Soteriology – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

Church Words: Peace

[Twentieth in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

Every culture has a different way of greeting. We say “hello” informally, “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” and “Good evening.” The Romans said, “Salve” (“be well”). The Greeks said, “χαίρετε” — kairete (“be joyful”). From ancient times, the Hebrews —and now Israelis —say “שָׁלוֹם” — shalom (peace, be well, whole and complete). They also say shalom when they say “Goodbye.”

When we say “peace,” we mean that everything is calm, that we are not at war, and that all is calm. In God’s Word, it is much more than that. Peace means everything is right with our world. Peace begins with our relationship with God. It comes from knowing he loves us, cares for us, will be with us always, and knowing we will live with him forever. No matter what else is wrong in our world, nothing can take away our peace. Peace is what Adam and Eve had in Eden, when God saw all that he made and said it is “very good!”

Yet sin makes it nearly impossible to find peace on earth. Theologians say that we are “curved in on ourselves.” Sin makes us think of what pleases us, to seek our own interests over others, and to run over anything that gets in our way. This outlook on life puts us in conflict with God, with others, and with our world. It is the source of evil, sickness, grief, and death. No matter what we do, we cannot reconcile with God or each other with our own power. Selfishness is a part of everything we think and do. Death rules, and fear of it colors all we are.

To bring peace, God’s Son, the Prince of Peace, became one of us. He lived his life in perfect harmony with his Father. He offered himself to pay the price of our rebellion and warfare against God. He reconciled us with God by his own blood. In his body, all walls that separate us from God and each other fell. We are now at peace with God, even in this world of war.

Soon, the day will come when the Prince of Peace returns to rule. Then he will once and for all bring an end to sin, death, and the power of the devil. God himself will live with us. No more will there be sin, sorrow, grief, and pain. All these things will pass away as he makes all things new. Then peace will reign, and God will again say, “See! It is very good!”

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

Church Words: Love

[Eighteenth in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

Love makes the world go around. We love our pets, our favorite food, good weather, our sports teams, our friends, freedom, and truth — just about everything. Americans seem to love just about everything!

In the Bible, two Hebrew words are used to speak about love. The word אהב (‘ahav — love) means just about the same things as our word love. In the Holy Scriptures, this term is most often used to mean the love shown by people, and is very rarely used for God’s love. The word חֶ֫סֶד (chesed — love, kindness, mercy, loving-kindness) is very hard, if not impossible, to translate. The King James Version called it lovingkindness. It is in almost all the expressions of God’s love in the Old Testament. The word חֶ֫סֶד and the Greek Word ἀγαπάω mean about the same thing. Yet it has a tenderness to it that includes compassion and mercy.

The Greek language of the New Testament has several words for love. φιλέω (phileo) is the love and affection between friends. ἔρος (Eros) is sexual love that is obsessed with another and is not satisfied until it gets what it wants. ἀγαπάω is a love that sacrifices for the good of the one it loves. (See 1 Corinthians 13) ἀγαπάω is God’s love and the love God wants us to show to him and our neighbors. With Faith and Hope, Love is the greatest of the three virtues and lasts forever.

Our love is rooted in God’s love. God loved us before he made the world. (Ephesians 1:4-5) He loved us so much that he sacrificed his only Son to save us. (John 3:16-17) Because he first loved us, we love him and want to please him.

In the Gospel of John, we learn that God is Love. The two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors. He commands us to love him and our neighbors. Jesus tells us that the whole of God’s law is to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40) Actually, our love is itself God’s gift to us. The way people know we are disciples of Jesus is that we love each other. While our love in this world is not perfect, God’s love for us is perfect. It lasts forever and conquers even death.

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

Church Word: Hope

[Seventeenth in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

In today’s English, the word Hope means a wish for something we very much want to happen to come true. There is something about it that makes us doubt we will be so lucky. “Well, I hope so,” we’ll say.

In the Bible, hope is a bit different. Hope is something you have no doubt will happen, so much so that you can build your life on it. In theological terms, the Christian hope is the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Because it is God himself who promises these blessings, we can count on it and live our lives knowing it will happen. This is how Christians can suffer and die rather than deny their faith in Christ. It is why the burial service calls it “the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection of the dead.”

Why is the Christian Hope so sure and certain? First, because God himself promises it in his Word. Second, because Jesus proved these promises are true by dying and rising again from the dead. So, he can be trusted to keep his promises that wherever he is, we will be as well. For us, hope becomes reality when we die. He comes to bring us to be with him forever. Exactly what happens then is a mystery.

