Trinity 18
Dear friends in Christ. One of the great difficulties Christians face is hammering out the relationship between faith and works. In a sense, it seems too easy to say and believe that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone apart from works. This is contrary to what we are always warned against: There is no such thing as a free lunch. It goes against our very nature to say that we have no part in our salvation. As evidence of that, just look at all the religions of the world. All of them—except for Christianity—say that there is something we have to do, no matter how small and insignificant, for our salvation. Christianity says: “No! The forgiveness of your sins and eternal life are all God’s gift to you in Christ; Christ brought them about for you by His holy life and His innocent suffering and death. He offers and gives you that forgiveness of sin and eternal life in His holy word and sacrament. The very faith that welcomes and receives these divine gifts and treasures, the Holy Spirit works through that same word and sacrament.”
So what about works? What about the Holy Commandments of God? Didn’t we just hear in today’s Gospel: Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Good works—things done out of love for God that He commands in his law—are a necessary and vital part in the life of the Christian but they are not what make us a Christian or what save us. Instead, the good works, the works of love, are the result of faith, the result of us being Christians. They in no way enter into the equation of our salvation—like we have to do x number of good works to be worthy of heaven.
The relationship between faith and good works is this: good works are necessary but they are not necessary for salvation. But there is no life of faith without a life of love and good works; and there is no life of love and good works without a life of faith. Faith and works belong together; they are inseparable. Where there’s one, there’s the other—that’s why right away in our Gospel reading right after talking about love and works Jesus adds the section about faith, the right faith in Him: Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?"
What a blessing and comfort for us that our salvation is not by works but by God’s grace through faith in Christ. If our salvation were the result of our works of love, it would forever be uncertain: how would I know that I have ever done enough? And what about my sins: what if I have committed such a great and horrible sin, will that shut heaven to me? But because the forgiveness of sins, heaven and eternal life is all by God’s grace through faith in Jesus it is certain because it is all God’s work for us from start to finish.
1. This is exactly what we see in our text. St. Paul wrote this letter to the congregation in the city of Corinth. This was a congregation facing great difficulties; if there ever was a dysfunctional congregation, this would be it. There were various factions, there was sexual immorality, there was misuse of spiritual gifts, there were abuses of the sacrament, carnal pride, etc.
But how does the blessed Apostle begin his letter to them? I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
In spite of their weaknesses and sin, they were still believers. And because they were still believers they still had the certainty of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven; they were still Christians. To be sure, it may not have looked like it at times as sin seemingly was getting the upper hand quite often and that the good works were often seemingly few and far between; nevertheless, St. Paul is still full of thanksgiving: I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. Notice: what St. Paul is thankful for is not their shiny lives of good works that they excel in—because they don’t—but for God’s grace that He showed them and which He continues to show them.
The glorious thing for us as well is that God doesn’t just show us grace once—at conversion—but He continues to as He forgives us our sin, calls us to repentance and gives us time and time again the absolution, as He strengthens us in faith, as He works in us and through us.
Just like the Corinthians were not such worthy and upstanding people that as a result the Lord showed them grace and brought them to faith, so also were we, before conversion/ before the Lord showed us grace, spiritually dead in our sins and enemies of God. The Lord showed both the Corinthians and us grace and brought us to faith. It’s not that we make ourselves worthy or somehow prepare ourselves for grace. That’s why we can be certain of our salvation and give our Lord thanks for salvation—it is all by His grace to us sinners.
Notice that this grace is not alone but the grace of God… was given to you in Christ Jesus. Here again we see the certainty of our salvation: God does not give us His grace on a whim that He could just as easily withdraw and so our salvation would be uncertain. Instead His grace is given us in Christ Jesus. The compassion of the Father is most closely bound together with Jesus, the Son, and His merit. In grace to the whole sinful human race the Father sent the Son to be our Savior. And that’s exactly what He did as He took on human flesh and blood in the womb of the Virgin, placed Himself under God’s holy Law to keep it for us in our place and give the obedience that God demands of us but we are unable to keep and as He took our sins on Himself and became sin, suffering God’s wrath and punishment for each of our sins. God’s grace is connected with Jesus. Because Jesus carried out His saving work, because God’s righteous demands have been fulfilled, because sinful humanity has been reconciled—that’s Easter’s proclamation!—God can and does show us grace and the glorious foundation of that grace is Christ’s work. That’s why our salvation is certain—it’s by God’s grace bound together with Jesus and His merit. The grace of God… was given to you in Christ Jesus.
