He Did Not Need My Absolution

 Earlier I mentioned this book, Far from Rome, Near to God – a book that gives the testimonies of fifty Roman Catholic priests who left Rome after they were converted to the Christian faith.  I recently read one account that is worth sharing here.  It is a story in the life of one priest who had been questioning some of Rome’s traditions.  In the middle of his doubts and questions, this happened:

“I was summoned to administer the last rites to a dying man.  He was not very old, but he looked exhausted, by illness, poverty, or hard labor and he was near death and seemed already unconscious.  I thought I had lost my last change to hear his confession and give him absolution.  I stood there worried, feeling completely helpless in spite of all the means provided by the Church to save a perishing soul.”

“In my distress, I looked once more at his sallow and emaciated face and then noticed that his lips were continually moving.  I brought my ear close to his lips.  Only then did I hear a very faint whisper.  I concentrated all my attention and was able to catch it.  It was, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.’”

“This dying man who did not see anything, hear anything or feel anything continued to repeat these words.  And so he died.  The Church, or her rites, failed to save his soul, but however sinful it might have been [in the eyes of the Church] the Lord gave me the strongest assurance at that moment that this man did not need my absolution, that he did not need any rites or sacraments.  He did not need my priestly help to be saved, because he could be saved already by faith in the only real Priest and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

“This was a real revelation to me and the best lecture in theology in my life, because the Lord himself taught me at the bedside of this dying man that the salvation of a soul does not depend upon any human effort, rites, or doctrines, but upon Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and our own faith in him and through our Father in heaven.  Only later on, after my conversion, I found the confirmation of this truth in the Scriptures, both in the Old Testament, ‘The just shall live by faith’ (Hab. 2:4) and in the New, ‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith’ (Rom. 1:17).  The revelation of this truth has shattered my former belief in the Roman dogma about the automatic power of rites and sacraments” (p. 218-219).

Far From Rome, Near To God ed. Richard Bennett and Martin Buckingham (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2009).

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All Boasting Excluded

As I mentioned earlier, as I read through John Newton’s works this winter, I plan to pass along some “gems” I find.  I hope to do this weekly (give or take).  This week’s quote is from a letter Newton wrote in April of 1772.  It is basically an explanation of the great phrase he spoke at the end of his life: “Two things I know – first, that I am a great sinner.  Second, that Christ is a great Savior.” 

“The unchangeableness of the Lord’s love, and the riches of his mercy, are likewise more illustrated by the multiplied pardons he bestows upon his people, than if they needed no forgiveness at all.”

“Hereby the Lord Jesus Christ is more endeared to the soul; all boasting is effectually excluded, and the glory of a full and free salvation is ascribed to him alone.”

“If a mariner is surprised by a storm, and after one night spent in jeopardy is presently brought safe into port; though he may rejoice in his deliverance, it will not affect him so sensibly, as if, after being tempest-tossed for a long season, and experiencing a great number and variety of hair-breadth escapes, he at last gains the desired haven.”

“The righteous are said to be scarcely saved, not with respect to the certainty of the event, for the purpose of God in their favor cannot be disappointed—but in respect of their own apprehensions, and the great difficulties they are brought through. But when, after a long experience of their own deceitful hearts, after repeated proofs of their weakness, willfulness, ingratitude, and insensibility, they find that none of these things can separate them from the love of God in Christ, Jesus becomes more and more precious to their souls.”

“They love much, because much has been forgiven them. They dare not, they will not ascribe anything to themselves—but are glad to acknowledge, that they must have perished (if possible) a thousand times over, if Jesus had not been their Savior, their shepherd, and their shield. When they were wandering—he brought them back; when fallen—he raised them; when wounded—he healed them; when fainting—he revived them. By him, out of weakness—they have been made strong:  he has taught their hands to war, and covered their heads in the day of battle.”

“In a word, some of the clearest proofs they have had of his excellence, have been occasioned by the humiliating proofs they have had of their own vileness. They would not have known so much of him—if they had not known so much of themselves.”

John Newton, Works, volume 1, page 450-1.

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A Complete Title to Justification

  These are great words from John Colquhoun (d. 1827) in A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel.

“In the affair of justification, the law as a covenant of works is not only to be distinguished, but to be separated from the gospel.  When a true believer is at any time in doubt of his justification and title to eternal life, he ought to set the law as a covenant, and the works of that law, entirely aside, and to rely anew, for all his title to life eternal, on the spotless righteousness of the second Adam offered to him in the gospel.”

“He ought in that case to contemplate only the free and super-abounding grace of the gospel, and to embrace, by the renewed exercise of an appropriating faith, the gracious offers and promises of it.  He should exclude from his view the law and all legal righteousness, and, relying only on the righteousness of Christ revealed in the gospel, he should trust that this glorious, this consummate righteousness alone gives him a complete title to justification and eternal life.”

