Christ is For You

by Pastor Paul Wolff

"Given for you for the forgiveness of your sins

In Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, in explaining who receives the Lord’s Supper worthily, Luther explains that when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, the words “for you” (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24) require all hearts to believe. Contrary to what unbelievers fear, Jesus isn’t asking us to believe anything that isn’t true, or that may be impossible to believe. It is, of course, true that one cannot believe that Jesus is your savior from sin when you refuse to believe that you are guilty of sin, or if you do not believe that your sin deserves God’s wrath and condemnation. But the problem there among unbelievers isn’t that they haven’t sinned against God, nor that their sin isn’t worthy of eternal condemnation, nor that the salvation won by Jesus on the cross is insufficient to rescue them from all their sin and its condemnation. No, the problem among unbelievers is that although the salvation won by Jesus more than makes up for their sins, and completely satisfies the wrath of God, the Father, so that there is no threat of punishment for anyone who believes in Jesus as their savior, and although that salvation comes to everyone who believes as a gift; the unbeliever rejects the gift, and also rejects the forgiveness and salvation that come along with it.


The unbeliever has access to forgiveness and salvation, just as believers do, but because they refuse to believe, they do not receive the benefits of that forgiveness and salvation. It is as if your Father said, “I have deposited a million dollars into a bank account in your name. It is for you to live on and invest for your needs for the rest of your life.” If you believe that your Father is telling the truth, you will access the money in that account when you have need, and you will receive the benefits of that gift. On the other hand, if you do not believe that he is telling the truth (even though He is), or you don’t want the gift, or you want to earn your own way through life – though for reasons you do not understand, you are unable to do so – then you will not receive the benefits of your Father’s gift, even though it is always there and waiting for you to use it.

A savior is born to you

This is also what the angel told the shepherds in Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born. The angel said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12) This sounds like a funny thing to say that this baby (who was unknown to them at the time) was born “unto you”, but the blessings of Jesus would come to them because they believed the Word of God that the angel gave them. So because they believed, they received the blessings of God’s gift in Christ.


It was also kind of strange that the angel said to the Bethlehem shepherds that Jesus was born for them, but he didn’t say this to Mary when he visited her nine months earlier. We would assume that a child was born for his father and mother, but the angel didn’t say that, lest Mary would think that the child was born for her alone. Mary certainly did believe, and she did receive the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Jesus won for the world, but she knew that her firstborn son did not come to benefit her alone, but His salvation would be for the whole world. That is why Mary called her son, “my savior” (Luke 1:47) in the Magnificat which she sang when she visited Elizabeth, her relative, and mother of John the Baptizer.


Mary recognized that she was blessed, but other than that, she realized that she was nothing special. Later on, during Christ’s ministry (Luke 11:27-28), a woman tried to give the blessed virgin mother more credit than what was due to her when she said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” Jesus responded, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Jesus was neither insulting His mother, nor was he trying to say that she was not blessed. Jesus was saying that Mary was not blessed because she was the one woman in all of history who gave birth to the savior of the world, instead, she was blessed because she believed that her firstborn son, conceived in her by God, the Holy Spirit, would save her from her sins. In this way, Mary is like all believers. Everyone who believes in Jesus as their savior has the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Jesus won for us all when He died on the cross. The Holy Scriptures say this many times:


“To him (Jesus) all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43)

God's Christmas gift to the world His own Son to save us

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16)


“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Rom 10:4)


“For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’” (Rom 10:11)


“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” (1 John 5:1)


Because the Salvation of Jesus comes as a gift (see Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:24; Romans 5:15-17 for example) it is available for free to all who believe in Jesus as their savior from sins. You are just as blessed as Mary if you believe in Jesus as your savior, as Mary also did. Because salvation is a precious gift from God to you, this is why Christians celebrate the birth of our savior by praising God on Christmas, and giving one another gifts in recognition of the priceless gift that God gave us in sending His own Son to be our savior.


Christ bless you this Christmas, and always. Merry Christmas!

Is it Easier to Heal, or to Forgive?

