Sanctification – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

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

Enlightened with His Gifts

Encore Post:

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

Everyone loves receiving gifts. They show us we are appreciated and that someone was thinking about us. This is true even when it comes from someone you love. Of course, a young woman loves to receive an engagement ring. It not only shows her that her boyfriend cares about her, but it also carries a promise. The day soon will come when he will make her his bride. It is filled with visions of a happy life, children, and the hope that she will not be alone as long as they both live.

It is likely the ring is not the first gift she received from him or the first gift he gave to her. And it will not be the last. Yet she would never consider returning a gift from her beloved. Each new gift comes with the same reminder that she is loved.

God, the Holy Spirit gives us many gifts. The Means of Grace are the most precious of them. While they are simple in form — written words on a page or said by a man, water poured on your head, bread and wine eaten with other very ordinary people — they are precious gifts. All of them come with the power of the Holy Spirit to create faith in our hearts, make a new Adam or Eve within us who loves God and wants to serve him. They give us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

In the waters of baptism, we are adopted as God’s children. With the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, we eat the body of our Lord broken on the cross to pay for our sins and drink the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. In Absolution, we hear the words of Jesus that our sins are forgiven in the voice of the one sent to say them to us.

These are gifts that produce more gifts. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These gifts serve God and our neighbors and testify that God is indeed good. (Galatians 5:22-23)

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

The Three Ways God Cares for Us

Encore Post:

[Twentieth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

When we baptize a new Christian, we ask him to promise several things and to confess several things. Following the Church’s ancient tradition, we ask the candidate whether they believe what the creed proclaims. But we do this with three questions: “Do you believe in God the Father…?” “Do you believe in Jesus Christ…?” and “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit…? We do this because each person of the Holy Trinity has His own role in our life and salvation.

This is a bit of a mystery, since all three persons are involved in these acts of love for us, yet Scripture speaks of each having a distinct role. Rather than try to puzzle out how this is so, we rejoice that each person loves us in his own way.

Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, calls each person’s work an article and speaks about them separately. He talks about the good news that God the Father created and provides for us, that God the Son redeems us through his own blood, and that the Holy Spirit makes us holy. This good news gives us joy, especially since we just considered his law in the Ten Commandments. We have been confronted by the fact of our sinfulness. Now we can have peace in the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

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 Problem is in the Heart

Encore Post:

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

To a serious believer, the Ten Commandments seem simple enough. Believe in God and don’t frequent idols — check. Don’t swear — check. Go to church every week, sometimes more — check. Love mom and dad — check. Never kill anyone, never take anything that doesn’t belong to you, never step out on your spouse, and don’t lie — check on all counts. And then comes coveting … How do you deal with thoughts and feelings?

As we have considered the other commandments, we’ve learned they are not as simple as they seem. Still, they seem doable. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments point out the real problem. Our old Adam and old Eve want everything for themselves. Everyone at work gets a raise, and yours is quite generous. But you know your teammate got more. So you’re jealous.

King David had everything, including many beautiful wives. Yet one look at someone else’s wife — and he took a bath. Committed adultery, lied about it, and arranged the murder of her husband. Later, he put his finger on the problem. He was sinful from birth — sinful since he was conceived. (Psalm 51:1-5) Jesus summed it up when he said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:19-20)

Let’s face it. We cannot do this alone. Instead, we can turn to the one tempted in every way that we are, except he didn’t sin. (Hebrews 4:15) His suffering and death break the power of sin in our lives. When we remember our baptisms, we remember that the Old Adam and Eve were drowned there. We can confess our sins to him, be forgiven, and face our fight with the flesh. We also have those in this fight with us — our brothers and sisters in Christ. Together we can resist whatever comes to our minds and hearts.

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

Pray, Praise and Give Thanks

Encore Post:

[Eleventh is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

A name has a lot more packed into it than we often realize. It carries a person’s reputation, authority, and power. In ancient magical lore, if you know a person’s true name, you can have power over them. God’s name is the most important of all, not because it is magical, but because God has promised to hear us when we call to him.