“As it is not by the law, nor the works of the law, but by means of faith only, applying the righteousness brought near in the gospel, that a man is justified before God; so in the business of his justification he must set aside all works of the law and depend wholly on the righteousness and grace of the great Redeemer.  While in the business of sanctification the law as a rule is to be connected with the gospel, in that of justification the law as a covenant is always to be separated from it” (p. 157).

John Colquhoun, A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel (Grand Rapids: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2009 reprint).

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Sola Fide: The Only Source of God-Pleasing Obedience

Here are some great and comforting words by Cornelis Venema on faith alone (sola fide) and Christian obedience.

“For the Reformers, ‘faith alone,’ far from being detrimental to the Christian life of good works, is the only basis and source of Christian obedience.  To place works before justification, as though they played a role in obtaining God’s acceptance, alters the character of the Christian’s life of obedience.  Rather than good works being the fruits of thankfulness, which are born out of the grateful awareness of the believer’s acceptance by God, they are regarded as a means to obtain favor with God.  If works are performed to obtain God’s favor, however, they are no longer performed in good faith.  They become corrupted by a self-seeking desire to curry favor with God, or to wrest from God a reluctant acceptance and forgiveness.”

“According to the Reformers, the Christian’s freedom is a freedom to obey God, not a freedom to sin or continue in disobedience.  However, the obedience of faith is not constrained by a fear of punishment or falling into disfavor with God.  Rather, it is a joyful delight in God and his will, which springs from an awareness of God’s undeserved favor in Christ.”

“When justification undergirds the believer’s sanctification, Christian obedience is no longer colored by an anxious uncertainty regarding God’s grace.  Calvin expresses this point in his comments on James and Paul, when he insists that we should not place good works, which are the inevitable effect of true faith, before faith, which is the only cause of good works.  Unless believers are acceptable to God by faith in Christ, it is not possible for their works to be pleasing to him.  At the same time, it is impossible for those who know the grace of free justification and who are united to Christ by faith, not to be renewed in good works.”

I suppose these paragraphs might be a helpful commentary on Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 91 and Westminster Confession of Faith 16:1-2.

The above quotes are found on pages 85-86 of The Gospel of Free Acceptance in Christ by Cornelis Venema.

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Everything is Done! (The Theologian of the Cross)

You cannot fully understand Martin Luther’s work unless you understand his distinction between the theologian of the cross and the theologian of glory.  This distinction is also important for us today especially when some are leaving the biblical truths of the Reformation for the traditions of Rome.  I myself will not and cannot go to Rome because I believe the five solas are eminently biblical, and also because I believe Luther was right in declaring that Rome taught a theology of glory in opposition to the theology of the cross.

Interested in this discussion?  You should be.  And you should get this outstanding book, On Being A Theologian of the Cross by Gerhard Forde.  The book is sort of a commentary on Martin Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation of 1518.  Though it is only around 100 pages long, it is one of the most profound discussions of the cross and salvation you’ll ever read.  The book will not only lead you away from Rome’s theology of glory, it will also lead you away from yourself (your own righteousness, good works, and fig leaves) and lead you away from the things of this world.  It will lead you to the cross, and the cross alone.

I’ve blogged on this book before, so I won’t go into all the details.  But I do want to give an example of the contents of the book.  Here’s a small sample.

“The cross is the death of sin and the sinner.  The cross does the ‘bottoming out.’  The cross is the ‘intervention.’  The addict/sinner is not coddled by false optimism but is put to death so that a new life can begin.  The theologian of the cross ‘says what a thing is.’  The theologian of the cross preaches to convict of sin.  The addict is not deceived by theological marshmallows but is told the truth so that he might learn at last to confess, to say, ‘I am an addict,’ ‘I am an alcoholic,’ and never to stop saying it.  Theologically and more universally all must learn to say, ‘I am a sinner,’ and likewise never to stop saying it until Christ’s return makes it no longer true.”

“It is commonplace among evangelical Christians to believe that we can’t perfectly fulfill the law, but we often try to because we assume that if we only could we would do it.  Some believe that we must try to do something at least, and then, it is assumed, Christ will make up for our ‘shortcomings.’  But here is the bombshell: doing the law does not advance the cause of righteousness one whit.  It only makes matters worse.”

“The law is not a remedy for sin.  It does not cure sin but rather makes it worse.”

“Thesis 25.  He is not righteous who works much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ.”

“Thesis 26. The law says, ‘do this,’ and it is never done.  Grace says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done.

I could go on and on.  Again, trust me when I say that you need to get (and read!) this book if you haven’t yet: Gerhard Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross.  And if you have read the book, feel free, as always, to comment below.

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