Monthly Archives: July 2019

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Pentecost 6

Text: Colossians 1:21-29

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle which was read earlier.

“You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him….” That’s what Paul says to the Colossians. As we saw in last week’s reading, the Colossians remained faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ, despite the outside influences facing the Church at Colossae. But with that being said, the Colossians still had their fair share of problems. One such problem was their sinful nature getting the best of them, as it does all of us.

Once were alienated. Hostile in mind. Doing evil deeds. That’s sin at work, doing what sin does best. Sin got its wrap around the Colossians like a deadly noose. They didn’t always act like churchly Christians should. They didn’t always exemplify the name of Christ which they wore. And even though their sinful nature got the best of them, God forgave them on account of Jesus Christ.

What wonderful news, that wonderful Gospel that is for the Colossians, that despite their sin, they could be forgiven! But, there is a caveat that Paul places: “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard….” That’s right, in order to receive the forgiveness won by Jesus Christ, you must remain steadfast in the faith, faith that is founded, grounded, and securely found in Jesus.

That doesn’t sound like a bad tradeoff, does it? God forgives as long as you remain steadfast in the Christian faith. We can do that, right? We can remain steadfast in our faith in Jesus, right? That’s something that you and I can do, right? Wrong, absolutely wrong! You and I cannot remain in the faith any more than the Colossians could remain in the faith, at least, not on our own doing. You and I cannot believe in Jesus or come to faith in Him by ourselves. The Holy Spirit is what makes that possible. The Holy Spirit creates that saving faith in us in order to believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit sustains that faith in us in order for us to continue to believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the one at work here, not us.

But let’s examine our lives, to see if we are all that different than the Colossians. We too were once alienated. We too were once hostile in mind. We too once did evil deeds. Actually, those all could still be said of us today. We alienate ourselves from God by absenting ourselves from His gifts. The writer to the Hebrews says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We continue to be hostile in mind with our sinful thoughts and actions. And most certainly do we continue with evil, sinful deeds. But with all that being said, God has done something for you, the chief of sinner that you are. God has forgiven you. God has washed you in the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. God has clothed you with the Son’s righteousness. God has placed His name on you in your Baptism.

God does this. God does this for you. It is not you who does this. It is not you who does this for God, as if we could do anything for God that counts for our salvation. The work of salvation is solely God’s work for us and to us, but certainly not by us. If that were the case, then it would not be salvation we would be earning but damnation, because our works cannot save us.

If you remember what the Colossians faced from outside of the church, you will remember that I said we face those same things today. What are we to do? What are we to do in the grand scheme of things? If we can’t do anything for our salvation, does that mean there’s nothing for me to do, nothing for you to do? No, there is something that you can do. Live like you’re baptized! What do I mean by that? Live like one who is forgiven all of their sins for Christ’s sake. Live as if God’s name, that name placed upon you, means something, because it does. Live as if you have died with Christ and been risen with Christ. Live as if the Gospel is the greatest thing you could ever hear, because it is. Live as if Christ’s body and blood are the best food you have ever had, because they are.

That’s what it means to be reconciled with God. That’s what it means to be holy and blameless before God. Notice that Paul says the Colossians were reconciled, not that they will be reconciled. It means that reconciliation is complete in Christ’s work. Reconciliation is not something Christ started and we have to finish. Reconciliation is God’s work, not ours. Before, our relationship to God had been characterized by hatred and hostility; but now, that relationship is characterized by reconciliation and atonement with God, a return to what the relationship between God and his people was intended to be and what that relationship was in Eden. It was worked out in the all-sufficient suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Son’s reconciling work was to endure all to present the Colossians and all people holy, cleansed from all sin and separated to God; without blemish, as a perfect sacrifice; and free from accusation by anyone, and especially by the arch-enemy Satan.

In other words, in God’s presence, there is absolutely nothing left against us. The slate has been wiped clean. Christ, who is the power holding everything together through His death and resurrection, brings it all back to God, and clears away the guilt and self-dissatisfaction in the atoning process.

