Sermon for the Second Sunday after Trinity - Eph 2:13-22

 

   Trinity 2

                                                                                                            Eph 2:13-22

                                                                                                            6/14/26

 

           

            You have peace. That’s what the apostle Paul says this morning.  You have peace with God. You have peace with the people of God, because you are the people of God. He begins announcing this fact in the opening of our text as he says, “But now in Christ Jesus….”

            That word “now” alerts us to the fact a change has taken place. And in the previous twelve verses Paul has laid out the fact that almost all of you faced a doubly dire situation.  You were under God’s judgment. You were not God’s people.

            Paul began this chapter by saying, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

            That’s a really long sentence.  And it says really bad things. It says that you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, even as you lived in them. It says that the devil was your lord, even as he is now the lord for all who walk in sin and unbelief.  All of that is bad. But the thing that should really catch your attention is when Paul says that you “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Paul says that you and every other person were by nature someone who was going to receive the wrath of God.

            Now that is certainly not what the world believes. Insofar as it believes in God, God is certainly not wrathful. God is loving and good. He wants you to be happy. God is not judgmental, and he’s certainly not worried about sin.

            But that is not what God has revealed about himself in his word. God is loving and good. But he is also holy and just. His will defines what is right and wrong, and the violation of his will is sin. Sinners cannot exist in fellowship with the holy God. Instead, sin evokes God wrath and eternal judgment. Paul says later in this letter, “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

            The apostle says that you “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” That’s also something that many Christians do not believe. Paul says that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. He says that you were under the power of the devil. And he says that you were this way by nature.  You were people who were going to receive God’s wrath like the rest of mankind.

            Something that is by nature is intrinsic to who we are. Paul is describing the fact that as descendants of fallen Adam, we are conceived as fallen, sinful people for whom the devil is lord.  We are born and enter this world as people who cannot know and believe in God by our own powers. That’s why Paul told the Corinthians, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

            And then, just before our text, Paul continues with more bad news for almost all of you. He says, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

            Sin entered into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. But God did not abandon his creation. He promised that one who came forth from Eve – a human being – would defeat the devil. He called Abraham, and through him created Israel as his people. God revealed himself as Yahweh. He took Israel into a covenant with himself and said that they would be his “treasured possession among all peoples.” He was their God. They were his people, as he worked through them to bring forth this One who would defeat the devil. Those who descended from Israel and continued to believe in Yahweh – the Jews – knew God and belonged to him.

            And in most cases, that does not describe you.  You are Gentiles. Your descendants were probably somewhere on the steppe of Eurasia as they made the long push west into Europe. They were pagans who worshipped false gods. They – and therefore you - were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

            Everything I have said so far is true. But then Paul continues by saying in our text, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  You were far off from God, trapped in your sin. You were far off from God, because you were not part of his people.

But now in Christ Jesus you have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

            The first century was a time when there was great animosity between Jews and Gentiles. In Alexandria, Egypt Gentiles rioted against Jews. The Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. But Paul says that Christ has united Jew and Gentile. He states in our text, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.”

            This peace between Jew and Gentile is a result of the peace that now exists with God because of Jesus Christ. Paul says in our text that Christ acted to “reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” Christ reconciled us to God through his death on the cross. We were by nature children of wrath as we lived in sin. But the just God judged our sin in Christ. Paul told the Romans, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

            God condemned your sin in Christ. And then the working of God’s great might continued as he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. As the exalted Lord, Jesus has poured forth his Spirit. The Spirit has now given you rebirth through the water and the word of baptism. You are now a saint – a holy one – in God’s eyes because he as washed away all of your sins. As Paul says in our text, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

            In our text Paul says, “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” The Gospel is the source of peace for all. It is the source of peace for Gentiles.  It is the source of peace for Jews.

            As Gentiles, Paul speaks to you when he says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”  You are no longer outsiders who don’t know God. Instead, you are fellow citizens with the saints because you are a saint – you are holy in God’s eyes because of Christ. You are members of the household of God. You are the people of God.

