JOHN 8:31-36
REMAIN IN HIS WORD.
In
the name + of Jesus.
Today, we are commemorating the beginning
of the Lutheran Reformation which is marked by Martin Luther nailing the 95
Theses to the church door in Wittenberg.
It was an effort to correct an abuse which had been practiced in the
church for some time. What began as an
invitation to debate ballooned into a full-scale overhaul of false teachings
and poor practices. Not that he asked
for it, but Luther ended up being the main voice to reform a church that had
gone off course. Luther never intended
to start anything new, but to reform and correct what already existed.
This was not the first time something like
this had happened. There has never been
a golden age in the Christian Church when everything was peaceful and all was
right. Before the apostles had even died
off, they had to write letters to Christian churches to correct false teachings
and poor practices. So, you’d think once
those letters had been written and the New Testament books were completed,
everything would be right. You’d think
so.
The devil has sown false teachings
throughout the history of the Church.
The Church has had to go back to the Bible again and again make a clear
confession and to correct error. This is
why Jesus told us, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. You will also know the truth, and the truth
will set you free” (John 8:31-32). In order to be free from false doctrine and
practice, we must remain in his word.
When the devil sows false teachings, he
does not usually tell bald face lies.
Those are easy to expose and refute.
So, the devil tries to make his voice sound like Jesus’ voice. He will say things that sound true and
reasonable and feel right. That is why they
are so dangerous. If you lived down
south, you’d be familiar with two snakes that look similar. One is a water snake which is not venomous;
the other is a cottonmouth which is venomous.
They may look similar, but one is deadly. In the same way, Satan’s words sound good,
but they are deadly. That is why it is
imperative to remain in Jesus’ word.
In the early church, there was a teacher
named Arius. He taught that Jesus is not
eternal God. He argued that, if he is
the only begotten son of the Father, then he had a birthday. If he had a birthday, there was a time he did
not exist. That sounds reasonable. So, the pastors of the day turned to God’s
word to show that God the Son is eternal.
The point of being only begotten is not when, but what. “Only begotten” expresses the unique
relationship between the Father and the Son, which is eternal. Having corrected that, you might think that
everything was finally right. You’d
think so.
Later, another teacher came along named
Nestorius. He tried to reason how Jesus
could be God and man. Nestorius reasoned
that Jesus was half man and half God. The
man part, he said, was born, grew in knowledge and stature, suffered, and
died. But the God part did miracles and
rose from the dead. This splits Jesus in
half. The pastors of his day turned to
God’s word to see what it said. They
confirmed and confessed that Jesus is one person but has two natures—fully human
and fully divine. So, we can say that
God was born of a virgin and God died at the cross. We can say that a man did miracles and
overcame death.
Maybe this all sounds like the kind of
stuff left for pastors to debate and not for you to worry about. But the truth is that your very salvation is
at stake in these matters. If Jesus is
not God, then his death did not pay for your sins. If Jesus is not man, then he is not a true
substitute for you and death still has power over mankind. This is why we remain in his teaching. Jesus promised, “If you remain in my word,
you are really my disciples. You will
also know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
The teachings of Arius and Nestorius and
others led the Church off track. Each
time, pastors turned to God’s word to expose the false teachings and to confess
the correct doctrine. Through them, God
preserved his Church and kept his people as Jesus’ disciples. Having done that, you might think the Church
was finally pure, that all was right, and that everyone was at peace. You’d think so. But the Church is constantly in need of being
reformed and course corrected. Even
things that begin as good practices can go off the rails.
Say a man in the Middle Ages was grieved
by his sins. He would go to his priest,
confess his sins, and receive absolution.
This is the faithful practice of the Church. The priest may have told the man to amend his
sinful life. After all, forgiveness is
not a license to return to your sins.
God calls us to godliness. So,
the admonition to amend one’s sinful life is also good, Christian
practice. But what should one do to make
amends? Suggestions were given. Suggestions turned into requirements. Eventually, forgiveness hinged on one’s works
of satisfaction rather than on the divine promise.
Now, what if a person did not have time to
make amends? He was relegated to
purgatory where he would be tormented and purged of whatever wickedness still
clung to him at death (even though there is no support in God’s word for purgatory). After a while, gifts could be given to
shorten one’s time in purgatory. The
sale of indulgences was born—a certificate pledging that the Pope would reduce
one’s time in purgatory. These
indulgences were soon extended to cover deceased relatives. Would you really let your mother languish in
purgatory any longer than she had to?
