute assent: “There's a wideness in God's mercy.”

God’s mercy is even greater than what these men imagine. It has absolutely no limits. God’s mercy is from eternity. It reaches to every tribe and nation and tongue of humanity. God’s mercy extends unto the entire human race of all times and places. As the psalmist writes:

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalm 107:1)

However, this mercy is clearly defined as is the means by which this mercy is received. While God’s mercy extends to everyone, not everyone receives it. God’s mercy is received through specific means that He Himself has ordained.

These means are the preaching of the pure Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments. These are the means by which God declares that His mercy is made to be received.

The Scriptures are very clear regarding the fact that God’s mercy is for all, but that this “for all” is in Christ. Apart from Christ this mercy is not received.

A term that helps to explain this is the term Universal Objective Justification. Sadly, almost no one understands it rightly or teaches it rightly. Many Lutherans claim to teach it, but they only use the terminology while actually preaching universalism, like Schuller and Graham say in the interview. One very outspoken opponent of Universal Objective Justification, or UOJ as he likes to dub it, is Dr. Gregory Jackson who speaks venomously against UOJ on his blog. One example is his post: UOJ Fanatics Obscure Their Errors by Splitting Verses, Ignoring Context: Some Examples.

Sadly, both sides of this issue are misrepresenting the truth. The major proponents of Universal Objective Justification essentially downplay the Objective nature of Justification and highlight the universal aspect of it, like Schuller and Graham. Jackson completely denies the universal aspect focusing only upon the objective, but ending up with the subjective as the only real element.

But the truth is that the Scriptures plainly teach that God does declare the world to be justified in Christ. But the IN Christ cannot be ignored.

(Romans 3:24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

(Romans 8:1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(2 Corinthians 5:19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

In the Scriptures Justification = Declared Righteous. It is a juridical term, courtroom language. The judge makes a ruling and that ruling stands. In the highest court, God’s court, Jesus the Christ stands as the world’s mediator. Jesus paid the ransom or redemption price and the judge (God) declares that this is sufficient. Since Christ died for the sins of the entire world, this declaration leaves out no one. God’s declaration extends to all the world of all time, for Jesus’ sake.

However, this declaration must be received. It must be preached so that it is heard. This hearing is worked by the Holy Spirit to produce faith so that one begins to believe the declaration. In Baptism this declaration is applied to the person with the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. At this point, the declaration that is in Christ is now the actual possession of the individual for whom this declaration was made even from eternity. But now the person is actually In Christ, where this declaration is. The declaration is not made apart from Christ, but IN Christ. So, while it is made for all the world, it is made in Christ for all the world.

Thus it is truly a universal declaration. It has been made. It is for all. But not all will receive it. And so while God has declared all the world to be justified in Christ, so long as people remain outside of Christ, not baptized into His body, they do not receive this justification that God has declared to be for them.

It is only in Christ that this justification is appropriated.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:4-6)

The branches do not produce the fruit apart from the vine. The lifeblood flows to the branches from the vine. While the branches remain separated from the vine, they have no life in them and they produce nothing good.

As an example, I sometimes have used my seminary student loans to illustrate. I had some large student loans when I graduated the seminary. After a dozen years I still had more to pay. One day I received a notice that someone anonymously paid $1000.00 of one of my loans. The payment had been made at least a week or two earlier. $1000.00 of my debt had been declared to have been redeemed by someone else and then the declaration was received by me in this notification.

I was justified and set free from the debt the moment it was paid. But I did not receive the benefit of this justification until I received the notification. Having received the notification I called to verify it. Indeed, my debt was cancelled. I was justified. Now I could live in the knowledge of that justification. Eventually I received the notification from the bank as well. No more debt. I have been living in that freedom ever since.

But what if I did not believe it to be real? What if I refused to believe the good news? I would still be trying to find a way to pay a debt that I no longer owe. I would send my checks, which would be returned or discarded. Even though I was declared debt free, I would still be bound to it by my unbelief.

There are weaknesses in this illustration, but it does highlight the main issue. There are important differences however, for entrance into the kingdom of God, the body of Christ, is not merely a matter of my believing. Faith is more than believing. Faith is the gift of God worked by the Holy Spirit that produces my believing. When the Holy Spirit works this faith in me through the means of grace applied to me, then by this faith I also believe what God has declared to be for me. Then I actually begin to live in His grace, in Christ. This continues for as long as I remain in Christ so that at the Last Day, when Christ returns, those who have been baptized into Him are brought with Him into the everlasting blessedness reserved for them. Those who have refused to be baptized into Him, are not in Him, and have cut themselves off from His blessings. Even though God has declared them to be justified in Christ, because they refused to be baptized into Christ, they discarded the justification that God declared for them in Christ.

This does not nullify the justification. Justification is one-sided, from God to us, in Christ. God declares us to be justified in Christ. But if we remain outside of Christ, we remain separated from what has been declared to be ours in Christ.

One more little illustration:

A deserter flees from his country so as not to be arrested. After the war is over, amnesty is granted by the president for all deserters. But many of the deserters never return home for various reasons. Some believe the declaration to be too good to be true. Some believe the declaration to be a trick. Some have determined that they do not want to return home. Some simply do not care. But a few hear the declaration and gladly are brought back by the messengers to their homeland and are rejoined to their fellow countrymen.

It is a simple and straightforward message folks. Don’t change it from what the God of all mercy has declared.


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Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones can break one’s bones,
and words can crush one’s soul.

The old children’s chant:

Sticks and stones can break my bones,
but words can never hurt me!

is merely wishful thinking. In most cases a person says this as a retort, and then turns away to lick the wounds.

Words do hurt. Words do have power.