            In fact, Paul draws upon language of the Old Testament as he describes the Church as a temple united in Christ. He says that Christ is the cornerstone “in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

            So what does this mean for us? Well, we start with the reason that we have peace with God and are part of God’s people. Paul says, “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” The Gospel – the good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – brings this peace through the work of the Spirit. It has for you. But of course, the Gospel is not to be your selfish possession. It is good news for all. And Christ has commanded his church to share this Gospel that brings peace.

            Now certainly this means that you will talk about Jesus and what he has done for you if anyone asks about what you believe. But this morning I want to call your attention to something even more basic: invite them to the place of peace. Here in the Divine Service you receive this peace as you hear the God’s Word proclaimed. And then in the Sacrament of the Altar you receive the peace of sins forgiven as you eat and drink Christ’s body and blood. Later you will sing in the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace.”

            So invite them to come to church. It’s simple. And it also happens to be the reason that most people report for why they joined a church – it’s because someone invited them.  You don’t need any theology to do this. And as President Curtis has explained, if a person asks why he or she should visit Good Shepherd, all you have to say: “Because I think it’s great.” It requires nothing more than that.

            Because of Christ we have peace with God. Our text describes that through the work of the Spirt we have been joined together in Christ. Paul describes the church as a temple. Elsewhere he calls her the Body of Christ. In chapter four Paul states, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

            This is the unity that we share in Christ, and so Paul says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

            Paul tells you that you are to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. You have been given God’s peace. You have been made part of the people of God in Christ. So be humble and gentle in dealing with others. Put their needs ahead of your own. Be understanding towards those who are experiencing difficulties.

            Paul says that we are to “bear with one another in love.” We can also translate this as “put up with on another.” Sinners are annoying because they keep sinning. They do dumb and thoughtless things. But the apostle tells us to put up with one another in love because we are eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

            If we are going to put up with one another, then we will have to forgive one another. And that is exactly the instruction that Paul provides in this letter when he says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Living in Christ, through the work of the Spirit, we treat others as God has treated us in Christ.

            You were by nature children of wrath for whom the devil was Lord. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise because you are Gentiles. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  You have been reconciled to God through the cross.

            The Spirit of the risen Lord has called you to faith in Jesus. Jew and Gentile alike have been united through baptism in Christ. You have peace with God for you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. This is the peace that you share with others as you invite them to come to this place of peace.  It is the peace you share in your life as you bear with one another in love. 

 

 

 

 

           

 

           

 

Sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity - Lk 16:19-31

 

   Trinity 1

                                                                                                                        Lk 16:19-31

                                                                                                                        6/7/26

 

            Our text this morning, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, fascinates Christians because it talks about something that is often our focus: the question of what happens when a person dies before the return of Christ. While we are very interested in this, when we look in Scripture we are disappointed to find that God’s Word basically never talks about it.  Instead, its overwhelming and repeated emphasis is the return of the Lord Jesus on the Last Day and the resurrection of the dead.

            What Scripture does say about the death of a Christian before the Last Day is clear and comforting. As Paul contemplates the possibility of his own death he tells the Philippians, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” He describes death to the Corinthians as being “at home with the Lord.” And of course, Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

            But if you are looking for details about what this is like, you are out of luck. At first glance, the only exception to this appears to be our text. And while, as we will see, we do learn some clear truths here, it seems unlikely that can gain many specific details. Though never actually labeled a parable, it seems to take that form and so this raises the questions about how far you can press the individual features of the account.

            So if we don’t really learn much about what happens after death in our text, what do we learn about here? The answer turns out to be very basic: money and the word of God.  The fact that it teaches about the word of God is not difficult to understand. The last verse in our text says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” 

            But the emphasis on money – how we view and use it – is something that runs throughout this chapter. It began with the rather puzzling parable of the unjust steward. And while it seems strange that the parable sets before us a man who was defrauding the owner, the point of the parable is that the man recognized the critical moment that faced him and used wealth accordingly. In the same way, we are to recognize the critical moment that has arrived in Jesus and use our wealth in ways that reflects this.

