The Lutheran Hour
-
"The Unchanging Message"
- Download MP3 No bonus material MP3
-
Text: Romans 1:16-18
-
My thanks to the International Lutheran Laymen’s League for the opportunity to address our radio audience at the beginning of this New Year 2005, which marks the 75th anniversary of the International Lutheran Hour, the longest continuous Gospel radio broadcast in the world. As a son of Dr. Walter A. Maier I, the founder of this program, and one who together with his brother, was in the radio studio with our father when he delivered many of his messages, I well recall “The Lutheran Hour’s” growth during the first 20 years.
From its airing over a very small number of radio stations until the time of Dr. Maier’s death in 1950, when under the banner of “Bringing Christ to the Nations,” the broadcast was heard over 1,100 stations in 120 countries and in 50 languages. Dr. Maier saw in radio, a wonderful gift of God for the broad-scale communication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which when proclaimed, could be used as God’s instrument to bring people to faith in the Savior and grant them eternal salvation. This conviction that the Gospel has the power to save all people – a firm belief shared by subsequent Lutheran Hour speakers – is all together Bible-based, for the divinely inspired apostle Paul had written centuries before in his Epistle to the Romans, in the very words of the theme of this great letter, “I (Paul) am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.'” This declaration of Paul’s is the text of our message today, and we ask God to bless our consideration of His Word!
What is there about the Gospel that gives it the power to save? The term “Gospel” means “good news,” and we may speak of it as good news for a bad situation. The bad news is the Scriptural revelation that all people who are born into the world regardless of race, color, class, clime, or condition – you and I included – all have been born with a sinful nature and in spiritual death. As our faculties develop from infancy, all of us then sin actively, violating God’s holy law in our thoughts, in words, in deeds and desires, and are therefore under the wrath of the holy God. “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Eccl. 7:20), says the divine Word, and Paul states: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Left to our just desserts, we sinners should have to experience the punishments of an angry God in this life and in the suffering of hell hereafter, where “their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched”; “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”; the damned shall be forever separated from the Lord and the blessings of salvation.
All people in inmost recesses of their being, and according to the natural knowledge of God with which the Creator has endowed every individual – all people are aware of their guilt before the Almighty on account of their sinning, and know of the consequent punishments of hell and the sufferings of damnation which the wicked shall experience. Certainly our conscience tells us that we are sinners and are subject to divine condemnatory judgment. And no one can extricate himself from his sinful situation, no one can avert the wrath and judgment of God by performing so-called “good works” to make up for his disobedience to the divine law. “By the works of the law shall no human being be justified,” writes the Lord’s apostle, “since through law comes [only] knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). In other words, no one’s moral efforts are good enough to appease God’s anger over sin; we cannot pay or atone for our transgressions. Such is the bad news of people’s natural, helpless, hopeless, dead, doomed, damned condition.
It is precisely this human predicament, however, that the good news of the Gospel addresses. The Gospel tells us that the one true God, besides being a God of holiness and justice who must punish human transgression, is also a God of grace and mercy. It tells us that despite our sins and our total inability to do anything about them, so as to attain God’s favor and acceptance, God still loves us and all people, every member of our sin-cursed race, and desires to save us from our sins. He has shown this by sending His Son into the world to be the Savior of all men – and this, by way of His Son’s earning in the stead of all sinners, a righteousness that they might receive, to cover over their transgressions and enable them to obtain in the place of condemnation, the gifts of life and salvation. This is the essence, the central good news of the Gospel.
Paul states in our text that the Gospel has the power to rescue sinners from sin just because it effectively reveals to those who hear it, the saving righteousness that God has provided in Christ; and that in the very presentation of this message, God works powerfully to bring men to understand and believe in Jesus the Savior and the righteousness He has produced for them, and thus be saved.
What exactly, then, is this saving righteousness of God, which He reveals in the Gospel; and how did Jesus Christ bring it into being? The Scriptures teach us that this righteousness is one that Jesus earned for men; first, by living a holy life in their stead, keeping all God’s commandments perfectly in their behalf. As man’s Substitute, He obeyed completely every requirement of God’s will in His inner life and outward behavior.
Secondly, Christ obtained the saving righteousness for men in obedience to His Heavenly Father, as through His suffering and death on a cross He endured God’s wrath and punishment, for the sins of all men of all ages of history, and in all areas of the world, as their Substitute. The Scriptures declare, “Surely He (that is Christ) has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows … He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed … the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6 excerpts).
