"I cannot by my own reason or strength believe"

Few words in the meaning of the Third Article stand out more than these.  (And none stick in our craw more than these!)  And the "reason" they bother us is this:  We have the experience of believing!  For many of us, the experience of believing is (in large part) a reasoned experience, too.  Although the faith is full of paradoxes and mysteries, we often have the experience of reasoning our belief.  So how can Luther and the Reformers write something that seems so obviously false?

Let's start by admitting what the meaning says and not over-interpret it.  It does NOT say your reason and your strength are not involved.  It simply says that they are inadequate on their own.

Start with the Gospel:  On your own, based solely on "the way the world works," would you dream up a scenario where a holy and just God decides that He will sacrifice His own Son's life to pay the price of humanity's sins so He would not have to eternally condemn them?  (If you say "yes," I don't think you are being honest with yourself.)

If your answer is "no," then you have admitted that you needed to hear the Gospel before you could come to believe it.  But you did hear it, didn't you?

And then there's the next step of continuing in that faith.  Given how "unreasonable" the Gospel is, how easy is it to hold onto the Gospel and to follow God's Law when much of our society is heading in the opposite direction.  With everything from a scientific community that pushes a theory of evolutionary development that opposes the creation account of God's Word to a societally-dictated morality that insists on changing the definition of marriage to suit its own whims, the world around us doesn't "naturally" support the Christian in his or her faith.

But we do have the experience of being supported in our faith, too!  You are sitting at a terminal reading words written by a Christian pastor who is eager to encourage you in your faith.  You've probably sat in our pews and experienced a similar form of encouragement when we share the peace together on Sunday.  And beyond that, you may have found answers and support from the Words of the Bible that don't seem to convince the world around us, but that you find convincing.

Who put that Bible in your hands?  Who are these people that share peace with you on Sunday?  Who placed this pastor in your life to minister to you and your faith?

This is the work of the Holy Spirit.  You cannot do it "by your own reason or strength," but He can work through your reason and strength to do it.  (And sometimes He even works around your reason and strength, too!)

The Third Article of the Apostles' Creed

The Third Article of the Apostles' Creed is: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

What does this mean?

When I confess these words (that is, say them because I believe them), I am saying that "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.

"In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

"In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

"On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.

"This is most certainly true."

"that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom"

This part of the meaning usually gets too little air time, but this part is where the rubber really meets the road as far as your day-to-day life is concerned. "that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom" is a brief description of what your new life in Christ looks like.

Notice I said LOOKS like; not WILL look like.

Even though you are still living in the same body you were born into and even though you still struggle with sin, your new, eternal life has already begun. It begins the hour you first believe what God has done for us and our salvation in Jesus Christ.

So you are "His own" RIGHT NOW, and you "live under Him in His kingdom" RIGHT NOW. And living in His kingdom means serving Him "in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness."

This is the life that Jesus saved you for. It has already begun and it will continue forever.

Even so, some might be tempted to say, "Wait! Even though I still suffer the effects of sin in this life and my body dies like it would have anyway, I'm expected to live 'in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.'?  What's He done for me lately?"

Now trading off "what I've got to do" in exchange for "what I get for it" like that is the world's way of thinking.  But if we need to discuss it under those terms, let's do it. Before you were called into Christ, you were dying and suffering along the way and it would all end in eternal torment. Now (in Christ) you have eternal life and freedom from all pain and suffering in the end. So even though you don't see the full benefit of your calling until the Last Day, you DO gain something from following Christ! And it's not just a little something... it's something that lasts forever!

When Paul was exhorting the Romans to avoid sexual immorality, he wrote: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have [now] from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

In other words, God has bought your 'everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness' with the blood of Christ. He gives it to you, and He deserves it from you. Both are true!

"from the power of the devil"

This is the first time we've mentioned "the devil," isn't it? Well then, we need to stop here and talk about him.

The main thing you need to know about the devil is that he is a fallen angel, oft called Satan. (This story is told in part in Revelation 12:7-17.) He led a rebellion against God in heaven and was thrown down because of it.

This story from Revelation also identifies Satan as the "accuser." Satan is the one who wants to dredge up all of our sin-sickness and show it to God for His judgment. (See Job chapter 1 for a picture of Satan in action in this way.) Until Christ came, he did this in the very throne room of heaven; since Christ has come, however, he can only use his accusations against us in an effort to dismay us and drive us to despair. 

