Dear Friends in Christ,<\/p>\n
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My mother\u2019s mother was a wonderful and hard-working woman. She was my grandma, but we always called her \u201cmom\u201d. And my grandpa we called \u201cpop\u201d. Mom and Pop \u2014 two very special people. I remember mom always using the expression, \u201cO my goodness\u201d. Whenever she was surprised by something or when something out of the ordinary happened, \u201cO my goodness\u201d. Maybe you\u2019ve used that expression yourself sometimes. I\u2019m not sure why that expression became popular, but when you think about it, it can be a very telling expression, claiming some innate goodness for one\u2019s self.<\/p>\n
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The Reformation was an attack on the \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle. The date was October 21, 1517. The place: The Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The action: a priest by the name of Martin Luther nailed a list of ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church. Those 95 statements shook the world. They were written in reaction to the arrival of a Roman Catholic monk named John Tetzel. In Rome Pope Leo X wanted to finish building the remarkable St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral. To raise money for the project, he sent Tetzel throughout Germany to sell indulgences. Indulgences were pieces of paper signed by the pope which were supposed to spare people from the punishment after death in an imaginary place called purgatory. Members of the congregation where Luther was preaching bought these indulgences. As they did so, they were buying into the \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle. The members of the congregation believed that in buying indulgences they were actually buying forgiveness of sins. This was a very good situation, they thought. I buy these indulgences. They help my standing before God! My Goodness!<\/p>\n
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Luther, the good pastor, was very concerned about all this. He wrote those 95 theses on the question of forgiveness through indulgences. Printers reproduced them, and copies spread from person to person, village to village. Thus the movement known as the Reformation had begun. What was the principle rediscovered by Luther? Salvation by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone — the free gift of God\u2019s grace. MY goodness? NO! GOD\u2019S goodness, his undeserved goodness shown us in Christ Jesus! <\/p>\n
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The \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle lives on today. The sign that it lives? Guilt. Take Bill for example. Bill was the father of two children who attended a Lutheran school. Bill and his wife, Susan, were not Lutherans, but they thought highly of the school, so they decided to send their children there. Bill and Susan were having marriage problems. Bill went to his pastor, who said that if Bill\u2019s faith were stronger, he would not be having these problems. If you have enough faith, your problems will go away, and you will do the right things, he was told. Bill felt guilty for not spending more time with his wife. And now he felt guilty because he didn\u2019t have enough faith. He spent more time and money on the children. He tried to have more faith in Jesus, but the guilt remained. <\/p>\n
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St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, notes that this is the way it will be and must be, according to the \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle. Earlier in chapter 3, Paul writes, \u201cThere is no one righteous, not even one\u201d. \u201cThere is no one who does good\u201d. No more \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle. It just doesn\u2019t work. What do we do? What does work? What we learn and experience is what Martin Luther learned and experienced on the basis of the Word of God and what he wanted his parishioners to learn and experience too. St. Paul introduces God\u2019s principle of grace in verse 21 with two of the mightiest little words in the entire Bible: \u201cbut now\u201d. <\/p>\n
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\u201cBut now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Not MY goodness, but CHRIST\u2019S goodness. Let\u2019s return to the story of Bill. He decided to visit the pastor at the Lutheran church that operated his children\u2019s school. Maybe this pastor would have some answers for him, some hope. Bill recounted his struggles in his marriage and family life, with his finances, with his faith. \u201cPastor, I try, but I can\u2019t seem to get rid of this load of guilt. And my family life is getting no better, even though I\u2019m trying to do the right things. What\u2019s God doing? Where is He in my life?\u201d The pastor led Bill to this word in Romans and to the central teaching of God\u2019s Word. This same teaching became central in the teaching of Martin Luther and the entire Reformation. This teaching, this Good News, brought reformation \u2014 that is, faith and life reformed and renewed \u2014 to Bill. It brings reformation and renewal to our lives again and again. What teaching is this? It is the principle of Christ\u2019s goodness and his good work for us. <\/p>\n
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The pastor explained to Bill that we are commanded to be good, but we cannot because of the sin in us. We need help, God\u2019s help. His help is this: we are justified by grace through faith. This means that Christ, who was without sin, set things right between us and God by his good and sufficient sacrifice on the cross. He died for us and then rose from the dead to prove that we are forgiven and that we are right with God. It\u2019s not about our goodness, but Christ\u2019s goodness. \u201cBill, do you believe this?\u201d the pastor asked. Bill felt as though a tremendous weight had been lifted. He responded, \u201cSo, it\u2019s not about me, but about what Jesus has done for me?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not about you; it\u2019s about Jesus\u201d, said the pastor. \u201cI\u2019ve never heard it explained like that before. Yes, I believe it!\u201d <\/p>\n
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The Reformation continues as we, like Bill, trust that we are righteous in God\u2019s sight because of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Oh, we know full well that our innocence is not really our own, but Christ\u2019s. It has been credited to us by God through faith. What Christ did, God counts as though we have done it. What he suffered on the cross, God counts as though we have suffered it. As we believe that Christ took our place on the cross to suffer the eternal condemnation we deserve, God hands down a sentence we do not deserve,. \u201cNot guilty!\u201d he declares. \u201cForgiveness and life and salvation are yours\u201d. This is grace, undeserved love! There is no room for boasting, for citing the \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle here. God gets all the credit and thanks. <\/p>\n
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St. Paul put it this way: \u201cWhere, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.\u201d The good news here is that God declares you good, in fact, totally eligible for heaven, because of Jesus and his good work for you! Such a faith has a powerful impact on our living. Martin Luther, in his introduction to his commentary on the Book of Romans wrote: \u201cFaith is a living, daring confidence in God\u2019s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times over. This knowledge of and confidence in God\u2019s grace makes man glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures. And this is the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God who has shown him this grace. Thus it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light from fire.\u201d <\/p>\n
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And what about Bill? He left the pastor\u2019s office free from guilt. The burden was lifted. Christ had borne his burden of sin on the cross. He was forgiven. Because of Christ\u2019s death and resurrection Bill knew where he stood with God. God still loved him. This gave him peace and hope, even boldness. Bill also knew that his renewed relationship with God did not remove the difficulties of his life. There was much work to do in improving his relationships with his wife and children. He left the pastor\u2019s office knowing that he would need God\u2019s strength, given through his powerful Word and Spirit, to help him work things out in his family. This, too, gave him peace and hope and boldness. He was not left to his own devices. He had God\u2019s help. And that\u2019s the way it is for you. You have God\u2019s help. Leave the \u201cMy Goodness\u201d principle behind. Trust another principle \u2014 God\u2019s principle: the principle of faith centered on Christ\u2019s goodness for you, on his grace alone. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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