Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth; for His word is truth. Amen

Reformation Day (2010)

God’s Word always leads to the Truth Rev. Toby Byrd

John 8:31-36 (ESV)

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, [32] and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." [33] They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"

[34] Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. [35] The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Throughout the world enslaved people cry out for freedom. It was this cry that led to the American Revolution; it was this cry that brought down the Berlin wall reuniting Germany; and it was this cry that led Lech Walesa to lead the Polish people out of captivity to communism. However, the struggle for freedom, especially spiritual freedom, is not something of just the last few hundred years.

Four hundred and ninety-three years ago many Christians in Western Europe were waging a struggle for freedom from the Roman church which dominated their lives. Amidst this struggle, one man rose to defend the truth of Holy Scripture that all men are justified solely because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, this justification won by our Lord, Jesus is graciously granted by God to all who through faith believe. Thus, today we celebrate and honor this great struggle known as the Reformation whose great champion was Martin Luther.

Martin Luther was a man whose quest for the truth led him to the central doctrine of Holy Scripture, Justification; which states that God declares sinners righteous solely for the sake of His One and only Son, Jesus Christ. Convinced by his studies of St. Paul’s epistles to the Romans and the Galatians and disgusted by the practice of indulgences, the church’s policy of selling dispensations for the consequence of sin, Martin Luther challenged the doctrinal practices of the church in Rome. Luther convinced that God’s Word always leads to the Truth, desired freedom from the abuses of the Roman church and steadfastly resisted all efforts at refuting his conviction. So convinced was he in the truth of God’s Word that he boldly proclaimed before the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, “I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me. Amen.”

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus saying to the Jews, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (vv. 31-32). Jesus offers freedom, but the Jews to whom He was speaking didn’t believe they needed the freedom He offered. Rather than eagerly accept what our Lord offered, they replied, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?” (v. 33). Sadly, these Jews did not understand the freedom of which Jesus spoke. In fact, they were sadly mistaken even regarding their own history.

The Jews had served four-hundred years in captivity to the Egyptians. After God led them to the Promised Land, telling them that He alone would be their God, they sought after other gods and were punished for their apostasy. God permitted the Philistines and others to place yokes of bondage upon His chosen people. He even permitted the Babylonians to carry them into captivity for seventy-years after burning their homes and their Temple. In fact, as these Jews stood speaking to Jesus they were themselves captive to the heavy hand of the Roman government. Free? Hardly!

A question which we must ask ourselves is; are we free? As citizens of this great country Christians do well to ask this question of their civil, political, national, and religious liberties. By the grace of God we are not like those in other lands who are enslaved, living in constant fear of the government and the secret police, lacking the freedom to speak or to assembly without fear. Those enslaved to oppressive governments also lack the freedom to pursue business, industry or labor without governmental oversight and approval. Worst yet, living in totalitarian states, enslaved people are denied the privilege of worshipping the One and only true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Are we free? As opposed to those living in totalitarian states, most certainly we are free. God, out of His gracious and benevolent love gifted our country with godly men who drafted a Constitution that guarantees our liberties. However, we must be ever vigilant for there are sinister powers who threaten to make the United States just another totalitarian ruled country where preaching God’s Word would be denied and swift punishment would befall any who defied the government. Let’s us pray that God will deliver us from such a government.

Thus, when our Lord Jesus told the Jews that the truth would set them free they misunderstood His offer. Considering themselves freemen, they imply by their response that it is their heritage and not the truth that sets them free. True enough, God had promised Abraham descendants that would fill the earth. He said, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:6-7 ESV). However, in holding to these words from God, the Jews forgot there is a bondage to which every human is held captive from birth, the bondage to sin. Jesus corrects their error and says to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (v. 34).

Ever since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, man became a captive to sin and a slave of Satan. Sin, as a curse, welded the chains that bind man’s hand and feet. Whoever, in thought, word, or deed transgresses God’s will, is a slave of the tyrant; sin. Our Lord Jesus reminds us and these Jews that this tyrant which first bound Satan and his angels in the chains of darkness has also enslaved mankind, doomed nations, and even to this day fills the caverns of hell with the lost. Therefore, we ask, “What can save us from this fate? What can bring us true freedom?”