These two aspects of Christ’s obedience to His Father’s will, namely that He, (Jesus) kept the law in men’s stead and that He died in payment for their sins, constitute the righteousness of God – the righteousness prepared by God through Christ for men’s salvation. And how exactly do we sinners obtain this divine gift of saving righteousness? Paul and the entire Scriptures make clear that people receive this righteousness by believing the Gospel message; by believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has produced this righteousness for us as our Substitute, and is our Savior. God works such faith in us when we hear the Gospel. As we sinners listen to the Gospel, the good news of what Christ has done for us as our Redeemer, God through his Holy Spirit, creates in us trust in these blessed truths and charges Christ’s saving righteousness to our account. He declares us righteous for Christ’s sake, forgives us our sins, justifies us. “We hold that one is justified by faith, apart from works of the law.” Any and every believer in Christ in our day, regardless of his sinful past, is accounted righteous by God and saved. Right away he (the believer) receives marvelously enriching blessings of salvation.
Sinners accounted righteous before God by faith for Christ’s sake, realize first of all and fundamentally, that God has removed His condemning wrath from them here while they live on this earth and for all eternity. In place of spiritual death they have received spiritual and eternal life. Knowledge of these realities brings all of us who trust in Christ, a wonderful peace, a peace with the triune God. We are no longer afraid of God, afraid of dying, afraid of the final judgment, but rather we see in Jesus’ Father our own dear Heavenly Father; in Christ, the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, in the Holy Spirit, our divine Comforter. Though we still commit sins, when we daily approach His throne of grace and plead for pardon, the Father speaks to us – each one – as Jesus did to the paralytic in the New Testament miracle story and says, “”Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). We are assured that these transgressions are forever removed from us, never to rise up in accusation and condemnation of us again; they are gone for good and forever.
Another blessing of all believers’ present salvation is the guidance God provides us, His people, throughout the whole course of our earthly walk, as He leads us safely and securely to the heavenly homeland. The Lord is indeed our Shepherd in life. Sometimes, when we cannot find chapter and verse information in the Bible as to the way in which we should go, He supplies us this understanding in answer to prayer, saying, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
Another blessing of this salvation is the Lord’s promise to provide us with all that is necessary to keep us alive and productive in life, as long as He wishes to have us serve Him here below. “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” Paul writes to the Philippian Christians and for the encouragement of us all (Philippians 4:19).
A further blessing of salvation we still enjoy while on earth is the Lord’s sustaining presence and help in the time of trouble. Not every pathway of life is rosy and full of light. We shall experience numerous trials and tribulations here on earth; but what heartening assurance, what strengthening encouragement in periods of pain and privation, in sorrow and suffering and sickness, to know that the Lord Jesus is at our side every step of the way He asks us to go. He speaks to us, each one, as God did to Israel of old, and says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Again, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). He keeps every one of these pledges, and in the meanwhile, causes it that all things that occur in life, work together for the good of all of us who love Him.
Many more blessings of our present salvation could be mentioned. A final blessing, however, will come to us at the end of our life on this earth: we shall have a blessed death in the Lord. When physical death overtakes a child of God, the believer’s spirit leaves the body, and the body, having lost its animating principle, has to be placed away in the bosom of the earth, for corruption sets in at once. But the believer, in spirit, leaves the body and is immediately translated into the presence of the Savior in heaven. Saint Paul, contemplating his own passing, stated on one occasion, “My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better; for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:23). As for the body, on the day of the resurrection of all flesh, it will be summoned again from the dust into which it has fallen, be resurrected, beautiful, glorified, repossessed by the spirit, and fitted for residence with God and the saints and angels in the magnificent celestial mansions. We shall enter upon the heavenly and eternal phase of our salvation, then the mighty blessings and joy of which we cannot even imagine.
Now everything that we have said about Christ, His work, and its result for believers, is a short summary of the message of the Gospel which has the power to save. Through its very proclamation over the air waves again at this time, our loving God who wants all men to be saved, is reaching out to every one of you who hears this broadcast today, endeavoring to bring you to trust this good news, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for your own personal everlasting blessing. Oh then, come to Him, and with the Holy Spirit’s help declare, “Like Saint Paul, I, too, am not ashamed of the Gospel but glory in its eternal truth, for it is the power of God for my salvation; for in it the righteousness prepared by God for me is revealed, for my faith to cling to forevermore – so help me God! May our Heavenly Father grant this, for Jesus’ sake! And may He graciously continue to prosper the work of “Bringing Christ to the Nations” through “The Lutheran Hour,” as this year Lutheran Hour Ministries celebrates three quarters of a century of broadcasting the saving Gospel of our world’s crucified, resurrected, and reigning Redeemer! In Jesus’ name we ask it! Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for January 30, 2005
Topic: How Many Times Will God Forgive?ANNOUNCER: And now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions about repentance and forgiveness. I’m Mark Eischer. A listener asks, “How many times will God forgive me – if I commit the same sin over and over again?”
