Gift - June 25, 2023 - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 07) - Text: Romans 6:12-23

Last week Paul helped us to see what a great, loving, gift giving God we have, a God who loves us so much that while we were His enemies, even fighting against Him, He lived the perfect life demanded of us for us, took our sins upon Himself, suffered the eternal death penalty of hell for us, died and rose for us and gives us forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.
 

This morning we continue our reading in Romans with Paul talking about grace and helping us to get grace right. Too often, when you listen to your friends of other religions and even other denominations they tend to confuse grace or better said, they tend to confuse Gospel and Law. We understand the importance of making sure these are not confused so that we are better able to understand God’s rich grace toward us. Getting to our text Paul says, “14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (v. 14). How is it that we who are conceived and born in sin, who daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness are no longer under the dominion of sin and the law? We are no longer under sin and the law because of God’s grace which is a gift given to us by God. And so we get our first glimpse of what grace is, that is grace is gift. Grace is not me, but God, as we say who is running the verbs. Grace is God’s gift to me. And we might add right off, to say something is gift means there is nothing attached, as in, “We are saved by grace, but/and all you have to do is something.” Gift is gift. We all know when someone gives us a gift and when know when someone is merely trying to exchange a present they give for one we will give them in return, which is not gift and not grace.
 

Grace, that is Godly grace, the grace of God toward us, is the fact that our sins have been forgiven, that is the price for our sins, eternal death and hell, has been paid by Jesus. We did nothing and we do nothing to earn nor deserve this grace, it is pure gift given to us by God, earned by Jesus. We do nothing to make it ours. We do nothing to get it. It has been purchased and won for us and is given to us. Actually, our only response would be to refuse and reject His gift, which too many people do each and every Sunday morning by absenting themselves from being where this gift is given out.
 

To better understand this grace and gift from God, let us go back to the first two verses of our text and hear what Paul says about our nature. Paul says, “12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (v. 12-13). As we have heard time and again, we are conceived and born in sin. This sin is what we call original sin. The original sin of Adam and Eve has been genetically passed on from generation to generation so that we are all conceived and born in sin. There is no way we can get away from sin or be born in any other way, the only exception being Jesus who was conceived of God.
 

Not only are we conceived and born in sin, we also daily sin much. This daily sinning is what we call actual sin, that is these are the sins we actually sin on our own and we also recognize two types of actual sin. There are sins of commission, that is there are the sins that we commit by doing something we should not be doing and there are sins of omission, that is we sin by omitting or not doing the things we should be doing. And we can add to this fact that we also sin in thought, word and deed, that is we sin in our thoughts, we sin in our speaking and we sin in our actions. Indeed, we are sinful people. Indeed, sin is our greatest problem and as I have said time and again, our greatest problem is spiritual.
 

Paul goes so far as to say that we are slaves, picking up at verse fifteen, “15What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (v. 15-19). Although we may not like it and we may deny it, the fact is that we must be slaves to someone or something, at least according to our spiritual nature.
 

Paul tells us that one choice is that we are either slaves to sin, which is the easy and natural choice, after all, we are conceived and born in sin. God tells us that our natural inclination is sin, as He says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). And actually, according to our sin tainted will, the fact that is we have lost free will, our will really and truly is only to sin.
 

And yet, Paul gives us a second option, that is we can be slaves to God. Yet in saying this, Paul says this in such a way that we understand the only way we can “choose” if you will and if you want to use that word, is that this choosing is something that is done for us, in other words, indeed, truly we cannot in and of ourselves, according to our sin tainted will, choose to be slaves to God. We are slaves to God only as Jesus has paid the price for our sin and only as the Holy Spirit has given us faith so that truly it is not we who are choosing to be slaves to God, but God who is working in and though us to make us His slaves, or said a little more nicely, His children
 

Finally, Paul outlines what he calls the fruits of our faith, that is the result of the faith that God has given to us. Picking up at verse twenty, “20When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 20-23).
 

