Dear Pastor Jackson,
All of us were born
into this world in sin, under the law, condemned, under the wrath of
God, and completely helpless. Notice the phrase "dead in sins" means we
were born completely sinful with no way to free ourselves from our
sinfulness.
"But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:4-10
Christ our Lord said:
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15
Luther's hymn, From Depths Of Woe I Cry To Thee, is true repentance and true belief in the gospel.
"From
depths of woe I cry to Thee, Lord, hear me, I implore Thee. Bend down
Thy gracious ear to me, My prayer let come before Thee. If Thou
rememb'rest each misdeed, If each should have its rightful meed, Who may
abide Thy presence?
Thy love and grace alone
avail To blot out my transgressions; The best and holiest deeds must
fail To break sin's dread oppression. Before Thee none can boasting
stand, But all must fear Thy strict demand And live alone by mercy.
Therefore
my hope is in the Lord And not in mine own merit; It rests upon His
faithful Word To them of contrite spirit That He is merciful and just;
This is my comfort and my trust. His help I wait with patience.
And
though it tarry till the night And till morning waken, My heart shall
never doubt His might Nor count itself forsaken. Do this, O ye of
Israel's seed, Ye of the Spirit born indeed; Wait for your God's
appearing.
Though great our sins and sore our
woes, His grace much more aboundeth; His helping love no limit knows,
Our utmost need it soundeth. Our Shepherd good and true is He, Who will
at last His Israel free From all their sins and sorrows. (Martin Luther,
From Depths of Woe I Cry To Thee; The Lutheran Hymnal, CPH; 1941; Hymn
329)
God our Heavenly Father had mercy on our
helplessness and sent His only begotten Son Jesus to take all our sins
upon Himself. Jesus was baptized into our sins in the Jordan River,
heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon Him from heaven in
the form of a dove.
When we were helpless little infants God baptized us into Christ, and clothed us in the righteousness of Christ.
"For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Galatians
3:26,27
In our Baptism, God has taken away the
blindness of our understanding and has given us eyes to see the correct
understanding of His Words. God gives us the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost in our Baptism.
"Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Savior; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:5
"For
ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them." Ephesians 5:8-11
"Again a new
commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you:
because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth." 1 John
2:8
"In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything
made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it
not." John 1:1-5
Keep in mind that our most
damnable and filthy meritorious works come from our highest powers of
reasoning and will. For example, "making a decision for Christ" is a
damnable filthy meritorious work of our reasoning and will. Another
example is found in the false doctrine called Subjective Justification
where you make a decision to accept the lie that God has already
justified and forgiven the whole world prior to and without faith, and
without baptism. As true Christians we confess with Luther:
"I
believe that I cannot by my own reasoning or strength believe in Jesus
Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the
gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the
true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the
whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the
one true faith: in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives
all sin to me and all believers, and will at the last day raise up me
and all the dead, and give unto me and all believers in Chríst eternal
life This is most certainly true.
(Martin Luther's Small Catechism, LutheranLibrary.org;
ISBN: 9798521116799)
Note
that God the Holy Ghost, "keeps us with Jesus Christ in the one true
faith". We are helpless without the Holy Ghost, so God gave us the gift
of the Holy Ghost in our Baptism. The apostle Peter preached to the
multitude at Pentecost in Acts 2:36-39.
"Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that
same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter
said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call ."
Acts 2:36-39
Note that both repentance and
Baptism are the work of God. Esau used his own emotional devotion to
obtain repentance but could not find it.
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For
ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing,
he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought
it carefully with tears." Hebrews 12:14-17
True Christians confess with Luther:
"I
believe that I cannot by my own reasoning or strength believe in Jesus
Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the
gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the
true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the
whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the
one true faith: in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives
all sin to me and all believers, and will at the last day raise up me
and all the dead, and give unto me and all believers in Chríst eternal
life This is most certainly true."
(Martin Luther's Small Catechism, LutheranLibrary.org;
ISBN: 9798521116799)
Note
that God rejected Esau because he sought repentance by his own works,
will, and strength and yet failed to repent. Keep in mind we as true
Christians remain completely helpless. So let us turn away from
synergism (cooperating with God with our own reasoning, will, and
strength). Luther covers everything when he said:
"I believe that I cannot by my own reasoning or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; "
We
cannot believe in Jesus Christ our Lord by our own reasoning, will, and
strength. God must give us true faith by His Word. His Word (King James
Bible) is efficacious, living, and powerful because God the Holy Ghost
has attached Himself to it.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17
"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John 6:29
We cannot even come to Jesus Christ our Lord by our own reasoning, will power, and strength.
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44
We
cannot keep ourselves in Jesus Christ in the one true faith by our own
reasoning, will power, and strength. God the Holy Ghost keeps us in
Jesus Christ by the Word, Holy Baptism, The Office of the Keys, and Holy
Communion.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." John 14:15-20
Note
God the Holy Ghost is our Comforter. He guides us into all truth and
teaches us all things. He brings to our hearts and minds everything
Jesus has said to us.
26 "But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you.
"We now implore God the Holy Ghost
For the true faith, which we need the most,
That in our last moments He may befriend us
And, as homeward we journey, attend us. Lord, have mercy!
Shine in our hearts, O most precious Light,
That we Jesus Christ may know aright,
Clinging to our Savior, whose blood hath bought us,
Who again to our homeland hath brought us. Lord, have mercy!
Thou sacred Love, grace on us bestow,
Set our hearts with heavenly fire aglow
That with hearts United we love each other,
Of one mind,, in peace with every brother. Lord, have mercy!
Thou highest Comfort in every need
Grant that neither shame nor death we heed,
That even then our courage may never fail us
When
Foe shall accuse and assail us. Lord, have mercy!" (Martin Luther, We
Now Implore God The Holy Ghost ; The Lutheran Hymnal, CPH; 1941; Hymn
231)
In Christ,
Tom Fisher
