Persevere in Your Faith! (Hebrews 10:1-39)

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

Fourth Sunday in Advent

December 23, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Three weeks ago, we began a series of Catechatical sermons—sermons which are based on the lessons that our Confirmation students study in their Confirmation classes.  These are lessons that most of you learned a number of years ago as you sat at the feet of the particular pastor who taught you to delve deeply into the truths of the Bible.  Today, we are using this series of sermons to help us “Grow together in God’s Grace,” so that we might be built up as his children and so that we might continue to persevere in the faith which the Lord has established in our hearts.

So far in this series, we’ve learned how the Lord has revealed himself to us through his creation, through our conscience and especially through his Word; the Bible.  We learned that the Bible is such an important book to us, because it is the only source through which we can become wise for salvation.  We learned that it is through the Bible that we learn the difference between God’s Law and God’s Gospel—that the only thing that the Law can ever do for us is to show us our sins and our need for a Savior.  Yet, it is in the Gospel that we learn about God’s plan for our salvation—how he sent Jesus to be our Savior.  Now, moved through the Gospel we seek to live according to God’s word and follow his Law, out of love for our God who loved us so much that he saved us even though we could never save ourselves.  Now, as we continue to Grow together in God’s Grace, we will hear the writer to the Hebrews applying to our lives all that we’ve learned so far.  We will hear him speak to us of the purpose of God’s Law.  We will hear him reveal the great Gospel message of God’s salvation, and we will hear him warn us with the Law and encourage us with the Gospel as he call on us to Persevere in Our Faith!

So, with that introduction, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 10, found on page 1190, and we will dive in, together, and see how the writer to the Hebrews calls on us to persevere in our faith.  Now, as you are turning to Hebrews 10, let me remind you of the purpose of the Book of Hebrews.  Even though we don’t know who wrote the book, we do know that when it was written Christianity was being persecuted.  Jewish Christians, especially, were feeling the pressure to give up Christianity and go back to their former way of life in Judaism.  In this way, they would once again fit in with all those around them and they would be able to avoid persecution. It was because of this that the writer wrote in Chapter 10 beginning with verse 1: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:1–10, NIV84)

As he wrote, he called on them to persevere in their faith, because if they went back to their former way of life in Judaism they would miss out on the one who came to do the will of the Lord.  They would miss out on their salvation all together, because they would be binding themselves to a set of rules and regulations that no longer served its former purpose because the reality had been found in Christ.  This is the very point the writer makes as he continues on in the next verses: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin." (Hebrews 10:11–18, NIV84)

In essence the writer to the Hebrews was calling on each and every person to persevere in faith, because the faith which had been created in their hearts, faith that trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, this was the only source of salvation they had.  If they went back to observing the law, they would be lost, because they could not keep the law perfectly as God demands.  If they went back to the law they would be lost because they would be looking forward to the salvation that was coming, and by looking forward to the coming Savior, they would be ignoring the actual Savior, and they would be living outside of God’s Kingdom, because they had set aside their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the World.  Even though they were facing persecution, the writer to the Hebrews was calling on them to persevere in their faith because Jesus was and is their High Priest who had made his sacrifice for sins once for all.  Then, after he had made his sacrifice, he had gone and sat down at the right hand of God the Father.  Jesus had forgiven their sins by his sacrifice and thus, done away with the need for any other sacrifice.  Jesus had given them the assurance that through faith in him, he would be with them even in the face of trouble.  He would be with them and deliver them in life, and finally he would deliver them to his side in heaven.

Just as the writer to the Hebrews called on them to persevere in their faith, so also the writer to the Hebrews is calling on each and every one of us to persevere in our faith.  He is calling on us to persevere in our faith, because the truth is, we face the very same temptations that the Jewish Christians did.  Though we may not be facing an all out active persecution as they faced, how often haven’t we felt the sting of persecution in our lives?  How often haven’t we felt the pressure to hide our faith or to simply keep our faith quiet so that we can fit in and be part of the group either at work or at school?  How often haven’t we received the question, “Why do you belong to that Church?  They don’t allow this…  They don’t allow that…  Why do you belong to that church when it is clear that they don’t really fit in or understand the ways of the world?  Why do you belong to a church that is backwards in its thinking?  Why do you belong to a church that sponsored hate by posting vote yes signs? 