Paul writes to help us better understand grace and the gifts God gives. When we were slaves to sin, we were free from righteousness, in other words we were unrighteous, yet, God does not leave us in this state of unrighteousness. Because of His great love for us, God gives to us. He gives us His Son and His Son’s life. Remember, the fullness of the Gospel is this fact that Jesus lived for us in our place. We are conceived and born in sin. Jesus was conceived and born without sin, because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus was able to live perfectly and He did live perfectly, for us in our place as our substitute because we cannot.
 

God gives us His Son and God gives us faith. By faith in Jesus, faith given to us by the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace, Holy Baptism and the very Word of God, we have all the gifts and blessings God gives. When our last hour arrives, either at our own passing or at the Lord’s return and when we stand before our Lord for judgement, by faith in Jesus, given to us, God will look at us and instead of seeing our sinful nature He will see us as perfect and holy, because what He will actually be seeing is Jesus, who is our substitute. God will look at us and He will see Jesus’ perfect life for us in our place and He will judge us as righteous.
 

God gives His Son, God gives us faith and God works in us our sanctification. Sanctification is that big fancy word we use to describe our faith life, especially our faith life of growing in our faith and with His help being better persons. Indeed, as we attribute our being made just and right and holy in God’s eyes by Jesus’ work alone, so in our life of becoming more and more holy, we attribute our sanctification to God alone as well. We tend to mess up and back slide. We tend to continue, this side of heaven, to sin and yet we know that with Jesus there is forgiveness. It is the Holy Spirit who works in and through us to make good “choices”, to use that word, according to our sanctification.
 

So, what does this mean? And how do we understand grace and gift differently from others. As you have heard me say time and again, it comes down to who is doing what? Who is running the verbs, or who is running the show. When we put ourselves in the driver’s seat, so to speak, like we like to do, we are getting it wrong. Remember, every intention of our heart is sin. When Jesus is running the show, when Jesus is running the verbs, when Jesus is in the driver’s seat, we are getting it right.
 

And so grace is the fact that God gives. God gives to us all things. As a matter of fact, the very reason God created the world and us is to love us. Yes, God created us to love us. He did not create us because He needed anything from us. What kind of God would need something from us. As parents we do not have children so they might serve us, we have children because we love them and want to love them. God created us to love us. He created us and specifically He has given each of us life at our conception. At our conception we were given a soul and a body. He has given us life at conception and new life, even eternal life at our baptism. At our baptism, through the hands and the mouth of the pastor, God put water and His name on us. He washed us with forgiveness. He put His name on us. He wrote our names in the book of heaven. God gives life, faith, forgiveness and He even gives us gifts, talents and abilities, even work to do in order that we might be able to respond to all He has given to us by loving and serving Him as we serve others.
 

God gives and we are given to. Our only option would be to refuse the gifts God has to give and indeed, our nature is to refuse the gifts of God. Week in and week out, Sunday after Sunday we see people refuse and reject the gifts God has to give. We refuse and reject God’s gifts when we refuse to acknowledge and confess our sin and our greatest spiritual need of forgiveness. We refuse the gifts of God when we attempt to impose some restriction or some qualification on our part or on our thinking we have to have a part in gaining the gifts of God and in so doing, we also confuse law and Gospel, even justification and sanctification. God gives with no help or acting on our part. We are given to with no help or acting on our part. We are simply passively being given to.
 

The price for sin, original sin and actual sin, is death, eternal death and hell. Because we are conceived and born in sin, because we begin life in sin, there is nothing we can do to reconcile our debt with our Creator. Jesus, God in flesh, who created us to love us and who shows His great love for us, was conceived and born sinless and holy and lived a sinless life so that He was able and He did trade His perfect life for our imperfect life. And God sends His Holy Spirit to give us the gifts Jesus earned for us, faith, forgiveness, life and salvation, and He even stirs in us to do the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do, not that we are doing anything active in all that is being done, rather we are simply passively being done to and given to. Thus, even though we struggle, we point not to ourselves, but we point continually, always and only to Jesus. To Him be the glory, for His name sake. Amen.

