This is part two of a series on the importance of the homily. If you haven’t read part one, you can do so here.
The image of Aaron and Hur supporting Moses provides a vivid analogy
for how we might support our priest in his calling to serve and protect
the people of God through preaching. Just as Aaron and Hur lifted up
Moses’ arms, we can provide support for our priest as he attempts to
deliver dynamic, Scripturally-sound, Christ-exalting homilies.
For the children of Israel, Moses was the leader. He was the man of
God who had authority and who was called by God to lead his people out
of slavery to Egypt. He was called to serve and protect the people of
God.
In Exodus 17, Israel was attacked by the Amalekites and Moses directed
Joshua, his second in command, to gather an army of men who would fight
against Amalek. During the battle, Moses ascended to the top of a hill
to observe the battle and pray for the Israelite army. So long as Moses
hands were lifted up in prayer, the battle went well. But when he
lowered his hands, the enemy prevailed.
After awhile, Moses grew weary; his arms grew tired and he was unable
to lift them up himself. He needed someone to assist him. So, Aaron
and Hur, who had joined him on the hill, helped him lift up his arms.
They helped the servant of God ensure victory for the people of God.
How can we support the priest as he lifts up his congregation? Here are four specific ways:
1. Pray for homiletics. Pray for the revitalization
of Catholic preaching in general and the homilies of the local parish
priest in particular. Pray that God raises up a new generation of
priests who are not only faithful celebrants of Mass and confessors, but
dynamic communicators who catechize, evangelize, and mobilize the
faithful with creative and compelling homilies. Pray, too, that God
raises up deacons and faithful laymen like Frank Sheed to carry on
powerful preaching apostolates outside the context of the liturgy. Pray
through relevant passages of Scripture, like Romans 10:14-15 and 2
Timothy 4:1-8. Ask for the intercession of St. John Chrysostom, the
patron saint of preachers or St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of
Preachers.
2. Pray for the congregation. Any one who has ever
done public speaking or public performance can tell you how important a
good audience is. Receptive listeners who are eager to learn and
attentive draw good homilies out of speakers. Unreceptive, inattentive
audiences make it tough to speak. The New Testament agrees. This
Sunday's first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles 10:44. It says:
"While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word."
The Holy Spirit didn't make Peter wonderful; he made his audience
receptive. Pray that this might be so in your own congregation.
3. Praise every good thing. “Strengthen the things
that remain,” is great consel that Jesus gives to Church in Sardis
(Revelation 3:2). Priests are blessed with many critics of what they do —
or, too often, of every move they make. Don’t join those critics.
Instead, catch your priest doing good. Did he say something imaginative?
Compliment him for that specific thing. Did he say something bold?
Congratulate him for his courage. If you have read a good book, pass it
on to him, and promise not to quiz him on it later: It is his to do as
he likes. 4. Put yourself at his disposal—to help him free up time in his
schedule to devote to the study of Sacred Scripture and the preparation
of his homilies.
Our priests have an overwhelming number of
responsibilities, and many of those responsibilities—such as celebrating
Mass and hearing confessions—only they can perform. But there are
other responsibilities—many of them clerical, administrative, or even of
the “gopher” type—that we can take off his shoulders. If you have a
parish council that divvies up duties, join it, and do your part. If you
don't, talk to others in your parish and determine what
responsibilities can be performed by volunteers. Form a “Committee to
Liberate Our Priest from Less Important
Responsibilities.” As the
Twelve Apostles stated in Acts 6:2: “it would not be right for us to
neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables.”
Demonstrate by your actions that you really do want him to have more
time to devote to Scripture study and the homily. The additional time
spent in lectio divina will be good for his soul; its effect on his
ministry and preaching will be good for yours.
We may not be Moses, but we can be Aaron and Hur. We may never deliver
the homilies, but we can help our priests to deliver them better. Let’s
support the servants of Jesus Christ, lifting up their arms to help them
ensure victory for the people of God.
2. Bad preaching is a main cause of spiritual dullness and leads people away from the Church. In a recent article in the National Catholic Register, Fr. Robert Barron identified bad preaching as a main reason that people leave the Catholic Church:
St. John Chrysostom, the Patron Saint of Preachers
Not too long ago, my dad visited a Carmelite monastery in the Midwest
to voice its organ. If you aren’t familiar with voicing organs, it’s
the equivalent of tuning a piano. The nuns who live at the monastery
are friendly and fantastic women—torch-bearers of the legacy of Saint
Therese of Lisieux—and they love it when my dad, a committed Protestant,
plays Ave Maria for them. They’ll listen to him perform that
beautiful Catholic music and just smile with delight, full of wonder.
But the last time my dad went to the monastery, it was he who was full
of wonder. Why? Because the nuns were listening to David Jeremiah on
AM 1320. AM 1320 is part of the evangelical Bott Radio Network. And
David Jeremiah is a committed Protestant preacher.
“Well, sisters, this is a surprise,” my dad said. “You’re listening to a Protestant preacher?”
The sisters’ response was compelling.
“We love our Catholic faith,” they said. “But we wish we had these
kinds of preachers in the Church: dynamic communicators who really
taught the Sacred Scriptures.”
Now, I have to confess: I loved hearing that story. I love it when good Catholics recognize the value of good preaching.
As a former evangelical Protestant pastor, I dreamed of becoming a
great preacher. I’m not ashamed to say I love a good sermon — one that
faithfully explains and applies Sacred Scripture in a creative and
compelling way. And even as a Catholic, I like to point out to my
brothers and sisters in Christ that as important as it is for a priest
to celebrate the Mass and hear confessions, it is also vitally important
that he takes seriously his call to preach.
How important is the homily? Very.
This isn’t just the opinion of a former Baptist pastor. Consider the following: 1. The Sacred Scriptures emphasize the central importance of preaching to the overall ministry of Church. In an apostolic exhortation from St. Paul to St. Timothy, the Apostle to the Gentiles writes: In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the
living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I
give you this charge...(2 Timothy 4:2a)
Let’s stop there for a moment. St. Paul really piles the words on top
of one another, doesn’t he? “In the presence of God … and of Christ
Jesus … who will judge the living and the dead." Rhetorically, he’s
building up to something. What he’s about to say is important. So,
what is it? Preach the word.
This is what he writes: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct,
rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For
the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They
will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But
you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of
an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry (2 Timothy
4:2b-5).
Preaching is important—vitally important. According to this passage,
good preaching helps prevent apostasy. It is central to faithful
ministry and evangelization.
There are many other passages in Sacred Scripture that testify to the
importance of preaching. These include, but are not limited to: Mark
16:15; 1 Corinthians 1:17, 21, 23; 14:1-20; 1 Timothy 4:13; Titus 1:3;
Acts 9:20. 2. Bad preaching is a main cause of spiritual dullness and leads people away from the Church. In a recent article in the National Catholic Register, Fr. Robert Barron identified bad preaching as a main reason that people leave the Catholic Church: A second major concern that can and should be addressed is that of
bad preaching. Again and again, people said that they left the Church
because homilies were “boring, irrelevant, poorly prepared” or
“delivered in an impenetrable accent.” Again, speaking as someone who is
called upon to give sermons all the time, I realize how terribly
difficult it is to preach, how it involves skill in public speaking,
attention to the culture, expertise in biblical interpretation and
sensitivity to the needs and interests of an incredibly diverse
audience. That said, homilists can make a great leap forward by being
attentive to one fact: Sermons become boring in the measure that they
don’t propose something like answers to real questions. All of the biblical exegesis and oratorical skill in the world will
be met with a massive “So what?” if the preacher has not endeavored to
correlate the “answers” he provides with the “questions” that beguile
the hearts of the people to whom he speaks. Practically every Gospel
involves an encounter between Jesus and a person — Peter, Mary
Magdalene, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, etc. — who is questioning, wondering,
suffering or seeking. An interesting homily identifies that longing and
demonstrates, concretely, how Jesus fulfills it. When the homily both
reminds people how thirsty they are and provides water to quench the
thirst, people will listen.
As a former Protestant who has benefitted from a lifetime of listening
to solid, compelling, passionate sermons, I know first-hand what a
blessing it is. I can't imagine what it would be like to listen to week
after week of homiletical drudgery. So, I can understand why Catholic
people who are hungry to hear good preaching are tempted to leave the
Church. But of course, as a convert, I now realize that means leaving
behind the fullness of the faith and the real presence of Christ. What a
tragedy!
But imagine another scenario: imagine a Mass where a hungry soul not
only received the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, but was also
educated and motivated by a Scripturally-sound, profoundly relevant,
Christ-exalting homily. What an experience that would be! The Church
would be transformed—and would go forth to transform the world.