Christians were being taught that freedom from God’s judgment was a
commodity to be purchased rather than to trust in Jesus’ sufferings, death, and
resurrection for the payment of sin.
Indulgences also encouraged Christians to give up good works and to
engage in sins. After all, if you could
be exonerated for a few bucks, why strive for godliness?
This is the church that Martin Luther grew
up in. He challenged all of this, even
though it was a practice that had been established for years. If the Pope truly had authority over the
souls in purgatory, Martin Luther asked, “Why does not the pope empty
purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are
there”? (95 Theses, Thesis #82).
Luther returned to God’s word to uphold true doctrine and to promote
practices that were in accord with it.
He did not seek to stir up trouble, but to correct a Church that had
gone off course. Sadly, the powers had
no interest in this correction. Luther
begged to be shown from the Bible where he had erred. He was not given an answer, just a command to
be silent. When he would not be silent
because he sought to relieve troubled souls of their guilt and fears, he was
excommunicated. Nevertheless, he
remained in Jesus’ words and fiercely proclaimed it so that people would remain
Jesus’ disciples. After all that, you
might think that the Church finally had peace and all was right—at least, in
one segment of the Church. You’d think
so.
Satan
never ceases to deceive. The attack on
the Church never stops. More than
anything, the devil wants people to be enslaved to him and blinded by his
lies. That is why we must always remain
in Jesus’ word. St. Paul wrote, “All
Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for
correcting, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
complete, well equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We remain in Jesus’ word so that we receive
the correction we need for doctrine, practice, and, in particular, for our own
lives. You may not have to give an
answer for the faithfulness of the Church, but you will have to give an answer
for the faithfulness of yourself.
Whenever God’s word corrects and admonishes you, repent. This is crucial for salvation.
“Jesus
said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you remain in my word, you are
really my disciples. You will also know
the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32). We might ask, “Free from what?” Jesus sets us free from our sin. We rightly stand under God’s judgment for our
sin because we are guilty. As we
confess, we deserve his punishment both now and in eternity. But Jesus has delivered us from the
punishment and the curse of sin. He bore
the curse in his body when he hung from the cross. He absorbed God’s condemning wrath for us so
that we receive a pardon for all our guilt.
You are not condemned; you are free.
Jesus also sets us free from death. Sure, the grave may hold you for a brief
while, but Jesus has overcome death in his resurrection. This man assures that all mankind will escape
the grave. All will be raised up by his
command on the Last Day. In the end,
death and the grave get nothing. All who
believe in Jesus and are baptized, however, will be given life
everlasting. Death does not own
you. Jesus does. You are free.
Jesus also sets you free from your
fears. There is a lot that can strike
fear into our hearts—death, war, virus, violence, loss of a job, loss of a
familiar lifestyle, loss of loved ones, and so on. While all of these can be painful and
sorrowful, none of these moves God’s promises even one inch. An older translation of Martin Luther’s hymn,
A Mighty Fortress, says, “And take they our life, goods, fame, child,
and wife, let these all be gone. They
yet have nothing won” (stanza 4).
That’s not to say Luther did not love his wife and children. It is to say even if they were taken from him
or killed, God’s promises still remain.
As dear as our family and friends are, they don’t save us. Jesus does.
And if our family and friends believe in Jesus, we actually don’t lose
them at all. They may be taken from this
world, but they are not lost to Jesus.
At the resurrection, we get them back.
So, you need not fear. If you are
in God’s hands, you are safe. To remain
in God’s hands, remain in his word.
The devil will always deceive. Jesus always tells you the truth. His word corrects us and his Church when we
begin to wander. This correction is
necessary and should be welcome so that we do not lose what we have been
given. And perhaps something that
deserves correction for us is our reluctance to confess God’s word. In an effort to preserve God’s word among us,
we can find ourselves in a holy huddle of sorts, reluctant to let others
in. Dear Christian friends, God has not
entrusted us with his word to hoard it, but to proclaim it. The devil has influenced many Christians to alter
God’s word. Many prefer what feels good,
what sounds good, or what our society says.
These are the very things that misled God’s people in the past. The only way Satan’s lies can be countered is
by God’s truth. It is ours to
confess. So, remain in God’s word so
that you remain Jesus’ disciples, so that your confession is true, and so that
you confidently live in the Lord’s favor.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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