The Just Shall Live By Faith

     We see him moving slowly up the steps of the Sistine Chapel, laboring with each step. For he is not erect, but down on all fours, and he crawls across rocks and broken glass!

     The Catholic Church of the Middle Ages was consumed with ideas of penance, buying one’s way out of purgatory, and retribution towards those who would question their dogma.

     Martin Luther served as a monk in that religious bureaucracy of the day. He was well-versed in Catholic theory, and embraced it as necessary, though perhaps a bit cruel, and tending towards the theology of a distant God.

     He crawls deliberately, resting with every step, before suffering himself to ease his weight down on the next rock or piece of glass beneath his bloody limbs. Thick red fluid streams from wounded knees and shins, and he emits an occasional groan.

     Suddenly, in the midst of it all, Luther pauses one more time. He seems to hear something, unintelligible to the human ear. He seems confused, but the voice comes again… “Martin Luther, The Just Shall Live By Faith. Rise To Your Feet!”

     And he who is later known as “The Father of The Protestant Reformation” stands to his feet, and enlightenment shines on his countenance, and almost floods the air around him.

     Most particularly in Spanish countries, Catholic adherents still flog themselves, blood streaming down their backs, and puddling beneath their feet. Some have themselves nailed to crosses. One ardent fellow has had himself nailed to a cross every Easter, for years.

But… “For by grace are you saved, by faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9, KJV)

    and

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For herein is the power of God revealed from faith to faith. Behold. The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17)

     Many live as if they have to do penance, though intellectually they would deny any such motive. “No, Christ died for me. Yes, I have confessed my sins to God, and He has forgiven me.” But…

     By their actions they call God a liar. By their failure to honestly forgive themselves, they make themselves bigger than God. By their constant reflection and self-talk, they voluntarily sink their feet into wet cement, and linger there awhile.

     Jesus has called us His friends. God assures us that “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jere. 31:3, KJV)

     He still whispers to us, and his words grace each new generation; “The Just Shall Live By Faith. Rise To Your Feet!”

 

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Unconventional Devotions" Copyright 2005