Because God has shown us grace and has in Christ declared us righteous/ forgiven we have a true dignity as Christians. We have, in Christ, all righteousness; we have the forgiveness of sins; we have the certainty of an open heaven and a glorious eternity there; we are now God’s dear children. Our text: in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge. Dear Christian, our hearts and deepest yearnings and longings have been satisfied because the heavenly, eternal treasure of God’s grace has been given to us in the word and sacraments. In His word and sacraments Jesus does not just tell us about God’s grace but gives it to us through them; that’s why the word, the absolution, baptism and Holy Communion are called Means of Grace—they are the means/ instruments/ the way God brings His grace to us—the forgiveness of sin and righteousness of Christ—heavenly riches, so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The wonderful thing is that through these Means of Grace—the word and sacraments—not only does our Lord give us His grace and every heavenly blessing but by the work of the Holy Spirit in the word and sacrament He creates faith in our hearts to receive His gifts of grace; and, in grace, by His work in the word and Sacraments He strengthens and keeps us in that faith and receiving His grace. In short, our salvation is sure because by grace He works to keep us in the faith.
What a glorious comfort this is to us, especially as we see and feel our sin, as our conscience rightly accuses us! God’s grace is there for us! That means instead of running away from God when we feel our sin and feel ashamed, we run toward Him—toward His holy word and sacraments through which He gives us His grace and every heavenly blessing Jesus won for us. We come to church—and if especially bothered by a particular sin to private confession/ absolution—to hear and receive the Lord’s grace in the absolution and sacrament.
Right now, in our Lord’s word and sacraments, we have and enjoy every grace; we have already now everything we need. Our text: the testimony about Christ was confirmed in you— so that you are not lacking in any grace, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Spirit worked faith—the testimony about Christ was confirmed in you—that is, like the Corinthians, we remain steadfast in the truth; through that faith we are certain of God’s grace, Christ and His work, our salvation, etc.
Already now—forgiven our sin, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, God’s dear children and heirs of heaven—the only thing that is missing as we now [2 Cor. 5.7] walk by faith, not by sight, is the bliss awaiting us on the Last Day when we will be soul and glorified body in heaven with our Lord and all the holy angels and saints. Now we keep our gaze fixed on eternal life in heaven.
Our earthly life now is one lived in grace—in Spirit-worked faith constantly receiving that grace and every heavenly, divine blessing in Christ—and one preserved by God in grace. We don’t keep ourselves in the faith. The Lord does as He works in His word and sacraments. We can destroy that faith if we neglect coming to church and cut ourselves off from the word; if we resist the working of the Holy Spirit on us leading us into a life of faith and good works, because evil works destroy faith. But as we wait for the Last Day, [we] are not lacking in any grace, as [we] wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain [us] to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The devil and his allies will see to it that our wait for the day of our Lord’s return will be as difficult and as dangerous to our souls as possible. But do not despair, dear Christian, the Lord’s grace is there for us to return to again and again, to be strengthened by again and again. His grace toward us—a grace grounded on and tightly bound together with Christ and His work—will never fail. Our prayer is for patience in the wait—like we prayed in the collect this morning Your Holy Spirit may direct and rule our hearts in all things.
Notice the glorious promise St. Paul gives us in our text. Not only did God show us grace and bring us to faith and righteousness in Christ but [He] will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, our salvation is certain because it’s God’s work—from start to finish. What He, in grace, has begun in you, He will sustain in you to the end. That’s His promise to you—just don’t turn away from His grace and His work. He has given and still gives us all we need to continue on in that grace. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Here is the deepest foundation of our sure hope of salvation: God is faithful. We have nothing to fear from the devil, the world and our old sinful nature because what God has promised us, He’ll keep! Look to and hold to and keep returning to your baptism, when God called [you] into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Treasure God’s grace to you in Christ! Hold to that grace! Our salvation is sure because it’s God’s work from start to finish. What great cause we have to thank God for the grace given us in Jesus. INJ Amen.