            Jesus then went on to say, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”  The Lord calls upon his disciples to be faithful in how we use the wealth of this world. And then he tells us why as he says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

            Christ describes money and wealth as a competing lord in our life.  It is a false god which becomes the focus of our attention, and the source of our sense of security and well being. Jesus had been talking about money, and Luke reports, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.”

            So when Jesus says, “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day,” this is a continuation of his teaching about money and wealth. We know that this parable is going to teach us about how this should function in our lives.

            Our Lord describes a rich man who is living an obscenely wealthy life. He wears the very finest clothing. He feasts excessively on the very best food every day. Think of billionaire who jets around the world eating at the most expensive restaurants as he down thousand dollar bottles of wine. 

            By contrast, Jesus then describes a desperately poor man. He says, “And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.” Destitute and sick, this poor man desired only to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. This was his desire, but it soon becomes clear that the rich man paid no attention to Lazarus and did not help him. 

            We learn that both men died. Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side, which is a Jewish way of describing salvation. However, when the rich man died he found himself in Hades where he was in torment. From hell he was able to look up and see Abraham with Lazarus.

            He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.”  Even though he was in hell, the rich man was still thinking in the way he had lived his life. He still thought of Lazarus as being beneath him. He was a servant who could be used to attend to the rich man’s needs.

            However, Abraham pointed out that things no longer worked in the ways that the rich man expected. He said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.”  The rich man had enjoyed the comforts of the world. But as we will see in a moment, his wealth had ruled his life and he had not used it in ways produced by faith in God. Now, Lazarus was comforted and the rich man was in torment.

            And then Abraham added an explanation about why the rich man’s request was simply not possible. He said, “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.”

            While we may not know exactly how far to press the details of the story, there are a number of things that seem quite clear. First, death does mark a great divide. Either you are with Christ in salvation or you are not. You are one or the other, and after death there is no changing the outcome.

Second, the torment of hell in being separated from God is very real. Our text describes this torment before the Last Day. All the more we know that this will be the case at the Last Day. Remember, the resurrection of the body will be experienced by all. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” The judgment of hell will not only be a spiritual reality. It will be a judgment in body and soul. Jesus said, “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The rich man had been confronted by the hopelessness of his situation. He was in torment and there was nothing he could do to change it. So he said to Abraham, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” Presumably the man’s five brothers were living in the same way that he had. The rich man hoped to turn them away from the path that had led him to hell.

But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” The patriarch responded that the rich man’s brother already had the Scriptures. They had God’s word. They should listen to it.

The rich man objected, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He asserted that someone coming to warn them from beyond the grave – from the dead – would make all the difference. It would do more than just hearing the Scriptures. But Abaham replied, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

When Martin Luther preached on this text he said: “All the Gospel readings teach faith and love, which (I hope) you understand easily enough, since no human being can please God unless he believes and loves. Now in this Gospel reading the Lord presents us with an example of both faith and unbelief or the godless condition, so that we also avoid the opposites of faith and love and all the more diligently cling to faith and love.”

The Christian life is defined by faith in the crucified and risen Lord. St Paul told the Romans that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” As Paul told the Ephesians about Christ, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

This faith is the work of the Spirit. Though we were once spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God the Holy Spirit has given us the washing of regeneration and renewal in Holy Baptism. We now live as those who are in Christ. We are a new creation.

This faith, forgiveness, and salvation is a gift of God. But as God’s gift its impact does not end with us. Instead, as those who are in Christ we become “little Christ’s” in the world. Paul told the Galatians that “faith is active in love.” He instructed Titus that Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

The rich man in our text used his wealth in selfish excess. He ignored the needs of Lazarus. The Lord’s words should lead you to consider the role that money and wealth have in your life, and the extent to which you are using it in faith. God has promised you daily bread – those things that you need to support this body and life. The apostle Paul teaches us the correct attitude when he writes to Timohty: “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

We have already seen how Jesus described money as a spiritual threat. He said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Paul went on to warn that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”

Faith will act in love. It will view the money and wealth with which God blesses us as the means for doing this. The first place this applies is in the life of the Church – in the support of the Means of Grace that go on in your midst. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their offering he said, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Next, we will see our wealth as the means by which we share Christ’s love with the Body of Christ – the Church. We have an opportunity to do this by giving money to assist the Lutherans in Sudan who have been displaced from their homes by Muslim attacks. We can support the proclamation of the Gospel and the life of the Church around the world through supporting groups such as the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and LCMS missionaries. And then there will be human care ministries and services through which our donations can assist others, including those outside the church.