These are words which you think we might enjoy hearing. These are words which you think would bring comfort all of us who are sinful creatures. But these aren’t words which we want to hear. It strikes a blow to our ego. It somehow makes us less of a person to acknowledge that we are a sinner. Paul wasn’t out to make friends or to stroke a person’s ego. He definitely is not doing that here. His goal was to bring the church at Colossae to Christ and turn them from the “better way,” a false philosophy which denied the all-sufficiency of Christ and His work.

The purpose of Paul, of myself all ministers of the Gospel, is to preach to you the Gospel, “to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.” You are His saints, the church. You are the beloved children of God which were dead in sin. You are the ones for which God sent His one and only Son, to redeem and make sinless.

The words of Paul, though they may be tough to hear, are important words. Paul’s letter to the Colossians is a reminder to all who hear it of wisdom: where we were without God’s wisdom, “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” While we were still in that state of being, Christ died for you “in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach.” His words are a reminder of what God’s wisdom is doing for us now, “[making] the word of God fully known” to us through Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for us. Because of the Word of God, it reminds us what God’s wisdom holds out for the future: “the hope of glory” in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Higher Things Concordia

Text: Hebrews 10:19-25

Preached at St. John Lutheran Church, Seward, NE on June 27, 2019 for the Higher Things Concordia Conference

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

You’re all looking rather dirty this morning, dare I even say it, disgusting, at least, that’s how we look to one another on account of our sinful nature. Try as you might, you wake up and sin. You go throughout the day and you sin. You go to bed at night, and that’s right, you sin. If there’s one thing we’re very good at, it’s sinning. I think we can agree that we have that perfected to a science! But the one thing we’re not good at, the one thing that we are incapable of, is forgiveness of those sins. Try as you might, whatever you attempt to do in your life, whether it be works or multi-step programs or whatever the case may be, you cannot earn your own forgiveness. It is impossible for you to do so, and yet we try so hard to do just that, earn our own forgiveness. And because we cannot earn our forgiveness, something must be done in order for us to be forgiven.

But fortunately for you and for me, that’s not how God our Heavenly Father sees us. He doesn’t see us as the walking and talking bags of sin that we are. No, He sees something, someone, completely different. He sees Jesus. He sees Jesus because His shed blood from Calvary’s cross runs over you. You have been baptized into His name, and that means His name is a part of you now. Jesus has done battle against sin, death, and the devil for you, in order to redeem you, to buy you back from the clutches of Satan. The Holy Spirit has given you a gift called faith, a faith that makes it possible for you to believe all of this that God has done for all of creation, including you.

You might think that this is one of those “duh” moments, that “we already know that, Pastor” moments. But do you? Is it Christ who has forgiven you all of your sins or do you try to do your work and help Jesus out to forgive your sins? It sounds pretty silly that there is anything that you can do to “help out” Jesus to forgive your sins, but if that were not the case, then why would the author of Hebrews make it clear that it is Christ and Christ alone who forgives sins for all time? It’s because you need to know that you can’t save yourself; that your salvation must come from outside of you.

Because of Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf, you can do as the writer of Hebrews says: “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith….” How are you able to do that? How is anyone able to do that? Even when wearing my shiniest clerical collar, I can’t do that. And neither can your pastor. And neither can you, at least, not on your own. So how is it done?

It is done outside of you. It has to be done outside of you. Your sinfulness keeps you from drawing near to God because we, by our sinful nature, are enemies of God. St. Paul tells us as much in Romans 5: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

That’s us — sinners, enemies of God. But that’s no longer the case. As we see in our reading from Hebrews: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus….” It is by the blood of Jesus that we can enter the holy places, and what better holy place can there be than in heaven, standing before the presence of God the Father Almighty.

Through the flesh of Jesus, through His broken body and shed blood, you receive the forgiveness of your sins; you are made right with God once again. No, that’s not the correct word. You are not made right with God, you are made perfect and holy and blameless and without sin. Your great High Priest Jesus has made the sacrifice on your behalf, the sacrifice that you could not make. He sacrificed Himself, Christ the victim, Christ the priest. He dies for you. He rises for you.

So after hearing what Christ has done for us, what is left for us to do? Can we do anything? Yes, we can do something: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” These are not just some trite or empty words. Nothing strengthens our hope for heaven more than the fact of God’s faithfulness. How can God lie or change His mind? He promised the eternal crown of glory, and He will place it on our heads. To such a hope we are to hold to without wavering, holding it near and dear as a promise of God – and we know that if God makes a promise, He keeps His promise. Hold fast the confession of our hope. What is our hope in? Do not dare say yourself, because there is no hope in you, there can never be hope in you. Your hope can only be in Jesus, for it is Jesus who died for you. It is Jesus’ shed blood that covers you.