Free - June 18, 2023 - Third Sunday after Pentecost/Father’s Day (Proper 06) - Text: Romans 5:6-15

Today we again celebrate a social holiday, that of Father’s Day. Indeed, it is well that we celebrate Father’s Day as we celebrated Mother’s Day because it is specifically through the vocation and gift of fatherhood and motherhood God gives us the core of our families and as He instructs parents to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So, we welcome especially our Father’s and wish you a blessed and happy Father’s Day.
 

This is America, or more for us, this is Texas. We have our own ways here in America. Yet, I believe one thing stands out about most Americans and that is we believe there really is nothing free in life. Everything that is declared to be free, we believe, has strings attached. We are raised to believe and be proud of the fact that we have to raise ourselves up by our bootstraps and make our own way in life.
 

At the same time, here in church we are constantly being reminded the price for sin is death and that price had to be paid and it was paid, by Jesus on the cross. So, although there is a cost for sin, the cost was paid for by Jesus so heaven really is free for us. Unfortunately, because our culture has so worked its way into our churches and into our faith life we still have a difficult time understanding and believing heaven is free. We still want to get our hands in the mix and, even if only subtly, we still want to earn or deserve, at least some of heaven. We hear this desire whenever we hear statements where we are doing anything to make heaven ours.
 

In our text we are given the possibility that “free” is a reality. We are told that someone might die for someone else, depending on the circumstances, in other words, someone might give their life, freely, for someone else. Paul says, “6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (v. 6-10)
 

There is a possibility of someone dying for someone deemed deserving to die for, in other words, we see the secret service placing themselves in harms way in order to protect the President of the United States. We see parents do many things in order to protect their children. We see people give blood, body parts, organs and the like in order to help, even to save others. So, yes, there are times when one person might be prepared to give for someone they believe is worthy.
 

But what about the possibility of dying for someone undeserving or unworthy? Certainly this possibility would be the rare exception. Would anyone, unless forced or unknowingly, give anything to save, say, a hardened criminal? Would anyone give anything to save someone like Adolph Hitler, Saddam Huesaen, Osama Ben Lauden? Probably not, at least not unless they were forced to do so.
 

Yet, in our own case, Paul reminds us that while we were sinners, he says in verse eight, and he explains in verse ten by saying, while we were enemies of God, Christ died for us. Yes, we are the ones who are undeserving. We are unworthy. We are worse than the worse. It is our sin which separates us from God. It is our sin which makes us enemies of God. And yet, while we were enemies, while we were in the middle of fighting and struggling against Jesus, He came and gave His life for ours. And He did it without cost to us. Yes, this gift is free. There is no earning or deserving what Jesus has done for us.
 

But Paul is not done. He says, in verse eleven, “11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (v. 11). Paul is here using financial terms. I have to admit, it was not until I started doing my checkbook on computer that I even heard the term “reconcile.” I always “balanced” my checkbook, but now I reconcile my checkbook. Here Paul reminds us there is a balance. We have a debt which we owe. The debt of sin is death, eternal death and hell. Financially speaking, the price, the cost of sin is eternal death and hell. And that debt and price is what we owe.
 

And yet, Paul reminds us that Jesus reconciles our account. He brings our account to a zero balance. And even more, He gives us eternal life in heaven, which we might say is God owing us. How can this be? How can it be that not only do we not owe, but in essence God owes us. This owing is because Jesus pays the debt we owe and even more. Our debt is eternal death and hell and that is exactly what Jesus paid, on the cross, for each one of us. And He paid our debt freely. He was not coerced, He was not forced, but He freely paid our debt, because of His great love for us. And this payment is a gift. It is free for us, there is no cost but the cost Jesus paid.
 

How does this happen? Paul explains picking up at verse twelve, “12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come” (v. 12-14). Adam’s sin brought death. Notice, Adam’s sin, not Eve’s sin. Adam was created by God and from Adam God gave Eve. Adam was the one in charge in the Garden of Eden, and thus the responsible party. When Adam abdicated his responsibility, sin entered the world.
 

When Adam and Eve sinned, there was no written law, however, the law was written on their hearts. Their consciences told them what was right and what was wrong. Yet, even though they knew what was right, they disobeyed and did what was wrong. And now that sin entered the world Paul now tells us that death reigned. Sin brought death. Sin brought physical death and sin brought eternal death and hell.
 

