LESSON: GALATIANS 2:11-16

We hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. Romans 3:28

You see how the example of the leper (Matthew 8:1-4) supports faith against works. For, just as Christ helped this leper out of pure grace through faith without any works or merits on his part, so He helps all men. He also wants men to regard Him as such a helper, and to expect help from Him on this basis.

Had the leper come to Christ with all sorts of claims declaring, “See here, Lord, I have prayed and fasted so and so much. Please take note of all this, and make me clean accordingly,” Christ would never have cleansed him had he been so minded. Such a person does not rely on God’s grace, but on his own merits. In such a case, God’s grace is not praised, loved or desired, but personal works claim all the honor, and God is robbed of His due honor. As Isaiah declares, “They bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made,” Isaiah 2:8, that is, they put their confidence in their own works, and confer on their own works the honor belonging to God’s grace alone.

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PRAYER: Lord, preserve us from that presumption which urges us to trust in our own works to the rejection of the grace, help and salvation which you are always ready and willing to bestow on us freely in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: GALATIANS 1:6-9

Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard. Colossians 1:23

The Gospel is the beginning, middle, and end of all that is good, and our one source of salvation. We have stated repeatedly that first of all one must hear the Gospel, and then faith, love, and good works follow. We must not put good works first, turning the whole matter back to front, as the teachers of work-righteousness do.

The Gospel is a good report, discourse, and proclamation of Christ, announcing that He is nothing else but pure goodness, love, and grace. Such a report could not possibly be made concerning any other human being, or any of the saints. For, although the other saints were men of quite good repute, a report on them does not constitute the Gospel as such. It is Gospel only when the goodness and grace of Christ are proclaimed. Even though mention is made of famous saints and their doings, this does not make the report the Gospel. The Gospel bases Christian faith and confidence solely on the rock, Jesus Christ.

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PRAYER: We praise and thank you, loving heavenly Father, for the clear revelation of the good news of salvation in the Gospel of you Son, and for the faith, trust, and confidence which you have given us in connection with this Gospel, in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: MATTHEW 8:1-13

A leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Matthew 8:2

See how the faith of the leper manifests itself. He is under no delusions at all. All that he desires and hopes to obtain is the pure goodness and grace of Christ, freely and without any merit at all on his part. We cannot claim here that the leper earned the privilege of drawing close to Christ and speaking to Him, begging His help. He comes to Christ because he is conscious of his impurity and worthiness, and he places all his reliance on Christ’s goodness.

This is true faith, living confidence in God’s goodness. If this confidence is in a man’s heart, his faith is right; if this confidence is not in a man’s heart, faith is wrong. All who do not keep the pure goodness of God in sight, and who always look first of all to their good works in the hope of meriting God’s favor and goodness for themselves, have this wrong faith. Such people never have the boldness to invoke God with real earnestness or to approach Him.

This confidence or faith, or the knowledge of the goodness of Christ, would never have developed in the leper as the fruit of his own rational understanding. In all probability he had received a good report of Christ beforehand to the effect that Christ is good, gracious, and merciful, ready to help all men and to supply comfort and consolation for all who come to Him.

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PRAYER: Thanks be to you, O Lord, for the examples you have given us in your holy Gospel encouraging us to come to you at all times, in all our needs, with the assurance of your grace and help. Amen.