Satan is well-known as "the tempter." (Well known temptation stories include Satan tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3) and Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).) In fact, many Christians like to use him as their excuse when they sin (e.g., "the devil made me do it"). But as you can see from the rest of the meaning of the Second Article and the other stories in Scripture: We don't need Satan's help to sin; we'll sin without him. He's just happy to help us along!

It is clear that Satan's objective is to hinder the work of Christ and to hinder those who work for Him. When Peter objected that Jesus had to be crucified to be the Christ, Jesus called him "Satan." (Matthew 16:21-23) 

Later in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he makes reference to being frustrated with a "thorn" in his side, "a messenger of Satan." While it's possible that Paul is speaking in hyperbole, Paul reports that God's response to Paul's plea that God remove the "thorn" was to say, "My grace is sufficient for you." Clearly the harassment of this thorn was tempting Paul to doubt the sufficiency of God's good grace to sustain his life and work.

In summary: Satan is a supernatural opponent of God and His work in Jesus Christ! And we should not take him lightly. As a fallen angel, Satan is powerful! But One more powerful than Satan is with us and for us and will never let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but will always provide a way out of the temptation so that we can stand. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

"born of the virgin Mary"

You might wonder if we're serious about this: Do we believe that Jesus was BORN of a virgin? The answer is "yes." We believe that Mary became pregnant by a miracle of the Holy Spirit. 

So a baby that would be named Jesus grew in Mary's belly for nine months and was delivered in a stable on "Christmas Day" in the city of Bethlehem. There was the usual "breathe, Mary, breathe" and "push, Mary, push" and I imagine there was the usual crying when Jesus was delivered, despite what the famous hymn "Away in a Manger" says.

But Mary was not impregnated in the usual way with a man. Instead, as Luke's Gospel says: "the Holy Spirit will come upon you [i.e., Mary], and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God."

Along with the story of God's creation, Jesus' real presence (i.e., the physical presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper), and the full range of Jesus' other miracles of healing and supernatural control of nature, the Virgin Birth gets a lot of skeptical attention. But all of these things hang together! Either God is able to do anything, or there's a limit to His ability to save and deliver you. And if there's a limit to His salvation, you're sunk!

So: Do you have a God who works miracles? If you do, then the "virgin birth" won't cause you any problems. If you don't, you have MUCH bigger problems to deal with (like sin, death and the power of the devil).

"true God... true man"

In one short post, we cannot hope to share with you all of the discussion and debate that have gone on in the church since the time of Christ about Who He is.  But in the end, the answer is this:  Jesus Christ is 100% God.  And to make matters more confusing, He is also 100% human.  He is NOT a 50-50 mixture of God and man.

The Second Article of the Apostles' Creed

The Second Article of the Apostles' Creed is: "And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell.  The third day He rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.  From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead."

What does this mean?  

When I confess these words (that is, say them because I believe them), I am saying that "I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord,

"who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil;  not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death,

"that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness,

"just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

"This is most certainly true."

Notice that the words of the Second Article describe what Jesus did or will do, but the meaning also sorts out some of what that "doing" says about who He is and what it means for us!

We're going to look how the words in the meaning are directly related to the words in the Creed itself. In particular, in next four posts, we're going to look at "true God... true Man," "born of the Virgin Mary," "from the power of the devil," and "that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom." If you want to ask any questions or make any comments about other parts of the Second Article and its meaning, now's the time to do it!

"fatherly, divine goodness"

A final phrase to consider:  "fatherly, divine goodness"

In a fallen world, there are good fathers and bad fathers.  Some people have a hard time calling God "the Father" because their own personal experiences with "Dads" has been bad.  It's hard for them to say these words without thinking of an abusive father they've had or known about.

But that is turning everything on its head.  

Human fathers are put in a position where they get to be very "godlike" to their children.    They are supposed to provide, defend, guard and protect - just like God does for us.  When human fathers are faithful to their responsibilities as fathers, they are acting like God (at least in part).  For this reason, we describe God in the best terms we have available:  God is the Father.

But it's backwards to say that He's the best Father of the bunch.  No.  He is THE Father.  All human fathers are sin-flawed copies of the original.  So when we talk about God's "fatherly goodness," we aren't saying, "He's like your Dad" or the "your best friend's father."  No.  We're saying that He's THE Provider, Defender, Guardian and Protector. 

