I believe.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
Here we learn to know the Second Person of the Godhead. We see what we have from God over and above the temporal goods mentioned before. We see how He has completely poured forth Himself (Matthew 26:28) and withheld nothing from us (1 Corinthians 8:9). (LC, Part II, 26)
"I believe that Jesus Christ, God's true Son, has become my Lord."
"But what does it mean to become Lord?"
"It is this. He has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. For before I did not have a Lord or King, but was captive under the devil's power, condemned to death, stick in sin and blindness (see Ephesians 2:1-3). (LC, Part II, 27)
Let this, then, be the sum of this article: the little word Lord means simply the same as redeemer. It means the One who has brought us from Satan to God, from death or life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same. But all the points that follow in this article serve no other person than to explain and express this redemption. They explain how and by whom it was accomplished. They explain how much it cost Him and what He spent and risked so that He might win us and bring us under His dominion. It explains that He became man (John 1:14), was conceived and born without sin (Hebrews 4:15), from the Holy Spirit and from the virgin Mary (Luke 1:35), so that He might overcome sin. Further, it explains that He suffered, died, and was buried so that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe (I Corinthians 15:3-4), not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood (I Peter 1:18-19). And He did all this in order to become my Lord. He did none of these things for Himself, nor did He have any need for redemption. (LC, Part II, 31)
Yes, the entire Gospel that we preach is based on this point, that we properly understand this article as that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rests. It is so rich and complete that we can never learn it fully. (LC, Part II, 33)
That final point is such a gross understatement. Words cannot fully describe what Christ did for us. He paid what I owe. I. He paid before I was yet born to cover me, to redeem me.
Note again the tense: To pay what I owe (not paid). His blood pays still. In this day, His blood washes me clean. Who preserves us in the same. Not preserved. No past tense here. We are made righteous because of His work and His Word. We were made righteous. We are made righteous. We will be made righteous. All tenses because His blood is sufficient for all things, for all time.
Luther later describes what came to pass on the cross as Objective Reality. His birth, life, passion, death, and resurrection. Not only is His Grace Objective, not dependent upon any act of man, so is what came to pass on the cross. He chose to be humiliated. He chose to stand accused as an innocent man. He chose to die a torturous death. He chose. He chose so He could redeem us, so that we might have life eternally. Yes, the court and soldiers and all those who reviled Him played a part in what came to pass, but they were only tools. Not any one man was needed. Anyone could have filled Pontius' role. For each time we try to shepherd ourselves, each time we declare our works sufficient, we are standing with Pontius, with all of His accusers.
Yet even knowing that we are stubborn, stiff necked, silly sheep He still chose what none of us would.
Objective Reality can be as heady as Objective Grace. The former underpins, strengthens, and sustains the latter. We are blessed by both.
Though I cannot fathom why He would so willingly die for one like me, I believe.
His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
Here we learn to know the Second Person of the Godhead. We see what we have from God over and above the temporal goods mentioned before. We see how He has completely poured forth Himself (Matthew 26:28) and withheld nothing from us (1 Corinthians 8:9). (LC, Part II, 26)
"I believe that Jesus Christ, God's true Son, has become my Lord."
"But what does it mean to become Lord?"
"It is this. He has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. For before I did not have a Lord or King, but was captive under the devil's power, condemned to death, stick in sin and blindness (see Ephesians 2:1-3). (LC, Part II, 27)
Let this, then, be the sum of this article: the little word Lord means simply the same as redeemer. It means the One who has brought us from Satan to God, from death or life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same. But all the points that follow in this article serve no other person than to explain and express this redemption. They explain how and by whom it was accomplished. They explain how much it cost Him and what He spent and risked so that He might win us and bring us under His dominion. It explains that He became man (John 1:14), was conceived and born without sin (Hebrews 4:15), from the Holy Spirit and from the virgin Mary (Luke 1:35), so that He might overcome sin. Further, it explains that He suffered, died, and was buried so that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe (I Corinthians 15:3-4), not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood (I Peter 1:18-19). And He did all this in order to become my Lord. He did none of these things for Himself, nor did He have any need for redemption. (LC, Part II, 31)
Yes, the entire Gospel that we preach is based on this point, that we properly understand this article as that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rests. It is so rich and complete that we can never learn it fully. (LC, Part II, 33)
That final point is such a gross understatement. Words cannot fully describe what Christ did for us. He paid what I owe. I. He paid before I was yet born to cover me, to redeem me.
Note again the tense: To pay what I owe (not paid). His blood pays still. In this day, His blood washes me clean. Who preserves us in the same. Not preserved. No past tense here. We are made righteous because of His work and His Word. We were made righteous. We are made righteous. We will be made righteous. All tenses because His blood is sufficient for all things, for all time.
Luther later describes what came to pass on the cross as Objective Reality. His birth, life, passion, death, and resurrection. Not only is His Grace Objective, not dependent upon any act of man, so is what came to pass on the cross. He chose to be humiliated. He chose to stand accused as an innocent man. He chose to die a torturous death. He chose. He chose so He could redeem us, so that we might have life eternally. Yes, the court and soldiers and all those who reviled Him played a part in what came to pass, but they were only tools. Not any one man was needed. Anyone could have filled Pontius' role. For each time we try to shepherd ourselves, each time we declare our works sufficient, we are standing with Pontius, with all of His accusers.
Yet even knowing that we are stubborn, stiff necked, silly sheep He still chose what none of us would.
Objective Reality can be as heady as Objective Grace. The former underpins, strengthens, and sustains the latter. We are blessed by both.
Though I cannot fathom why He would so willingly die for one like me, I believe.
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