Luther describes the forgiveness won by Christ’s atoning sacrifice like “a chest full of gold and great treasure buried or preserved in a certain place.”

He says, “I might think myself to death and experience all desire, great passion and ardor in such knowledge and remembrance of the treasure until I became ill. But what benefit would all this be to me if this treasure were not opened, given and brought to me and placed in my keeping?”

He further explains: “So that our readers may the better perceive our teaching, I shall clearly and broadly describe it. We treat of the forgiveness of sins in two ways. First, how it is achieved and won. Second, how it is distributed and given to us. Christ has achieved it on the cross, it is true. But He has not distributed or given it on the cross. He has not won it in the Supper or Sacrament. There He has distributed and given it through the Word, as also in the Gospel, where it is preached. He has won it once for all on the cross. But the distribution takes place continuously, before and after, from the beginning to the end of the world. For inasmuch as He had determined once to achieve it, it made no difference to Him whether He distributed it before or after, through His Word, as can easily be proved from Scripture….” [Cf. Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 5:18-21.]

“If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. Nor must I hold to the suffering of Christ, as Dr. Karlstadt trifles, in knowledge or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the Sacrament or Gospel the Word which distributes, presents, offers and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the cross.”

“Against the Heavenly Prophets,” LW, 40, 212-213

“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” Matthew 15:19-20

The scribes and Pharisees were very concerned about outward purity. They sought to be sure they would not become defiled and ceremonially unclean by touching something in the marketplace and then eating without first dipping or washing their hands (cf. Mark 7:1ff.). And, they had questioned Jesus in regard to His disciples not following the tradition of the elders by washing their hands before they ate bread (15:1-2).

After Jesus pointed out their hypocrisy in breaking God’s command to honor mother and father with their traditions (Matt. 15:3ff.; 1 Tim. 5:8), Jesus spoke these words: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matt. 15:19-20).

Do you grasp what Jesus is saying? We cannot be clean in God’s eyes and acceptable to Him by outwardly dipping and cleansing our hands; we need our hearts cleansed for our hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). It’s not enough to appear clean outside; we need to be cleansed on the inside!

Our hearts are filled with evil thoughts and desires. As Jesus said, from our hearts spring “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” This is the sick and sinful condition in which we were conceived and born and came into this world (cf. Psalm 51:5; Gen. 8:21).

What comes from your heart? Anger? wrath? jealousy? hate? sinful longings and desires? coveting? lies? and even evil words against God and the truth of His Word?

Again, as Jesus said, “these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matt. 15:20).

And the problem is that, try as we may, we cannot drive these sins from our hearts! In fact, it often happens that, the harder we try, the more our hearts become filled with such evil thoughts and desires (cf. Rom. 7:14-19).

With the Apostle Paul, we say, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). And the answer? “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (v. 25). Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law for us, and He suffered the just punishment for our sins and the sins of the whole world so that, through faith in Him, we have God’s pardon and forgiveness, His cleansing.

John writes in his first epistle (1 John 1:8-9): “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is because “Jesus Christ the righteous … is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).

In our baptisms, we are joined to Christ in His death and His resurrection (cf. Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:11-15). Our sins were punished on the cross of Christ Jesus and, as He rose again from the dead on the third day, so we are raised up to live each day in newness of life. And we continue each day in contrition and repentance. Our sins are washed away, and the regenerating Holy Spirit raises us up to new life in Christ Jesus (cf. Titus 3:3-7).

I, therefore, ask you before God: Do you acknowledge that you are a sinner, that from your hearts spring “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies”? Do you confess and agree with God that you are guilty and deserving of his wrath and punishment?

Do you trust that Christ Jesus has truly redeemed you from the curse of God’s law? That He fulfilled the law’s righteous demands and then took your sins upon Himself, along with the sins of the whole world, and suffered your just punishment when He died upon the cross?

Do you also believe that Jesus, in the Sacrament, gives you to partake of His body and blood which was given and shed that your sins might be forgiven you?

As a fruit of your faith, do you truly desire and seek God’s help to amend your life and live it in accord with God’s Word?

If you are truly sorry for your sins and look to Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for pardon and forgiveness, I announce unto you the grace of God and, in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. +

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” Romans 3:21-22 (Read v. 9-28)

How can you and I, who are sinners, be righteous and acceptable to God? How can we escape the condemnation of God’s perfect law and be counted righteous and holy in God’s judgment? You might be surprised how many get the answer wrong, even among those who call themselves Lutheran.

First of all, it is not by our obedience to God’s Law or by any good works or righteous deeds we perform. This was the misconception with which Luther struggled, trying to be righteous before God by doing good works and living a holy life. Having been taught by the church of Rome that salvation is by holy living and righteous works which we do with God’s infused grace and help, Luther sought to appease God, even going to the point of becoming a monk and punishing himself for sins; but it was never enough!

It is as the Bible teaches us in Romans 3:9ff. We are all guilty of sin and deserving of God’s wrath and punishment. It is as St. Paul writes in v. 19-20: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

If the Law of God reveals our sin and condemns us, how can we be righteous and acceptable to a just and holy God who demands perfect righteousness, that we be holy as he is holy (cf. Lev. 19:2; Matt. 5:20,48)? The answer is recorded in Romans 3:21-22: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” Luther found it in Romans 1:16-17.

A righteousness of God apart from our keeping of the Law is revealed to us in the Gospel. It is a righteousness to which the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, testify. It is “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” It is a righteousness which is imputed to us when we have faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for the sins of the world.

The following verses (23-28) explain: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

Who are the “all” when it says: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”? We shouldn’t take these verses out of their context and from the full statement as some do. Even though all people have sinned and come short of the glory of God, the “all” in this passage is the same as the “all” at the beginning of Paul’s statement when he says: “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.”

This is important if we wish to rightly understand the chief doctrine of the Christian Faith. Who is it that is justified? Is it all people? Or, is it those who believe in Jesus?

Note that the text says: “Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood”; and “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Thus, justification is by faith alone in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. And, with Paul, we conclude “that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Cf. Romans 4:1-11; 23-25; 5:1-2; Galatians 2:16.

This, of course, is in complete accord with our Lutheran Confessions (Augsburg Confession, Article IV): “Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.”

So, how can we sinners be counted righteous and acceptable to God and escape His just punishment for our sins? It’s not by works of the law because we, like all others, fail and come short of what God demands.

It’s not by a supposed righteousness imputed and applied to all sinners apart from and before faith, as some teach.

Rather, it is by faith alone in Christ Jesus – it’s when we flee to the cross of Jesus and trust that God, for the sake of Christ’s perfect righteousness and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross for the sins of the world, is gracious and merciful and forgives the sins of penitent sinners for Jesus’ sake. Cf. John 3:14ff.

It’s when we place our trust in Jesus and His cross, that God forgives our sins, counts us just and holy and righteous for Jesus’ sake, accepts us as His own dear children and gives a place in His everlasting kingdom!

Your Law condemns us, O God. We are guilty and deserving of Your wrath and punishment! But we flee to the cross of Jesus and trust that, for the sake of Christ Jesus and His innocent sufferings and death upon the cross for all sin, You deal with us in mercy, grant us forgiveness, and count us righteous and holy in Your sight. Graciously keep us trusting in Christ Jesus that we might not be condemned but have everlasting life. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]