No distinctions

Romans 3:21-30; Ps 130 With the Lord there is mercy; Luke 11:47-54

Here are the words of St. Paul from the letter of Romans this morning

"There is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus. whom God sent forth as expiation, through faith by his Blood...What occasion is there then for boasting?"

There is a sobering thought. The cross is the great equalizer. Why do we boast?

Go back to the first part of that statement by St. Paul. "There is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the Glory of God."

Now "distinction" is different than "exception". Obviously there are exceptions looking at all humans though there are no distinctions between gentiles and jews. JEsus Christ is an exception. He was fully human and was sinless. The church teaches that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was is also sinless, by the words of the greeting of the angel Gabriel, "HAil, full of grace the Lord is with you." Though Mary's sinlessness is still prescribed as a result of Christ and his redemption.

A lot to think about.

But remember we can be saved in many ways. IF we are walking and fall into a hole, then someone who rescues us by pulling us from the hole saves us. Or we can be walking and headed toward a hole and then someone comes along and guides us around the hole, we are still saved though we do not suffer the effects of the fall.

The former is our experience. THe latter is Mary's. Both cases we are saved by grace that comes from Christ.

The argument St. Paul is presenting is the argument that Jews and Gentiles alike are all the same in Christ. None are better than the other for it is by the Blood of Christ that we are justified in faith.

To be justified means to be vindicated or to arrive at an acquittal.

When does this acquittal happen? Where according to Paul, by Baptism 1 Corinthians 6:11. In the waters of Baptism, the sinner is acquitted and the sinner is adopted as a child of God himself in Christ. thus an heir of eternal life. Thus an inward transformation occurs, an indelible mark as the church teaches.

St. Paul goes on to say, "a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law."

Works of the law are different than good works.

For later, St. Paul will say that faith manifest itself in lives of believers by obedience (Rom 1.5), love (Gal 5:6), good works (Ephesians 2:10).

Works of the law refer to the Mosaic Covenant and the many prescribed precepts added on by the scribes and Pharisees through the ages.

Good works are those things that come because of faith, such as we encounter in Galatians chapter 5, the fruits of the Spirit.

Just something to think about on this Thursday morning.

Turn your attention to the gospel.

The Pharisees and the scribes began to act with hostility toward Jesus.
Jesus speaks the truth and calls them to the mat. They do not like it and they react violently toward it.

This is a good thing to remember. If they persecuted him, they shall persecute us who also call people to the mat by speaking and living the truth. Jesus made them feel uncomfortable.

So be it.

A Poem: sometimes

sometimes things don't go, after all
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all is well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man; decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.