WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD THROUGH THE GOSPEL.
In the name + of Jesus.
Is God’s Law good or bad? Many people feel that it is bad because it makes
demands upon us, it convicts us of wrong-doing, and it produces guilt. St. Paul wrote, “Why then
the law? It was added because of transgressions” (Galatians 3:19). The Law always accuses. For that reason, many people don’t want to
hear it. No one likes guilt and
shame. Of course, the way to avoid guilt
and shame is to not do the things that result in guilt and shame. But we have not avoided sin, and we can’t. The Bible reminds us, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who
does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In other
words, we don’t do the good we are supposed to, and we can’t stop the sins we
are not supposed to do—just as we confess each week. God’s Law exposes this sinfulness in all of
us.
As St. Paul describes what God has intended
to do with his Law, it sounds like the Law is bad. Paul wrote, “The Scripture imprisoned everything
under sin” (Galatians 3:22) and “before
faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned” (Galatians 3:23). The Law has shown us that we are enslaved to
sin. We can’t shake free from it, no
matter how hard we try. But that does
not mean the Law is bad.
God’s Law shows
us what is good. Yes, it makes demands on
us, but what the Law demands is good, like, “Put on your seatbelt before you
start driving,” and, “Call Mich-Dig before you dig a hole in your back yard.” These laws are given for your good—to protect
and to preserve your life. God’s Law is
the same. “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.” (Mark 12:30).
Why? Because God is good and
faithful and trustworthy. God is the
author of life and the source of truth.
If we do not love God above all things, we will be deceived by lies and
suffer eternal death. So it is good to
love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
The second commandment
is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Why?
Because you get to demonstrate your love for God by loving the neighbor
he has given you to serve. Yet get to
make use of your talents and interests to benefit your family, your friends,
customers, clients, and even strangers.
While others may not express any appreciation for your service, they are
still blessed by it. And this honors God
who also blesses those who do not thank him.
God’s Law is
good. If everyone kept God’s Commandments,
we would have no violence, no wars, no liars, no unwanted pregnancies, no
abortions, and so on. The hungry would
be fed. The poor would find help. Marriages would be stronger. The oceans would be cleaner. This is what God’s Law demands, so it is most
certainly good. But it shows us that we
are not.
Once again, it
sounds like the Law is bad because it condemns us. But St. Paul assures us that even this serves
God’s purpose. “Now before faith
came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming
faith would be revealed. So
then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that
we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:23-24). The picture of the guardian would have been
familiar to the Galatians. The guardian
was a slave who cared for the son of his master for as long as the son was a minor. It was usually not a nice relationship. The guardian was often cruel and could be
abusive. He was in charge until the son
was old enough to receive all the rights of the son of his father’s estate.
The Law of God does
this for all people. It is called the alien
work of God—to convict and condemn all people of their sin. It pushes, threatens, and drives us to good
lives, and it forces us to recognize our sin. It causes us to realize that if
we want to have eternal life, it will not be because we have done anything to earn
it or even contribute to it. Isaiah
reminds us, “We have all become like one who
is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah
64:6). We know that our sins make us filthy. But Isaiah tells us that even our “righteous
deeds” are filthy before God. God’s Law
shows us that any hope to be the children of God must come from outside of
ourselves. It does! We are children of God through the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, that is, by faith and not by works.
Under God’s Law, St. Paul shows us that our
status is captive and imprisoned. We need a Savior, and we have
one! Jesus Christ delivers us to
a new status through the Gospel. St.
Paul wrote, “Now that faith has come, we are no longer
under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through
faith” (Galatians 3:25-26). The Gospel announces that you have become the
children of God. You have been adopted
into God’s family, and the adoption was notarized in the blood of Jesus.