While there is a lot packed into these verses, there is one point often overlooked today by many: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” What Christ has earned for us upon Calvary’s cross is indeed a free gift. But that free gift isn’t found just anywhere; it is found where God has said His means of grace are to be found — gathered around Word and Sacrament, for here God comes to us with His blood-bought forgiveness of sins. We stand to lose much when we absent ourselves from God’s gifts, forsaking His commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” And so, we gather around His Word, His font, His Table, to receive the gifts which Christ our Lord has won for us. We are encouraged and we encourage one another in Christ our Lord, for He and He alone has won for us the forgiveness of our sins. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 5

Text: Colossians 1:1-14

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

It is always a good thing to hear that you are being prayed for, in good times and in bad, when you have plenty or when you are in need. St. Paul tells the Church at Colossae, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” Paul prays and rejoices in the Church, not because they’re fine, outstanding people. It’s not because they are the cream of the crop of the people located in Colossae. Paul prays and rejoices in the people because of the faith they have in Jesus.

What a thing for Paul to rejoice in – faith in Jesus! This was indeed a good and salutary thing, especially given what the Colossian Church was facing. On one hand, they were facing the error of Gnosticism, an idea that the flesh was bad and the spirit was good. This was to be seen in some sort of redemption from the material world into a world of freedom. On the other hand, they also had the Essenes to deal with. The Essenes, combined with rigid devotion to certain Jewish tenets, tried by means of allegory to subject the facts of the Old Testament to the forms of Greek philosophy. Both of these false teachings could have proven divisive to this small church, and yet they had remained faithful to the teachings of Jesus.

If only the Church today could be so lucky. We have things from all angles assaulting the Church, begging for her attention, telling us that they are just as good of an option or better than Jesus: self-help programs, multi-step programs, feel-good programs, and the list goes on. Each one comes with some truth to them, and then comes the false, misleading teachings. While these teachings pervert the true doctrine of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us, they do even more – they damn. Whenever anything seeks to supplant or surpass the teaching of Jesus, it can only damn.

It is all the more important that the Church be ever faithful to what is taught, for while it might scratch our itching ears and make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, will the teaching save or will it damn?

For the Colossians, they remained faithful to the saving truth of Jesus Christ and were to be rightfully commended for doing so. They have heard the truth, that is, the Gospel, “which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing….” In spite of the imperfections and dangers at Colossae, the truth of the Gospel continued to prevail.

We, along with the Colossians, have something going for us: our faith. But what is it about our faith? Where did it come from? What is it in? The faith comes not from us but from the working of the Holy Spirit upon us. The faith is not in ourselves, our works, others, or anything else we can think to fill in the blank. True faith is faith in Jesus Christ and no one or nothing else. Fortunately for the Colossians, they had not given up on their faith in Jesus Christ while flirting with the false theology of salvation by works.

Because of all the confusing ideas that were being preached in Colossae, Paul prayed for them, asking that their faith would be increased, that God would fill them with the knowledge of His will. Paul prayed for them so that they would be able to discern between God’s Word and the false teachers. He prayed for them so that as they heard the Word of God, their faith in Christ would increase and be strengthened so that they would be able to withstand the attacks upon their faith from these false teachers.

What Paul writes to the Colossians can just as easily be written to the Church today, perhaps even our own congregation. We have before us the means of salvation, Jesus Christ, and we also have those things of the world which work counter to the Church’s teaching of salvation and promote other ways of salvation. On any given day, Christians are given the option of Jesus Christ for salvation or other means of salvation, and they get to choose what they want for salvation. That right there is our problem. There is no other means of salvation than Jesus Christ, but we are told contrary to that.

