Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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"You who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness."

In 1833, the British Parliament passed the 'Abolition Of Slavery' Act, which made the practice of slavery in Great Britain illegal, and granted all slaves in the British Empire their freedom. But you are still a slave.

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the freedom of slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America. But you are still a slave.

On December 18, 1865, the United States Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution saying that, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." But you are still a slave.

Don't think that just because the Constitution says that you're free, that you're free to do anything you please. You are still a slave. You are under authority. You must obey the laws of the land. You may be free to help or not to help your neighbor in his need but you are not free to murder him. You are free to share or not to share what you have with others, but you are not free to steal from others. You are free to come and go as you please but you are not free to exceed the speed limit or drive through red lights. You are still a slave. (more…)

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"Since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."

A woman named Barbara Farnham who lived in Alexandria, Virginia died in March of this past year. She had made arrangements to be buried in Norridgewock, Maine next to her father. She was an active member of a Lutheran church in Virginia. Being the nearest Lutheran pastor in Maine, I was asked if I would be willing to conduct a committal service, to which I gladly agreed. The service took place this past Tuesday afternoon.

After the service as I was making my way back to my car, Nathan, Barbara's 14 year-old grandson caught up with me and said he had a few questions about God. Could he ask them. Little did he understand that I live for such questions.

He had a question about something that he had heard about how the God of the Old Testament was a God of wrath and vengeance but that Jesus in the New Testament was a loving God who saved you if you were good. What did I think about that? (more…)

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"We should have seen it coming." "The signs were all there. We should have expected that it would come to this." "Everything pointed to this. We should have been prepared for it."

You can apply those words to: (a) the current price of gasoline; (b) the drastic drop in housing prices; (c) the way God deals with sinners; (d) the Patriot's Super-bowl loss; (e) all of the above except for (d). The correct answer is (e). Unless you're a Giants fan. Then the correct answer is (f), all of the above.

The only answer that we're interested in here this morning however is (c) the way God deals with sinners. We should have seen it coming. In last week's reading from Romans, chapter 3, Paul wrote, "But now, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, ALTHOUGH THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS BEAR WITNESS TO IT." (Rom.3: 21).

The 'Law and the Prophets' is the just another way of saying, 'the Old Testament.' The whole Old Testament bears witness to the way God deals with sinners. And Paul says, Abraham is a prime example.

So, on this 3rd stop in this 15-week summer tour through the letter to the Romans, Paul says, look at the way God deals with Abraham. Let's look together at a couple of selections from Genesis to get familiar with those parts of Abraham's life that Paul will draw our attention to in this section of Chapter 4 of Romans. (more…)

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Stop number 2 on our 15 week summer tour of Paul's letter to the Romans takes us into the very heart and soul of what he wants to say to the Christians in Rome, as well as to all who read his letter after them. "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." —apart from works of the law.� —apart from works of the law.�

How strange is that? How can it be that one is justified apart from the works of the law? We hold that one is justified by his performance of the works of the law. Isn't that what the 10 Commandments are there for? If we are not justified by our performance of the works of the law, then how are we justified before God?

"For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." These are shocking words, because this is not at all what we expect. And they are disturbing words too. Because this is not at all the way we think one is justified before God.

First of all, if these words are true, it means that all of our striving to justify ourselves before God on the basis of our performance of works of the law is worthless. In fact, it's worse than worthless. It's downright sinful. It's contrary to the Word and His way. We put our confidence in our performance and good works and He says, "it doesn't count for anything with Me. It doesn't help you get ahead with Me. It doesn't improve My opinion of you one bit. It doesn't make me love you any more." And we say, "well it should." (more…)