Coram Deo

I learned something cool this week that I thought I would share with y’all.

In my reformation class, we’re studying 16th century Christian history. This is when the Reformers, as they are known by, began splitting from the Catholic church. Until that point, church unity was of huge importance, which was achieved through respecting the hierarchy of leadership. Those who went against the bishops or the pope were even excommunicated, exiled, or even put to death in the name of unity.

There were many different Reformers, but a famous and early one was Martin Luther. He has a fairly recognizable name, seeing as how there are churches and theological branches and schools named after him. Martin Luther started out as a Catholic monk and a theologian (he had a doctorate in theology). He grew unhappy with some of the practices happening within the Catholic Church - most specifically, the selling of indulgences (basically, give the church money and you'll be spared some time in purgatory) and what he saw as corruption and moral laxity within the clergy. The thing he is probably most well-known for is hammering his list of points of contention onto the door of Castle Church in October of 1517.

I mentioned in a previous blog how some of complaints about the church were found to have had merit and there were reformations that happened within the Catholic Church later on as well. But there was a major theological difference that could not be reconciled between the two. This had to do with the idea of justification.

Justification in Christianese refers to the process by which sinners are considered righteous before God. Although we are all beautifully created in God's image, we are also corrupted by our sinful nature, and therefore we cannot appear before our perfect Creator God without being clothed first in righteousness. Luther argued that this righteousness is received through faith by the grace of God and the redeeming act of Jesus on the cross at the moment of confessing belief and trust in God. In that moment, we are justified. It is something of a "one and done" kind of deal. This was contrary to the Catholic viewpoint, which taught that justification was a lifelong process involving attending mass, taking the sacraments, and right living.

This is where it starts to get interesting. In Luther's view, there are two types of righteousness: passive and active. Passive righteousness is that which God gives us, and which leads to our justification. We are entirely unable to earn it or live up to it on our own. Therefore, we need God to bestow it upon us, which He made a way for through Jesus. Our covering of righteousness remains as long as we remain in His presence.

Active righteousness, on the other hand, is the evidence in our lives that justification has been received. Active righteousness is the way we live out our justification in the world. It’s the social justice. It’s the love of neighbor. It’s the being a light unto the world. Active righteousness does not save us or justify us further, because our justification is already complete. Rather, active righteousness shows we are changed people. It is our testimony to the world of the love and mercy we have received.

Luther argues that if there is no change in one's life or if one is not living a righteous life, we might question whether or not that person has been truly justified, or not. It's like James says in 2:16, "Faith without works is dead." Jesus put it this way in Matthew 7:16, "You will know them by their fruits." A true believer, a justified person, a recipient of God's mercy, should be bearing good fruit. Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience... etc. Fruit of good works. Not because the works save us, but because the works pour forth from the saving work which happened inside us.

This principle of passive and active righteousness was referred to by Luther as (in Latin), Coram Deo et Coram Mundo: in the presence of God and in the presence of the world. We are righteous only because of God, and we are to live righteous in the presence of others.

In "The Freedom of the Christian", Luther wrote, "Surely we are named after Christ, not because He is absent from us, but because He dwells in us, that is, because we believe in Him and are Christ's one to another and do to our neighbor as Christ does to us."

This really spoke to me. Jesus, after all, summarizes the entire law in two commandments: love for God and love for neighbor. There is certainly an aspect of our faith that is personal and relational with God above. AND there should also be an aspect of our faith which is personal and relational with those around us: with the world, with our neighbors, with those in need. It’s not either/or. It’s both/and.

I wrote another blog some time ago about how some churches tend to focus on one versus the other - either love of God or love of neighbor. Only, we can’t separate the two in that way, because God requires us to do both. Coram Deo and Coram Mundo. In the presence of God and in the presence of the world.

Church: let us live out our righteousness every day, in the presence of God and in the presence of the world, that all might see God's goodness.

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