Pneumatology – What Does This Mean?

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

[One-Hundredth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

Encore Post:

The Holy Spirit sent Deacon Philip to meet a eunuch serving Candice of Ethiopia. Candace was not a personal name but a royal title, much like Pharaoh or Caesar. She was the mother of the reigning king of Ethiopia and handled many of the kingdom’s day-to-day affairs. Ethiopians traced their royal line back to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, and many were influenced by the Jewish faith.

Eunuchs often served as trusted officials of royal households. This man appears to have been the treasurer of Candace’s kingdom. He was a devout believer who had traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship God. On his journey home, he was reading Isaiah 53, a detailed prophecy of the suffering and death of the Messiah. Puzzled by what he was reading, he invited Philip to explain the passage.

Beginning with Isaiah’s prophecy, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. The suffering servant Isaiah described was Jesus, who suffered, died, and rose again to save the world. When the Ethiopian heard this good news and saw water nearby, he asked to be baptized. Philip baptized him at once. When the Holy Spirit took Philip away, the man continued his journey rejoicing that salvation had come to him.

This encounter shows how quickly the Gospel was spreading beyond Jerusalem. The Ethiopian was both a foreigner and a eunuch, someone who stood on the edge of Israel’s religious life. Yet through faith in Christ and Holy Baptism, he was welcomed fully into God’s family. The good news of Jesus was not only for Jerusalem or even for Israel. It was for the whole world.

According to ancient Christian tradition, this new believer became one of the first people to carry the Gospel into Africa. Whether or not every detail of those traditions is correct, the message is clear. God was already fulfilling Jesus’ command to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Pentecost

[Ninety-Seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

Encore Post:

The Feast of Pentecost is the Greek name (πεντηκοστή) for the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuot, שָׁבוּעוֹת in Hebrew). The day celebrated the harvest of the barley crop and the planting of the wheat crop in Israel. God established this day of thanksgiving on the fiftieth day after Passover, and it was one of three feasts the Torah commanded Jews to celebrate in Jerusalem whenever possible. In the days after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the city was still crowded with Jews from around the world who had remained after Passover to celebrate this feast in the Holy City.

The Christian Church remembers the day as a kind of birthday. On this day, God poured out the Holy Spirit on the whole Church in a public and powerful way rather than only on selected prophets and leaders.

Both the Hebrew and Greek words for spirit can also mean “wind.” The Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind, hovered over the chaos before God created the heavens and the earth. During the Exodus, the Holy Spirit appeared visibly as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit settled in the Holy of Holies as a cloud. When the Prophet Elijah fled to Mount Sinai, God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire to get his attention. On Pentecost, the sound of a mighty rushing wind caught the crowd’s attention, and the wind and tongues of fire testified to the Holy Spirit’s presence.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32), in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11), and in the promises of Jesus Himself (Acts 1:5). The Spirit enabled the apostles to proclaim God’s mighty works in languages they had never learned. Pilgrims from many nations heard the Gospel in their own tongues. On the day the Church was born, God showed that the message of salvation was intended for people of every nation, language, tribe, and people.

By baptizing His people with the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave them the power to witness to God’s love. He provided them with a Counselor to lead and guide them. Just as the prophets of old proclaimed God’s Word, every Christian now has the privilege of confessing Christ before the world. The same Holy Spirit who filled the apostles at Pentecost continues to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify Christ’s Church today.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Salvation Guaranteed

[Eighth in a series of posts on Ephesians 1 & 2]

Encore Post:

When we hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts. He also comes to live within us. This faith clings to God’s grace and his promise to save us through Jesus. In Holy Baptism, he places God’s seal on us. We belong to God as his heirs. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is God’s down payment on the resurrection of the dead and eternal life with God in paradise.

What this means is we do not need to worry about whether we will go to Heaven when we die. We do not need to worry whether we did enough to earn a second chance from God. We do not need to worry about whether God chose to send us to hell before we were born. We do not need to worry whether we were sincere when we accepted Jesus as our Savior or if we cannot remember whether we ever made a decision for Jesus at all. God has done everything to save us even before we were born.

God the Father loved us before he made the world. He chose us then to be His children and set things in motion to adopt us as his heirs. He sent God the Son to die for us. God the Son was born of the Virgin Mary, becoming God with us. Jesus lived a perfect life for our sake, obeying God’s Law and fulfilling it. Jesus then went to the cross, bearing our sins and paying the full penalty for our guilt. He suffered, died, and rose again so that we might be declared “not guilty,” forgiven of our sins, and rise from the dead on the last day. God the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Gospel, Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Through these Means of Grace, He created faith in our hearts, so that we trust in God’s promises and the sacrifice of Jesus to save us. He seals us with the name of the Holy Trinity and enters our hearts as a down payment on our salvation. So our salvation is guaranteed by God Himself, because everything depends on him.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Bible is God’s Word

[First in a series of posts on how to read the Bible]

Encore Post:

For most Christians, the first rule for understanding the Bible seems obvious. The Bible is God’s Word. Yet believing that God speaks to us in his own words and is the author of the Bible affects how we look at the Scriptures, how we approach them, what we expect from them, and the assumptions we make about what they say.

