How is your elbow? Have you ever been around people who like to take credit for everything? You might imagine that they may often strain an elbow patting themselves on the back.
Complements and commendations are certainly appropriate in life. It is proper to applaud accomplishments and achievements. People work hard to succeed and it is good to recognize this effort.
Still no one in heaven will have a strained elbow from patting themselves on the back for their faith in Christ. No one in heaven will look at God and say, “You are fortunate to have me here.” No one “decides to follow Jesus” or “accepts Jesus as their personal savior.” There is no place for this self congratulation when it comes to faith. Faith is strictly the work of the Holy Spirit. You and I can take no credit for it. After all we were “dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Dead people can take no actions on their own behalf.
Rather the Holy Spirit deserves all credit for your faith. He has worked in your heart through the Gospel and sacraments so that you came to faith and continue to believe in Jesus as your savior. When I claim even a small amount of credit for my faith, I deprive the Holy Spirit of the honor that is due only to Him.
I know modern English speaking people do not like long sentences but here is one long sentence written by the Apostle Paul that makes this all very clear: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:4-9).
St. Paul teachers us that our salvation, even faith itself, is a gift of God. When it comes to faith and salvation—no boasting is allowed.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for the gift of faith. Keep me in the faith. Draw me to church tomorrow so that I may once again hear Your powerful word of salvation that works faith in my heart. Amen.
The Ghent altarpiece: Adoration of the Lamb
Jan van Eyck 1390 – 1441
oil on panel (138 × 242 cm) — 1432
Museum Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent
http://www.artbible.info/art/large/187.html
Pastor Philip Quardokus
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