Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, 2021
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
https://video.ibm.com/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
Bethany Lutheran
Worship, 7 PM Central Standard Time
The Hymn # 240
Father Most Holy
The Order of Vespers
p. 41
The Psalmody
Psalm
14
p. 124
The Lection
The Sermon Hymn #179 On My Heart
Galatians Chapter 3
The Prayers and Lord’s
Prayer
p. 44
The Collect for Peace
p. 45
The Benediction
p. 45
The Hymn # 558
All Praise to Thee
In
Our Prayers
- Pastor James Shrader, Christina Jackson (PET
scan)
- DEP Trump and our military tribunals
- States acknowledging the First Amendment – the
free exercise of religion
KJV Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified.
NIV etc – “by faith in Jesus Christ”
δικαιωθωμεν εκ πιστεως χριστου (by faith of) Stephanos
Traditional Text
KJV Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26 δια της πιστεως εν χριστω
ιησου - Stephanos
Luther
Selection – Chapter 3
1. O foolish Galatians.
The Apostle Paul
manifests his apostolic care for the Galatians. Sometimes he entreats them,
then again, he reproaches them, in accordance with his own advice to Timothy:
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort.”
In the midst of his
discourse on Christian righteousness Paul breaks off, and turns to address the
Galatians. “O foolish Galatians,” he cries. “I have brought you the true
Gospel, and you received it with eagerness and gratitude. Now all of a sudden
you drop the Gospel. What has got into you?”
Paul reproves the
Galatians rather sharply when he calls them “fools, bewitched, and
disobedient.” Whether he is indignant or sorry, I cannot say. He may be both.
It is the duty of a Christian pastor to reprove the people committed to his
charge. Of course, his anger must not flow from malice, but from affection and
a real zeal for Christ.
GJ
– I joined Salem Lutheran Church, Moline, Illinois, as a teen, when there was
great excitement over Luther’s works and Bainton’s Here I Stand, A Life of
Martin Luther. Later I met Bainton and he helped me with my dissertation. I was
shocked and disappointed that the “conservative” Lutheran synods, supposedly
superior to the Lutheran Church in America, rejected and mocked Justification
by Faith. And they used their Objective Justification, clearly alien to Luther,
to assert their Lutheran superiority. Who bewitched them?
There is no question
that Paul is disappointed. It hurts him to think that his Galatians showed so
little stability. We can hear him say: “I am sorry to hear of your troubles,
and disappointed in you for the disgraceful part you played.” I say rather much
on this point to save Paul from the charge that he railed upon the churches,
contrary to the spirit of the Gospel.
A certain distance and
coolness can be noted in the title with which the Apostle addresses the
Galatians. He does not now address them as his brethren, as he usually does. He
addresses them as Galatians in order to remind them of their national trait to be
foolish.
We have here an example
of bad traits that often cling to individual Christians and entire
congregations. Grace does not suddenly transform a Christian into a new and
perfect creature. Dregs of the old and natural corruption remain. The Spirit of
God cannot at once overcome human deficiency. Sanctification takes time.
Although the Galatians
had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of faith,
something of their national trait of foolishness plus their original depravity
clung to them. Let no man think that once he has received faith, he can
presently be converted into a faultless creature. The leavings of old vices
will stick to him, be he ever so good a Christian.
1. Who hath bewitched you, that ye should
not obey the truth?
Paul calls the
Galatians foolish and bewitched. In the fifth chapter he mentions sorcery among
the works of the flesh, declaring that witchcraft and sorcery are real
manifestations and legitimate activities of the devil. We are all exposed to
the influence of the devil, because he is the prince and god of the world in
which we live.
Satan is clever. He
does not only bewitch men in a crude manner, but also in a more artful fashion.
He bedevils the minds of men with hideous fallacies. Not only is he able to
deceive the self-assured, but even those who profess the true Christian faith.
There is not one among us who is not at times seduced by Satan into false
beliefs.
This accounts for the
many new battles we have to wage nowadays. But the attacks of the old Serpent
are not without profit to us, for they confirm our doctrine and strengthen our
faith in Christ. Many a time we were wrestled down in these conflicts with
Satan, but Christ has always triumphed and always will triumph. Do not think
that the Galatians were the only ones to be bewitched by the devil. Let us
realize that we too may be seduced by Satan.
1. Who hath bewitched you?
In this sentence Paul
excuses the Galatians, while he blames the false apostles for the apostasy of
the Galatians.
As if he were saying:
“I know your defection was not willful. The devil sent the false apostles to
you, and they tallied you into believing that you are justified by the Law.
