| I get to preach next Sunday. So now I need to make like a real pastor and read and write in my office, rather than just going and playing on the instruments in the sanctuary all day =0 Lately I've been thinking about life. How it's kind of like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. And how nothing can escape the governing of God. And stupid is as stupid does. And one thing secures us, whatever betide, the Scripture assures us, the LORD will provide. And this is the world as best as I can remember it. You really ought to try these random blog-generators; they're pretty cool. Did I mention I was reading Luther's commentary on Romans? The Preface really is very good - sort of "heart-warming" you might say. It was written around 1517, or at least that's when Luther lectured on Romans at the University of Wittenberg (two years before the famous Door incident). It was read aloud on Aldersgate St. in London in May of 1738, in the hearing of a certain frustrated young Anglican missionary. But anyway, here's some actual Romans: Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverence; and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts throug the Holy Spirit who is given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. The familiar focus of this passage is Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love toward us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." [This is one of those passages that my NAS-using self still tends to quote in the NIV thanks to the memorable teaching efforts of my old friend John Paul ;)] He didn't die for good people, healthy people, useful people, whole people. He died for bad people, sick people, washed-up people, broken people. He died for us just because of his agape, his unfailing love. Of course you might say He had some unfair inside information since he knew that he could *make* us into worthwhile individuals! Maybe his love wasn't so disinterested after all, since he knew that those who were not a people would become a people, and that after a little fixing-up, we would be all ready to do those good works which God prepared beforehand for us to do. (Don't worry, I'm just joshin' ya Lord!) [Is that irreverent?] But the part that really jumped out at me this week was verse 10: "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life!" Do you see what I see? Cause I see something I'd never noticed in Romans 5 before. Something more than reconciliation, something more than being made right with God. That right there is FULL salvation. There it is, the whole ordo salutis just waiting to be unpacked. In the fertile soil of this thesis chapter on Justification By Faith, we have a few little seeds of Sanctification just waiting to sprout up. The next one is in 5:19, by the way. When God says "the many shall be made righteous" he ain't just talkin' make-believe. Jesus makes us righteous in the same way that Adam made us sinful. Not just theoretically, officially, juridically, on-the-books. But really, truly, down to our very core. After Adam's sin, death spread to all humankind, "even those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam." It follows that after Christ's act of righteousness, life spread to all humankind, even to those (that is, everyone but Jesus) who had no righteousness of their own. Am I suggesting universal salvation? Well, no, because other texts make it clear that those who do not believe will not enjoy these benefits. And because we can't forget the preamble to Romans found in chapter 2 - there will be righteous and impartial judgment based on good or evil works. But in *this* spot, right here, caught up in the thrilling thought of God's gracious free gift, Paul comes awfully darn close! For in v. 18 (*finally* reaching the "even so" to the "just as" from v. 12), he says: "So then, as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men!" It's not so much that I don't think 'all' really means "all" here (cause I hate when people do that, don't you?), but maybe it has more to do with the translation of "there resulted justification for." But I'm no Greek scholar so I'm not gonna get in to that. Well maybe I'll quote McReynolds' wooden word-study translation: "Then therefore as through one trespass into all men to condemnation, thusly also through one right act into all men into rightening." There, that clears that up, right? But the point I want to make about sin is that even if God never held our fathers' and mothers' sins against us, we would still die because of our own sins. That's what Ezekiel the prophet said. That's what I think Paul says in 5:12. And there is a parallel which causes much consternation between Protestants and Catholics. I won't turn it all the way around, because as Paul said, "the free gift is not like the transgression." It would be going to far to say that "even if God didn't remember the righteousness of Christ, we would still be rewarded because of our own righteousness." No way - we have no righteousness of ourselves apart from the free gift of God. However, as mentioned above, we have to remember Romans 2, which states that in the righteous judgment of God, he "will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverence in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." So if our eternal judgment is going to be by our deeds, by works, then it only stands to reason that our eternal salvation has to do something about this. As sinners all, we start off on that sure path to destruction. We are enemies of God. But then through the death of Christ we are reconciled to God, we are made right with God; our relationship to the One who created us is fully restored. All our sins are washed away; everything that stood between us and the Lord is gone. But that's not all! "Much more," says Paul, having been reconciled by his death, we shall also be saved by his life. We are taken off the path of destruction and put on the path of life eternal. His death takes care of our sin. His life takes care of our righteousness. His life gives us our final salvation, now and forever. "His life," if I may read it broadly, includes all the meanings of the way he lived his earthly life, his triumphant resurrection from the dead, and the new birth he offers us. His life is an entirely new kind of life. His life, imparted to us from above when we are "born again of the Spirit," gives us power to conquer sin now, here, today. His life, "working in us both to will and to do the good," gives us power to do the good works he has prepared for us all along, for which we will someday be rewarded with everlasting glory and honor and immortality. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. He does everything, really. But just because he does everything does not mean that we do nothing! No, that is made clear in the following chapter, in 6:17-18. "Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." And slaves, as far as I know, generally have to do stuff. Of course we are only "slaves" in a manner of speaking, as Paul says, "in human terms." The much more awesome truth is that we are children and heirs. "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God!" says John. "If we died with him, we shall also live with him; If we endure, we shall also reign with him," says Timothy. So here is God's great love: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And he didn't die to play a game of make believe with our sins. He died to make something holy out of us. To "pick up the pieces that were pure and true, and breathe His life into them, and set them free," to borrow the words of the guy whose voice DW needed to hear... which brings me back to where I started this post, several hours ago. Well it turns out returning to Xanga has been very productive after all. No, this is not the sermon I'm going to preach, but it is the IBS notes I would turn in to the professor along with the manuscript. In the real sermon, I'll make sure to use more Greek words and Latin phrases, just so people know I'm really serious. :) |
