Deeper understandings Justification
As always, it is by grace through faith on account of Christ
Editor’s note: This series is intended to be a public conversa- tion among teaching theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at
www.thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip
D.W. Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By Timothy J. Wengert W
hen it comes to the Christian understanding of salvation—that we are declared right with God (justi- fied) not by works or choices but by grace through faith on account of Christ—human beings just cannot believe their ears. It sounds too good to be true. A former student at a Lutheran
seminary, a recent Lutheran, told of how at age 15 she had confessed her
sins to a priest who gave her a list of works to do. She never did them and, as a result, lived constantly with that guilt. Invited by a college friend to worship in a Lutheran congregation, she was confronted with the confes- sion of sin at the outset of the ser- vice. All of her guilt flooded back. But then the pastor turned around and said, “I announce to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” The student blurted out for the whole congregation to hear: “Is that it?” That’s it! In the unconditional absolution, in the waters and word of baptism, in the Lord’s Supper and in the sermon—as well as in all those examples of “mutual conversation and consolation” (as Martin Luther called it) where fellow Christians strengthen one another in the faith— God justifies us (makes us right with God). God does this by forgiving, encouraging and comforting us with unconditional statements of love. A succinct statement about justi- fication comes in the fourth and fifth articles of the Augsburg Confes- sion, the foundational confession of Lutheran Christians:
“It is taught that we cannot obtain Wengert Strohl
Wengert is the Ministerium of Pennsylvania Professor and professor of Reformation his- tory at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Strohl is professor of Reformation history and theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif.
forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God through our merit, work, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righ- teous before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and
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the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel.”
This statement contains some remarkable good news—if only we could believe our ears. First, it tells us what justification is not. It is not up to us and our working, meriting and sat- isfying God’s judgment against sin. It’s not even a matter of trusting our own decisions about God. We cannot obtain it.
Second, it’s unconditional. It is a matter of what we receive from God as a gift—“gratis” as the Latin ver- sion of this article states. No strings attached. It’s unconditional. We can only receive.
Third, this relationship is estab- lished through faith alone. Here it’s important to note that faith isn’t a work we do but, as Article 5 makes clear, a work the Spirit does in us through the word of God, that is, through the gospel and sacraments. Unfortunately, in our time many Christians have reduced faith to a decision people make and they often ask others, “Have you decided for Christ?”
Faith opens us to what we could not dream of before: a loving rela- tion to God based not upon what we do or decide but upon what God has decided to do for us. Finally, God does all this “for
Christ’s sake.” Thus, we also must add that our relation to God is a matter of “Christ alone.” In Romans 3:25, Paul talks about justification and calls Jesus Christ a “hilasterion,”or (in older transla- tions) a “mercy seat.” Any time
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