A Psalm of Confidence

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble. 

Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.....

The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Psalm 46: 1-3,7

What are your troubles today? What is it that bears down on your soul, threatening to crush you? Where are you weak? Come what may, this psalm tells us that God's people dwell secure. Our hope is not in our own ability to lift our own burdens, or that in our own strength we can withstand the devastating blows of this life. In times of trouble, we are not strong enough.

But, God tells his people that He himself is there strength. He is an unshakable, impenetrable refuge. With the Lord as our refuge, the troubles of this life are as raindrops falling onto a concrete shelter. We dwell in the only shelter that is able to protect us from the storm. More so, our God is a very present help. Our hope doesn't rest in a distant, theoretical God. Our hope is in the God who is there and who is not silent. His strength becomes our strength. He actively protects His people. The thoughts of his children are many. 

Martin Luther said of this psalm,

"We sing this psalm to the praise of God because God is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His Word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin."

Busyness and Prayer

"Tomorrow I plan to work, work from early until late. In fact I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."

-Martin Luther

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"Sometimes we think we are too busy to pray. That is a great mistake, for praying is a saving of time."

-Charles H. Spurgeon

You're Free to Stay Put

HT: Tullian Tchividjian

"Martin Luther was once approached by a man who enthusiastically announced that he’d recently become a Christian. Wanting desperately to serve the Lord, he asked Luther, “What should I do now?” As if to say, should he become a minister or perhaps a traveling evangelist. A monk, perhaps.

Luther asked him, “What is your work now?”

“I’m a shoe maker.”

Much to the cobbler’s surprise, Luther replied, “Then make a good shoe, and sell it at a fair price.”

In becoming a Christian, we don’t need to retreat from the vocational calling we already have—nor do we need to justify that calling, whatever it is, in terms of its “spiritual” value or evangelistic usefulness. We simply exercise whatever our calling is with new God-glorifying motives, goals, and standards—and with a renewed commitment to performing our calling with greater excellence and higher objectives.

One way we reflect our Creator is by being creative right where we are with the talents and gifts he has given us. As Paul says, “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God” (1 Corinthians 7:20,24). As we do this, we fulfill our God-given mandate to reform, to beautify, our various “stations” for God’s glory–giving this world an imperfect preview of the beautification that will be a perfect, universal actuality when Jesus returns to finish what he started.

For church leaders, this means that we make a huge mistake when we define a person’s “call” in terms of participation inside the church—nursery work, Sunday school teacher, youth worker, music leader, and so on. We need to help our people see that their calling is much bigger than how much time they put into church matters. By reducing the notion of calling to the exercise of spiritual gifts inside the church, we fail to help our people see that calling involves everything we are and everything we do—both inside and, more importantly, outside the church.

I once heard Os Guinness address a question about why the church in the late 20th century was not having a larger impact in our world when there were more people going to church than ever before. He said the main reason was not that Christians weren’t where they should be. There are plenty of artists, lawyers, doctors, and business owners that are Christians. Rather, the main reason is that Christians aren’t who they should be right where they are.

“Calling”, he said, “is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction.”

So, you’re free to stay put, right where you are."

Observation #6: Justification Involves the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to Us

This idea of imputation is indeed critical to understanding the biblical doctrine of justification. The word imputation in itself is a legal term. It means to reckon to the account of another. The previous observation dealt with Christ's substitutionary work on our behalf. Imputation is the outworking of this substitutionary work. 

In regards to justification, imputation works in two ways. We talked earlier about Christ dying in substitution of our place. This is one of the ways in which imputation is present in the Gospel. Our sins are imputed upon Christ. In other words, even though Jesus was perfect, He became a curse for us (Galatians 3:15) and our iniquity was laid upon Him (Isaiah 53).  This is the negative aspect of imputation. Christ has taken upon our sins. Our sins deserved God's wrath, but the wrath that we deserve was reckoned to Jesus on the cross. That is why Jesus had to suffer the way he did, because our sins were imputed to Him.

The positive aspect of imputation is the imputation of Christ's righteousness to believers. By the righteousness of Christ, I am referring to the merit that Christ possesses based upon His perfect life of obedience and His divine sonship. 