That is exactly what our Holy Father wants. 3. Pope Benedict XVI has called for a revitalization of
Catholic preaching—and has linked its importance to the Eucharist
itself. In his post-Synod Apostolic ExhortationVerbum Domini, he writes: …[Given] the importance of the word of God, the quality of homilies needs to be improved
… The homily is a means of bringing the scriptural message to life in a
way that helps the faithful to realize that God’s word is present and
at work in their everyday lives. It should lead to an understanding of
the mystery being celebrated, serve as a summons to mission, and prepare
the assembly for the profession of faith, the universal prayer and the
Eucharistic liturgy. Consequently, those who have been charged with preaching by virtue of a specific ministry ought to take this task to heart …
The faithful should be able to perceive clearly that the preacher has a
compelling desire to present Christ, who must stand at the centre of
every homily. For this reason preachers need to be in close and
constant contact with the sacred text; they should prepare for the
homily by meditation and prayer, so as to preach with conviction and
passion. [59]
Pope Benedict XVI goes on to state something quite extraordinary about
the nature of the Word of God, preaching, and the homily: [Scripture] itself points us towards an appreciation of its own unbreakable bond with the Eucharist…Word and Eucharist are so deeply bound together that we cannot understand one without the other:
the word of God sacramentally takes flesh in the event of the
Eucharist. The Eucharist opens us to an understanding of Scripture, just
as Scripture for its part illumines and explains the mystery of the
Eucharist …. For this reason “the Church has honored the word of God and the Eucharistic mystery with the same reverence, although not with the same worship, and has always and everywhere insisted upon and sanctioned such honor" [54-55].
Sometimes good Catholics justify or excuse bad preaching because “at
least we’re still getting the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
That’s what is really important.” But we are members of the one, holy,
Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We are supposed to be the
beneficiaries of the fullness of the faith. The Mass is a sacrament of
the Word and the Eucharist. It is not either/or. It is both/and.
The Holy Father understands this. We should, too.
So, the value of preaching is emphasized by the Sacred Scriptures. Bad
preaching is the cause of much harm to the Church. And the Holy Father
himself has called for a renewal in preaching based on its connection
to the Eucharist.
If you are priest, deacon or authorized lay preacher, you can
prioritize your study of the Scriptures and improve the quality of your
homilies. But what about the rest of us? What can we do? Tomorrow: Preaching, Part Two: "How Can We Help the Homily?"
Vaughn Kohler (M.Div., Southern Seminary) is a former
evangelical pastor who entered the Catholic Church at 2011’s Easter
vigil. Currently the Director of Development at St. Benedict's Abbey
and instructor at Benedictine College (Kan.), Mr. Kohler is completing
an M.A. in English from Kansas State University. Feel free to contact
him at vaughn@kansasmonks.org.
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Faith alone is equivalent to Spiritual alone. We don't live solely in
a Spiritual Reality, our Reality is Spiritual and Physical. If Faith
alone is sufficient then why must we do the Physical act of Praying or
Repenting? Faith alone drawn down to its natural conclusion simply means
No Physical acts, No Prayer, No Repentance, are needed for Salvation.
Which also means no Physical acts can cause one to lose salvation,
including mass murder. Faith alone is essentially nothing, without
meaning, Void of Life or Dead. For just as a body without a spirit is
dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
Faith alone is equivalent to
Spiritual alone. We don't live solely in a Spiritual Reality, our
Reality is Spiritual and Physical. If Faith alone is sufficient then why
must we do the Physical act of Praying or Repenting? Faith alone drawn
down to its natural conclusion simply means No Physical acts, No Prayer,
No Repentance, are needed for Salvation. Which also means no Physical
acts can cause one to lose salvation, including mass murder. Faith alone
is essentially nothing, without meaning, Void of Life or Dead. For just
as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead
(James 2:26).
Is Faith Alone, Equivalent to Nothing?
I respectfully disagree with everything you said above. You have
to understand Sola fide within the context of the other Solas of the
Protestant Reformation:
Sola scriptura (by Scripture alone)
Sola fide (by faith alone)
Sola gratia (by grace alone)
Solus Christus (Christ alone)
Soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone)
Faith is a gift of God. Faith comes by the agency of the word of God and the Holy Spirit (Romans 10:17; John 5:24)
Repentance is a gift of divine grace. The kindness of God leads us
toward repentance (Romans 2:4). It comes from the word of God and the
Spirit of God acting on the mind, will, and emotions. The individual is
convinced of sin, becomes filled with Godly sorrow, and is renewed so
that he turns from sin and seeks to live a life of obedience to God.
