Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: September 2023

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Hebrews 10,35-36.39. 16. Trinity

Hebrew 10,35-36.39 4623

16. Trinitatis 63

Gerhard Sagredo, Bishop in Hungary, Apostle to Hungary, Martyr in Hungary, ✠ 1046

24. September 2023

1. ℣ Be merciful unto me, O Yahweh:

℟ For I cry unto Thee daily (Psalm 86,3).

O Yahweh, whose Name is renown among the Gentiles; give us leaders who will fear, love and trust Your Glory, so that under their governance we may be guarded and directed in righteousness, quietness and unity. Amen. (Psalm 102,15 Gradual).

2. »Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For: »Yet a little while, and the advent one will arrive and will not delay; but My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, then My soul has no pleasure in him.« [Habakkuk 2,3-4] But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their lives.«

3. The theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to explain to Jewish Christians that the covenant received by Moses is now an old covenant that has been replaced by the new covenant established by Jesus. The covenant Yahweh made with Israel at Sinai has been completed and fulfilled in Christ. The apostle explains it this way: »Christ does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all« (Hebrews 10,9b-10). This is the confidence the apostle exhorts them to not throw away.

4. Tribulation, the cares of the world and our sinful flesh all tempt us to cast away Jesus Christ. How many churches and denominations have replaced Christ’s gospel with some thing else? Both the epistles to the Hebrews and Galatians are tackling the same issue: Hebrews is addressing Jewish Christians, and Galatians is addressing Gentile Christians. Both were tempted to add some thing to Christ. „To pervert the Gospel of Christ is to nullify the grace of God. Then Christ died to no purpose“ (Nagel, Galatians 1,1 1998 ¶ 5).

5. One of my seminary professors called it the “Christ clincher.“ What is it they tell you that you must be doing as evidence that Christ really works (Nagel ¶ 7). The Galatians were told: circumcision and the dietary laws are the evidence of the gospel; if you want to be certain of your salvation, then you have to have Christ, circumcision and eat the kosher foods. Paul would have none of that. He told the Galatians: all you need is Christ; circumcision and kosher foods do not make the gospel effective or more effective. Faith alone in Christ alone is the only Gospel.

6. Hebrews addresses a similar problem that Jewish Christians were struggling with: what do we do with Moses, the temple and the sacrificial system now that we have faith in Jesus? Do we still go to the temple and offer animal sacrifices? Do we celebrate the Jewish festivals? Do we still go to the synagogue? We have these two covenants now; how do we navigate between the two? The apostle tells them: the Sinai covenant prepared the way for Christ, who is superior to this covenant, and the Calvary covenant is superior to the Sinai and has fulfilled it. Christ sacrificed on the cross has completed the covenant. With His sacrifice, Jesus is greater than Moses (Hebrews 3), Jesus is the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4), Jesus’ covenant is a better covenant (Hebrews 8); the blood of Jesus has secured an eternal redemption (Hebrews 9,12).

7. Malachi, the penultimate Old Testament prophet, said the same 400 years earlier. The Old Testament worship would not continue after the Messiah arrives, for He brings a new covenant (Keil and Delitzsch 10.2,460.1). »But who can endure the day of His advent, and who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to Yahweh. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh as in the days of old and as in former years« (Malachi 3,2-4). But who, Malachi asks, can endure this glorious day? None can endure it by their own strength and power. Thus Elijah will be sent to prepare the people for this new covenant: he will call the people to repentance and exhort them to turn their hearts to Yahweh (Malachi 4,5-6). Jesus said John the Baptizer is this promised Elijah who fulfills what Malachi prophesied (Matthew 11,10-11).

8. This call to repentance is also a call to faith in Yahweh’s Messiah and Christ. The apostle tells the Hebrews that this faith enables one to endure the glorious day of Yahweh, for he quotes the Prophet Habakkuk: »My righteous one will live by faith« (Habakkuk 2,4). The Subject of this faith is Christ: we believe in Christ and are thus righteous. Therefore Paul proclaimed: »I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose« (Galatians 2,20-21). To hold steadfast to this Christ is to hold steadfast to the gospel.

