Guard Yourself
"Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me."
MATTHEW 11:6
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Guard Yourself
Guard yourself here diligently against offense. Who are those who offend you? All who teach you to do works instead of to believe; those who make Christ into a lawmaker and a judge and won't let Him be a helper and a comforter; who frighten you into acting with works before God and toward God in order to atone for your sins and to merit grace. . .. For if you want to believe correctly and truly obtain Christ, then you must put aside all works with which you would act toward God and before God. They are only an offense which leads you away from Christ and away from God. No works are valuable before God except Christ's own work. You must let His work act for you toward God, and do no other work before Him than to believe that Christ is doing His work for you and places it toward God. In this way your faith remains pure, does nothing other than keep quiet, lets Him do good and accepts Christ's work, and lets Christ practice His love on you. You must be blind, lame, deaf, dead, leprous, and poor, or you will take offense at Christ. The Gospel does not lie to you which shows Christ doing good only among the needy.
From the Church Postil, sermon for Advent 3 on Matthew 11:2-10 (Luther's Works 75:154)
MATTHEW 11:6
+
Guard Yourself
Guard yourself here diligently against offense. Who are those who offend you? All who teach you to do works instead of to believe; those who make Christ into a lawmaker and a judge and won't let Him be a helper and a comforter; who frighten you into acting with works before God and toward God in order to atone for your sins and to merit grace. . .. For if you want to believe correctly and truly obtain Christ, then you must put aside all works with which you would act toward God and before God. They are only an offense which leads you away from Christ and away from God. No works are valuable before God except Christ's own work. You must let His work act for you toward God, and do no other work before Him than to believe that Christ is doing His work for you and places it toward God. In this way your faith remains pure, does nothing other than keep quiet, lets Him do good and accepts Christ's work, and lets Christ practice His love on you. You must be blind, lame, deaf, dead, leprous, and poor, or you will take offense at Christ. The Gospel does not lie to you which shows Christ doing good only among the needy.
From the Church Postil, sermon for Advent 3 on Matthew 11:2-10 (Luther's Works 75:154)
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