Josh Benner

Tag: Bible

  • Immanuel prophecy in Isaiah. Part 1: A sign rejected

    Immanuel prophecy in Isaiah. Part 1: A sign rejected

    In the Gospel of Matthew, Mary and Joseph are engaged to be married. They’ve never consummated the relationship but then Mary finds out that she’s pregnant. Joseph did not want to bring shame upon Mary and so he prepared to divorce her quietly. 

    An angel appeared to Joseph. And the angel tells him to stay with Mary because the child she’s carrying has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 

    The angel says:  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

    The Gospel of Matthew summarizes this exchange by quoting a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 

    While Isaiah’s quote in the Gospel of Matthew is familiar in its connection to Jesus, the original prophecy was given more than seven centuries before at perhaps the most tumultuous time in the history of Israel. 

    The original context for the Immanuel prophecy is often overlooked because it’s a complicated story. But while it’s complicated, it’s also a fascinating story that involves conquering empires, civil war, judgment and betrayal. 

    At the outset, I should also say that while these are passage which deal with war and conquest, and while those aren’t what we think of as Christmasy themes, these are also passages of hope and which point us to God’s grace and faithfulness. 

    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 

    It’s important to start with some historical background of Isaiah 7. 

    This passage can get very confusing if you don’t know what’s going on or who the players are, so I think some introductory information is essential to understanding this passage. 

    First thing: timeline. These events happen around the year 735 B.C. 

    There are four nations which are mentioned in this passage: Judah, Israel, Syria and Assyria. 

    Israel is not the good guy in this story. 

    ISRAEL AND JUDAH

    Something about the history of Israel that we can sometimes miss in the Bible is that for much of Israel’s history, Israel is a divided kingdom. 

    Think of it like this. We live in the United States of America. In the 1860s, we had a Civil War where 11 states seceded from the union. We had the union and the confederacy. 

    Similarly to how we have the United States, Israel was a collection of territories divided among tribes. Each tribe had their own land. The tribes were descendants of a man named Jacob. 

    And something that you have to know to understand this passage is that the Israelite territories were not always united. The Great King of Israel was David. His story is pretty familiar. He wrote many of the Psalms. He was the man after God’s own heart. 

    His son was Solomon. Solomon’s son was a man named Rehoboam and that’s where things really start to get bad in Israel. Rehoboam is eventually overthrown by a man named Jeroboam and it is at that point that Israel is no longer a united kingdom. 

    The northern tribes and the southern tribes split. They will never again reunite. 

    If this helps, I’ll call it a divided states of Israel. Here’s part of why it can get confusing. 

    You have two kingdoms. North and south. The northern kingdom is called Israel. The southern kingdom is called Judah. The Southern Kingdom, Judah, is home to Jerusalem. The royal line which leads to Christ in the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew is the kings who reigned in Judah. 

    The Southern Kingdom, called Judah is also home to the tribe of Judah, which is the specific tribe from which Jesus was born. 

    None of this is saying the southern kingdom of Judah is perfect or righteous. The grace bestowed upon them was the same grace that is bestowed upon every believer in the gospel. It’s the undeserved gift of God which he freely gives.  

    To the north, you have Israel, but in the south, while it’s called Judah, the southern kingdom is actually the true Israel. It’s the true chosen people of God who have the promises of God.

    Another point of clarity. While Judah is called Judah because of the Tribe of Judah. Well the northern kingdom of Israel is often called Ephraim because its largest tribe was Ephraim. And I point that out because the northern kingdom of Israel will be referred to as Ephraim in this passage. 

    Think of it like how the United Kingdom and Great Britain refer to the same place, or now Holland and the Netherlands refers to the same place. 

    The northern kingdom of Israel is the same place as Ephraim. 

    So that’s two of the players in our story. Judah and Israel. And just to reiterate, Israel is not on the good side in this passage. 

    Judah is sinful too, as we will see in this passage but the divine wrath is first placed upon Israel. 

    Two more kingdoms in this story. Syria and Assyria. And obviously that can add confusion to the story because it sounds like it’s the same place. They’re different. 

    Assyria was the regional superpower. They posed a threat to the territories in the region. Syria and Israel were in an alliance against Assyria. 

    They had attempted to get Judah to join their alliance to fight against Assyria. At one point, Israel and Syria actually wanted to stage a coup to overthrow the king of Judah and install a puppet king who would do what they wanted. 

    Serious geopolitical issues. 

