Magyar Egyház, 2001 (80. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2001 / 2. szám
I 6. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Now all anxiety in seeking to become acceptable to God had ended. Later Ellen White would repeat this assurance in her impressive declaration, “We may enjoy the favor of God. We are not to be anxious about what Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our substitute. Ye are accepted in the Beloved.” Luther’s grasp of the gospel Luther came to clearer insights as he studied more carefully Paul’s letters to the Romans and Galatians. These two letters became the two-edged sword of the Protestant Reformation in its battle against the proposing of a system of worksrighteousness. Luther used the polemical passages of Paul (Rom, 3:22-26, 28; Gal.2:21; 3:10; 5:4) directed against the merit system of Pharisaic Judaism in his battle against the merit-seeking theology and piety of the medieval church. In Romans 3:24 Paul stressed the nature of God’s mercy twice when he said “freely by his grace!” This became the hallmark of the Protestant Reformation: “Sola Gratia!” But the grace of God was no longer interpreted as the metaphysical fluid of sacramental grace. It was understood again in its pristine apostolic sense of the “unmerited favor of God.” Rejecting the de-personalized concept of grace put forward by scholastic theologians, Luther joyfully proclaimed the believer’s personal acceptance by God. In Romans 3:28, Paul summed up justification in his historic statement, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” Luther translated Paul’s emphasis on justification by faith “without works of law” in the German language by the additional word “alone”: “allein durch den Gauben,” “by faith alone.” This was a correct translation and interpretation of Paul’s polemic against righteousness works. Luther’s brief formula for justification “by faith alone” became part of the banner of the entire Protestant Reformation: “Sola Fide.” Thus, the Reformation summed up the Protestant faith in three short cries that sounded against the teaching of the church of that day: Sola Scriptura - Sola Gratia - Sola Fide! Luther, in the meantime, advanced his understanding on justification substantially. With the help of Augustine he discovered that God’s righteousness is a divine free gift. But he still thought of the gift merely in terms of an indwelling Christ and a gradually increasing righteousness in the believer. This meant that the believer was always partly righteous and partly sinful. At this point, for Luther justification was seen to be made inwardly righteous. Further clarification for Luther Later, in his commentary on Galatians (1535) Luther reached his mature concept of justification: it is the forensic or legal imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the repentant believer. Now he taught the complete justification of sinners in the forgiveness of their sins. Now his emphasis was on the Christ for us, who died for our sins, and no longer on grace as something infused in the believer. The “alien righteousness” of Christ now became the essence of justification and the basis for the certainty of personal salvation, because it is not a partial but a complete righteousness. We are saved by an alien righteousness, not by our own righteousness! In 1528 Luther said in one of his sermons, “As Adam brought damnation upon us by an alien (to us) sin, so Christ has saved us by an alien righteousness...Our testimony and confession is: Not through yourself but through Christ will you be saved. These two you must distinguish from one another, yourself and Christ. You did not come down from heaven, you were not born of Mary, but you were made out of dirt. Therefore Christ’s doing is different from yours.” Luther also gave “faith” back its apostolic meaning. Instead of the popular notion that “faith” was an intellectual assent that had to be supplemented by “works,” or human behavior of some kind, Luther proclaimed that faith meant a person’s act of commitment to God and His Word. Faith saves, not because it is the meritorious act of a person, but because it apprehends and embraces Christ. He is our Savior, Forgiver, Justifier, and Fulfiller of the law. God accepts believers and reckons them righteous solely on account of Christ and His merits. The believer is justified in Christ! Such faith did not need to be supplemented by works, because such faith worked from the start! Luther coined a profound phrase, one that has often been misunderstood: the believer in Christ is simul justus et peccator, “at the same time just and sinful.” He meant to say: in Christ the believer is fully justified, while he remains in himself, that is, in his inherent sinful nature (not : character), fully sinful! He therefore could say with Paul: “We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved”(Rom. 8:23, 24). Saving faith thus should prevent believers from ever feeling holy in themselves! Luther, however, certainly did not suggest that a sanctified life is irrelevant or unnecessary. He fully acknowledged that justification is effective in producing sanctification, but he insisted that such good works of the Spirit are not a component part