Freedom from the slavery to sin is what Jesus has in mind when speaking to these Jews. The peace that comes to human hearts and consciences when we learn that God blots out our iniquities and no longer remembers our sins is the joyous freedom of which our Lord speaks and of which He wants us to have. The power to resist the temptations of the devil, the world, and our flesh is the power which His Holy Spirit is anxious to convey. This is freedom that Luther came to know, this is the freedom that comes only from God’s Word and always leads to the Truth.

All religions that promise to free man from the curse of sin by the effort of men fail utterly. These are man-made religions. All our efforts, works, or sacrifices to remove the shackles of our sin and the penalties of sin, which we have incurred, are futile. Even outward church membership is not the answer. Our Lord Jesus tells these Jews if you want freedom then you must look to the Son, because, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (v. 36).

Sadly, these Jews, who once believed in Jesus, did not understand what He was telling them. Earlier He said to them, “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (John 8:24 ESV) and they responded, “Who are you?” (John 8:25 ESV) Who are you to promise us deliverance from sin, death, and the devil? Apostasy is a horrible thing, because it is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit; the only unpardonable sin.

For ages, God had spoken of the coming Messiah, the divine Savior of the people. The Messiah would have the power to crush the might of Satan, the serpent. The government of the universe would rest upon His shoulders. His name would be called “Wonderful,” “the mighty God.” The angel told Mary at the annunciation: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32 ESV). At His Baptism, God the Father said of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17 ESV). Our Lord had always claimed to be the Son of God and He had proved His deity by His miracles. Therefore, when He was asked, “Who are you?” He responded by saying, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him” (John 8:25-26 ESV).

However, sadly, the truth did not penetrate the hearts of these Jews. It is the same today; many refuse to believe in the deity of Christ. But thanks to God and His servant Martin Luther, we can confess: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

This freedom, purchased with the suffering and death of the Son of God, is conveyed to us through His Word. By the Gospel, which is the truth of our redemption through Christ, the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts so that we may receive the merit of Christ, our Savior.

Freedom procured, conveyed, and enjoyed, however, might be lost. Sin is a destructive thing. It enslaves its victims to Satan. Moreover, this cruel tyrant then deprives his subjects of all other liberties.

The Israelites had been given the promises of the Messiah. God had freed and delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. Time and again, however, through sin, they lost their freedom, sealing their fate by rejecting God’s promised Messiah. Do we see similar judgments of God upon the nations of the world? Is the United States safe? Not without a steadfast faith in the Son of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sin besets us. Sins such as greed, pride, envy, hatred, alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual deviancy, religious indifference, and so many others all threaten to enslave us. Moreover, no manner of man’s efforts can relieve the consequence of his sin. No man-proclaimed indulgence can emancipate the sinner from sin’s slavery. Only repentance, only the contrite heart turning to a forgiving and loving God, sincerely confessing our sin and seeking forgiveness for the sake of the holy innocent death of our beloved Lord, Jesus Christ. Only this will free man from the consequence of sin.

In a world deprived of God’s Word and enslaved by man’s word, Martin Luther resurrected the truth of Holy Scripture regarding man’s salvation; that works of the law will not save a sinner from his sins. Nearly fifteen-hundred years earlier St. Paul led the way with this truth; “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. . . But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. . . For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:20, 21-24, 28 (ESV).

There is no other way to be justified than by the grace of God as a gift. Moreover, in that justification He declares us righteous through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What marvelous, wonderful, comforting, and soothing words these are which tell us that our miserly efforts aren’t required for salvation. Instead, God declares sinners righteous for Christ’s sake; that is, our sins have been imputed or charged to Christ, the Savior, and Christ’s righteousness has been imputed or credited to us. There is nothing man can do to save himself from sin. St. Peter made this clear in his response to the Sanhedrin, when he said; “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 ESV). Salvation is only in and by the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Redeemer of the world. This is the truth of Holy Scripture, this is the truth Martin Luther proclaimed, this is the truth that saves sinners; how marvelous it is to know that God’s Word always leads to the Truth. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.