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Show The assurance of heaven By REV. ERIC V. KAELBERER Pastor of Cross of Christ Lutheran Church Recently in an adult instruction class the topic of discussion was heaven and the assur-ance assur-ance that we would be able to be .' there. Christians of every denomi-: denomi-: nation, not just Lutherans, rejoice ; in the action of God in Christ Jesus, ' on the Cross at Calvary. The . reason is that on that horrible : cross, God received full payment : for the sins of the whole world. When those of us who believe : that Jesus died for us look to that ; cross we know that Jesus hung there, for us. When we are asked, do you know if you're going to live with the Heavenly Father, we can point to the nail pierced hands and feet, the pierced side, and the thorn crowned head of our Savior and reply, "Yes, because Jesus paid the price for me." As you may know, if you follow my column on a regular basis, the Lutheran Church is celebrating its birthday with "Reformation Day," which was this past Monday. Martin Luther knew the terrors of his conscience which revealed his sin but could not offer any hope of "paying-off" God to have the assurance of heaven. One day early ear-ly in his life, Dr. Luther discovered the true God of the Bible in the words of Romans 1:17, "The righteous right-eous live by faith. ' ' What a tremendous tremen-dous discovery. Righteousness comes by faith, not by my works. To be righteous, worthy of life with the perfect Father in Heaven, comes by faith in Jesus and His payment, not in any work that I can do. Seeing faith as the gift of God and His perfect faithfulness in Jesus Christ Crucified Cruci-fied and Resurrected, Luther saw the God who used to terrify him, now as the lover of his soul. Commenting Com-menting oh Galatians 2:20, Luther wrote, "For Christ is the joy and sweetness of a trembling and troubled trou-bled heart." What an apt description of God, not as my judge, for in Christ cruci fied I have already been judged, righteous by faith, by God my . sweet friend. Luther and all who followed after him in the protestant reformation saw the beauty of the God who loves us enough to pay the price which we are unable to pay the payment for our sins. My friend, if your conscience terrifies you, if you are unsure about ab-out your place in heaven, rejoice, for the God who loves you wants you to know that He-loves you so much that He sent His only-begotten only-begotten Son to die and rise for you. Believing that His death and resurrection are enough to pay for all your sins, you will know the assurance of heaven. |