But this is just the beginning of the blessings kept safe in Heaven for us. On the last day, Jesus will return in glory, and he will bring us with him. He will raise our bodies from the grave and change us to be like him. We will then be gathered before the throne and our names read from the Book of Life. We will then live with him forever in Paradise, where there is no more sorrow, crying, grief, or pain. God will make everything new. He will bring us to the great marriage feast of the Lamb, which will never end. This great hope gives us joy even in suffering, since we know it will pass away.

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

Church Words: Faith

[Sixteenth in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

Faith is one of those “church words” that everyone knows and uses, but finds hard to pin down. We use it to mean everything from a family of church bodies to a system of beliefs people hold to trusting in God to accepting that something is true but that we cannot prove. Hebrew uses various forms of the word (אמן — ‘aman — firm, trustworthy, safe). The word “amen” comes from this same word. It means something like: “I believe that. I agree. It is true.”) The Greek language uses one word for both faith and belief. (πιστεύω — pisteoo — to believe, πίστις — pistis — Faith) When the New Testament uses the word, it refers to both what we believe and our trust in God to keep his promises to save us.

Many Christians think of faith or believing differently. They think it means something like accepting as true and as facts things they can’t prove, such as “Jesus is God,” “God will raise us from the dead on the last day,” and other teachings of the Holy Scripture. They may understand passages like Hebrews 11 to mean this. (For example, verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”) What they miss is that most of the chapter is about what the Old Testament saints did because they trusted God and his promises. James, the brother of Jesus, demonstrates how mistaken this view of faith is when he wrote: ” You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ” (James 2:19)

When the Bible talks about faith in God (Saving Faith, Justifying Faith), it means trusting God to keep his promises, especially his promise to save us. This trust is not something we create by the things we do. It is created in us when the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Gospel, Baptism, or the Lord’s Supper. (Romans 1:17, John 20:30-31, Ephesians 1:13, Romans 1:16-17) Our faith clings to Jesus, believing that his sufferings and death on the cross forgive our sins and give us everlasting life. This faith responds to the Grace given to us in God’s Word and the Sacraments. It thanks God for his mercy, praises him, and inspires us to serve God and our neighbors.

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

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Church Words: Omnipotent

Encore Post:

[Fifteenth in a series of posts on church words]

When we say that God is almighty, it seems simple enough. We can even explain it to a three-year-old: God can do whatever he wants. Yet the more we think about it, that God is omnipotent, παντοκράτορ — all-powerful, the more we have trouble taking it all in. We get a sense of this when a child asks the snarky question, “Can God make a rock that he can’t lift?” or when an opponent of the faith asks the classic question, “What did God do before he made the world?” The questions normally get the answer they deserve: an equally silly response like: “he made hell, so he has a place to send people who ask such questions!”

Such questions point out that there is a limit to how much we can understand about our maker. They show what happens when we try to pit one quality (attribute) of God against another. So … For God, who is eternal, time does not exist. There is no before or after creation for him. He makes all the rules, so he doesn’t have to follow them. That’s what makes a miracle possible.

When it comes to what God cannot do, we are inclined to answer “Nothing.” After all, Jesus said, What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Lk 18:27). Yet the Book of Hebrews tells us, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18), and St. Paul states that God “cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13), in short, God cannot act contrary to his nature. So, God does not want to do any of these things.

People respect power and ability. They admire the powerful, dream of what they could do with more power, and are willing to fight for it, sometimes doing things they hate along the way. Money speaks because it brings with it power. They will sacrifice almost anything to gain power. It really is not power itself that is so attractive. Power lets you do whatever you want. The problem with power is that sinful people cannot be trusted with it. “Power tends to corrupt,” said Lord Acton, “And absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The only one who truly is all-powerful — all-mighty — omnipotent is God. God can do whatever he wants. When God spoke, the world was created. (Genesis 1) By his word, he keeps the universe running (Hebrews 1:3). Even when things seem impossible to us, for God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) What this means for us is that he can and does keep his promises to us. The real question, then, is not what can God do, but what does he want to do for us?

Where people come to doubt God’s power or his existence, it is almost always because he does not do what they think he should do. “If there is a good god,” they say, “then he would…” — eliminate disease, suffering, and death — right now! He would shower them with blessings, making you rich and comfortable. When he does not do these things, and on their timetable, people will complain. What they should do is ask: “What is God’s will?” “What does he want to do?”

