LutheranLectionary.org

Reflections on Scripture with Dr. Leins

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:00	[Music]
0:14	hello today let’s talk about the
0:17	righteousness of
0:19	God this Reformation Sunday we will
0:22	focus our attention on the epistle text
0:25	Romans 3:
0:28	19-28 introduction
0:30	acute awareness of
0:34	sin Luther hated God he said so
0:39	himself though I lived as a monk without
0:43	reproach I felt that I was a sinner
0:46	before God with an extremely Disturbed
0:49	conscience I could not believe that he
0:51	was plated by my
0:54	satisfaction I did not love yes I hated
0:59	the right righteous God who punishes
1:02	Sinners and secretly if not
1:05	blasphemously certainly murmuring
1:07	greatly I was angry with God and said as
1:12	if indeed it’s not enough that miserable
1:15	Sinners eternally lost through original
1:18	sin are crushed by every kind of
1:20	Calamity by the law of the decalogue
1:23	without having God add pain to Pain by
1:27	the gospel and also by the gospel
1:30	threatening us with his righteousness
1:33	and
1:34	wrath preface to the Latin Works volume
1:37	34 of Luther’s Works did you hear that
1:42	Luther was afflicted by his sin as
1:44	exposed by the law of God in the Old
1:47	Testament you would think that with the
1:50	coming of Jesus he would experience
1:52	relief but no just the opposite in
1:55	Christ Luther found a judge who was even
1:59	more grim for Jesus
2:01	said you have heard it said You shall
2:04	not murder but I say to you that anyone
2:07	who is angry with his brother shall be
2:09	guilty you have heard it said You shall
2:11	not commit adultery but I say to you
2:14	that everyone who looks at a woman with
2:16	lust has already committed adultery with
2:19	her in his
2:20	heart Luther’s sin shame and Terror were
2:25	increasing and
2:28	unrelenting what’s going on
2:30	here I think at least three things first
2:35	Luther is painfully aware of his own sin
2:39	he knows that he has sinned in the past
2:41	and that he continues to sin again and
2:44	again he cannot stop he measures his
2:47	thoughts words and deeds second Luther
2:51	knows that there will be a judgment God
2:53	is a righteous judge and all of the sins
2:56	that Luther has done will be exposed and
2:59	punished
3:00	eternally and third Luther knows that
3:03	what his church has taught him is not
3:06	true the Roman Catholic Church taught
3:09	him that he had innate goodness and
3:12	godliness and for this reason he could
3:15	Escape sin’s consequence by performing
3:18	good works Pious acts of contrition and
3:22	satisfaction like celibacy and monastic
3:25	discipline but Luther knew from Holy
3:28	Scripture and from his own ience that he
3:30	had no innate goodness and godliness and
3:34	that his good works could never save him
3:38	therefore Luther confessed that he was
3:41	exceedingly terrified of
3:43	God the issue for Luther was the
3:47	righteousness of God that stands at the
3:50	very heart of the Reformation as Luther
3:53	disclosed in his table Talk Volume
3:56	54 every time he would read the word
3:58	righteous or the words righteousness of
4:02	God it was like a thunderbolt in my
4:05	heart said Luther he could not Escape
4:08	his sin and he could not escape the
4:10	righteousness of God that must punish
4:13	him for his
4:14	sin do you have an acute awareness of
4:19	your sin does your sin ever bother you
4:21	or shame you or frighten you do you
4:24	think that there are other people who
4:26	might feel similarly sin ful ashamed and
4:32	even frightened of God in his
4:34	judgment yes yes and yes indeed we are
4:38	surrounded by persons who like ourselves
4:41	experience shame for our sins and fear
4:44	of God’s
4:46	judgment Dr Martin Luther’s Reformation
4:49	discovery changed the Theology and
4:52	practice of the church 500 years ago but
4:55	his Reformation Discovery is just as
4:58	applicable to just as crucial and just
5:01	as glorious today as it ever
5:04	was point one the righteousness of
5:08	God so how did Luther and his
5:12	UNF that is his Terror
5:15	subside how did he find
5:18	peace it would be good for us to know
5:20	wouldn’t it Luther did not stop reading
5:23	the painful passages in Holy Scripture
5:26	the ones about the righteousness of God
5:28	in fact he studed them all the more the