"He defends me ... and protects me..."

For the same reason as before, another phrase that might seem surprising to you is this one:  "He defends me against ALL danger and guards and protects me from ALL evil."

Now that you know that God is "continually creating" so that He can take care of you, it's probably not a stretch to know that He takes an active role in defending you and protecting you.

But when we say that He defends me against ALL danger and guards and protects me from ALL evil, that seems a stretch, right?  After all, haven't you known Christians who have not only experienced danger, but suffered the consequences of that danger.  For example:  Christian civilians who live in war zones are still killed.  

And the same can be said about the way God guards and protects me from ALL evil.  Is it not the case that evil visits many people, including Christians.  For example:  When kidnappers take a Christian child, doesn't that put the lie to the words?

Does this post raise any new questions? 

"and still takes care of them"

We've already covered most of what the First Article means in the earlier post, but there are a few words and phrases that might have caught your attention.  The first is this phrase: "and still takes care of them."

As the Psalmist says, "O Lord, You preserve both man and beast" (in 36:6) and again, "The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." (145:15-16)

In other words, God didn't just speak the world into existence, start the Earth spinning on its axis, and then step back to see what would happen next.

The psalmist is telling us that God is still active in the world creating and taking care of His creation.  And this follows from what we know before.  In the same way that He brought your parents together to create you, and made sure you have had enough to eat and drink to keep you alive until today, and made sure that you received an invitation to participate in this class, and preserved you from illness so that you are well enough to be reading this post right now, God is ultimately responsible for every good thing that comes to you in life.  He takes care of you!  "He richly and daily provides me with all I need to support this body and life."

The First Article of the Apostles' Creed

In the Small Catechism, we divide the Creed into three major parts (called "articles").  The First Article of the Apostles' Creed is: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."

What does this mean?  

When I confess these words (that is, say them because I believe them), I am saying that "I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my sense, and still takes care of them.

"He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have.  He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

"He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.

"All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.  For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

"This is most certainly true."

Now we've already covered the first part (a couple times!): God created everything, and that includes you. Yes, He used your parents to do it, but He got it done. And that includes everything! Not just your eyes, ears, hair, moles, etc., it also includes your reason.

But you might be wondering what we mean by "and still takes care of them", right? We'll, we're going to spend a few days on the meaning of this first article. And we'll look at "and still takes care of them" in the next post.

Do You Also Have a Certain Hope of Salvation?

So we deserve God's wrath and punishment, huh?  Does God just leave us to suffer the consequences of our sins, then?  

No, He doesn't!

God shows His love to a thousand generations of those love Him and keep His commandments.  And He does that by sending His only Son to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we need not die as a consequence of them.

But that is just a very short summary for the whole "plan of salvation" that God has been (and still is) working out in the world.  We call that story the Apostles' Creed, and we remind ourselves of that story every week in worship.

That's what we're going to look at now. Here are the words of the Creed that we use:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
   maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
   who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
   born of the virgin Mary,
   suffered under Pontius Pilate,
   was crucified, died and was buried.
   He descended into hell.
   The third day He rose again from the dead.
   He ascended into heaven
   and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
   From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
   the holy Christian church,
      the communion of saints,
   the forgiveness of sins,
   the resurrection of the body,
   and the life everlasting.  Amen.

What Do You Deserve Because Of Your Sin?

The short answer is:  "God's wrath and punishment."  However, as we covered before, "His wrath and punishment" is pretty severe.  The ultimate consequence of sin is death.  And that's not just any death; it's eternal death, forever death, forever-separated-from-God-and-all-that-is-good death.

Most people aren't comfortable saying we DESERVE God's wrath and punishment. But that's what it means to go against God's will; it means to deserve the consequences of going against God's will.

God wants to bless us through the ordered creation He made, but that includes the Commandments. Instead, we want to go a different way and so we deny ourselves the blessing. Again, when we sin we choose the consequences of sin.

And the fact that death is the ultimate consequence of sin makes sense, too. God is the Author and Source of life. (That's what it really means to be God; God is the Creator.) To choose to separate ourselves from the Author and Source of life is to separate ourselves from life. Is it any wonder that trying to live that way means to die?

Do You Believe That You Are a Sinner?

Maybe you aren't sure about everything you've read so far, but I hope you agree that it all hangs together:

1) If there's a God who created everything, then He gets to say the way His world should work and how we should live.