9. „Faith plus obedience is not faith alone. It is not Christ alone. The apostle makes it clear that another gospel is not the gospel at all. And what is not the Gospel is then clearly recognizable as a law. And if that is how you want it with God, there is no bad news worse than that. There is Good News and there is bad news. Which is it for you?“ (Nagel ¶ 10).

10. We are not of those who are timid and destroyed, but we are of those who have faith and preserve our lives. This faith is in Christ alone who justifies us and makes us righteous. He did this at the cross and with His resurrection; we have been baptized into His death and resurrection; we have been washed clean and made holy. This is the gospel that is freely given, received and believed.

11. Jesus lives! Now is death

For me the entrance into life immortal.

What consolation in my final breath

He will my soul give eternal,

For in faith speaks my conscience:

»Lord, Thou art my confidence!«

(Jesus lebt, mit ihm auch ich elkg 458,6 2021 Christian Fürchtegott Gellert 1757).

This is most certainly true.

14. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

15. Let us pray. O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named, grant unto our friends, to all members of this household and to all the members of our different families that according to the riches of Thy glory we may be strengthened with might by Thy Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, depth, height and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen. (16. Trinitatis, 2. Vespers Collect. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Monday, September 18, 2023

Genesis 15,1-6. 15. Trinity

Genesis 15,1-6 4523

15. Trinitatis 62

Hildegard, Abbess of St. Rupert near Bingen, Germany ✠ 1179

17. September 2023

1. ℣ Bow down Thine ear, O Yahweh, hear me:

℟ O Thou, my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee (Psalm 86,1a.2b).

O Yahweh, our Defense; exhort us to take refuge in Thee, so that instead of trusting in man or prices we find protection and providence in Thy hands. Amen. (Psalm 118,8-9 Gradual)

2. »After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision: „Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.“ But Abram said: „O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Behold, You have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.“ And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him: „This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.“ And He brought him outside and said: „Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be.“ And he believed Yahweh and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.«

3. The Apostle Paul quotes Genesis 15,6 in his Epistle to the Romans as the Scriptural text that is the foundation of the gospel: we are saved by faith, not by works. Paul’s argument is that this is both Judaic and Christian doctrine. At some point in the long theological history of Israel, this particular Judaic doctrine had become corrupted into salvation by keeping the law and was the popular signature pharisaic interpretation in Jesus’ and Paul’s day that righteousness is merited by those who keep the commandments of Yahweh. This pharisaic misinterpretation wasn’t the only interpretation at that time but it was quite popular. Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and tax collector showcases that there were still voices in Judaism that understood righteousness as something God imparts without meticulous keeping of the Sinai covenant.

4. Sinful nature is prone to take God’s gift of imputed righteousness and derive a system of meritorious law-keeping. Even the great patriarch Abraham did this on at least two occasions: Abraham was 75 when Yahweh promised him a son in chapter 12; this would not have been astounding to him as his own father, Terah, had been 70 when Abraham was born. Abraham was 86 in chapter 16, so he was between 75-85 in chapter 15. He still had no son, and Abraham resolves himself to look to the law to ensure an offspring. He decided to make his servant Eliezer his heir. Even after the promise received by faith in chapter 15, Abraham, now 86 in chapter 16, and still without an heir, again looks to the law to ensure an offspring: he has a son with Sarah’s servant Hagar. Again Yahweh tells Abraham this son, Ishmael, born under the dictates of surrogacy, is not the heir. Only Abraham and Sarah’s son, born under the promise of God, will be the heir.

5. The law cannot fulfill nor supplant what God has promised to give as the gospel. Righteousness cannot be earned under the law, for righteousness has been promised to be credited by faith. Abraham begat Isaac solely by trusting in Yahweh’s promise. This faith was credited to him as/for righteousness.

6. The Pharisee in Jesus’ parable credited his righteousness by his works: I have kept the commandments, fasted and tithed. I have fulfilled all that the law demands; yea, I have done more than the law requires. I have earned my righteousness.

7. The tax collector, however, cannot boast of any work he had done to merit his righteousness. Under the law, he, as a tax collector, was guilty of stealing and coveting. His stolen wages were not accepted in the temple, so he wasn’t able to tithe. He could fast, but tax collectors were renowned more for their lavish feasts given amongst their associates. The only works he could rely on emphasized him as a sinner, and the greatest of sinners at that. His only recourse is to rely on God.

