Reformation Day 2008. . .
Grace Presbyterian Church, Byram, MS
Tony Pyles
Luther and Justification
We are here this evening to celebrate the Reformation, because on this day 491 years ago Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of the parish church in Wittenburg, Germany. One could argue that this date is somewhat arbitrary—maybe we should date the Reformation according to his disputation with John Eck in the summer of 1519, or his trial at the Diet of Worms in April, 1521. We could even have chosen a significant date in the life of John Wycliffe, or Jan Hus. But the reason we choose this date is because with the 95 theses, all of Europe begins to be stirred to action.
If one reads the 95 theses, they seem very Roman Catholic. They are very respectful of the pope, and seek to distinguish the pope’s views from the views of the “indulgence-hawkers”. (Cf. 91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.) But they also contain hints and seeds of something very revolutionary—something very old, and yet very new:
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
In this thesis, Luther is arguing against the Medieval concept of a treasury of merit, where all the works done by Christ and the saints over and above those required for salvation are “deposited” in a central account, managed by the Pope and his designates.
The concern which drove the theses, and indeed, the Reformation, was the nature of justification: On what basis is a person made right before God?
[Ask audience if they know the two diagnostic questions from Evangelism Explosion.]
We could illustrate this issue of justification by using the second EE question:
Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, "Why should I let you into My heaven?" what would you say?
Now, as a monk, Luther was very diligent and enthusiastic. At one point he said, “If ever a monk got to heaven by monkery, I would have gotten there.” He fasted, he spent hours and hours in prayer, he beat himself…But he had no assurance. His best answer to this second question, together with the Mediaeval Catholic church, was his works of penance, etc. But how did he know he had done enough penance for his sins? He was haunted by the Scriptural phrase “the righteousness of God”. He had a true vision of God’s holiness, and man’s sinfulness. He knew that our best works are filthy rags. The righteousness of God for him was the righteousness with which he judges us as sinners.
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6 ESV)
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7 ESV)
The relief for Luther came as he was preparing lectures on the book of Romans.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV)
From Rom. 1:16-17, he came to understand the righteousness of God not as righteousness in judgment, but a gift of righteousness to his people. This is also spoken of in Rom. 3:
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom 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. (Romans 3:21-25 ESV)
This led to a fundamental difference from the theology of his day. Luther came to understand justification as something based not on our own works, or anything we do. Justification comes to us as God’s gift, based on a righteousness which is not our own, but is Christ’s. Hear Luther’s own comments on Rom. 1:17:
God’s righteousness is that by which we become worthy of His great salvation, or through which alone we are (accounted) righteous before Him. Human teachers set forth and inculcate the righteousness of men, that is, who is righteous, or how a person becomes righteous, both in his own eyes and those of others. Only the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God, that is, who is righteous, or how a person becomes righteous before God, namely, alone by faith, which trusts the Word of God. Thus we read in Mark 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” The righteousness of God is the cause of our salvation. This righteousness, however, is not that according to which God Himself is righteous as God, but that by which we are justified by Him through faith in the Gospel. It is called the righteousness of God in contradistinction to man’s righteousness which comes from works. This human righteousness of works Aristotle clearly describes in the third book of his Ethics. According to his view, righteousness follows man’s works, and is brought about by them; God’s judgment, however, is different, for according to it, righteousness (justification) precedes works and good works grow out of it.
Before this discovery, Luther would’ve given a standard answer to the 2nd EE question, an answer we hear in an only slightly different form today. “I’ve done works of penance.” “I’ve been a good person.” “I hope that God sees the bad I’ve done in light of the good…I think at the end of my life the scales will tipped toward the positive side—I won’t die ‘in the red’.” “I think God will give me a second chance after I die, in Purgatory, maybe.”
But as he came to understand the true nature of the gospel, what truly makes it good news, his answer would change entirely. He might instead say: “I am covered not by my own good works, but by an alien righteousness: Jesus Christ the righteous has born my sin, and his perfect life has been put to my account.”
The difficulty with the first answer is, how can one ever know that they have done enough? (Indeed, one cannot do enough!) There is no peace, there is no assurance, there is only the righteous Judge standing over us as guilty sinners. But in the second, the Judge himself has satisfied justice on our behalf. Our justification is not in the balance, but is settled and sure—if we are in Christ.
This is why Luther called justification the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. This is the reason indulgences so angered this preacher of the gospel. This is why Luther and the Reformation continue to speak to us today. And this is why we celebrate tonight.