2) He tells us the way we should live in the Ten Commandments, and calls on us to keep these commandments perfectly.

3) Whenever we do not keep God's commandments perfectly, we are "sinning" against God by breaking His commandments.

4) In the end, we all suffer the consequences of sin.  And, ultimately, the consequence of sin is death.

So unless you claim to have kept all of God's commandments perfectly all of your life, then "yes" you are a sinner...

What Does God Say About All the Commandments?

He says, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments."  (Exodus 20:5-6)

Notice that in this part of Exodus 20, God is not talking about the commandment He just gave. He's talking about Himself! He's a "jealous" God - that's why He won't tolerate us worshipping any other God, or trusting anything or anyone more than Him, or deciding for ourselves what's right and what's wrong. Consequently, He threatens to punish sin!

Although there are other definitions of "sin" and we may talk about them later, here it means "breaking any of God's commandments."

In Greek (the original language of the New Testament), the word for sin is "hamartia" which literally means "missing the mark." It's the word you use to describe the distance between where an arrow hits the target and dead center. In other words, God's commands are given to be kept and kept perfectly.

The Tenth Commandment

"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, o his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."  (Exodus 20:17b)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the tenth commandment means in this way: 

"We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor's wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty."

Okay, here's a good illustration of coveting: The movie Indecent Proposal stars Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore as a young couple deep in debt. Robert Redford offers the character played by Harrelson a million dollars to sleep with his wife. Obviously they go through with it (or the movie wouldn't sell tickets, sadly) and the experience forces a rift between the young couple, a rift that Robert Redford's character is only too happy to step into, trying to take Demi Moore's character for himself. Now there are probably a half-dozen sins to sort out in just this short description, but what Robert Redford's character is doing is coveting. He wants what God has given to Woody Harrelson's character.

The Ninth Commandment

"You shall not covet your neighbors house;"  (Exodus 20:17a)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the ninth commandment means in this way: 

"We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appear right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it."

The ninth and the tenth commandments are very similar and division the catechism makes is fairly arbitrary. That said, here is what the Reformers had in mind: The ninth commandment is about your neighbors THINGS and POSSESSIONS. The tenth commandment is about the people and other "thinking beings" that owe your neighbor some form of allegiance.

However, from YOUR perspective, these two commandments are basically the same: God gives YOU what you need for life; God gives YOUR NEIGHBOR what he or she needs for life. Desiring "what your neighbor has and you don't" is the heart and soul of coveting. Acting on those desires simply reveals your desires for what they really are.

The Eighth Commandment

I kid you not: This is one of the hardest commandments to keep! In a nutshell, this commandment tells us to assume the best of people, rather than jump to the worst or even the most-likely conclusion. It challenges us to try to understand others' actions in the best possible way, and to defend him or her from that perspective until the evidence forces us to come up with a new "kindest way" to explain things.

If you think this is going to make you look naïve in the eyes of your family, friends and co-workers: You're right! As a Christian, we don't get to look "wise in our own eyes." Our desire is to preserve a place for our neighbor to live and thrive, even when our neighbor is working really hard to disprove our charitable view of his or her behavior.

There is a limit to this, though, isn't there? We aren't called on to lie about our neighbor. If your co-worker, Bill, was arguing with you and your other co-worker, Mary, and Bill was saying things that are inappropriate and being a real jerk right before he stalks off, leaving you starting there with Mary, you do NOT say, "Wow! Bill is a really nice guy and he has a great way of putting things, don't you think?" No. You're best bet is probably not to talk about him behind his back at all! But if you say anything, the best thing to do is "put the best construction" on it: "I wonder what's going on in Bill's life right now that he's so tense? I mean, a lot of what he said was just plain mean. I hope things get better for him soon."

Now suppose Bill ALWAYS acts like that at work. Although you always have recourse to "I wonder what's happing in his life that makes him so tense," it gets harder and harder to ignore that Bill is basically an unpleasant person. But there's a big difference between saying: "Yeah, I have a hard time getting along with Bill, too. I wish he didn't have such a hard time playing nice with people" and "Yeah, Bill is a big jerk. I can't stand him. I wish he'd find a job someplace else." Do you see the difference?

The Seventh Commandment

"You shall not steal."  (Exodus 20:15)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the seventh commandment means in this way:  

"We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor's money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income."

