Luther on True Faith

If you have a true faith that Christ is your Saviour, then at once you have a gracious God, for faith leads you and opens up God’s heart and will that you should see pure grace and overflowing love. This it is to behold God in faith that you should look upon his fatherly friendly heart, in which there is no anger nor ungraciousness. He who sees God as angry does not see him rightly but only looks upon a curtain, as if a dark cloud had been drawn across his face. 

 Martin Luther

Stray Thoughts: Faith and Hope

I am a word nerd. So, I think that it's so very important to be clear about the words that we use to understand life. Here are a couple of words that I think you need to be clear on. 

Faith: Accepting as true all that God says and acting on it. 

Here are two things to notice from that definition: 

Faith does not pick and choose what to believe from the Bible. It accepts all that God says. And, in fact, it is important to include all that God has said relative to a particular topic so that you can understand that topic accurately and thus live well. So, just to take one example, it is important to accept as true the fact that God has decided everything about your life before you were born AND the fact that you can make real choices for which God will hold you accountable. God speaks both facts.

Faith is more than accepting something as true. Satan accepts all of the Gospel as true. That 'faith' is worthless. And, sadly, that is the kind of 'faith' that too many have. A real faith, one that actually connects to Jesus, is very different. Real faith acts. So, when the Spirit points a saint to some aspect of the Gospel He wants that Christian to work on, real faith responds with action. Some shy away from that kind of faith because putting the truth into action can be very demanding. But Jesus warned us about that, didn't He?

 Hope: Hope is waiting for God to keep a promise. 

Here's a promise for you to hold on to as you grow older. 

Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained by Me from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same until your old age, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you. Isaiah 46:3-4

Build Your Faith

I've been slowly reading through Paul's letters to Timothy, maybe a verse or two at a time. The other day I came across this:

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 2 Timothy 1:5

What stood out to me was how Paul described Timothy's faith: sincere. So, as I thought about what Paul wrote, I wondered if there could be an insincere faith. And from there I considered whether there are other words that the Bible uses to describe someone's faith. What I found is that there is quite a list. Here are a few examples.

By Grace and Through Faith Alone

In this section of his letter to the church at Rome, Paul is almost done explaining the Gospel that he preaches. There is one more thing that he wants to be clear about before he writes about some of the implications of this Gospel. It’s actually a large problem when it comes to understanding how people become acceptable to God. This is because many Jews in Paul’s day misunderstood the role of the Law of God. They thought that if you obeyed the Law, God would be pleased with you, and everything would be fine. They were wrong.

Here, call to mind Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ​I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ Luke 18:11-12

Here’s someone who is quite sure that God is pleased with him because of the good things that he does and the bad things that he avoids. Paul knew plenty of people just like that. In fact, he had been just like that himself. So, he wants to be clear that that is not how the Gospel works.

To do that he uses the example of Abraham. Listen.

The Gospel of Grace and Faith

Once again, we’re going to be looking at two words in Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. These two words will not be technical words like the two words that we looked at in last week’s sermon - propitiation and justification. Today’s words are much more familiar. They are grace and faith. Most of what I will say about these words today will not be new to most of you. You know about these words. So, why am I preaching on them? There are a couple of reasons. Here’s one. I would like you to grow in your sense of wonder at what these two words are about. The Gospel is simply amazing. And the more we feel that amazement the better. I’m hoping that what I say this morning will help you do that. Here’s a second reason. There is more of God’s grace for you to enjoy, lots more. And I really want you to enjoy as much of His grace as possible. So much changes as that happens. A first step in growing in your enjoyment of His grace is growing in your understanding of His grace.

So, let me tell you what I’m going to do. I will comment on these two words separately, offering basic definitions and pointing out potential errors to avoid. Then, I’ll talk about how they relate to each other and what difference it makes.

Listen to what Paul wrote.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3.21-25

Facing Adversity

Each morning I offer up this prayer:

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: 

Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity, and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.   

One of the things that I appreciate about the prayer is the part about asking God to 'preserve me … that I may not … be overcome by adversity…' Since He is the God who hears the prayers of His people and responds to them, I find myself confident in Him having prayed this. I will face adversity during the day, but I will not be overcome by it.

