Friday, June 18, 2004 AD
The means of the church's survival
If Christ's intercession for His church is the secret of her survival, then what is the means by which Christ preserves the church for which He intercedes? In his sermon, "Jesus Intercedes for His Church", Sasse continues:
When we read texts like Acts 4:12:
This is one reason why it is so healthy to read at least part of Luther's Small Catechism every day. The forgiveness of sins is central throughout, whether in Luther's exposition of the second and third articles of the Creed, or in his teachings on Holy Baptism, Confession and the Lord's Supper, or in the "little prayers" he gives for use in the morning and evening.
While we go scurrying off after this or that issue - how Christians should be involved in politics and social issues; how we can overcome particular habits in our lives; what the precise mode is of the Real Presence in the Lord's Supper; etc, etc - Luther keeps us focussed on what really matters in the end: have our sins been forgiven? Are we righteous before God?
As the Word founded the church ... so the Word of Christ preserves the church. Not the most brilliant of human organizing, not the most splendid liturgy, not the wisest of men, not the most splendid church buildings preserve the church. It is done by the Word alone, by the plain Word of the Gospel as the saving message of the forgiveness of sins. "Fruitful ethics can be found also in Confucianism, a resplendent hierarchy also with the Dalai Lama, scientific theology also in the synagogue, a battle against alcohol also among the Turks, and a youth movement also in Moscow -- forgiveness of sins alone with Jesus Christ."Make anything central to Christianity other than the Word of forgiveness in and through Jesus Christ - make any article of faith other than justification your "first and chief article" - and the uniqueness of the Gospel is lost.
The Word of forgiveness which only Jesus Christ can speak, because it is He who has borne the sin of the world, the Word of forgiveness His church is to speak as it follows Him - that is the Gospel.
When we read texts like Acts 4:12:
...there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.it's easy for us to overlook the fact that there are two claims made here that are unique to the Christian Gospel. Firstly, obviously, that salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ. But we can easily overlook the second, implicit point here: that salvation and the forgiveness of sins are in fact what we need above all else. It's not merely that other religions posit different "saviours" or means of salvation, but that the very concept of salvation - in the Christian sense of an external intervention to rescue utterly helpless, lost, doomed sinners - is itself a distinctively Christian perspective. The Gospel proclaims a unique diagnosis as well as a unique remedy.
This is one reason why it is so healthy to read at least part of Luther's Small Catechism every day. The forgiveness of sins is central throughout, whether in Luther's exposition of the second and third articles of the Creed, or in his teachings on Holy Baptism, Confession and the Lord's Supper, or in the "little prayers" he gives for use in the morning and evening.
While we go scurrying off after this or that issue - how Christians should be involved in politics and social issues; how we can overcome particular habits in our lives; what the precise mode is of the Real Presence in the Lord's Supper; etc, etc - Luther keeps us focussed on what really matters in the end: have our sins been forgiven? Are we righteous before God?
