Sermon, 4th Sunday in Lent, 2025
Just about every person will admit that something is fundamentally off in the world. As Christians, we recognize this as the result of the Fall, the sin of Adam in disobeying to God when he was still in the Garden of Eden. When we consider who God is and also consider that we have no basis for our rebellion against Him, we realize an appropriate fear of God. He has the power to condemn us or to restore us back to life. The question then becomes, “How exactly do we repent and regain our good standing with God?” Many believe that fellowship with God is obtained by obeying God’s laws perfectly. In the epistle lesson from Galatians, St. Paul equates this to living by the Law which was given at Mt. Sinai represented by the slave, Hagar. But we can never pull ourselves out of the sin nature. The only way to God is to live by His promises. In our repentance, we learn to trust in His perfect love demonstrated for us in Christ. We cannot earn our salvation. We must receive it as a gift, and continue in that salvation by faith in the promises of God.