The End Of The War: Death

An apology for the audio quality.  Due to technical difficulties, the audio from the Facebook Live-stream had to be used for this sermon podcast.  

Text: Philippians 1:19-26

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

At your baptisms, all of you entered a war. Yes, at your baptisms you were made children of God, given the Holy Spirit, and called into warfare against the sinful nature within you.

Now, some of you have been at war for a very, very, long time. And some of you are just beginning to get a taste of this war against your old Adam. Regardless of how long you have been at war with your sinful nature, though, one thing is for sure, and that is this, this war is a persistent fight. Yes, it is a persistent fight where you daily “beat back the forces of indwelling sin and win victories over the habits and practices of the old [Adam].”[1] It is a persistent fight that continues every single day of your life. It is a fight where you struggle to keep the faith and fight back the attacks of the world, the devil, and your sinful nature.

So, considering all of this, the obvious question is: When do we see the end of the war? When does this persistent battle stop? When will the white flag of surrender be waved? When will the attacks end? Dear friends, the answer is this, this war stops at death. Yes, the Christian’s war against the old Adam ends at death.

It is like this, death removes you and me “from the temptations, the troubles, turmoils, trials, and tribulations of this life. . . . death puts the believer in possession of his full inheritance of eternal life. . .”[2] This is why the Apostle Paul could say in our Epistle Reading, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” “Paul knows that he belongs to Christ. For him, to live means Christ, that is to constantly work with Christ, and to always be in his hand. Should he die then he still gets to be with Christ.”[3]

You see, being a Christian is having a life that is bound up with Jesus. Being a Christian, we are connected to Jesus by faith, and we live our lives being led by the Holy Spirit. And even though we have this persistent battle with the sinful old Adam, it cannot change the fact that we belong to Jesus. So this life that we live from the cradle to the grave is good because it is a life lived by faith in Jesus. This life that we live is good because we fight the old Adam and serve people around us by the Lord’s grace. However, when death comes upon us, something profound and amazing happens, the sinful nature no longer hinders us.[4] That is to say, when we are alive, we belong to Jesus and get to serve our neighbors in need (which is good); however, when we die, we will still belong to Jesus and are freed from the war within (which is good as well). Therefore, we technically cannot lose either way.

We must pause here a moment and back up, just to make sure that we are understanding this clearly.

When the shadow of death draws upon us, we acknowledge that it is not a good thing for the body and soul to be ripped apart. However, even though the body and soul are torn from each other in death, we know that our soul leaves this vale of tears and we enter into paradise with Jesus. And with Jesus we wait for the resurrection of our bodies. In other words, we are not left for dead, but the Lord takes us unto Himself, and the Lord promises us that we will be put back together again – we will someday have resurrected bodies, which is good.

And in this resurrection something even better happens, there will be no more death. Death will be gone for good – tears gone, crying gone, pain gone, fear gone, and sin… all gone. Yes, God will banish the pall of doom hanging over all people. He will banish death forever. Every sign of disgrace – gone.[5]

And so, in this earthly life, we live by faith in the Son of God, who loves us and has given Himself to us. This is so very good; to live is Christ. And yet, to die is gain. Yes, when we die in Christ, it is even better because we still get to be with Christ but without the old Adam. So whether we live or die, it is good because Christ is good.

Practically speaking, it looks like this: while we live this life, we have been given the gift of the Lord’s Prayer to pray against the devil, the world, and especially our old Adam, which is good. However, when you die, it is even better! After death, you will no longer pray the Lord’s Prayer ever again against the old Adam. The reason why? At death, the old Adam stops clinging to you.  

Here is another circumstance to consider: while we live this life, we have been given the gift Absolution (the forgiveness of sins), which is good. However, when you die, it is even better! After death, you will no longer need to hear the Absolution ever again. At death, you will be with Jesus, which means that you will no longer have to fight the good fight against sin to finish the course.[6] At death, you will be done with the course of your earthly life – you will be done with the fight against sin. You will not need forgiveness, for after death, the old Adam will be no more. There will be no sin to confess.