Because the Bible is God’s message to us, we believe that it is not fiction, a myth made up by people to explain the world, or something that is just very well-written words to inspire us or make us feel good — like a great movie, a catchy song, or an absorbing novel written by our favorite author. After they make us feel good and escape the world for a while, nothing changes, and life goes on. The Word of God, however, comes with the power of God to change our lives, brought to us by God’s own Holy Spirit. (see Romans 1:16-17, 2 Peter 1:16-21) It creates faith in hearts that do not believe and strengthens faith where it exists.

So, the clear teachings of the Bible are the final authority on everything it speaks about. When it says that all people are evil, not good, at heart, we believe that, even though our mind and culture tell us everyone is basically good. When it tells us God made the world in six days, we believe that, too, even if the world’s myth tells us the universe has always existed and developed over millions of years into what we now see. When the Bible tells us both that God decided to save us before he made the world, but if we reject him, we can lose our faith, we believe that too, even though it doesn’t make sense to us.

So, the rule is that we assume what the Bible teaches is true and use what is perfectly clear in it to understand what is not so clear.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Pentecost

Encore Post:

The Feast of Pentecost was one of the celebrations established by God at Mount Sinai. Also called the Feast of Weeks, it was a kind of Thanksgiving in which people brought a sacrifice for the harvest of grain. It was fifty days after Passover, and also known by the Greek word for fifty days — Pentecost. Since many Jews and Godfearers traveled to Jerusalem from great distances to be there for Passover, many stayed for this feast as well.

On Pentecost, the wind caught the attention of the crowd. Wind and tongues of fire witnessed to the presence of the Holy Spirit. God kept his promise on that day when he gave himself — the third person of the Trinity — to the whole Church. No longer would the Holy Spirit come to just prophets, but to all believers, young and old, Jew and Gentile, of all nations and languages. They all spoke in the languages of the people gathered in Jerusalem, singing the praises of God. The church celebrates this day as a kind of birthday. It was that day the gospel began to spread to the ends of the earth.

Both the Hebrew and Greek words for Spirit mean “Wind.” The Holy Spirit hovered over the chaos before God created the Heavens and the Earth. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit settled in the Holy of Holies as a cloud. When the Prophet Elijah fled to Mount Sinai, God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire to get his attention. At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove.

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost fulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32), by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11), and by Jesus (Acts 1:5). By baptizing His people with the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave them the power to witness to God’s love. He provided them with a counselor to lead and guide them. Just like the prophets of the Old Testament, every one of God’s children now can proclaim His praises to everyone.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

If it is God’s Will….

Encore Post:

[Forty-Three in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Why does God want us to pray for his will to be done? After all, God can do anything he wants to do. When he speaks, it is done. He loves us, cares for us, and wants only good for us. He promises to answer our prayer. Yet Jesus tells us to pray, “thy will be done.”

As with other aspects of God’s nature, the limits of our nature make the mystery of God’s will impossible to understand fully. God’s will will be done eventually, but in this world, it is often not done. We can choose to do things our own way. In this world, we often rebel against it. We sometimes do not understand why he allows evil to happen to us. Sometimes we do not even know what God wants us to do.

So, when we ask God for something that he does not promise to do unconditionally, we often pray “if it is your will.” This kind of prayer helps us to accept what God wants for us and trust it will be for our good. We have a good company. Jesus himself prays that way in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:42). Because he made the Father’s will his own, his sacrifice saved us. Now we pray that God will make his will our own will.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Forgiveness of Sins

Encore Post:

[Thirty-Seventh in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

King David was a prime example of someone who needed forgiveness. In one episode, he managed to shirk his duty as a commander, lust after his neighbor’s wife, use his power to rape or commit adultery with her, lie to her husband, send him on a suicide mission to murder him, then marry Bathsheba to cover it up. He sinned against everyone, it seems. Yet it is to God he goes for forgiveness. In the end, all sins are rebellion against God. (2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 and Psalm 51)

Forgiveness is hard to come by in this world. When we are hurt, we want to return that hurt in kind. Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism have no forgiveness — you pay back the bad karma you give with suffering in this life or nearly endless reincarnations. Mormons must cease sinning to pay for forgiveness and progress towards godhood. Pagan religions require a suitable sacrifice to an appropriate spirit.