Though there are times when even we begin to wonder why we believe what we believe, and though there are times that even we feel like throwing in the towel and giving up what we believe, as the writer to the Hebrews continues, he calls on us all the more fervently to persevere in our faith.  Take a look at vss. 19 and following, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:19–31, NIV84)

What greater encouragement could there be for us to persevere in our faith, than the encouragement that comes from knowing that we now have access to the Lord our God in the Most Holy place through the Blood of Jesus!  For you see, in the Temple, it was only the High Priest who was able to enter the Most Holy Place and minister before the Lord.  But, he was only allowed to enter once each year, on the Day of Atonement.  However, he could not enter the presence of the Lord behind the curtain without the blood of the sacrifice.  If he entered on the wrong day or entered without blood, then his life would be forfeit!  Yet, as we know, when Jesus died his blood was the atoning sacrifice for all our sins.  When Jesus died the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, thus, assuring us that the sins that separated us from our God have been forgiven.  They have been completely removed, and now we are free to approach our God with confidence because through faith in Jesus our Savior, we are children of our heavenly Father.  Now, moved by the forgiveness that Jesus won for us, the writer calls on us to persevere on our faith so that we do not become lazy in this life and miss out on the salvation that is ours!  For if we should become lazy in our faith, if we should grow weary of meeting together to grow in God’s grace, if we should give into persecution and try to fit in as one of the gang rather than live out our faith, if we should grow comfortable with any one of our sins and begin to live in our sins rather than live in the Lord’s forgiveness, then there will be nothing left for us but God’s wrath and punishment.  This is the point that the writer makes in verse 26 and 27, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26–27, NIV84)

These are difficult words to hear, but they are true, nonetheless!  If we deliberately keep on sinning by hiding our faith, by keeping ourselves away from the word of God, by appeasing our conscience with the thoughts that our pet sin is not nearly as bad as another’s pet sin, or even by living our lives in any manner that is contrary to what the Lord has to say; if we deliberately keep on sinning then all we are doing is spitting in the face of God’s forgiveness.  All we are doing is trampling under our feet the salvation that God has given us.  All we are doing is throwing away our confidence in Jesus Christ, our Savior, which is the exact opposite of what he calls on us to do in verse 35 and following: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:35–39, NIV84)

Persevere in your faith!  Continue to grow in your faith through worship here and your own personal Bible reading.  Remember all that Jesus did for you and how he freed you from all your sins by his death and resurrection.  Be assured that the Lord Jesus lives in your heart and helps you in every situation in your life. Continue to live your life out of love for the Lord Jesus turning to the Lord in repentance, receiving his forgiveness, and seeking to live according to his will.  As the writer to the Hebrews tells us in verses 22-25: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:22–25, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Why Do We Need to Know the Difference between Law and Gospel?

 

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

Third Sunday in Advent

December 16, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

When Dr. Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther was a Professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, he had the practice of gathering the entire student body of the seminary, together with visiting clergymen and laymen, for a weekly Friday evening lecture.  Now, from what I understand, Walther loved these lectures because it allowed him to speak to the gathered assembly in a more or less informal manner.  He could talk to them about different doctrinal subjects and present those subjects to aspiring pastors and others from a practical standpoint.  This is exactly what Dr. Walther did during the school year of 1884 and part of 1885.  He talked to the student body and presented them with 39 evening lectures on the topic of Law and Gospel.  In these lectures, which were recorded by students and finally compiled into a book, Walther talked at great length and with great passion why it is so important for pastors, in particular, teachers, and all Christians to be able to properly distinguish the differences between God’s Law and God’s Gospel and then properly apply them to the situation at hand.  Though we haven’t set aside 39 evenings, 39 hours, or even 39 minutes to learn more about this subject, as we Grow Together in God’s Grace this morning, we do want to discover exactly why we need to know the difference between the Law and the Gospel.

