Hope you’re comfortable. It’s time for another reading from Romans. (That means ALL the citations.)

Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
— Romans 5:1-2 (NRVue)

Verses 1 and 2 are a solid touchstone of the Lutheran Confessions and comes up consistently in The Augsburg Confession and its Apology.

The first instance of verse 1 is a quote in The Augsburg Confession, Article 20: Faith (AC 20.16) to emphasize why the proclamation of God’s salvation by faith alone matter so much—it brings peace to people who are lost in the question of if they have done enough to be saved. As Paul writes, what justifies us to God is faith not works. We don’t do good works out of fear or reward but out of faith.

The rest of the citations of verse 1 and most of verse 2 come from the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, starting with a quote (from the Vulgate and Greek versions, which read differently than the New Revised Standard Version) of verse 2 in Article 4: Justification (AP 4.81) to show what the forgiveness of sins is:

Therefore we are reconciled to the Father and we receive the forgiveness of sins when we are comforted by a confidence in the mercy promised on account of Christ.
— Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
Article 4: Justification, Line 79

Verse 1 is then quoted a little later (AP 4.91). We were close to here last week because this is one of the verses that Melanchthon pulls from Paul to show that the phrase “faith justifies” is not just a random once-off from the apostle. Indeed, it is one of six quotes about the saving faith from Paul.

Melanchthon comes back to verse 1 later in the same article (AP 4.180ish) as a way of returning to the question of why people need to be comforted by the good news for it to matter.

…only that which brings peace to consciences justifies before God. For we are not righteous and made alive as long as the conscience flees the judgment of God and is angry with God.
— Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
Article 4: Justification, Line 180ish

If we fear God or are angry with God, we cannot be justified before God.

Verse 2 is quoted shortly afterward (AP 4.181ish) to make clear that even after the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is still our way to God because even though we are born again we still cannot keep the law and still need the forgiveness Jesus gives us for we cannot even keep the law without faith.

Verse 2 comes up again later in the same article (AP 4.254ish) in a section that we looked at with the Beatitudes and Matthew 5:7 to drive home the point that the law is not kept without faith. An argument Melanchthon calls others to repeat every time people argue that works are required.

Verse 1 is quoted next in Article 12: Repentance (AP 12.36) to lift up the importance of faith in repentance. Since the justifying faith is what receives and believes in the forgiveness of sins in Christ, it is the justifying faith that makes the difference in repentance. Melanchthon holds up two dichotomous pairs, Judas and Peter and King Saul and King David, to show the difference. Judas and Saul were sorry for what they did, but did not believe their sins could be forgiven. Peter and David, on the other hand, believed God and the forgiveness spoken to them.

Verse 2 is then cited through editorial insert (AP 12.37) to show that faithful keeping of the law done in faith is only possible in Jesus. Keep the law in faith is the same as receiving forgiveness in faith. It is the same faith. Judas and King Saul followed the law out of fear and anxiety, so they could not keep the law just as they could not acknowledge God’s forgiveness.

Verse 2 is quoted again a bit later (AP 12.63) when Melanchthon gets a bit snarky and shows that Roman theologians admit that forgiveness is the point of repentance because only in the peace of forgiveness of our sin through Jesus can we find comfort before God.

Going back to verse 1, we move on to Article 24: The Mass (AP 24.12) to show again that communion is not efficacious in and of itself. Merely going through the motions and words is not help. But faith, which believes the promises of God, is necessary for communion, because it is faith that calms our fears with the promises of God. This also means that one cannot receive communion for others or celebrate communion on behalf of others or those who have died. Communion is not a work but a statement of faith, so any benefit from receiving communion cannot be imparted to another person—especially one who has died. Melanchthon then repeats all of this twice more in the same article (AP 24.60, 24.89) as he moves through his argument.

Verse 2 is quoted, finally, in the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article 4: Good Works (FC, SD 4.34) to show that “everything—the beginning, middle, and end—” about salvation and righteousness before God comes down to faith.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
— Romans 5:10 (NRSVue)

Verse 10 is cited in a footnote to the Smalcald Articles, Part 3, Article 2: Concerning the Law (SA 3.2.4, n. 81) to show that even Paul thought of himself as an enemy of God when he saw himself as under the law. Indeed, all who are under the law and experience it as a restraint will see God as an enemy.

John 4:5-42

“But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
— John 4:23-24 (NRSVue)

Verses 23 thru 24 are quoted in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article 24: The Mass (AP 24.27) to show that for Christians, indeed from the New Testament on, worship is a spiritual matter. This does not mean that we don’t have to gather together or receive the sacraments. Instead, spiritual worship shows that external sacrifices are no longer appropriate. True worship is about faith not particular actions.

TheoThru

In case it isn’t obvious yet, Lutheranism is a deeply Pauline expression of Christianity. For Luther and those who agreed with him, Christianity comes down to one simple thing: believing God. Not believing what others say about God, not making other ideas or things or activities into gods, not believing the institution of the church, but believing God. This drives all theology and how our faith seeks understanding.

One thing you learn when doing doctoral work is to get as close to the original source as possible. This can be hard when it comes to God, so God has given us scripture. But this is not a settled issue. There are still words in the Bible that we aren’t really sure what they mean. Biblical scholarship is necessary, especially when it is peer-reviewed work, because we want to be as faithful in our presentation of what the Bible says about who God is as we can.

Yet Lutherans will argue (and I think rightly) that it still all comes down to faith. Even the work of biblical scholarship is done in the saving faith or it is not a good work. Even the work of deciding which version of the Bible to use is done in the saving faith or it is not a good work. Even the work of proclaiming the gospel though word and deed is done in the saving faith or it is not a good work.

What we seek is the peace that only Christ can give. And only faith can receive it.