Learning from Löhe

Loehe has an awesome Holy Trinity Sunday sermon on John 3,1-15. Here is the seventh paragraph from his sermon:


"7. Praise God that we will not be dismissed by our ardent desire! The Lord calls the new birth from the Holy Spirit a new birth from the water, and that He relieve us of all embarrassment. For what we certainly meant by the new water birth is: it is the water of Baptism, the grace-filled water of life, the washing of rebirth in the Holy Spirit. This, water is available – and because we now know that the Holy Spirit works through the water, thus we know where the hem of the garments of Christ are that makes us recover from all of our diseases. Or about the water Baptism would it not be the Baptism of the Spirit? Are those people right, who tear apart the two things that Christ has joined , namely is it correct to separate Spirit Baptism from water Baptism and thusmake this thing unapproachable and but those times unapproachable and completely useless? Or vice versa: The Lord said that one must be born again of water and of the Spirit: Does He teach here about a double path of regeneration, one by water and another one by the Spirit, so that He who ascribes what is attributed to the Spirit, also the water? What kind of teaching should this be? No! Not vain the water and the Spirit is not treated, but the Lord sets together water and Spirit, because the child water belongs to the omnipotent Spirit, because water and the Spirit are together only one Baptism, a gracious water of life and a washing of new birth in the Holy Spirit. If we seek the Spirit by whom we are born anew: He’s in the water of Baptism. Where the water is, there the Spirit is. The water Baptism cannot be divorced from the Spirit Baptism. There is only one Baptism – of water and spirit. Whoever wants to be born again must be baptized. Here the path of regeneration is clearly described. This impossible, hidden secret has become for a man a sweet, easy road, for what is easier for people than the new birth, when one is baptized? The angels sing of this Baptism as the greatest act of God: but how easily do we come to this? How beautiful, how gently, the Lord moves along with His powerful water bath gives birth so that one is born anew, and He scarcely wakes a sleeping child from his bodily sleep!"

Holy Trinity Sunday

The Athanasian Creed begins: 1 Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. 2 Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. 3 And the catholic faith is this, 4 that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the Persons nor dividing the substance.

This Creed is the third and last of the great Creeds in the Western Church. The Roman Catholic Church and all the major Protestant Churches affirm it as a true, Scriptural teaching. Every Holy Trinity Sunday, many Lutheran churches confess this Creed in their Divine Service. For all its verbosity, the Athanasian Creed wonderfully and majestically confesses that the God of the Holy Scriptures is a Triune God: Three Distinct Persons comprising One God. Here Christianity distinguishes herself from the world's other two monotheistic religions, namely, Judaism and Islam.

And yet, if George Barna's 2009 poll accurately reflects the state of American Evangelical Protestantism, over 50% of Protestants do not believe in the Trinity or they are so Biblically illiterate that they cannot properly bear witness to what they confess to believe.

American culture does a superb job of muddying Christian beliefs. George Lucas and his Star Wars franchise have been influencing Christians since 1977. Star Wars is a great franchise with exciting story-telling and good battling and defeating evil.

But many people now, when they think and speak about the Holy Spirit, think of Him in terms of "the force", a mystical and universal power that can be tapped into and used either for good or evil. If we dig deep into the Greco-Roman culture that is the foundation of Western Society, we would probably discover the seeds of this "force" philosophy found in the Greek myths and pantheon. VW has a great commercial using this iconic concept that debuted in the 2011 Super Bowl.



Pastor Will Weedon's four-part presentation on Issues, Etc. and his blog (Weedon's Blog) post on Tuesday June 14, 2011 are wonderful resources on the Creed and the Holy Trinity.

The true, Christian Church worships the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We worship this Triune God because this Triune God has worked out our redemption from all sin and brought us eternal life and salvation. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ into this fallen world. The Son of God merited the world’s salvation by suffering, dying, and rising again. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He speaks through the Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures and through them reminds us of all that Christ has done and said. We confess and worship Three Persons in One God and One God who is Three Persons. We worship and confess this Biblical Triune God not just on Holy Trinity Sunday, but each week in the Historic Liturgy of the Divine Service we worship and confess the Three Distinct Persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are One God. Every Sunday, then, is not only a mini-Easter and a mini-Pentecost but also a mini-Trinity Sunday.

Blessed Holy Trinity Sunday to you all.

Bishop Jakes Preaches at St. John's Church

Bishop T. D. Jakes, a Pentecostal pastor of a 30,000 megachurch in Dallas, was invited to preach to President-elect Obama and other dignitaries at St. John's Church in Washington, D.C. St. John's is an Episcopal church.

Here is another example of a poor choice of pastors. Now, I do not expect President Obama to be a theologian; he is our president and I expect him to make presidential decisions. But who advised him to invite Bishop Jakes? My issue with Jakes is that his view of the Trinity borders on the heretical. Many times, he has made statements that smack of Sabellianism, which was an early second century heresy also known as Modalism because Sabellius viewed God as one who has manifested Himself in three modes: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Christian doctrine on the Godhead confesses that God is one God, and this oneness is comprised of three separate, distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every time Jakes has explained his belief, he does not use the traditional language of Christianity, but consistently uses wishy-washy language that leaves room for doubt whether he actually believes God is comprised of three Persons.

So on Inauguration Weekend we have been subjected to:

an Episcopal bishop who is unrepentant in his homosexual sin, and refused to pray a Christian prayer;

a Pentecostal pastor who does not give a definitive confession about the holy Trinity; and

an Evangelical pastor who routinely confuses law and gospel, often preaching the law while believing it is the gospel.

The state of American civil religion is horrendous. In fact, it rarely has been unashamedly Christian. Too often it is headlined with prominent pastors who have serious doctrinal issues, issues that are at odds with the doctrine passed on by the prophets and the apostles in holy Scripture.

Now you may ask, is there anyone who would satisfy my strict criticism. Answer: yes; pastors who are sincere and bold in their confession of Jesus Christ, preach Him crucified and risen from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins, and take seriously the doctrines of the one, holy Christian and apostolic Church. Unfortunately, such pastors are not going to be chosen for such public ceremonies like a presidential inauguration, because they are little fish in a big pond that is filled with mammoth fish who get all the spotlight. Such is, and has been, the state of American civil religion.

I think President Obama deserves better than the pastors who surrounded him this inauguration. He has somber and serious responsibilities, and he deserves pastors who are less inclined to preach in their prayers but who will simply and shortly pray for him, his family, and his cabinet for wisdom, safety, and divine guidance. I am sure many faithful pastors and Christians have prayed this way for him in recent days, and for that we can take hope regarding the state of American Christianity.