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The Bible Study – Our readings for Thursday, Jan. 4 are Isaiah 63:15 – 65:7 & Luke 2:41 – 52. God’s Word in Isaiah 64:6 gives the lie to works’ righteousness and self-salvation: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” The Lutheran Reformation reclaimed the truth of the Bible: we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. As the Apostle Paul explained, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) To believe, out of sinful human pride, that we can justify ourselves, in whole or part, is to deny God’s Word. The prophet Isaiah explained our relationship to the Almighty: “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Luke in his Gospel often juxtaposes the divine and miraculous, with the everyday and seemingly ordinary. A 12-year-old youth from Nazareth gives answers to the Temple’s religious authorities, and they’re amazed. Mary and Joseph search for Jesus, He simply responds that He was in His Father’s house. Today, God reveals our salvation in Christ through His seemingly ordinary but powerful divine means of grace: His Word, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Let us give thanks, worship, and praise. Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto http://christlutherantoronto.org/sermons/bible-verses-showing-justification-by-faith-alone