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus raised Jairus' Daughter from the dead

(Matthew 9:1-8)
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
 
At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

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A paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, and when He saw the man, and the first thing He said to him was, “Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.” This seems like a strange thing to say. I don’t think that this paralyzed man’s friends brought him to have his sins forgiven. He had most likely heard of the miraculous healings Jesus had done wherever He went, and he desired to walk again.
 
The paralyzed man likely thought that it was more important for him that he would be able to walk, than to have his sins forgiven. But Jesus saw this man and his greatest need, and He addressed it right away. The man’s greatest need was not that he could not walk, but his greatest need was that he was a sinner. He needed his sins forgiven. And so Jesus dealt with that immediately, saying “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Adam and Eve brought sin and condemnation to themselves and to all people.

We, too, need to recognize that our greatest need is that our sins are forgiven. Sin makes us enemies with God, and as long as we are guilty of sin we are subject to God’s punishment. If our sins are forgiven, then God is no longer our enemy, but our greatest friend and protector. All problems, all trouble, all sorrow in this life are a result of sin. So the greatest thing that we can have is the forgiveness of Jesus.

Some of the people who were there with Jesus heard what He said to the paralyzed man, and they were thinking to themselves, “This man is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins, but God?” Well, this is true indeed! However, they didn’t recognize that Jesus is God. There He was standing there in front of them: God in the flesh! But they couldn’t see it. They thought, “this man is insulting God by saying that he could forgive sins.” Well, Jesus is God, and He can forgive sins. Jesus also knew what they were thinking, by His divine power, and so He asked them, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Rise and walk’”?

We can answer Jesus’ question on several levels. On one level, it is easy to say anything. It doesn’t take much effort to say something if you are not too particular about what it is you are saying. But of course, this is trivial. Most of us do take some care about what we say, and this is especially true for Jesus.

On another level, we can look at it and say, it is much easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” rather than say, “Get up and walk”. You can say, “Your sins are forgiven” but there is no outward indication to show if your sins really are forgiven or if they aren’t. We can’t tell just by looking at a person and say, “This person’s sins are forgiven” or “That person’s sins are not forgiven.” So in that sense it is easier to say “Your sins are forgiven” because you really can’t tell if it has been done. God knows, but we don’t. We can’t see forgiveness. We don’t know. We have to live by faith. In the same way, if you were to say to a person, “Get up and walk” and that person does not get up and walk, then you are exposed as being a charlatan, or speaking nonsense, or giving this person hope that you can’t fulfill. So it is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” rather than “Get up and walk” if you don’t have the power to make that person get up and walk. But Jesus did have the power to make that man get up and walk.

Jesus did not, however, tell the man “Your sins are forgiven” because it was easier for Him to say that rather than “Get up and walk.” Jesus had the power both to forgive sins and to heal the man from his paralysis, but Jesus dealt with what was most important first. The man’s greatest problem was his sin, so Jesus first declared that his sins were forgiven. But then to show that He did have the power not only to forgive sins, but also to heal him, He told the man, “Get up and walk” and the man was healed and stood up. By doing this great miracle, Jesus showed those who were there that He did also have the power to forgive sins. If this man, Jesus, could make a paralyzed man get up and walk, which no one else had the power to do, then He certainly also had the power to forgive sins. That was one thing that Jesus was showing by this great miracle. Jesus was also showing that He has compassion for all our needs of body and soul.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

The paralyzed man had more needs than just having his sins forgiven. He was paralyzed and had the need for healing. Though, it would have been all right for him to go through life as a paralyzed man, and yet have his sins forgiven. He could have lived his life as a paralytic, trusting in God to forgive him, and to provide for his other bodily needs, and he would be saved just like all other believers. You should remember that, at some point in history, that man died, and we should all agree that being dead is a much worse condition than being paralyzed. On the last day when Jesus calls him out of his grave, he will be restored to full health, and full strength, and he will be walking and rejoicing in God with a full, strong body forever and ever. Jesus, however, saw the man’s immediate physical needs as well as his spiritual needs and had compassion on him. He restored to him his ability to walk, in addition to forgiving his sins.

