GRACE, FAITH & JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST Contempleting on Martin Luther’s Work on Romans
In the preface article to his commentary of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans Martin Luther basically emphasizes on God’s grace and justification through Christ to all sinners, which only could attain by faith.
He, in the light of the epistle, gives a thorough description of how God had designed justification for the fallen men. Here man (Adam and his every descendant) by his willful desire of being like God as wise and immortal becomes disobedience to God’s fist law, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen 2:17). Now, relating to people at the Martin’s time and even of recent, the same good and evil still working forcefully in the life. As Martin writes, the good or bad works done, it is rooted within the heart. To make this clear he proceeds describing of grace, righteousness and the faith. Here we will analyze these three terms how they are considered as chief factors in making our fellowship with God fruitful and practical. There has to be present in the heart either faith or unbelief, the root, sap and chief power of all sin. That is why, in the Scriptures, unbelief is called the head of the serpent and of the ancient dragon which the offspring of the woman (who is Christ) must crush, as was promised to Adam and Eve at their confronting moment with God in the Garden (Genesis 3:15).
Grace refers to God’s kindness or favor which he has offered toward all human beings, and by which He has disposed to pour the Holy Spirit with his gifts upon us. “Grace and gift are in Christ” refers the salvation and new entry to the eternal life. More of this, all believing people have given spiritual gifts according to His grace, its not by any other effort. But Luther warns us that the things are not settled yet, since evil desires and sins remain in us. We are yet contradicting and falling against, we have a struggle against the Spirit, as Paul says in Roman chapter 7. But grace does do this much: that we are accounted completely unjust, sinner and enemy before God. According to Luther, God’s grace is not given as parts or divided into bits and pieces, as are the spiritual gifts, but grace is given to us as a complete package as God’s favor for and in the sake of Christ, who is now our intercessor before the Heavenly throne of God Himself.
“Faith is is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). Luther shows his firm understanding in this Scripture while he talks of faith. His conviction is the faith, which is given to us to accept God’s salvation in Christ, it is by grace through faith, not by any other effort, not by following rituals, works of efforts of the physical attempts. Faith is not about the illusion or a dream as someone consider, but it is only a way and mean to grasp the right to be with the Lord. Luther does not agree with the leaders who were teaching the mass that the faith is not enough to get salvation, one must have to work for it. They would tell that faith produces nothing, no good works result from it, if one wishes to be virtuous and get into Heaven, he or she must have to work in obedience of the leaders (spc. The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church). but Paul in Roman says that they stumble on the stumbling stone, which is Christ the Lord. But faith is a work of God in us. He changes us through the faith He let grow in our heart and mind. The same faith is the force which brings us into a certain position that we already have experiencing the new life. Faith doesn’t ask whether good works are to be done, but, before it is asked, it has done them. It remains always active within us. this is a living substance in us, its unshakable and firm to help put our trust on God’s grace, so we always have assurance of being saved.
The justification, as Luther states in his writing on the Romans, is result of the progressive faith in us place in Jesus. We are justified due to our being in Christ through faith, by covering of God’s own righteousness. We are sure enough of the justification, that Christ is our all source of the way, the truth and the life.
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