Why do we need to know the difference between the Law and the Gospel?  Well, the simple answer to that is that we need to know the difference between them because the Law and the Gospel are two different doctrines of the Bible.  They are two different teachings of the Bible, which are designed to have two different effects on the person who hears them, because they both were given by God for a specific purpose.  Take, for example, the events that took place when God gave the 10 commandments to the people of Israel.  Turn with me to Exodus 20,(page 73) and we’ll take a look at the events that took place there.  Now, as you remember, the Lord had led the people out of Egypt.  He had led them through the wilderness.  They were trapped between the waters of the Red Sea (which is the Gulf of Aqaba today), the desert and the Egyptian Army.  The Lord had divided the sea for the Israelites.  The Egyptians were drowned.  The Israelites rejoiced in the Lord, and then, three months to the day after they left Egypt, they came to Mt. Sinai and there, the Lord gave them his Law: “And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." (Exodus 20:1–21, NIV)

In no uncertain terms, as God gave the Law to his people, he showed them everything that they had to do perfectly in order to attain eternal life.  When they heard what God demanded of them, they were frightened and they trembled with fear, because as God gave this law, they clearly recognized that they could not keep it perfectly.  They recognized that they were sinful people who had broken each and every one of these commandments.  They had failed to follow what God says, and as would later remind them, “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” (Deuteronomy 27:26, NIV84)

This is what God’s law was designed to do!  It was designed to show us our sins.  It was designed to demonstrate that there is no possible way that we have ever or can ever appease our God by keeping his holy and righteous law perfectly.  As James tells us, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10, NIV84) And how often hasn’t the Law done exactly that in our own lives?  For in the same way that a mirror is designed to show us our reflection, so the Law of God has been designed to show us our sins.  How often haven’t we looked intently into God’s perfect Law only to see our sins clinging to us like leaches that we just cannot get rid of?  How often haven’t we simply glanced in the direction of God’s Law and felt our heart sink as we felt the full weight of God’s judgment against our own failure to keep God’s law perfectly?  How often haven’t we suddenly and unexpectedly been convicted to our core as the acid of God’s law burns through the hardened layer of our sins and we realize even the sins with which we’ve become comfortable are working to separate us from the Lord our God?  How often hasn’t God’s law worked exactly how it was designed to work, calling each and every one of us sinners, convicting us and leading us to repentance?  This is why God gave his Law.  He gave it to show us what we must do and what we must not do.  He gave it to make us realize that we can, in no way do what our God demands of us.  He gave his law to leads us to realize that we need someone who can do it for us.  He gave his law to us to prepare us for the Gospel message; the message that teaches us what our God has done to save us.

Could there be a greater message than the message of the Gospel!  Could there be a greater message than the message of all that our Lord has done to free us from our sins!  Could there be a simpler message of the Gospel than the Gospel in a nutshell as Jesus, himself, reveals to us when he said:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NIV84)  Such great comfort from our God who assures us that he loved us so much that he willingly sacrificed his Son in our place to free us from our sins!  Or as Paul tells us in Colossians chapter 2, turn there with me, if you would, Colossians 2 found on page 1166.  Now, as Paul wrote these words to the Colossians, he was writing to remind them of the all surpassing greatness of Christ Jesus and how through faith in Jesus they had been set free from the requirements of the Law and free to live for Christ.  Paul writes, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Colossians 2:9–15, NIV84)

This is the comfort that we all share!  No matter what sins we have committed, through faith in Jesus, they are forgiven.  This is the message of salvation only recorded in the pages of the Scriptures.  This is the message of salvation that assures us that no matter what we may have done wrong, no matter how we may have crossed the line, no matter how we may have failed to keep God’s law, we are forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.  Not only are we forgiven, but even the guilt associated with those sins has been expunged.  Our guilt has been removed, our slate is clean, and our God has completely forgotten all the things we had done wrong because through faith in Jesus, everything that Jesus did right has been applied to us, and when our God looks in our hearts he sees that we are his children, because through faith our Savior has taken up residence in our hearts.

Though God has written his law on our hearts and in his word, it is only in the pages of the Scriptures that he has written his Gospel.  It is only through the Word of God that we learn the Gospel message of how he accomplished his plan for our salvation.  It is only through the pages of the Old Testament that we see the promise of the Savior being proclaimed from generation to generation and it is only in the pages of the New Testament that we see how all those prophecies and promises were fulfilled.  Now, because we know the love of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, we are compelled by that great love, as Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:14–15, NIV84).

Now, if you’ve never slid into the ditch in the middle of winter you are truly blessed.  Personally, I’ve slid into the ditch on a number of different occasions.  The most recent was about two years ago coming home from Mankato at night.  Our tires were well worn, I saw some deer coming up on the road, I tapped the breaks, and my back wheels decided they wanted to be in front, and we spun out into the ditch.  When we came to a stop and found out that we were all fine, we simply called 911, the tow truck came, towed us out and we went home.  Oh, sure, we were thankful for him towing us out, but my thankfulness only goes so far because towing me out was his job, for which I paid him.  On the other hand, there are two people for whom I still thank the Lord, because they stopped and towed me out of the ditch out of the goodness of their own hearts.  One was a man named Mike who was a volunteer fire-fighter form Timber Lake, SD.  The other was a semi driver (I never learned his name) who pulled me out of the ditch when I was a teenager.  Neither man would take anything for helping me out.  Both simply stopped to help out of the goodness of their own hearts, and both still occupy my thoughts and my prayers of thanks whenever the winter roads become icy and slippery. 