KLAUS: That could require a really long answer, couldn’t it?
ANNOUNCER: Yes, but I’m hoping you could give us a simple answer in these few minutes we have left.
KLAUS: You can hope for that, but this is a question that requires a somewhat complex reply. It all depends on whether our listener is looking for assurance or a loophole.
ANNOUNCER: Which would tell you whether you need to respond with Law or the Gospel.
KLAUS: That’s right, but I imagine, as usual, we don’t know specifically why they’re asking the question.
ANNOUNCER: No, not really.
KLAUS: Let’s begin here. We know the Lord Jesus told us to forgive each other, seven times seven times, or even 70 times seven …
ANNOUNCER: …which is a lot of times.
KLAUS: A lot of times–no question about it. If somebody cuts me off while I’m driving and I forgive him, and he does it again, I still may forgive. But by the time he’s done it a third time, I’m usually not in a such a forgiving state of mind.
ANNOUNCER: And that’s only after three times.
KLAUS: Exactly. But God told us to forgive a whole bunch more times than that. It’s not like we have 50 times or 491, and then we get our revenge. God is saying that we should have an ongoing attitude of forgiveness to those who sin against us. Now, and this where I’m going with all of this – if God expects us, who are weak, sinful, and short-tempered, to keep forgiving each other, won’t He do the same and even more? I mean, God never sets up a standard for us that He Himself isn’t ready to meet and exceed. God wants us to forgive each other with the same faithfulness with which He forgives us.
ANNOUNCER: Which takes us back to the point of our question today. How many times will God forgive somebody for committing the same sin?
KLAUS: This is where it gets difficult; I have to answer two ways. If an individual commits a sin, and then only pretends to repent of that sin, who do they think they are fooling? Do they think God can’t see and judge their true motives?
ANNOUNCER: But why would anybody ever do something like that? I mean, pretend to repent?
KLAUS: There are times when people confess their sins publicly in church, but they don’t regret a single one of the sins they’ve committed, and quite frankly, they can’t wait to do that sin again. There are times when somebody might find it expedient to pretend to repent. It might be beneficial in helping them get a job, or a parole, or maybe bringing peace about in the family. There’s a lot of reasons.
ANNOUNCER: That sounds like hypocrisy. That’s not repentance at all.
KLAUS: That is exactly what we’re talking about. Being a hypocrite in contrition and fake repentance does not lead to God’s real forgiveness. It’s not prompted by real faith in the Savior who has earned forgiveness for us.
ANNOUNCER: So I guess what you’re saying is, true repentance always actually looks beyond the sin to the Savior who has forgiven that sin. But you said there’s another way to answer the question?
KLAUS: There is. As a parish pastor, I’ve know people who committed a sin, and as far as I could tell, sincerely, seriously, completely felt sorry for that sin. Their repentance, once again, as far as I could see, was legitimate. They received the forgiveness Christ earned for them.
ANNOUNCER: But then they fell into that same sin again?
KLAUS: And again, and again, and again. Honestly, sometimes, and I’m really not proud to admit this, sometimes I got tired of the cycle. Sin, repentance, absolution, sin, repentance, absolution. I got tired, but thankfully I’m not God.
ANNOUNCER: In other words, your limitations are not His limitations.
KLAUS: Exactly. God knows our weaknesses. He knows our shortcomings; He’s far more understanding than any of us are. He knows the saints and sinners were going to stumble repeatedly. That’s why we pray, not once, but numerous times. “Create in me a clean heart O God. Renew a right spirit within me.”
ANNOUNCER: So if I hear you right, you’re saying God is looking for an attitude of repentance that is accompanied by faith in Christ, our crucified and risen Savior?
KLAUS: Exactly. And with that we can be assured that God’s forgiveness is forthcoming.
ANNOUNCER: But does forgiveness somehow depend upon the quality of our repentance?
KLAUS: It’s not what we do. Forgiveness is a gift that comes from God, earned by Christ on the cross. It’s His gift, and as long as we are His children, that gift still, and always is there.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.