This act of God's grace is an experience of faith. Repentance is not a
one time thing but the way of life for a Christian, which God's grace
enables us to live: "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:9).
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, continuing to walk in faith,
strengthening our spiritual core by partaking in all and any means of
grace (works of piety and works of mercy) that God provides, we can
continue to overcome sin and carnality.
Justification is a work of grace and a judicial act of God where He
remits the believer's sin and declares him righteous. The sole basis for
this declaration and transference of righteousness is the obedience of
Christ (who fulfilled all righteousness and was crucified for us,
shedding his blood and making atonement for us). Christ's righteousness
is transferred to the believer, freeing him from judgment and giving him
the benefit of Christ's full merit. The only instrument for receiving
this divine grace is faith in Jesus Christ.
We are justified by grace alone through faith alone.
God adopts the believer as a son or daughter. God goes on to transform
the believer so that he becomes a partaker in the divine nature (2 Peter
1:4), and God's love is shed abroad in his heart by the Spirit (Romans
5:5). He is born again in a creative act of God's grace, again through
faith (which comes by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit). The evidence
for this transformation is the love of God shed abroad in the heart,
the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, and the rejection of a
life of sin.
Sanctification is a work of grace. It is provided for by the blood of
Christ's atonement. The flesh is crucified and unrighteousness is purged
from the believer. In sanctification, the graces planted within the
believer in the new birth are released. The pursuit of holiness is the
normal lifestyle for a believer.
This is all contrary to how you characterized "faith alone" above.
__________________
Oh that rugged cross
My salvation
Where Your love poured out over me
Now my soul cries out
Hallelujah
Praise and honour unto Thee
Amen.................even the demons have faith in Gods existence.
__________________
The Mystical Vision of the Virgin Mother is not intended for merely
passive enjoyment but has been said to carry a transforming power, as
those who have had the privilege of beholding The Queen of Heaven have
dedicated their lives to Her service.
I can only speak clearly for one Protestant faith since I was a member of that denomination before converting to Catholicism.
When I was Baptist, I never heard about repenting of a sin. When I got
"saved" at 5 and said the Sinner's Prayer, I was taught that all my sins
in the past, present and future are forgiven. So if all my sins in the
future were already forgiven, there would be no need to confess and
repent of them. This of course is a concept that is gravely wrong, but
that is how they are taught.
They believe that their faith alone in Jesus Christ will save them and
it does not matter what they do, they will still be saved because they
"asked Jesus to come into their heart and save them."
Praise God I found the Catholic Church
__________________
Dustin
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I
have received from my Father. John 10:18
In defense of protestant theology, I dont think they mean nothing
physical is neccessary. I believe Martin Luther even stated that works
are neccessary for the Christian, but they are not what saves them. They
say, it is faith alone that saves them and then faith is nothing
without works.
To me, its not as negative as you are making it seem. But I also
think it should prompt them to think deaper about our participation in
our salvation. That is what protestantism is so affraid to think...that
we participate in our actual salvation. As though it will take away some
of Gods glory. Or more importantly, that it means that we deserved to
be saved. These fears are not rationally based. They are excuses.
Catholics who walk their faith are in the frame of heart that we are
saved by "Grace Alone" and through faith and works. Protestants could
also use their own accusations that their faith merited salvation as
though they would be faithfull without Jesus' sacrifice. But we dont
play that game. It really is misunderstanding for protestantism. From
their own view point. For instance, if we understood our teaching as
they believe it, then we would not believe it either.
The reality of justification through faith and works is known because
our faith is always challenged and attacked. We must fulfill our faith
in works. We must work out our salvation. True faith does understand
that the works are from God and done through us. But not as though we
are robots. We give consent of will, and effort to bring God into our
life. We pick up and carry our crosses. Justification is not a one time
deal. It is our life's test...til the end.
I think a large motive in creating the faith alone doctrine was the
desire of assurance of salvation. This, then leads to a host of
compromises and underminds anything the Church teaches, if it is too
difficult to understand, or seems contrary to their understanding.
Remember what the works of the spirit are. The first work is repentance.
And also forgiving others. These two are neccessary for salvation. Its
not WHY God chose to redeem us, but it is How God redeems us. He chose
to redeem us out of His goodness and grace alone.
