Thursday, September 20, 2012
1 Corinthians 12:3 No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
PRAISE THE SPIRIT FOR HIS WORK IN YOU
From the Large Catechism (Luther's comments on the Third Article):
+ "Neither you nor I could ever know anything about Christ or believe in Him and receive Him as our Lord, if it were not first laid on our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel. The redemptive work has taken place and is finished, for Christ has purchased and won the treasure for us through His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if that saving action stays hidden and no one knows about it, it would all be for nothing, wasted. In order that this treasure might not remain buried but be taken up and enjoyed, God has let the Word go forth and be proclaimed. In the Word He has given us His Holy Spirit to lay the treasure of redemption on our hearts and make it our very own."
+ "The term holy Christian church is defined in the Creed as the communion of saints ... The sense and substance of this phrasing is: I believe that a holy little flock or community exists on earth consisting entirely of saints under one head, Christ. Previously, we belonged completely to the devil and did not really know God or Christ at all. But now the Holy Spirit through the Word remains present in the holy community and with the Christian people until the last day. Through this community He gathers us; through it He proclaims and applies the Word by which He creates and multiplies sanctification in order that this community may grow in numbers and become strong in faith and in the fruits of faith, which are the Spirit's creation."
+ "We further believe that in this Christian community we have forgiveness of sins which is given to us through the holy sacraments and absolution as well as through all the comforting passages of the Gospel. Therefore everything that is to be taught concerning the sacraments, in fact all Gospel preaching and all the functions of the Christian community focus on the forgiveness of sins ... Although God's grace has been won by Christ and the Holy Spirit effects holiness within the fellowship of the Christian church through Word, yet because we are weighted with the burden of our flesh, we are never without sin. It is on this account that everything in the Christian church is so arranged that we may daily come here and get total forgiveness through the Word and Sacraments to comfort our consciences and lift our spirits as long as we live."
