It's Jesus With A Period - Not A Comma!
Text: Galatians 3:15-22
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Back in college,
when I was struggling with the Christian faith, I requested to meet with a
local pastor. I had a lot of questions because I was on the verge of leaving
Christianity.
Well, long story
short, as I visited with this Pastor, he asked me a simple yet powerful
question. It was a question that made me put everything on the line. He said,
“If you were to die right now, where would you end up – with
Christ or in hell?”
Obviously, I
replied, “In heaven.”
To which he
responded, “Why would you go to heaven?”
Now, I want
everyone to listen very closely to what I told this Pastor. I said, I would go
to heaven because of Jesus and because I have walked a moral life.”
I can remember
it like yesterday, that Pastor sat back in his chair and said,
“You think you are going to heaven because you have been a good
boy for God? Really?”
With a small
chuckle and without hesitation, this Pastor opened his Bible and had me read
some verses from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
Later that
afternoon, when I was at home, Serenity asked me how my visit went, to which I
responded with anger,
“Not good; he called me a sinner.”
Dear friends,
the reason why I bring this story up to you is that my response to that Pastor
was a response that blended a Law answer with the Promised Gospel.
Sure, I gave
credit to Jesus, but I also gave credit to myself. I was saved due to the
promises of God in Christ ‘and’ my moral piety.
That Pastor,
though, went to work on me. Like a crowbar coming between two pieces of wood,
that Pastor shared scripture to drive a wedge between Jesus and my moral piety.
According to my way of thinking, I was saved by Jesus’ work and Matt Richard’s
work. But again, that Pastor wanted to blow up that connection between God’s
work and my work. He wanted to separate the connection between God’s Promise
and my moral piety.
So, today, are
we saying that our moral piety contributes nothing toward salvation? Yes, we
are. Actually, that is what Paul is saying in our reading from the Epistle of
Galatians.
Dear friends,
during the time of Paul, many Jewish people blended together what is called the
Mosaic Covenant and the Abrahamic
Covenant. In simple terms, they placed salvation on a person needing to follow
the Ten Commandments ‘and’ trusting in the Promise of the Messiah given to
Abraham. In the reading from Galatians 3, the Apostle Paul, like that Pastor,
explodes this connection. He drives a wedge between the Law and the
Promised-Gospel.
However, as we
know through human history, mankind has had a tendency to put the Law and
Promise back together again – blending the two. One doesn’t have to think too
far back to the Reformation when Christians supposedly obtained salvation
before God through Christ and a whole list of Roman Catholic abuses. Indeed,
they blended the Law and Promised Gospel by blending Jesus plus indulgences.
The Law and Promised Gospel were also blended through Jesus plus penance, Jesus
plus monastic vows, Jesus plus saying the mass, Jesus plus severe discipline,
and so forth. The Roman Catholic theology of the 1500s was Jesus with a comma.
Martin Luther and the 16th Century Reformers, though, dared to remove the comma
after Jesus and put a period. Jesus – period. They wedged a period between
Jesus and all the silly, pious games the Roman Catholic Church was
orchestrating at the time.
Now, I wish I
could say that churches in America have not blended the Law and Promised
Gospel; however, tragically, that is not the case. You see, just like the problems in the days
of Paul, as well as the problems in the 1500s, the versions of Christianity in
America today have a view of Christianity as ‘Jesus plus something.’ Keep in mind that many churches in America do
not dismiss Christ. They like Jesus and trust Jesus a lot for salvation;
however, they do not trust Him alone. And that is the key. Any time that we
attempt to add to Jesus -even if it is just a little something - we are not
improving the Gospel Promise of God but destroying the Gospel.
Dear friends,
pay attention: anytime that you and I add to Jesus, we end up subtracting from
His work on the cross.
And so,
salvation before God is not Jesus plus our decision, or Jesus plus our
obedience, or Jesus plus being Missouri Synod, or Jesus plus praying a lot.
Salvation is Jesus alone, not Jesus plus or minus something else.
Please hear me very clearly. Right now, in America, we have a whole list of virtue signals that we are expected to follow in order to be accepted according to a certain segment of our population. For the left-leaning part of our country, you need to drive an electric car, have a rainbow flag in front of your house, wear a mask, vote for Democrats, and be pro-choice – to name a few. For the right-leaning part of our country, you need to be big oil, pro-life, anti-Target, anti-Bud Light, and vote Republican – to name a few. Now, please hear me very carefully: if we view Christianity as Jesus plus any of these things, we have allowed the Promise of the Gospel to be blended with something else – we have destroyed the Gospel.
So, are we
saying that these things don’t matter? For salvation, they don’t. The only
thing that matters for salvation is Jesus. Period. Driving an electric car,
supporting big oil, not drinking Bud Light, having a rainbow flag, wearing a
mask, not shopping at Target, being prochoice, voting Democrat or Republican do
not contribute to your salvation whatsoever. If they did, then Christ died for
nothing. They do not get you one inch closer to the kingdom, for they did not
bleed and die for you.
Right about now,
I would imagine that you may be getting a bit agitated. Just so you know, I am
a bit agitated in preaching this as well. The reason being, you and I may be
saying,
“What’s the point of the
Law then? Don’t standards, laws, and policies matter for the Christian? Don’t
they matter for this world that is going to hell in a handbasket?”
Dear friends,
the Law of God – those good and great 10 Commandments – are intended to not
only show everyone the good will of God but also to show every single person
that we are all out of a right relationship with God because of our sin. In
other words, the Law of God certainly works to curb sin in this life – to keep
us from doing stupid stuff to ourselves and each other; however, at the same
time, the Law of God shows us the foolishness of our attempts to devise some
religious system for getting by on our own efforts. And so, the Law of God is
not against the Promised Gospel, but instead, the Law of God levels you and me
in repentance so that we can know what we are before God and acknowledge that
we are lost. The Law prepares us to receive grace – to receive Jesus. Both the
Law and Promised Gospel have the intended aim of mankind’s salvation; however,
only the Promised Gospel is that which gives forgiveness, life, and salvation.
And so, in our
culture, we may find ourselves not shopping at a particular store, and we may
find ourselves voting for a particular candidate over another candidate, and we
may find ourselves not waving a flag; however, we do these things not to
contribute to our salvation or even somehow codify our salvation, but rather we
do these things to discipline our sinful nature and to serve our neighbors in
need. We do these things because God prepared good works for His children to
walk in.
Baptized Saints,
you contribute nothing to the Gospel Promise because nothing is needed. Jesus
did it all for you. He finished it for you you.
And regarding
the Law of God? We do not reject the Law but uphold it, as the Law curbs sin,
shows us God’s good will, and continually reveals sin so that we may be humbled
in repentance and receive the Gospel Promise again and again and again.
In the name of
Jesus. Amen.
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