On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 Theses (propositions) on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church as an invitation to debate the sale of indulgences for forgiveness. Now, posting the invitation to debate was not as dramatic as it may seem. In 1517, the only mass media was to post “flyers” on the door of the church. It served as the village bulletin board. What was dramatic is the invitation to debate sparked a reform movement that eventually led to a Lutheran church and separate denominations. While there is much sorrow in the disunity which the Reformation caused, Luther did establish the idea that the Church is always in need of reform in the light of the gospel. Luther’s primary principal that Christians are justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ has also found universal acceptance among denominations, including us in The Wesleyan Church and holiness denominations in general. In fact there is an interesting link between Martin Luther and John Wesley. In 1738 he attended a meeting where someone was reading from Martin Luther’s commentary on the book of Romans. Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed” and he received assurance that Christ had saved him from sin and death. Wesley now sought to reach with the gospel message those who were un-reached by the Church of England and to make disciples of those who responded.
So who exactly was this Martin Luther?
- He left a promising future in law school
- Took on the disciplines of becoming an Augustinian monk:
- He continued his schooling and was ordained as a priest in the Church.
- Later, he earned his Ph.D. in Bible and Theology.
- Eventually he became a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, one of the new and upcoming schools of the Church.
But through all of this, Luther did not find what he wanted the most, what he longed for, and searched for — peace with God and a sense of assurance and rest for, his troubled spirit. It seemed no matter how hard he tried to be good and obedient to the commands of God and the Church — no matter how hard he strived to do everything that a Christian was supposed to do — he realized that he was still a sinner. And since God punishes sinners, he was taught, he could only see himself as condemned before God. He reasoned, “God is holy and just. I am a poor, miserable sinner, no matter how hard I try. How can a holy God possibly love a sinner like me?” In spite of doing everything the Church said a person should do to win the mercy and love and forgiveness of God, for Luther, it was all to no avail.
I suppose that Luther was simply more honest with himself than most of us are today. We tend to belittle and minimize our sins, as if they make no difference to God, as if God doesn’t care. Luther saw his sin for what it really was .that which separated him from God.
Now remember, throughout this entire personal struggle, Luther was not a basket case. On the contrary, he was developing quite a reputation for himself as being one of the budding stars of the Church — an extremely intelligent and gifted person and a great scholar and professor at the university. He was highly regarded and respected.
One day as Luther was preparing for a series of lectures on Paul’s letter to the Romans, he was reading and studying chapter 3, a portion of Scripture that he had surely read many times before. But this time as he read it, his eyes were opened, the light came on! As Luther describes it, “It was as though the gates of heaven were opened to me!”
What was the passage that opened his eyes? It’s the passage we are going to take a look at this morning. Romans 3:21-31.
21 But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight–not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. 22We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.
23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard
24Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty, He .has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood; sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26 And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not. based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
29 After all, God is not the God of the Jews only, is he? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30There is only one God; and there is only one way of being accepted by him. He makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
Martin Luther realized that day what each one of us need to realize; that we are not good enough. There is nothing that we can do to enter the kingdom of heaven. All of us have sinned. All of us fall short of God’s standard.
And the truth of that Gospel is: we are not saved, we are not put right with God by
- being good
- or obeying the law
- or going through all the outward rituals of religion
- or anything else we may try to do to make ourselves worthy before God.
As if we needed more proof, let’s take a look at Romans 11:
11:6. And if they are saved by God’s kindness; then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s wonderful kindness would not be what it really is–free and undeserved.
Remember that there were several places in which the teachings of the Catholic Church were not aligned with scripture. One of those was that you could work your way or even pay your way into heaven. Romans 11:6 tells us quite the opposite. What we tend to forget is that there are many facets to God. He is holy. He is loving.. He is just. He is merciful. He is king. He is jealous. These are just a few of his attributes. We often like to highlight one of God’s attributes at the mercy of his other attributes. God is loving. He has no desire to see his people perish. That is why he sent Jesus. God knew that left to our own devices we would need at Savior to keep us from the torment of eternal death, from eternal separation from God, from eternal torment. Jesus paid the price that we could not pay. I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon, but I’ve heard of the chasm, one mile deep and many miles wide. The gap between God and man is ungappable, except for Jesus. Doing work for God, philosophy, sociology, religion — none of these will build a bridge to Jesus. The only hope is Jesus. Jesus paid the debt for our sins. His blood on the cross covers our sins. Just like the lamb’s blood covered the Hebrew children during the Passover. Nothing can pay the debt except for Jesus and his death on a cross. The greatest news of all is that this gift is available to all of us. God is offering you the invitation. Let’s take a look at another passage in Romans 10.
5 For Moses wrote that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6But the way of getting right with God through faith says, “You don’t need to go to heaven” (to find Christ and bring him down to help you). 7 And it says,. “You don’t need to go to the place of the dead” (to bring Christ back to life again). 8Salvation that comes from trusting Christ–which is the message we preach–is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart. 9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead; you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God; and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed. 12Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord; who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them. 13 For “Anyone who calls on. the name of the Lord will be saved.”
God is offering the invitation to realize your sinfulness and repent from it. That means turn 180° from your sins. Turn away from your sins and turn to Jesus. He is waiting for you to believe in him. Will all your problems go away when you accept him? Probably not. Matter of fact it could get worse, but the destination is worth the journey. I’ve been walking with Jesus for 35 years now. Has the journey always been easy? Is denying yourself and taking up your cross daily easy? Not at all. Is it worth it? You better believe it. I would not trade my walk with Jesus for anything. Despite the trials, there is joy in the journey. Walking with Jesus is a journey and getting there is part of the fun. Michael Card had a song that said. There is joy in the journey.
This challenge is for those who haven’t been walking with Jesus to join him. You are not joining us or the church, but you are joining yourself to Jesus and to follow as he leads.