But prayer, though indispensable, is not enough. What God also looks for is faith. The biblical idea of faith isn't about some vague something-or-another feeling that people tell themselves that they have. Faith is accepting as true something that God has promised. And you can tell that you have accepted that promise as true because doing that will affect how you live. It will show in your actions. Any faith that doesn't affect your behavior isn't the kind of faith that God is interested in. 

So, what is it that God has promised me, what is it that I put my faith in as I pray this prayer? Well, He has promised Himself. He has promised to give Himself to me. As I consider that, three things about Him stand out. 

First, there is His love. God is my Father. I address Him that way because He has told me that I can. As my Father He loves me more than I know. And His love is not the wimpy kind that is mere sentiment. His love is real and robust. It is His decision to do me good.

Add to that His power. He is, as the prayer says, almighty. He has all the power that He needs to be sure that all that He has decided to do will in fact happen. After all, what can frustrate God? What can stop Him from achieving some goal He has decided on, like doing me good? 

Then, there is His wisdom. He knows what He is doing as He deals with my life. So, the route that He chooses for me to enjoy that good is the best route. There may well be some hard things for me along the way, but because He is wise, it is the best way to that goal.

These are the things that my Father has promised to me: His love, His power and His wisdom. And I believe Him. So, I pray. I ask Him to do what is necessary so that whatever adversity that I will face won't overwhelm me. And He has kept His promises and granted my request. As proof: I'm still here plugging along.

Evil

Evil is a problem. For most of us it's one kind of problem when it's evil over there but a very different kind of problem when it's evil that confronts us right here. The evil that's 'over there' can be ignored - and often is - but not the kind that is 'right here', the kind that invades our lives. What too many miss is that being able to deal with evil up close and personal is tied to being able to understand it when it is a distant issue. 

How should we understand some tsunami or earthquake or the like? People are killed. The lives of the survivors are changed forever. What happened?  Or more important, how did it happen? The basic answer is clear. God did it.

I am the LORD, and there is no other,

     besides me there is no God;

     I equip you, though you do not know me, 

that people may know, from the rising of the sun

     and from the west, that there is none besides me;

     I am the LORD, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness,

     I make well-being and create calamity (literally: 'evil'),

     I am the LORD, who does all these things. 

Isaiah 45

Where do these calamities that dramatically affect so many come from? God does it. He doesn't just 'allow' it. He does it. He creates 'evil'. And that makes sense. 'There is no other, besides me there is no God.' So, there is no mystery about where some evil came from. God did it, and he has his reasons, good reasons, holy, just and loving reasons.

Now that is more than an orthodox doctrine that we're supposed to believe. It helps to make sense of life. It leads to this.

I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, ​​​​​​​

and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. ​​​

Psalms 119:75

Here, the psalmist was afflicted. Something bad happened. He experienced evil. But he knows where that evil came from. God did it. And he did it for good reasons. He did it in faithfulness. That is, he was keeping his promises to the psalmist. And he used evil to do that.

So, the next time you are confronted with some evil - you lose your job, serious sickness hits your family, someone you love dies - how will you respond? Panic? Fretting? Doubt? The best response is faith, believing God's explanation of life. The evil confronting you - the 'affliction' - is from your heavenly Father. He didn't just allow it. He did it. And remember that he has sent you that evil 'in faithfulness' to all his promises to you. Life will still hurt, there will be tears, but there will also be a cord of hope that you can cling to. '... in faithfulness you have afflicted me.' God sends evil, and he has his reasons. He wants you to flourish - just as he promised.

A Tale of Two Men

Matthew 26.69-27.5

It's sometimes helpful to make comparisons. We're going to do that today. We're going to compare Peter and Judas and we're going to do that when they are at their worst. They both sinned. They both reacted quite strongly to their sin. But afterward, one was destroyed and the other flourished. And it's understanding that difference that is so important. So, let's take a look at the lives of these two men see what the Spirit can teach us.

