JUNE 2025
JUNE 2025
1 June 2025 - Easter 7 - 1 Peter 4:7-14
As we heard a few minutes ago, St. Peter, in his First Epistle, writes as follows:
“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Peter begins by telling us that the end of all things is at hand. That can certainly be a frightening thing to consider.
If you believed that your life, and even the whole world, would soon come to an end, what would you do?
Some people, based on their selfish, hedonist way of looking at the world - and at themselves in the world - would probably try to fill up their last days with as much pleasure and debauchery as possible.
The code by which Epicureans of every generation have lived would kick in: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die.”
Now, Peter is not setting a date for the end of the world. But he wants his readers to live as if the world will soon end, because it might.
Christians are not Epicureans. They are not to live in the way of self-indulgence, but in the way of love for others. Indeed, Peter tells us that within the fellowship of the church, and in our human relationships generally, we are to have a “fervent love for one another.”
The “love” of which he speaks is the Greek “agape.” This is not about romantic passion, but is a selfless and self-giving mercy for others, similar to God’s love for us.
If you think your life, or the world, might soon come to an end, one of the primary things you would be concerned about is meeting the needs of others, and encouraging and comforting others.
You would be sincerely gracious in your hospitality. You would be sincerely generous in your sharing, your giving, and your serving. And, you will be forgiving of the faults and offenses of other people.
Peter uses an expression that has sometimes been misunderstood, when he says in this context that “love will cover a multitude of sins.” He is actually quoting this from the book of Proverbs.
There was a debate about the meaning of this quoted statement at the time of the Reformation. Some Roman theologians claimed that this passage teaches that our sins are forgiven, and that we are justified before God, at least in part, because of the virtue of love being inside of us, rather than by faith in Christ alone.
In other words, they claimed that the “covering” of sin is - in effect - an atonement for sin; and that the sins that are covered by a person’s love are that person’s own sins. It’s as if your later acts of love will offset, and make up for, your previous sinful acts, as your life is weighed in the balance of divine judgment.
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession - one of the official creedal documents of our church - responded to this idea. I will quote from it at length, because it is very clear and very helpful; and is like a sermon, really, in how the true meaning of this passage is explained:
“From Peter they also quote this statement, ‘Love covers a multitude of sins.’ It is evident that Peter is...speaking about love toward the neighbor, because he connects this passage to the text that commands love for one another.”
“Indeed, it could not have entered the mind of any apostle to say that our love overcomes sin and death; or that love is an atoning sacrifice on account of which God is reconciled apart from Christ the mediator; or that love is righteousness without Christ the mediator. ...the gospel...promises us reconciliation and righteousness when we believe that on account of Christ, as the propitiator, the Father is gracious to us, and that the merits of Christ are bestowed upon us.”
“Therefore a little earlier [in this epistle] Peter urges us to come to Christ so that we might be built upon Christ. And he adds, ‘Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ Our love does not free us from shame when God judges and accuses us. But faith in Christ does free us in the midst of these fears, because we know that on account of Christ we are forgiven.”
“Furthermore, Peter’s statement about love is taken from Proverbs, where the antithesis clearly shows how [that statement] ought to be interpreted: ‘Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.’ ...this text does not speak about one’s own sins, but of others’ [sins], when it says, ‘love covers sins,’ namely, the sins of others: more precisely, offenses between people. That is to say, even though these offenses flare up, love conceals them, forgives, yields, and does not carry everything to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Peter, therefore, does not intend to say with this text that love merits the forgiveness of sins in God’s eyes; or that [love] is an atoning sacrifice excluding Christ the mediator; or that we are accepted on account of love, not on account of Christ the mediator. He means that in human relations love is not obstinate, harsh, or intractable; instead, it overlooks certain mistakes of its friends, and puts the best construction on even the more offensive conduct of others...”
“It is not without reason that the apostles speak so often about this responsibility of love... For this virtue is necessary for preserving public harmony, which cannot last long unless pastors and churches overlook and pardon many things among themselves.”
So far the Apology.
Love does indeed cover “a multitude of sins” in our interpersonal relationships, as we, with Christian charity and forbearance, learn how to overlook the small offenses of others, and how to forget about them, even as we would hope that others would overlook and pardon our occasional poor behavior. And when there has been a more serious offense, followed by an expression of regret, and by forgiveness from the injured party, that forgiveness needs to be real forgiveness.
When a sin is “covered,” this means that it can no longer be seen, and therefore will not be held against the person who had committed it. When you look at that person, you will not see the sin that has been covered by the forgiveness that your Christian love generates.