Martin Luther called this concept the 'great exchange'. Christ took upon himself our sins and unrighteousness,  and in exchange we receive Christ's perfect righteousness. Both of these are imputed. 

This idea of righteousness being  'imputed' or 'reckoned' to us is seen all over Scripture. For example,

With Abraham: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" Genesis 15:6

With David: " Blessed is the  man to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity" Psalm 32:1-2 (RSV, quoted in Romans 4:8)

With Isaiah: "Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53:11

With Paul: "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" Romans 4: 4-5

The reason that righteousness must be imputed or reckoned to us, is because it is an 'alien righteousness'. In other words, it is a righteousness that we haven't earned. This is so because in our own power and will, we could never live a perfect life of righteousness that merits a right standing with God. Therefore, it must be a righteousness apart from us, that is freely bestowed upon us. The righteousness is the righteousness possessed by Christ. Chris lived the perfect life that we should have lived. Christ is the perfect son that Adam was supposed to be. God the Father says of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). When we come to faith in Jesus, we receive this merit. God now sees us and treats us as beloved sons. This is not accomplished by works. It is a gift that is imputed to us out of God's benevolent grace. Though we are broken, sinners, God graciously bestows upon us, or imputes to us, a righteousness and a position of sonship that we could have never earned. This is good news. I end with a verse I know I've posted a few times already, but it is a verse that so clearly lays out justification. 

"For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God."

2 Corinthians 5:21

Observation # 3: Justification is Received by Faith Alone

There are two important elements to note in this statement. One, justification is something received, not earned. Second, the means by which it is received is through faith.

If justification is an act of God, whereby he declares us righteous based on the merit of Christ, then justification can only be received by faith. In fact, being a Christian consists of turning from self-justification and turning to justification through faith in Christ. The Apostle Paul states it beautifully in his letter to the church at Galatia,

"yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." Galatians 2:16

Again, justification has to do with trusting in the work of another. At times this can be a very difficult concept to functionally accept. There are two reasons this is true....

First, as Martin Luther said, our default mode is religion. In other words, our sinful, human tendency is to attempt to justify ourselves through 'doing'. This is religion. If we do x,y,z....then God will justify us. If we perform enough religious rituals, then we are OK with God. If we are nice people then we are righteous. If I get good grades and perform well on the sports field then I'm good. If I try to be moral and be a good parent, then God must accept me. The list is endless, and in some way, shape or form, applies to us all. Our default mode is to try to earn or merit our rightness with God. However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that we can never do enough ______(fill in the blank) and we can never be good enough, so Jesus lived the perfect life and died for our shortcomings. Therefore, to be accepted by God, to be justified, we must look to Christ in faith, trusting only in Him.

The second reason justification by faith can be a hard reality to accept is that we are constantly falling into sin. Even as Christians, those redeemed from sin, being renewed in the likeness of Christ, we still struggle with sin. It can be hard to believe that we are justified when we keep messing up. It is hard to rest in the work of another and trust that His pardoning favor is sufficient. However, this is exactly what faith is. Fully casting ourselves upon, and trusting in the work of another. Growing as a Christian means to grow in ones faith in Christ's finished work. If our trust is in the fact that we are justified by faith in Christ, then our faith will be as solid as a rock. However, if we are trusting in ourselves, we will have no comfort, peace or rest. Martin Luther used to say that a Christian is able to simultaneously call himself both 'sinner' and 'saint'. Sinner because he still struggles with sin, and still cannot earn salvation. Saint because he is hid in Christ.

Be a Man

Martin Luther writing a letter of encouragement to his dear friend, Philip Melanchthon

"Now it is time to leave the rest to God, and he will accomplish it. Only be a man and hope in God."

Luther equates being a man with hoping in God. In contemporary culture, being a man is usually equated with pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and pressing on. It is bucking up, and pulling yourself together in your own strength. However, I think Luther touches on what being a real man is. Being a real man is being able to completely thrust yourself upon the true and living God, putting your full trust and hope in him. It is recognizing your own weakness, and in turn, turning to the strength of the Savior. Be a man, hope in God. 

