"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ....For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" (Romans 1:16a, 17)
Yesterday, I began Romans-- It was Martin Luther's deliverance. Our text literally turned his life around.
Luther was arguably the most radical Augustinian Monks of his day. He once wrote, "If ever a monk got to heaven by monkery, I was determined to get there." He said, however, that "though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction." Luther was like all humanity before he encountered, "the righteousness of God," in Jesus Christ---------------- rather than his own monumental efforts.
Luther wrote that he had come to despise Biblical religion because of the judgement meted out against sinners for all eternity based on a law which no one could fulfill. In his study of Romans, he wrote that a "single word" deeply troubled him, "the righteousness of God." After the great revelation of our text, however, he wrote, "And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word, 'righteousness of God.' Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise. Later I read Augustine's, The Spirit and the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he, too, interpreted God's righteousness in a similar way, as the righteousness with which God clothes us when he justifies us."
The Reformation did not start with Luther. It was embedded in Church History. Jesus did in the Reformation what Acts 17 describes, "Who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness...." Praise Him; "the righteousness of God," which is Jesus Christ, triumphed. From the time of Adam to right there in front of that computer, the truth has not changed. "The just shall live by faith," and faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for faithful witnesses. Amen.
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Two new articles:
Congress Opposing Obama on Israel:
Jerusalem Mayor Standing Strong on Jerusalem in Recent US Visit:
When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
