Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
St. Paul pleads with us earnestly: “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” If we are to rightly understand the Apostle’s plea, it is necessary that we be certain of what the grace of God is. To state it simply, grace is the undeserved favor and love of God that He pours out on sinners, for the sake of the saving life, death, and resurrection of His Son. After Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atomic bomb, there was little left but rubble. When God looks at sinners, that is what He sees: nothing but rubble. In things pertaining to God, the human soul is totally blind; it cannot find its way to God. Even when God points out the true way, we refuse to go that way. Our sin-destroyed will is so set against God’s will that we go our own way: the way of sin and death.
But now, behold the miracle! God saw the ruin of our sin and yet, despite the ruin, He loved us! Out of undeserved love, God decreed that He would save us and undo the destruction we had made. He determined that He would send His only-begotten Son in human flesh to rebuild and restore this ruined world. Through sin, the world was ruined. Through the sinless Jesus, it was to be restored. Through sin, death came into this world. By the death of Jesus, death was overcome; life—eternal life—was restored. This is the grace of God!
But there is more. After giving His Son as the Ransom for us all, God’s great love compels Him to provide ways of making this truth known. That is why, after His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to proclaim this grace to the world. For this same purpose, God has given to the Church the Office of the Holy Ministry. As the Augsburg Confession, that statement of our common faith, puts it: “To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the Gospel and 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. It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our merit, but through the merit of Christ, when we so believe.” The love of God would have the whole world filled with the Gospel so that there would not be one person who has not heard that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. This is the grace of God!
It is because this grace is so wonderful that the Apostle pleads with us, seriously and earnestly: “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” And this naturally leads to another question: Who are those who receive this grace in vain?
There is no simple answer to this question. Some receive the grace of God in vain when they hear the Word of grace and simply reject it out of hand. They have been offered the grace and forgiveness found in the blood of the Lamb, but they refuse the offer. Some who receive the grace of God in vain are those who hear the Word of grace and think that mere outward hearing is enough. As long as they attend church services and then outwardly conduct themselves in a respectable way, they feel they have met the necessary obligations. Some who receive the grace of God in vain are those who are spiritually dead not only from the beginning, but remain that way permanently. It is almost unbelievable, but some attend the services of the church for years, and yet, when asked about the way of salvation, they give the same answer as the most committed unbeliever. They cannot see, even from a purely intellectual perspective, that Holy Scripture teaches salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by any work or action of man. And there are some who know they are sinners in need of Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, but they will not believe it. And there are still others who receive the grace of God with joy, but when trouble or persecution arises, they cast off the Gospel like an old coat. Then, when the pleasures and successes of life return, they no longer see a need for the grace of God. Why does the Apostle plead with us so seriously to not receive the grace of God in vain? Because the rejection of God’s grace is a desperately tragic matter!
It is no small thing to spurn divine love. It is no small matter to reject the moving and leading of the Holy Spirit, who pleads with sinners to receive salvation by faith. That is why St. Paul says: “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” None of us has a guarantee that we will see another day beyond this one. We have no promise that we will even have a tomorrow for that work to take place.
Hear these words and take them to heart: God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, our Savior. If you have not believed this, believe it now! And if, by the mercy of God, this is your faith and confession, then praise and thank God for it! Pray that He will continue to grant you His Holy Spirit, as He most certainly will, that you may remain faithful to the Lord until that day when He takes you from this realm of grace to His everlasting glory. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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