With this our epistle we endeavor to undo the damage which the false apostles
have inflicted upon you.”
Like Paul, we struggle
with the Word of God against the fanatical Anabaptists of our day; and our
efforts are not entirely in vain. The trouble is there are many who refuse to
be instructed. They will not listen to reason; they will not listen to the
Scriptures, because they are bewitched by the tricky devil who can make a lie
look like the truth.
Since the devil has
this uncanny ability to make us believe a lie until we would swear a thousand
times it were the truth, we must not be proud, but walk in fear and humility,
and call upon the Lord Jesus to save us from temptation.
Although I am a doctor
of divinity, and have preached Christ and fought His battles for a long time, I
know from personal experience how difficult it is to hold fast to the truth. I
cannot always shake off Satan. I cannot always apprehend Christ as the
Scriptures portray Him. Sometimes the devil distorts Christ to my vision. But
thanks be to God, who keeps us in His Word, in faith, and in prayer.
The spiritual witchery
of the devil creates in the heart a wrong idea of Christ. Those who share the
opinion that a person is justified by the works of the Law, are simply
bewitched. Their belief goes against faith and Christ.
1. That ye should not obey the truth.
Paul incriminates the
Galatians in worse failure. “You are so bewitched that you no longer obey the
truth. I fear many of you have strayed so far that you will never return to the
truth.”
The apostasy of the
Galatians is a fine indorsement of the Law, all right. You may preach the Law
ever so fervently; if the preaching of the Gospel does not accompany it, the
Law will never produce true conversion and heartfelt repentance. We do not mean
to say that the preaching of the Law is without value, but it only serves to
bring home to us the wrath of God. The Law bows a person down. It takes the
Gospel and the preaching of faith in Christ to raise and save a person.
1. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth.
Paul’s increasing
severity becomes apparent as he reminds the Galatians that they disobeyed the
truth in defiance of the vivid description he had given them of Christ. So
vividly had he described Christ to them that they could almost see and handle
Him. As if Paul were to say: “No artist with all his colors could have pictured
Christ to you as vividly as I have pictured Him to you by my preaching. Yet you
permitted yourselves to be seduced to the extent that you disobeyed the truth
of Christ.”
1. Crucified among you.
“You have not only
rejected the grace of God; you have shamefully crucified Christ among you.”
Paul employs the same phraseology in Hebrews 6:6: “Seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
It should make any person
afraid to hear Paul say that those who seek to be justified by the Law, not
only deny Christ, but also crucify Him anew. If those who seek to be justified
by the Law and its works are crucifiers of Christ, what are they, I like to
know, who seek salvation by the filthy rags of their own work-righteousness?
GJ
– The neglect of the Chief Article of Christianity – Justification by Faith –
has meant many pastors and laity have joined the Church of Rome. The trend
began with Avery Dulles, SJ, who drew Richard Neuhaus into the wolfpack.
Can there be anything
more horrible than the papacy, an alliance of people who crucify Christ in
themselves, in the Church, and in the hearts of the believers?
Of all the diseased and
vicious doctrines of the papacy the worst is this: “If you want to serve God
you must earn your own remission of sins and everlasting life, and in addition
help others to obtain salvation by giving them the benefit of your extra
work-holiness.” Monks, friars, and all the rest of them brag that besides the
ordinary requirements common to all Christians, they do the works of
supererogation, i.e., the performance of more than is required. This is
certainly a fiendish illusion.
No wonder Paul employs
such sharp language in his effort to recall the Galatians from the doctrine of
the false apostles. He says to them: “Don’t you realize what you have done? You
have crucified Christ anew because you seek salvation by the Law.”
True, Christ can no
longer be crucified in person, but He is crucified in us when we reject grace,
faith, free remission of sins and endeavor to be justified by our own works, or
by the works of the Law.
The
Apostle is incensed at the presumptuousness of any person who thinks he can
perform the Law of God to his own salvation. He charges that person with the
atrocity of crucifying anew the Son of God.
GJ – This is no minor
matter. Paul’s lesson on the Means of Grace is found in Romans 10, based upon
hearing the Report – Isaiah 53 – the Atonement. Faith comes from hearing this
Report, that Christ was “wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed.” 53:5
2. This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
There is a touch of
irony in these words of the Apostle. “Come on now, my smart Galatians, you who
all of a sudden have become doctors, while I seem to be your pupil: Received ye
the Holy Ghost by the works of the Law, or by the preaching of the Gospel?”
This question gave them something to think about because their own experience
contradicted them.