They believe that their faith alone
in Jesus Christ will save them and it does not matter what they do, they
will still be saved because they "asked Jesus to come into their heart
and save them
Right. This can lead them to believe, no matter what i do, I am
saved. Again, I think most protestants are actually doing God's work in
their lives. It is never Catholics who are accussing them of this. But
these rejections of our faith give them division. It comes down to
rejecting the Lords true supper. This is the guilt of protestant
teachers; that they keep children from the eucharist.
A number of years ago, I got in a debate with a protestant about
this. I gave him this logic: if you do not think works are necessary for
Salvation, does,it at least stand to reason that someone who has faith
will also have works follow? He agreed. I should not have
"compromised", but he DID see that work was necessary. The argument may
not be exactly theologically correct, but it did the trick. He did give
up sola fide in the strict sense seeing a that a genuine faith in God,
makes one love God, and will make one want to love and serve God's
servants to help bring about the Kingdom.
__________________
It is a good thing we have Apostolic Tradition backing up the fourth
Marian dogma...otherwise it would only be a matter of Assumption.
Faith alone is equivalent to
Spiritual alone. We don't live solely in a Spiritual Reality, our
Reality is Spiritual and Physical. If Faith alone is sufficient then why
must we do the Physical act of Praying or Repenting? Faith alone drawn
down to its natural conclusion simply means No Physical acts, No Prayer,
No Repentance, are needed for Salvation. Which also means no Physical
acts can cause one to lose salvation, including mass murder. Faith alone
is essentially nothing, without meaning, Void of Life or Dead. For just
as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead
(James 2:26).
Is Faith Alone, Equivalent to Nothing?
Yes, it is equivalent to nothing. One can call the Lord, Lord, but
if he does not do what the Lord wants him to do, it will come to
nothing.
__________________
Lord, by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
You are the Savior of the world.
I can only speak clearly for one Protestant faith since I was a member of that denomination before converting to Catholicism.
When I was Baptist, I never heard about repenting of a sin. When I got
"saved" at 5 and said the Sinner's Prayer, I was taught that all my sins
in the past, present and future are forgiven. So if all my sins in the
future were already forgiven, there would be no need to confess and
repent of them. This of course is a concept that is gravely wrong, but
that is how they are taught.
You may have mentioned this before and I've forgotten, but what
Baptist church was it you were in? I've attended three different
conferences of Baptist churches, and none of them teach anything like
what you have described.
For Southern Baptists, Boyce is the most commonly referred to systematic theology, and he says this about justification:
It is thus evident that works occupy the position of
subsequent, not antecedent, accompaniments of justification. They
manifest that justification has taken place, because they are invariable
consequence. They do this, however, not before man only, but God also,
and consequently he, as well as man, perceives them, and because of them
the believer performing these good works is justified before God. But
such justification is not that actual justification which takes place in
connection with faith, which is the judicial act of God declaring the
relation of the believer to the law, but that declarative or manifesting
justification, which cannot exist except as the result of the actual
justification, but which is so inseparably connected with the latter
that by its presence, or absence, the existence or non-existence of
justification is distinctly established. http://www.founders.org/library/boyce1/ch35.html
And this about repentance:
To set forth explicitly what Christian Repentance is, it may be stated that it includes
1. An intellectual and spiritual perception of the opposition between
holiness in God and sin in man. It does not look at sin as the cause of
punishment but abhors it because it is vile in the sight of God and
involves in heinous guilt all who are sinners.
2. It consequently includes sorrow and self-loathing, and earnest desire
to escape the evil of sin. The penitent soul does not so much feel the
greatness of its danger as the greatness of its sinfulness.
3. It also includes an earnest turning to God for help and deliverance
from sin, seeking pardon for guilt and aid to escape its presence.
It is also accompanied by deep regret because of the sins committed in
the past, and by determination with God's help to avoid sin and live in
holiness hereafter. The heart heretofore against God and for sin is now
against sin and for God. http://www.founders.org/library/boyce1/ch33.html
And of sanctification:
2. It is a real sanctification, not merely one that is
imputed, as is righteousness. Holiness is not merely "accounted to men,"
so that they are treated as though holy, but they are made holy.
Holiness becomes the characteristic of their natures. It is habitually
exercised in their lives. It will eventually be possessed in perfection.
It is real and in no sense only virtual.
3. It is of the whole nature. The renewed nature, given in regeneration,
shows that sanctification includes the whole spiritual part of man. It
is not to be confined to mere outward actions. . . But sanctification is
to be extended to the body likewise. Its appetites and passions are to
be controlled, wicked actions are to cease, and unholy habits to be put
away, the members of the body are to be mortified, all filthiness of the
flesh to be cleansed, good works are to be exhibited to mankind, and
such high moral duties to be performed as are imposed upon Christians as
obligatory towards each other and the world. http://www.founders.org/library/boyce1/ch37.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azygos
Faith alone is equivalent to
Spiritual alone. We don't live solely in a Spiritual Reality, our
Reality is Spiritual and Physical. If Faith alone is sufficient then why
must we do the Physical act of Praying or Repenting?
Itwin pointed out that sola fide is not the sum total of Christian
theology. Justification is often referred to as being by grace alone,
through faith alone, for Christ's sake alone, but justification is not
all there is to man's relationship to God. Election, calling,
conversion, repentance, faith, justification, adoption, sanctification,
and perseverance are all chapters in understanding our relationship to
God, even for those who hold the concept of sola fide. http://www.founders.org/library/boyce1/toc.html
Faith alone is equivalent to
Spiritual alone. We don't live solely in a Spiritual Reality, our
Reality is Spiritual and Physical. If Faith alone is sufficient then why
must we do the Physical act of Praying or Repenting? Faith alone drawn
down to its natural conclusion simply means No Physical acts, No Prayer,
No Repentance, are needed for Salvation. Which also means no Physical
acts can cause one to lose salvation, including mass murder. Faith alone
is essentially nothing, without meaning, Void of Life or Dead. For just
as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead
(James 2:26).
Is Faith Alone, Equivalent to Nothing?
I am a Christian who adheres to faith alone theology which is
misunderstood by Protestants and Catholics alike. We are not saved by
faith nor are we saved by our faith in Christ. Our faith has an object
which saves us. The object of our faith (Christ) saves us from the wrath
of God, reconciles us to God, and is the sole basis of our eternal
adoption as sons of God (sonship).
You guys are not staying on topic. You are trying to define
Salvation by Faith Alone as other things that are not by Faith Alone by
adding to the doctrine of Faith Alone.
In order to continue this conversation I must ask the all you protestants a Yes or No, question.
I am a Christian who adheres to faith
alone theology which is misunderstood by Protestants and Catholics
alike. We are not saved by faith nor are we saved by our faith in
Christ. Our faith has an object which saves us. The object of our faith
(Christ) saves us from the wrath of God, reconciles us to God, and is
the sole basis of our eternal adoption as sons of God (sonship).
There is a short article by Rod Rosenbladt that paints that same picture. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:
Melanchthon had a different sort of temperament than Luther.
Some would call him timid; others of a less generous bent might call
him spineless. At one time, while Luther was off in the Wartburg castle
translating, Melanchthon had another one of his attacks of timidity. He
wrote to Luther, "I woke this morning wondering if I trust Christ
enough." Luther received such letters from Melanchthon regularly. He had
a tendency, a propensity, to navel-gaze and to wonder about the state
of his inner faith, and whether it was enough to save. Finally, in an
effort to pull out all the stops and pull Melanchthon out of himself,
Luther wrote back and said, "Melanchthon! Go sin bravely! Then go to the
cross and bravely confess it! The whole gospel is outside of us."
This story has been told time and time again by less sympathetic
observers than I in an effort to caricature Luther and the Reformation
generally as advocates of licentious abandon. . . Luther's frustrated
counsel was not an invitation to serve sin, but an attempt to shock
Melanchthon into realizing that his only true righteousness was external
to him: "The whole gospel is outside of us."
. . . A friend of mine was walking down a street in Minneapolis one day
and was confronted by an evangelical brother who asked, "Brother, are
you saved?" Hal rolled his eyes back and said, "Yes." That didn't
satisfy this brother, so he said, "Well, when were you saved?" Hal said,
"About two thousand years ago, about a twenty minutes' walk from
downtown Jerusalem." This is the gospel message.
If belief in God and his actions is all that we need to be 'saved',
then surely God would have just slapped the hands of Adam and Eve over
their 1 sin.
Since he cast them out over 1 sin, who are we to think that our many sins have no need for corrective action.
I'd rather have this opportunity on earth to do the right thing after
falling than burn to be cleansed. If even given that opportunity to burn
for cleansing, I hope I don't say no.
That's not to say, we work our way to heaven in any way, it's an
acceptance on our part of the gift God wants to give. Our lives will
dictate if we are accepting by how we live (hearts and actions).
Of all the spilled text, are we using it to become wise, grow closer to Truth, or just to defend a point?
Faith Alone, Equivalent to Nothing?
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