    THREE KINGS 

    In Isaiah 7, the prophet begins by introducing Judah, Syria, and Israel. 

    Verse 1: In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 

    Often times in the Old Testament, people are introduced in conjunction with who their father is. This passage is no different. With Ahaz, it tells us that he’s the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah. All these kings are direct descendants in the line of Christ. 

    So we have Ahaz listed at the beginning of the passage. He’s listed first because this passage ultimately revolved around his kingdom, Judah. 

    Few more things about Ahaz. Even though he’s king of Judah which is the kingdom who retains the promise of God, that does not mean that Ahaz is a good king or a good man. 

    In fact, he’s neither of those things. 

    Talking of Ahaz, 2 Kings 16:2 says: he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done.

    That passage also tells us that Ahaz sacrificed one of his sons as a pagan offering (2 Kings 16:3). And he also took it upon himself to go outside the bounds of Old Testament worship and practiced other pagan religious rituals. 

    2 Chronicles 28 tells us that Ahaz made metal images to worship pagan deities (2 Chronicles 28:2). 

    He’s not a good king. He does not honor God. 

    Next up: Rezin the King of Syria. Syria is probably listed next because they were a more prominent provocator of the military conflict than was Israel. 

    Israel is listed last, their king was Pekah at the time. 

    So three nations, three kings. 

    And the passage tells us in verse 1 that Syria and Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it. 

    Keep in mind that it’s Assyria who’s the threat in the region. 

    And with that in mind, you may be asking yourself a logical question. If Assyria is the threat, then why are Syria and Israel wanting to fight Judah? 

    I briefly touched on this earlier but the issue was that Israel and Syria wanted Judah to join them in an anti-Assyrian alliance. 

    Isaiah 7:2:  When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 

    This verse refers to the southern Kingdom of Judah as the House of David. Another way of referring to that part of the kingdom. 

    They find out that Syria has an alliance with Ephraim, which is to say that Syria has an alliance with the Northern Kingdom of Israel. 

    So you have Israelites fighting Israelites. It’s very disheartening for Judah to learn that these two nations are against them. Eventually, Syria and Israel would attack Judah and hit some of the territories outside of Jerusalem, and they hit Judah with devastating results. 

    2 Chronicles 28:5-6: the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor

    And then again from verse 8: 8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.

    So Judah has over 120,000 casualties and over 200,000 taken enslaved. 

    A DILEMMA 


    Imagine if you were a citizen in Judah at the time and someone who was in the know about the diplomatic happenings in the region. It was a difficult time. You’re basically under threat of all the nations who surround you. You could join your fellow Israelites in the Northern Kingdom and band together with Syria.

    But then you might still have to battle Assyria, an empire who could be ruthless in their conquests. Perhaps you could try to find a way to appease them or pay them for protection. 

    What’s the right choice? 

    We’ll get to that in a bit. 

    A PROPHECY AND A NAME

    Back to our passage. Verse 3, the Prophet Isaiah comes into the story for the first time.

    Along with Isaiah, we’ll also meet his son. And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.

    The son is significant to the passage. 

    In Hebrew, Shear-Jashub means “a remnant will return.” 

    Why does that matter? You have a corrupt king in a corrupt kingdom. The early chapters of the Book of Isaiah largely revolve around Judah’s sin. There will be judgment on them for their sin. And in 735 B.C, they find themselves losing battles to neighboring nations. 

    They’ve already suffered tremendous losses, but Ahaz is given a promise: a remnant will return. Even with as dark as the times were in Judah, the nation would not be totally destroyed. 

    Even within our passage, Israel and Syria attempted to overtake Jerusalem and couldn’t. We don’t know if Ahaz understood that at the time. 

    Verse 4. Isaiah speaks.  And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands,

    After Isaiah has called Ahaz to trusting in the Lord, Isaiah continues by talking about the imminent destruction awaiting Israel and Syria. Isaiah calls Israel and Syria two smoldering stumps. He will elaborate more in this chapter but Isaiah is beginning to communicate the reality that Israel and Syria’s days are numbered. 

    Continuing in verse 4: at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.

    Isaiah is addressing the two combatants who have gone to war with Judah. 

    Verse 5: Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 

    A lot could be said there. It’s basically one prophecy. 

    Even though Judah has all sorts of issues with sin and with the sinfulness of their king, it’s still God’s chosen people and there is a severe penalty for Syria for attacking Judah. But what’s more, for the northern kingdom in Israel, also known as Ephraim, there is also a severe penalty for them attacking their fellow Jews. 

