THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

81ORTHODOXYWhy will so many people, as Jesus puts it, be astonished on that day? First of all, becausethey have depended on their orthodoxy in order to gain entrance into God’s kingdom. Theirargument is:“Didn’t we address you as Lord, Lord?” (vv. 21-22).To address someone as “Lord” was the most respectful and courteous way of referring toa person. While to some it may not mean more than “sir” in this context, it is clear that it alsowas a confession of faith. The word “Lord” (both in Hebrew and in Greek) is a word that denotesdivinity. In the Old Testament “Lord” is the word “Jehovah,” the personal name for God. In theNew Testament the word is “Kurios,” a word which citizens of the Roman Empire were requiredto use in publicly confessing the divinity of Caesar. What Jesus is saying is that there will bethose who will confess His divinity but who will never have entered into a personal relationshipwith Him.Martin Luther is an example of such a person. Because of his intense concern for hiseternal destiny he left his secular occupation to enter the monastery of the Augustinian hermits ofErfurt, Germany. Because of his intense devotion Luther was quickly ordained into thepriesthood. His study of the scriptures led to a doctorate in theology and a very influentialprofessorship. If anyone would have asked him if he believed in the divinity of Jesus he wouldhave unequivocally answered a resounding, “Of course, I do!” yet he did not have peace of mind.He was continually plagued with guilt. He was torn by doubts and hounded by insecurity. WhileJesus was savior, He was not his savior. Only when Luther had a personal confrontation with thePerson of Jesus Christ did he find peace and rest for his troubled soul. Then, and only then, didhe become the great reformer.Orthodoxy is not enough! The trouble is that the Jesus of the fields the marketplaces andthe highways has been entombed on cathedrals and holy places and, and has been renderedinnocuous by making Him Lord of the lips and the hymn books.God said of the Jews:“These people come near me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, buttheir hearts are far from me” (Isa 19:13).The tragedy of empty profession! The Jesus of verbal confession is not enough. Theremust be an experience of the heart.The religion of mere verbal confession was prominent in the Lutheran Church inGermany in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s day. The church was filled with people who regularly citedthe great historic creeds yet whose lives had never been affected by such beliefs. Bonhoefferdescribed such a form of Christianity as “cheap grace.” He gives the following description of“cheap grace”: