Sermon Audio

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.

St. Paul quotes from David in Psalm 32. He says that David is describing the "blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works." Earlier, St. Paul also described God as one who justifies the ungodly, stating, "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness..."

From this, it should be clear that justification comes by grace, and only by grace, and it is received by faith, which if we read another of St. Paul's inspired letters, we learn to also be given by God's grace. (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10) Right there in the middle of tonight's passage, St. Paul declares that God justifies the ungodly further stating that He does so apart from works, imputing righteousness to the ungodly apart from works.

Now, to make this a good Lutheran sermon, it must be stated where this righteousness is obtained, for a good Lutheran sermon must state that you are the righteousness of God only on account of Christ becoming your sin and dying with it on the cross. This we learn from the very mouth of God as recorded for us in the gospels, and it is articulated for us like this in yet another of St. Paul's inspired letters. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Yes, it is Christ who alone did all of the good works, keeping the law perfectly, without sin—that is to say He knew no sin, or perhaps I should put it in a way that makes sense to our modern ears, sin did not know Him. Then God made Him to be sin for us; He took upon Himself the sin of the world—John rightly calls Him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world—and died with it. (John 1:29) "It is finished," the Christ called out just before He died (John 19:30), and the work which declared you righteous was done.

That means there is no more work to do. There is nothing more to do to become the righteousness of God. It is finished. Christ has died, and you are forgiven for all of your sins!

Ah, but not so fast; this homily isn't done yet. Many still seek a work to do in order to become the righteousness of God, even among Lutherans. We see righteousness and forgiveness and eternal life, and it appears a great prize to be earned by us. He that holds this great prize is God, and in order to earn it from Him, we must find the right currency to give in exchange for it, and that currency is good works, or being good. It goes to natural law and the law of God written on man's heart, the good work of being decent and respectable to one another.

These good works done in order to gain what is already declared to be yours, however, rob the Christ of the work that He has done in order to declare you righteous. It denies that He who sin knew not became sin for you. It denies that He took your sin from you. It denies that He died to forgive you for all of your sins. It denies that He has paid the full price for your redemption, your righteousness. It denies and resists God's grace! It is to take your sin back from Christ (as if that could be done) because you want to work it off yourself. "See," you tell God, "I don't need the Christ to die for this sin, I have done this good work to counter the sin's effect." And it goes on, because if you believe you can work one off, you believe you can work them all off.

And let's also be clear, at the core of all unbelief can be found this natural law of good works. They may be defined differently among all religions, but even among the staunchest of atheists and agnostics, good works are a moral imperative. Something good must be done to counter all the evil in the world and in the self, in order to set oneself up favorable to whatever god or gods they look up to, even if that god is self.

Now, recall that I stated that this is not a non-Lutheran phenomenon. Yes, even you and I seek to work off sin by good works. Let me ask you this, what is your motive for doing the good work? Is it born of a heart cleansed by the blood of Christ? Well and good, see to your work and do not boast in it. Is it born of a desire to "do something for God?" Is it born of a desire to repay God for the debt of forgiveness? Is it born of a desire to show to yourself (and others) how much of a better Christian you are than another? If so, then you have something to boast about, much as what St. Paul wrote of Abraham: "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God."

But not before God...for God does not accept these good works done for selfish gain. As has been mentioned, the good work that made you His righteousness has already been done. No more is needed; therefore, no more is wanted. Yes, God is pleased with your good works born of a heart cleansed by the blood of Christ; He is pleased when we are merciful because of the mercy He has shown us, and He rewards us for these works of mercy done secretly, see Matthew 6:4. "For if Abraham," or anyone, "was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God."

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."

No, not before God, because the truth is as David also wrote, "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17) God does not desire sacrifice—He does not want our good works done in order to earn righteousness. On the other hand, He does not despise a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart; these are the sacrifices of God.

With these, one looks upon their sinful condition, looks upon the sins committed, and sees that no good work is enough to atone for them. Spare one—the good work accomplished when He who sin knew not yet became sin—taking that sin upon Himself—and died with it, to rise again on the third day. You were once dead in your trespasses and sins, yet God took that from you—took your trespasses and sins and death—and gave you righteousness and forgiveness and life return, first when you were washed clean in the waters of Holy Baptism, and renewed and given again every time you confess your sins in God-given contrition.

And you didn't have to lift a finger to earn it. It was all by grace, and received by faith. Or, as St. Paul writes, "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, 'I have made you a father of many nations') in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did..."

God has given you life for death; He has given you righteousness for lawlessness. He has given you, who were once dead, faith to believe in Him who gives life to the dead, who declares you forgiven for all of your sin. It is finished.