The Second Part Article III

You can view today's article here. 

Here we see not so much being against something, as it is the misuse of something. Back in Luther's day there was this idea that those who went off to become monks or nuns were better than your ordinary every day Christian. The idea is just plain wrong. In fact Any idea of one Christian being better than another is just plain crazy. Because the reality of the situation is that we are each sinners. We are all in need of God's grace. There is not one of us who needs the grace of God more or less than the other. 

This is not the way that the Scriptures tell us to interact with one another. The Scriptures tell us to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. The Scriptures tell us that the great among us is the one who is the servant, not the one who goes and hides out somewhere. It is not that the monks and nuns of Luther's day weren't seeking out a good thing. It is go to connect with God through the study of his word and prayer and different activities that we do in our lives. The danger comes in beginning to see those things as influencing our salvation, or is seeing them as somehow making those who practice them better than those who do not. Remember, we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not our own doing, it is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast. God has prepared a life of good works to be our way of life, but not as a way to earn forgiveness, favor or salvation from God. The good works are always done in response to the grace that God has given to us. 

Luther says that the chapters and cloisters would be good if they trained people to serve in the church and community. But if they are not going to do that, then shut them down.

This brings up a good point. In all that we do in our lives, we should always be willing to take a step back and ask how the things we are doing line up with the Scriptures. Because we are sinful human beings, things can get out of control. But if we are always checking what we do with God's Word, then we can repent where we need to, receive God's forgiveness, and move forward in living our lives as his people and doing the work that he has given us to do.

God's blessings and peace in Jesus be yours this week and always.

Pastor CJ

The Second Part Article II

You can read the second part article II here. 

Due to the length of the article, this post is somewhat more difficult to deal with. There is so much here, that to try and cover it all, would make for an extremely long blog post. Therefore I will share some thoughts, invite you to read the article and then send me your questions.

This is an article that can sound really harsh to contemporary ears. I have family and friends that are Catholic, and I would not speak in such harsh language. The reason why Luther comes out guns blazing here is that he is arguing against something that, takes away from Christ and the forgiveness that comes through him alone. So it is not that Luther hates Catholics. Plus you have to get past the way that people talked to one another in the middle ages. It was not the most politically correct. 

What Luther was reacting to here was the idea that people can set up ways to charge for and distribute God's grace, instead of his grace being freely and fully offered for the sake of Christ alone. It would be like if I came up with a way to charge you for something that is already yours. If I charged you for the air you breath. What happened as a result of the mass and the way it was used, is that ultimately it took away from Christ, and focused people's attention on earthly and human intuitions and creations.

That is why he is so strong in his language, because the way things were set up, is that they were against the grace that is offered in the Gospel. And they took away from Christ and his sacrifice. They essentially took the gifts of God, which are given freely and with no strings attached, and they attached strings to them. Luther was fighting against those strings.

So that is the gist. If you have more detailed questions, let me know, and I can address them next week. Don't worry. You will remain anonymous. 

Blessings and peace.

Pastor CJ

The Second Part - Article I

You can read part II Article I here. This is one of those things that is all too easy for us to take for granted. It is one of those things that we need to know well, but at the same time, must be careful that it does not become too familiar to us. Because when we allow it to become too familiar then we can lose sight of it and the significance and importance of it. "Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification."  Read that one again, slowly. Because it is the most awesome, beautiful and amazing news you will ever hear. Next to this, everything else pales in comparison. Our sins are forgiven, we are justified, not because of anything that we do, or have done or will do, but we are forgiven and justified for the sake of Jesus. Now this doesn't mean that we can do whatever we want to do and we don't have to worry about it. It does mean, though that when we confess our sins, and we hear those words of forgiveness, we can know and be sure that they are real and certain. We can be sure that those sins have been removed from us as far as the East is from the West.  That is it.  End of story. 

Of course, as human beings, we like to be able to take credit for things. We like to be in control and have things be our way. It is part of our nature. We want to have our salvation be a result of the things that we do. We want to be able to take credit for it, we want to know that we are good enough in the eyes of God to deserve what he has given us. And yet, that is not the case. And it can never be the case. We are justified by grace alone through faith, this is not of our own doing, but it is the gift of God lest anyone be able to boast. If there is anything sure and certain in our lives, it is indeed that our salvation is real and sure and certain and that it comes not because of us, but for the sake of our God and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was raised again so that we would be justified.

This also means that as we deal with other people, there is a certain amount of humility that is required. Because we are no better than anyone else. We have not earned our salvation and thus are able to look down on others as though we had a higher "rank" than they. But we are just as dependant on God's grace as anyone else. And so we live in that and through that. And as we deal with others we are then able to bear witness to that grace, all with the prayer that they too would be able to know this salvation and justification for the sake of Jesus. 

I pray that his salvation, justification and life would be a constant source of strength and comfort for you and in your life. 

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ

The First Part

You can find the text that I am referring to here.

If you should find yourself in a position where you are listing out what you believe, a good place to begin is with your beliefs on God. That is what happens here in the Smalcald Articles. And what we see is a very nice summary of the Christian belief about who God is.

We see the trinity mentioned, although the word is not used. But this is one of those mysteries that is truly and deeply awe inspiring. God is so big and so beyond us that we cannot even begin to fathom him. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. We will not be able to figure him out or understand him. But what we know about him, he has revealed to us in his word, and so we go with that. 

He created heaven and earth. He is active and involved in his creation. He brought it into existence out of nothing. He spoke and it happened. He cares for his creation and is not only working to sustain it, but to reconcile it back to himself. 

He did this through the incarnation. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He lived the perfect life, suffered and died on the cross and rose again from the dead. All so that we could have forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. So if you thought it was amazing that God would even consider us, how much more amazing is it that he would become a human being and die, so that we could have life?

And not only did he make it possible for us to have that forgiveness and life, but he sends his Spirit to be with us. So that we are never alone. We have all that we need to do what he has given us to do. 

It is really an awesome thing. The words of Smalcald sum this up much better than I could here. But spending some time this week thinking about just how awesome our God. How much we loves and values you, and his creation. And just what does all that mean for our daily lives?

May it be for you a constant source of peace and comfort. 

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