The key to this commandment (and most of the commandments) is "looking out for the other guy."  "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4)

Consider the following example: You own a house and a yard and live next door to a neighbor who owns the same. You are mowing the yard and you find a bunch of rocks. (And that's no fun. When a mower finds a rock, it can be dangerous for anyone near the part of the mower that shoots out the clippings... And even if you have one of those self-mulching mowers, the blade can be nicked and dulled.) Well, what do you do with the rocks after you find them? Do you pitch them over in your neighbors yard? No. You are not looking out for your neighbors property when you do this. Not only are you visually disturbing his yard, you are exposing him/her and his/her family to potential danger when the rock is "found" by their mower and you are probably damaging her/his mower in the process.

The Sixth Commandment

"You shall not commit adultery."  (Exodus 20:14)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the sixth commandment means in this way:  

"We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other."

God gives us our spouses (i.e., husband and wife) and knows who they will be from before we are born. He brings us together in His time and in His way. And He calls us to remain with the spouse that He gives us. (Jesus emphasized this in Matthew 19:3-8.)

That this relationship between husband and wife is also a sexual relationship is clear from the creation account. (See Genesis 1:26-28.) And that human sexuality is intended for marriage alone is the consistent witness of scripture. (The sin-describing words variously translated as "fornication" are used to describe all other sexual relationships. God never affirms human sexuality in any other context than marriage in the Bible.)

Having said that: The question of getting married "in the church" or "at the courthouse" is a different question. We get married under the rule of the state out of respect for the human authorities that God has put over us (see Romans 13), not because one requires a state certificate to be married.

However, for purposes of this commandment: Whether you are married "before the state" or not, you are married and had best start acting that way! To everyone out there living together "before marriage": Don't think you can "get out of it" more easily just because you aren't registered with the state! If you ask me, I counsel couples to "get married" before the state and before the church, but until you do: start thinking of yourself as married right now... because you are! If you aren't, you have no business in a sexual relationship!

The Fifth Commandment

"You shall not murder."  (Exodus 20:13)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the fifth commandment means in this way: 

"We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need."

On one level, this commandment is very simple. But our questions tend to make it complicated. Let's start with the part that's simple: When God made the world in the beginning, there was no death. Death was not part of the "very good" creation that God made. (Death entered the world with sin. Romans 5:12) Therefore, whether directly or indirectly, all death is the result of sin. And anything we do to urge, encourage of promote death is contrary to good and gracious God's will as revealed in HIs original creation.

It only gets complicated when we try to quibble about words. For example: If we narrowly focus on the text of Exodus 20:13, we might say "murder is a very narrow form of killing, so other forms of killing are okay, right?" In truth, the Hebrew word behind "murder" in Exodus 20:13 very clearly and obviously covers cases of causing human death through carelessness and negligence as well. So this commandment is definitely not as simple as just "do not commit pre-meditated murder." There's more to keeping this commandment than a simple word-study on Exodus 20:13 can support.

The right way with this commandment is to look to God's good and gracious will and do all we can to promote THAT and not to violate it. Our God desires life! So instead of making a move that will hurt or harm a person in his body, we make every effort to help and support him in every physical need.

The Fourth Commandment

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."  (Exodus 20:12)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the fourth commandment means in this way: 

"We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them."

The best way to understand this commandment and its explanation is to realize that God "does stuff THROUGH stuff." He uses the things He has created and established to create and establish new things. For example: He doesn't create men and women directly out of dirt and surgically removed ribs anymore, now He makes new men through human procreation. In the same way, He creates order in human society through the governments and authorities He establishes. And He establishes all the authorities. (Romans 13:1-7) The first authority that God places over every human being is his or her parents. You don't have to wonder about that: We all had to be born, and we all needed to be nurtured and disciplined. Our parents are the authorities that do this.

However, beyond our parents, there are teachers, policemen, governors, etc. As we get older and become increasingly independent of our parents' direct authority, we are more directly influenced by other authorities. For example: In America, when you are a "dependent" in your parents' household, you don't pay certain taxes; however, when you're "on your own" you do.