The Gospel of Jesus gives you what the Law
cannot. The Law demands perfect obedience. Jesus has lived in perfect obedience to the
Law. He delivers that perfect status to
you. The Law condemns everyone who is
guilty of sin. Jesus was delivered over to
be sentenced to crucifixion by those who hated him. Despite every accusation they charged him
with, none of them stuck. What did
stick, however, was every sin we have thought, spoken, and done. St. Paul had written to the Galatians earlier
in chapter 3, “Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed
is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). Jesus took our
guilt and its curse. He died the cursed
death we deserve. We have been redeemed
from the curse of the Law. The cost was
the life of God’s Son, but it is a price he willingly paid to deliver us from the
curse of the Law. We are not condemned
but forgiven. So, the Lord does not
merely tolerate us; he embraces us as his very own. We are children of God through the Gospel.
If you have ever doubted your status as a child
of God, it is probably because you are aware your actions and attitudes are
often not God-pleasing. None of us has
overcome our sins yet. The Law still
exposes our sinfulness. So, how can we
be certain that we are the children of God?
God has taken the doubt away from you.
He does not ask you to convince yourself that it must be true because of
how well you live or because of how strongly you believe. He takes it out of your hands completely. St. Paul wrote, “As many
of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians
3:27).
We are children of God through the
Gospel. You are a child of God because
you have been baptized. Baptism is not something
that you do for God, as if he needs this from you. Baptism is what God has done for you. Baptism bestows gifts that God wants you to
have. When you were baptized, the Lord
put his name upon you. He adopted you into
his family. He cleansed you of your sin. He wrapped the righteousness of Jesus around
you. “As many of you as were baptized
into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). Therefore, when God the Father looks upon you,
he sees Christ. And what he sees, he
loves.
We are children of God through the Gospel. “For in Christ
Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26). If you are sons of God, you
have the same status before God the Father as Jesus himself. Of course, Jesus is the only begotten Son of
the Father. He is true God from true God. We are not God and will not become gods. But since God adopted you into his family, he
regards you with the same love and affection as he has for Jesus. You have been credited with Jesus’ work. So surely, he must love you the same.
We are children
of God through the Gospel. “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons
of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26). St. Paul chose his
words carefully when he wrote this. You
are sons of God. Back in Paul’s
day, when a father was going to pass down his inheritance, everything was divided
among the sons. The daughters got married
off into other families and benefited from those estates. But the sons were the heirs. Now, if you are all sons of God through
faith, then you are all heirs.
You all receive the benefits of the kingdom. You all have a place in heavenly
glory. And your background does not
matter. “There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). You do not have a better or worse status
in the kingdom of God based on race, sex, or economic status. You are all one in Christ—equally loved,
equally forgiven, equally saints, equally promised the glories of eternal life with
the Lord.
We are children
of God through the Gospel. So, does the
Law matter anymore? Yes, because the Law
is God’s word, and the Law is good. It
does matter that God has created you a man or a woman. It does matter if you are married or single,
a parent or a child, the boss, an assembly line worker, or the janitor. God’s Law does direct you in your vocation
because this is where God has put you to serve him. God’s Law is good because it guides and
directs your life so that you are spared many griefs and so that you receive
temporal blessings as well.
Since you are
children of God, you recognize that your heavenly Father is good. Everything he says and does for you serves
your eternal good. His word is given to
you for your good. By his word, the Lord
strengthens you to fight against the temptations you will face. It reveals sins that need to be cast off and
put to death. It reminds you that you still
need the Savior’s forgiveness because you have not yet been perfected. It declares that your Savior does not tire of
being merciful to you. It assures you that
your place in God’s family is not shaky, but secure; for God’s faithfulness is
not shaky, but stands firm.
For most people, the most peaceful time of your
life was when you were a little child.
You did not worry about bills or appointments. You did not have stress about food, clothing,
or shelter. You never gave a thought to
any real difficulties because your parents were there to take care of everything. You never doubted that your parents loved you,
and you trusted that their motives were pure and that their intentions were
good. If the love and care of your
parents produced such peace even though they were less than perfect, how much
more peace is yours since you are children of God through the Gospel. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a
perfect love for you. Your Triune God
supplies all your needs for this life and the next. What greater joy could you have? You are all children of God through faith in the
Gospel, and therefore heirs of all good things.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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