Besides the question that Jesus asks, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up and walk’?” I think we can contemplate another question Jesus did not ask, but is important for us to consider. Which is easier to DO: to heal a man who is paralyzed, or to forgive sins? Now, even today, depending on what is the cause of paralysis, in nearly all cases, healing paralysis is still an impossibility even for the most skilled doctors. If someone has a damaged spine, and cannot walk it is virtually impossible for modern medicine to heal them. Many doctors have tried different treatments, but sometimes it is just impossible. For a severe injury, if you cannot walk, you will never walk. And yet, physical problems often have physical cures. It may be possible sometime in the future to develop some healing that we cannot do now. So we may hold out some small hope for that possibility. It is now impossible, though some time in the future, it may be possible. On the other hand, it is absolutely impossible for sinful man to forgive sins.

We sinners cannot accomplish the forgiveness of sins on our own. We cannot do anything that could appease God of our own doing alone, much less for anyone else’s sins. We are guilty of sins, each of us, as we have inherited that guilt going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Even if we could overcome our own sins, we could not overcome someone else’s, and we can’t even overcome our own sins. People sometimes think that if we do enough good that we can make up for sin, but God has given us His commandments. We ought to be doing good in everything we do. How can we do more than everything to overcome our sins, especially once we are guilty of sin? It is impossible. We cannot overcome sins. God says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) You might, then, think that death might be enough to overcome our sins, but as sinners, to suffer that death would destroy us. We would be destroyed by death on account of our sin. We cannot overcome sin. It is impossible.


Only God can accomplish the redemption of our sins, and in God, only Jesus can do it. God, in His nature, is an eternal Spirit. He cannot die. But in Jesus, God has become a man in order to be able to die and to pay the price for our sins. Because Jesus is a man, He could die for our sins. He could pay the price to redeem us from our sins. And in His grace, Jesus desired to do all that was needed to win forgiveness for us, and so He became a man. As a man Jesus put himself in a place where he could do what was necessary to pay for our sins. He could live the perfect life that we were unable to do, to keep God’s Ten Commandments that we were unable to keep in our sin, so that He could present Himself before the Father as the perfect atoning sacrifice, and to offer His life in payment for ours. This is what it takes to accomplish our forgiveness. God does not overlook sin. He cannot do that in His nature. He is a just God. Sin must be punished, but Jesus took the punishment in our place, as our substitute.

Your Forgiveness was won through the death of Jesus on the cross. And the benefits come to you through faith.

This is why it is good for us to ask, “which is easier to do.” What does it take to forgive our sins? It wasn’t just as if Jesus had said, ‘your sins are forgiven, I’ll overlook it this time.’ In order for Jesus to forgive sins, He had to go to the cross. He had to suffer and die to pay for those sins, and for the sins of the world. It was not easy for Jesus to do that. It was more than just saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” It was putting that into action: going to the cross; suffering and dying; having sinners put the crown of thorns on His head; and they beat Him and slapped Him and insulted Him; nailing His hands and feet to the cross; and Jesus remained up on that cross while people were insulting Him and laughing at Him. The worst part of His death was that Jesus felt God, the Father, forsaking Him on account of our sin. He felt God’s wrath over the sins of the world, which He had nothing to do with, but that He was carrying in His body to take away from us. All of this is what it took for Jesus to forgive our sins. Jesus did all these things out of love for us all. He did these so that our sins would be taken away from us, that we might have life forever.

It was not easy for Jesus to do this, but He did it out of love for us. Which is easier? It was not easy for Jesus to do, but He did what was necessary to forgive our sins. So that when we hear the pastor telling us, “Your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” It is true. It has been done. Jesus did what was necessary. The pastor speaks words to us, but it is more than words, it is what Jesus has done for us. Those words are God’s Word that comes to us to give us life and salvation, to heal us from our sins. This is what we have in the Word of God. This is what Jesus brings to us through His Word, and through the Sacraments, that we receive the forgiveness of Jesus. That we receive what He paid for us. This is the great gift of God which gives us life.

It was not easy for Jesus to do, but He did it all for you, and for that you should thank and praise God that you have such a savior in Jesus. May Jesus strengthen your faith to know that you are forgiven. That He has done everything necessary to redeem you, to make you His Child. That you might live in that faith, trusting in Jesus to forgive your sins, and on the last day you will be raised in glorious life to live with God forever.

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled. I have gone to prepare a place for you.”

The Economics of Christ’s Salvation

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Money bag for helping your neighbor

Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27)

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If you listen too much to what the world says about Jesus, and don’t know your Bible very well, then you might be surprised to hear Jesus say that you cannot be His disciple unless you hate your father & mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even your own life!

Even those who are ignorant of the Bible, if they know anything at all about Jesus, they know that He said, “Love your neighbor.” Of course, the world (and even some unbelievers in the church) would then go on to define “love” to mean whatever they want it to mean, including some things which the Scriptures and Jesus clearly forbid and condemn, such as any kind of lust and adultery, including pre-marital intimacy, sexual promiscuity, and homosexual activity.

Jesus taught the Scriptures in a Nazareth Synagogue

Although the world doesn’t have a clue how to properly read the Bible, Christians should be aware that any interpretation which contradicts the Holy Scriptures is false. You can’t play one Scripture passage against another, so as to say, “Well, there Jesus says to love, and here he says to hate, so I guess I get to choose which one I will follow today. Tomorrow I may choose the other, but it’s my choice.” That is false, and you are always going to fall into sin if you do that.

It is also a sin to view this as a contradiction, and without trying to resolve the apparent contradiction, say, “Since the Bible seems to contradict itself, then it is not the infallible word of God and cannot be trusted, so I can go do what I want and you can’t say anything against me.” Now, if the Bible really did contradict itself, then it could not be trusted, but the Holy Scriptures truly are the Word of God and they do not contradict one another at all! What seems like contradictions in the Bible are only apparent contradictions, and they can easily be resolved and you can still maintain both sides as being true in every case.

In this case, the proper question must be, “How can you hate your neighbor (in a godly way), and still love him at the same time?” This isn’t that hard, really. Remember that the Scriptures say that all people are sinners from the time we are conceived (Psalm 51:5) so we can hate the sinfulness both in our neighbor, and in ourselves, and we can still love them as those for whom Christ died to redeem (even if they don’t acknowledge Christ’s saving work.) We can also acknowledge that Jesus is using hyperbole (or exaggeration) to make the point that you should love Him so much that it seems like you hate everyone else. This is not to say that we should hate as if we would wish our neighbor were dead, but that we should love God above all else and despise sin in ourselves and our neighbor.

The Sower sowing his seed

This is how it works in practice: I have heard of situations where an elderly person comes to the faith, but then has doubts in regard to a loved one. It could be a beloved husband or wife, a child or a parent, or a sibling. But some people actually lose their faith and say, “If my beloved is not in heaven then I don’t want to go there.” This kind of person is what Jesus was talking about in the Parable of the Sower. He is like the seed which falls on the unfit soil. This person quickly loses the faith that could have saved them. It is tragic arrogance to think that you are more righteous than God Himself. Do people really think that they are a better judge than the all-knowing God? Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep, and will never let even one go astray without going out and bringing him or her back into the flock. Also, don’t think that anyone will find any friends in hell. There is no love in hell, and those who may have loved you earth will only hate you and torment you in hell. While our loved ones are still alive we may try to lead them to find their salvation in Jesus, but once they have died we must leave their fate to the mercy of God and trust that Christ’s Judgment is always just and merciful. This is what Jesus is warning us about in Luke 14. Count the cost.

There is a cost to being a Christian. Don’t be fooled by the false teachers of our age who promise that being a Christian is all about unfailing success and prosperity. That doesn’t get you too far when a Jihadist puts a knife to your throat and asks you if you are a Christian. Martyrdom is not part of the prosperity gospel, but it can be part of the Christian life. Martyrdom is an extreme cost, and not all Christians are murdered because of their confession of Christ, but there is a cost to being a Christian.

Symbols representing Saints Peter, James & John

Revelation 7:14 calls the Christian life a “great tribulation” which recognizes the Christian life as a battle or a war. The Christian life is a battle because we must fight against sin and temptation. The pagan life is not a battle in the same way because the unbeliever sees no need to resist temptation. In some ways it is easier to be an unbeliever because they don’t have to fight against their own sinful flesh. They may indulge any sinful desire and not worry about any consequences. There are consequences and costs to the pagan life, too, but I will get to that shortly. Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” So Christians also hate evil and fight against temptation, even when our own flesh says, “I want to do wrong. I need to do that sin. I will die if I don’t do that sin.” Yes, the sinful flesh is a drama queen, but temptation can be compelling to our weak flesh. That is why we must fight against temptation. It hurts to deny the flesh its sinful desires, but that is one of the costs of being a Christian.

Think of the Beatitudes. Jesus doesn’t say, “Blessed are the rich and powerful who always get their way and are happy all the time.” It is only the heretics who say that! Jesus says: 

• Blessed are the poor in Spirit
• Blessed are those who mourn
• Blessed are the meek
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
• Blessed are the merciful
• Blessed are the pure in heart
• Blessed are the peacemakers
• Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake
• Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of (Jesus).

Christians aren’t blessed because they mourn or are meek, or do any of the other things. They are blessed because Christ gives them good gifts which rescue them and make up for their sorrow and pain in this sinful life.

Job's suffering (window from Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Detroit)

So Jesus says, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Remember that when Jesus said this, the cross was not a gold or silver-plated piece of jewelry that you proudly wear around your neck to proclaim your forgiveness and salvation in Christ. When Jesus said this the cross was the most shameful method of torture and death used to shame and humiliate the most despised criminals. So to take up your cross and follow Jesus is to recognize that you are a sinner and only deserve death, so you count your life and possessions as forfeited for Christ’s sake and look to Him to save you from sin and death, as He has promised to do.

That leads us to the other part of counting the cost – the benefits! You should also add the benefits when you count the cost. The benefits of being a Christian include: 1) complete forgiveness of all your sins – through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus; 2) reconciliation with God, the Father, and with that – adoption as His beloved child; 3) Sanctification by God the Holy Spirit; 4) resurrection to everlasting life; and 5) an eternity of joy with all the countless brothers and sisters in Christ who are likewise redeemed. These benefits are worth more than the whole world. That is why St. Paul could say in Philippians 3:7-9, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

Jesus paid the price for your sin

You should also know that although your forgiveness and salvation is free to you as a gift from God, it was not won without its own cost. In fact, your salvation was only won at a very high cost: which was the entire life and the innocent suffering and death of Jesus. When God was planning your salvation in eternity before the creation, the Son of God also had to consider the cost. Although God created the first people perfect, and without sin; yet, Adam and Eve soon rebelled against God and brought His condemnation upon themselves and their children. Yet despite their rebelliousness and lack of gratitude for all that God had given them, the Son of God loved them enough to take their punishment on Himself and was willing to endure the indignity and pain of crucifixion and also to endure the Father’s wrath of a world full of sinners.

Yes, there is a cost to being a Christian, but the cost is very small in relation to the benefits. What would you do? Would you rather indulge the pleasures of the sinful flesh for a short time (and suffer all the temporal consequences of that wickedness), and then suffer an eternity of torment with no hope of relief? Or would you rather deny yourself the guilty pleasures of sin and live in the hope and confidence of God’s love for you in Christ Jesus, and then enjoy an eternity of pleasures of God’s gracious gift of life and salvation? St. Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) No one likes to suffer. Even Jesus wasn’t all too thrilled with the prospect of suffering and death (see Matthew 26:36-46), but out of love for God and for you, He willingly suffered and died to save you.

There is a cost to being a Christian, but God did not ask you to pay the price for your sin. Instead, God sent His own Son to pay the terrible price for your sin to redeem you and adopt you as His child to give you an eternity of life with Him in Paradise. It is only because of Jesus that we can live in this wicked world with hope of life and salvation. So we also join with St. Paul and all the saints and say, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)