"Salvation unto us has come By God’s free grace and favor; Good works cannot avert our doom, They help and save us never. Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, Who did for all the world atone; He is our one Redeemer."

The Holy Word of God says, “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.”

Grace is God’s undeserved kindness upon us sinners through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection as the atonement for our sins. He sets us right with God through His holy, precious blood—far better than gold or silver. For “In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Salvation from sin can’t come by our works, because we can’t make up for sin. Instead, we absolutely need Jesus. Scripture says, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Many people want to be their own redeemer or have a different redeemer. But no other redeemer exists. There’s one Redeemer whose name is Jesus.

"What God did in His Law demand And none to Him could render Caused wrath and woe on every hand For man, the vile offender. Our flesh has not those pure desires The spirit of the Law requires, And lost is our condition."

As sinners, we can have a hard time understanding the full condemnation of God’s Law and the lostness of our status before God. The Holy and blessed Word of the Lord says, “Whoever keeps the whole Law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”

Our sinful flesh doesn’t desire to serve and obey God. It desires to rebel against God. Small ways, big ways, it doesn’t matter. It’s all rebellion. Our sinful flesh desires to break all of God’s Law. All that the flesh needs to do in order to accomplish that is to break one command.

To keep the whole Law except for one command of it is always a breaking the First Commandment to fear, love, and trust God above all. Jesus Himself says, “You shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Any sin, all sin breaks the chief command.

"It was a false, misleading dream That God His Law had given That sinners could themselves redeem And by our works gain heaven. The Law is but a mirror bright To bring the inbred sin to light That lurks within our nature."

Some people fall into a trap that by being a “good” person and doing “good” things they can earn heaven. People will often comment that they hope to be good enough to get into heaven.

You can’t gain heaven by doing good works. You can’t pay back a debt of sin that’s growing more than the payments of good works you’re trying to make. You can’t redeem yourself from the slavery of sin. You will be judged in accordance either with your sins or Jesus’ good works.

God’s blessed Word says, “By works of the Law no human being will be justified [declared right] in [God’s] sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin.” Before the fall, God gave one command as an avenue to trust Him. After the fall into sin, God has given the Law to reveal what is true, right, good, and beautiful, which very much brings our sins to light.

"From sin our flesh could not abstain, Sin held its sway unceasing; The task was useless and in vain, Our guilt was ever increasing. None can remove sin’s poisoned dart Or purify our guileful heart—So deep is our corruption."

Some think dealing with sin is as easy as deciding not to sin anymore. While it’s possible to change behaviors, we can’t totally stop sinning in this life. We don’t want to sin. We pray not to sin. We try not to sin. And yet, we are sinful. We sin. Should we stop trying to live for God? Not at all! Our inability to stop sinning shows our deep need for Jesus—our only Savior and Redeemer.

The reality of our situation is that sin isn’t merely the things we do wrong or the times we failed to do right. Sin is the condition of our hearts. We are sinners by nature. We are infected by sin itself—which makes us unholy—and through this infection of our hearts emerge our sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. It’s so bad that the Holy Word of God says, “We… were by nature children of wrath.” We need mercy that only our Creator can give.

"Yet as the Law must be fulfilled Or we must die despairing, Christ came and has God’s anger stilled, Our human nature sharing. He has for us the Law obeyed And thus the Father’s vengeance stayed Which over us impended."

Sin is the attempt to usurp God’s place and make us our own god. Because we can’t really be gods, sin ends up being lawlessness and rebellion against the only God. God’s justice demands that His Law be kept or else. According to His own standard, to let sin slide would be injustice. To let us get away with sin would be like letting a murderer go free. That would be injustice.

To sin is to try to live without God. Since God is life, trying to live without God only means death. Sin’s consequence is death. Holy Scripture bluntly states: “The wages of sin is death.” To embrace sin is to embrace eternal death away from God’s goodness and love.

The Father sent His Son to become man, to perfectly keep the Law in our place, and to die for our sins. He satisfied God’s anger and quieted down His just vengeance on us sinners.

