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“Confessing Faith Saves” (Romans 10:5-13)

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Series: Unexpected Truths”

Pastor Nate Walther

13th Sunday of Pentecost (08/23/2026)

Confession feels like a dirty word.  Maybe it conjures up images of a child squirming before mom or dad with something broken in the background.  Maybe you think about that feeling in your stomach when you know you’re going to have to admit something to your spouse.  Maybe it’s even the kind of thing that can drive people away from church: they don’t like to confess their sins, it makes them feel bad, so they don’t come.  Why, then, do we have confession?  It’s because God simply tells us in his Word today that CONFESSING FAITH SAVES.  Confession is not the negative thing we often make it out to be.  It’s a positive thing that gets at the heart of God’s plans for us.

            In today’s sermon text from Romans, the Apostle Paul approaches this topic from the question of righteousness.  What makes us right in the sight of God that we might be saved?  He lists two possibilities. Verse 5 explains the first: there is “righteousness that comes by law”, which means you have to do all the things the law says to be righteous, as the remainder of the verse explains.  So how about that one?  Would you bank your salvation on it?  Keeping God’s law all the time? When he’s not just some cop where you can speed up again once you’re out of sight on the interstate?… Of course not!  That’s why it’s a good thing God has revealed a second possibility in verse 6: “righteousness that comes by faith,” which doesn’t require any heroic deeds, as the following verses demonstrate. It doesn’t mean going to places we cannot reach (like heaven, verse 6), or coming back from places we cannot come back from (like the grave, verse 7). All it requires is faith.  And let’s make sure we define it correctly.  This is faith that is about more than a feeling. This is faith based on something concrete and real. 

As an example of it, Paul describes faith that is grounded in God’s Word (verse 8).  That means it is ultimately accessible to all people—regardless of who they are or what they have done or any limitation—because anyone can pick up a Bible and read it.  Then, Paul additionally describes such faith going hand-in-hand with confession (verse 9).  The thing about confession is: there’s actually something real there to identify and, therefore, confess!…  But it’s not just sin.  Paul ultimately directs our attention to the message of Christ. This is about confessing what Jesus did for our sin. Jesus, who brought heaven down to us as the son of God. Jesus, who conquered death for us as a son of man.  And that’s why Paul concludes these verses (10-13) by making it clear that everyone who confesses Christ and calls upon him will be saved.

So… confession.  It’s true that there’s a “negative” side to confession.  Take the positive things we just heard. How can we be saved unless there is something we need to be saved from?  How can Jesus rescue us from death unless there’s something to kill us?  And today, even as we talk about the most basic topic of faith, we see such sin clearly.  1) We see it when people turn faith into an empty label, almost like a good luck charm.  As long as they can claim faith—as long as they’re on the membership roster at some church, somewhere—they may assume God is OK with things.  But they don’t really worry about what God says. They don’t worry about doing what he says is right, or believing truths he says are important in the Bible.  Do you realize that God condemns this viewpoint here?  It’s still about righteousness that comes by faith – you don’t just throw out what is right and embrace the opposite!  And faith still confesses the truth – it depends on real, quantifiable things!  But if faith becomes little more than a feeling?  It’s great when it feels great.  It’s not when it doesn’t.  And if that’s all your faith is—not based on anything real, right or true—it will fail you when you need it most… 2) By the way, that’s not the only pitfall.  Faith can become an empty label just as much in the opposite way, when people makes faith all about heroic deeds that ultimately reel salvation in.  Yes, they would agree that God saves them “by faith”.  But don’t you have to be good enough? God wouldn’t let some bad sinner into heaven, you have to clear some bar!  Except, where will it end?  No matter how high you climb, you still haven’t reached heaven, even if you clear every other human obstacle in the process.  And then you’ll still die, there’s still something inside of us that kills us and puts an end to the life God intended to last forever… Which of these two pitfalls do you struggle with?  Do you go back and forth between the two?… In our sermon text, God describes all needing to be saved from this sin.  So confess it!  We need to confess our sin!!  Not confessing it will not change the fact that this is a problem!!!

