Trinity: Three Persons

As you read through the Apostles' Creed and the Small Catechism's explanations, it becomes clear that there is more than one person carrying out the "plan of salvation."  In fact, it seems clear that there are three:  one in each article.  The first "person" is called the "Father"; the second is called "Son" and "Jesus Christ"; the third is the "Holy Spirit".

At first, you might be inclined to lump the third person (i.e., the Holy Spirit) with one of the other two (either the Father or the Son), since we tend to think of a spirit as part of a person.  But when you read what the Holy Spirit does, He clearly does different work than the other two persons.

And that is the way the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, too.  Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as a third person in John 14:16-17:  "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

Later in verses 25-26, Jesus goes on: "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

Also very strong is John 17:7ff: "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send him to you.  ...  He will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

So there appear to be three persons involved in the work of salvation.

"On the Last Day"

There are two things that need to be highlighted in this post:  resurrection on the last day and the day we receive eternal life.

Let's start with the day of resurrection.  Most talk in the Christian church these days is about "heaven."  And most people have clouds, angels and harps in mind when they talk about "heaven."  In the popular Christian imagination, "heaven" is "where you go when you die."  And facile interpretations of John's Apocalypse (aka the book of Revelation) have contributed to this understanding.

However, the images of the beasts, elders, angels and martyrs "in heaven" are all situated during the time between the victory of Christ and the last day.  If you want to know what's coming "in the end," you need to read from Revelation 21 on:  It'll be a new heaven and a new earth.  

And where do you think creatures like humans belong?  That's right!  The new earth.  But the REALLY cool thing is that God makes His eternal dwelling with man.  (Revelation 21:3)  Thus, heaven comes to earth on the last day!  No more separation between God and man!

Now remember:  Separation from God is death.  So what do you think it means if God is no longer separated from man?  That's right!  Eternal life!  Just like it was supposed to be in the beginning before man turned away from God in the fall!

So what happens to your believing family members and friends when they die? Their spirits and their bodies are separated. (And that is NOT a good thing.) Their spirits rest in the presence of Christ, waiting for the events of the last day and eternity. Their bodies rest in the ground, waiting for the life-giving presence of God to cross the divide from heaven to earth on the last day, an action which will raise them from the dead.

"He daily and richly forgives"

Blessed redundancies abound in the Christian faith and life!  Why say that God daily and richly forgives "in this Christian church"?  Especially if God's forgiveness is the good news that He already announced through the Gospel that called us into the Church in the first place?

Because we need to hear it again!  And again after that!  The Holy Spirit works through the proclamation of the Gospel in the Church to "call, gather, enlighten and sanctify the whole Christian church on earth, and keep it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith"!

In other words, the Church keeps preaching the Gospel (daily; 24x7) and through that Gospel forgives sinners who believe it.

"called, enlightened, sanctified, and kept"

This post really just builds off the last as far as the Holy Spirit's work is concerned.  We've already acknowledged that God had a hand in calling us (i.e., we couldn't come "by our own reason and strength" alone) and convincing us and keeping us.  This phrase only adds one thing we didn't mention before:  "sanctifying" us.  The Holy Spirit does this for each and every Christian.

"Sanctifying" is simply leading us to live in a God-pleasing or "holy" way consistent with our calling.  In fact, a better non-word to replace "sanctify" would be "holi-fy" or "make us holy."  But this is widely misunderstood.  You don't "live a certain way" to BECOME holy; you are made holy and that's why you live a certain way.  In the end, "sanctifying" us has more to do with keeping us alive in the faith we've ALREADY BEEN GIVEN than anything else.  By calling us into the faith, the Holy Spirit has already made us "holy."  Now He leads us to live life in a manner consistent with our call to be "holy."  That is "sanctification."

"But the meaning also says, 'In the same way, He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth.' Why the redundancy? Why say the same thing twice?"

Because it's not the same thing! The Holy Spirit calls individuals, and as He calls individuals, He builds up the church as well. But the Church is more than just a "collection of like-minded individuals," right? There are relationships involved in the church! And mutual understanding!

For example: As a Christian in society, you are called to forgive those who sin against you. And that is what the Church does, as well. But apart from the Church, society doesn't do that. (Or if it does, it certainly isn't the "norm.") Society is governed by the Law; the foundation of the Church is the Gospel. And there is nothing "natural" about the Gospel. So the Church must be formed by the Spirit's power, too; not just the individuals in it.

"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!