Because of that love, someone who has offended you - in big ways or in small ways - will not be treated by you according to the offense, but according to the forgiveness. The Lord’s Prayer needs to be prayed in all earnestness:
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
But, our love - such as it is - does not cover over our many sins and trespasses before the judgment of God. And that would include the sins of not always forgiving others, and not always covering over their misdeeds with mercy and forbearance.
Our own sins and offenses against God are forgiven and covered over only by the blood of Christ and the righteousness of Christ: which are made available to us because of the love of Christ.
God therefore does not see our sins, and will not punish them, or judge us because of them. They are covered, by God’s redeeming and absolving love. And as we repent daily, and trust in Christ daily, those sins remain covered.
Peter, in today’s lesson, calls us to a remembrance of our baptism: when we were united to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The name of Christ the Son was placed upon us, and remains upon us. The Spirit of glory - who is the Spirit of God the Father - rested upon us, and remains upon us. So, as Peter writes,
“If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
On the part of those who mock us and even persecute us - because of the way in which “love” shapes and governs our lives - Jesus “is blasphemed” by such reproaches. But when this happens, then on our part Jesus “is glorified,” is honored, and is confessed as Lord of all.
In Psalm 32, King David had declared:
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity...”
The Epistle to the Romans quotes these lines from that Psalm, and tells us that this forgiveness from God, and this covering of sin before God, is ours - today - through faith in Jesus Christ. The love of God - by which he sent his only-begotten Son into the world to save the world; and the love of that divine Son for us, which impelled him to suffer and die for us - undergirds, energizes, and defines the love that we now bear toward our neighbor in his name.
God’s Spirit delivers to us, through the means of grace, our forgiveness from God. And God’s Spirit, as he lives within us, changes our hearts. When you know that God has forgiven the enormity of your sins against him, then you cannot withhold forgiveness from your fellow human beings.
It is a good practice for Christians to receive Holy Communion together. When you commune, Jesus is placing himself, and his forgiveness, into your mouth and into your soul.
And when you commune, Jesus is drawing out of your soul, and is positioning in your mouth, your forgiveness, and your words of forgiveness, toward all those who are communing with you - and toward all others with whom you may have a relationship that has been marred and disrupted by sin.
This is what we would want to be found doing, if the world does come to an end. This is how we would spend our last days, if we perceived that our last days were upon us.
This is how we would want to die, whenever our death may come. And therefore this is how we will live: as God helps us for the sake of Christ, and as Jesus teaches us by his example. Elsewhere in his First Epistle, St. Peter writes that
“Christ...suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. Above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Amen.
8 June 2025 - Pentecost - Acts 2:1-21
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
One particular denomination in Christendom has appropriated the name of today’s festival to itself, so that when many people hear the word “Pentecost,” they think of Pentecostalism. And when people think of Pentecostalism, they usually think of a very emotionally-charged kind of experiential, ecstatic piety.
Our Pentecostal friends want to feel the Holy Spirit in their hearts, which gives them the assurance that God truly is a part of their lives.
As they feel God within them, and as they cultivate an interior kind of spirituality that builds on this feeling, they also often sense that God is speaking to them and telling them things. They imagine that God is guiding them, by means of thoughts and desires, impulses and sensations, that he puts into their mind and will.
Some Christian writers have spoken of a widespread phenomenon they call the “Pentecostalization” of Christian worship. Many churches and denominations that have a tradition of singing hymns with theological substance, and of following an order of service that maintains structure and dignity in worship, are now slipping into a Pentecostal way of doing these things.
What those churches now often sing, and how they sing it, is no longer designed to instruct worshipers in the objective truths of the Christian faith, but is calculated to stimulate an interior religious experience and an emotional feeling of closeness to God, through the physiological impact of the music itself.
Now, when we look at what the Book of Acts tells us about what happened on the first Christian Pentecost, is that what we see? Was the real Pentecost in Jerusalem, a “Pentecostal” kind of event?
Instead of describing interior feelings and emotional experiences, St. Luke tells us about several objective, external events that occurred that day. The most extraordinary thing that he reports, is the appearance of flames of fire on the apostles’ heads, accompanied by the apostles speaking in other tongues.
But this speaking in other tongues was a speaking in real human languages, not in an incomprehensible gibberish. The supernatural, miraculous component of this, was that the apostles had never known those languages before, not that the things they said made no sense to earthly listeners.
What they were saying made perfect sense to those who were from the regions where those various real languages were spoken:
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? ... We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
St. Luke does not tell us about any interior religious experiences the apostles may have been having while this was going on. Rather, he tells us what was being spoken out loud from their lips, in the hearing of others, and for the benefit of others.
I’m sure that the disciples were deeply moved by their experience that day. They were internally changed by this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and were given a new courage and new boldness in their proclamation of Christ.
But their subjective reactions to these events were not of the essence of what was going on, and so their subjective reactions are not mentioned in the account. What are mentioned are the objective things that happened: with real languages being spoken intelligibly in praise of God; and with the preaching and sacramental administration that took place after this.
Peter did indeed then preach a sermon, based on a text from the Prophet Joel, and also quoting some passages from the Psalms. This sermon cut his listeners to the heart, driving them to repentance for their part is causing or allowing the death of Jesus, and for sin in general.
But that death of Jesus had won redemption and forgiveness for them, which would now be delivered to them through the external means of grace that Jesus had instituted. And so they were baptized for the forgiveness of sins, through which the Holy Spirit was also bestowed upon them.
And right after that, in the Book of Acts, we are told that the big, new congregation in Jerusalem that God’s Spirit had brought into existence through Word and Sacrament on Pentecost, continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles, in the communion of the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers of the gathered Christian assembly.
Their repentance was real and deep, but it was not overwhelmed and defined by emotion. Their faith - continually nurtured now by the means of grace - was a sober-minded faith that was eager to learn, and to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
Their faith was focused on Christ, on his death and resurrection, and on all that he had accomplished for them in sacred history. It was not a faith that addictively sought after internal experiences and supernatural sensations.
Churches like ours are regularly criticized, and sometimes even ridiculed, for being devoid of the Holy Spirit. Our order of service, our hymns, and our general demeanor as we worship, are often dismissed as unspiritual, as irrelevant to the true religious needs of people, and as mere ritual without any divine power.
But what these criticisms really mean, is that we are not feeding and manipulating emotion, and are not expressing and amplifying a lot of emotion, when we come to church. Instead, we are looking beyond ourselves, to those things toward which the people on the Day of Pentecost also looked.
We are looking to God’s external and objectively true Word: as it is sung and confessed, as it is unfolded in Biblical, law-gospel preaching and teaching, and as it is sacramentally applied to the comfort of our consciences.
As we in our devotion look to the means of grace, which come from outside of us, we know that they bring and deliver to us the gift of the Holy Spirit. They strengthen our faith in Christ and in his promises.
And they renew to us the forgiveness, life, and salvation that God wants us to have and to enjoy, under his Fatherly love and protection.
I am moved when the comforts of the gospel penetrate to my conscience, and when I hear the absolving voice of Christ telling me that my sins are forgiven. A deep peace comes over me when Jesus in Scripture assures me that he is with me in all my fears and trials, and will not forsake me.
But I do not then flail my arms around, jump and twirl, roll on the floor, and scream out meaningless sounds.
There is indeed great power in the words of Jesus, as he speaks them to us from the pages of the Bible, and in the Lord’s Supper. And through the means of grace, God does indeed give us a spirit of power: power to persevere in trials, power to overcome temptations, power to continue to cling to Christ even in the midst of fear and doubt.
And along with a spirit of power, God gives us a spirit of love, so that we ever more deeply care about the needs of others, and not only about the religious high that we might get at church.
And, God gives us a spirit of sound mind. A sound mind, which is the mind of Christ: growing in us according to our new nature, deepening our wisdom, heightening our sensitivities, increasing our knowledge.
St. Paul told Timothy in his Second Epistle to him:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Paul also told the Corinthians:
“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ... But we have the mind of Christ.”
And St. Peter wrote in his Second Epistle that
“No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
When you look at the prophetic Scriptures that were produced by these holy men, “as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” you do not see ecstatic and disjointed utterances. What you see on the sacred pages of the Bible are lofty and penetrating statements of divine truth that are coherent, clear, and comprehensible.
And St. Paul furthermore explained to Timothy that these Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
Reverently and calmly listening to readings from these inspired Scriptures - which is a central feature of our worship - is not an unspiritual activity. Joining together in singing carefully-worded hymns that unfold and expound the teaching of Scripture - regarding Christ and his church, and regarding human sin and divine forgiveness - is not an unspiritual activity.
The presence and operation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was not manifested through emotional outbursts, uncontrolled gyrations, and mystical experiences.
Rather, the presence and operation of the Holy Spirit was manifested through objective outward signs; understandable declarations about God and his glory; a Christ-centered, Biblically-based sermon; and the administration of a sacrament that Jesus had instituted for his church.
And the result of the Holy Spirit’s working that day was a conscious and sincere repentance on the part of those who heard the sermon, and a comforting and uplifting reception of God’s forgiveness, and of God’s Spirit, on the part of those who were baptized.
To the extent that these things are happening among us, then to that extent we are a truly Pentecostal church - as Scripture defines the meaning of that term. To the extent that the Holy Spirit is powerfully working through the ordered ministry of Word and Sacrament that takes place among us, then to that extent our worship is indeed filled with God’s power to bless and to save, to forgive and to enlighten, to teach and to guide.
The Day of Pentecost did not put the early church in Jerusalem on a pathway filled with wide-eyed excitement.
Pentecost put the church on a pathway filled with divine grace and eternal truth, delivered through the Word of God. Pentecost put the church on the pathway of an informed faith and a confident hope, birthed in the Jerusalem believers by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not say:
“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will satisfy all your desires for an emotional high, and bring to you new feelings and new sensations.”
No. But Jesus did say:
“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
Jesus did not say:
Excitement I leave with you, My excitement I give to you; as the world gives, so do I give to you, but even better.”
No. But Jesus did say:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”
O Holy Spirit, grant us grace That we our Lord and Savior
In faith and fervent love embrace And truly serve Him ever,
So that when death is drawing nigh, We to His open wounds may fly
And find in them salvation.Help us that we Thy saving Word In faithful hearts may treasure;
Let e’er that Bread of Life afford New grace in richest measure.
Yea, let us die to ev’ry sin, For heav’n create us new within
That fruits of faith may flourish. Amen.
A CONFESSION OF FAITH DRAWN FROM THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION
L: This Confession shows, from the Holy Scriptures and God’s pure Word, what has been taught in our churches.
C: Our churches teach with common consent that the decree of the Council of Nicaea is true. It is to be believed without any doubt. God is one divine essence who is eternal, without a body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are of the same essence and power.
L: Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam, all who are naturally born are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin. [This inclination to sin] is a disease and original vice that is truly sin. It damns and brings eternal death on those who are not born anew through Baptism and the Holy Spirit.
C: Our churches teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, assumed the human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So there are two natures – the divine and the human – inseparably joined in one person. There is one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried. He did this to reconcile the Father to us and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of mankind. He also descended into hell, and truly rose again on the third day. Afterward, He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. There He forever reigns and has dominion over all creatures. He sanctifies those who believe in Him, by sending the Holy Spirit into their hearts to rule, comfort, and make them alive. He defends them against the devil and the power of sin. The same Christ will openly come again to judge the living and the dead, according to the Apostles’ Creed.
L: Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight.
C: So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given. He works faith, when and where it pleases God, in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake.
L: Our churches teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruit. It is necessary to do good works commanded by God, because of God’s will. We should not rely on those works to merit justification before God. The forgiveness of sins and justification is received through faith.
C: Our churches teach that one holy Church is to remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints in which the Gospel is purely taught and the Sacraments are correctly administered. For the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. It is not necessary that rites or ceremonies instituted by men should be the same everywhere.
L: Our churches teach that Baptism is necessary for salvation and that God’s grace is offered through Baptism. They teach that children are to be baptized. Being offered to God through Baptism, they are received into God’s grace.
C: Our churches teach that the body and blood of Christ are truly present and distributed to those who eat the Lord’s Supper. We have Communion every holy day, and if anyone desires the Sacrament, we also offer it on other days. The Mass is celebrated with the highest reverence. No one is admitted to the Sacrament without first being examined. Those who use the Sacrament should remember, in faith, the benefits they receive through Christ and how their anxious consciences are cheered and comforted. But whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.
L: Our churches teach that private Absolution should be retained in the churches, although listing all sins is not necessary for Confession.
C: Our churches teach that there is forgiveness of sins for those who have fallen after Baptism whenever they are converted. The Church ought to impart Absolution to those who return to repentance. Repentance consists of two parts. One part is contrition, that is, terrors striking the conscience through the knowledge of sin. The other part is faith, which is born of the Gospel or the Absolution and believes that for Christ’s sake sins are forgiven. It comforts the conscience and delivers it from terror. Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruit of repentance.
L: Our churches teach that the Sacraments were ordained, not only to be marks of profession among men, but even more, to be signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us. They were instituted to awaken and confirm faith in those who use them. Therefore, we must use the Sacraments in such a way that faith, which believes the promises offered and set forth through the Sacraments, is increased.