Peter told the Christians in Asia Minor, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”  Born again by God’s Spirit through the word, our text today reminds us about the continuing power of that word for our lives.

Lazarus claims that if someone goes to his brothers from the dead, his brothers will turn away from their sin. But Abraham says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Here Christ tells us that the Scriptures are entirely sufficient for our spiritual needs.  They provide all that we need because it is the word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit continues to be at work through that word to sustain the life of faith. Through that word he illumines the way that we should walk, even as he provides the ability to do so.

Faith and love – these define our life as Christians. We live by faith in Jesus Christ. By his death and resurrection he has given us forgiveness and salvation. Baptized into Christ the Spirit has made us a new creation in Christ so that we can live in love toward others. In this life of love, our money and wealth cease to be something that serves as a false god.  Instead, it becomes the means by which we share God’s love in Christ. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Trinity - Rom 11:33-36

 

   Holy Trinity

                                                                                                            Rom 11:33-36

                                                                                                            5/31/26

 

 

            In 1964 the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic church issued Lumen Gentium, which is Latin for “light of the Gentiles.” This was one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, and as an official declaration of this church council it is considered to be dogma in the Roman Catholic church – it is something that must be believed.

            Lumen Gentium addresses the relationship of those who have not received the Gospel to the people of God. In speaking about Islam it says, “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these are the Muslims, who professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.” So the dogma – the position that must be believed by Roman Catholics – is that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

            Now it seems very unlikely that any Muslim is going to agree with this. The Koran certainly mentions Jesus, whom it calls Isa. But according to the Koran Jesus was only a man, and not the Son of God. He was a great prophet and apostle who did not die by crucifixion, but instead was taken up into heaven by God.

            The Koran explicitly rejects the idea that Jesus is the Son of God. It also condemns the very idea that God is anything but one. It says to people like you, “O followers of the Book! Do not exceed the limits of religion, and do not speak against Allah, but speak the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and his Word which he communicated to Marium and a spirit from him. Believe therefore in Allah and his apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you. Allah is only one God; far be it from his glory that he should have a son.”

            The idea that there is only one God has existed in the world for a long time. It was the faith of Israel in the Old Testament. It has continued to be the faith of Judaism. It has been the belief of Isalm since it was created by Muhammed in the seventh century. The philosophical thought of the Greco-Roman world included positions that looked very much like monotheism – the belief that there is only one God.

            Because the Christian faith knows the Old Testament to be the Word of God, it too confesses that there is only one God. Yahweh had revealed about himself in the Old Testament, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” This confession of one God continues in the New Testament. St Paul told the Corinthians who lived a world that believed in hundreds of gods, “Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’”

            It all seems straightforward … until the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. In Galatians Paul describes how we were under the curse of the law. The holy and just God has revealed his will. But as fallen people, we live imprisoned under sin.  Therefore Paul tells us, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’”  We cannot live perfectly according to God’s will so we would have faced God’s curse and judgment.

            However, God did not leave us there. Paul goes on to say in Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”

            Now Paul has explained exactly how God redeemed us.  He wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” Jesus Christ received the curse in our place when he died on the cross. Paul began the letter by saying that Jesus, “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”

            This deliverance did not just mean forgiveness. It is the rescue from death itself. During Easter we celebrated how God raised Jesus from the dead. God vindicated Jesus and began our resurrection in him. Paul told the Romans about the Gospel that it was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

            Paul says that God sent forth his Son into the world to redeem us. He explains that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He describes God as the Father. The simple picture of the one God has become much more complicated.

