Reformation October 2021 Romans 3:19-28
The Quest for Certainty
“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” “Are you ready to go see Jesus?” Maybe you don’t think too much of this question now, but you will. On the advice of a wise pastor, it’s a question I would sometimes ask people when it seemed like death was imminent. “Are you ready to go see Jesus?” Answers varied. When ones’ faith is strained to its limit as Satan is attacking with his shock and awe tactics like there is no tomorrow (because on our deathbed, there may not be a tomorrow) one of the most common answers is, “I hope so.” Friends, God gives us better. This question drove the young Martin Luther to embark on his journey to find certainty in salvation. Luther was born into a world where the devil was very real. Jesus was viewed not as a loving Savior, but as an angry judge and his Father in heaven was even more stern still. Sin must be punished! Sin must be paid for! Fear drove Christians to seek comfort in the grasping of straws. To satisfy God’s anger over sin, Christians bought indulgences – little pieces of paper sold by the church which assured the recipient of years off of purgatory – the hell-like place where one would suffer for what may be millions of years in fire before entering into heaven…if you were fortunate. It made no difference that God’s Word speaks nothing of indulgences or purgatory – fear drove them. Christians sought years off of purgatory by paying homage to holy relics like pieces of Jesus’ swaddling clothes or Mary’s tears or Jesus’ cross – one of the Princes of Germany had so many relics that if you visited, you could receive over 100,000 years off of purgatory! Many knew that these were all a hoax. The churchman Erasmus quipped, “If you collected all the splinters of the true cross and tears of the virgin Mary – you’d have enough wood to build the Spanish Navy and enough water to float it on.” It made no difference to those seeking certainty – fear drove them. “Are you ready to go see Jesus?” Luther wanted the answer – so began his quest for certainty in salvation. So begins ours. Today, we take the advice of an old Luther near his death when he said, “Do not hold to the doctrines of men. Hold to the truth of Scripture – there you will find peace, security, and certainty.” What brings us certainty? It’s not because of the law… “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20) Luther wanted certainty but he grew up in a church that taught you could have none when it comes to salvation. In fact, if you were certain of your salvation, you’d be guilty of the mortal sin of pride. And yet, you ought not despair when it comes to your salvation because that’s a mortal sin, too! Therefore, the church would say, do your best – do what is within you. And maybe God will accept you. And so Luther did. A genius in school, he sold his expensive law books as well as his promising career as a lawyer and donned the monk’s garb. He prayed constantly. He went to mass 7 times a day. He beat himself. He saw Jesus looking at him with hateful eyes – Luther wanted to be righteous, that is, to do the right things that God requires. But the harder he tried, the harder he fell. He thought Jesus’ death only made salvation possible and that he had to work out his salvation with his good works. He tried to gain certainty through the works of the law, but as Paul says here, “No one will be declared righteous…by observing the law.” As a young monk, Luther misunderstood the law’s purpose. The law is not meant to give us hope for heaven, but to drive us to see that we are sinful. Like a mirror that shows me every imperfection. It is supposed to show me that I can’t save myself! And that’s just what it did to Luther. He took God’s Word deathly serious. He always saw himself at the edge of the abyss of hell with the devil’s bony fingers snatching at him and telling him that he hadn’t done enough. Perhaps, you’re thinking, “Well, Dave, that’s not my problem. I know that Jesus loves me and died for me.” But what did he die for? How seriously do we take God’s Word in our lives? Luther grew up in a culture that minimized Jesus’ work as Savior. The pendulum has swung – our culture minimizes Jesus as judge. Jesus is more like a permissive parent who frowns a little when we mess up. That wrong thinking ends up in the exact same place – hell. Do you have Luther’s fear of hell? What about how serious sin and temptation are? Because know that sin wants to lead you to hell. Want proof of that thinking? Has your mind ever struggled to understand how God says that even little babies are sinful and deserve hell? Or have you ever tried to justify a pet sin that you don’t want to let go of thinking “Jesus will just forgive me anyway?” Like Luther, we misunderstand the law’s purpose. The law is not meant to be a nice bar to reach for and if we try hard, God will say, “Good enough!” No, the law is to drive us to see that we can never reach the bar! The law never brings certainty – rather it silences my mouth, shows me that I’m accountable to God, and makes me painfully aware of my sin. The only certainty the law gives is that we can’t be saved by it! So are we ready to go see Jesus? Because of the law…not yet. We still need to learn the truth that St. Augustine spoke: “I can do nothing until what is undone is forgiven.” So, what brings us certainty?