C: Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call. The priest stands at the altar, inviting some to the Communion and keeping back others. An overseer must be the husband of one wife.
L: Our churches teach that ceremonies and other practices that are profitable for tranquility and good order in the Church ought to be observed. Yet consciences are not to be burdened as though observing such things was necessary for salvation. Nevertheless, we keep many traditions, such as the order of Scripture lessons in the Mass and the chief holy days. Ceremonies are needed, that the uneducated be taught what they need to know about Christ. Hymns have been added to teach the people.
C: Our churches teach that lawful civil regulations are good works of God. It is right for Christians to hold political office, to serve as judges, to judge matters by existing laws, to impose just punishments, to engage in just wars, to serve as soldiers, to make legal contracts, to hold property, to take oaths when required by the magistrates, for a man to marry a wife, or a woman to be given in marriage. Rulers, pastors, and others, serve in their calling according to God’s commands.
L: The Gospel requires that the civil estate and the family be preserved as God’s ordinances and that love be practiced in such ordinances. It is necessary for Christians to be obedient to their rulers and laws. The only exception is when they are commanded to sin. Then they ought to obey God rather than men.
C: Our churches teach that at the end of the world Christ will appear for judgment and will raise all the dead. He will give the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joys, but He will condemn ungodly people and the devils to be tormented without end.
L: Our churches teach that a person’s will has some freedom to choose civil righteousness and to do things subject to reason. It has no power, without the Holy Spirit, to work the righteousness of God, that is, spiritual righteousness. This righteousness is worked in the heart when the Holy Spirit is received through the Word.
C: Our churches teach that the cause of sin is located in the will of the wicked, that is, the devil and ungodly people. Without God’s help, this will turns itself away from God.
L: Our churches teach that the history of saints may be set before us so that we may follow the example of their faith and good works, according to our calling. But Scripture sets before us the one Christ as the Mediator, Atoning Sacrifice, High Priest, and Intercessor. He is to be prayed to. He has promised that He will hear our prayer. This is the worship that He approves above all other worship, that He be called upon in all afflictions.
C: This is a summary of our teaching. As can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church universal.
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22 June 2025 - Presentation of the Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession gave expression to the convictions of the church of the Lutheran Reformation: especially regarding how the Triune God saves humanity from the guilt and power of sin, and from eternal death, through the gospel of our divine-human Savior Jesus Christ.
In this, the Augsburg Confession was built upon the historic creeds of the ancient church - especially the Nicene Creed - which had already laid the foundation of the church’s pure confession that God does indeed exist in three distinct persons; and that Jesus Christ is indeed God in human flesh, who came into the world to save humanity from inside humanity. And so in the very first article of the Augsburg Confession, the Lutheran Reformers state:
“Our churches teach with common consent that the decree of the Council of Nicaea about the unity of the divine essence and the three persons is true. It is to be believed without any doubt. God is one divine essence who is eternal, ...of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are of the same essence and power. ... Our churches condemn all heresies that arose against this article...”
And then, a little further on - in Article 3 - the Augsburg Confession makes this affirmation:
“Our churches teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, assumed the human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So there are two natures - the divine and the human - inseparably joined in one person.”
These things about God and about Jesus - the Son of God - were confessed by the Fathers of the ancient church, and by the Lutheran Reformers, because they are the teaching of Scripture. For all of them, Holy Scripture was the infallible and final authority in all matters pertaining to our salvation.
For example, the church father St. Athanasius of Alexandria said:
“The holy and inspired Scriptures are fully sufficient for the proclamation of the truth.”
And St. Gregory of Nyssa spoke in a similar way:
“We make Sacred Scripture the rule and the norm of every doctrine. Upon that we are obliged to fix our eyes, and we approve only whatever can be brought into harmony with the intent of these writings.”
So, when the Fathers and teachers of the early church formulated the Nicene Creed, and continued to defend and affirm the Nicene Creed and the doctrine it contained, this was not based on philosophical speculation or human reason. These convictions were based on the witness of the prophets and apostles regarding what God is like, and what God has done to redeem and save us.
And we today, when we confess our own faith by means of the historic creeds and confessions of the church, are actually thereby confessing our submission to Holy Scripture and to what Holy Scripture teaches.
The Augsburg Confession refers specifically to the Council of Nicaea. It was at this council that the original version of the Nicene Creed was composed and subscribed.
Most of its wording is preserved in the version of the Nicene Creed that we still confess. And this year - 2025 - happens to be the 1,700th anniversary of this council, which was held in the year 325 A.D.
This is an anniversary well worth commemorating, because of how important that council was for the church of all generations. The Council of Nicaea followed the model that we see in the Book of Acts, in the council of Jerusalem, which addressed the controversial question of whether Gentiles must first become Jews - through circumcision and submission to the ritual Law of Moses - before they can become Christians.
Christian leaders then and now gather together to discuss issues that have become matters of controversy, and together study, and reflect upon, the Scriptures and what the Scriptures say to the matter at hand.
At the Jerusalem Council, for example, St. Peter gave his firsthand testimony of how the Holy Spirit had descended upon Cornelius the Roman Centurion and his Gentile household, in a way similar to what had happened to the apostles on the Day of Pentecost, without Cornelius or those with him having been circumcised. And St. James then pointed out, on the basis of a passage from the Prophet Amos, that this had been God’s plan all along.
Before the Council of Nicaea, the church had endured several waves of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities, until the Emperor Constantine at least partway embraced the Christian faith, and put those persecutions to an end. But almost as soon as this time of external peace came to the church, one of the worst internal threats arose, in the form of the teaching of the Presbyter Arius.
The Gospel of John refers to Jesus, in his pre-incarnate state, as the “Word” who was with God and who was God. In the very beginning of his Gospel, St. John, in a certain sense, recapitulates the deeper truth of the very beginning of the Book of Genesis, when he writes:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ... He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Arius, however, denied that Jesus, in his pre-incarnate state, was God in the same was as the Father is God. Rather, according to Arius, the Word was the first and greatest creature of God the Father.
So, according to Arius, the two natures in Jesus Christ were both created natures - one old and one new. Arius’s rationalist doctrine could not really take into account the great confession of St. Thomas when he declared to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
And Arius’s doctrine count not really take into account the Bible’s declaration that all things were made through God’s Son. According to Arius, all other things were made through him - since in his mind the pre-incarnate Word was also a thing that had been made by God.
This controversy threatened to destroy the church and to rip it to shreds. What the devil - the father of lies - had failed to do through outward persecution, he now seemed poised to do through inner heresy.
Constantine was not an adept theologian. But he did seek to bring inner peace to the religion that he had recently come to see as the true faith. So, he called the Council of Nicaea, to meet at his villa, and he paid the expenses of all the bishops who would attend.
These attendees included revered church leaders who showed up crippled and maimed, from when they had been tortured under the authority of Constantine’s predecessors in an attempt to get them to renounce their faith in Christ and to worship the false gods of Rome instead.
Those bishops were certainly not going to submit to any council decree about who Jesus is, that was contrary to the doctrine they had already believed and taught, and for which they had suffered and had been willing to die. So, when Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cultists claim that at the Council of Nicaea, Constantine forced the bishops to change their faith and to confess that Jesus is God - which supposedly they had never believed before - don’t buy it.
These men had already proved that they would not change their faith to please any emperor or political leader, under any circumstances. And at the Council of Nicaea that’s not what they did, either.
Instead, with the use of some new terms that brought clarity and precision in response to Arius’s misuse of traditional terms, they confessed the old and unchanging faith of the church.
The human race does have a divine Redeemer and Savior after all. Those who believe in this divine Redeemer and Savior, and who are baptized in the name of the Triune God, will not be damned on account of their sins, but will have eternal life, after all.
In time the Nicene Creed was amplified and expanded, with the addition of the section on the Holy Spirit that was added at the Council of Constantinople in the year 381. In this expanded version, we and all Christians with a catholic consciousness, still confess this creed.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Christians in all generations are exhorted:
“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings...”
1,700 years ago, the Fathers at Nicaea obeyed these words, as they remembered the inspired teaching of the apostles, and as they imitated their faith concerning God and Jesus in what they confessed in the creed that emerged from that council.
In the Reformation era, the Reformers of the church likewise obeyed these words, as they remembered both the apostles and the Nicene Fathers, and as they imitated their common faith, in what they confessed in the Augsburg Confession, and in the other confessional statements that emerged from the 16th century.
Our creeds and confessions help us to comply with St. Paul’s words in his Epistle to the Romans:
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Indeed, because Jesus is fully divine, he has the power to create. And he has made us to be a new creation in him: so that our sins, and our life of sin, are now buried in his wounds; and so that, by the power of his resurrection, we have a new birth, and a new life that will endure for eternity. Amen.