Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 3:19-28
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  October 29, 2023

When you hear the name, Martin Luther, what picture of him comes to mind? Some might mistakenly think of Martin Luther King Jr., the famous civil rights activist, but we’re not talking about him. Maybe for some it’s the picture from the classic Luther movie that depicts Martin boldly taking his stand on God’s Word before emperor and cardinal. But before Martin got to that point, before Martin became the face of the Reformation, we see an entirely different picture. We would see Martin lying face down on the cold, stone floor of his monastery cell, his body in the shape of a cross, bruised from self-inflicted wounds, exhausted from the lack of sleep and the fervor of his prayers. You see, Martin thought that if he beat his body into submission and battered his soul with works of penance that he would find peace in his heart. He thought all of those personal efforts would make a difference. But they didn’t. In fact, the more Martin tried, the worse he felt. The harder Luther worked, the more he realized that he could never do enough. There was no peace for his soul. That is, until he read these words of God from the pen of Paul, written first to Christians in Rome, but also for Martin, and also for you and me. This Word of God made a difference in the life of Martin Luther. We are the benefactors of that difference, That’s what we celebrate today! But more than that, this same Word of God makes a difference in our lives today. Let’s learn how!

“Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law,”  So what does the law say? The best summary of the law is found in the Ten Commandments. God comes first in everything and before everyone. Don’t use God’s name improperly. Honor God’s Word. Honor God’s representatives. Don’t take away God’s gift of life. Don’t abuse sex and marriage. Don’t steal. Don’t damage another’s reputation. Don’t covet, be content with what you have. That’s what the law says and it says it to everyone. Everyone on this earth is under the same law. And everyone who looks at that law sees the same picture. It’s a picture of failure. We’ve failed to keep every single one of those laws, at least to the law’s standard, which is perfectly.

“Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law, so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God’s judgment.” A look at ourselves after looking at the law sees a crisis. And what’s the first thing we do when we find ourselves in crisis? We follow our first parents’ example and assign blame. We blame anyone but ourselves. We make excuses. We offer objections. But what does God say? “Just stop! Just stop talking! Stop making excuses! The law couldn’t be any plainer. The evidence couldn’t be any clearer.”  Every mouth is silenced. There is no blame to assign, except to ourselves and that’s exactly what’s going to happen. We have to own up to what we’ve done. We have to answer to God for everything. 

“For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.” If anyone could have been declared righteous in God’s eyes by doing good works, by observing the law it would have been our friend, Martin. No one was more zealous, no one tried harder. But Martin found these words of Paul to be true. All the law did was show him where he failed. All the law did was make him realize how much of a sinner he was!

We’re no different. God isn’t going to let us into heaven simply because we’ve done a few things that the world considers “good.” He doesn’t really care that we’re better in the eyes of men than others. He just points back to the mirror of the law and tells us to look. And what we see is ugly. The law shows the sins that everyone knows about. It even shows the sins that we think we’re hiding. It shows the sins that we don’t care about and the sins we don’t even realize we are doing. All our sins are on full display before the God who holds us accountable. It’s no wonder Luther found no peace! All the law did was make him cringe and cower and wonder what kind of God would demand something that was impossible to produce!

And Luther was right! God does demand the impossible. He demands a perfection that we can’t produce! And that’s why people don’t like to talk about this stuff. People don’t want to look into the mirror of the law because the picture is gruesome. We’d much rather shove that mirror in the closet and close the door and never think about it again. But like the tell-tale heart in Poe’s poem, that mirror won’t go away. It won’t be broken or silenced. And one day, we’ll all have to look into it and see the ugliness. So you can understand, can’t you, why Martin was on the floor of his monastery cell, face down. He knew he was destined for hell no matter what he did and the same is true for us if we don’t get help.