Christianity is different. We have a loving and merciful God, who, in Jesus, died to pay for our forgiveness and, through the Holy Spirit, gives faith, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Spirit uses his Church to bring this forgiveness to all. In the Church, the Gospel is preached, God adopts his children through baptism, Jesus gives his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, and he hears our confessions and absolves us of our sins through pastors he sends to do so.

So, then, the Church is not a country club, a place where only good people need apply. It is a hospital, where we who are sick can get well, taking the only medicine that can make us well. We are, after all, beggars telling other beggars where they can find bread.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Marks of the Church

Encore Post:

[Thirty-Sixth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

The word “Church” is used in many ways by Christians. We call our buildings churches. We name our local gatherings of Christian churches. We talk about national organizations of Christian believers, congregations, colleges, seminaries, and churches. We even call worship services church — in a way. Strictly speaking, the Church is all those who have faith in Christ. Even though only God knows for sure who is a Christian or who is not, the public confession of Christians and their good works reveal them to us and to the world. The same thing is true for the Church as a whole. When the Gospel is preached and the sacraments are offered, there you will find the visible Church. So, these things are called the marks of the Church.

The Means of Grace are the instruments that the Holy Spirit uses to call people to faith in Christ and to strengthen and maintain that faith. He places these gifts into the hands of the church and the pastors he calls to shepherd them. They are the masks God wears to seek and to save the lost. He calls them together to receive these gifts, encourage one another, and thank and praise him. This divine service is what we often call worship.

The church in this sense is also called the church militant — the fighting church — because it is at war with the World, the devil and his forces, and our sinful desires. These earthly organizations formed by members of the Church are plagued by the same things individual Christians are. Because its members are sinful, the congregations also sin, are persecuted by the world, tempted by the devil, and suffer along with the Christians who form them. Unbelievers may also belong to them, all the while deceiving themselves and others, behaving like any other Christian.

Yet, as flawed as they are, God loves his people and chooses to use them to proclaim his Gospel, to create faith, to forgive sins, and to bring the lost home. After all, the Lord of the Church, her Good Shepherd, laid down his life for them. And the day will come when he will return to bring his bride, the church, home to enjoy the marriage feast, which has no end.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Kept in the True Faith

Encore Post:

[Thirty-Fifth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Military planners labor long hours to plan every detail of a campaign before the first soldier or sailor even receives their orders. They consider carefully all the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy and their own troops. They weigh every possible variation and the effects that unforeseen weather might have on the battle. Yet the moment the battle begins, all of that goes away. “The fog of war” sets in. You can’t see clearly. Sometimes you mistake enemies for friends. The battle might be won everywhere but where you are.

In this sin-filled world, you are at war and in the middle of a battle. The old and new man compete for control of your life. The world and the devil try to bend you to their will. Sin, sickness, grief, and death explode all around you. In the middle of this chaos, the Holy Spirit fights to keep you in the true faith. The good news is that he will. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:38-39) The Holy Spirit, who began a good work in you, will complete it on the day Christ returns. (Philippians 1:6)

We can be sure we will be with Jesus when we die because he promises it. (John 12:26) It does not depend on how many good works we do, whether we confessed and repented of all our sins, whether we really accepted Jesus as our Lord. It all depends on God, who does it all for us and promised we would be with him forever. He guarantees it. After all, he gave us the Holy Spirit.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Called by the Gospel

Encore Post:

[Thirty-Fifth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

God’s grace knows no limit. He loves us so much that all three persons work for our salvation. The Father chose us to be his before the world was made. He sent the Son to die for us. The Son became a flesh-and-blood man, lived a perfect life for us, suffered and died to pay the price for our sins, and rose from the dead so that we might rise to live forever.

The Holy Spirit makes us holy—sanctifies us. In theology, we use the word sanctification in two ways. The first is everything the Spirit does, from placing faith in our hearts to maintaining it to the day of our death. The second way we use it is for everything the Spirit does after he saves us. Martin Luther describes the first definition in this way: “the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one, true Faith…” (Small Catechism, Creed, 2.3)

The Holy Spirit calls us through the preaching of God’s Word.(2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) He inspired Moses, David, the prophets, evangelists, apostles, and the other human authors of the Scriptures to record his words. In the Word of God, we find the law, which condemns us all as sinners, worthy of eternal death, and the gospel, which reveals that God is gracious to us for the sake of Jesus’ death on the cross and will forgive all those who believe this. This gospel is preached to us by those God sends to do so, read in the Bible, and when put together with water in Baptism. In this way, the Holy Spirit calls us to faith in Jesus. (Romans 10:14-17, Titus 3:5-7)

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana