One Little Word: Faith

Romans 1:17. 4:18-21

For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Justice is written; the righteous will live by faith. You may be seated. Luther grew up Roman Catholic. The official Catholic teaching was that in order to get to heaven, you had to earn God’s favor by being a good person. Luther had a tender conscience. He knew that no matter how hard he worked at it, he was never living up to God’s standards ever. And so his conscience plagued him. His supervisors put him to work, just worked him ruthlessly, trying to keep him busy so that he wouldn’t have time to think about his aching conscience. And one of the things they assigned to him was to be a professor of religion at the new university in Wittenberg. And as new professor of religion, Luther did something that, for that day and age, was weird. He started reading the Bible. And for whatever reason, the passage I just read to you was the passage that unlocked scripture’s door to Luther. What doesn’t it say? It doesn’t say that the righteousness of God is revealed, that is, by your works from first to last. No, what does it say? It says a righteousness which is by faith from first to last. And God used that passage to give Luther his Shazam moment. Wait a minute, I don’t go to heaven because I do good works. I go to heaven because God has done good works for me. And faith isn’t something I have to do for God. Faith is something that God gives to me. And that the whole focus here isn’t me, but the whole focus is God. And what God has done for me, and Luther says, when he understood that it was if the gates of heaven had been thrown open for him and he entered into paradise itself. So what has the devil done? The devil has attacked the concept of faith ferociously, particularly here in 21st-century America. The devil desperately wants to turn the idea of faith back into a work that you do. And so the devil whispers, “Oh, you need to make your decision for Christ. “You need to decide to believe in Jesus.” That would turn faith and, therefore, salvation into your work rather than the work of God and would put you and me right back under the same struggles that Luther had. Because we would have to do faith perfectly. We could never doubt, never wonder, never have anything less than 100% confidence. And like Luther, we would be plagued and tormented. And that’s what the devil wants for you and me. And so he whispers, “It’s up to you to make your decision for Christ. “It’s up to you to choose to believe.” It’s the devil’s lie. Others would turn faith into some sort of emotional rush that God never ever promises. What does God say about faith? Look at the Abraham account. Abraham was nearing 100 years old. He was 99, his wife was 89. God came to him and said, “Within a year, you and your wife will have a son.” And we’re told that Abraham believed God. Why? Because Abraham was convinced that God had the power to do what he, that’s God, had promised to do. Who persuaded Abraham that God had the power to do what he had promised to do? God did. Who had the power to do what God had promised to do? God did. Who actually did what God had promised Abraham and Sarah he would do? Who caused them to have the child? God did. Are we sensing a theme? The focus is not on what we do. The focus is on what God did and what God continues to do. Faith is not some emotional wackiness, nor is faith a decision that you and I need to make. Instead, faith is this wonderful gift from God to you in which God persuades you that God has the power to do what God has promised to do. And because it’s God’s work, all God’s work, only God’s work, once again, the devil is felled. Amen? – Amen.