“But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it.”  Perhaps you’ve never been so grateful to hear the word “but.” A small, seemingly insignificant word, yet it makes all the difference! That awful picture that we just had to look at has a counterpart. There was no righteousness, no perfection found in us. But, there is righteousness! Where? Where can I find it? How can I get it? Not from the law, we’ve already established that! I can’t earn it. I can’t do good works to gain it. Righteousness comes from God.  There is righteousness–but it comes from the same God who holds us responsible for all our sins. The same God who demands perfection has the perfection he demands. And the Bible is clear on God’s righteousness. There’s no doubt he’s perfect! So how can I get it? Will God make it available? What will it cost? Will he give it to me? What do I have to do?

“But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe. In fact, there is no difference,” God does make it available. God does give it to me. The entire Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets, point to one thing, to one righteousness, to the only one who can help. They point to Jesus. Jesus is God’s righteousness. Jesus earned God’s righteousness by his perfect obedience to the Law. When Jesus looks into the mirror of God’s Law, he sees perfection. He sees every law completely satisfied and fulfilled. And when Jesus gives us the gift of faith, he covers us in that perfection. He covers us with that righteousness. So completely covered are we in righteousness, that when God looks at us, he sees Jesus, he sees perfection, he sees righteousness. There’s no difference! There is no exception. There is no other way! This is it! This is the only way we can be saved! Why?

“because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” All have sinned. Everyone without exception has sinned. And this means they’ve fallen short of perfection, they’ve fallen short in their bid for glory. No matter how good you are in the eyes of the world, how much money you’ve given to charity, how many starving children in Africa you’ve fed, how many volunteer hours you’ve put in–you still fall short. And falling short of God’s glory means hell. Nothing less. All have sinned and fall short…

“and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” All have sinned and all are justified. What does that mean? All are declared righteous. All are declared innocent. All are declared “not guilty!” How can that be? What did it cost everyone to sway the judge? It was free. There is no cost to the world for this righteous declaration. Jesus paid the entire cost with his life and death. But why? Why would God do this? It’s only by his grace. God has no reason to do this other than love–a love that lived in God alone, a love that is illogical, a love that is unprompted by anything in us or done by us, a love that was shown in spite of us. How? How did God accomplish this? Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

When Adam and Eve listened to Satan instead of God, they chose him as their master. But Satan wasn’t a loving lord, he was a slave driver. He kidnapped the whole human race and enslaved them in sin. So, God, in his great love, planned for his Son, Jesus, to pay a ransom price that would free all people from Satan’s control. By giving up his life, Jesus bought back the world from their slavery to sin.

“and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.” God offered Jesus both as the scapegoat, who carried the sins of the people away, never to be seen again; and the sacrificial lamb who shed his blood on the altar to make peace again between God and men. God did this to satisfy his justice. He never punished man for sin. True punishment for sin is eternal death in hell. No, instead, he punished his Son, who suffered hell on the cross. All the sins that deserved God’s wrath, all the sins that you and I have committed and ever will commit were carried away forever by Jesus. 

So here we stand as righteous! Does this mean that we get to pound our chests and point at ourselves and boast about all the good deeds we’ve done? Do we get to boast? “What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith.” There is no boasting. It is thrown out, it is eliminated. Why? We didn’t observe any laws. The law didn’t make us righteous. Faith does. And faith isn’t something we do. Faith is a gift of God, a free gift of God’s grace. “For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law.”  

Jesus made all the difference for Martin Luther. When he realized that he couldn’t satisfy God’s demand for righteousness, but that God was giving him what he demanded, it changed everything for Martin. It got him off the floor and on his feet. It gave him the confidence to stand before prince and emperor, cardinal and pope to defend that precious truth. God declares us not guilty, we don’t make ourselves that way. The only way we obtain righteousness is by faith alone. That gift of faith comes only because of God’s grace alone, God’s undeserved love for us. And we hear of that grace and that faith is created only by Scripture alone. It’s only through God’s Word that we come truly to know God, a God who is not just a righteous, demanding, angry judge; but a God who is our loving Father and Savior.

This Word of God made all the difference for Martin Luther. And this Word of God, which gives us the pillars of the Lutheran faith today–by Grace Alone, By Faith Alone, By Scripture Alone–makes all the difference today. AMEN