# Today¡Çs lecturer is the co-pastor Mizuguchi.

1. Saved through faith
We are reading Epistle to the Romans in line with the Bible study program. Today¡Çs lecture is the fifth session of the series and the passage concerns how to live after being saved through faith. As we read the last Sunday, Paul wrote , ¡ÈAbraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3) We continue to reflect on the same issue by reading the following portion, Chapter 5. Paul tlod in it what would happen to those who had received the salvation through the belief. He began the teaching with the reference to the story of Abraham again. ; - The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.¡ÊGenesis 13:14-16)

However, Abraham, former Abram, had no child at that time. And Abraham and his wife Sara had remained childless for longtime and became very old despite the promise of God. Nonetheless, as Paul mentioned, ; - Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. (Romans 4:19)

The promise of God seemed to Abraham impossible to realize because he was already100 years old. We might say that he couldn¡Çt believe in it. This verse reveals his scpeticism. ;- Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?¡É(Genesis 17:17)

But, regardless of his unbelief, God blessed him and gave him Isaac. The miracle made Abraham a real believer. Thus he was admired as the father of the faith by all nations. Paul said that every one could have the same blessing like Abraham thanks to Jesus Christ. ; - You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.(Romans 5:6 )

Paul himself hadn¡Çt believed in salvation before. But him know Jesus, the only son of God, thanks to the divine power, so that he had faith in Jesus Christ. Previously Paul was a persecutor of Christians. He set off to Damascus to arrest Christians there. But, resurrected Jesus appeared on the way to Damascus and changed him into a believer. God had given Abraham Isaac as the sign. In a similar way, God showed Paul Jesus Christ in order that he believed in salvation. Therefore Paul wrote, ; - The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him(Abraham) alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.(Romans 4:23-25)

The phrase, ¡Æ ¡ÈIt was credited to him¡É were written for all of us,¡Ç gives us a hope.

Martin Luther*1, who launched the Protestant Reformation, also found the truth thanks to Romans. When Luther was young, he studied harshly theology and philosophy. Then, he dedicated himself to monastic life, devoting himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession. But he couldn¡Çt have peaceful mind, as he said, ¡ÈI lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailor and hangman of my poor soul.¡É That period of his life was rather the time of deep spiritual despair. He understood that human efforts couldn¡Çt allow them to enter into harmonious relationship with God.

Afterwards, Luther was received into the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg as the Doctor in Bible. Meanwhile, in 1516-17, the Roman Catholic Church was trying to sell indulgences in Germany in order to raise money to rebuild St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther was opposing against the theology of the Roman Catholic which stated that only the faith shown by donating money to the church can justify man. So he wrote to the Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg on 31 October 1517, protesting the sale of indulgences. ¡ÈThe 95 Theses¡É was enclosed in the letter. Today, the 31 October is the very day of the commemoration of the Reformation.

The Reformation gave birth to the Protestant Church. Luther had read and analyzed exhaustively Epistle to the Romans and arrived at the conclusion: God was not the Lord of wrath but of love. He understood that God was willing to save humans. And he became sure that the faith alone could make humans right with God. In other words, humans could be made right with God only thanks to God¡Çs mercy, not by conducting oneself rightly.

*1 Martin Luther http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
*2 indulgences (in the Roman Catholic Church) : a grant by the pope of remission of the temporal punishment in purgatory still due for sins after absolution. The unrestricted sale of indulgences by pardoners was a widespread abuse during the later Middle Ages.

2. To have peace with God
Those who were made right with God will have the spiritual peace. Paul wrote, ; - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1)

Paul arrived at the goal of faith by undergoing the personal experience with Jesus Christ, the Conciliator. As I remarked before, he had intended to destroy the Church by persecuting Christians. He admitted his past in Galatians. ; - For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.(Galatians 1:13)

He recognized that God had saved even an oppressor of Christians like him. The recognition must change totally his life. Therefore he said, ; - ¡Äwe have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings (Romans 5:1-3)

Mostly, sufferings make us grouchy, aggressive or desperate. For example, a Japanese man who had attacked pedestrians at random confessed, ¡ÈI was too frustrated to care about who they were.¡É Similar cases of incident occur more and more these days in this society. However Paul taught, ; -¡È…we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.¡É(Romans 5:3-4)

Difficulties might also generate perseverance of Christians. But how can such an opposing result be possible? It can be possible when we are backed up by the power of faith, as Paul was. Thus he had peace with God. He wrote about the same matter in Epistle to the Corinthians too. ; - Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.¡Ê2 Corinthians 7:10)

We should keep in our mind that, if we face sufferings rightly, they can produce perseverance which leads us to the blessing.

3. Rejoice in the faith in the glory of God
Paul found the core of faithful life in the peaceful relationship with God. He grasped the truth through very harsh trials of his own. Before meeting Jesus Christ and finding the real faith, he was fearful before God. He, as a zealous Pharisee, strived to be righteous before God by respecting perfectly the law in vain. For that reason, God was the Lord of wrath for him. He couldn¡Çt have inner peace. He confessed how he felt then in Romans 17. ; - I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(Romans 7:18-19 )

the sinful conflict inside Paul was blocking the path to the salvation. ; - For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?(Romans 7:22-24)

And his conscience of being prisoner of sin made him fearful in front of God. Then that fear pushed him to persecute those who seemed more sinful than him, or Christians. Because they apparently neglected the law. But he met Jesus after the Resurrection. The encounter broke up Paul¡Çs mind. He must be ready to die at that time. Nonetheless Jesus forgave him, instead of accusing and condemning him to death. The incompatibility between Paul and the wrathful God was resolved immediately. So much so he said in Romans 5 ; - You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:6-8)

¡ÈChrist died for the ungodly,¡É and he was among them. When he recognized the fact, his life changed fundamentally. He continued the confession, ; - Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!(Romans 5:9)

¡ÈHis blood¡É is the blood of Jesus spilled on the Cross. Paul witnessed that in that way Jesus Christ died for the sake of sinners, including Paul. And thanks to the very act, he was forgiven and entered into the peace in God of Grace. Therefore he said, ; - ¡Ä if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.(Romans 5:10-11)

Paul commenced the letter by referring to the story of Abraham. God blessed Abraham and gave him the son Isaac though Abraham couldn¡Çt have trusted totally in the promise. The same God showed again his mercy by realizing the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the only Son. Thus humans should be blessed through the Cross and the Resurrection. The recognition the Grace of God pushed Paul to write those letters.

I chose 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 as today¡Çs invocation verses ; - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

I want to tell about my personal experience concerning the calling. I took a journey to Israel with one of church members, Mr. Tsujitani, after receiving the permission for the rite of ¡ÈThe laying on of hand¡É on the 3 October. Then, the 17 October was the day of the ceremony. Though the schedule was rather hectic, it was meaningful to visit Israel between two events which were very important for me. It seems that God ordered me to prepare my soul for the ceremony during the journey. Naturally I reflected on my ¡Èlaying on of hand¡É unceasingly. And I had a very simple conclusion that I have nothing but to obey the calling as faithfully as I can. This verse represents exactly what I felt. ; - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18: 2 Corinthians 5:17

I had lived as a Christian for 50 years. Then God gave me the calling to become a pastor. And now this congregation conducted the ceremony of ¡ÈThe laying on of hand¡É for me. My mission is to show that God reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ. God compels Christians to carry out the ministry of reconciliation. I was chosen as one of those servants of Jesus Christ, thanks to whom all humans will be made right with God. I understand that the ceremony symbolizes the task of servants. From since, I am ready to serve God and the church by giving sermon addresses, leading prayer meetings and conducting rites. Presently this Shinozaki church is undertaking the reconstruction project of church building. Its realization should bring a new spiritual life to the church too. As Paul said, ¡ÈIf anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!¡É The project is advancing by going beyond our human will. We can do all efforts to reach at the goal if it is God¡Çs will. Some friends of my previous congregation had come to attend the ceremony and were surprised by my decision to join definitively this church. However my decision is rather natural because I¡Çm willing to trust my entity in God. And I finish today¡Çs lecture with those verses which represent the resolution of Paul. ; - God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. (2 Timothy 1:8-9 )