When God instituted the ceremonial laws along with the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai He required that sacrifices had to be made. Depending on the sin, certain animals or grains must be sacrificed. Unfortunately, these sacrifices did nothing, at least as far as paying any price for sin. Instead these sacrifices were intended to remind the people that the price for sin was death. Blood had to be shed. All the sacrifices merely pointed to the one sacrifice to come.
 

There is a difference between the demands of the law, the price for our sins and the free gift which God gives, the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Paul goes on in verse fifteen to say, “15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many” (v. 15). The demand of sin is life. Sin cost life, human life for human sin. The price for sin, any sin, any small sin, any seeming small sin and we know how we like to discount our sins as small sins is death, our life, blood must be shed. “It was only a white lie,” we like to tell ourselves. We “had to do it for their own good,” we justify ourselves. And as we have seen throughout history, people have died. From the moment of conception we are sinful and accountable for our sins and thus from the moment of conception we will die. Everyone, except Enoch and Elijah, have all died physical deaths, the result of sin.
 

The gift of God is different. The gift of God is His own Son, even Himself. It is Jesus’ righteousness that brings life. It is Jesus’ perfection as true God which balances the account of our sinfulness. It is Jesus’ substitution of Himself for us as true man which makes heaven a reality for us. Through one person, Adam, all people have been infected with sin. All people are born to die. And yet, how much greater is Jesus. Through one person, Jesus, the price for all sins has been paid.
    

paid the complete price for all sins of all people, of all places, of all times. Even Hitler’s sins were paid for. Even Osama ben Lauden’s sins have been paid for. Their condemnation comes from their refusal to confess their sins and their rejection of forgiveness. But most importantly for you and me is the fact that our sins, your sins and my sins have all been paid for. Jesus paid the price for all sins of all times of all people. There is not one sin for which Jesus did not die to pay. He paid the complete price.
 

What does this mean? Basically, this means that we owe. We owe everything. We owe our very lives. We are conceived and born in sin. We daily sin much, adding to our sinfulness. We sin in thought, word and action. We sin sins of omission, failing to do what we should be doing and sins of commission, doing those things we should not be doing. We sin and sin and sin and we are in need of forgiveness. We cannot help but sin, because that is our very nature. Our nature is to do everything we can to fight against God. Our nature is that we are sinners, we are enemies of God. Our nature is that there is nothing in us that would be deserving of anyone to die for us.
 

And yet, that is exactly what Jesus did for us. We owe and Jesus pays what we owe. Because of His great love for us, a Father’s love for His children, a Creator’s love for His creation, because of His great love for us, Jesus pays what we owe. We owe blood, Jesus shed His blood. We owe life, Jesus paid with His life. And He offers His all for us, freely. It costs us nothing. As a matter of fact, when we impose ourselves, even slightly, thinking there is something we must do or not do to merit or earn forgiveness or eternal life, we commit idolatry and sin against God. Whenever we try to justify our sins; whenever we try to offer anything of what we might believe to be good works for our salvation; whenever we suggest that we have to do something or not do something, accept something or not reject something; whenever we put ourselves in the position to “run the verbs” we are committing idolatry and sinning against God. Certainly that may be difficult for us here in America, but what God gives as free, is free, no strings attached for us. Jesus paid for it and He gives it to us with no strings attached, so we do not have to do anything, as if there were anything we could do. And He even forgives us when we make claims of our own earning, meriting or deserving.
 

Being the good Lutheran that he is, Paul once again helps us to get it right. We get it right when we admit and confess our complete depravity, our complete sinfulness, and our complete reliance on Jesus. We get it right when admit God is doing the doing and we recognize ourselves as being done to. We get it right when we recognize God is the one doing the giving and we are the ones being given to. We get it right when we point to Jesus, just Jesus. We get it right when we “rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (v. 11). What a great God we have, what a loving God we have, what a gift giving God we have. God has done it all and gives it all to us because of His great love for us. And He stirs in us to rejoice and say, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

To Be Given - June 11, 2023 - Text: Romans 4:13-25 - Second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 05)

A promise is a promise. When we are growing up and are little, perhaps I should say, when we were naive children, we believed that a promise was a promise. I suppose it did not take too long for us to realize that not all promises are kept promises. As adults we tend to believe promises less now than when we were little children. Unfortunately, that is the nature of our sinfulness. We can make promises, but we cannot always keep the promises we make. There is only One who has ever made promises that He has completely kept and of course that One is Christ our Savior.
 