The Second Commandment is all about using God’s name in prayer, acting as his tools in this world to bring the Gospel to the lost and to do his will as we serve him and our neighbors. We baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We teach all that he commands us to teach. When we make promises to tell the truth and make promises to each other in his presence, we commit ourselves to keep them.

The problem is our sinful nature wants to use God’s name to cover lies and to make people believe we intend to do what we have no intention of doing. We want God to give us what we desire, treating Him as if He were some kind of cosmic vending machine — insert prayer. Believe you will get it, and it will come to you. We are inclined to say “Oh my God” when we are surprised or shocked, rather than as a prayer for help. These uses are misuses of God’s name and are what the command forbids.

So, then, do we go the other way, as Judaism does, and not even use his name at all? No, God wants us to use His name. We call him in trouble. We are comforted when, in His name, our pastors forgive our sins. We draw strength when we remember that he came to us in our baptism and put his name on us so that in his name we are saved. We call his name the way we call a beloved father, mother, or grandparent, knowing we are loved and that they want to share our lives. We use his name to praise him and thank him for his love and mercy.

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

©2018, rev. 2020 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

Child and Pupil of the Catechism

Encore Post: The cornerstone of Lutheran doctrine is Luther’s Small Catechism. In it, the reformer summarized the teachings of Holy Scripture in simple terms, designed to help fathers and pastors teach their children. So successful was this work and its companion, the Large Catechism, that it became the foundation of instruction in the faith for all Christians. For the last few years, What Does this Mean? has run this series just before each Lent and into the Easter season. We’re getting a head start on it this year.

[First is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.]

Martin Luther was troubled. On a formal visit to the churches in Saxony, he discovered that Christian education in the faith was almost non-existent. Even the pastors could not recall the Lord’s Prayer or the Creed. For this reason, he wrote his Large Catechism and Small Catechism. A catechism is a book that explains the basic truths of the Scripture, typically by asking and answering questions. In the preface to his Large Catechism, Luther answered the common objections to memorizing and meditating on the catechism in this way:

“I am also a doctor and preacher … yet I do as a child who is being taught the Catechism, and ever morning, and whenever I have time, I read and say, word for word, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, etc. And I must still read and study daily, and yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism, and am glad so to remain.” — Martin Luther, Large Catechism, Preface 7

If an athlete hopes to compete at the highest level and perform at the top of his game, he needs to work out daily. Most of his routines are basic skills performed over and over again. It is not that he has forgotten them or never learned them, but that they must be second nature to him and done in perfect form. Only then can he execute the most complicated of his moves well. The same thing is true for a musician. She will run through scales and warm-up exercises to ensure she can produce the notes perfectly when she attempts the most beautiful and complex pieces.

For Luther and for us, daily meditation on the catechism works the same way. As we review the basics of the faith, we can better understand what God wants us to believe and how he wants us to live. Building on these things helps us face whatever challenges come our way each day and enjoy the blessings he gives us.

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

Last Things 7G: Stay Awake! Don’t Close Your Eyes!

[Thirteenth in a series of posts on last things] Encore Post: Even with the effects of the fall, the world can be very sweet, pleasant, and beautiful. When God finished creating the world, he stood back, looked it all over and said, “very good.” (Genesis 1:31) Even after sin entered the world, bringing with it death, sorrow, grief, pain, disease, and disaster, the hand of the creator is present everywhere. Breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, seashore views and gentle, warm breezes, mountain valleys and peaks all speak to us of his majesty. Even cloud patterns before a storm cause us to admire his majesty. There is the pleasure of the presence of loved ones, holding your child or grandchild for the first time.

Life is very precious to us. It absorbs us in planning, working towards goals, saving, dreaming, and enjoying the many gifts God gives to us. We deal with it as best as we can with the tragedies of life, but there are long stretches of time when we think it will never end. We forget that this world—and, more to the point, our world — is passing away. We go to sleep spiritually. The work that God calls us to do, especially to witness to the Good News of salvation in Jesus, doesn’t seem quite so important. When sports tournaments are held on Sunday, we skip worship to watch our kids compete. We put caring for the poor, contributing to the work of the church with our resources and time second; we put off uncomfortable conversations with loved ones who wander from the faith.

Yet it is very much at times like these that our Lord will return for us. He will do so suddenly, without warning, the way that the flood came in the day of Noah, the way the sudden attacks on Pearl Harbor Day and 9/11 came. It may be at the end of time or at the end of our time. It is why Jesus calls on us to stay awake! We remember he came at the fullness of time, lived the perfect life for us, suffered and died for us, rose again for us, and ascended to prepare a place for us. And so we set the watch, day and night, knowing that he is coming for us. In the meantime, we work for the day, and the time will come when we can no longer work. All the while, we pray: Come, Lord Jesus, come!

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

Transfiguration

[Eighty-Second in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: At the Transfiguration, Jesus appeared to his disciples in his full glory as God. In the Three-Year Lectionary, it celebrates the end of the season of Epiphany with a theophany — an appearance of God. The season also began with a theophany. At the baptism of Jesus, the Father spoke over his Son from heaven, and the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove. Now the Father speaks from the cloud of God’s Presence, and with him is the Holy Spirit.

But that is not all. At the Transfiguration, Jesus appeared with the two greatest witnesses of the Old Testament — Moses and Elijah. God used Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and gave the Law to them through him. God buried Moses when he died. Elijah was the great and fearless prophet, whom God carried into heaven in a chariot of fire. God promised the Messiah to Moses, calling the Messiah a prophet like him. Later prophets predicted Elijah would return to witness to the Messiah on the day the Messiah would come.

Now on the mountain of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah discussed with Jesus his Exodus — his departure. As Moses led Israel through the Red Sea to freedom, Jesus would bring us all through death to everlasting life by his death on the cross. Not knowing what to make of it all, Peter offered to set up tents like the people had used during their wilderness wanderings. As usual, Peter missed the point.

So the Cloud of God’s Glory appeared on the mountain. In that cloud, the Angel of the Lord led the people by day through the wilderness and showed God’s presence in the tabernacle and temple. From this Cloud, God the Father speaks a second time. “This is my beloved Son,” he said, “listen to him.”

The message of the Transfiguration is that Jesus is God, yet He set aside His glory to die for our sins. We should serve God by doing what He says and serving one another.

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

©2018-2025 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

[Twenty-ninth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: When God invited Solomon to ask for a blessing, Solomon asked for wisdom. Solomon’s request pleased God for several reasons. First, he was humble, realizing his limitations. He was still very young and had little experience in governing. Second, he sought to serve God first. He asked for wisdom — the ability to use knowledge well to meet needs — and discernment, the ability to tell right from wrong. He sought first God’s kingdom and righteousness. God granted him what he asked for — and riches, fame, and a long life as well.

King Solomon was the son of King David and Bathsheba. His life shows how completely God forgives, since David committed great sins with and because of Bathsheba. They deserved to die, but God forgave them, let them live, and gave them a second son. Solomon would be an ancestor of the Messiah.

Under Solomon, Israel became a prosperous and powerful nation. Solomon was a superb organizer. He reformed the kingdom’s bureaucracy, making it more efficient and effectively channeling its prosperity. He built God’s Holy Temple and numerous other buildings. He became a collector of proverbs, many of which appear in the Book of Proverbs. According to tradition, the Books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs were written by the King, although there is much debate among scholars about this.

As great as he was, Solomon was a sinner also. He married hundreds of wives, mainly to secure treaties. He allowed them to worship the gods of their fathers and even constructed temples for them. For this reason, God caused the kingdom to be divided during his son’s reign. Yet, for the sake of the one greater than Solomon, his sins are forgiven, along with ours.

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