But just because we strike out "on our own" doesn't mean we aren't to continue honoring our parents. It just means that HOW we honor our parents has changed. Notice this: Parents raise us to leave home! They prepare us to live on our own and make God-pleasing decisions on our own. In a very real sense, living independently is what our first authorities desire for us. So we ARE honoring them as we live independent, God-pleasing lives outside their household

The Third Commandment

Well, friends, I forgot yesterday that I needed to be doing two commandments a day to keep up with the schedule.  Oops!  So today we will have three posts in quick succession:  "The Third Commandment," "The Fourth Commandment," and "The Fifth Commandment."  Sorry about that!  This week two posts a day is pretty normal, but I'll try to keep the double (and triple) posting to a minimum!

So on to the Third Commandment:  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to he LORD your God.  On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."  (Exodus 20:8-11)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the third commandment means in this way: 

"We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it."

Of all the commandments, this commandment is hard to understand. Why doesn't this one still apply to us in the same way it was described to God's people in Exodus 20:8-11? How do we justify observing it in a different way?

The answer starts with our Lord Jesus. During His ministry, our Lord Jesus showed a different understanding of the Sabbath than did the Jews around Him. He didn't avoid all "work" on Sabbath, but rather did the merciful and compassionate word of the Lord on the Sabbath. Moreover, when His adversaries challenged Him about this, He said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." While we might still have lingering questions about how to keep this commandment without keeping it in the "Jewish way," it is evident that it is no longer binding in the same way.

Notice also that the Reformers (in the Catechism) didn't associate "keeping the Sabbath" with a particular day. They related the Sabbath to "preaching and His Word." In other words, Sabbath rest is what comes to us when we hear the story of our salvation in Jesus Christ proclaimed to us with the full sternness of the Law and the full grace of the Gospel. We eagerly hear and learn this Word, because the Gospel is the power of salvation for all who believe. We WANT to be reminded of this Word often! We do NOT despise (i.e., neglect, treat it as if it is of little value) God's Word in any of the forms that it comes.

The Second Commandment

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."  (Exodus 20:7)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the second commandment means in this way:  

"We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks."

The first thing most people want to know about this commandment is this: "What does the word 'vain' mean?" People wonder if "vain" means "self-obsessed." But it is best to understand "vain" as "hypocritical" or "without true depth or "in appearance only."

You see: If you claim to be a child of God (i.e., you invoke His name on yourself by calling yourself a Christian and seeking His favor thereby), then you cannot at the same time treat that name lightly. He is your God! And if He is Your God you will not use His name for such empty or false things as cursing, swearing, using satanic arts, lying or deceiving. When you do these things "in His name," you "drag His name through the mud."

In fact, if you claim the one, true God as your God, then you will act towards Him and live before Him as if He is just that. You will call on Him in trouble, because only God is strong to save. You will pray to Him and Him alone, because why pray to anyone or anything less? ... they are not powerful like Him and He is your God! You will praise Him and give Him thanks, because - as your God - every good thing in your life comes from Him and you know it

The First Commandment

"You shall have no other gods before me.  You  shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."  (Exodus 20:3-6)

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the first commandment means in this way:

"We should fear, love and trust God above all things."

This means that "having a god" isn't just a matter of statues and creeds; it's a matter of the heart and actions. Do you feel comfortable and secure because you have great health insurance? The gift of life and healing comes from God, whether He uses medicines or miracles to provide it. Would you feel less secure if you lost your insurance? Then be careful you haven't made a god out of health insurance.

Or how about money? Many Christians are confident they don't worship money because they don't drive a flashy sports car or live beyond their means. Well, there was a man named Job who was favored by God and had many possessions, but he lost them all. His wife told him to "curse God and die" - had he done that it would have meant that God wasn't really his god after all. His money and possessions were. Will you praise God for His goodness to you even if you are destitute? If not, you need to think about whether God is really your god!

Do You Know the Ten Commandments?

You shall have no other gods.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or              anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Creation - It All Goes Back to the Beginning

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep."  (Genesis 1:1-2)

Lutheran Christians usually start teaching the faith by presenting the Ten Commandments.  And that's because Martin Luther and his fellow reformers started The Small Catechism with the Ten Commandments.  But that's because they lived in a world that (for the most part) assumed God existed and that He created everything.  They lived in a world of monarchs and church power-mongers who were god-like in their ability to enforce their will.  You didn't oppose them; you couldn't oppose them!  If you colored outside the boxes they put you in, you suffered.  If you toed the line, they would protect you as best they could.  They were (for all intents and purposes) "god-like" and everyone understood what that meant:  They made the rules.