8. Christus constans. Christ is steadfast and constant. Paul proclaims: »for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was not Yes, and No, but in Him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God, find their Yes in Him« (2. Corinthians 1,19-20a). Abraham believed God’s promise: 1. that he would have a son, and 2. a descendent of this son would be the Christ, who would bless all the nations with His righteousness. Abraham put his confidence in this Christ.

9. In his Epistle to the Philippians, Paul says: »if anyone else thinks he has a reason for confidence in the flesh, then I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless« (Philippians, 3,4-6). One could easily imagine Paul praying that prayer of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable. But Paul does not boast in that self-righteousness. He continues: »but whatever gain I had, I counted as a loss for the sake of Christ.… And being found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but a righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection« (Philippians 3,7.9).

10. With Abraham, Paul and the tax collector, we pray: „Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, be merciful to me, a sinner.“ God in Christ is merciful and His merciful steadfast love is revealed in Christ crucified. ICXC NIKA. Jesus Christ conquers and is our righteousness.

11. When I am troubled by my sin,

I will not despair within;

On Christ will I build alone

And in Him trust alone,

To Him will I surrender all

Whatever in this life befalls. (Auf meinen lieben Gott selk 540,2 2021 Lübeck 1590, Wittenberg und Nürnberg 1607)

This is most certainly true.

12. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

13. Let us pray.O God, in whom all fullness dwelleth, who givest without measure to them that ask, give us faith to ask and faith to receive all that Thy bounty giveth, that being filled with all Thy fulness, we may as Thy faithful stewards impart Thy gifts to all Thy children. Amen. (15. Trinity, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Luke 17,11-19. 14. Trinity

Luke 17,11-19 4423

14. Trinitatis 61

Pulcheria, Eastern Empress, Virgin, ✠ 453

10. September 2023

1. ℣ Behold, O God, our Shield, and look upon the face of Thine anointed:

℟ For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand! (Psalm 84,9-10a).

O Yahweh, whose Name is highly praised; declare Your merciful steadfast love in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, so that we dwell securely in Your Providence and Grace. Amen. (Psalm 92,1-2 Gradual).

2. »On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying: „Lord Jesus, have mercy on us.“ When He saw them He said to them: „Go and show yourselves to the priests.“ And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered: „Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?“ And He said to him: „Rise and go your way; your faith has saved you.“«

3. Human beings are sinful creatures. Experience and the daily MSM verify it. Man’s inhumanity to man runs red in the pages of history books and also in the Bible. Man’s inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn! (Robert Burns 1784) »Surely there is not a righteous person on earth who does good and never sins« (Ecclesiastes 7,20).

4. Leprosy is one of many manifestations of sin’s effect upon human beings, for sinfulness has both physical and spiritual effects. The lepers’ life was a solitary life separated from friends and family. Lepers were forbidden to attend worship services at the local synagogue and they were barred from the temple and its sacrifices. All of us suffered the sinful effects of spiritual leprosy. Sin makes us unclean and puts distance between our holy God and us.

5. The lepers’ cry in our pericope „is a cry for salvation (Just 652). The lepers know they need a miracle to be made well.

6. Thus they cry for mercy. They are removed from God and community. They wanted to be welcomed back into the community and live their lives with friends, family and worship at the synagogue and temple.

7. Jesus is merciful to these ten lepers.

8. One of these lepers received a double portion of Jesus’ mercy. Not only did this leper receive Divine mercy in being healed from his disease, but he also received an even greater mercy, that of the Divine salvation that healed his separateness (Getrenntkeit) from his Creator. This leper, you see, was a Samaritan and in the eyes of the Jews he was no better than the pagan Greeks and Romans. What does a Samaritan know of covenant, faith and salvation? Many of Jesus’ contemporary Jewish brethren would answer: Samaritans know nothing of such things.

9. Jesus entered the life of this Samaritan. He was a man doubly cursed as a Samaritan and as a leper, but Jesus came to this earth to save the outcast „announcing that the Samaritan’s cry for mercy was heard as a cry of faith and salvation has been granted“ (Just 652). He believed in Jesus not only as a great healer but also as an even greater Savior. Thus Jesus did not simply tell this Samaritan „Your faith has healed you.“, but more importantly He proclaimed to this Samaritan: »Your faith has saved you.« Jesus showed him merciful steadfast love.

10. In the next chapter, Luke tells us about a Pharisee and a tax collector praying in the temple courtyard: »But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: ‘God, be propitiated toward me, the sinner!“« (Luke 18,13). Like the lepers, this tax collector was separated from the Jewish community. People despised him; he was labeled a thief and Roman collaborator; the Pharisees treated him with contempt. He was excommunicated from the synagogue, and he couldn’t exchange his Roman coins for the temple shekel, which made it very difficult to bring a sacrifice to the temple priest; thus most, if not all, tax collectors were denied the ability to received forgiveness.

11. The tax collector cried out for a different type of mercy; he needed atonement, and since he could not get this from the priest he petitions God directly and pleads for forgiveness. The verb is an Imperative Aorist Passive 2s (a statement that is always true in this tense!) but Blass-Debrunner-Funk suggests that it is a Permissive Passive: let Yourself be propitiated (BDF § 314). For God to be propitiated there must be a propitiator who appeases God through a sacrifice, one who atones for our sins by sacrificing Himself. The tax collector is pleading for God to become his Propitiator in order to propitiate and atone for his sin! Jesus concludes the parable by declaring: this tax collector went home justified and righteous.

12. The implied teaching of this parable is that Jesus has arrived to be this very Propitiator cries out for who will make sinners righteous. Jesus became the sacrifice that atones for sin. The Son of God will become the Propitiator who propitiates God the Father. On the cross God appeases His wrath on sin and sinners by bearing His own wrath.

13. »for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His Divine forbearance He had passed over former sins« (Romans 3,23-25). »My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world« (1. John 2,1-2).

14. Jesus declares: »Your faith has saved you.« Jesus is the Subject who does the saving. Faith believes in this Jesus, and thus receives salvation. Luther explains it with these words: I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the Devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true (Small Catechism).

15. From God can nothing move me

He will not step aside

But gently will reprove me

And be my constant guide.

He stretches out His hand

In evening and in the morning,

My life with grace adorning

Wherever I may stand.

(Von Gott will ich nicht lassen elkg 630,1 2021 Ludwig Helmbold 1563, Nürnberg 1569).

This is most certainly true.

14. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

15. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, keep us each day in our bodies as well as in our souls; let no accident befall us or ours; and whatever temptation crosses our path, may we be enabled to look upward and take courage, proving under every trial of faith that we are indeed faithful disciples and good soldiers of the Lord Jesus. Amen. (14. Trinitatis, 2. Vespers Collect. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Galatians 3,15-22. 13. Trinity

Galatians 3,15-22 4323

13. Trinitatis 60

Phoebe, Deaconess at Cenchreae (eastern port of Corinth), appr. 58. Romans 16,1

Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, ✠ 604

3. September 2023

1. ℣ Have respect, O Yahweh, unto Thy covenant:

℟ Oh, let not the oppressed return ashamed! (Psalm 74,20a.21a).

O God, Thou who works wonders; make known the might of Thy salvation among the peoples, so that in seeing their redemption, they praise and glorify the name of Jesus. Amen. (Psalm Psalm 77,14-15 Gradual)

2. »To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, And to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, And to your offspring, who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.«

3. Matthew begins his Gospel by writing: »The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac« (Matthew 1,1-2a). The holy apostle begins at Abraham; Genesis records a number of promises and covenant Yahweh gave to him. »All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you listened (υπήκουσας שָׁמַעְתָּ) to My Voice« (Genesis 22,18). What had Abraham heard from God? A: Take your only son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him as a burnt offering (Genesis 22,2). Abraham had faith in Yahweh and his faith led to obedience: he would sacrifice Isaac just as God had told him to do (Genesis 22,3). Just as he was about to sacrifice/slaughter Isaac, the Angel of Yahweh said: »Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your only son from Me« (Genesis 22,12). »So Abraham called the name of that place יְהוָ֣ה׀ יִרְאֶ֑ה Yahweh will provide« (Genesis 22,14).

4. The Apostle Paul makes the typological connection between Isaac and Jesus. Abraham’s offspring is Isaac and God told him to sacrifice him; Abraham’s offspring is also Jesus and God sacrificed His Son (Galatians 3,16). Abraham is the 38x great-grandfather of Jesus. Promise given: Abraham’s beloved son is to be sacrificed; promise fulfilled: God the Father’s beloved Son is sacrificed.

5. To prepare Israel and the Gentiles for the Messiah and Christ, they were given a pedagogue; the Jews were given it on tablets of stone at Sinai, and the Gentiles had a knowledge of right and wrong written within their heart (Romans 2,14-15). This guardian was the Torah of the Sinai covenant given to Moses, and it had 3 purposes: curb, mirror and guide. The Torah’s law serves to curb outbursts of sin and help keep order in the world. The torah’s law also shows us our sinfulness, as a mirror reveals to us what we look like. Finally, the Torah’s law teaches us what God’s will is and gives us a guide to what a God-pleasing life looks like. Throughout Israel’s history their Prophets utilized the law as a curb, mirror and guide to bring the people back to repentance and worship of Yahweh.

6. The Torah also provided the means of grace. Sacrifices were instituted that would cover the sins of both the individual and the nation of Israel. Through this means of grace Israel’s sins were forgiven.

7. The old covenant with all its Sinai laws is completed and fulfilled; it is no longer in force and must not be enforced, for the new covenant in Christ is the active and applicable covenant now. The old covenant was given to prepare us for the new covenant in Christ; the old covenant has done that, and done it well, but its task is completed. Christ, faith in Christ, is the goal of the both the old and new covenants. Thus we interpret the Scriptures, the two covenants, through the prism of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection (Keller Galatians); His sacrifice is all sufficient.

8. Paul reminds the Galatians of 5 key gospel points that he had proclaimed to them:

i. We are justified before God through faith in Jesus Christ and not by works commanded in the law (Galatians 2,16).

ii. We receive the Holy Spirit through faith-full hearing of the gospel and not by works commanded in law (Galatians 3,2).

iii. We are Abraham’s descendants because we belong to Christ, the promised heir of the Divine blessing, and not because we do the works commanded by law (Galatians 3,16-18.29).

iv. We are sons and daughters (family) of God through Baptismal faith, not through observing religious calendars prescribed by law (Galatians 4,10-11).

v. We behave in God-pleasing fashion when we cultivate the fruit of the Spirit of Christ, not when we indulge in the works of the flesh, which are indeed forbidden by the law, but which the law is powerless to transform (Galatians 5,16).

9. Paul reminds us that the gospel is radically law-free. Faith in Christ and the freedom of the Holy Spirit require no supplement or complement from any mandatory law provision. With faith in Christ, therefore, it counts for nothing whether one is a circumcised Jew or an uncircumcised Gentile, whether one is a slave or a free man, whether one is a male or a female (Galatians 3,28; 5,6). The only thing that counts is faith in Christ, faith that gives His spirit, faith that is energetic in loving the neighbor (Galatians 5,6). That faith frees us from all obligations of obedience to law and from all other kinds of religious enslavements (Galatians 4,3.9). (Keller Galatians 1990)

10. I lie in weakness and resist,

O Lord Christ, be my Helper;

In Thy mercy alone I livest,

You can make me stronger.

If now temptation comes, defend,

That it may not overtake me;

You can make it,

That to danger it will not bring me.

I know You will not allow it. (Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ selk 610,5 2021 Johann Agricola 1526/27)

This is most certainly true.

13. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

14. Let us pray. O Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope and charity; and that we may obtain that which Thou dost promise, make us to love that which Thou dost command. Amen. (13. Trinity, Vespers Collect 1. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Hebrews 10,35-36.39. 16. Trinity

Monday, September 18, 2023

Genesis 15,1-6. 15. Trinity

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Luke 17,11-19. 14. Trinity

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Galatians 3,15-22. 13. Trinity