Our topic is the Third Article of
the Creed, particularly, the Resurrection form the Dead and Everlasting Life.
In his answer to what this means, Martin Luther wrote, “I believe that I cannot
by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him;
but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts,
sanctified and kept me in the true faith. … [He] will raise up me and all the
dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This
is most certainly true.[i]
In the Large Catechism, Luther
wrote, “Meanwhile, however, while sanctification has begun and is growing
daily, we expect that our flesh will be destroyed and buried with all its
uncleanness, and will come forth gloriously, and arise to entire and perfect
holiness in a new eternal life.
For now we are only half pure and
holy, so that the Holy Ghost has ever [some reason why] to continue His work in
us through the Word, and daily to dispense forgiveness, until we attain to that
life where there will be no more forgiveness, but only perfectly pure and holy
people, full of godliness and righteousness, removed and free from sin, death,
and all evil, in a new, immortal, and glorified body.
Behold, all this is to be the office
and work of the Holy Ghost, that He begin and daily increase holiness upon
earth by means of these two things, the Christian Church and the forgiveness of
sin. But in our dissolution He will accomplish it altogether in an instant, and
will forever preserve us therein by the last two parts. …
This, now, is the article which must
ever be and remain in operation. For creation we have received; redemption,
too, is finished But the Holy Ghost carries on His work without ceasing to the
last day. And for that purpose He has appointed a congregation upon earth by
which He speaks and does everything.
For He has not yet brought together
all His Christian Church nor dispensed forgiveness. Therefore we believe in Him
who through the Word daily brings us into the fellowship of this Christian
Church, and through the same Word and the forgiveness of sins bestows,
increases, and strengthens faith, in order that when He has accomplished it
all, and we abide therein, and die to the world and to all evil, He may finally
make us perfectly and forever holy; which now we expect in faith through the
Word.
Behold, here you have the entire
divine essence, will, and work depicted most exquisitely in quite short and yet
rich words, wherein consists all our wisdom, which surpasses and exceeds the
wisdom, mind, and reason of all men. For although the whole world with all
diligence has endeavored to ascertain what God is, what He has in mind and
does, yet has she never been able to attain to [the knowledge and understanding
of] any of these things.
But here we have everything in
richest measure; for here in all three articles He has Himself revealed and
opened the deepest abyss of his paternal heart and of His pure unutterable
love. For He has created us for this very object, that He might redeem and
sanctify us; and in addition to giving and imparting to us everything in heaven
and upon earth, He has given to us even His Son and the Holy Ghost, by whom to
bring us to Himself. For (as explained above) we could never attain to the
knowledge of the grace and favor of the Father except through the Lord Christ,
who is a mirror of the paternal heart, outside of whom we see nothing but an
angry and terrible Judge. But of Christ we could know nothing either, unless it
had been revealed by the Holy Ghost.
These articles of the Creed,
therefore, divide and separate us Christians from all other people upon earth.
For all outside of Christianity, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false
Christians and hypocrites, although they believe in, and worship, only one true
God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or
blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation. For
they have not the Lord Christ, and, besides, are not illumined and favored by
any gifts of the Holy Ghost.
From this you perceive that the
Creed is a doctrine quite different from the Ten Commandments; for the latter
teaches indeed what we ought to do, but the former tells what God does for us
and gives to us. Moreover, apart from this, the Ten Commandments are written in
the hearts of all men; the Creed, however, no human wisdom can comprehend, but
it must be taught by the Holy Ghost alone.
The latter doctrine [of the Law],
therefore, makes no Christian, for the wrath and displeasure of God abide upon
us still, because we cannot keep what God demands of us; but this [namely, the
doctrine of faith] brings pure grace, and makes us godly and acceptable to God.
For by this knowledge we obtain love
and delight in all the commandments of God, because here we see that God gives
Himself entire to us, with all that He has and is able to do, to aid and direct
us in keeping the Ten Commandments-the Father, all creatures; the Son, His
entire work; and the Holy Ghost, all His gifts.
Let this suffice concerning the
Creed to lay a foundation for the simple, that they may not be burdened, so
that, if they understand the substance of it, they themselves may afterwards
strive to acquire more, and to refer to these parts whatever they learn in the
Scriptures, and may ever grow and increase in richer understanding. For as long
as we live here, we shall daily have enough to do to preach and to learn this.”[ii]
We have finished the Creed. Before you retire
this evening, reflect upon your fleshly existence, the shortness of life on
earth, God’s gift of everlasting life, and praise God for that gift. For this,
pray in Jesus’ Holy Name. Amen.
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