Pastor’s Corner
The Ongoing Reformation
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1
Is God angry? That may seem like an odd question but consider it for a moment. Some other religions, even some Christian denominations, have a tendency to view God as an angry judge, sitting on a throne, and frowning all the time. They portray God as if He is eternally grumpy, uncomfortable and mad. But WHY could God be angry? Even when we get angry, there is usually a reason. God is the same way.
Every Sunday at church we say the same words during the confession of sins. Because we say these same words every week, we may overlook how significant they really are. They go something like this,
“O Almighty God, I, a poor miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended you and justly deserve your temporal and eternal punishment . . .”
Is God “mad”? Yes. God is mad. Just look at the underlined portion above. He is mad at all the “sins and iniquities” we have offended Him with. He is mad at the “sins and iniquities” that we KEEP offending Him with time and time again.
What is fascinating about God is this: He doesn’t just sit around on a throne being mad and grumpy. God is indeed mad at our sins . . . and He is so mad that He did something about it! God the Father sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die in our place, for all our sins. He sent Jesus to be sacrificed for every single one of those “sins and iniquities” we have ever done so that God will NEVER have to be mad at any of us again.
Our passage above from Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have peace with God because of Jesus Christ. We don’t have peace with God because we tried really hard not to sin (and still sinned anyway), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We do don’t have peace with God because we somehow suffered and were punished enough to make up for the sins and iniquities we have done (we could never suffer enough); instead, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we prepare to celebrate the Reformation this month, I pray we ALWAYS remember that we only have peace with God because of our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us on a cross. Jesus has made peace between you and God the Father. Never let anyone take this eternal treasure away from you!
-- Pastor Grimenstein