The first thing to notice is that, when you boil things down, their sins are the same. Both men rejected Jesus. In this, both men sinned greatly. Both did something horrible. And neither had an excuse. It's also important to note that both realized the evil of what they had done. Matthew writes this about Judas, 'He changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver.' You might hear that as something like, 'Oops. I meant to say that I'll have chocolate instead of vanilla.' A change of mind. That's not what's going on. The language that Matthew used reflects Judas' remorse. He regretted what he had done. He really did feel the evil of his actions and his conscience responded. 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.' Notice that Judas' conscience didn't pull any punches. It didn't label what he had done as a mistake. It was labeled accurately: sin. Judas' conscience was working just fine. Peter also was aware of what he had done. Once that rooster crowed Peter remembered Jesus' words about his denial. 'And he went out and wept bitterly.' Peter saw himself and his sin clearly. His bitter tears make sense.

The next thing that I want you to notice is that for both of these men their respective sins did not come out of the blue. Each sin reflected a pattern within each man. For Judas, money was an important issue. Do you remember this? 'Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.' What was the idol behind this persistent sin about money? Was it a matter of developing some sense of security or were there lusts that he wanted to satisfy, like the lust to be in control of his life? Whatever the idol in the background, the betrayal for money was not some completely new sin. No, it was just a new expression of an old sin-pattern that traced its way back to some idol of the heart. It's the same with Peter. We are all familiar with one of his prominent character traits. Peter would speak first and then think. He did not have control over his spirit. Proverbs warns about this. 'A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.' You need to remember what Peter said when Jesus predicted what would happen that evening. 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!' Speak first and then think. What's the idol here? Could it be the lust to look good in the eyes of others, to seek their approval and avoid their criticism? That would make sense to me. Whatever the idol, once again, that evening, this sin-pattern expressed itself. It was Peter's memory of his proud words joined to his utter and horrible failure that produced his bitter tears. The point to remember is that their sins were part of a pattern that showed itself in other areas of their lives. We share in this trait. Our sins are not separate and discrete items. There are patterns to the sins we commit, patterns connected to idols of the heart.

If we look some more behind the particular sins of these two men we'll find something else. Satan was directly involved. John wrote this. 'Then after Judas had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him.' I'm guessing that you have some questions about this. So do I. But this much is clear. Satan had a hand in Judas' sin of betrayal. And Peter is no different. Jesus said this to him earlier in the evening. 'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat...' Satan was busy with Peter also. So, let me point out two things here. We need to be aware of the invisible battles for our souls that are going on all around us. Isn't this one reason for John to have written the book of Revelation? And remember Paul's warning. 'For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.' The other thing to keep in mind is that even though Satan was involved, that was no excuse for either man. They were responsible for their choices – and so are we. Satan can only tempt. We make the decisions on how to act.

So, in these ways Peter and Judas are both the same. They are sinners with sin-patterns who were tripped up by Satan and later deeply regretted what they had done.

Now, while so much is the same, there is much that is so very different and that shows up vividly in the results. Judas hanged himself, but Peter went on to be a pre-eminent leader in the Church. How should we understand this? It comes back to the same things once again. The key is repentance and faith. Both men deeply regretted what they did with true remorse, but only one man repented. Let's go back to something I've already referred to. Jesus predicted that Peter would repent. 'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.' This helps us to understand repentance. Repentance is turning from what is evil in order to do what is holy. Regret and remorse are to move us toward repentance, but they are not themselves repentance. Let me put it differently. Regret is an appropriate emotional response to sin. But repentance is a decision to deal with that sin, a decision to return to holy living. Or to be more precise, a decision to return to working at holy living. So, regret alone will not produce good. In fact, in Judas' case, regret without repentance led to self-destruction.

It's important to see this because there are many today who are filled with regret. They have done wrong, and they know it. Their consciences are not so dulled that they don't feel it. They may not call it 'sin', but they know that it's wrong. The problem is that they don't have a clue about Gospel repentance. So, they pursue different forms of self-destruction. They are not consciously out to destroy themselves. They're just looking for some way to deal with their consciences banging away at them. And this can take different forms. There's a secular kind of penance. 'I was so wrong when I did that. So, I'm going to make up for it by being really good doing this.' Some try to hide from the pain by deny that they did anything wrong. 'I haven't done anything evil. I make my share of mistakes, but I'm actually a very good person. ' Or some try to deaden the screams of the conscience by their persistent pursuit of pleasure or their anxious flight from pain. And then, there are those who just give themselves more fully to evil. 'Why fight it? This must be what I really am.' Sooner or later, whichever of these a person opts for, life will fall apart – sometimes abruptly and sometimes just bit by bit. Self-destruction. These people need to get to know Jesus. Only He can give true relief from the regret and remorse of sin. Only He can restore a soul.

