Reformation Sunday
Stewardship 2
God’s Reforming Love
Romans 3:19-28
October 26, 2025
Rev. Patricia J. Raube
Union Presbyterian Church, Endicott, NY
Scripture
Now we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.
Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Meditation
Let’s begin by talking about guilt.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary has four definitions for the noun, guilt. The first two are:
1. the fact of having committed a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penalty
As in, “A jury will determine the defendant's guilt or innocence.”
2. the state of one who has committed an offense especially consciously
As in, “His guilt was written in his face.”[i]
In the second definition, guilt is a gift. It is good and important for us to be aware of things we have done wrong—everything from shoplifting to unkind words to infidelity to murder. It’s good to know what we have done with clarity. If we do know, then we can own up to it, and do everything possible to stop the wrong behavior, and to begin the work of repair of the damage we have done. In addition, for people of faith, an appropriate sense of guilt over having done wrong is an opportunity for some very uncomfortable but ultimately helpful conversations with God, consulting our Maker, who created us for good, and who always wants to restore us to that state.
Merriam-Webster gives us two additional definitions of guilt:
3. feelings of deserving blame especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy
As in, “Even looking at the expensive dress made her feel guilty.”
4. a feeling of deserving blame for offenses
As in, “Wracked by guilt, he confessed his affairs.”[ii]
One of these can become problematic. In fact, one of these may well have kicked off the Protestant Reformation.
Augustinian Friar Martin Luther was a scholar and a priest. He was a theologian, pondering the nature of God and God’s relationship with human beings. He translated scripture into German, his native language. However, Luther suffered a terrible case of scruples. No matter what he did, no matter how often he prayed to God; no matter how many hours he spent in confessing his perceived sins to a priest, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he deserved blame and punishment. He feared hell, and despite his best efforts, had no confidence he would avoid it. Here are his own words, describing the spiritual scruples that plagued him:
They were so great and so much like hell that no tongue could adequately express them, no pen could describe them, and one who had not himself experienced them could not believe them.[iii]
Having been a Catholic child who, on one occasion, took a piece of paper and a flashlight into a confessional so that I would remember to report all my sins, I have a lot of empathy for Luther. But what he experienced eclipses any scruples I had. (For the record, once I turned on the flashlight, I realized it lit up my face as well as the paper, and quickly turned it off, as if that would erase Monsignor O’Connor’s memory that it was me, Patty Raube.)
Ultimately, Luther’s deep study of scripture lifted Luther out of his obsession with his own sinfulness. Paul’s letter to the Romans was key for him, especially the portion of chapter 3 we have just read.
In this passage, Paul describes the futility of trying to live out the law perfectly. The truth is, none of us is perfect except for God, Godself. We have all fallen short of the glory of God; that is a fact of human nature. But God, whose love for us is perfect, and who, because of that love came among us in Jesus, has shown us what that love looks like. And ultimately, it is our faithfulness in that love that lifted Luther (and lifts us) from obsessing over the ways in which we feel unforgiveable. It is summed up in that last verse:
For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Luther gave us the Latin term “sola fide,” (which means simply, faith alone). This doctrine is at the heart of the Protestant Reformed tradition. And again—we are not talking about faith as in points of doctrine, listed and memorized and claimed. This faith a deep faithfulness, a sense of trust that God is, indeed love, therefore does not intend to leave their beloved children behind. By our works, we show that love. God’s love for us has nothing to do with the things we do, with our goodness. It has everything to do with God’s goodness.
Guilt can be a good and healthy response to knowing we have veered from the path God wants us to walk. But guilt that corners us into believing we are unforgiveable is harmful, and truly, not “of God.” We can learn to recognize God’s goodness every day, by practicing gratitude for all the good we see in our lives. God’s reforming love can mold us into a people who know that God’s love is sure. God loves us, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Guilt,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guilt.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, Vol. 31: Career of the Reformer I. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan et al., vol. 31, Fortress Press, 1999, p. 129.