Well in the same way that I am compelled to thankfulness by these two men, so also as Christians, it is Christ’s love that compels us to live for him.  It is Christ’s love for us that moved him to lay down his life for us that now moves us to live our lives for him.  It is Christ’s love for us that moves us to take a new and different look at the Law that God has written down for us.  For you see, now that we know that we cannot possibly keep God’s Law, ever, and now that we know that Christ has done it for us, as Christians, we seek to live our lives according to God’s Law.  We seek to live our lives according to God’s Law not because we have to and by no means because we think we can ever earn God’s favor for it!  Absolutely not!  We know that we have God’s favor because he loves us and because he has freed us from our sins by the blood of his son.  Rather, we seek to live according to God’s Law because we are compelled by Christ’s love for us to live our lives out of love for him, and we show our love for him by seeking to live according to his will.  

This is why we need to know the difference between the Law and the Gospel.  We need to know that the only thing that the Law, which is written on our hearts and in the Bible, can only condemn us and show us our sins.  We need to know that the Gospel, which is only written in the Bible, is the only thing that can comfort us and assure us of our God’s love for us and how he forgave all our sins through Jesus Christ, his Son, our Savior.  It is only the gospel message of God’s love for us that now moves us to live our lives according to the will of the Lord our God out of love for him and for all that he has done for us.  

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Why Is the Bible so Important?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

December 9, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

On June 27, 1991, Bits & Pieces, which I believe is, or was, a magazine, printed a brief story about a man named Irving S. Olds.  According to that story, “When Irving S. Olds was chairman of the U.S. Steel Corporation, he arrived for a stockholders' meeting and was confronted by a woman who asked, ‘Exactly who are you and what do you do?’ Without batting an eye, Olds replied, ‘I am your chairman. Of course, you know the duties of a chairman—that's someone who is roughly the equivalent of parsley on a platter of fish.’”   By using self-deprecating humor, Olds was able to disarm what could have been a rather tense situation.  Rather than assert his importance as chairman, he downplayed the importance of his position to the point of being someone, or something that was not needed, but was simply there for decoration.  Well, in many ways, this is what people have done and continue to do with the Bible.  There are many people in our world today, even Christians in Christian churches and families, who treat the Bible as if it really isn’t all that necessary other than to be a bit of decoration on the coffee tables of our homes.  So, as we take time to study the Word of God this morning, we want to take a closer look at the Bible, and as we do so we want to answer the question, “Why is the Bible so important to us?”

Why is the Bible so important to us?  Well, to answer that question we want to take a look at what the Apostle Paul writes, 2 Timothy 3: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:14–17, NIV84)

In such a simple way, in three short verses, Paul assures us, as well as a young Pastor named Timothy, that the Bible is important because it is God’s Word.  The Bible is important because it is the only source through which we become wise for salvation.  The Bible is important because all of it; all of the Bible is God’s Word and all of God’s Word has been breathed out by God, or inspired by God, for our learning, correcting, and training in righteousness.   Thus, we know that God inspired, or breathed into his prophets and his apostles so that they might write down his words for us.  Though there were roughly 40 men who wrote over a period of 1400 years, we know that God is the real author of the Bible, because he is the one who gave these men the words to write, just as Peter declares in his second letter, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:16–21, NIV84)

