Justification

If the Old Testament were teaching a way of salvation based on our own merit, would it be useful reading when I want to grow in Christ—the one whose yoke is easy? If the God I meet in the Old Testament were a different God from the one whom I meet in Christ, could I build others up in Christ by reading the two Testaments together? If the God who saves me through the work of Jesus now “saved” quite differently back then, could I delight in the God I meet in the pages of the Old Covenant?

Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall backsliding, lack of joy, or coldness towards the Lord? Shall trials? Shall hardship? What about continued failure to overcome that one sin? Crippling depression, mental illness, or moments of utter weakness? Never.

We must remember that all of us, no matter how long we have been Christians, may become fools. Satan will try to cast a spell over us. We may know the gospel in our heads and actually live on the basis of works, and thus, as Luther said, we must relearn the gospel daily. Let’s calm our hearts with the promise of God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus, with the grace that is so freely and lovingly granted to us.