5:32	Psalms 1513 and 1514 Romans 15:15
5:36	through 1516 Galatians and Hebrews
5:39	throughout 1517 and
5:42	1518 finally Luther received a
5:45	revelation a new
5:48	understanding when I learned that the
5:51	righteousness of God is his mercy and
5:55	that he makes us righteous through it
5:58	through his Mercy
6:00	a remedy was offered to me in my
6:03	Affliction table Talk Volume
6:06	54 now every time Luther saw the word
6:09	righteous or the words righteousness of
6:12	God his heart was cheered and the gates
6:15	of paradise open to him for they spoke
6:19	of the mercy of God as we learned from
6:22	the epistle reading God mercifully
6:24	demonstrates his righteousness by making
6:27	human beings righteous
6:30	God does this freely as a gift through
6:32	faith in Jesus Christ the work is called
6:37	Redemption Romans 3: 24 a Divine
6:41	transaction in which the Precious Blood
6:44	of the Lamb of God is given to redeem
6:47	sinful human beings the Redemption is a
6:50	public display of propitiation Romans
6:53	3:25 that is the anger of God’s Wrath is
6:57	fully expended upon the lamb and is now
7:01	satisfied now
7:04	satisfied for this reason Christ has
7:06	given us experation of our sins our
7:10	guilt has been
7:12	removed when you think about God do you
7:15	think about a righteous God whose
7:18	demonstration of his righteousness is
7:20	making you
7:23	righteous Luther’s Reformation Discovery
7:26	gave the world this biblical truth about
7:28	God Paul wrote it centuries before we
7:33	are Justified or made righteous by grace
7:35	through faith in Jesus Christ apart from
7:39	any
7:41	Works point two the righteousness of God
7:45	is for all who
7:47	believe Luther’s Reformation Discovery
7:50	also gave the world the biblical truth
7:52	about
7:54	ourselves Romans 3 verse
7:58	23
8:01	all have sinned and fall short of the
8:04	glory of God Luther knew this truth all
8:07	to well but God revealed to Luther an
8:10	even greater truth verses 21 and 22 but
8:15	now apart from the law the righteousness
8:17	of God has been manifested being
8:20	witnessed by the law and the prophets
8:22	even the righteousness of God through
8:25	faith in Jesus Christ for all those who
8:28	believe
8:31	this told Luther not only something
8:33	wonderful about God but it told Luther
8:35	something wonderful about us
8:37	sinners in spite of our slavery to sin
8:41	we are set free by the redeeming work of
8:43	our savior we are no longer slaves to
8:47	sin we are no longer under bondage to
8:49	sin therefore we are no longer under the
8:51	penalty of death in Christ Jesus we have
8:56	been declared righteous children of God
9:00	and inheritors of eternal life a perfect
9:03	sacrifice has been made a ransom price
9:06	has been paid and enslaved people have
9:09	been
9:10	redeemed baptismal water has washed us
9:13	clean and Heavenly food has forgiven our
9:17	sins God has buried the old Adam and
9:21	raised up the new and inhabited Us in
9:24	mystical Union with his Divine son we
9:27	are now new creatures born again we are
9:31	living in Christ and Christ is living in
9:34	us all of this Luther understood in the
9:38	words righteousness of God all of this
9:42	caused Luther to rejoice as one for whom
9:45	the gates of paradise had
9:48	opened still Luther was aware that he
9:52	continued to struggle with his
9:55	sin though the old Adam was dead his old
9:59	dead carcass still clung to Luther’s
10:02	neck though his sins were forgiven in
10:04	baptism the inclination to sin remained
10:09	there was still a battle to be fought
10:11	against sin though Christ Jesus had
10:14	already won the war Luther’s phrase
10:18	simultaneously Saint and sinner that is
10:21	siml eustus at
10:23	pator this was Luther’s description of
10:27	the believer’s new condition in Christ
10:30	God had displayed his righteousness by
10:32	imputing to all believers the
10:34	righteousness of God Christ inhabits the
10:37	believer even as Christ’s righteousness
10:40	is imputed to all who believe however
10:44	Luther explained that the believer still
10:47	needs the guidance of the Holy Spirit
10:49	the correction of the word of God and
10:52	the indwelling of Christ in order to
10:54	fight the good fight of
10:56	Faith are you aware of being in a fight
11:00	with your flesh and with the devil and
11:03	the world the fight of a saint who is