So the Reformers could teach God's Ten Commandments as God's rules without much preamble.  And nobody blinked!  People might not like the rules, but what did that matter?  They might not like the rules of the Duke or Prince who ruled their province, but that didn't really matter, did it?

Well, that's not the way we see the world anymore.  Especially not here in America with a representative democracy that arguably elevates the rights and liberties of its citizens over the authority of its governors and other people in power.

So we need to start by resetting our world view: God created everything!  And that means He gets to say how everything was meant to work.  And He gets to say how everything and everyone was supposed to work together, too!

Sounds pretty tyrannical to you and me, right?  Well, that's the nature of a true god; He is the undisputed, unseatable King of Creation.  His Word is final.

The Bible Is God's Word for Us - Part 3

Many people are bothered by the fact that God let people write down His words and the stories about Him and His people.  After all:  What if they made a mistake in telling the story?  Couldn't it easily become a tall tale rather than history?  How can we trust something that was so obviously written down by frail and faulty human beings?

Again:  These are good questions!  But if you are looking for "proof" that the Bible is a perfect, infallible, inspired document, then you are going to be disappointed.  In the end, you have to meditate on the following questions:  Do you believe that God would leave us with nothing more than faulty accounts of Himself that are full of falsehood and errors?  Or do you trust that God preserves a true and faithful account of Himself so that we are not lost forever?

Of course, the next question is this:  If you believe that God would preserve a true and faithful account of Himself (so that we are not lost forever), how would you know it when you found it?

The Bible Is God's Word for Us - Part 2

You've heard the famous story about Paul Revere's ride, right?  Paul Revere was waiting for word about how the approaching British army would attack during the American Revolutionary war.  One of the other revolutionary spies was supposed to tell him how they were coming by setting lights in the church tower - "one if by land and two if by sea" - and then he would ride out to warn all of the villages and towns.

Well, for us that's a cool story.  And in many respects it is also pretty cool history, too.  But at one time it wasn't history.  At one time, it was a bunch of British troops starting to move.  It was a spy lighting lamps.  It was Paul Revere waiting for a signal on a horse.  And it was a fast night ride to warn the countryside.

The Bible is like that.  God did - and still does! - amazing things.  He appeared to people and spoke to people.  They listened to Him and they either believed Him or they didn't.  The things that He said would happen always came to pass just as He said they would.  And then people realized (sometimes too late) that they needed to listen to Him.

So they wrote down the stories about what God did and said, and how His people believed or didn't, and what the consequences were.  That's what the Bible is.  It is the collection of stories and other writings that God's people have collected over time to make sure the people that come after them know about the God of the universe and how He deals with His people!

The Bible Is God's Word for Us - Part 1

So we need to think about how we can know ANYTHING about God and His will for s and our lives...

Wouldn't it be nice if God spoke to every one of us face-to-face?  Wouldn't it be great if we could hear His voice echoing through the sky in a way that was unmistakeable and undeniable?  Wouldn't it be amazing to know for certain that the God of the whole universe, who cannot be denied or mistrusted, was speaking to you?  What would that be like?

Well, that's the way it was in the beginning.  If you read Genesis chapter two, you will find that God did speak with His creatures in a direct way in the very beginning.  And even though His presence was unmistakeable and undeniable, humans still sinned and chose to walk away from Him.  (You can read that story in Genesis chapter three.)  

So from that moment on, God only comes to us in a way that calls forth and exercises our faith.  In other words, He comes to us in a way that causes us to give up our own demands and to approach Him on His terms and not ours.  We may want Him to appear as the mighty God who cannot be denied, but He knows that humans will still deny Him all the same.  Just because we see Him face-to-face doesn't mean that we will trust and obey Him as our Lord and God.  And that is what He wants:  He wants us to trust Him!  So He talks to us in a way that requires and exercises our faith.

"What Is Christianity?"

Before we deal with the "deeper" questions of the faith, we need to start at the top!  As a participant in New Beginnings, you want to live your life as a Christian (or you are at least considering it).  So "what is Christianity?"  One short answer is this:  "Christianity is the life and salvation God has given in and through Jesus Christ."  Another way to say the same thing is this:  "Christianity is a life shaped entirely (that is, in every way) by the truth that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord of all the living."

