TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
  • Home
    • Missions
    • Swaddling Clothes
  • What We Believe
    • Christian Education: Sunday School and Catechism Program
    • Baptism
    • Worship
    • Confession and Absolution
    • Holy Communion
  • Our Pastor
  • Sermons
  • Calendar
  • Choir

"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

The Evangelical Trinity

6/15/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Holy Trinity, Peter Paul Rubens, 1616-17. Public Domain.
Trinity Sunday 
Romans 11:33-36 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
June 12, 2022 
 
Once a year on Trinity Sunday the Church confesses the Athanasian Creed. You’re familiar with the Apostles’ Creed. The Apostles’ Creed was confessed when you were Baptized. You were taught it in Catechism Class. It should be a part of your daily prayers at home along with the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. You’re familiar with the Nicene Creed. The Church confesses the Nicene Creed every Divine Service where Holy Communion is offered. If you attend Church regularly, you probably don’t need to look at your hymnal to recite the Nicene Creed with the congregation. Yet, the Athanasian Creed is different. We don’t say it too often. It’s long. And it’s repetitive. And with its tedious language and assertion that whoever does not believe it whole and undefiled will perish eternally, it makes some people uncomfortable.  


But in fact, the Athanasian Creed is a wonderful Confession, which every Christian should hold dear. It is named for St. Athanasius, a fourth century Bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, who was a staunch defender of the teaching of the Holy Trinity. Athanasius suffered much for his defense of the doctrine of the Trinity, frequently being exiled and unjustly removed from his position as bishop. Yet, the Church holds Athanasius in high esteem for his defense of the truth. Some might think that Athanasius was deposed and exiled so frequently, because he was a cantankerous old curmudgeon, who didn’t know how to compromise. But in fact, Athanasius suffered so readily for the doctrine of the Trinity, because he was so devoted to the truth of Scripture and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone saves.  


 Over the first several centuries of the New Testament Church, the Church produced and edited a number of Creeds, articulating its teaching of the Holy Trinity. This has caused many to assert that the doctrine of the Trinity was invented by the Church, that it evolved over time. But that is not so. The Church continued to articulate and clarify the teaching of the Trinity, because this teaching has been so viciously attacked. And the teaching of the Trinity has been so viciously attacked, because it conflicts with human reason. How can God be one, yet there be three persons. Either there are three gods or the three persons are not all God, or the three persons are not three persons. This is how human reason thinks. But Scripture says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33) It is not our job to judge the teaching of Holy Scripture or determine whether what God teaches in it is rational. Rather, it is our job to hear the Word of God and keep it. It should not surprise us that there are things about God and his ways, which are past finding out. To have faith does not mean that you understand everything. To have faith means that you trust what God says, even when you do not understand it.  


The Athanasian Creed expands on the teaching of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creed. It teaches that there is one God, yet three persons. and that one of these three persons, who is God, became man and suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. The Athanasian Creed calls itself the catholic faith, which might surprise some Lutherans. But the word catholic simply comes from two Greek words meaning, “according to the whole.” This means that the Athanasian Creed claims to be the faith that has always at all places and at all times of the Christian Church been taught. So, even we Lutherans can call ourselves catholic, because we believe our faith is the faith passed on by God himself through the prophets and apostles.  


The teaching of the Trinity is catholic, not because it was invented by the Church, but because it is taught in Holy Scripture. There is only one God. Deuteronomy 6:4 states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Yet, Scripture also makes clear that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Yet, the Father is not the Son. Jesus tells us that the Father gave his Son to die for us (John 3:16). And the Father is not the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that the Father sends us the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). And the Holy Spirit is not the Son. Jesus tells his disciples that he will send them the Holy Spirit (John 16:17). So, you cannot say that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the same person, because Scripture makes clear that they are distinct from one another.  


Yet, there is only one God. And the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not greater than the Son or the Holy Spirit. Neither is one before or after another. None is mightier than another. All three are equally infinite, eternal, and almighty. In fact, they share one substance. That means that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is each one-hundred percent God. Yet, there remains only one God.  


This teaching is incomprehensible, yet it is clearly taught in Scripture. If you read Scripture, you will find that there is only one God. And you will find that the Father is God, that he is infinite, eternal, and almighty. You will find the same for the Son and the Holy Spirit. And you will find that though they are one, they are distinct, just as the Old Testament calls both the LORD and the Angel of the LORD God (Genesis 22:11-12; Exodus 3:2-6; Judges 13:21-22). This is why the angels in Isaiah 6 cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy, LORD God of Sabaoth.” The LORD is thrice Holy for his three persons. This is why St. Paul writes, ‘For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36) There are three Hims, yet there is only one Him. This is why Jesus says, “We speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen.” (John 3:11) Who is we? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus commands the Church to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The only reason to deny the teaching of the Holy Trinity, is because it offends our human reason. Well, let God be true and every man a liar. To God alone be glory. His ways are past finding out. Yet, he has revealed in his Holy Word, that he is three in one! 


