The Lutheran Hour
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"When Free Means Free"
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Text: Romans 3:22-24
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You get a phone call in the middle of the day. On the other end of the line is a real happy sounding fellow who informs you that you and your family have won … a free cruise. Your first reaction is going to be what? Oh, lucky me. I’ve won a cruise. What time do we leave? No, most of us wouldn’t react that way. If we’d remain on the line to hear anything else the fellow says, we’d pretty much expect strings to be attached. Oh sure, you’ve won a cruise, but you have to do this and this and this to get it. Yeah, you’ve won a cruise, a cruise around some lake in your county, and you still have to listen to a sales pitch for it to happen.
When phone calls like that come, you and I rarely get excited because we know one of the most fundamental truths of human existence: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Responsible parents teach this sort of thing to their kids all the time. If you’re a parent, you’ve done it too. We teach our kids responsibility. We teach them how to survive in the world; and the only way to survive is to work for what you get. Maybe junior wants some money to go out with his friends. Mom and Dad stop being the bank at some point and inform Junior, “you’re going to have to make your own money if you want to go out with friends.” And so, Junior learns a lesson. If he wants to go out with friends and spend money, he’s going to have to earn the money first. He gets a paper route. He works part-time in a grocery store. He saves up some money so that he can go do things. And Mom and Dad, when they see that going on, know that they’ve succeeded in imparting an extremely important rule of living. Junior has learned something that he will be governed by for the rest of his life. If you want something, you have to earn it. This is the primary, most fundamental rule there is in our society and most others. It’s so basic and elementary, that usually, we don’t even think about it anymore. We just get out of bed and go to work. Why? Well … because, that’s why. I mean, you have to, right? How else are you going to live?
Now, if that truth is so fundamental to our existence and if it really is something that is ingrained in our minds from the youngest age, then is it any wonder that there have been such misunderstandings about salvation, justification, eternal life? The “work to earn benefits” mentality is so pervasive and so understood, that when approached with the gospel, it sounds so foreign, so out of place, so unbelievable. Oh, and it’s been treated that way as well.
The Gospel message is clear. We read it in Romans 3 (22-24): “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” There are a lot of fancy, high- powered theological words in those verses, but one that might stick out to us is that simple word “freely.” Freely might apply to the obtaining of a piece of gum or a sticker in a department store, but things as big as forgiveness and salvation can’t possibly come that easy. Things like that never do. No, there has to be some effort. We’ve got to work for what we want.
So was the thinking of much of the Christian church back in the days of the Reformation. The church was teaching, and people were believing, that if you want to get to heaven, you need to exert some effort. It’s just like anything else. If you want it, there are things you have to do to get it. And so people were being instructed that in order to remove some of their sins, they’d have to say a certain number of prayers. In order to get themselves closer to heaven, they had to perform certain religious and social duties.
Now that may sound crass to us, we who know the story of the Reformation. We know that Martin Luther dared to speak out against the common understanding that we can play a part in our salvation. By using Scripture, he and the Reformers demonstrated what Scripture had been saying all along. It’s not what you do that gets you to heaven. You don’t earn it. You can’t buy it. It’s not the result of effort or labor. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life come for free. It’s a gift. God loves you. And He gives it to you.
Would that the Reformation had cleared everything up. But no, that notion of having to work for something you want is just too deep in our minds for us to let go that easy. While some may still contend that our good works can help us get to heaven, there are other, more subtle ways of putting the responsibility on us. It might be suggested that while Jesus has died and taken away all sins, all you have to do is make a decision to believe it. Make the choice. Turn your life to God. One might interpret it this way, “That’s the only part you have to play to earn eternal life.” You see, it still involves some effort on our part, doesn’t it? There’s still some work left for us to do if we have to choose our God.
And it may even strike us more subtly than that. As we sit in our homes, lie on our beds, take stock of our lives and find ourselves unhappy, at any given time, how tempted are we to ask, “God, what have I done to deserve this? What must I do to get back on Your good side?” Even the most committed Christians with otherwise wonderful understandings of God’s love and grace, allow these thoughts to pass through their minds and entertain them for a time.
No matter how crass or subtle the circumstances are, it all comes back to the same proposition. It is very human, very natural to reject the idea of something coming for free. It is very human, very natural to believe or suspect that some effort on our part gets us closer to God, closer to forgiveness, closer to eternal life. And that kind of thinking has only one spiritual outcome. It can only lead us to despair. Because as soon as we accept the notion that we are in any way responsible for our salvation or that we have a part to play in earning our eternal life, the inevitable question that follows fills us with fear. Have I done enough? Have I been good enough? Have I worked hard enough? Have I pleased God enough? An inventory of our lives, our thoughts, our actions can only offer one answer. No. And certainly Scripture says it very clearly. No, I haven’t been good enough. I haven’t done enough. I haven’t worked hard enough, nor could I ever. And this, this is where the cross of Jesus Christ shines most brightly to us helpless sinners.
The righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. We haven’t been good enough. Jesus has. We don’t do well enough. Jesus did. We can’t work hard enough. Jesus could. It’s not our effort that leads to salvation. It’s the effort of Jesus, and Jesus alone.