Our text begins with Paul speaking about the promise made to Abraham and his offspring. The promise of a Savior was not given first to Abraham and his offspring. The promise about which Paul is speaking here is the promise that narrowed down the line of the descent of the One who would be the Savior of the world. Up until the time of Abraham, the promise of a Savior was simply an unspecified promise, at least as far as through whose line of descent the Savior would be born. Certainly the promise was still a valid promise, but God had not yet specified through whose line the Savior would come.
 

The promise itself was first given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Of course we are familiar with that historic account, that was the start of the whole mess we are in, in our world today. It was because of Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience, their sin of believing the lies of the father of lies the devil himself, Satan, Lucifer. They believed his lie that they could be like God, knowing good and evil. It was their naive belief in Satan’s lie that brought the need for a Savior. This sin of disobedience is one of those times that what man broke, man could not repair. In order to repair what man broke, the manufacturer, the Maker, the Creator had to step in. So, in the Garden of Eden, there was only Adam and Eve. There were no other cultures or tribes of people. And I do not like to use the word race of people because that word comes out of the fallacious teaching of the theory of molecules to man evolution as if the different “races” as they are labeled evolved at different times. Indeed, we know that in Adam and Eve all nations and cultures reside. Anyway, when Adam and Eve sinned and God promised to send a Savior, His promise was to send a Savior for all people. There was no specification as for any particular group, tribe or culture, simply the promise to send a Savior. And this fact and information is important.
 

Later, God did get specific. He did narrow down, at least the line of descent, the family, the tribe through which the Savior of the world would be born. That specific promise was given to Abraham and to his line of descent, his offspring, Isaac, Jacob, and so forth. Here again, just as God’ first promise to Adam and Eve was an unconditional promise of a Savior, so was God’s promise to Abraham that is it was an unconditional promise that through his line the Savior would be born. And this is what Paul is talking about in our text, “the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith” (v.13). In other words, this was a gift that was given, not something that was earned or deserved by Abraham and his descendants.
 

Today, June 11, 2023, as we read these very words of Paul, we understand that he is speaking, not only to the Romans some 1900 years ago, but God, writing through Paul, is looking through time and is writing to us here today. The promise was not simply to Abraham and his offspring, but the promise of a Savior is given to us, too.
 

The promise, not the Law, was given first. The Law, that is the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial and Civil laws were given after the promise. The promise was giving in the Garden of Eden, immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin. The Law did not come until later.
 

The Law, in particular, the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial and civil law were given to Moses, even after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Certainly the law, that was written on the hearts of those living before the written Law was given, stirred each generation to be aware of what was right and wrong, of what God expected, but the written law was not given until a long time after.
 

The law was given to Moses and the children of Israel. The law was given to show them their need for a Savior. The law was a constant reminder of how sinful we really are. The law only accuses. The law only shows us our sins. The law only reminds us how we have failed and how we continue to fail. As Paul says, “if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, there is no transgression” (v. 14, 15). Here again we see the purpose of the law. All religions in the world fall into one of two categories. Either we save ourselves or we are saved by someone outside ourselves. Either the law saves because we can keep it or we are saved by someone who was able to perfectly keep the law.
 

Simply stated, the law cannot save. All the laws of Moses, all the sacrifices that were demanded, really did nothing for saving anyone. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament merely showed the people that there was a price for sin. The price of sin is death. Blood had to be shed. Yet, none of the blood of any of the animals that were sacrificed did anything to earn any merit. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament were meant to point to the one sacrifice and of course that one sacrifice, that once and for all sacrifice was the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
 

And so, Paul gives us the example of Abraham. We are Christians, are children of Abraham, by faith in Jesus. And because we are children of Abraham, certainly we can put his life and faith before us as an example of how we are to live and believe. Abraham was saved, not because of anything he did, although he did act in faith. Rather, it was by faith, the faith that God gave to Abraham that he was saved. It was by faith in the coming Messiah that Abraham was saved.
 