But don’t stop there.  Because although we do this every church services—although we make a big point of talking about sin in every Bible study and counseling session and in what we teach kids in our school—it’s never the last word.  It wasn’t in our sermon text.  That’s because the highlight of confession isn’t law but the gospel.  Now we can see what makes Jesus so good.  Jesus, who literally brought heaven down to us.  Jesus, who brought God’s presence to people in a way they could endure their Maker face-to-face.  Then he cleared the bar we could never clear.  Even confession: though he had no sin of his own to confess, Jesus always perfectly confessed his Father in heaven before others.  Then he went to the cross.  Jesus suffered for every time we have failed to confess our sin or failed to confess God’s truth before others when the situation called for it.  Then he went down to the depths.  And Jesus defeated the gravest consequence that sin would ever wreak on our lives: death itself.  It’s why Jesus could suddenly talk about the kingdom of God being near people when he was near them!  And it’s near to us too.  Jesus is the Word made flesh, and we find him in the Word as well, in this message of all that he does for us.

Finally, that’s what we confess.  Faith is not some passive thing where you are just taking in a performance.  It’s active and it claims something immense for oneself.  But we don’t swing too far in the opposite direction.  No strenuous heroics are required here, just standing on the already bold claims of Christ.  It’s why we end each confession of sin with an announcement of Christ as Savior from sin, because that’s what makes that confession complete.  It’s also why also why we confess our faith after the sermon, after hearing about the good things God has done for us.  Fittingly, we even stand for these confessions.  Think about that, the only other times we usually stand in the service are to honor Jesus himself: in the Gospel lesson which highlights his words and works, and in the Sacrament which gives us his very body and blood.  Confession isn’t about being left with sin.  Confession is about being left with Jesus who frees us from sin.  So confess that!  We need to confess our Savior from sin!!  Not confessing it will not fix the problem!!!

So now, let me ask you this: what does this actually look like?  I ask the question because the Apostle Paul isn’t describing Sunday morning worship in our sermon text.  Rather, he’s describing Christian living and righteousness as a whole.  Which means it’s not just about confession for one hour on a Sunday morning. Confession is for every hour of this life.  What does that look like?…  Take the example of Wisconsin sports teams.  They matter to me. I care about them, probably more than I should. So what goes hand-in-hand with that?  I talk about it!  I confess it!  (A few of you may have heard me talk about that 22-0 drubbing the Brewers gave the Marlins the other night!) That’s just it: if a sport or a hobby matters to you, you talk about it, you just can’t help it!  So also, if faith matters more to us than sports or hobbies, than our jobs or even our families—all things we quickly and gladly talk about!—talk about faith too.  Confess it…  What if we normalized that?  What if you’re struggling with a sin, so you went to your pastor and privately confessed it, all so that he could help you and personally assure you of forgiveness for that sin in Jesus?  Or, what if you know you’ve messed up with your family, so you didn’t just hide it or ignore it – you confessed that sin to your spouse or to your children, and then you made a renewed effort to live in the righteousness to which God has called you?  Or, what if you have a friend who’s caught up in a sin, or they’re struggling with some of the truly bad thing of this world, so you made a point to talk to them about how God addresses these topics in his Word?… If we don’t, it empties our faith and weakens it.  If we do, we’re so much better off. Haven’t we all experienced it?  Those times where the guilt is eating at you, yet you don’t want to confess your sin.  But then it gets out into the open always, and you are forced to confess it!  Except, that’s where somebody actually forgives that sin, and only then do we realize we’re finally move on. What better feeling in the world is there than that?  It’s exactly what God has designed our faith to do!  And it’s what he always offers us freely through the blood of his Son Jesus

Let me ask you again, does confession feel like a dirty word? I hope after hearing God’s Word today, we would all say, “No! We’re glad our church does this!”  Because confession is a hallmark of saving faith.  It’s faith’s fingerprint – faith’s indication that there is something real and consequential and transformative here.  To be sure, it can be hard.  But that doesn’t make it worth avoiding.  Not when confession goes hand-in-hand with salvation, with righteousness, with all the good God wants to give us.  That won’t come by holding on to our own sin.  It will only come by letting go of sin, letting Christ take hold of it, and then holding onto him.  That’s what confession is all about.  Sin is the lesser part of it.  And the moment we talk about sin, Jesus gets the last word.  It’s why confession is only good. Amen. 

“Christians Don’t Doubt What Happens Next”

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“Christians Don’t Doubt What Happens Next” (Romans 8:28-30)

Series: What Makes Christians Different?”

by Pastor Nate Walther

Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost, 08/09/2026

Do you like puzzles?  Some people do, some people don’t.  What’s interesting is that whether you do or you don’t, it may be for the exact same reason: puzzles are hard to figure out. Some people like that, some people don’t.

This relates to the Biblical topic at the root of our discussion today.  Predestination is a Bible teaching we were introduced to in our sermon text next week: that before time began, God chose people to be saved and go to heaven.  And many people think of predestination as a puzzle because it is a difficult teaching with a number of pieces that seem hard to piece together.  For example, some churches teach that only 144,000 are predestined to go to heaven because they take John’s vision in Revelation quite literally when he talks about 144,000 in heaven.  But are you one of the few who can reach this lofty standard?  There are well over double that amount of people in just the WELS alone, not to mention many other solid Christians!  (Don’t worry about that one too much.  We’ll see today in a clear section of God’s Word that this is about more than just meeting a quota, and God never meant Revelation to be interpreted so literalistically as a series of visions.)   Perhaps in reaction to that, other churches teach that predestination is more “open”, that God simply chooses those whom he saw would have faith in the future.  But why does the Bible so often make a big deal of what God chooses if it’s really just about what we choose?  That doesn’t make sense.  Perhaps that’s why still others say predestination is simply a matter of what God decides, it’s secret, and therefore it is a puzzle.   But with so much at stake, how can you be sure it includes you?  If you have committed a really bad sin, for example, is there any hope for you?

As we conclude our series today about WHAT MAKES CHRISTIANS DIFFERENT, God tells us something to address these concerns. CHRISTIANS DON’T DOUBT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.  And if you appreciate a good puzzle, you’re going to love how these puzzle pieces come together.  But even if you don’t, you’re going to appreciate how God has already put this puzzle together so that you & I don’t have to.

Our sermon text has so much we could talk about.  It’s one of the most beloved sections of the Bible, and perhaps any number of these verses speak to you.  But let me just focus on the first few verses.  In verse 29, we’re told “those God foreknew, he also predestined…”  However, for as much as a puzzle as we can make predestination to be, it’s clear whom God is talking about.  The “those” mentioned in this verse?  We were already introduced to them in verse 28, it’s “those who love (God), who have been called according to his purpose.”  (In the language in which this was first written, the rules of grammar dictate that the people who love God in verse 28 are the same as those who are predestined in verse 29.  In the original text there’s essentially an equal-sign there!)  To put that in a tangible way, do you love the God who sent his Son Jesus for you?  If so, you are one of the elect, you are chosen.  If you think to yourself, “it can’t be that simple…” it is! That’s exactly how God talks about predestination here. 

Now it’s true this is still a “puzzle”, because there are several other pieces that must fit.  For example, in verse 29 we were also told “those God foreknew he also predestined.”  That’s where some people get the idea that God knew in advance people would be worthy or come to faith, so he chose them.  But that’s not how the first listener would have heard this. The word that’s used for “knowledge” here is not so much a word that denotes “head” knowledge but rather “heart” knowledge. i.e. This wasn’t just a matter of cold calculation of God’s part, this was God knowing us on a deeper, more meaningful level.  This is God knowing who we would be—knowing your hopes & dreams, your faults and failures also—and even with those ‘pieces of the puzzle’, still he predestined us, he chose us long ago in the past. 

Notice how that leads to subsequence ‘pieces of the puzzle’. Verse 30—now in the present as we think of it—the same “those he predestined, he also called.”  God did that when he called us to faith by the Holy Spirit as he worked through the means of grace, the Gospel in Word & Sacrament!  Then,the same “those he called, he also justified.”  God did that when he took away our sins and declared us ‘not guilty of sin’ through the work of His Son Jesus!  And finally, the same “those he justified, he also glorified.” The last of that sequence we may think exclusively in terms of the future, as the perfect glory awaits us with God in heaven. Certainly it is that, but it’s also something the Bible says we begin to experience already by faith.

            In conclusion, the so-called “predestination puzzle” we’re discussing today?  It spans across time. Some pieces we see clearly now, some we don’t.  But in the end every piece is connected to the next.  If we’re confident in any one of these pieces, we can be confident in all of them.  (Even such future-oriented glory is described with a past-tense verb!) And when we ask, “How can that be? How can we be so sure of it?” We’re simply told it’s because God pieces this all together, God controls every step—past, present, and future.  And finally for us, that means if we see Jesus now, we no longer have to doubt what happens next… If we have heard that calling of the Gospel, if we have heard in that good news the truth that God has justified us in Jesus, if we love God for that, if we have that one piece… then God says it’s connected to all the other pieces, then we can say just as surely that God chose us for glory and we’re going to heaven.  That’s not just my take on it as some pastor of some church with its own twist on this.  That’s precisely how God talks about it here in his Word!

            When you see how well this all fits together, it just illustrates the point.  I mean, here God basically tells us, “your eternity and your salvation are secure in my hands.”  That’s such a good thing!  Yet how quickly do we take matters into our own hands and think, “Am I really chosen if I have committed certain sins?  What must I do to be sure I will go to heaven?” As if we could ever do enough to supplement what God has perfectly decided in eternity, or what Christ has perfectly accomplished for us at the cross and empty tomb!… That attitude is sin.  We take beautiful things God has given to us and we ruin them.  Whether it’s something like good food or drink that we use to excess, or a meaningful friendship or relationship that we abuse, or we squander the good opportunities God provides to us through work or education – sin makes so many things in our lives less than they could be.  But then comes salvation, then comes eternity, and God says, “No. I love you too much to allow you to make it something less… I do this. I choose this.”  Predestination is the first piece of that puzzle.  It’s just not a piece we need to worry about.

            Which leads to the question, why even mention it at all if we aren’t responsible for this choice?  To be fair, the teaching doesn’t come up all that often in the Bible.  Furthermore, it’s interesting precisely where electiokn does come up.  Take our sermon text as an example.  The Apostle Paul is speaking to Christians in Rome know how they are saved, that much is clear from the rest of the book.  They had that one critical piece of the puzzle. Yet they were still struggling.  Their lives were hard and they lived in pain.  They were being attacked by others for their faith, and they faced the temptation to fall from faith.  And that’s precisely where Paul brings up predestination.  It’s intended to be medicine for such an ailment.

            Think of powerful medicine.  If you use it as prescribed, it can be such a tremendous blessing to help ease a medical condition.  But if you use it to treat something else, it will not help at all.  In fact, it very likely may hurt you in the end, and at worst it could even kill you!… Similarly, predestination was never meant to treat the concern, “how can I be sure that I’m saved?”  For that ailment, the Bible always points you to the cross.  If you want to know whether you’ll be in heaven, look to Jesus’ work.  Did he die for your sins?  Do you believe in him?  That’s the only answer you ever need…  But what if you have another concern, “how can I be sure my faith is strong enough?”  For that ailment (and really, only in that context) does the Bible ever brings up predestination.  If you are worried you’ll be able to hang on until the end—when your life is falling apart; when that person you love has abandoned you or been taken away from you; when you’re diagnosed with cancer or living with chronic pain; when you’ve messed up and you don’t feel worthy of anything good let alone heaven; finally, when you think you might just give up on faith—look to God’s strength.  He chose you.  It’s why you believe right now, and it’s why you’ll be glorified as well.  It didn’t happen because you were strong enough in your convictions.  It happened because God was.  Again, that’s predestination.  It’s God’s way of saying, “Even if you’re not strong enough, I won’t let go of you.”

            Dear friends in Christ, even if what you see now causes you to doubt, do not doubt what happens next.  Just keep looking at Jesus.  He’s the one thing you can always see, even in tough moments.  After all, when we look at Jesus we’re also looking at a cross.  Whenever we’re in pain, he always responds, “I know, I’ve been there too…” And that is finally coming from the same God who says in predestination, “Still, I chose you, and I won’t let go of you.”  It’s one more thing that makes Christians different.  It’s why, among all the other things we learn from God’s Word every week, our goal is still to see Jesus every week.  Because if we have that piece of the puzzle, we have it all.  Amen.

“Don’t Confuse Weeds with Wheat”

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“Don’t Confuse Weeds with Wheat” (Romans 1:18-27)

Series: What Makes Christians Different?”

by Pastor Nate Walther

Eight Sunday of Pentecost, 07/19/2026

            Don’t confuse weeds with wheat.  That might sound like strange advice, as if there’s some epidemic of people weeding out fruits and vegetables from their garden instead of dandelions and thistles!  But back in Jesus’ day, a certain kind of weed could easily be mistaken for wheat, especially if it was still some time before harvest when the wheat produced its full head and could be identified.  And there’s truth in that picture for us today as we consider the harvest God wants to get from us.

            Our sermon text provides an example that hits home for Christians living in the Madison area. I didn’t have to look hard for this topic, it’s right there connected to our regular, three-year set of readings that samples the entirety of the Bible’s teachings: homosexuality. Having just completed “pride month”, it’s the kind of thing that lots of people excuse: “this is how God made me, and there’s nothing wrong with love!”  It’s also the kind of thing that lots of churches excuse: “the problem with homosexuality in Bible times was that it was practiced in a loveless way, and it was associated with idolatry.” 

            The only problem with those excuses?  As we return to our sermon text, it’s clear God does not excuse it.  To be fair, God does talk about idolatry in verse 23, but notice how it’s something that leads to such sins in verse 24.  That tells us this isn’t a matter of guilt by association where “it’s only a problem if it’s practiced lovelessly”; rather, it’s a matter of cause and effect where “one bad thing leads to another.”  In fact, there’s no other way to interpret it when God goes on to call homosexuality in verse 26 a “disgraceful passion”, where “natural relationships” are given up.  To put it in another way, what we’re talking about today isn’t a case of “this is how God made me” but the opposite.  God is the one who calls it “disgraceful”.  God says it goes “against nature.” God calls it an “indecent act” that earns a “penalty.”  Those aren’t words the Bible ever uses to describe God’s good creation. They are words the Bible uses to describe sin. And anyone who says otherwise is equally perverting God word. 

            Dear brothers and sisters in the faith, there’s no doubt about it: homosexuality is sin. God doesn’t make people this way—just like he doesn’t make someone violent or impatient or an addict—the fall into sin led to all of this.  Which makes it equally sinful to downplay it or excuse it.  It’s one of the surest signs of our fallen world: that mankind celebrates this today, that they confuse weeds with wheat. 

            Yet it’s only one example of idolatry that people place before the Lord.  How often do people place other created things and what they want above God and his will?  Because the sixth commandment isn’t just about hot-button issues like homosexuality or transgenderism.  Just because a young Christian couple consisting of one man and woman is sleeping together outside of marriage does not somehow make it sanctified.  So also, whether it involves the sixth commandment or any other commandment, what might someone place above the will of the creator?  How often do we also worship and follow other things as idols, rather than the Lord?  How often do we likewise confuse weeds with wheat?

            That’s the real problem here.  Where we are so quick to pin problems only on certain people or certain situations—So you just need a special month to bring awareness to the matter, that will finally solve it! But at best the issues are never solved, and at worst the approach is totally misguided (as it is in this case)—No, the real problem runs deeper with all people.  You and I deserve just as much penalty from God for sins that run just as contrary to his will.  Finally, what makes us different as Christians?  Do we realize, by nature and because of our sin, the answer should be nothing. 

            It’s why only one answer will do: the answer perfectly found in God’s plans to save the world through his Son.  Think of how Jesus didn’t just do what would have been easiest, or what he wanted to do, or what would have felt good.  He followed his Father’s will to the end, even though it meant death on a cross where he suffered hell.  For every time we have committed sin or excused sin, for any time we have raised an idol above God and what he wants, Jesus suffered for that too.  It’s why we can ask that question again, what makes us different as Christians?  And although the answer should be nothing, because of Jesus and through faith in him, the answer is actually everything.

By the way, as we think of what Christ was willing to sacrifice to save us from God’s judgment which we heard about in each of our readings, it is all reflected so well in God’s plans in the sixth commandment.  In the end, we’re not prudes as Christians.  Sex itself isn’t the issue.  That’s why God had to label this is a “disgraceful” passion, because there is such a thing as a good passion!  But that doesn’t automatically excuse every passion.  Case in point, when it becomes all about getting what you want and what feels good, that’s idolatry.  But anything can be a good thing if it’s about getting what God wants and it leads to good things for others.  Likewise, when this is found in the right context – where kids whom God uniquely gives by this union will benefit from having mom and dad both be there for them, where husbands and wives are meant to sacrifice for each other and be there for each other until death parts them – can you see how reserving this gift for marriage will serve those purposes? On the other hand, every other sexual sin ultimately works against God’s plans to build up the family and the blessings he wants to protect there.

As we think of God’s blessings – whether that’s in the sixth commandment or any other commandment that we struggle with – how might that make a difference in our lives?…   First, we repent of our own sin and live our lives differently!  If God has truly pardoned these same sins and made such a difference for us in eternity, we want to live our lives differently here on earth!… Then, unlike our world that condemns anyone for not sharing in their viewpoint, we do things differently there as well.  To be clear, we still condemn sin.  That’s just saying what God is saying, and there is nothing wrong with that, don’t let anyone tell you there is!  But even more ardently, we do what God did for us and share forgiveness for that sin as we seek to rescue a soul, and we continue to love them.  It’s why you don’t disown a child for cohabitation, a friend for homosexuality, or anybody else for any other sin.   Sure, you talk to them and warn them about their sin, but then you love them more than anybody else.  That includes those who affirm their sin!  As Christians we should be better friends and do more for those caught up in sin than those people who say their sin is OK!

Like Jesus said in our Gospel, we live as wheat among weeds.  We don’t rip ourselves away from others at risk of tearing them up.  We live peacefully with those around us.  So much so that we may even look like those around us at times, but as people closely examine your fruit they will be able to see that you’re different.  In other words, it’s OK if people glance at you and don’t immediately think “Christian!”  We don’t have to wear our faith on our sleeves like that.  But what’s not OK is if people get to know you and they’d still never know you’re a Christian.  So speak and act according to the truth, but don’t feel like you have to rain down fire and brimstone on them. That day will come, but God will worry about it.  You and I only need to concern ourselves with being wheat in his fields.

Or, perhaps an example we can relate to a little more than weeds which look like wheat is the example of salt & sugar.  Think of how the two can look exactly the same, but once you get a taste of them you realize they are completely different! (You’ll know that if you’ve ever confused cups of salt for cups of sugar in a cookie recipe!)  Similarly, even as you and I share strong viewpoints in a world of strong viewpoints, they should taste something sweet that comes from us.  They realize that both sides have their viewpoints, their thoughts of what’s right and wrong.  But where one side attacks me for not sharing in their viewpoint, the other still loves me even while disagreeing with my viewpoint. 

That’s what we’re talking about today.  It’s  heavy stuff, but we need to hear it.  If we don’t, Satan will try to convince us that it’s ok, that God’s wrong on this one, just like he’s convinced people in many other places.  Only he won’t stop sowing weeds there.  He’ll eventually try to get you to doubt everything God ever told you, including that you’re a sinner who needs a Savior, and that only Christ will do. To be clear, he’s done that elsewhere too… So don’t confuse weeds with wheat.  Just like it would be foolish to confuse the two in your garden, the same danger is possible here.  It doesn’t change just because something looks good or sounds loving on the outside.  The world’s ways and God’s ways are completely different.  One promises a good life here, but really fails to deliver.  (Those political initiatives never work!)  But the other delivers eternal life, and through it a better way to live here.   It’s just one more example of what makes Christians different… any why that’s such a good thing.  Amen.

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