When Jesus came into this world, He did so out of love for us. He preached and He taught and He showed us the way to heaven. And then He opened up the way to heaven. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus took all of our sins, all of them, on Himself. He took the punishment that we deserve for not having done enough, acting well enough. He took that burden and He died in our place so that we would be forgiven. When Jesus said, “It is finished” He meant it. Nothing more needs to be done. We don’t have to work off our sins by what we do. We don’t have to struggle to get on God’s good side. Jesus did it all. And when He rose from the dead, eternal life was opened up to all who believe in Him. But while Jesus’ work of redemption was done, God’s love wasn’t. We don’t have to struggle to find God. We don’t have to make the conscious choice or expend effort to reach God. He found us. He chose us. He called us to belong to Him. Even faith is His gift to us, something that He is responsible for; leaving us free, forgiven, destined for heaven, not because of anything we have done, but because of what God has done and His love for you and for me.
What is that sin, those sins in your life that you feel you have to make right before you’d be free of God’s punishment? Jesus has made you right before God. What is that guilt that you have, that you wonder about all the time; that you wonder what you’ll need to do to make it go away so that God isn’t angry? It has gone away from God’s sight, washed away when Jesus died for you, because you believe in Him. What is that struggle you have; that despair that you feel because you know you haven’t lived up to the expectations of God? Be free from that despair. Jesus lived up to God’s expectations for you. And He took the punishment in your place. And it’s all free.
So when you pick up the phone and hear that you’ve won a free cruise, go ahead and look at that skeptically. When you’re teaching your children or grandchildren that they can’t expect things that they want without working for them, do so with a clear conscience. That is how the world works. It is how to survive in society. But know that the same rules don’t apply to the most important aspect of our lives, our standing before God. No, there it’s completely different. When it comes to your salvation, you can expect a free handout from hands outstretched on a cross. You can believe that the best thing in life is free because eternal life is exactly that. Forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation have been purchased on our behalf by Jesus and freely given to us when we believe in Him. It may not fit into our usual understandings of how things work. But God has promised us that it’s true. It’s free, free, free. Amen.
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for October 26, 2003
Topic: The Holy Spirit (part 3)ANNOUNCER: Now stay with us as Pastor Klaus responds to questions and comments from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer, and our topic today is, what kind of work does the Holy Spirit do?
KLAUS: Hello Mark. You know, before we go any further, I’d like to thank Pastor Taylor for his message today. It really is nice to have the guest speakers come in the last Sunday of the month.
ANNOUNCER: Now for the last two weeks during this segment, we’ve been talking about ghosts and spirits. Last week we talked about the Holy Ghost and how He is different from Halloween apparitions. We said the English word “ghost” probably doesn’t describe the Holy Spirit. I’m wondering, could that word itself become an obstacle to understanding Who the Holy Spirit is.
KLAUS: That certainly could be the case Mark. You know, people often forget that language is a living thing, it grows, it changes, and sometimes it goes backwards.
ANNOUNCER: Could you give us an example?
KLAUS: Yes. I like this one. You know, for my Dad, being “square” was a good thing. If a man was honest, he was a square shooter. If he paid his debts, he was square with the world. A nutritious meal – it was a square meal. In my lifetime, that word square took on an entirely different meaning. The same thing is true for my children and me. When I was young, the word “bad” meant, well, bad; for them, bad, means good. Mark, you’re old enough to remember when the Flintstones were on TV; part of the theme song for the Flintstones was, “will have a gay old time.” They probably wouldn’t use that same word today.
ANNOUNCER: And this could be true in the area of religious language as well.
KLAUS: Absolutely. That changes too. Here’s an example. The Lord’s Prayer says “forgive us our trespasses.” Most of the time, the only occasion when people see the word “trespass” today, is when a sign tells them not to walk on somebody’s property, or go hunting, or go fishing there. That’s why rather than the word trespass in the Lord’s Prayer, some folks say, “debts” which may not be much better, or sins. The same could be said of the word, “ghost.” It may conjure up a picture of anything from Casper to Patrick Swayze, to a Nightmare on Halloween Street. For most people though, most of the time the words ghost or spirit can be used interchangeably. Probably would fit under the category of things neither commanded nor forbidden. On the other hand, the respect due the Holy Spirit and His work is not an elective.
ANNOUNCER: And that leads us to our next question – what is the work of the Holy Spirit?
KLAUS: The official religious term, the 25-cent word, is “sanctification.”
ANNOUNCER: That’s a good word, but it’s not one we’re likely to encounter outside the church. What does it mean?
KLAUS: The word sanctification is taken from the Latin word “sanctus” which means holy. When we say the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, it means two things. First, in a general way, sanctification is everything the Holy Spirit does for us. Through the Gospel and the means of grace, He calls us to faith; He brings us to that faith. He puts faith right inside us; He keeps us in that faith. He leads us to grow and mature in that faith. He does this whenever and wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and preached.
ANNOUNCER: But you said the word sanctification has two meanings?
KLAUS: Right. In a more narrow way, sanctification refers to that part of the Holy Spirit’s work where He directs and empowers believers in Jesus to lead a Godly life. Paul explained that pretty well in 1 Corinthians 6, he wrote, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
ANNOUNCER: So it sounds like the Holy Spirit does all the work in making and keeping us in Christ. KLAUS: Mark, that’s absolutely right. Indeed, it’s safe to say, if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit, there would be no Christians!
ANNOUNCER: Well Pastor Klaus, I know this has been a tough topic to try and explain in such a short period of time, and I want to thank you. Next week I promise, something different.
KLAUS: Looking forward to it, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.