The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 67

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‘The Lutheran Pioneer.

done to Him, by reason of which the debtor is
acquitted and the offense forgiven. All this St. Paul
most clearly and eloquently sets forth Rom. 3,
21—26: “But now the righteousness of God with-
out the Law is manifested, being witnessed by the
Law and the prophets; even the righteousness of
God which.is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and
upon all them that believe: for there is no differ-
ence: for all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God; being justified freely by His grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,
through faith in His blood, to declare His right-
cousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say,
at this time His righteousness: that He might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth in
Jesus.” Hence we sce that justification, or for-
giveness of sins, is the result of Christ’s redemp-
tion, “for He hath made Him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous-
ness of God in Him,” 2 Cor. 5, 21. God laid all
our sins on Christ, imputed our guilt to Him, and
then punished them in Him by His suffering and
death. Christ suffered all that we should have
suffered. And since Christ did all this for us and
thus redeemed us by His blood, we have in Him
the righteousness of God. And since God, the
righteous Judge, in His grace and goodness thus
justifies us, our accusers must hush. “Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is
God that justificth,” Rom. 8, 33.

But how is the.sinner to obtain forgiveness of
His sins? The answer is given us in plainest words
in Scripture: by faith. Our Catechism says that
God forgives the sins of all believers. ‘Thus also
the publican received forgiveness. His faith, to
which he gave expression by saying, “God be merci-
ful to me a sinner,” was the hand wherewith he
grasped the righteousness of God in Christ. Christ
has, indeed, redeemed the whole world, in Christ
God is reconciled to the whole world, 2 Cor. 5, 19,

for He fulfilled the Law and died on the cross for
every sinner, and thus gained forgiveness for all.
As certainly as Christ was delivered for the offenses
of all men, so certainly was He also raised again
for the justification of all. And that all men may
know this, God hath committed unto them the
word of reconciliation, that is, the Gospel. In the
blessed Gospel God offers forgiveness to all. -But
would man now actually have forgiveness, he must
accept it, and that is done by faith. “Abram be-

67

lieved in the Lord; and He counted it to him for
righteousness,” Gen. 15, 6. Rom. 4, 5 Paul writes:
“To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.” We are justified, Paul would say,
not by our works, but by taking sole recourse to
God in Christ through faith, by looking entirely
away from ourselves to the Fountain of grace for
mercy.

To sum up what Scripture teaches us concern-
ing justification, or forgiveness of sins: We re-
ceive forgiveness of sins and are justified before
God, not by our works, but by grace, for Christ’s
sake, through faith.

“By grace! our works are all rejected,
All claims of merit pass for naught;
The mighty Savior, long expected,

To us this blissful truth has brought,
That He by death redeems our race,
And we are saved alone by grace.”

F. J. L.

oom

An Atheist Answered.

A great and learned atheist once met a plain
countryman going to church.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“T am going to church, sir,” was the reply.

‘What for?” :

“To worship God.”

“Pray tell, is your God a great or a little God ?”

“He is both, sir.”

“How can He be both?”

“He is so great, sir, that the Heaven of heavens
cannot contain Him, and so little, that He can dwell
in my poor heart.”

The atheist declared that this simple answer of
the countryman had more effect upon his mind than
all the volumes the learned doctors had written upon
the subject.

+ ee

Trusting God.

We might well take off our hats to the little
birdies that fly over our heads, and say: My dear
doctor, I must confess that I am far behind you
in the art of trusting God. You sleep through
the night in your little nest without any care. In
the morning you rise and are cheerful and happy.
You sit on a tree and sing and praise and thank
God. ‘Then you seek your food and find it. Why
can we foolish men not learn to follow their ex-
ample? — Luther.