Luther on How to Study Scripture

A quick excerpt from a letter in which Martin Luther expounds advice to George Spalatin on how to read the Scriptures.

"In the first place, it is most certain that one cannot enter into the Scriptures by study or skill alone. Therefore, you should begin by praying that, if it pleases the Lord to accomplish something through you for his glory, and not for your own glory or that of any other man, he may grant you a true understanding of his words. For there is no master of the Scriptures other than Him who is their author. Hence it is written, 'They shall all be taught by God.' You must completely despair of your own industry and ability, therefore, and rely solely on the influx of the Spirit. Believe me, for I have experience in this matter.

Then, having achieved this despairing humility, read the Scriptures in order from beginning to end so as to et the substance of the story in your mind. "

In My Behalf

"So when the devil throws your sin in your face, and says you deserve death, say, 'I admit I deserve death and hell. What of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Where He is, there I shall be also."

Martin Luther

Underlying Sin

"The sin underneath all our sins is the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ, that we must take matters into our own hands."

Martin Luther

The Divine Bridegroom

“Who can understand the riches of the glory of this grace? Here this rich and divine bridegroom Christ marries this poor, wicked harlot, redeems her from all her evil, and adorns her with all his goodness. Her sins cannot now destroy her, since they are laid upon Christ and swallowed up by him. And she has that righteousness in Christ, her husband, of which she may boast as of her own and which she can confidently display alongside her sins in the face of death and hell and say, ‘If I have sinned, yet my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned, and all his is mine and all mine is his.’”

– Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian

Real Love

Martin Luther writes in the final thesis of the Heidelberg Disputation (1518):

"The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it."

....

On our own, we are lowly, wicked and disgusting. It is of the utmost importance we realize that we are diseased with depravity, and ultimately, we are unlovely.

The truth is...God loves us. Nevertheless, God does not love us because of anything good we have done. God does not love us because we are lovely. God loves us, because He chooses to love us out of pure grace. For given our sinful state, we are completely undeserving. God's love for us is completely independent of us. If it was dependent on us, we would be in trouble. In fact, he has every reason and right to condemn us to an eternity in wrath. Yet he chooses not to. In short, God's love is completely due to his perfect, holy and merciful character.

God is Love. He chooses to love that which is unlovely. Thus, Love is a choice. May we love to love God for himself.

The world tells us what is lovely, and thus, what we should love. But, Jesus demonstrated on the cross what REAL LOVE was, to love the unlovely.

By His grace, may we seek to love others, not because of their apparent loveliness, but because He first loved us.

....

"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

(1 John 3:16 ESV)

Law and Grace

The following are Martin Luther's comments on the Epistle to the Galatians...

"It is an absolute and unique teaching in all the world, to teach people, through Christ, to live as if there were no law or wrath or punishment. In a sense, they do not exist any longer for the Christian, but only total grace and mercy for Christ’s sake. Once you are in Christ, the law is the greatest guide for your life, but until you have Christian righteousness, all the law can do is to show you how sinful and condemned you are. In fact, to those outside of Christian righteousness, the law needs to be expounded in all its force. Why? So that people who think they have power to be righteous before God will be humbled by the law and understand they are sinners. Therefore we must be careful to use the law appropriately. If we used the law in order to be accepted by God through obedience, then Christian righteousness becomes mixed up with earned/moral righteousness in our minds. If we try to earn our righteousness by doing many good deeds, we actually do nothing. We neither please God through our works-righteousness nor do we honor the purpose for which the law was given. But if we first receive Christian righteousness, then we can use the law, not for our salvation, but for his honor and glory, and to lovingly show our gratitude. So then, have we nothing to do to obtain this righteousness? No, nothing at all! For this righteousness comes by doing nothing, hearing nothing, knowing nothing, but rather in knowing and believing this only — that Christ has gone to the right hand of the Father, not to become our judge, but to become for us our wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, our salvation! Now God sees no sin in us, for in this heavenly righteousness sin has no place. So now we may certainly think, “Although I still sin, I don’t despair, because Christ lives, who is both my righteousness and my eternal life.” In that righteousness I have no sin, no fear, no guilty conscience, no fear of death. I am indeed a sinner in this life of mine and in my own righteousness, but I have another life, another righteousness above this life, which is in Christ, the Son of God, who knows no sin or death, but is eternal righteousness and eternal life."