"Since Christ has full atonement made And brought to us salvation, Each Christian therefore may be glad And build on this foundation. Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead, Your death is now my life indeed, For You have paid my ransom."

By His death on the cross, Christ atoned for our sins and reconciles us to God. God’s Word says, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” Jesus restored us to a right relationship with God, saving us by His death.

The death and resurrection of Christ makes each and every day worth living for all Christians. Because Jesus atoned for our sins and rose again on the third day, each and every day “is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” We build every aspect of our lives on the fact that we have forgiveness, life, and salvation through the glorious work of Christ.

He paid the ransom price—His holy, precious blood—to set us free from bondage to sin. He died that we may live through Him. He arose that we may enjoy eternity with Him.

"Let me not doubt, but truly see Your Word cannot be broken; Your call rings out, “Come unto me!” No falsehood have You spoken. Baptized into Your precious name, My faith cannot be put to shame, And I shall never perish."

Jesus says, “Scripture cannot be broken.” Its truthfulness means it can’t be proven false. People deny the Scriptures that they don’t like and try to prove it false. Yet, Christ is risen! So it’s true!

The Lord desires all sinners to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, Jesus calls everyone to “Come unto me!” He calls those weary and heavy laden by sin, by trying to earn heaven, and by life in this fallen world to find desired rest in Him.

Our living Lord doesn’t lie. He tells the truth whether people want to hear it or not. He doesn’t scratch itching ears or hold out false hope. God’s Word is truth.

God’s Word promises that “whoever believes in [Christ Jesus] will not be put to shame.” God’s Word promises that “whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved” unto eternal life.

"The Law reveals the guilt of sin And makes us conscience-stricken; But then the Gospel enters in The sinful soul to quicken. Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live; The Law no peace can ever give, No comfort and no blessing."

The Law is good; it’s God’s will. It teaches what’s true, right, good, and beautiful. Yet, the Lutheran Confessions state: “The Law always accuses.” The Law doesn’t only accuse. But because we have a sinful nature, the Law always accuses us for falling short of God’s demands.

Where the Law always accuses the conscience of sin, the Gospel always comforts the conscience with the forgiveness of sins—the atonement and redemption of our Lord Jesus. By the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the life of the world, your souls are brought to life, you receive peace, comfort, and blessing from the Lord. For the blessed Word of God promises, “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You come to the cross and trust Christ through His victory gifts—His Holy Word, Baptism, and Communion.

"Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone And rests in Him unceasing; And by its fruits true faith is known, With love and hope increasing. For faith alone can justify; Works serve our neighbor and supply The proof that faith is living."

The holy and precious Word of our Lord commends us to: “[fix our eyes on] Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” We don’t focus on ourselves and what we are doing to earn eternal life in heaven. Instead, we focus on Christ Jesus and what He has done to us to gift us eternal life. We trust that He is preparing a place for us in His kingdom.

As we fix our eyes more and more on Jesus the fruit of faith begins to yield a harvest of love and hope—love toward God and one another and hope (an expectation) that God will fulfill His promises at any moment.

Works don’t justify us before God. Faith in Jesus’ death for our sins and His resurrection justifies us. Works shine forth a lively faith and help serve and support our neighbors in need.

"All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise To Father, Son, and Spirit, The God who saved us by His grace; All glory to His merit. O triune God in heaven above, You have revealed Your saving love; Your blessed name we hallow."

We are brought back to the comforting truth of God’s grace. The Lord redeems us by His undeserved kindness. God teaches us in His Word that He “shows His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God teaches us that He “loved the world in this way, that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” He has given us salvation freely, not because we’re worth it, but because He loves us.

Therefore, we glorify and lift up His name on high as the name above every name. Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer worthy of all thanks and praise. With the Son, we give the Father and the Holy Spirit all glory and honor. In Jesus, the love of God is revealed. In Jesus, we praise and bless the holy name of our triune God—the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.