11:07	still tempted to sin it is not only that
11:10	you have been counted righteous because
11:12	of Christ you have been changed and made
11:15	righteous because of Christ in you do
11:18	you know that he who is in you is
11:21	greater than he who is in the
11:23	world point three the bridegroom and his
11:28	beloved
11:30	Luther discovered the biblical truth of
11:33	the righteousness of God he discovered
11:36	also the biblical truth of the redeemed
11:40	sinner but then Luther discovered the
11:43	biblical truth of the new relationship
11:46	between the two the relationship between
11:48	the righteous God and the redeemed
11:51	believer in a sermon delivered in 1518
11:54	titled two kinds of righteousness Luther
11:58	explained exped that our relationship
12:01	with Jesus is like a bride with a
12:04	bridegroom using the language that’s
12:06	found in the song of songs he said that
12:09	by grace through faith we the church are
12:12	married to
12:14	Jesus we have all things in common now
12:19	that is the sin punishment and death
12:21	that belong to us now pass to the
12:25	bridegroom because he is our husband a
12:27	true human he is able to take them but
12:30	because he’s God he is able to destroy
12:33	them through this holy marriage of Faith
12:37	The Obedience and righteousness and
12:39	eternal life that belong to the
12:40	bridegroom now pass to us because we are
12:44	joined in a Holy Covenant what is ours
12:47	becomes his and what is his becomes ours
12:52	eternally Luther calls this the happy
12:55	exchange the blessing of our
12:58	righteousness before God Korum Deo is
13:02	received as an unmerited gift we are
13:05	righteous in God’s eyes not by our works
13:08	or obedience not by our goodness or
13:11	godliness this righteousness is received
13:15	passively as a gift by grace through
13:18	faith righteousness before God is
13:22	passive
13:24	righteousness the other kind of
13:26	righteousness that belong to the bride
13:28	the church is called active
13:30	righteousness this is our righteousness
13:33	before the world Korum
13:36	Mundo the bridegroom now joined to the
13:40	bride and his Spirit living within the
13:45	believer enables a change to take place
13:48	in our will the believer now loves the
13:51	will of God and is able in some measure
13:54	to do the will and the word of God’s
13:58	good place
13:59	pleasure the believer is in some small
14:02	fashion active in this righteousness
14:05	though it’s always understood that the
14:07	holy spirit is the initiator and the
14:09	impetus for the good works and The Godly
14:12	actions that the believer now
14:14	does there is no cooperation of good
14:18	works by Humanity in our righteousness
14:21	before God our righteousness before God
14:24	is purely passive we are only recipients
14:28	as Luther says God does not need our
14:30	good works our neighbor does so there is
14:35	cooperation a small portion in our acts
14:38	of loving service to our neighbor this
14:41	is called active
14:43	righteousness righteousness before the
14:47	world
14:49	conclusion the right understanding of
14:51	God’s righteousness changed Martin
14:54	Luther’s life his heart was cheered the
14:57	Gates of Heaven were open to him and
14:59	Luther lived for almost 30 more years
15:02	all the while declaring the
15:04	righteousness of God is his
15:07	Mercy it is God’s mercy that God the
15:11	holy judge also is God the loving savior
15:16	it is God’s mercy that we who are sinful
15:19	are forgiven and made righteous by grace
15:23	through faith in Jesus Christ apart from
15:26	our own works or merits
15:29	and it is God’s mercy that through the
15:32	gift of faith Jesus Christ has come to
15:35	live within us and we are changed into
15:38	children of God who love and care for
15:42	others the righteousness of God that was
15:46	once so terrifying and became for Luther
15:50	such a
15:52	fear became now the gospel of Salvation
15:57	and Abundant Life for Luther and for all
16:00	who believe in Jesus Christ so with our
16:03	brother martin you too May confess in
16:08	faith the righteousness of God is his
16:13	Mercy given to you by Jesus Christ your
16:18	lord so may I wish you happy Reformation
16:24	Sunday in the name of your merciful Lord
16:28	Jesus
16:30	Christ
16:38	[Music]
16:46	[Music]
16:50	[Applause]
16:53	amen