There are a couple things you need to notice in this definition right off the top:

1.  First of all, if Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord of ALL the living, that doesn't leave room for anyone else. Jesus Himself said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) He also said the same in John 17:3: "This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." And Jesus' first followers said the same about Him: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

2.  Second:  As Savior, Jesus saves us FROM something.  And that something is sin and death.  You see:  God made us to live forever in a particular way and in communion with Him.  But when we decided we didn't want to live that way (that is sin), we broke that communion and separated ourselves from the Author of life (hence, we die).  But you and I can't "unring that bell" - we can't make things right - it's up to God Himself to restore our relationship, to save us from our sin and death.  That's what Jesus does.  He is our Savior.

3.  As our Lord, Jesus leads us in the life God planned (and still plans) for us, because that life obviously looks a little different now that the whole world has fallen into sin.  Now following God's will and plan has different consequences.  For example:  Jesus followed the will and plan of His heavenly Father, and He was crucified (i.e., killed) for it!  (We'll come back to that when we cover the Apostles' Creed.)

Now I realize that not every reader buys into all of that already!  You should still be on this blog with us!  But you need to understand that these are the backbone of everything I write on this blog.

Let's Get Started - Goals for New Beginnings

Let's get started (again)...

Unfortunately, this first post will be a little boring, because I need to start with what I hope to accomplish in this "class by blog."  When I originally announced this class, I said it was designed for those who are new to "Lutheran Christianity." But to put it another way, this class is designed to cover what we want everyone to know and believe when they receive the Lord's Supper at Saint Paul Lutheran Church - Annapolis.

So I thought it would be helpful to share with you the guidelines we use for admitting people to the Lord's Supper.  What follows is quoted from:  "Guidelines for Pastoral Examination of Catechumens Before the Rite of First Communion of Before the Rite of Confirmation" (taken from The Pastoral Care Companion (CPH: 2007))

"Examining catechumens in the faith prior to admission to the Lord's Supper or confirmation is an important responsibility of the parish pastor.  For both first communion and confirmation, candidates have learned the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer.  They have received careful instruction in the Gospel and Sacraments.  Confessing their sin and trusting their Savior, they desire to receive the Lord's Supper for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of their faith in Christ and in love toward others.  These are the overarching concerns for the pastor in the pastoral examination of these candidates.

"Concerning the worthy reception of the Lord's Supper, the Small Catechism teaches:  'That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: 'Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.' But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words 'for you' require all hearts to believe.'

"On the basis of this, baptized Christians are admitted to the Sacrament when they have been examined and absolved by their pastor in accordance with the practice outlined in the Augsburg Confession (Article XXV).

"When confirmation is separated from first communion, confirmation especially highlights that a catechumen has received more thorough instruction in the faith than he received prior to first communion."

There's a lot of specialized, technical words in there.  So I imagine you may have some questions.  Why don't we start with your questions (add them as comments), and I'll add a few things to fill out the post out after I see how the conversation goes!

Welcome to New Beginnings by Blog!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, members and friends of St. Paul - Annapolis,

This New Beginnings class-by-blog will offer an overview of the Christian faith and highlight some important distinctives of Lutheran Christian teaching.  It is intended for people who are new to Christianity or who come to our fellowship from a non-Lutheran background, but anyone is welcome to participate.  We only ask that you be respectful of our goals and objectives:  Some threads go "beyond the basics" and are better covered offline or in another venue; other threads can be inflammatory and distract from the main point of a post. 

For those of you new to blogging, I recommend you set up this blog to send updates to your email or your phone, so you know when I add new posts.  I expect to add about 1 new post per day, though I will occasionally post more or less often.  I will also add extra information via the comments and my replies to your comments, too, so it's important that you read all of the comments and replies.

A NOTE TO THOSE WHO "LISTEN IN" ANONYMOUSLY:

If you are watching this blog, but do not plan to participate in the life and ministry of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Annapolis, please be respectful of the registered participants' time.  Do not add comments unless you plan to register for this class with Pastor Brian.  (See "Your First 'Homework' Assignment" below to register.)

A NOTE TO PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN THE CLASS:

A big part of sharing the faith by blog will be the questions and answers that we share through the comments and replies on each post.  So I am asking you:  If you are registered for this class, PLEASE write questions and comments.

YOUR FIRST "HOMEWORK" ASSIGNMENT: 

If you wish to register for this class, please add a comment to this post saying hello to the rest of the class and telling us a little about yourself!  Be sure to include your email address, so Pastor Brian can contact you directly if needed.