Luther’s Catechism 3rd Article
2 Thessalonians 2:13 July 12, 2015
“From the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Dear friends in Christ,
this morning’s sermon, based on the third article the apostles Creed from Luther’s catechism, is one that focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit. For just as the father has the work of the creator and preserver of all life, making the plan of salvation which would save us from the wages of sin and the punishment we certainly deserve, and even as the son as the work of carrying out the father’s plan of salvation, redeeming us for buying us back from God’s wrath, so also the Holy Spirit has a job. His unique work is that of sanctification.
Though it is a word that we use in church quite often we might not always understand exactly what it means. But if we break the word down it truly is one that makes sense concerning the work of the third person of the Trinity. For the first part of the word comes from the Latin word sanctus. It is the root to other words like sanctuary or sanctity and even the word sanction. And though all these words are very different they have the basic root word of sanctus which simply means holy. For in all these words there is an idea of holiness or doing what is right.
That same idea is found in the word sanctification for its meaning has the idea of making something holy. To sanctify means to make something holy and perfect. It is the idea of taking what is bad and making it good.
In a nutshell, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not his place to create all mankind were to condemn us for our sins, nor is it his work to pay for our sins through his death on the cross, but his job is to take that work of God and bring it to us. His work is to take the perfection which God has won in Christ and to apply it to sinners that we are no longer seen by God as sinners but now we are holy. We are Saints in his eyes. Through the work of the Holy Spirit we are sanctified to live with God for all eternity.
But that word sanctify is a word that can be used in a variety of ways. In theological terms we often speak of sanctification in the wide sense or in the narrow sense. The wide sense would be the broadest definition you could use for sanctification. It would be a simple definition that says the Holy Spirit bring sinners to faith.
And for the most part, this is how we define the word sanctification. It is the working of the Holy Spirit that turns sinners into Saints. And this is done in a way that is quite simple and straightforward, it is done through what we refer to as the means of grace. And there is nothing special about that phrase for it simply reminds us of the means the Holy Spirit uses to bring us the grace which Christ has won for us.
For when we think about the work of the Holy Spirit it is not so mystical and magical that we need to seek it out on a high mountain top or discover it in a deep hidden Valley. We cannot comprehend this message of God’s grace on our own but through meditation but it is something that God gives to us through that means of grace which is simply his word and sacraments.
And what that really means is that without the word of God and without the sacraments there is no salvation. So the people who live in the far reaches of the world have never been exposed to the message of God as father son and Holy Spirit and the truth that Jesus Christ gave his life in exchange for ours, well, they simply cannot be saved. There is simply no hope for them because salvation comes only through the means of grace.
A good example of this might be the lights above our heads. We all understand that if you turn on the switch the lights should go on. But there is a lot more involved than just a lightbulb and a switch. Between the bulb and the switch is wire. And is not just wire running between the bulb in the switch that makes it light up but there are wires running all the way from our church to the power plant to make sure that that power comes to us and makes a lightbulb light up. And even though these bulbs might be very remote and a long way from the power plant, the wires connect that power to the bulb so that it works. These bulbs light up.
The same might be true for human beings. We are all like light bulbs. We all have the ability to light up and be bright and useful. But without the wires to connect us to a power source we will never light up. We will never be useful. And when we consider God is the source of all power and the Holy Spirit as that power that comes to us, we can also consider the word of God and the sacraments to be the wire. They are what brings us that power of God that makes us alive and lights us up. They truly are the means that God uses to bring us his grace.
Yet Scripture does not use that example to describe how God brings us to faith through the working of the Holy Spirit. Though it may be an apt description that helps us understand the working of the Holy Spirit, the terms that God uses are far different. For as God describes the work of the Holy Spirit Sarah three words that are often used, the words conversion, quickening and rebirth. And though they are different words with different meanings they all are describing the same basic truth that the Holy Spirit changes our lives by the power he has is true and eternal God.
For when we think of the work of the Holy Spirit is that of conversion, it is the idea that he has turned us around. From the moment we are conceived we are heading straight toward hell. Our sinful nature and the sins we add to a day after day are sending us further and further away from God. Yet when the word of God reaches our hearts and the Holy Spirit works through that word or the sacraments, it turns us around. It turns us from going away from God so that we are now heading toward God.
This basic idea is also present in the other two terms that are often used in conjunction with the work of the Holy Spirit. For the other terms, rebirth and quickening, both have the idea of turning someone around but it’s turning around someone who is dead and making them alive. For the mind of God we are spiritually dead. From the moment of our conception we are no better than a corpse. There is nothing we can do to respond to God and there is nothing we can do to please God. But then God the Holy Spirit makes us alive. He comes to us to that powerful word as the means of grace and makes us alive spiritually. He makes us alive to know and understand who God is. He makes us alive to know and understand God’s great love in redeeming us to pay for our sins.
And in all three of these ways we see the message of sanctification in its broad sense. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes us holy. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to faith with the knowledge and understanding of God’s love for us that we might then have the hope and joy of life everlasting.
But there is a narrow or stricter sense to that word sanctification. Not only is it used to talk about the broad work of the Holy Spirit bringing to faith those whom God has called, those whom God has chosen from the beginning to be saved through this work of sanctification, but it is also used to describe what we now do as children of God.
For sanctification in the more narrow sense deals with what we as redeemed children of God do with our lives. For once we have been made alive in Christ we have an understanding that we did not have before. We now know about God’s love and God’s work in our lives and we have the desire to want to show our love to him. We have the desire and the ability to do good works.
And even though good works are something that many people will talk about the very few really understand. For a good work in the eyes of God is something that can only be done by one of his children. Though a believer and an unbeliever may save a child from a burning building, though a believer and an unbeliever may give thousands of dollars to a charity, though a believer and an unbeliever may do the exact same work at the exact same time, only the work of the believer is considered by God to be a good work. For only the believer understands the love of God and shows that love of God in all that they do. Only the believer has been made alive by the Holy Spirit to do works that please God.
With such a working of God in our hearts you would think that every believer would be living a model Christian life. With the Holy Spirit in our hearts sanctifying us you would think that every one in this room would be giving the first of their time talents and treasures to the Lord and encouraging every friend and neighbor to come and join us for the message of God’s law and gospel. But in the same way that we can reject sanctification in the broad sense and not want anything to do with God’s grace of forgiveness, even we as children of God can reject sanctification in the narrow sense. We can reject the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and instead follow the encouragement of our sinful nature.
It is only through continued use of the means of grace that we will live lives that are truly sanctified before God. By continual reading of the word, regular church worship, Bible classes and personal devotions we are strengthened to truly live lives that are sanctified before God. For even though we are still sinful the working of God is greater than our sin and God’s grace covers all that we might have lives which are seen as holy in his sight.
But us always be thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctifying us. For not only does this sanctification bring us God’s grace and make us holy in his eyes but it also gives us the ability to do good works here on earth and to keep the commandments and share the gospel message with others. But as always live sanctified lives. Amen.