Forgiveness of sins – What Does This Mean?

Forgiveness of Sins, Life and Salvation

Encore Post: The Lord’s Supper is a great gift to us. With bread and wine, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood to eat and to drink. This gift would be precious even if that was all there was to it. But God gives us much more in this Sacrament. He meets our greatest need — to be forgiven of our sins.

The greatest disaster that comes from Adam and Eve’s disobedience is that it separated them — and us — from God. Cut off from the source of life itself, it brought death to all of us. By giving his body on the cross and shedding his blood there, he paid the price for sin, earning us the forgiveness of sins and reconciling us with God. With the reason for our eternal death removed, the seal of the grave is broken. We are saved and will live with him eternally.

In Baptism, God applies these benefits to us. Yet our sinful nature remains in us. “The old Adam is a good swimmer,” the old quip goes. (no, Martin Luther likely did not say it!) Constantly harassed by the world and its temptations, the sweet lies of Satan and the lure of our passions, we sin often. The Lord’s Supper forgives our sins and assures us of God’s love for us. It is communion with Jesus in the most intimate way. It is as the ancient liturgy for anointing the sick, “bread for the journey.”

So, we receive this precious gift often. After all, Jesus is really present there. And where he is, there we also want to be.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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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 in turn 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 do know a few things for sure. We know this very moment was revealed in detail in the Scripture itself. Jesus’ words are a quotation of his father David in Psalm 22, written a thousand years before. We know that Jesus felt abandoned by God, his prayers unanswered and alone shows he shares fully our humanity. He is like us in every way, which is why his sacrifice for us 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, in the end, 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 into his three day rest in the tomb.

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Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

What is Baptism?

Encore Post: You may have discovered that Christians value Baptism a lot. Yet there are few subjects that the various Christian traditions disagree about more. Catholics believe baptism is a means of grace that removes original sin and forgives all actual sins committed before baptism. It does not forgive sins committed after that — for that you need to go to confession, be absolved and do penance. For many Protestants, it is a work you do in obedience to God’s command, showing you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal savior. For others, it is just a meaningful symbol of salvation.

Lutherans believe that baptism is a means of grace, one of the ways, instituted by Jesus himself, God uses to save us. (Matthew 28:19) It combines the Gospel of Christ’s saving obedience, suffering, death and resurrection with water to wash away our sins. (Ephesians 5:25-27, Titus 3:4-7) It is God himself who does the baptizing, using human hands.

Like the other means of grace, Baptism creates faith in hearts where there is none and strengthens faith where it exists. Baptism also marks us with the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It makes us his children and heirs — heirs with Christ.

Finally, it is an undeniable declaration that we are saved. Why? Because we had nothing to do with it. In most cases, it is written in record books we can see and in all cases is written in the Book of Life. When Satan tries to cause us to doubt our salvation, we can tell him: “get lost! I am baptized.” Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And where he is, we will also be.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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God Lets It Go, So Let It Go

Encore Post: Forgiveness is simple, really. You tell someone they do not need to pay you back something they owe you. It is sometimes the hardest thing you’ll ever do, when the thing you need to forgive is a deep hurt. What God is calling on you to do is let it go. When we pray to have our sins forgiven, God wants us to remember he is releasing you from the debt you owe him and wants you to do the same.

The Greek word Jesus used (ἄφες) in the Lord’s Prayer for forgive literally means “to loose, to release, to let go.” In financial terms, it is used to write off a debt and not expect repayment. We daily rebel against God’s will, break his law — sometimes deliberately. Worse, we were born that way. Even though every non-Christian religion tells us we can repay that debt — we cannot. We rack up even more debt faster than we could possibly repay. But God loved us and in Jesus suffered and died to pay that debt in full.

