Martin Luther

Both Just and a Sinner

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“Simul justus, et peccator, totus, totus” (Martin Luther).

In case you were wondering, this quote is Latin and can be translated as “Simultaneously both just and a sinner.”

I find out how very true that is in my own life on a daily basis. I can echo the words of Paul when he said that the good he wanted to do, he didn’t do, and the bad he didn’t want to do, he did.

I don’t think this expression is a license to indulge in sinful habits and choices. I do think that the reality is that as long as we live in the flesh in this life, we will battle the fleshly desires that still dwell within us.

The part I love is where God declares those of us who have put our faith in Christ to be just. It’s not a righteousness that comes from any part of who we are or what we do but is entirely from God and is completely the righteousness of Jesus given to us.

I see it as good reason not to get puffed up in thinking how spiritual I am simply because I’ve come to faith in Christ. I may be just in the eyes of God, but I also know that that sin nature that still dwells in me can rear its ugly head from time to time and at very inopportune moments.

The good news is that it won’t always be this way. God in Jesus has promised that He will finish the good work He started in me (and you). That’s not a wishful thinking kind of hope or a pie-in-the-sky fantasy kind of dream. Because God has said it, it’s already as good as done, as true as the God who has spoken it.

Lord Jesus, let it be done.

 

 

 

Good Friday 2017

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“But thank God the crucifixion was not the last act in that great and powerful drama,” King preached. “There is another act. And it is something that we sing out and cry and ring out today. Thank God a day came when Good Friday had to pass” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act” (Mahatma Gandhi).

“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime” (Martin Luther).

Why is today called Good Friday? What’s so great about Jesus being tortured to death for a crime He didn’t commit? Why does it still matter nearly 2,000 years later?

It seems weird to call the day of Jesus’ crucifixion Good Friday, but when you look at it with Easter Sunday in mind, it makes a lot more sense.

If all you had was Good Friday with no resurrection, then it’s a very Tragic Friday. We should all stay home on Sunday and live however we want. Get stoned, get drunk, get laid, do whatever because none of it matters if Jesus is still in that tomb.

But God raised Jesus from the dead. He walked out of the tomb two days later and everything changed. Absolutely everything. That’s what makes it good.

So much of what happens in our lives will only make sense in reverse. When God promises to work all things together for our good, we often can only see that good not looking ahead or in the midst of it, but looking back on it. We see then how God orchestrated every moment perfectly to lead us where we are now, the best possible outcome.