The Bible is so important to us, because we know that no prophecy of Scripture has ever come about by the prophets own interpretation!  Rather, God moved the men he had chosen to write down the very things that he wanted them to record.  But the amazing thing about this process is that these men were not robots.  They were not human Dictaphones.  Rather, the Lord used each man’s individual talent, writing style, and expressions as they recorded the Scriptures for our learning.  So, as you read the book of Matthew, you will find that Matthew’s writing style is different than that of Mark’s or Luke’s or John’s; and you will find that each one of the gospel writer’s style is completely different than the style of the Apostle Paul whom the Lord privileged with writing most of the New Testament.   Yet, because we know that all the writers of God’s Word were carried along by the Holy Spirit, we can be confident that the Bible is God’s Word.  The Bible is the message of God’s grace, through which we become wise for eternal life in Christ Jesus our Savior.  It is God’s Word, which he has given to us for our learning.  It is his word, about which we pray that we would read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it.  It is his Word, which teaches us the things he wants us to believe and do.  It is his Word and because it is the word of our holy and righteous God we know that it is completely true.  We know that it contains no errors.  We know that not one of God’s promises has ever failed.  We know that even though there may seem to be contradictions, those seeming contradictions are simply opportunities for us to study God’s Word all the harder so that we can discover what he is teaching us in those sections that are a little more difficult to understand.  Thus, the Bible is important to us because as we read and study the Word of God we learn God’s good and gracious will for our lives.  We learn the message of God’s Law—the very law that we have written on our hearts; and we learn the gospel message of salvation that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. 

Could there be any book more precious in all the world—a book that teaches us the message of God’s Law—what he wants us to do and what he doesn’t want us to do!  Could there be any book more precious in all the world than the Bible which also teaches us the message of our God’s salvation through the message of the gospel?  Though it is never easy to hear the message of God’s Law, we know that God’s Law is good and righteous.  We know that God gave us his Law for a purpose, and that purpose was to prepare our hearts for the Gospel by clearly and unquestioningly showing us our sins.  Take for example what the Lord teaches us through the Apostle Paul in Romans 3, “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Romans 3:9–20, NIV84)

These are not easy words to hear!  For these words of God’s Law leave absolutely no wiggle room.  They leave no loopholes.  They leave no question that no matter how good we think we are, we cannot become righteous in God’s sight by striving to keep his law, because the purpose of the Law is to show us our sins.  The purpose of the Law is to make us realize that by ourselves all our righteous acts are nothing more than filthy rags.  The purpose of the Law is to make us realize that no matter how hard we’ve tried to jump over the chasm of our sins and reach our God on the other side, we have always fallen short of his glory and as another Scripture says, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) and as another scripture says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

These are indeed difficult words to hear.  They are so difficult to hear, in fact, that I have had members of this congregation, members who learned these truths in confirmation class, accusing me of being hateful, and fomenting hate crimes against them because they didn’t want to hear God’s Law.  They, like all of us, did not want to see their sins reflected in the mirror of God’s Law.  They did not want to be reminded of their guilt, and they bucked and they flailed and they did everything they could to escape the reality of what God’s Law says to each and every one of us.  “There is no one righteous!  Not even one!”  Not even Pastor!  “All have sinned and fallen short (completely missed) the glory of God.”

This is the purpose of God’s Law, and believe it or not, as difficult as it is to hear God’s Law proclaimed to us, we recognize just how important it is, and we even praise our God for recording his Law for us in the pages of the Bible.  We praise God for including his Law in the Bible because it is God’s Law, and God’s Law alone that prepares our hearts for the message of salvation revealed to us in the Gospel!  For immediately after Paul lays out the air-tight case of God’s Law, he switches gears and begins soothing our troubled hearts with the Good News; the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ our Savior.  “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." (Romans 3:21–28, NIV84)

What greater message could there be than the message of God’s love for us!  What greater message could there be than God’s Love for us, which he reveals to us in the Gospel message of salvation, which is now ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior!  For it was Jesus, himself, who assured us that our God loved us so much that he sent his one, and only son, Jesus, into this world, so that every single person who believes in him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life! (John 3:16).  This is why the Bible is so important to us!  It is so important to us because it teaches us God’s plan for salvation.  It assures us that “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” (Galatians 4:4–7, NIV)

This is why the Bible is so important to us!  It is so important to us because the Bible is the Word of our God.  It is the Word that God himself breathed into the prophets and apostles who recorded it for us today and the generations who follow.  The Bible is so important to us because it is the true, unchanging, errorless word of our God, which he recorded for us so that we could know exactly what his good and gracious will is.  Though it is never easy to hear his Law and all that we have done wrong, it is God’s Law that prepares us for God’s Gospel.  It is God’s Law that prepares our hearts to receive the Gospel message that salvation is ours through faith in Christ Jesus our Savior.  Though there are still many people in our world today who feel the importance of the Bible is not much more than a simple ornament on their coffee tables, we know its importance.  We know that the Bible is God’s Word, written down for us, that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing we might have life in his name.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN