Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the 4th chapter:
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”…For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. …That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
This is one of the most joyous passages in the entire Scripture, in my humble opinion. From Paul’s own, Holy Spirit-inspired hand, he writes to us that we are not justified by works, but by faith, just as Abraham was. In this we know that there is nothing that we can do, nothing we need to do in order to win our justification. God demands nothing from us for our justification, because it is all a free gift from His hand on account of Christ.
Let’s take a look, however, at what it would be like if Christ’s whole plan to justify us were different. Let’s suppose that you are justified by what you do. If Abraham was justified by works, then he would have had to actually plunge the knife into his son as God told him to do. For, in this case, obedience is what would matter, not the faith, belief, and trust in the promise that through Isaac, dead or alive, Abraham would be the father of many nations. Abraham believed God when He told him that Isaac would be the one through whom many nations would come, including God’s chosen nation, Israel, Jacob, and the Church. Abraham believed that God would do this thing for Abraham as he promised, whether Isaac was kept alive, or whether he needed to sacrifice him. He would resurrect Isaac, if necessary. Abraham trusted God. After all, Abraham knew by faith that God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living, and is still even now the God of the living, the living Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
If Abraham were justified by works, then he would have gained favor by obedience when God told him to go from his homeland in Babylonia to a far away land by the Mediterranean Sea. His obedience is what would have mattered, not his faith and trust that this God, a God which his family and fathers did not know, would protect and preserve him.
If we lived according to the Law, if we had to earn our salvation, if we were justified by works and not faith, then you would most assuredly be working a lot harder than you are. I know I would be. It’s easy to be a Christian sometimes, when there is always the hope of forgiveness of sins. It would be much harder if I HAD to be perfect at all times and in all places, loving God and serving my neighbor. I’d have to always be on my best behavior, never speak ill of anyone, obey every civil law, never have a stray thought about anyone or anything. And I know that I haven’t done those things. I’m a rotten sinner, through and through. And so are you. Praise be to God that we’re not justified by works.
Do you see how this works? Abraham began to follow God, who lead him over 800 miles by foot from his homeland, because God used His means, in this case His spoken Word, to tell Abraham what to do. Before this moment, he didn’t know God. He worshipped other gods, but through God’s means, in this way, God created faith in Abraham to trust in God. And God does the same for us, in that He uses means to create faith in us, using His Word, His Baptism, and His Holy Supper. That faith then takes root in us, trusting in the Lord and believing for the fulfillment of His promises.
For Abraham, the Lord told him that he would make him a great nation. For Abraham, the Lord told him Isaac was the son He had promised Abraham for many years and Isaac would give birth to many of faith. For us, the Lord Jesus Christ has promised us the forgiveness of sins, the strengthening of faith, and eternal life. These things He gives to us through His means, just as He did Abraham.
And this is good, for these gifts are the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, in your ears, in your mouth, upon your skin. These deliver to you the remedy from the condemnation of the Law, the condemnation of works, for indeed we know that if we had to live according to the Law, if we had to earn God’s favor, if we had to earn our justification, then there would be no hope.
And where is this found in today’s reading? Certainly in the forgiveness we find in the words of David. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. God has cast away our sins. He declares that He shall remember them no more, that they will have no bearing upon us and because of that He shall not pour out His wrath on us. But this isn’t the fullness of the understanding here. Just because God doesn’t pour out His wrath on us doesn’t mean we’re all of the sudden going to heaven. Something more has to be done.
When you spill black ink on a white sofa, your parents or your spouse might forgive you, right? That’s great. They’re not going to throw you out of the house. But what’s the problem? The black ink is still there. The sofa is no longer white, it’s a Dalmatian. The ink has to be gotten out. That is why the Scriptures continue with the words of David, Blessed are those whose sins are covered. Your sins, like the ink, must be gotten out. They must be remedied. And more than this, you need something righteous put in you. Your sins being forgiven might be seen as giving you a blank slate, but you still need righteousness. A blank slate doesn’t get you to heaven. You must have a cup full of righteousness.
And this is about Jesus. For Jesus forgives you your sins. He does. He will not hold you accountable for your sins. And you have this promise through His means. You have Jesus’ promise that you will be forgiven, for He speaks to you the forgiveness of sins, He delivers with His own hand His crucified and risen body and blood, He washes you with His own hand in your baptism. And in all these places, He gives you forgiveness, Jesus lavishes it upon you. There is no end to your forgiveness.
But if this were all, it still would not be enough to hope. We must still be righteous. And where does the text say this righteousness comes from? From where do we gain the righteousness that will bring us into eternal life? From Jesus Himself. And how is this done? By the very faith that He creates in us.
When Jesus gives to us faith, this faith is credited as righteousness to us. Christ then looks at us and says, “Look at this work I have done in them; I shall count it as if they have done this perfect thing.” And this small thing, for indeed compared to the scope of the great works of this world, it is small, counts as the greatest thing in the universe for you. You have the faith of Jesus Christ, and Jesus says to you, “Yes, I was crucified and I rose from the dead for you, and I have given you this gift, and I’m even going to count it to you as if you did it yourself.”
But, we know the truth, don’t we? We didn’t do it ourselves; we didn’t create our own faith. We didn’t choose on our own to believe in Jesus. Jesus chose us. Jesus chose us before time began, Jesus chose the whole world to believe in Him. And He looks at that, and says to you, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. He chooses you through His means, He chooses you through His Word and Sacrament. Jesus gives you faith in baptism, He continues to forgive you and teach you of Himself in His Word, He strengthens you in His meal.
And what is it all for? It’s not so that you may just sit on the couch in this life and do nothing. It’s not so that we can be complete and miserable wretches towards others. It’s not so that we can feel alright when we make life miserable for everyone around us. It’s so that we can love God, and we show we love God by serving our neighbor. It’s so that we can do work, not to have that work count as righteousness, but so that work may lead others to hear the words of forgiveness of sins and the giving of righteousness by Christ to them. It’s to give others an explanation of the joy that is set before us.
For God indeed did so love the world that He gave His Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him with the faith that has been granted to them through Word and Sacrament, would have eternal life. For God indeed did not sent Jesus into this world to condemn it, but to save it. The Father did not send His Son to be one who gives laws no one can keep, but to keep the Law that no one has kept. The Father sent Jesus to obey Him perfectly, so that by faith, you gain the obedience of Jesus. The Father sent Jesus to listen to the Law and be perfect, so that you might be counted, reckoned as perfect. This is the good news, the joyful news of today’s text. For indeed, we cannot adhere to the Law, and because of that, if we were supposed to do so, then faith would count as nothing. Faith wouldn’t matter, it wouldn’t be important.
But faith, faith delivers to us the promise of grace, guaranteed to all God’s children, by God’s Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the true offspring of Abraham. This Offspring, this Jesus has brought you to Himself, given to you all His gifts, not because you deserve them but precisely because you don’t deserve anything. And yet, Jesus loves you so much that He was willing to come to this earth, take on your flesh, life a perfect life, die a horrific death, and be raised to everlasting life, all for you, so that you, too, may have the benefit won from His obedience. Jesus gives you everything because you deserve nothing. That’s grace. That’s Jesus.
Abraham had this, the saints in the Old Testament had this, the Apostles had this, and you, too, have this, for Christ has claimed you as His own this day, and all the days of your life so that you might live with Him forever, being counted as perfectly righteous in God’s sight because of Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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