            Our text this morning is from the end of Romans chapter 11. We should recognize from the start that Paul is not talking specifically here about the Holy Trinity. Instead, he is bringing his discussion about how God has dealt with Israel to a close – a topic that he began addressing in chapter 9.  Many Jews, the descendants of Israel had rejected Jesus Christ. But Paul seeks to explain that this fact doesn’t mean God’s word has failed. Instead he is dealing with both Jews and Gentiles in order to save.

            Paul explains as much as he can … until he can’t go any farther. As he reaches the point where it exceeds human understanding and our ability to explain it the apostle exclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

            Now if we cannot understand and explain what God does, what chance do we have in understanding and explaining who God is – what he is like in his very nature?  After all, God is God, and we are not. And so Paul’s words give us the right attitude as we come to what God has revealed about himself in Scripture. We find that we can describe what God is like on the basis of his word, even if we can’t understand and explain how it is true.

            What we learn is that God is one, and that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is one and when the risen Lord instituted baptism he said to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He said not “names” but “name,” for there is only one God.

            There is one God, yet in Scripture God reveals himself again and again as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The baptism of Jesus is the beginning of his ministry. Jesus stands in the water. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove. And the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Paul ends Second Corinthians by saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

            Now one way to try to explain this is to say that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not truly distinct from one another. Instead, they are different ways or modes by which the one God reveals himself. This is known as modalism. It is an ancient heresy that continues today in so-called “one God Pentecostals.” But at Jesus’ baptism we see all three persons of the Trinity interacting at the same time. On Pentecost we celebrated how the Son who is seated at the right hand of the Father poured forth the Spirit. Jesus talks about the Father and the Spirit and how he relates to them. There is no getting around the fact that while there is one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct from one another.

            The other way to explain it is to say that the Son and the Spirit are not really God. This is what the heretic Arius said about the Son, and others made similar claims about the Spirit. They argued that the Father created the Son and the Spirit. They are like God in being highly exalted creatures, but they are not God in the same way that the Father is God.

            It is only because of Jesus Christ that we know God to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so questions about the Trinity are closely linked with the confession about who Christ is. Scripture is clear in revealing that he is God. John says about Jesus, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Yet John has just about the Word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Paul told the Colossians about Christ, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” The Son, Jesus Christ is true God. He was not created because nothing created can be God.

            In the same way the Spirit is true God. The Spirit is set side by side with the Father and the Son. Peter says that to lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God. The Spirit carries out the divine work of creating new spiritual life as he regenerates and renews the believer.

            There is one God. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are distinct from one another, and yet they are also related to one another. The Church uses the term “person” to confess this truth. The Son is the Son of God. He eternally stands in relation to the Father as the Son. We confess this truth using the language of “begotten.” We are using human language to describe what God has revealed about himself, so as we have seen, this does not mean that the Son was created. Instead it means that he alone stands eternally as the Son in relation to the Father.

            The Spirit also relates to the Father and the Son as the One who proceeds from them. Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” Paul told the Romans, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ.

            God’s Word teaches us that he is eternally this way. There has never been a time when he was not this way, nor will there be in the future. We confess this in the Gloria Patri every time we say, “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.”

            These relations between the persons of the Trinity exist within God himself. But Scripture teaches us that they do not in any way divide the oneness of God. Jesus said, that “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” He said, “I and the Father are one.” The Spirit is the Spirit of God. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Son. And when we speak about the external work of God we recognize that it is the one God who acts as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

            These are the truths that we are about to confess in the Athanasian Creed. At the end of that creed we will say, “This is the catholic faith: whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” This is not the claim that one must remember and understand every statement perfectly. It is saying that you cannot knowingly reject these biblical truths.

            And at the same time there is the need for each one of us to grow in our understanding of the Holy Trinity. To confess Jesus Christ is to confess the Trinity. We see this as Christianity stands in opposition to Isalm. We see it as Christianity stands in opposition to Mormonism, and the Jehovah Witness. We see this as Christians reject the false claims made by the Roman Catholic church about God.

            While there are indications of the Trinity in the Old Testament, it is only in Jesus Christ that we have come to know the triune nature of God. The Father sent the Son, as he was incarnate by the work of the Holy Spirit.  Our very knowledge of the Trinity reveals God’s action to save us.