“When He is revealed, we shall be like Him” 1 John 3:2

Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He humbled Himself, suffered and died for the sins of all and rose again on the third day, having won forgiveness of sins and life everlasting for all mankind.

He now – through the preaching of His Word – calls sinners to repent of their sinful ways and trust in Him and His shed blood for full and free forgiveness and for the everlasting joys of heaven.

When by the grace and mercy of God, we are brought to see our sinfulness and to turn to Jesus for forgiveness and life in Him, we become children of God – saved by His grace alone. We have an inheritance in heaven and look forward to the day when Jesus our Savior returns to take us to live with Him in holiness and righteousness, forever with our God and Savior.

We can’t even begin to understand what it will be like when we are raised up in – or changed into – His image. The Bible tells us: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Now we are faultless before our heavenly Father because of Christ’s righteous life and atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world, but we look forward to that day when we are free of all sin and can indeed serve our God in righteousness and purity forever. While we await that day, we strive – led and aided by God’s Holy Spirit – to be more and more like our Savior. As the Bible says, “Everyone who has this hope in Him (Jesus Christ) purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

But the day will come, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” and we shall be changed into the image of our Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 15:52). “We shall be like Him.”

As believers in our Lord Jesus, we can join with David in his psalm and say: “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).

What a day that will be!

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for redeeming us with Your holy and precious blood and for graciously bringing us to repent of our sins and trust in You for forgiveness and life. By Your Spirit, keep us in the faith and move us to seek to be more and more like You until that day when You return and we are changed into Your likeness and dwell with You forevermore. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Again and again, I hear preachers telling mourning loved ones that this person or that is, without a doubt, in heaven because of how much he loved Jesus, how many people’s lives she touched, how strong a faith he had, or how much good she accomplished in her lifetime.

I can’t help but wonder, “Was it enough?” After all, God’s Word commands us to love the LORD God with all our heart, soul and mind; to love others as much as we love ourselves; to be holy and perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. It says our best works, in and of themselves, are like filthy and unclean rags in God’s eyes.

So, I just want to make a few things clear before I die. I might even suggest these words be read on that occasion so there is no doubt:

• I won’t be in heaven because of how much I loved Jesus; I will be in heaven because of how much Jesus loved me!

• I won’t be in heaven because of any good things I’ve done; I will be in heaven because of all the good and perfect things Jesus did for me!

• I won’t be in heaven because of all I’ve sacrificed for Jesus; I will be in heaven because of all Jesus sacrificed for me when He gave His life on the cross and paid the just penalty for my sin.

• I won’t be in heaven because I died a good death for Jesus; I will be in heaven because Jesus died a good death for me, conquered sin and death and rose again to be my ever-living Savior!

• I won’t even be in heaven because of my strong and enduring faith; I will be in heaven because Jesus gave me His Spirit at my baptism, and the Holy Spirit endured me and patiently and again and again throughout my life revealed to me my utter sinfulness but promised me forgiveness and acceptance through faith in Christ Jesus!

So, you see, I won’t be in heaven because of me – I’ve failed and come short; but I will be in heaven because of Jesus and what He has done for me – He did it all!

“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…” (Rom. 3:23-24).

To quote from the hymn (emphasis mine), “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness,” written by Ludwig von Zinzendorf and translated by John Wesley, nearly 300 years ago, “When from the dust of death I rise to claim my mansion in the skies, e’en then, this shall be all my plea: Jesus hath lived and died for me.”

1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. Matthew 9:1-8

In private confession and absolution, and each Sunday in corporate worship, sinners confess their sins to the Lord God and look to Christ Jesus and His cross in faith for the forgiveness of sins; and, the pastor announces unto them the grace of God and, in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, forgives the sins of penitent sinners. “But who can forgive sins but God alone?” some may ask.

This is what the scribes asked within themselves when Jesus forgave the sins of a man, sick of the palsy. They thought Jesus was guilty of blasphemy because He, seeing the faith of this paralyzed man and his friends, said to the man, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

Of course, anyone can say the words, but if they lack the authority to forgive sins, those words are but a deception, a lie, a sham. But Jesus proved His authority to forgive sins. He said, “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

And, what happened? The paralyzed man “arose and departed to his house.” Jesus’ proved His authority to forgive sins, and He proved that His words to this man were indeed true. This man’s sins were forgiven! He could depart in peace.

And what about the words of your pastor when he hears your confession and points you to Christ Jesus and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross for the sins of the world and tells you to “go in peace; your sins are forgiven you”?

He may not be able to heal the sick or raise the dead, but Jesus did and it is Jesus who commands him to preach “repentance and remission of sins” in Christ’s name (Luke 24:47). It is Jesus who commands His disciples and His pastors to forgive the sins of penitent sinners and to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent (John 20:22-23). It is Jesus who said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18).

And notice that pastors do not forgive — or baptize, or administer the Lord’s Supper, or preach — in their own name and by their own authority. Rather, it is “in the stead and by the command” of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus healed the paralyzed man, proving His authority to forgive sins. Jesus even rose from the dead, proving the sufficiency of His sacrifice on the cross to satisfy God’s just wrath against all sins (cf. Rom. 4:23-25; 1 Cor. 15:1ff.; John 1:29). Certainly, He who paid for our sins with His blood and then rose again from the dead on the third day has the authority to forgive the sins of all who look to Him in faith.

So, when you confess your sins to God — whether in corporate worship or in private confession — and the pastor, based on your confession and your profession of faith in Christ Jesus, announces unto you the grace of God and proclaims to you that your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, you can depart in peace, in good cheer, for indeed your sins are forgiven by the Lord Jesus Himself — He has the authority to forgive sins! (Cf. Luther’s Small Catechism on Confession.)

O gracious and merciful God, forgive our sins for Jesus’ sake and grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may believe and rejoice in the pardon and forgiveness won for us by our Lord Jesus Christ and promised and assured to us in Your absolution spoken by the pastor. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Some may wonder: “Why the emphasis on teaching, studying and learning the Scriptures? Why did the Apostle Paul command Timothy to preach the Word, to use the Word to reprove, rebuke and exhort? Why are ministers today commanded to preach the Word and nothing but the Word?”

The answer is quite simple. It is through the Holy Scriptures that we are made “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Scriptures reveal our utter sinfulness and the judgment of God upon our sins; and the Scriptures reveal our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the salvation God provided for us when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to suffer and to die for our sins and then rise again.

And the Scriptures, given by inspiration of God, are His Word, not man’s. They are useful and profitable for teaching, for reproving, for correcting our erring ways and for instruction in righteous living. They provide us with all we need to know to be thoroughly furnished to do those works God created us to do (cf. Eph. 2:8-10).

God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path (Ps. 119:105), and God desires and commands that we study and learn His Word (cf. Matt. 28:19-20; John 8:31-32; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; Rom. 10:17).

Of course, the day has come when people don’t wish to hear the Word (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3-4; John 3:19-21). They hire preachers who do not preach the Word or who explain it away and water it down. And, as a result, they do not see their sinfulness and do not look to Christ for their salvation.

But, that we might be saved, we need to continue in the Word and hold fast to the truth we have learned from the Word that we would be made “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Move us, O Lord, to continue in Your Word that we might know Christ and salvation through faith in His name. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:19-26

Can anyone be saved by doing good works? by living a good life? by obeying God’s commandments? What does God say in His Word?

Consider the Scriptures quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10-18:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
“Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The Bible makes clear the fact that all people have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (v.23). Not a single one of us can be saved on the basis of our own life or works.

It is as the Bible tells us: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

How then can we be saved? God, in His Word, gives us the answer: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” (v.21-22).

There is a way to be counted righteous in God’s eyes for those who have sinned and do not measure up to God’s perfect law. It is a way to be saved apart from our own perfect obedience to all of God’s holy commandments. It is a way described in the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as the New. It is “the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” It is righteousness imputed to those who trust in Christ Jesus and His holy life and in His innocent sufferings and death on the cross in our stead.

And it is a way of salvation available to all people. “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus …” All have sinned and have come short, and Christ died and made atonement for all — that God might be just in forgiving the sins of those who trusted in Christ before He came into this world and also in forgiving the sins of those who now look to Him in faith for pardon and forgiveness (cf. v.23-26).

The only way to be justified, forgiven and accepted by God is through faith in Christ Jesus “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Are we righteous before God on the basis of God’s law? No, we’ve all come short and stand guilty and condemned by God’s law! Can we still be righteous in God’s sight? Yes, through faith in Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s law in our stead and in His blood shed for us on the cross!

God, grant us such faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]