So, what do the Colossians do? What is the Church today to do? What happens when you feel as if you are too far gone for God to love you? What happens when you leave God behind and adopt the ways of the world? What happens when you just feel all the way around inadequate to be a believer in Christ? You do what the prophet Joel says: “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” You see, even when we are far from God or have turned away from Him, He graciously invites us to return to Him. Even when we forsake God for the newest salvation fad, we can return to Him. That is what He did for the Colossians and that is what He does for you and me as well. God has called us by the Gospel and placed His name upon us in our Baptism, forever marking us as His beloved children. While at times that may not mean much to us, it greatly means something to God. He sees His name on you. He sees the love that Christ has for Him that He would lay down His life, only to take it up again in the resurrection, in order to win for us forgiveness and salvation. That isn’t something to take lightly and God does not take us lightly.

Paul is able to commend the Colossians for their love becauseit is notseparated from the rescue of Jesus, his love. His love has created faith in them and that faith works love. And not in the Colossians only. Paul can claim the Gospel’s deliverance in the whole world and the fruit it bears. The redemption won by Christ delivers all mankind in order that we walk in a manner worthy of the lord, in love.

But who loves first? Man or God? “We love because he first loved us” says John 1, and “by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.” God’s love precedes our love. Faith precedes love. Faith loves the forgiveness of sin, wherever our Lord gives it. You have heard the Gospel. It has come to you. You have believed it. You are redeemed. You are baptized. You eat your Lord’s flesh and drink His blood, often, for your forgiveness. It is to strengthen your love. Not only is there life in the body and blood of Jesus unto forgiveness; there is strength for the love of God and our neighbor. Nevertheless, our love is not what it seems or what it ought to be. It needs bolstering, improvement. It receives strengthening from the faith given.

At the times in our lives where we think that we need to do something to earn our salvation or feel as if Jesus isn’t sufficient for salvation’s work, we turn to the closing words of Paul’s introduction to his letter: “He [Jesus] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” God’s formula is not Christ and the works of the Law for salvation, but it is Christ alone.

Our adequacy before God and man is not the result of our works but God’s alone. He alone brought us out of darkness into light. He alone cleansed us of all our sins. You and I are not qualified for salvation on our own. God does not call the qualified. Rather, it is Jesus who does the qualifying for us. He alone makes you called to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Rejoice in knowing that you have been qualified to share in the gifts that God has given you through Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 3

Text: Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

When we last left the Galatians, Paul has left and the Judaizers have assumed the role of preacher in the Galatian church. We saw how they had forsaken Jesus in order to become slaves to the law of man. We were left with the question of why. Why would they give up Jesus and the Gospel for something that leaves them without the salvation that God had ordained for them from man’s fall into sin? Today, Paul continues on the theme of slavery: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery….”

Paul tells the Galatians what they have: freedom. Paul tells them where that freedom is found: Christ. You are free in Christ. You are free in the Gospel. You are free. What great news to a Christian that you are free, that your sins have been forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ! That is news that you should be celebrating, shouting from the rooftops. Instead, the Galatians have given up their freedom to fall into the false teaching of salvation by works.

Now you might be asking yourself, how could they give up Jesus so easily? It’s a very valid question. But I need to ask you a question: how can you give up Jesus so easily? We have given up Jesus over and over again for things that scratch our itching ears now but are fleeting. Who needs Jesus when you can read this book or that book? Who needs Jesus when you have the latest and greatest multi-step program that will make your life the greatest life possible? Who needs Jesus when the world has everything you need to find peace and comfort in this life until you don’t have it anymore?

We’re quick to give up on Jesus, to give up on the Gospel, for something new and shiny, but new and shiny doesn’t get you salvation; only Jesus gets you salvation. That’s what Paul tried to impress upon the Galatians. To have such a rich and free thing as the Gospel and then to surrender it for works of man’s law seems absurd, at least to Paul, but not to the Galatians. Why would that not sound absurd to them? Why would that not sound absurd to us?

We are justified in the sight of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Only by faith in Jesus Christ, not by any good works we do. Works cannot justify us because we are totally condemned by the Law of God and we cannot change our own condition. But because of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, we can through faith in Christ be justified in the eyes of God. Justification means being made holy. We are clean in God’s eyes on account of Jesus.

It’s our sinful flesh that has to get in the way of things. It’s our thought that we can do something to save ourselves that gets us into trouble like it did the Galatians. That’s why Paul tells them, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” What does this mean? Luther writes, “Paul says in effect, “You have now obtained freedom through Christ; you are far above all laws in respect to conscience and life before God. You are blessed and saved. Christ is your life. Therefore, although the law, sin, and death may trouble and frighten you, they cannot hurt you or drive you to despair. This is your excellent freedom. Now it is up to you to be careful not to use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.””

What is being said here? What point does Paul make and Luther reinforce? You have Christ, stop going back to the law! It is a very simple thing, and yet becomes so complicated. They have all they need and they throw it away for no good reason. Paul restates the principle and applies it. When we were called to faith by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, we were called to be free from trying to earn our own way into heaven. But that does not mean that we are to attempt to sin our way into heaven. We are not to indulge the sinful nature, but drown it.

The Galatians are suffering from the ill-effects of listening to something other than the Gospel. Because of that, they “bite and devour one another…” The Galatians were not cannibals, but their words and actions toward each other were extreme. The words Paul chose accurately portray the viciousness in each human heart, the very opposite of loving your neighbor as yourself.

There is nothing left to do except give up this foolish law-based living and return to the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, if you have no Jesus, what salvation do you have? So, Paul’s advice to them is simple: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Paul is writing about the conflict between the old man and the new man. The old sinful flesh comes with its desires, demanding that they be gratified. The new man, however, directs us to God’s law, not as something that must be done, as if we were still under the law, obliged to keep all of the laws; but as something we will delight to do because of the Savior’s love for us.

Paul describes the desires of the sinful nature that dwells within each of us. We are inclined to all of these things, to some of them more than to others. Jesus also said that sin flows from the sinful heart of man. Paul adds his warning “that those who do such things” will be excluded from heaven. Not those who did these things and repented, but those who have made them their way of life and continue in them are meant. Those who use their freedom to indulge the sinful nature are forfeiting their salvation. These sins, like every other sin, are damning. No one is immune to these or any other sin, but what we must remember is that the only way of salvation lies in Jesus and not in yourself.

We are free in the Gospel. Christ has set us free and we continue to be, provided our trust and faith remains in Him and not in anything else. You have been freed from sin because Christ has died for you and risen again for you. Your sinful self has been crucified, and must be crucified daily. As Luther writes about Baptism: “It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” Be free, free in the Gospel, with sins forgiven. Rejoice in the salvation won for you by Jesus Christ. “Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” How is that possible? How do we do that? We do so by heeding the words of Jesus, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 2

Text: Galatians 3:23-4:7

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

Being a slave is not a choice that we would make if we had the option. You have no rights, no freedom, you belong to someone or something else. Your life is not your own. You wouldn’t make that choice, would you? If we had the choice to be free or to be a slave, we would naturally choose freedom, or would we?

The Church at the time of Jesus was suffering from poor teaching. Despite what Jesus taught, there were those who taught contrary to Jesus. The Pharisees taught salvation by the law. The only problem was this salvation by the law wasn’t according to the Law of God, but the law of man. The result was being captive to the Law rather than being set free by the Gospel.

Fast forward about twenty years after Jesus’ death, another congregation suffered from this false teaching. Paul had started a congregation in the region of Galatia. This appeared to be a congregation that was off to a good start, faithful to the teachings of Jesus. Sometime after Paul left that region, there was a void in the pastoral leadership. Unfortunately for the Galatians, there were those who stepped up to fill that void. In doing so, the tone of the preaching and teaching had changed from salvation on account of Jesus to a salvation that was achieved by works of the law, again, not the Law of God but of man.

In writing to the Galatians, Paul doesn’t hold back anything. In fact, he can’t hold anything back because you cannot let false doctrine continue unchecked. Paul is forceful when he says, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.” At one time, the Galatians were held captive to the Law, God’s Law, as was everyone. They were slaves to the Law. It was their unruly taskmaster, unyielding in all aspects. They were doomed. They were slaves with no hope of escape.

The fate of the Galatians is the same for the rest of us. We were held captive under the Law. We are slaves. We can do nothing but try to keep God’s Law and keep it perfectly. The problem with that is the Galatians couldn’t keep it perfectly. We can’t keep it perfectly. Even Adam and Eve couldn’t keep it perfectly, and they were created without sin and yet succumbed to the outside influence of sin and it killed them.

