This week we will reflect on the "law." It begins with a section Tuomo Mannermaa labels The law belongs to the 'world.'
The first point Luther makes about law is his absolute denial of the law's capability to serve as a way to salvation. This means that works of love must not be required of human beings with the intention that they should achieve righteousness through such works. To regard love as the basis for one's salvation would be the primary source of corruption of faith. Contrary to this, God's wants, out of pure and sheer love, to grant God's forgiving righteousness - that is, Godself - to human beings and to be their "life and blessedness."
It is probably odd to hear that "works of love must not be required of human beings"...but keep reading for the next part of the sentence is vital... "with the intention that they should achieve righteousness through such work. To love...can become and often is...nothing more than something to do. This doing...is often with the intention of showing just how much we are followers of Jesus. And yet, it is not our love...but the Christ who takes us up into the fullness of Christ's beings that bring us within the domain of the righteousness of the Reign of God. No act - not even love - is a way into the Reign of God. We are brought in...we are pulled in...we are gifted and that is on the basis of God's action not anything - anything - that we do. Are we to love? We love as response to the gift we are given. It is a part of our being...not something we do to fit in.
Connection: We are set free to be the beloved of God who are claimed and shaped by God's action for us. Love is the life we are handed. How will that come to life for each of us today?
Love of our Life, you take hold of us and you make us into the loving community that is shaped into the Christ alive today. As you continue to transform our living into the life of your Reign, remind us of the great freedom we are handed and the great gift we become to the world. Amen.
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