John 8:31-36.                       Free to be truly Christian????                                        1/11/15

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 

34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 

35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

Today we have set aside as our day to commemorate Reformation Day – the day the Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the Wittenburg Church door. In doing so we remind ourselves of the ever-present need for God’s people to return to and hold fast to the truth that God has given to us in Jesus Christ.

Now we may be tempted to think, that was way back then, and the church at that time had gone off the rails. People were having to pay money for the forgiveness of their sins, and there were other terrible abuses and corruptions of what the church is meant to be. So yes thankfully Martin Luther came along and set about making things right again.

But that was way back then and we are now living in a different age and time, so this is an old, bygone celebration that is not all that important for us today. We are now living at a time when it is not fashionable to focus on differences. We all are seemingly struggling for our survival. And at the end of the day, as long as I have ‘my faith’ that is all that matters.

However all of these views are the very reason why we need to reflect on the importance of reformation. In fact it is absolutely vital today: Almost more than at other time in history. In our own church as well as across the whole Christian scene; and our own lives as well, there is a great need for reformation: a returning back to the truths of Scripture that has been handed to us by the Lord God Almighty himself.

So serious it is, that many people’s soul’s salvation is at stake. It is not good enough to just say ‘I have my faith, therefore I am okay.’ Faith, in what? That the sun will come up tomorrow! That I acknowledge some sort of higher being out there somewhere! That I live a reasonable life therefore I will be up there, wherever that is! That I believe that Jesus is a good bloke who has given us a good way to live! Or even that this Jesus did die and rise again, but it is my acceptance of him and my living as he would expect that makes it what is all important.

These and many other such views are commonly peddled around today, even in ‘christian’ circles. It would seem that what an individual thinks and interprets God’s Word as saying, is what is valid and acceptable. So what I think is what is all important. Yet surely, that in the end is not good enough.

What did Jesus say in his reading here today: 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

It is here quite clear, as well as in many, many other places in the Scriptures, that it is only those who seek to hold to Jesus teaching that are really his disciples. Those who think that they can play fast and loose with God’s Word are not disciples of Jesus, but people who are seeking to use him for their own purposes; and that surely is disastrous. In fact God himself tell us that.

Just because someone claims to be a Christian doesn’t mean that they are. Here many Jews were claiming Abraham as their descendant, and they were regularly doing what good Jews of the day were doing. As a result they thought that they were free; that they were acceptable to God. Only to be clearly told by Jesus that this was not the case.

He tells them: I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family. Here we have a very important word for our world today. Everyone who sins – now that surely is every one of us. Not one of us according to God’s Word can stand and say that he is not a sinner. In fact if we are truly honest with ourselves, we all fall a long, long way short of what God expects of us. As such he reminds us all that we have no permanent place in the family – that is God’s family.

So not one us can say that we are free and are acceptable to God and can in any way claim that we will be ‘up there somewhere when we die.’ All of us are in a dire predicament if we are going to try and do life on our own and by our own rules. Again God’s Word is very clear about this.  Here Jesus is also ‘telling it as it is to these smug Jews’ and people today who have the same attitude and thinking.

But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He goes on: but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Here he gets to the heart of the Gospel, and that which Luther and the Reformation sought to highlight once again; and it surely is the message that needs to be at the heart of our own and the churches life as well.

It is only through the Son, Jesus Christ and our connection with him that we have any hope at all. His life, death and resurrection alone is what makes it possible for us to be in God’s family now and forever. He took the punishment on himself that God’s holiness and justice declared to be necessary for all sin, both big and small. Even though he was sinless he gave himself as the sacrifice for sin so that we might be extended forgiveness, life and salvation.

Then again he rose again from the dead three days later, declaring to us and the world that he has defeated sin, death and devil, and that eternal life is there for all who are connected to Jesus Christ. In him alone we can have the certainty of being up there in heaven when we die.

So then the great reformation declaration of Christ alone, stands for the world across the centuries as of basic importance. He is not one of many ways to God, but the only way. His death and resurrection alone is what makes salvation possible. This is of utmost importance for us to believe.

In connection with this is also the declaration of the basis truth of by Grace alone. It is God extending his undeserving love to us alone that makes us acceptable. So no amount of good deeds, money or right thinking on our part makes us any more or less acceptable. Just because I was brought up in a Christian family doesn’t give me access into God’s family either. There is nothing that I can contribute toward my being acceptable to God. His Grace alone stands as a beacon to us all.

This then is where the third important declaration of reformation thinking across the history of the church since the time of Jesus Christ, stands as another basic truth from God’s Word: Faith alone.  All we are called on to do, and can do, is to trust that all of this is the case, just as God has told us in his Word. It is not faith plus good living that makes us acceptable, even though if we have faith good works will be a part of the Christians life. But our goodness or lack of does not contribute to our salvation and acceptableness to God. Faith alone is what is necessary.

That brings us to the final basic tenet of Christian truth and that is Scripture alone. All these truths that have been mentioned so far are there in the Bible. There is God’s Word to us in its entirety. All that we need to know is in the Bible; and everything there is God’s Word and which we are called to hold to. Not some of it is God’s Word and some of Pauls views. It is all God’s inspired and inerrant, written Word.

This importance of the Scriptures is vital for us as a church at this time.  There is in these days a significant twisting and changing of God’s Word to accommodate the thinking that we would like to be there and which fits the culture of the day. By doing this we are placing ourselves and our thinking above what God says. It is no longer Scripture alone. But what we want God to say for us today.

Here again God’s Word is very clear about the disaster that we bring on ourselves by doing so. All scripture is God breathed and useful for the Christians life. Jesus also says not one word is to be changed either. Nothing more is needed. Nothing less is acceptable.

At a time when we have made ourselves and our thinking an idol, by placing these things above God and his Word, there is a real need for a major reformation again in our Christian world. We have moved far in our thinking and attitude toward God and our salvation; to the point where, in many places, there has to be serious questions asked as to whether we are actually Christian.

I am quite sure if Luther was living here today he would be having a great deal to say to us. But we don’t need him, for we have Jesus and his Word ever before us. If we are not prepared to listen to him, would we listen to Luther either? In many cases, I think many today seem to consider themselves to know better than both.

But what are we going to do about it. Often we think that there is very little. The temptations is to throw up our hands and give up and even have very little to do with the church. However we need to be ever aware that at stake is ours, our families, and others soul’s salvation. The place for us all to start with regard to reformation – that is reforming things back to what they are intended to be – is to start with our selves.

Today we need to commit ourselves to the truth of God and his Word. We all need to remember and hold fast to the basic truth that we are saved by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, according to the Scriptures. Remember what Jesus said here in this reading: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

 Then again all glory and honour will go to our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish