Some things never change. Luther, in his day, grieved over those who gave lip service to the message that the death of Christ delivers us from our sin, but who then went on to also attribute to love the power of salvation. And as important as love is, and it is commanded by God, it cannot save. Only Christ can through His death on the cross. If love or any other virtue could be a cause of salvation, whether total or partial, Christ becomes theologically expendable, able to be traded away in favor of love, for draft choices to be named later. This is fatal to the substance of the Christian religion.

Love, our action, could never be put on par with Christ and His action to save the world by His death. How could they compare adequately? What shining beauty does our love have that would give it luster like the holiness of God's eternal Son, His extravagant sacrifice for poor sinners, and His willingness to lay down His life as a substitute under the wrath of God? What work of our own piety could ever shine like the perfect obedience of the Lord Christ, who under the burdens of suffering perfectly obeyed His Father's will, and so loved fully the world so that He had compassion on all. Any such claim smacks of self-worship and spiritual delusion. Such deluded people say, "Yes, yes, I know all about Jesus. He has done His thing. Now let me get on with doing the really important things; things that God really wants." This circumvention of Christ creates a false god, a heart-borne idol and an Adamic contagion, wickedly desiring to replace God.

A colleague of mind was working in his garage, when he smelled the unmistakable odor of natural gas. As he began to look for the cause, he was greeted by his three-year-old daughter who said, "Look daddy, I cook!" She had turned on the burner of their gas grill. The grill's starter was broken and so she was not able to ignite the fuel. Now the starter will never get fixed. We act like that three-year-old when we try to set before God our shining works and efforts, "Look, what I've done for you, God!" The problem is that our works are quite likely to blow up in our face. And no matter how sincerely we may be trying to entice our Father into appreciating our efforts, the results are dangerous, even downright deadly. Maybe our Father really does need to take care of us. That is what He wants to do and why He sent His Son to die for us.

Unfortunately, those who ought to know better often preach the beauty of our works and efforts, our love, and much puffed-up compassion in competition with the suffering and death of Christ. Over the last 500 years not much has changed. Preachers are still giving Christ the short shrift to flatter their hearers.