On What—or Whom—Do We Stand?

By Rev. Chris Hull

It’s All About Jesus For You

There was no counsel, no help, no comfort for us until this only and eternal Son of God, in His unfathomable goodness, had mercy on our misery and wretchedness and came from heaven to help us. Those tyrants and jailers now have been routed, and their place has been taken by Jesus Christ, the Lord of life and righteousness and every good and blessing.

Here I stand. Luther spoke these words before Emperor Charles V, representatives from the Pope, and various other gathered noblemen of the Holy Roman Empire. On what did Luther stand? Did he stand on his piety, intelligence, or nationality? Did Luther stand on his emotions, good works, or impeccable record of sacrificial living? No, Luther did not stand on any temporal thing or progress report of personal religiousness. No, Luther stood on the clear Word of Scripture that sinful man is justified by faith in Christ Jesus alone. Luther stood on the comfort of the Gospel proclaimed and the Sacraments given to him for his forgiveness. Luther did not stand on his own merit, but rather the merit of Jesus the Christ for his eternal salvation.

This is the heart of what I presented at the Higher Things conference in San Antonio, Texas, this past summer. Along with Pastor Harrison Goodman, I walked the youth, youth leaders, and pastors through some of the most interesting years of Luther’s life. We journeyed from Luther’s time at Wartburg and his translation of the Bible all the way through the writing of both the Large and the Small Catechisms. We addressed Luther’s argument with Erasmus concerning the will of man, and why Luther’s confession of the bound will is essential to a right understanding of the magnitude of Jesus’ love for us. After all, if man can do something for his salvation, then this makes Jesus a weak savior at best. However, because man is bound in his sin, it is all up to Jesus to save us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Jesus does it all for us. And this theology of the bound will and Jesus’ work alone for our salvation has an impact on everything we believe, teach, and confess.

Luther would then take this absolute work of Jesus and debate men like Ulrich Zwingli about the Sacrament of the Altar. Luther argued that the words of Jesus, “This is my body,” must be taken literally because Jesus says it is for the forgiveness of our sins. Every time Luther debated anyone, it wasn’t just to get the record straight over some little personal opinion, it was a matter of life and death. In fact, every debate Luther engaged in, everything he wrote to comfort terrified sinners, pointed to Jesus’ absolute work of saving sinners from their captors. It was a true joy to walk through the 1520s with everyone and show them how it all comes back to faith in Christ Jesus alone for our salvation.

If a summary of the whole plenary could be done, the words of Luther from the Second Article of the Creed in the Large Catechism would be the best:

There was no counsel, no help, no comfort for us until this only and eternal Son of God, in His unfathomable goodness, had mercy on our misery and wretchedness and came from heaven to help us. Those tyrants and jailers now have been routed, and their place has been taken by Jesus Christ, the Lord of life and righteousness and every good and blessing.

These are the sweet words of the Gospel. It is all about Jesus for you. Everything from Baptism, how we translate the Bible, how we read the Bible, how we preach, how we pray, how we understand the Lord’s Supper, hymnody, the liturgy, Sunday School, and our baptismal life is all about Jesus for us and for all sinners. And the best part is that Jesus’ forgiveness and love are absolutely free of charge and more than that: it is out of our hands. Jesus covers all our sin and pays the full price for our salvation.

What greater news can we hear than this? Jesus has paid our debt in full and acquitted us of all our transgressions. There is nothing we can or need to do to appease our Heavenly Father because Jesus has done everything for us on the cross. This is what Luther stood on and it is the same thing we stand on today. We don’t stand on our piety, intelligence, or nationality. We don’t stand on our merit, emotions, good works, or religiousness. No. We stand on the Gospel of Jesus the Christ as our firm foundation for our salvation. We stand on the reality that Jesus died for us, rose for us, ascended for us, baptizes us, communes us, and absolves us.

Now, 500 years after Luther took that pivotal first step in the Reformation of nailing the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, let us continue to encourage one another in this reality and forgive each other as our Lord forgives us. May we continue to drown each other in baptismal remembrance and stain each other’s flesh in the blood of Jesus. Our footing will always be sure as we stand on Jesus our Savior true. Amen.

Rev. Chris Hull is married to Allison, and is the father of Lonny, Manny, Ty, Jamie, and a baby girl who is arriving in mid-November. He is the senior pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tomball, Texas.