What God wants to do is to save us and to live with us forever. He loved us before he made the world, chose us to be adopted as his children, to make us holy and blameless in his presence. This he accomplished through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, by which he redeemed us, earned for us the forgiveness of sins, and sealed us for eternity by His Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

So, what God wants to do is seek and save the lost. With his power, he can do this and has already done so for us. What he also wants to do is to work his power through us. He sends us with his word to proclaim, his sacraments to share, and gifts to care for our neighbors. So, we are part of his plan to carry out his will. It is through us he chooses to exercise his almighty power, for the praise of his grace, the salvation of the lost, and the restoration of his creation to perfection. For with God, nothing is impossible.

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

Church Words: Omnipresent

[Fourteenth in a series of posts on church words] Encore Post: In most non-Christian religions, God is seen as very far away. He is the High God, who made the world and left it to others to cope as best they can. Even in popular American culture, we think of God as tucked away up in Heaven. Our songs tell us “God is watching us… from a distance,” “And the three men I admire most The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast…” Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, people have imagined they could hide from God. (Genesis 3:8)

All these concepts are mistaken. God is omnipresent — he is everywhere. God is not far away, he is very near. He fills the heavens and the earth. (Jeremiah 23:23-24) No one can hide from him. (Ps 139:6–12) No one can escape his judgement or is beyond his care.

Yet he is not a part of his creation, as the Hindus, Buddhists and others believe. For them, we are god, we just do not know it yet. God is a separate, distinct being. God is not a man (Numbers 23:19), either as these Eastern religions teach or as one of many physical being that grew into Gods, as the Mormons believe. He is busy endlessly maintaining his creation, supporting it with his power, directing the course of events, working through his word and his church to seek and to save the lost, and making new creatures — including each and every new human life.

But that is not the end of the ways God is present. In the Son of God, God became one of us. Jesus is in every way human, except without sin. He is Emmanuel — God with us. He lived a perfect life for us, suffered and died for us, rose and ascended to Heaven for us. And yet he has, in a mysterious way, not gone away at all. He is “by our side upon the plain (the field of battle) with his good gifts and spirit.” When we gather for worship, even two or three of us, he is there among us.

And yet, Christ is even more present in a way so personal we cannot begin to understand it. In the Lord’s Supper, he is really present, in the flesh and blood sacrificed for us. This body he gives with bread for us to eat and this blood he gives with wine for us to drink. In this way, he is with us so that we cannot miss him. So, God’s omnipresence is a very good thing for us. It means we are never alone, from the day we are conceived to the day we enter his eternal presence and finally see his face.

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

Church Words: Congregation

[Seventh in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

From the very beginning of the church, Christians gathered together to read scripture, sing the praises of God, hear their pastors preach, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This should not surprise us — Jews had been doing that for centuries, beginning sometime during the Babylonian Exile. Those gatherings became known in Greek as συναγωγή — Synagogues — meaning “to lead, gather together; assemble.” The New Testament calls these groups ἐκκλησία — churches — literally “called up” (to assemble). The Greeks used the word for civil assemblies and the calling up of militias. The word “Congregation” is the Latin translation of these words and means “to gather together.”

The church continued to worship after the pattern of the synagogue, with two exceptions — they met for worship on the Lord’s Day (Sunday), not the Sabbath (Saturday), because it was the day on which Christ rose from the dead. They also added readings from the Gospels and letters from the Apostles and other respected leaders. These are the books that would be very quickly (for the most part) recognized as Holy Scripture, along with the Old Testament.

For the first generation of Missouri Synod leaders, the distinction between the local congregation and the universal church was crucial. They used the German word Gemeinde only for a local church and the word Kirche for the universal church. They deliberately did not call their church body a church. They called it a Synode — a Synod.

Why were they so picky? Because most of the action in God’s kingdom is not done in Church Bodies, which get most of the press, but in the local congregation. They represent the universal Church, the invisible Church. On behalf of the Church, congregations baptize, teach the Word of God, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, use the Office of the Keys to forgive and retain sins, and extend God’s call to men to exercise the Office of the Holy Ministry and other church workers to support it. The work of synods is done as local congregations band together to do things no one can do alone.