God visited Abraham. God promised to make Abraham the father of many nations, that He would give him and his descendants the land of Israel, and that the Savior of the world, notice of the world, of all people, would be born through the line of Abraham. God promised to Abraham and Abraham believed God’s promise and because of his faith, as a response of God’s promise, as a response of the Gospel, Abraham, empowered by the Holy Spirit obeyed. Notice, as always, who is running the verbs. Who is the prime mover. God is the one doing and directing the doings. All through Scripture this is what is happening.
 

We are children of Abraham. We are heir of eternal life. We are saved by faith, that is we are saved by Jesus’ faithfulness to keep the promises of God and we are saved by faith, given to us by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Messiah. Working through the means of grace, through our Baptism, through the Word of God, through the Lord’s Supper, through confession and absolution, we are given, strengthened and kept in faith. God works with us the same way in which He worked with Abraham. God comes to us through His means of grace to give us faith and to stir in us to believe the Word which He gives to us. Notice again, who is running the verbs, who is doing what. God is the prime mover, God is doing the doing, God is directing the doing. And we are being done to.
 

And like Abraham, we obey. We obey, not because we believe our obedience will earn anything for us. We obey not because God asks us to obey. We obey not to demonstrate anything to God, but we obey because the Holy Spirit works in us to obey. If our obedience were an act to show God the faith that we believe is in our hearts, then this becomes an act of our doing, an act of our meriting, an act of our earning, in other words, this then becomes a law and thus faith would be null and the promise would be void, as Paul pointed out earlier. Again, who is running the verbs? Who is doing what? We get it right when God is doing the doing and we are being done to. So, we obey, only as the Holy Spirit works obedience in and through us as a response of all the rest that God is doing for us, giving us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

So, what does this mean? This means that we need to hear the law. We need to be reminded, again and again, lest we think we can be good and earn or merit anything from God. We need to be reminded of our sinfulness, that every inclination from our heart is evil. We need to be reminded, constantly to take ourselves out of the drivers seat, as if we are the ones who are in charge and as if we are the ones who are saving ourselves.
 

Yes, we need to hear the law, but we also need to hear the Gospel. We need to be reminded, again and again of all that our Lord and Savior has done for us. And all that He continues to do for us. We need to be reminded that forgiveness is freely given to us. We do not earn it. We do not deserve it. We cannot pay a high enough price for it. Remember, the price for sin is eternal death and hell. Yet, the Gospel reminds us that the price has already been paid and there is nothing left to pay.
 

We need to be reminded that we are given faith. Faith is not something we get for ourselves. It is not something we “feel” in our hearts. Faith is a gift. Faith is the instrument which is given as the Lord gives the gifts which faith grasps and makes ours. It is kind of like when someone gives us a nice big bowl of ice cream. How can we eat the ice cream without a spoon and so as the person gives us the ice cream they also gives us the spoon. Faith is the spoon which brings the gifts from the bowl to us. And of course, the object of faith is important as well. Faith in, well, in a bowl of ice cream will not save us. Faith in Jesus Christ alone. Faith only in Jesus, that is in Jesus who is God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit as He reveals Himself to us. Faith only in Jesus, true God and true man. Faith in Jesus alone is what saves us.
 

We need to be constantly reminded that we are given life. God does it all. God gives it all. And we are given to. God gives life, at conception. God gives new life through Holy Baptism. God gives forgiveness and strengthening of faith through His Word, through our remembering our Baptism, through absolution, through the Lord’s Supper. God gives and gives and gives and we are given to. And so we see the need to make regular and diligent use of these means of grace.
 

In speaking of Abraham, Paul is speaking to us, “20No distrust made [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’ 23But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (v. 20-25). God did it all, for us, because of His great love for us. Yes, we say as Abraham would say, “To God be the glory,” for Jesus’ sake. Amen.