    But they have all of these plans against Judah, and the Lord says: 

    “ ‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. 

    It shall not stand and it shall not come to pass. 

    This is the Lord God speaking through his prophet Isaiah. The text says that within 65 years, Syria would be conquered. Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

    Again, remember that Ephraim is the northern kingdom of Israel. 

    So this is what Ahaz is told about his enemies. 

    And guess what? Those things do come to pass. Assyria would go on to conquer Syria. And in 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom of Israel is conquered and they lose the land. 

    Earlier I talked about the tough situation which Judah faced. They had the option of joining the alliance with Syria and Israel. That’s option A. They didn’t choose that option. They could have tried to appease Assyria. That’s what Ahaz chose. 

    Let’s look at this story in 2 Kings 16. 

    2 Kings 16:5: Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.

    Similarly to where our passage begins. Israel and Syria have come to attack Jerusalem but do not prevail. 

    Ahaz begs Assyria for help. 

    2 Kings 16:7: So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”

    He’s going to a pagan and enemy nation and begging them for help. He will pay off Assyria. Where’s he get the funds?

    2 Kings 16:8-9: Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin. 

    Ahaz takes the gold and silver that’s in the temple in Jerusalem and that’s what he uses to pay Assyria for protection. And the 2 Kings passage begins by talking of Assyria attacking Syria and having Rezin killed. 

    In the next scene, Ahaz meets the king of Judah and continues to be reverential to the Assyrians. 

    2 Kings 16:10-11: When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11 And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus.

    And we will continue to see in 2 Kings that Ahaz does everything he can to show allegiance to Assyria. He practices their religious rituals. 

    So what was the right option? 

    Joining Syria and Israel? Or joining Assyria? 

    Trick question, the correct answer was option C. Ahaz should have trusted in God and his promises. 

    THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

    Instead he let fear draw him into sin. He let his lack of confidence in the Lord lead him to bowing down to other deities. He put his trust in his own abilities and not in God’s providence. He trusted a man, the King of Assyria for his protection rather than placing faith in the Lord. 

    Israel and Syria might have looked like giants to Judah. But their days were numbered. He had the promise of God. He had the divine kingdom, and yet he sold off the temple items for what felt like earthly security. 

    The issue with Ahaz was that his first hope was not ultimately God. And this passage was an opportunity to trust God. 

    Where is your dependence? Where is your hope? 

    It’s easy to judge Judah. It’s easy to say that Ahaz should have had more faith. And he should have. I’m not defending him. But it’s interesting to consider his situation. All the nations around them have reason to go to war with Judah. The super power is taking up territory. And so he does what we so often do in a crisis of faith, he takes matters into his own hands. He doesn’t trust in the Lord. 

    But for him, his life, his reign, his nation hung in the balance. I think of the thousand other situations we face in our lives all the time where it can be so easy to distrust God. 

    Situations that are so much smaller than what is happening in this passage. 

    What’s our excuse? We have God’s promises. Yet we often times what to do whatever we can to feel a sense of control over our lives. We have God’s Word, but it so often doesn’t bring us the comfort that it should. What God says will happen will happen. That’s true of both good and bad things. 

    In this passage, we see God’s faithfulness to his word. He told of the destruction which would befall Syria and Israel. And it happened. 

    God is true to his word. What does he say in his word that you struggle to believe? 

    At the end of our passage, Isaiah continues to speak to Ahaz. But they’re not Isaiah’s words. They’re the words of the Lord. 

    A SIGN OFFERED 

    Verse 10: Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

    Ahaz is told to ask God for a sign. Signs are often used in the Bible to point to the miraculous works of God. 

    And the text says as “deep as Sheol or as high as heaven,” the point is that Ahaz can basically ask for any sign he wants. That’s a pretty incredible offer from the Lord. The Lord is saying that he will reveal his power and glory to Ahaz on Ahaz’s terms. 

    Imagine if you had such an offer? What would you ask for? 

    Maybe to see a relative or friend raised to life? Maybe to see heaven? Maybe to be instantly healed? Maybe to see a change the the weather or in nature like the day suddenly becoming 85 and sunny. 

    A SIGN REJECTED 

    What sign would you want to bolster your faith? 

    For Ahaz, the offer is meaningless. He’s already thrown his lot in with Assyria. That’s where his trust lies. 

    In verse 12, Ahaz says “I will not ask.” 

    He rejects the sign. 

    Tomorrow, we look at part 2 where we see a sign given. 