Congregations are much more than social clubs or private charities. They are God’s kingdom on earth, proclaiming the gospel and giving his gifts to all. In them, the lost get to meet Jesus, and through the word preached by them, people are saved. So come! God is waiting to meet you — and we are too!

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

Church Words: Church Invisible, Visible, etc.

[Second in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

Jesus told Peter that he would “build [his] church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) St. Paul described this church as ” one body and … you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) In many other places, and through many metaphors, Scripture is clear that there is only one Church and that it lasts forever. Theologians call the church catholic (the Latin word for universal — that word is for yet another post!)

Another term we use for this Church is the invisible Church. St. Augustine coined the term because we really do not know for sure who is a Christian and who is not. Only God, who can see what is in a person’s heart, knows that. Martin Luther puts it this way: “These two belong together, faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust, is properly your god. ” (Large Catechism 1.1.3)

Yet the church does not look like it is one at all. ” Tho’ with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed ” (The Church’s One Foundation, Stanza 3). There are thousands of denominations, theological positions, and opposing camps. There are evil people who pretend to be holy among them. There are religions that pretend to be Christian, but in truth, are far from it. And in the hearts of every Christian living in this world, sin itself still lives and pollutes hearts and minds. We’ve met the enemy — and it is us. This is the church we can see. Theologians call it the visible church. In the visible church, both the saved and the lost live together. We take people at their word when they say they believe, but many are just acting. (ὑποκριτής = hypocrite = Greek word for actor)

Yet even in the visible church, signs of the true, invisible church can be seen. Where the Gospel is purely preached and the Sacraments rightly administered, there the true Church is at work. We call these the marks of the church. There Christ builds his church — on the rock of His Word and trust in it. Go where you hear his voice, and you are at home — even on 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

Christ’s Sabbath Rest in the Tomb

Encore Post: Jesus died late in the afternoon on Good Friday, just before the Sabbath began at sunset. Two of his secret disciples asked Pilate for his body — Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. They gave him a hasty but rich man’s burial. Several of the women closest to Jesus followed them to the tomb. Joseph rolled a large stone in front of the entrance, and they left him there. Later, at the priests’ request, Pilate set a guard and sealed it to prevent the body’s theft. As the second day Jesus was dead began, he was finally at rest.

As God rested on the seventh day of creation, so now Jesus rested on the first Sabbath of the new creation. By his sacrifice on the cross, he destroyed sin and the power of the devil. Soon, when the Sabbath ended, he would break the power of death as well.

As Christians prepare for a joyful Easter celebration, we often miss this moment of quiet and peace. Soon, when sunset comes, the third day will begin. Sometime between that sunset and dawn, Jesus rose from the dead, descended to Hell to complete his victory over Satan, and became the first to rise into eternal life. The Church will begin its Vigil of Easter at sunset and sing the songs of Resurrection again.

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

My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Encore Post: Good Friday is the most somber day in the Church Year. On this day, the price of our sin is paid out in full — by God Himself. The ancient plan for our salvation had been unfolding for thousands of years. The descendant of Eve, of Noah, of Abraham, and of David was born to the Virgin Mary. The Son of God, the Author of Life himself, became one of us. At the Jordan River, he made holy the waters of Baptism and took on himself the sins of the world. On Mt. Zion, ancient Mt. Moriah, where the Angel of the Lord stayed the hand of Abraham, God’s Son, His only Son, whom he loves, was condemned to die as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Sentenced by Pilate, he began his final suffering and was nailed to the cross. Even as he began to die, the forgiving began — first of those who killed him and then of a thief on a nearby cross.

The greatest mystery of all came at the height of his suffering. The Eternal Son of God cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) in the language of his boyhood. We should not be surprised that we cannot understand this profound moment. Yet we know a few things for sure. We know this very moment was revealed in detail in the Scripture itself. Jesus’ words are a quotation from his father, David, in Psalm 22, written a thousand years earlier. We know Jesus felt abandoned by God. His prayers unanswered and his loneliness show that he shares fully in our humanity. He is like us in every way, which is why his sacrifice on our behalf is possible. We know that it is our sin he paid for on the cross, and that price is unimaginably high. We are moved as we extinguish one light after another, remembering the depth of his suffering.

Yet this is not the last word we hear from the suffering of our Lord. As he died, he said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Sin was atoned for, the power of the Devil defeated, and the seal of the grave soon to be broken. Jesus knew the Father had not abandoned him. He once again quoted his father, David, in Psalm 31, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), and entered his three-day rest in the tomb.

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