Romans 3:19–28

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. ²¹But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. ²⁷Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

They guy who lives across the street from me is a scumball. For a long time we were friends, we would stand out in our front yards and talk, share notes about our kids, our jobs, and sports, but lately I am seeing another side of him. He just sits on his front porch and curses and swears at me when I come out. I don't know why he is that way, but it really makes me mad. I deserve respect. I shouldn't be treated this way.

I want to get even. Last night I threw a brick through his window, and if he doesn't stop treating me that way, I'll keep on until all his windows are smashed out. Then he'll respect me! He'll know I won't take it anymore. I'll stand up for what is right and make him pay.

Then today a police officer stopped at my house. He told me that the man who lives across the street from me thinks that his neighbor across the street from him is a real scumball. They used to be friends, but now they don't talk to each other, they just give mean and angry looks at one another, and that last night he threw a brick through his front window. I can't believe it! How can that scumball think that I am a scumball?

On the other hand, that is what God says. He says that "nothing good dwells in me." (Romans 7:18). He says that "there is none good, not even one...we have all become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12). He says that "I am an enemy of God," (Romans 5:10), and that there is nothing in me that pleases God or is beautiful to him. There is really no reason for God to like me or be a friend to me.

In fact God says that while I think the guy across the street is a scumball, he thinks that I am a scumball too. And he's right. Martin Luther said that we are all "bags of filth." Paul says that the Corinthian church "treated him like the scum of the world, like the refuse of all things." (I Corinthians 4:13). But he endured such treatment, he blessed them, he kept on working on their behalf that they might share in the kingdom of God.

Jesus say, "it is inevitable that offenses come." (Matthew 18:). But that like Paul, we are to love our enemies, bless those who persecute us, and give our lives for them as Jesus did. Jesus, from the cross, forgave the people who were killing him.

But I am ego driven. It am self-centered. I am puffed up and proud. And what others do to me cannot go unpunished. The word of the cross is foolishness to the natural man, to the man of the world. The word of the cross is "forgiveness." It's turning the other cheek when someone smites us. It is going two miles for someone when he asks us to go one. It is giving him our coat too when he steals our shirt. All that is foolishness to us. We must get even. He must pay for what he does to me. I am worthy. He needs to recognize my worth and my goodness and my contribution and return thanks and praise. I will not let him off the hook.

Yes, that is my human nature speaking, before the Reformation. By that I don't mean before the year 1517, but before the message of the Reformation, the eternal gospel that the angel proclaimed, penetrates my soul and creates faith. That is the Pre-Reformation man talking. The Pre-faith man. The man of flesh rather than man of the Spirit. For St. Paul tells us, "the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing." ( I Corinthians 1:18). The word of the cross is forgiveness, and forgiveness is foolishness to the world.

But that is the message of the Reformation. The sola gratia message; that God, in Christ, has forgiven us. What does it mean to forgive? It means to let go of the offense. To not make the offender pay me back. To not hold him accountable. That when the guy across the street sits on his porch and curses and swears at me, to overlook it and let it go. It means I will not make him pay me back. It means not throwing the brick through his window, rather helping him fix his broken window. It does not deny the offense, but it is a decision to not hold someone accountable. It is a voluntary decision not to make a person pay the consequences.

Reformation means that when God forgives he does not hold us accountable. He promises us that he will not hold our offenses against us on the day of judgment. He will overlook them. When you were baptized, you were baptized into Christ. You were clothed with Christ. You put on Christ and are hidden in him. So that on the day of judgment, God will not even see you. He will not look at how disgusting you are, or see your sinful flesh. He will only see Jesus Christ, because you are hidden inside him at baptism. You are covered with Jesus. So on judgment day it will be Jesus that God will judge. He will pronounce his verdict over you, saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased," because it is Christ's verdict that you will receive.

When God forgives, he also forgets. He is not like the man of the flesh who says, "I forgive you, but I cannot forget." He is not like the man of flesh who forgives today and six months from now remembers the offense and gets angry all over again. We, in the flesh, have to keep forgiving over and over.

But that is not God's way of forgiving. God forgives perfectly and completely. He says in Jeremiah, "I will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:35). In the book of Hebrews God says, "I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." (Hebrews 8:12). If you cannot forget the offenses, it's not because of your great memory, either. God's memory is much better than yours. It's because you are not perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Our forgiveness is never perfect because we remain in the flesh. But those who have the Holy Spirit strive for the goal. We seek to imitate God. We seek to love our neighbor as ourselves. We run the race to win the prize of perfection, even though we never reach the goal until we are raised from the dead.

The message of the Reformation is that when God forgives, he also restores the friendship. He doesn't forgive but say, "Go, sit in the corner so I don't have to see you." No, he says, "Come over here, friend. Sit next to me and dine with me at my table." That, again, is not the way our flesh wants to do things. Forgiveness is not possible from our fleshly man. It is only possible for the man of the Spirit, the one who lives in the Spirit of God.

So the Reformation goes against our world. It is an eternal gospel that reverses the ways of the world, the ways of our sinful flesh.