  • Studying the third commandment. The name of the Lord.

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    THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

    “YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN, FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS WHO TAKES HIS NAME IN VAIN.

    -EXODUS 20:7

    The third commandment involves more than just not using God’s name in profanities. That’s part of it but it’s not the whole picture.

    In its historical context, it seems that part of the meaning of the third commandment involved swearing oaths in the Lord’s name. A person could make such an oath and yet fail to follow through, and God doesn’t want his name invoked with falsity.

    However this commandment is more broad than only applying to oaths.

    It also involves misusing the Lord’s title.

    Psalm 29:2: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.”

    In the beginning of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus addresses God the Father and says:

    “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (Matthew 6:9).

    God’s name is to be hallowed. It is to be spoken in reverence.

    There are still Orthodox Jews who won’t say the word God out of concern that they’ll never say his name with due reverence.

    We must keep in mind the awesome holiness of the Lord when we invoke his name.

    The Westminster Confession of Faith puts it well:

    The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word and works.

    But another way how people speak the name of the Lord in vain is by misrepresenting God theologically.

    People often attempt to speak for God. People will say what God’s standards are for love but it can misrepresent God’s holiness and justice.

    People speak for God in comparison to other religions.

    People who don’t seek to honor God speak for what God does or doesn’t accept.

    This is a terrible blasphemy against the Lord.

    We misuse the name of the Lord when we speak for God in ways that are not true to how God has revealed himself in scripture.

    We see that at the heart of the original sin.

    God originally gave one commandment.

     “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17).

    But his words were twisted.

    Genesis 3:1: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

    He never said such a thing.

    But then Eve responded by further misrepresenting the words of the Lord.

    Genesis 3:2-3

    2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

    And the serpent undermines the consequences that God had spoken.

    Genesis 3:5: “You will not surely die.”

    Listen to the ways people talk about God. It’s a pattern that constantly happens.

    Twisting his words. Speaking on his behalf in false ways.

    Terrible sins.

    In undermining the consequences of God’s word, we make God out to be a lair and there is no deceit in the Lord. He is true to his word.

    This is part of the reason why it’s so important to have such reverence for the scripture.

    Because people are imperfect but God’s word is perfect.

    2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

    Unfortunately, our society has little Biblical literacy today.

    As we continue to study the Israelites, we will see that it had consequences for them and we suffer consequences in our world for a lack of reverence and training in God’s word.

    So in the first three commands, we get glimpses of the position where God is to be in our lives: first. We see glimpses of the reverence for how God wants us to approach him.

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe.

    Originally published June 1, 2018.

  • The Son of God who makes us sons. John 5:18

    The Son of God who makes us sons. John 5:18

    In John 5, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath which draws the ire from the Pharisees who had more restrictive views of Sabbath practices. In John 5:17, Jesus says: 

    “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

    In response to Jesus pointing to God as his Father, the Pharisees begin to actively conspire against Jesus. 

    18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 

    We know the end of the story. Jesus is ultimately crucified. But it is because Jesus said that God was his father that jump started the Pharisees in their conspiracy against him. 

    In an event which is not recorded in John, Jesus is before the Pharisees. The sonship question comes up again. 

    Matthew 26:63-64: 

    the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

    That’s the final straw in Matthew’s gospel and the Pharisees seek to have Jesus crucified. 

    Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:65-68). 

    The pharisees look at the words of Christ as blasphemy. 

    But it wasn’t. It was the truth. 

    Incarnationally, morally, theologically, Jesus is the Son of God and God is his father. 

    But in John 5, we see the opposition rising. 

    What started as a miracle turned into a Sabbath controversy. 

    And what became a Sabbath controversy was intensified by Jesus pointing to himself and his relation to God. 

    The sonship of Christ and the fatherhood of God points us to the gospel. 

    We are God’s children, created in his image who had forsaken God through our sin. 

    Jesus is the perfect Son of God who was forsaken so we could be forgiven for our sins. 

    As radical as it is that Jesus addressed God as his father, he invited us to do the same when he taught the disciples how to pray in the Sermon on the Mount. 

    your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: 

    “Our Father in heaven, 

    hallowed be your name. (Matthew 6:9)  

    The Apostle Paul says in the opening salutations of all of his letters: grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

    The fatherhood of God is bestowed upon the people of God because Jesus is the true Son of God. 

    Jesus is the son of God who allows us to be adopted as God’s children and to approach God as our own father. 

    John 1:12 says: 

     to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

    The adoption language is used by Paul at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians. 

