The Gospel Seminar

"Luther Quotation": #3B

"...who gave himself on behalf of our sins." (1;4)

It is a very common experience for a Christian to read a bible passage or hear a sermon and find themselves becoming increasingly aware of how sinful they truly are and then have profound doubts about whether they are forgiven or even saved.

Listen to Luther address this difficulty;

"We know (that God is 'the giver of grace and life'). Yet in the actual conflict with the devil, when he scares us with the Law, when he frightens us with the very person of the Mediator, when he misquotes the words of Christ, and distorts for us our Savior, we so easily lose sight of our sweet High-Priest.
For this reason I am so anxious for you to gain a true picture of Christ out of the words of Paul 'who gave himself for our sins.' Obviously, Christ is no judge to condemn us, for He gave Himself for our sins. He does not trample the fallen but raises them. He comforts the brokenhearted. Otherwise Paul should lie when he writes 'who gave himself for our sins.'...Would to God we could impregnate our hearts with these truths." (p.42)

Luther is helpful in four ways:
1) His illustration of spiritual doubt on the part of the believer serves to remind us that it is very, very common for a Christian to doubt God's love and forgiveness. (Let's not forget the sin of doubt is forgivable, too).
2) The antidote for this doubt? The gospel! The gospel which reminds you early and often in this epistle that Christ came and "gave Himself on behalf of my sins" (your past, present, and future sins) to SUCCESSFULLY AND COMPLETELY blot out (Psalm 51; 1, 9) my sins from God's record book. They are GONE!
3) And this forgiveness has virtually NOTHING to do with your behavior. Christ's life and death ALONE has taken them away (Psalm 103; 11, 12).
4) Lastly, more and more this gracious gospel needs to be "impregnated" (HAMMERED) into our hearts.

Christian, labor each morning and evening to realign your heart and beliefs according to these gracious truths!