One could easily say shame on the Galatians for letting these false preachers into the pulpit. They should know better, and you, you’re right, they should have known better. But sin has a way of scratching our itching ears in just the right place, to where we make excuses or justify our sin. Paul wasn’t there and they needed someone to fill the pulpit and the Judaizers stepped up to the task. The only problem, they preached false doctrine and led the Galatians away.

Paul doesn’t just condemn the Galatians because of the Judaizers. He also tells them what they had, what they gave up, what they lost: “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” Did you catch what they gave up? They gave up Jesus! That’s right, they gave up Jesus to follow the laws of sinful men.

What does it mean to give up Jesus as the Galatians did? It means that you no longer rely upon Jesus to save you. Jesus is no longer in the salvation picture because you and your works take front and center. Jesus is pushed so far back, He isn’t even in the picture.

There is a reason why Paul writes to the Galatians in the way that he does. He loves these people. He loves them so much that he brought the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to them so that they would hear and believe and be saved. And after they’ve left the Gospel for the Judaizers watered-down, Jesus-free preaching, he doesn’t leave them to their own disastrous ways. No, he writes to them, reminding them of the saving Gospel they once enjoyed and how they can enjoy it once again because the Gospel is still there; Jesus is still there to save them by His precious blood.

For those who have been set free from bondage to sin by the Gospel, it truly is a head-shaker why anyone would want to revert back to said slavery. Things changed when Jesus came. He did not come to abolish the Law of God, but to fulfill it. Jesus lived a life different from all other people. He was without sin. He obeyed the requirements in every aspect as they were originally given. We believe that when He offered up His life on the cross, it was a sacrifice to substitute for us. He kept the Law for us. Every detail was perfect. Salvation was now achieved for all peoples because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, not because of our keeping of the Law. And the Judaizers taught contrary to that, and unfortunately, the Galatians bought into that same teaching.

Because of Jesus Christ, you are made an heir. You are adopted by God the Father. You have full rights of inheritance. This is exactly what Paul talks about when he speaks about your adoption. When he speaks about being in Christ, he is pointing to what happens in Holy Baptism, for it is in Baptism that we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness. It is in Holy Baptism that the “fullness of time” that was brought by Jesus comes to you. Your adoption happens when water is poured on your head along with God’s name. And all that Jesus did in the “fullness of time” is yours.

We are justified by faith, not by the Law. If we are justified by the Law, then we are doomed from the start because we cannot keep the Law in its smallest bit. So, what is our faith in? Is it faith in our works? Is it faith in our sincerity? Is it faith in myself? The faith that we have is in the promise of God. It is faith in Jesus Christ. It is faith in that His life, death, and resurrection are all that is necessary for us to be saved. If we have faith in anything else other than that, then we are doomed in our trespasses and sins.

It is unfortunate that we don’t see the response of the Galatians to Paul’s letter. Did they repent of their error and oust the Judaizers for their false teaching and salvation-stealing preaching or did they continue in their false teaching? Unfortunately, we don’t have the answer to that question. But as far as you are concerned, what will be at the heart of your salvation? Is your salvation based upon your own works and what you do or don’t do? Is it all about making sure you have all the boxes checked? Or is the heart of your salvation based upon something, someone else? Is it based upon Jesus? Is it based upon what He has done for you; beaten and bloodied, dead and resurrected, with His blood covering you and Him doing all the work for your salvation? If it is the former, then there is no salvation for you, for works do not earn you salvation. But if it is the latter, and I pray that it is, then know for certain that Christ has indeed done all things necessary for your salvation. He has made you His own. And because you are His own, you are an heir, an heir of all that He is, and so that makes you the forgiven child of God. Rejoice, for “you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Holy Trinity

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Today is the day, the one day in the Church Year where we blow off the dust and confess the Athanasian Creed. It’s a long creed, to be sure. It says a lot about the Trinity, but we need to ask the question, why do we need this creed? We have two perfectly good creeds, why add a third?

In the early second century, the Early Church composed the Apostles’ Creed as a universal statement of belief that all of Christendom confessed. The Apostles’ Creed served as a basic definition of each person of the Trinity and the work ascribed to each Person. This served the Church for some time until an error arose in the Church. In 325, the Nicene Creed was produced to combat an error of the day. It grew out of the immediate necessity of safeguarding the apostolic teaching concerning the deity of Christ. The Nicene Creed, more than the Apostles’ Creed, echoes sharp distinctions drawn by the orthodox against heresies.