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-5) 

    That’s the Good News of the Gospel. The Son of God allows us to call God our father. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe! 

  • Reformation Day: the day that changed the future of the Church

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    505 years ago today, the history of the church, of Europe, and of the western world were forever changed in the town of Wittenberg Germany. Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses, a list of grievances against corrupt and unbiblical practices within the Catholic Church. The impact of this event continues to ripple throughout the Christian world.

    Luther was not the first person to call for reform in the church.

    Other movements perhaps had followings but didn’t have political support. Luther had that. Which afforded him a certain level of personal safety, though his martyrdom seemed inevitable at times. Another key difference between Luther and influential reformers who preceded him was the invention of the printing press. This allowed a mass volume of pamphlets to be produced. Luther was also likely helped by the fact that other reformation movements spread elsewhere in Europe during this time. Amid church abuses, Europe was at a tipping point. And while Luther was not the first to call for reform, it was his ministry that most significantly tipped the Reformation movement over the edge.

    Less than 20 years later in England, Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and started he Church of England in 1534. Reforms were also happening in Switzerland, most notably, the city of Geneva, eventually under the leadership of John Calvin. The Anabaptist movement sprung up who favorited believer’s baptism over infant baptism. These groups were not always in agreement, and some of them had severe conflicts with each other, but they were all in agreement that all was not well within the Church, and that there were changes which were necessary.

    Against Church traditions that had become entrenched in Europe, the reformers did not think that they were doing something new, but rather were taking the Church back to its Biblical foundations.

    By the sale of indulgences, it was believed that people could pay a price to have sins removed from themselves or for people for whom they had purchased the indulgences. But the issue with this was that the Catholic Church was overstepping its bounds on what saved a person. The Church was not the arbiter of what brings salvation, it is God’s grace alone received through faith alone in Christ alone. The gospel is not man’s gospel (Galatians 1:11).

    The Catholic Church believes and believed that the seven sacraments impart grace by nature of being sacraments. While the Mass was in Latin and could not be understood by all people, the justification for this was that the sacraments still inherently imparted grace to a person, regardless of if they could understand. But this undermined faith. That’s not to say that Catholics (then and now) never value faith. But it can be easy to focus on sacraments and works apart from faith.

    Interestingly the sacrament of confession was one which caused great angst for Martin Luther. Beginning as a devout Catholic and constantly aware of his own sinfulness, Luther lived in an ever-present awareness the this life did not live up to God’s standards of holiness. He had no assurance of salvation and lived in an exhausting cycle of constant confession. Luther would confess multiple times a day, sometimes for hours at a time, as he tried to remember every sin he committed, every hint of pridefulness, everything he should have done but hadn’t.

    One verse that Luther had despised in the scriptures was “the righteous shall live by faith” which is found multiple times in the Bible (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Habakuk 2:4).

    But Luther knew he wasn’t righteous.

    In his conversion story, Luther said:

     “I hated that word “righteousness of God,” which, according to the use and custom of all the teachers. I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.

    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. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God.”

    But Luther would eventually be struck by the verse which had brought him such distress. The gospel was not about living up to the righteousness of God. It was about living for God in faith. And for Luther, that changed everything.

    “At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “He who through faith isrighteous shall live.” Here I felt that I was altogether born again and hadentered paradise itself through open gates.”

    Faith is a gift from God and that people are declared righteous by God as a result of faith in the gospel.

    We are justified by faith. This became a hallmark of Luther’s theology. And it became invaluable to Protestantism. We are justified by faith, not by faith and works. Not through faith and Church. Not by faith and any of the sacraments (though baptism and the Lord’s Supper are things which all Christians ought to do and are commanded to do).

    A critique of this view and an unfortunate consequence is that many take the “faith alone” view to mean that disingenuous faith is enough, just giving some vague assent to a gospel a person doesn’t really believe in. That wasn’t what Luther believed.

    At the beginning of his 95 Theses, the first theses talks about how all of life is repentance. Faith is an all-encompassing reality and driving force of life. Living by faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That we cannot earn salvation of our own merit but that it is entirely by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

    Happy Reformation Day!

    This post was originally published October 31, 2017 as “500 years of reformation.” 

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

  • Sermon: Justification by faith – Galatians 2:15-21

    Jesus saves us because we cannot save ourselves. We so often struggle with the temptation in thinking that God’s love depends on what we do and how we live. But through the gospel, the grace is given to all who believe in Jesus.

    Sermon manuscript