This is our pastor’s newsletter article for April, 2013.
The Lutheran school teacher asked her student, “Why are you saved?” John answered, “Because I believe.” That did not satisfy the teacher. So she asked another student. Paula then raised her hand and said, “I’m saved because I believe in Jesus.” But the teacher didn’t accept that answer either.
She then had the students read from Pauls’ letter to Titus. There they read:
But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, but not because of righteous things we had done. Instead, because of his mercy, he saved us through the washing of new birth and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. [Titus 3:4-6].
Did you notice the complete lack of an “I” in that verse? That’s because I am not saved because of anything “I” did. I am saved through the love of God the Father who sent His Son, God the Son who gave Himself for me, and God the Holy Spirit who has regenerated and renewed me. In that verse, Paul was telling Titus how God saves us through the Word and water of baptism.
The Apostle Peter tells us (which we are now studying in Sunday School): “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy, he has granted us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Again, note the lack of any “I” in the verse. That’s because there is no “I” in the Gospel–but you will find a “me.”
Now why is that? That’s because “me” is the object, in this case of God’s redemptive love. An “I” is not the object but the cause. So then, if you are going to use the word “I” when talking about your salvation, you need to move away from yourself to the One who saves you: Jesus Christ. When I say, “I am saved because Jesus has died for me, and through His resurrection, He has brought me to share in His divine life,” I am giving credit where credit is due.
By grace I am saved! But it’s not because of me. Isn’t that what, perhaps, the most well-known verse in Lutheranism says? “For you are saved by grace through faith. You had nothing to do with it; it is God’s gift, not the result of anything you’ve done, so no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
But doesn’t someone have to believe in Jesus Christ? Of course! But I am not saved because “I” believe. I believe because I am saved! How real is something if it only becomes real after you believe it? You can only believe in something that is already true before you believe it. That’s why you believe it. You see, your salvation doesn’t become a reality because you believe it; you believe it because it is a reality made true by Jesus Christ.
Think about it. If God didn’t send His Son, and if the Son didn’t die and rise, and if the Holy Spirit didn’t work regeneration within you, working faith in your heart, you wouldn’t be saved. The statement, “I believe because I am saved,” confesses and testifies to the faith that the Holy Spirit has already worked in your heart.
But the whole matter would be purely academic if Christ didn’t rise from the dead. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…. you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). But Christ is risen! And that makes all the difference.
We believe, teach, and confess that Jesus Christ, our Lord, rose from the dead. His body is not moldering in the grave! To suggest anything else, or even to allow that possibility, means that whatever Gospel is being preached is a different Gospel than that which has come down from heaven.
So, how can you answer the question about being saved? Ah, that’s when it’s good to remember your Small Catechism. Luther wrote such a beautiful answer there for us to recall. Am I saved because Jesus Christ, God’s Son:
has freed me, a lost and condemned creature, acquired and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil–not with silver or gold, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death. All this He has done that I may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity.
There is no “I” in the Gospel, but there is a “me.” You are not the cause but the receiver God’s grace. And although there isn’t an “I” in the Gospel, there is an “I” in Christ, because He is the One who saves you. As Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Indeed, Christ IS risen! For that reason, have a blessed Easter season. Amen.