He Became the Curse For Us

In an introduction to Martin Luther's Freedom of a Christian, Mark D. Tranvik writes...

"Luther's view of the cross began to change when he realized that Christ’s cry or scream was the result of bearing human sin. Christ himself had not committed sin; he voluntarily took upon himself the entire sin of the world. This was not done only in a conceptual or theoretical way. Christ really and truly took sin upon himself, as if he had committed them in the first place."

....

May we continue to see Jesus' life, death and resurrection as an eternal reality in which all things revolve. May God grant us faith to believe in what happened 2000 years ago, and may we further taste its sweetness. May we realize the miracle that Christ's righteousness is fully ours, and it is the root of our good standing before our Heavenly Father. Now, may we rejoice and be thankful in Him.

Luther on self-justification

Since we are on the topic of Luther, thought I'd throw this in there. This is from Luther's 'Sum of a Christian Life'.

"Even though we are now in faith....the heart is always ready to boast of itself before God and say: After all, I have preached so long and lived so well and done so much, surely he will take this into account. But it cannot be done. With men you may boast. But when you come before God, leave all that boasting at home and remember to appeal from justice to grace.

But Let anybody try this and he will see and experience how exceedingly hard and bitter it is for a man, who all his life has been mired in his work righteousness, to pull himself out of it and with all his heart rise up through faith in this one Mediator. I myself have been preaching and cultivating the Gospel for almost 20 years and still I feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal so with God that I may contribute something, so that he will have to give me his grace in exchange for my holiness. And stil I cannot get it into my head that I should surrender myself completely to sheer grace; yet I know that this is what I should and must do."

Luther's Gospel Revelations

The following three excerpts are beautiful gospel truths that were revealed to Martin Luther through the grace of Jesus Christ. They not only ended up rocking his theological universe, but also the rest of the world around 1500 AD. They are recorded in a wonderful historical and gospel-centered introduction to the Reformation in the book titled The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation by Michael Reeves...

"For some time, the answer eluded him. Then, in 1519, when he was looking again at the issues of confession and repentance, it struck him that, after the sinner had confessed, the priest would pronounce God's promise of forgiveness. It was a whole new way of looking at things for Luther: now, the question was, would the sinner trust God's promise? And with that, everything changed. Now he saw that forgiveness is not dependent on how certain the sinner is that he has been truly contrite; forgiveness comes simply be receiving the promise of God. Thus the sinner's hope is found, not in himself, but outside himself, in God's word of promise."

"Luther saw that the sinner, on accepting Christ's promise in the gospel, is simultaneously a sinner at heart and righteous by status. What has happened is the 'joyful exchange' in which all that she has (her sin) she gives to him, and all that he has (his righteousness, blessedness, life and glory) he gives to her. Thus she can confidently display 'her sins in the face of death and hell and say, "If I have sinned, yet my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned, and all his is mine and all mine is his".'"

"Faith, thought Luther, is not some inner resource we must summon up; if it were, it would by his definition be sin! For him, the question 'Have I got enough faith?' completely misunderstands what faith is, by looking to and so relying on itself, rather than Christ. Faith is a passive thing, simply accepting, receiving, believing Christ - taking God seriously in what he promises in the gospel."

Freedom to Give

The following quote comes from Freedom of a Christian by Martin Luther...

"Although I am an unworthy and condemned man, my God has given me in Christ all the riches of righteousness and salvation without any merit on my part, out of pure, free mercy, so that from now on I need nothing except faith which believes that this is true. Why should I not therefore freely, joyfully, with all my heart, and with eager will do all things which I know are pleasing and acceptable to such a Father who has overwhelmed me with his inestimable riches? I will therefore give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me."

This text is an unbelievable summary of the gospel received by grace through faith. We can fully rest in knowing we have everything we need in Christ completely free of any charge. Thus, our actions do not have to be out of fear in measuring up to the law, but rather, in the joy of being in the presence of Christ, and in thankfulness for what he has already done.