When others hurt us, deliberately or not, the pain can eat us up. If we hold on to that debt day after day, year after year, it can cast a shadow over the rest of our life. When we pray that God forgive us, knowing he already has, it can give us strength to forgive others. That is why we pray to be forgiven — so that we can forgive others.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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The Forgiveness of Sins

Encore Post: 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. Mormon 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 chooses to use 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 by 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.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Sunday School: Baptism of Jesus

Encore Post: On the First Sunday after Epiphany, the Church celebrates the day that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.(Matthew 3:13-17)

The baptism that John performed was for the forgiveness of sins, so it puzzled John. Why would the sinless Son of God need to be baptized? Jesus told him that it was “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) Like the scapegoat and the Passover Lamb of the Old Testament, John called him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. “(John 1:29)

So, when we go into the waters of Holy Baptism, Jesus washes away our sins (Ephesians 5:26-27) These sins he took upon himself at his baptism and carried them to the cross. When he died, we died to our old life. When he rose, we rose with him to new life. Our sins were forgiven and we need sin no more. (Romans 6:3-11)

When Jesus came out of the water, God the Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) The Holy Spirit also appeared in the form of a dove that landed on Jesus. An appearance of God in this world is called a theophany. At the Baptism of Jesus, all three persons on the Trinity appear in our world. In the readings for the Church Year, the season of Epiphany begins with this theophany and concludes by celebrating another — the Transfiguration.

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For Christ’s Sake

Encore Post: In the last post (So, Does God Hate Me?), I mentioned the mess that the sin of Adam and Eve made of the world. God intends to clean it up. But it isn’t easy. God is Holy and can’t just look the other way. Every sin must be paid for in full. Because we are all sinners from birth, (Psalm 51:5) we must die and go to Hell forever. Even worse, we cannot make up for our sins by anything we can do or say. In fact, no one else can even offer to die in our place, since everyone sins. (Romans 5:12-21) Someone without sin must die to save us.

So, because he loves us, God sent his Son to die in our place. (John 3:16) That is why the Eternal Son was born a man, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Because Jesus is God, he never sinned, but remained faithful to His Heavenly Father. Because Jesus is a man, He could die for us. When He shed his blood on the cross, the price was paid for our sins and the sins of the whole world (Redemption). Our sins are forgiven and God gives us his grace, adopts us as His own heirs, reveals to us what He plans to do. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

One day, when the time is right, Jesus will return from heaven, raise us from the grave, restore our bodies to be like his and bring an end to sin, death and the power of the devil. On that day, he will remake Heaven and Earth and we will live with him forever.

That is why we speak of the grace of God as something he gives us for Christ’s sake.

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Absolution: A Sacrament?

We Lutherans have two ways to speak about Absolution. In some instances Absolution is spoken of as a Sacrament, and in other places, it is not. It might be a good time to remind ourselves how the Evangelical Lutheran Church defines a Sacrament. How we define the term Sacrament makes all the difference.

Luther in his Large Catechism follows in line with Augustine when he defines what a sacrament is. “The Word is added to the element, and it becomes a sacrament.” We should also state Luther looked at the Sacraments as vehicles by which the Lord Jesus Christ gives forgiveness of sins. Hence, why Luther spends much more time speaking about the Word that is added to the physical element than the elements themselves. In the Sacrament of Baptism for instance, the element is water, but Luther asks the question, “How can water do such things?” The answer Luther gives speaks specifically about the Word being added to it. He asks a similar question when dealing with the Sacrament of the Altar where there are two physical elements, bread and wine. He asks about the eating and drinking. Luther answers similarly. It’s the Words that make the elements into a Sacrament for the forgiveness of our sins.

Absolution does not have a physical element. It merely is the Word of Christ of forgiveness. There is nothing to which the Word of Christ is added. By Augustine’s definition Absolution is not a Sacrament.

But Luther’s use of Augustine’s definition is not the only definition for “Sacrament” that finds its way in to the Book of Concord. Melanchthon gives another definition when speaking about them, by which we can understand Absolution to be a Sacrament. Even Luther himself in his Large Catechism, speaks of Absolution as the third Sacrament. Melanchthon gives this definition for Sacrament: “Rites which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added.” For Melanchthon’s definition there is no physical element for the Word to adhere itself. And later Melanchthon plainly says that Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution are Sacraments.

So which is it? Is Absolution the third Sacrament? The answer all depends on the definition which we use when speaking about the term Sacrament. Ultimately though, it does not matter what we call Absolution. It is Christ’s gift of forgiveness of our sins, spoken to us by Christ’s under-shepherd, speaking in the stead and command of Christ.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO