Sermon on the Augsburg Confession
© Rev. Verlyn Dobberstein (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin)
It is often said that there are really only two religions in the world, two plans for obtaining salvation. One is to be saved by earning it which doesn't work. The other is to receive it as a gift. Paul puts the attempt to keep God's law in the first category. He is extremely concerned about the Jews because they were forever trying to earn God's favor. They thought that they could keep God's Law but Paul told them that was impossible to do. It requires perfection and all sinners fail. But there is a far better way, the only way to salvation, and that is by God's grace. What does the Bible say? It tells us Jesus came down to earth to live the perfect life sinners could not live; He kept the law for them. What's more, He died the death sinners deserved for their many sins. In this way He obtained the righteousness necessary for our salvation and He now offers it to us as a free gift. God's Word proclaims this glorious truth to us in the Gospel and that same Word also works faith in the heart to believe it. Do you believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? That He died and arose from the dead for you? Does He fill your heart with peace and joy, forgiveness and hope? Yes! Then rejoice for you have the gift of salvation! Paul says in our text, "As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Christ will never be put to shame.' For, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" God has done everything. Man has done nothing. All that remains is to simply believe God's promises and even that faith is a gift. When Christ is in your heart, no one can take Him away from you. When you believe Him with all your heart, then you will also want to confess Him to others.
Again, what does the Bible say? "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with
your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Notice Paul speaks of two things: believing with your hearts and confessing with your mouths. Paul certainly did that. Ever since his conversion he was forever confessing Christ with his mouth. Whether he was robbed, beaten, or left for dead for the sake of the Gospel, it did not close his mouth from telling others of the Savior. He said, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." We think of the disciples who at one time were hiding behind locked doors for fear of persecution but after Pentecost boldly confessed Christ even if it meant suffering martyrdom, dying for their faith. In 1530 at Augsburg, Germany, the Vice-Chancellor Christian Beyer who read the Augsburg Confession certainly was not afraid to confess Christ to others.