And that leads to my next point. In Acts 1 Peter gets up to lead the fledgling Church in an important decision. They need to replace Judas and Peter takes the lead. This is interesting because too many of the saints today would never do what Peter did. If they were in his situation they would tell themselves, 'Who am I to talk about Judas? Look at the sin that I committed. I can't lead now.' But that's not what Peter did. And the reason is not that Peter ignored his conscience. No, instead Peter knew that he was forgiven and restored. And so, his sin was no longer in view, not for God and not for him. As a result, he was freed to lead the group which was Jesus' calling for his life. When someone is forgiven, the sin he committed is gone. It is no longer an issue at all. This gets us to one of Satan's ploys. First, he'll remind you of your sin. And once that's squarely in mind, he'll condemn you for it. I'm sure that many of you have felt that. I have. The Godly response to this demonic scheme is simply to tell yourself, 'I've confessed my sin to the Father, and I've repented of it. And that means that I've been forgiven. That sin is gone. It's a non-issue.' And then, having said that, ignore Satan's lies and get on with whatever it is the Jesus has called you to do. Don't be fooled by Satan. Understand his tricks and respond as a Christian so that you can get on with following Jesus well.

There was much that was the same between these two men. But there was more that was different. Peter repented of his sin. He was moved to that repentance by the remorse that he felt. Judas, though just as remorseful, didn't repent. And as a result, Peter was forgiven and was restored to the role that Jesus had called him to and he flourished in it. But Judas was overwhelmed by his regret and destroyed himself.

Now, we're ready for a question. Why the difference? Why was it that Peter repented and was restored, and Judas was not. We need to go back to that passage in Luke once again. 'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.' What made the difference for Peter? Jesus prayed for him. Listen to this from Hebrews. 'Consequently, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.' Jesus prays for you just as He prayed for Peter. And that is incredibly good news. On our own we wouldn't last ten seconds. We'd be fooled by Satan, sin in some horrible way, get all remorseful over it and then do something stupid to try to make the pain go away. We'd never make it to repentance and the forgiveness that follows. And then, we'd end up like Judas. Jesus prays for us, and that is the only reason we're making it.

Now, notice what He told Peter that He would pray for. He didn't say that He would pray that Satan wouldn't do anything to him. He didn't say that he would pray that his sin wouldn't be so bad. No. He said that He would pray that Peter's faith would not fail. Jesus prayed that Peter would believe Him and not Satan. And He prays the same for us. Satan tells us, 'You've done it this time. Some simple prayer of repentance isn't good enough for what you've just done. You're going to have to do more than that if you want to really be forgiven.' But Jesus has John write this promise. 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Whom will you believe? Other times Satan attacks this way. 'It wasn't that bad a sin. People do lots worse than that. Don't worry about it. This one doesn't need any repentance. And it was kind of fun, no?' But since sin leads to death, Jesus says, 'Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. ... so turn, and live.' Jesus prays for your faith so that you will trust Him when He tells you that your sin, if not dealt with, will kill you. He prays that you will believe Him when He tells you that He can forgive, really and fully forgive, any sin. Peter made it, and you will make it, because of Jesus' prayers for your faith.

Now, one last thought. Repentance is so important when it comes to forgiveness, but it is not repentance that causes forgiveness. It's the Cross that causes forgiveness. Our God is holy and just. He doesn't just ignore some sin and sweep it under the rug just because we ask Him to. No! Someone must pay for your sins. And that is what Jesus has done. He alone has paid for all of your sins. He causes forgiveness. The Cross. Repentance is only a tool that He uses for your good so that you might enjoy the forgiveness He has paid for. It's Jesus' Cross that causes forgiveness.

Jesus has come so that you might flourish, even if you should commit whatever you think is the worst sin. Trust Him to do that. Believe Him and flourish.