That brings us to the end of the fifth century. Another creed was written that delved further into the mystery of the Trinity. If this had been confessed twice before by the Church, then why again? A priest named Arius posited that God created out of nothing a being through whom He created the world. This being was the Logos, called the “Son.” However, the “Son” was not true God or eternal. This heresy had already been handled of sorts by the Nicene Creed, but needed to be handled again, this time, in a most definitive way. And from that heresy, you get the Athanasian Creed, the end all and be all confession of who the Holy Trinity is and is not.

Again, we are left with the question of why. Why is this creed or any creed so important? Why do we confess this creed or any creed Sunday after Sunday? The reason why the three Ecumenical Creeds, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian, are so important is because of the confession of faith they make. They say what we believe. In the case of the Apostles’ and Nicene, they confess the basic tenants of who the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are and the work each Person of the Trinity does. As for the Athanasian Creed, it too confesses who the Trinity is, but it also declares who the Trinity is not.

Martin Luther, writing in 1528, says the following: “These are the three persons and one God, who has given Himself to us all wholly and completely, with all that He is and has. The Father gives Himself to us, with Heaven and earth all creatures, in order that they may serve us and benefit us. But this gift has become obscured and useless through Adam’s fall. Therefore, the Son Himself has subsequently given Himself and bestowed all His works, sufferings, wisdom, and righteousness, and reconciled us to the Father, in order that restored to life and righteousness, we might also know and have the Father and His gifts. But because this grace would benefit no one and could not come to us, the Holy Spirit comes and gives Himself to us wholly and completely.”

When we worship the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, we worship only one God, not three. God is fully God when God created and still creates the universe. God is fully God when God lived and still lives in the presence of Jesus. God is fully God when God lived and still lives in the presence of the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts today. These are not three gods but one God who has three different Persons.

The doctrine of the Trinity is a very important doctrine. The Trinitarian formula is used at the beginning of the service to invoke the name of God among His people. The Trinitarian formula is spoken at the beginning of Christian life at our Baptism and spoken at the end of the Christian life in the committal of the Christian. In other words, life begins with Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and ends at your grave in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These words are bookends for the beginning and ending of our lives here on earth.

When we look at the Athanasian Creed with regards to Christology, that is, the study of Christ, we look at very specific aspects of Christ. We focus on the nature and person of Jesus Christ. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus’ nature and person with the nature and person of God. That is why we confess in the Athanasian Creed: “Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man.” The Athanasian Creed states clearly that Jesus Christ is both God and man at the same time. Jesus Christ must be true God so that He could live a sinless life. He must also be true man so that He could die for our sins. If He were not true God, He would sin. If He were not true man, He would not be able to die for our sins. If He were not true God, He would not be holy. If He were not true man, then we would not have One who would be able to redeem mankind. If He were not both true God and true man, He would not be able to rise from the dead and achieve the ultimate victory over sin, death, and the devil.

As we confess the Christian faith, the faith handed down to us from Jesus to the apostles, we continue to confess that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the Son of the Father from eternity. His identity as the Son becomes apparent here in the Creeds. Jesus is the Son of the Father from eternity.

As Jesus speaks to the Jews in our Gospel, they speak of Abraham and question if Jesus is greater than Abraham. Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Jesus. “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”” With these words Jesus reveals that he is the God who appeared in the Old Testament to Moses in the burning bush. The Gospel of John includes many “I am” statements of Jesus to declare His divinity and reveal Him as the God of the Old Testament, who now fulfills it by His coming.

Jesus was sent by the Father to give us life. His forgiveness grants us life. Jesus’ sacrificial life and death paid for our sins to grant us forgiveness. Baptized into His death and resurrection, we know that life has the final word. Jesus, the Son of the Father from eternity, gives us life. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, works in the Means of Grace to bring us to faith in Christ and keep us to life eternal.

We poor sinners who have been blessed with the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit will receive the gifts that only the Triune God can give – the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. We receive those gifts by: God the Father’s grace for God the Son’s sake through God the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts andminds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.