Words can be used to tear down or to build up.

This is true especially regarding matters of the spirit. The truth is sometimes said to hurt. But this is only true for those who know only one side of the truth. The full truth includes not only the painful side of our weakness and shortcomings, but also the beautiful grace of God’s love.

Lent and especially Holy Week present both sides in the fullness by which we are brought face to face with our sin and condemnation as well as God's gracious answer and healing.

The Lord Jesus bore both the sticks and stones as well as the crushing words that would come to us apart from His intervention. He bore them in our place so that there would remain no judgment whatsoever against us. The decree of justification for all was finalized with His resurrection from the dead.

Sadly, most people never receive this justification. They continue to seek to find ways of warding off the painful condemnation by means other than the ones that God has ordained. Thus, even though God has declared that in Christ all the world’s sin is redeemed, even though He has declared that all the world has been justified by Christ’s meritorious suffering and death, even though God raised Jesus from the dead to seal this declaration for all everlastingly, many will never receive what God has declared to be theirs. Instead of receiving that which is theirs in Christ, they will seek other sources of relief and justification. Thus, whether through lack of hearing or through refusal to believe this gracious Word of reconciliation, they remain outside of the kingdom of God, outside of the body of Christ, wherein this declaration of righteousness is stored up for all.

Some, who are zealous to protect the truth say that this declaration is not universal. They imagine that justification must be received in order for it to be real. They argue that because some do not receive it that they have not been declared righteous in Christ. Actually, in their rejection of this universal justification they generally omit the “in Christ” aspect of the declaration. They argue using Scriptures and other resources that speak to the matter of justification by faith as proof that God’s justification is not universal.

What this proves is that when one sets forth in haste the fullness of the truth is often ignored. For it is not possible to receive a declaration of righteousness unless it has already been declared. It is not possible to receive forgiveness or remission of sins until the forgiveness has been given.

Faith does not cause God to forgive. God’s forgiveness causes faith to be born in a person so that the person believes God’s forgiveness and no longer turns away from Him.

Every statement of Scripture that speaks of justification through faith is always written in the context of countering the false doctrine of justification by works of the individual. The Scriptures never speak so as to preclude universal objective justification. Those who argue this way always seek “proof texts” that have been divorced of the greater context of the entirety of the Scriptures.

For example in Luke 23:34 it is recorded that from the cross Jesus said: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Did the Father deny Jesus His request? More directly, was Jesus not God when He declared this? Is this not God making this declaration of forgiveness? Was this not made concerning those who refused even to acknowledge their sin, let alone to repent and believe?

Surely not all whom God declared to be forgiven received His forgiveness. But was not the forgiveness real nonetheless?

God’s forgiveness is not limited to those who believe or at some time will believe. His forgiveness is declared for all the world, for every God damned sinner who ever lived and ever will live. In Christ, God has pronounced His forgiveness to all. The problem is not with the scope of God’s forgiveness. The problem is with the hard hearts of those who will not receive His forgiveness as He has declared it.

This is the reason for the office of the keys. This is why Christ commands His disciples of all ages to carry out the double function of the ministry whereby those who hear the Gospel and are baptized into Christ are absolved and those who reject Christ are bound to their sin. But this pronouncement is nothing more than acknowledgment of what the Lord Jesus declares to Nicodemus in John 3, saying:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

Notice what the Holy Spirit makes certain that John recorded from this declaration. The condemnation of sinners does not originate with God but with sinners. God’s forgiveness is not time bound except from our perspective. When did God decide to give His Son for the world’s salvation? When did God give His Son for the salvation of sinners? Was He not already given with the creation of Man as male and female so that the Woman’s seed was already present in Genesis 3? When was the Lamb slain? According to Revelation 13:8 the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world!

God’s forgiveness is not lacking in any way whatsoever. He has not limited it by any measure. Peace on earth and goodwill toward mankind was announced with the birth of Jesus. The forgiveness has been pronounced. It has been given. The fact that most people will not receive it does not nullify the gift.

To say otherwise, to promulgate words that deny the universal objective justification that God has declared in Christ are the worst and most powerfully destructive words that can be used, for they can steal away the grace of God from those who would hear and believe what God has declared.

Some insist that the preaching of universal objective justification is preaching universalism. Such blindness comes from fear that the Gospel needs to be defended by the Church and her preachers. But the truth is that the Gospel is that which defends the Church and her preachers. For God’s declaration of forgiveness is in Christ. In Christ the world is declared to be righteous. It is the world’s refusal to be regenerated into the body of Christ that separates them from the forgiveness that God has declared to belong to all in Christ.

The Scriptures forbid the preaching of God’s forgiveness to no one. The Gospel declares that forgiveness in Christ is freely given to all. No one has to do anything whatsoever to receive it. In Ephesians 2 St. Paul plainly teaches that even faith is God's gift and work. And this faith has an object and that object is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. This sacrifice is universal, redeeming the sin of all the world. The sin debt of the world has been paid. In the resurrection God has declared this payment to be sufficient. God declares all sin to be forgiven in Christ.

Where is Christ given? He is given in the pure administration of the Gospel and Sacraments. So the question is not whether God has forgiven you, but whether you have been carried to where this forgiveness is. Don’t be cut off from Christ by your own unwillingness to believe God’s promise, nor by the hurtful words of others. God’s forgiveness is yours, in Christ. The Holy Spirit is calling you to be baptized into Christ where God’s forgiveness awaits you.

Do you seek forgiveness elsewhere? Do you stand longing to receive God’s grace? If so, for what do you wait? Christ is present to give you what your spirit craves. Hear His call to come and find the relief of your burdens. Be gathered unto Him. Then you will truly understand why this day is called Good Friday.

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