“You cannot say that
you received the Holy Spirit by the Law. As long as you were servants of the
Law, you never received the Holy Ghost. Nobody ever heard of the Holy Ghost
being given to anybody, be he doctor or dunce, as a result of the preaching of
the Law. In your own case, you have not only learned the Law by heart, you have
labored with all your might to perform it. You most of all should have received
the Holy Ghost by the Law, if that were possible. You cannot show me that this
ever happened. But as soon as the Gospel came your way, you received the Holy
Ghost by the simple hearing of faith, before you ever had a chance to do a
single good deed.” Luke verifies this statement of Paul in the Book of Acts:
“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard
the word.” (Acts 10:44.) “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them,
as on us at the beginning.” (Acts 11:15.)
Try to appreciate the
force of Paul’s argument which is so often repeated in the Book of Acts. That
Book was written for the express purpose of verifying Paul’s assertion, that
the Holy Ghost comes upon men, not in response to the preaching of the Law, but
in response to the preaching of the Gospel. When Peter preached Christ at the
first Pentecost, the Holy Ghost fell upon the hearers, “and the same day there
were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Cornelius received the Holy
Ghost while Peter was speaking of Christ. “The Holy Ghost fell on all of them
which heard the word.” These are actual experiences that cannot very well be
denied. When Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem and reported what they had
been able to accomplish among the Gentiles, the whole Church was astonished,
particularly when it heard that the uncircumcised Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost by the preaching
of faith in Christ.
GJ – How do they miss
this – through faith alone?
Now as God gave the
Holy Ghost to the Gentiles without the Law by the simple preaching of the
Gospel, so He gave the Holy Ghost also to the Jews, without the Law, through
faith alone. If the righteousness of the Law were necessary unto salvation, the
Holy Ghost would never have come to the Gentiles, because they did not bother
about the Law. Hence the Law does not justify, but faith in Christ justifies.
How was it with
Cornelius? Cornelius and his friends whom he had invited over to his house, do
nothing but sit and listen. Peter is doing the talking. They just sit and do
nothing. The Law is far removed from their thoughts. They burn no sacrifices.
They are not at all interested in circumcision. All they do is to sit and
listen to Peter. Suddenly the Holy Ghost enters their hearts. His presence is
unmistakable, “for they spoke with tongues and magnified God.”
Right here we have one
more difference between the Law and the Gospel. The Law does not bring on the
Holy Ghost. The Gospel, however, brings on the gift of the Holy Ghost, because
it is the nature of the Gospel to convey good gifts. The Law and the Gospel are
contrary ideas. They have contrary functions and purposes. To endow the Law
with any capacity to produce righteousness is to plagiarize the Gospel. The
Gospel brings donations. It pleads for open hands to take what is being
offered. The Law has nothing to give. It demands, and its demands are
impossible.
Our opponents come back
at us with Cornelius. Cornelius, they point out, was “a devout man, and one
that feared God with all his house, which gave many alms to the people and
prayed God always.” Because of these qualifications, he merited the forgiveness
of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. So reason our opponents.
I answer: Cornelius was
a Gentile. You cannot deny it. As a Gentile he was uncircumcised. As a Gentile
he did not observe the Law. He never gave the Law any thought. For all that, he
was justified and received the Holy Ghost. How can the Law avail anything unto
righteousness? Our opponents are not satisfied. They reply: “Granted that
Cornelius was a Gentile and did not receive the Holy Ghost by the Law, yet the
text plainly states that he was a devout man who feared God, gave alms, and
prayed. Don’t you think he deserved the gift of the Holy Ghost?”
GJ
– Not unlike the Calvinists, Objective Justification professors see Abraham as
an important figure but not the Father of Faith, not the primary figure who
believed the Promises of the future Messiah and was justified by faith. Luther
made the comparison with Cornelius. Those who believed the Christ to come were
justified by faith.
I answer: Cornelius had
the faith of the fathers who were saved by faith in the Christ to come. If
Cornelius had died before Christ, he would have been saved because he believed
in the Christ to come. But because the Messiah had already come, Cornelius had
to be apprised of the fact. Since Christ has come, we cannot be saved by faith
in the Christ to come, but we must believe that he has come. The object of
Peter’s visit was to acquaint Cornelius with the fact that Christ was no longer
to be looked for, because He is here.
GJ
- The old Synodical Conference (LCMS-ELS-WELS) is Roman Catholic in this
matter, which may explain the exodus to Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy. The
Synodical Conference descendants point out the merits earned by the school they
attended, the families they descended from, the honors they received, the parking
lots they paved. Their merits precede grace. They demand people join them to be
pure enough, but openly declare that these Gentile converts can never be their
equal in grace.