The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is so important, not simply because it is right. You can be wrong about things and still be saved. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is so important, because only the Triune God saves. Those who deny the Holy Trinity, deny the God of the Bible. And those who deny the Holy Trinity, invariably deny that a sinner is saved by grace, that is, as a free gift through faith alone. Yet, those who hold fast to the teaching of the Trinity hold fast to the Gospel by which the Trinity saves.  


Only God the Father sent his Son to save sinners. No other god could or would do that. And the Son he sent was not an honorary son. God didn’t send an angel. He didn’t send any created being. He sent him, who was from the beginning with him, him by whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made (John 1:1-3, 14). Our God sent God to take on our human nature, to fulfill the Law in our place, and to suffer and die in our stead. This is why St. Paul is able to say that they crucified the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8) and why St. Peter was able to tell the Jews in Jerusalem, “You killed the Author of Life!” (Acts 3:15), and how St. Paul again is able to declare that God purchased the Church with his own blood (Acts 20:28). Now how can the Lord of Glory die? How can they kill the Author of life? How can God have blood to shed? Because, the Son, who is true God became man. God the Son is united in one person with human flesh, so the man who died and rose for our sins is indeed our God.  


This of course gives us confidence in our salvation! Are you troubled by your sins? Do you lament with the Psalmist, “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.”? What is greater than God’s own blood? The Triune God has granted you certainty of salvation through Jesus Christ, the God-man, who has died and is risen for you.  


Although the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is taught throughout the Old Testament, it is most clearly taught in the New Testament, because Jesus reveals the Trinity to us. We see this in Jesus’ Baptism when the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove and the Father calls him his beloved Son from heaven. We hear it in Jesus’ teaching of the work of the Father and the Holy Spirit and in his command to baptize in that name. Jesus tells us that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father (John 14:9). Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). We can only know the Father’s love for us through Jesus whom he has sent to die for us.  

The divinity of the Holy Spirit is of great comfort to us as well. Do you have difficulty believing? That is not surprising, because it is in fact impossible for you to believe. You are born of the flesh. That which is born of flesh is flesh. If you are to believe in the Holy Trinity, then you must be born again. And God has sent the Holy Spirit to cause this new birth in you. When you are baptized, you are born again of water and the Spirit. God did not send an angel to try to convert your sinful flesh. He hasn’t sent you a mere helper to guide your way. God has sent God, the Holy Spirit, to cause you to be born again after the image of Christ, so that you might be a new person, washed free from sin. This should give you confidence to believe and something to throw against all doubt. You cannot believe, but the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word of Christ certainly can make you believe. He is God. He is all powerful.  


Finally, some are troubled by the words of the Athanasian Creed, which say, “At His coming all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.” This might sound un-Lutheran, but it is not.  This is what Jesus says in John chapter 5, “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.” (vss. 28-29) But neither Jesus nor the Athanasian Creed says that those who have done good earn their salvation, but rather, those who enter into salvation have done good. Jesus also says in John chapter 5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (vs. 24) But it is important to remember that it is impossible to do good unless you are born again of the Spirit. And if you are born again of the Spirit, then you will do good. This does not mean that you will earn your way to salvation, but rather that God is pleased with you for Christ’s sake and the Holy Spirit is working good through you.  


On Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the God, revealed in Scripture, who alone saves us by his grace. He alone has the power to save. He alone made the plan to save us. And he alone has revealed that plan to us. In the Athanasian Creed, we see a beautiful summary of the Christian faith, and how our God is invincible to save us.  
 
0 Comments

Born Again by Water and the Spirit

6/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Jesus and Nicodemus on the Rooftop, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1899. Public Domain.
Trinity Sunday 
John 3:1-15 

Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church  
May 30, 2021 
 
Nicodemus was a very smart man, a teacher of Israel, a ruler of the Jews, a man who stood out even among the Pharisees. This does not describe someone unless he is both intelligent and hard working. And Nicodemus pursued even more knowledge of God. This is why he meets Jesus at night, to learn from the teacher come from God. Yet, Jesus gives Nicodemus a lesson, which blows all his great learning and studying and hard-earned status away. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  
What does this mean? It means that despite his years of dedicated study and astuteness, Nicodemus could not see the kingdom of God, that is, he could not believe and understand the Gospel unless he were born again. No, Jesus is not talking about a physical rebirth, but one of the Spirit. Nicodemus like the rest of mankind is born of the flesh. That which is born of flesh is flesh. The flesh avails nothing (John 6:63). “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:50) By flesh, Scripture means the natural condition to which you are born, that is, your sinful condition, which you inherited from your first father Adam. Just listen to how Scripture describes those born according to the flesh:  
“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) 
King David cries, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) 
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) 
“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8) 
“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.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) 
And so, Jesus tells Nicodemus that if he wants to see the kingdom of God, that is, if he wants to be saved and have true knowledge of God, he must be born again. Nicodemus cannot by his own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ his Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit must call him to faith by causing him to be born again. We cannot cause ourselves to be born again. Just as baby Flint did not do anything to cause himself to be born of the flesh, neither can we cause ourselves to be born again of the Spirit. The Lord spoke through Jeremiah, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also can you do good who are accustomed to evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23) We cannot change ourselves. God must change us. He must give us a new birth, or we cannot believe in him, we cannot recognize the Holy Trinity, we cannot see the kingdom of God, we cannot be saved. 
When Nicodemus asks Jesus how this second birth takes place, Jesus answers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Now, this is an obvious reference to Baptism. In Baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to us through the water and the Word, just as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus when he was baptized in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit always comes through God’s Word, but in Baptism Christ joins water to this Word and Spirit. This is how God has chosen to cause us to be born again and to join us to Christ, as St. Paul says in Ephesians 5, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” And again, Titus 3 says that he saved us, “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (vs. 5)  
There are those who question how water can cause one to be born again. They deny that Baptism has the power to cause rebirth. Yet, it is certainly not the water alone that causes a person to be born again, but the Holy Spirit, who works through God’s promise joined to the water. Could the Holy Spirit cause a person to be born again apart from Baptism? Sure, he could. But the ordinary way that Jesus has taught us to born again is through the water and Spirit in Baptism. Jesus could certainly have and he did recover the sight of the blind without putting mud on the blind man’s eyes and having him wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9), yet when Jesus chose to use mud and washing, how foolish would it have been for the blind man to rebuke Jesus and say, “No, heal me by your word alone. I don’t need this mud and washing!”? Again, think of the leper Naaman, whom Elisha told to wash in the Jordan seven times. How arrogant would it have been if he had refused to wash in the Jordan according to the word of God from the prophet. He would have remained a leper all his days. And think of the people of Israel in the wilderness dying of venomous snake bites. Those who refused to look at the bronze serpent on the poll perished. Only those, who believed in the Word of God from Moses looked up at the bronze serpent and were saved through faith.  
Baptism does not compete with faith. Faith alone saves. But what is faith, but to believe and hold onto God’s promise in the Gospel? And Baptism is indeed Gospel, because it promises forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who believe.  
Today is Trinity Sunday. We confess one God in Unity, yet three persons in Trinity. The Father is God. The Son is God. And the Holy Spirit is God. Yet, there are not three Gods, but one God. The Father is not the Son nor is the Son the Holy Spirit nor the Holy Spirit the Father, yet these three are one God. This is impossible for our human reason to understand, even less for our sinful flesh to believe. Yet, those who are born again believe it, because those who have been born again trust in the Gospel. The Holy Trinity reveals himself in the Gospel, and so, Holy Baptism reveals to us the Holy Trinity. God the Father causes us to be born again by sending us his Holy Spirit through his word. Yet, he joins the Spirit and Word to water. He does this for the sake of our faith. The wind blows and we hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes. How do you know that you have been born again? Because the Word has been joined to the water. Have you been baptized? Has the water touched your skin? Then believe that you have received the Holy Spirit. Even more, believe that you have been joined to Christ Jesus, to his death and resurrection. God uses water, because water is physical, and we are physical beings. The water touches our skin and tells us that Jesus has died for us. We are washed in his blood, which truly flowed from his open wounds. As Jesus rose from the dead, so will we who have been buried with Christ in Baptism be raised to new life.  
We are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The entire Trinity works in our Baptism. The Father sends the Son, who shed his blood for us. The Father sends the Holy Spirit, who causes us to be reborn after the image of Christ. We are washed in the same water, which wet our Savior Jesus. Through Baptism, God opens our eyes to see the kingdom of God through faith.  
And what is the kingdom of God? What is it that we see when God causes us to be born again by water and the Spirit? Jesus tells Nicodemus. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” In Numbers chapter 21, the people of Israel grumbled against the Lord. So, he sent fiery serpents that bit the people and many of them died. So, God told Moses to make a serpent and put it on a pole, so that whoever looked at the serpent would not die. Moses made a bronze serpent and lifted it up. It was metal, not venomous as the snakes were that bit them. And so, Christ Jesus is without sin of his own as he dies for the transgressions of all mankind. Yet, the bronze serpent bears the image of the curse which plagued the people of Israel. And so, Jesus bore the image of the curse of sin as he died on the tree. It was certainly offensive to the people of Israel that the God who forbade the worship of metal images commanded them to look to a bronze statue for rescue from their snakebites. And so, it offends people that the Christ, God’s own Son died a miserable death on the cross.  
Yet, there lifted high was their salvation. There on the cross we see the kingdom of God.  Unless you are born again, this message is offensive. Unless you are born again, Jesus on the cross looks like a loser who can help no one. Yet, when the Holy Spirit causes you to be born again, your eyes are open to your salvation upon that cross, God’s kingdom coming with power; power to forgive your sins; power to crush the head of Satan; power to open the kingdom of heaven to all who believe in him.  
Through Baptism we receive a spiritual birth by the power of the Holy Spirit. As children born of the flesh need milk and then solid food, so also do those born of the Spirit need spiritual food. That spiritual food is the Gospel of Jesus Christ the crucified. To be born again, means to have faith in Christ. When you look at Christ on the cross through faith, you see the Holy Trinity. God the Father so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins. Christ Jesus, God’s Son from eternity and our brother according to the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary in space and time, pays the ransom for our sins on the cross. And the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, causes us to be born again, so that we can recognize this brutal death and victorious resurrection of Jesus as our Salvation.  
The Gospel is our spiritual food without which we cannot live. We’re still in the wilderness. The fiery serpents of sin and temptation continue to bite us as we continue to battle our sinful flesh and the power of Satan in this world. We need the healing power of Christ Jesus. We need to recognize the Holy Trinity, who saves. If we reject the Gospel, we reject our new birth by the Spirit. But when we believe in the Gospel, we receive forgiveness of our sins and certainty of our salvation every day of our lives. 
Brothers and sisters in Christ, our God has caused you to be born again, so that you can see his Kingdom through Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Do not close your eyes to this salvific sight. Do not close your ears to the voice of the Spirit. Rather, through the faith of a newborn child of God, enter into your Father’s Kingdom by clinging to Christ the crucified, so that you may live in his kingdom in eternity. Amen.  
Let us pray.  
 
Baptized into Your Name Most Holy 
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,  
I claim a place, though weak and lowly,  
Among Your saints, Your chosen host.  
Buried with Christ and dead to sin,  
Your Spirit now shall live within. Amen.  
0 Comments

    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All
    Advent 1
    Advent 2
    Advent 3
    Advent 4
    All Saints Day
    Angels
    Ascension
    Ash Wednesday
    Baptism Of Our Lord
    Christmas 1
    Christmas 2
    Christmas Day
    Christmas Eve
    Circumcision And Name Of Jesus
    Confirmation
    Easter 2
    Easter 3
    Easter 4
    Easter 5
    Easter 6
    Easter Sunday
    Easter Vigil
    Epiphany
    Epiphany 1
    Epiphany 2
    Epiphany 3
    Epiphany 4
    Exaudi (Sunday After Ascension)
    Funeral
    Good Friday
    Good Shepherd
    Last Sunday
    Lent 1
    Lent 2
    Lent 3
    Lent 4
    Lent 5
    Lenten Services
    Maundy Thursday
    Means Of Grace Lenten Series
    Name Of Jesus
    Nativity Of St. John The Baptist
    Palm Sunday
    Pentecost
    Presentation Of Our Lord
    Quasimodogeniti
    Quinquagesima
    Reformation Day
    Robert Preus
    Second Last Sunday
    Septuagesima
    Sexagesima
    St. James Of Jerusalem
    St. Michael And All Angels
    St Stephen
    Thanksgiving
    Transfiguration
    Trinity
    Trinity 1
    Trinity 10
    Trinity 11
    Trinity 12
    Trinity 13
    Trinity 14
    Trinity 15
    Trinity 16
    Trinity 17
    Trinity 18
    Trinity 19
    Trinity 2
    Trinity 20
    Trinity 21
    Trinity 22
    Trinity 24
    Trinity 25
    Trinity 26
    Trinity 27
    Trinity 3
    Trinity 4
    Trinity 5
    Trinity 6
    Trinity 7
    Trinity 8
    Trinity 9
    Trinity Sunday

    RSS Feed

© 2017  www.trinitylutheranottumwa.com
  • Home
    • Missions
    • Swaddling Clothes
  • What We Believe
    • Christian Education: Sunday School and Catechism Program
    • Baptism
    • Worship
    • Confession and Absolution
    • Holy Communion
  • Our Pastor
  • Sermons
  • Calendar
  • Choir