Justification by faith

Romans 3:21-31 (NRSV)

But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. 

Sometimes I feel as if every Lutheran is meant to have this text from Paul carved on our hearts!  It's all there - the centerpiece of justification by faith.  

What makes this text one of my favorites however, isn't the breaking down of the theology of justification by faith.  It is the immense comfort of God's grace through that justification that Paul gives:  "For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God: they are now justified by his grace as a gift..."

At my most broken and my most low, this amazing gift of God has always pulled me through.

Coming right after it, however, is a line that deserves more attention than I can give it this short morning devotional.   God putting forth Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement is an image that has perhaps challenged and even hurt the faith of some.  God sacrificing his son?  What kind of God is that?

Substitutionary atonement is a big phrase - hard to comprehend, hard to wrap your head around, hard even for some to believe.  Theories of atonement - how Christ's death on the cross save us - have gotten Christians into some big verbal sparring over the centuries.  Perhaps as much as verbal sparring about justification of faith vs. works.

Here, however, the image that I think is important to remember is that of the cross itself. The message of the cross is more than foolishness.  It is a scandal.  And to have that be the grounding of our faith was - especially to 1st century Roman citizens - outrageous, given the horrible death that the cross inflicted.  Yet it is in that act that we put our faith.

There are, I believe, better words today that scholars use to describe the work of the cross than a "sacrifice of atonement" (all apologies to Paul...).  If you find it troubling, I point you to a few theologians who can help describe it in a way that might make sense.  Both Tony Jones in his A Better Atonement and David Lose in Making Sense of the Cross summarize and describe (in a very accessible way) many of the ways we have seen the salvific work of the cross as well as offer ways that we might want to consider looking at it.

Faithful Lord Jesus, your act on the cross is the centerpiece of my life of faith.  Strengthen my own faith, reminding me always of God's gift of grace and compassion, even when I don't always understand how God's mysterious ways work in my life, or when words like "justification" and "atonement" seem like stumbling blocks. Amen.