Pious Lutheran

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles , Duccio di Buoninsegna 1308 The Spirit Guides us into the Truth The Spirit of Truth inspired the prophets and apostles to preach and write the scriptures The Spirit of Truth implants the Word into our hearts Alleluia! Christ is risen! How do you know the truth of Jesus’ teachings? This is confirmation Sunday today, so how do we know that the confirmands actually know the truth and believe the right things? How do we know that the Lutheran Church speaks the truth? How do we know that Christians, broadly speaking, even know that Jesus is real and that He is true God and true man and was crucified and risen for the forgiveness of our sins?  These are questions that the church has had to ask since the beginning of time. The devil questioned Adam and Eve if God actually said those things about the forbidden fruit. Korah rebelled against Moses asserting that the whole congregation is holy and therefore they shouldn’t trust that God is speaking through...

Dove of the Holy Spirit , Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Saint Peter's Basilica, 1660 The Evangelical Work of the Holy Spirit The need for Evangelism The Holy Spirit guides us into the truth of Jesus The Holy Spirit works through Christians to evangelize The truth convicts and convinces the world concerning: Sin Righteousness Judgment Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Evangelism is, to put it simply, telling another the truth of Jesus as it applies to their life. Evangelism is therefore a central work of the Holy Spirit. “ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ” While it’s simple enough to determine that the Holy Spirit’s work i...

19th Century windows in the Evangelische Stadtkirche Ravensburg with inscription from Psalm 133:1 God’s implanted word replaces the anger and wickedness of our hearts. Anger and quarrels are common among man. We are to be different because we are brought forth by the word of truth. The word of the Spirit makes us loving like God. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! No one has to ask why James would tell us Christians not to be angry with each other, because we get into so many arguments it’s painfully obvious. “ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ” We christians are to be different, because God’s implanted Word of love replaces the anger and wickedness of our hearts.  But anger and quarrels are common among mankind. Anger is common whether at work, at home, in the government, among friends, and even in the church. Bosses lose their tempe...

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, D uccio di Buoninsegna, 1308 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Last week Jesus prepared us for His ascension into heaven and what that means for us. This week Jesus prepares us for what happens shortly after His ascension, namely Pentecost where Jesus sent His Holy Spirit upon His church. Our Lord Jesus said: “ I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ” Today Jesus teaches us about the Holy Spirit.  Now, we Lutherans do occasionally get accused of ignoring the Holy Spirit or downplaying the Holy Spirit, since we Lutherans focus on objective truth over subjective feelings. But it’s a blatant lie that we Lutherans ignore the Holy Spirit, it’s quite the opposite really. The reason we get accused of ignoring the Holy Spirit is because American Christianity has by-and-large come under the delusion that faith is eq...

"The Holy Spirit,"  Corrado Giaquinto, 1703-1766 Jesus said to Pilate: ““ For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” ” Pilate’s questioning of truth has been echoed throughout the generations. It does sound a bit postmodern of him, as if he’s questioning the reality of objective truth. But outside of that, it’s not a bad question, though perhaps I’d phrase it differently: “What is the truth?” In this world you can’t believe everything you hear. St. John teaches us: “ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ” Demons are active in the world. There are lying spirits sent by the father of lies to deceive the world into sin and false belief. There are false teachers. There are lying pastors. This is why Jesus’ promise to the ...

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Christ said, “ Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ” Indeed it does seem like a terribly sad thing that Christ would ascend away from this earth and into heaven. Afterall, one of the most joyful events to have ever happened in history is the incarnation, when Christ descended from heaven and became man, which we celebrate at Christmas.  We’d like to think how marvelous it would’ve been if Christ had not ascended into heaven, but had remained on earth indefinitely. He could’ve set up some sort of community or nation even in which He rules us all with truth and peace. Whenever we get sick He could’ve healed us and dispeled our sorrows. How nice that would’ve been!  But that wasn’t Christ’s plan, because that was never God’s plan for us on this earth. From the very beginning God’s plan was that we would ...