Dear friends, when we die, the war with our old Adam – the sinful flesh - is over. At death, the reign of sin, death, and the old Adam are terminated. Death serves this purpose of putting an end to this old Adam that we may rise absolutely new.[7]

Think of it this way. You are God’s creation. He has created your inmost being, knitting you together in your mother’s womb.[8] And at the cross Jesus redeemed you, purchasing and winning you from all sins and death. And at the Last Day, the Holy Spirit will raise you and give you eternal life.[9] But what will not happen and what cannot happen is this, the Lord will not redeem or raise your old Adam! The old Adam was not the Lord’s creation to begin with, so the Lord has no interest in bringing the old Adam back to life again. Why would the Lord bring the corruption of our sinful old Adam back to life, when the devil and we were responsible for it in the first place?[10]

Dear Baptized Saints, the old Adam – the sinful nature – is buried in the wounds of Jesus. It is left for dead at death but we are not. We are given the promise of the resurrection where the old Adam is utterly destroyed, while we are given new bodies and life everlasting.[11]

The war against our old Adam ends at death. And so, we will endure by walking by the Spirit, turning outward to Jesus in faith, and constantly receiving the Word and Sacraments. We will also fight the good fight, executing the deeds of the old Adam in repentance and faith. And finally, we will rest in our baptisms for we have been buried deeply in the wounds of Jesus and promised the great resurrection.

This is the Christian’s war – a war that lasts only a little while. A war that has an end. A war where the radiant dawn of Jesus will fully come over the darkness of sin. A war where there is hope in captivity, victory in Jesus, and a future in eternity... without the old Adam.

   

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Jonathan Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly: An Interpretation of Romans (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: 2012), 350.0

[2] Wendland, E. H., & Trapp, J. A. (1986). Sermon Studies on the Epistles (ILCW series A) (p. 322). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House.

[3] Bo Giertz, Unpublished Commentary on Philippians, tr. Bror Erickson.

[4] The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 2032.

[5] See Revelation 21:1-5 and Isaiah 25:8.

[6] See 2 Timothy 4:7.

[7] See the Apology of the Augsburg Confessions, VI:56.

[8] See Psalm 139:13.

[9] See the Small Catechism: The Apostles’ Creed.

[10] See the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, I:6.

[11] Ibid. 

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Enduring The War: Living By The Spirit

This is Part 4 of the Lent Series titled, 

"The Christian's War: The Life of the Christian as Saint and Sinner."

Text: Galatians 5:16-26

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

As Christians, we must keep in mind that we are not perfectly and wholly renewed.  Now, please do not misunderstand me, our sin is indeed covered by Jesus (we are forgiven of all our sins), but this sin still lingers on in us, making us weak.  You see, our sin is real.  Our sin is no different than the sin of unbelievers. And so, we are never in the place where we can go around thinking that we are Christian superheroes who keep God’s law perfectly and fulfill it completely.[1] 

      

Contrary to what those televangelists say, we are not independently powerful, we do not have greatness within, and we certainly are not strong – the old Adam still clings to us down to the grave.    

And so, we Christians live our lives in great weakness.  We live our lives knowing that we still have this sinful nature that actively resists the Word of God and fights against the will of God.[2]  We live our lives in great weakness because the old Adam is defiant and hostile towards God. Therefore, it is impossible to live this Christian life without some “hindrance of the [old Adam].  Your [old Adam] will be an obstacle, the sort of obstacle that will prevent you from doing what you would.”[3]

So, if we Christians have this great weakness, how are we to endure?  How are we to live and walk?  In other words, we know that the old Adam with its sins should daily drown and die in repentance, as it says in the Small Catechism; however, is there anything else for us as Christians?  Yes, there is.  You see, on the one hand, we need to see the old Adam drown and die, but on the other hand, we are called to walk by the Spirit.  And in walking by the Spirit, we are told by the Apostle Paul that we will not gratify the desires of the old Adam.

Let us pause here a moment to clarify, though. 

As Christians, we are to be led not by ‘our’ spirit, implying that we are to look within ourselves, but rather, we are to look outside of ourselves to be led by ‘the’ Holy Spirit. 

It is like this, walking by the Holy Spirit should be understood as nothing more than you and I clinging to Jesus by faith.  And in this clinging to Jesus, as weak people, we are led by the Holy Spirit.  And when we are led by the Holy Spirit, we are living under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit who works through the Word and Sacraments.    

A perfect picture of being led by the Holy Spirit is when “a child puts her hand into the hand of a beloved and trusted father.”[4]  A little girl knows that she is weak and unable to do much of anything, so she looks away from herself and her weaknesses, and places her hand into her father’s strong hand.  And there, with her father, she is gently led and protected.  The same is true for us as Christians, the Holy Spirit by a gentle and loving grasp “leads the baptized into a [Godly] orientation, He does not drive Christians to conformity to rules. . . . The [Holy] Spirit does not [harshly] demand obedience but rather produces fruit”[5] – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Another picture and illustration would be that of a beggar.  Yes, a beggar. 

During the last hours of Martin Luther’s life, he wrote a short meditation on a sheet of paper.  His brief reflection ended with the words, “This is true, we are all beggars.”  You see, Luther understood that if we consult our conscience, what we inevitably find is a life in conflict.  A life where the old Adam is in tension with the Holy Spirit who is at work in us.  In other words, Luther knew that within every single Christian the sinful nature remained, even though it is forgiven in Jesus.  Luther knew that every single Christian had sin and was capable of committing sin. He knew that the Christian could not freely do what he wanted to do, even though he tried with sweat and strain.[6]  Therefore, Luther said that we are beggars. 

Dear friends, we are indeed beggars who depend upon the Lord’s forgiveness – clinging to the Lord and needing to be led by the Holy Spirit.  That is to say; we are not o.k. on our own.  We need something more.  We need help. Something that is a part of us keeps sabotaging our best intentions. We do not have what it takes.  We can will it, but we can’t do it.  We can decide to do good, but we really do not do it perfectly.  We set out not to do bad things, but we then end up doing it anyway. We know God’s Law and delight in it; however, we cannot keep it perfectly. Something is indeed wrong – the old Adam is what has gone wrong, deep within us.  The old Adam covertly rebels and always tries to take the upper hand.[7]

And so, left to ourselves, nothing helps.  And that is why we must turn away from ourselves. Like a helpless beggar, we must understand that our hope and solution does not lie within, but is outside of ourselves in Jesus. 

So, we look away from our poverty of sin.  We look away from our old Adam.  We chalk it up as dead.  We confess it all as sin. We beat our chest saying,

“I am a sinner, and I am aware of my sin; for I have not yet put off my flesh, to which sin will cling as long as it lives. But I will [follow] the [Holy] Spirit rather than the [old Adam]. That is, by faith and hope I will take hold of Christ.  I will [brace] myself with His Word, and . . . I will refuse to gratify the desire of the [pathetic old Adam].”[8] 

Yes, as beggars, with hands and ears wide open, we receive the proclaimed Word of God, knowing that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Word to strengthen our faith and lead us through this vale of tears, called life.

Baptized Saints, it must be stated that being led by the Holy Spirit as a beggar is contrary to the popular religious opinions of our day and age.  Our culture and many well-intentioned (but severely misinformed) pastors tell us to look within ourselves for some untapped spiritual potential within.  They encourage the laity to look within themselves for the so-called diamond in the rough.  And so, Christians turn inward and rummage through the layers upon layers of sin, looking for potential and talent hidden within.  And then without even knowing it, these poor Christians stumble upon the sinful old Adam dressed up in potential.  And then being deceived, these Christians begin to prop up the old Adam – sowing to the sinful flesh – while taking their eyes off of Jesus.    

Lord have mercy on them; Lord have mercy on us. 

Dear friends, our theology, which is the theology of the Bible, “snatches us away from ourselves and places us outside ourselves, so that we do not depend on our own strength, conscience, experience, . . . or works but depend on that which is outside ourselves, that is, on the promise and truth of God, which cannot deceive.”[9]

Indeed, our sin only yields more sin – sin upon sin.  But the one outside of us, Jesus Christ is the fountainhead of grace, life, and truth – grace upon grace for sinners like me and like you.  And all of this is constantly given to us by the Holy Spirit through the Word and Sacraments! 

Living by the guidance of the Holy Spirit is hard, yet at the same time easy.  “It is hard because we take such great pride in our own achievements and self-sufficiency. We do not like to ask God, or anyone, for anything.”[10]  Besides, the old Adam likes the attention. As sinners, we like to be in the driver’s seat.  “Yet it is also easy because our spirituality does not depend on our performance but on our receiving from God.”[11]

And so, dear Baptized Saints, we live by the Holy Spirit not to become increasingly self-sufficient, but we follow the Spirit as beggars before God the Father in Heaven.  Indeed, we are beggars because everything about us depends solely on Christ, not ourselves. We live by the Holy Spirit because where the Spirit is present, He renews, ignites faith, and gives God-pleasing virtues to us.[12]  We live by the Holy Spirit because this new man is nothing without the Holy Spirit.  We walk by the Holy Spirit for the Spirit has “called [us] by the Gospel, enlightened [us] with His gifts, sanctified and kept [us] in the true faith.”[13]   

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Formula of Concord, Epitome, II:5.

[2] Ibid, II:59.

[3] Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians – 1535: Volume 2  (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1964), 72.

[4] The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 2011.

[5] Jonathan Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly: An Interpretation of Romans: Second Edition (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: 2012), 347.

[6] Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians – 1535, 75.

[7] Paraphrase of Romans 7.

[8] Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians – 1535 73.

[9] Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians – 1535: Volume 1 (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1963), 387.

[10] John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2008), 29.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, II:71.

[13] Martin Luther, The Small Catechism: The Apostles’ Creed.  

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Jesus Belongs To Me; He Is My Savior In Life And Death

The following 'Funeral Service Sermon' is posted with family permission.  May the Lord give to the family of Audrey Bruns, and all who mourn, comfort in their grief and a sure confidence in the Lord's loving care. 

Text: John 15:1-9, 15-16 

In the name of Jesus:  Amen.

The Bible calls us to abide. That is most certainly true; we are called to endure and never to let go. We are called to stand and remain – to abide. 

But abide with whom?  And never let go of what?  Where are we called to stand and where are we to remain? 

Dear friends, we are called to remain with the Lord.  That is to say; we are called to endure in Jesus and never to let go of Him.  We are called to abide in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

You see, abiding with Jesus is nothing more than having faith in Jesus.  Faith must have an object.  Faith must be ‘in’ something and connected to someone.  For Audrey, her faith clung to Jesus.  Her faith gripped ahold of Christ.       

But what happens at death, though? What happens when we no longer have the strength to stand and endure?  What do we make of Audrey who gave way to the shadow of death?

Well, to abide with Jesus is to have faith in Christ.  And as already stated, faith clings to Jesus.  However, faith does not leave Jesus off in the corner as if he were off in the distance or off to the side as some detached Savior.  Faith does not wish for a Savior, but instead, faith possesses the Savior, saying,

"He is my beloved, and I am His.” 

Yes, faith, which is created in us at baptism, cements us to Jesus.  Faith cements us to Jesus and Jesus to us.  Faith is like a superglue that will not come apart.  Faith cannot be fragmented but remains attached to Jesus, together, forever.  By faith, we can declare,

“Jesus belongs to me; He is my Savior in life and death.” 

And in turn, Christ says:

“My Baptized Saints are attached to me so that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor death, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate them from me and me from them.”[1]

What this means is that Audrey not only abided in Christ in her earthly life, but Jesus abided with her.  And right now in the midst of death, Audrey still abides with the Lord, and the Lord still abides with her.  Make no doubt about it, she is not cut off.  She is not alone.  She is not some dead branch cast off to the side, but instead, she remains with Jesus in spite of death.  Christ is with her as she is with Christ in paradise, awaiting the great resurrection of her body.      

You see, the Lord chose Audrey to be His own.  The Holy Spirit through the Word and Sacraments placed Audrey in Jesus.  Like a dead and helpless branch, Audrey was grafted into Jesus and given faith – given life.  More specifically, though, in the waters of baptism, the Lord connected Audrey to Himself.  And by baptizing Audrey, the Lord baptized her into His death.[2]  Yes, the Lord applied all that He did at Mt. Calvary to Audrey in baptism.  He forgave her of her sins and clothed her with His radiant righteousness. 

And so, in this abiding, Audrey held nothing back from the Lord, and the Lord held nothing back from her.  Her sin became Jesus’ sin, and Jesus’ innocence became her innocence.  It was a great exchange! 

And so this day, we can say that Audrey’s sins lie on Jesus and Jesus’ righteousness and blessedness belong to Audrey.  The sting of Audrey’s death was felt by Jesus, and Jesus’ resurrection is promised to Audrey.      

Dear friends, the same is true for you in Christ Jesus, as well.  By your baptisms, you were snatched from the devil, given faith, and joined to Christ. Indeed, the Lord continually builds His kingdom, fills heaven with saints like you, robs hell, hinders death, sustains us by His Word and Sacraments, and gives us the hope of the resurrection. 

And so, by this faith that He gave you in your baptisms and sustains in you and me daily, we can say,

"Our sins are now not ours but Christ's, and Christ's righteousness is not Christ's but ours."[3]

Indeed, with Audrey, we confess this day that we all abide with Jesus, and Jesus abides with us. 

So, whether we lie in dust and ashes or stand with life, we confess that the Lord has chosen not to leave you, me, and Audrey in our sins and death, but staked His life to rescue us. Yes, the Lord delivers us His purity, holiness, death, resurrection, and Himself, so that He can abide with us and so that we can abide with Him, now and forevermore.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Paraphrase of Romans 8:38.

[2] See Romans 6.

[3] Martin Luther, (Explanation of the Ninety-five Theses, 1518).  

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Fighting The War: Executing The Old Adam

This is Part 3 of the Lent Series titled, 

"The Christian's War: The Life of the Christian as Saint and Sinner."

Text: Colossians 3:1-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

I have been told before that the worst kind of alcoholics are those who deny that they have a problem. These are individuals who keep their back bar shelves stocked full of booze and constantly tell their family and themselves that they do not have a difficulty with the bottle. Their talking point is that everything is under control. That is to say; these alcoholics are very difficult because they live under the delusion that they have the ability and willpower to control their alcoholism, but in reality, it is destroying themselves and those around them.

So, they may choose to go several days without a drink, which confirms that they are in control, but when they fall off the wagon, they then rationalize it away and say,

“Oh, it won’t happen again, I am alright. It was just one time. I’ve got this.”

Family members make it worse too when they encourage the alcoholic by giving him encouraging optimistic sayings,

“A couple of drinks are okay.  Everything will be alright. You are fine.” 

And so, the alcoholic will never get the help that he needs, as long as he thinks that he is not an alcoholic and feels that he can make changes on his own. Indeed, as long as he thinks that he is in control and that he can improve his life, he is unfortunately trapped in alcoholism. And being trapped in the addiction, nothing will change for the good, but more often than not, he will destroy himself and others.

But there is another possibility. As soon as the alcoholic bottoms out – reaches the absolute bottom where he can no longer escape his alcoholism – there is hope. Yes, when he realizes that he cannot fix and improve his struggle with the bottle, then he is finally in a place where he can get the help that he needs. At the bottom, the alcoholic will be able to take his eyes off the idea that he can fix himself and then look to help outside himself.  He will be able to look to others to help him with his addiction, which typically results in him dumping the alcohol down the drain and smashing the back bar into a thousand pieces while confessing to those around him, “My name is John, I am an alcoholic.”

Now, why do I share this? I share this because everybody else is no different than an alcoholic, when it comes to the sinful old nature – the old Adam. You see, way too many people are living as if they can improve their sinful old Adam. They have not bottomed out. They think that they are in control and can fix up the old Adam. They live with the delusion that their old Adam can advance and improve.

Consider, for a moment, some of the titles of these popular books,

“Think Confident”

          “Thinking Big”

          “The Power of Your Mind”

“You Can Get Rich”

“I’m OK-You're Ok”

“There is Nothing Wrong With You”

Now, all of these books understand to a certain extent that we humans have a problem, but like the alcoholic, they believe the delusion that we humans can fix our problems. They think that the old Adam can be renewed and converted and improved.

Dear friends, if you try to educate a person, you will get a smarter sinner. If you try to get a person to be confident, you will get a self-assured sinner. If you try to get a person to think big, you will get a big headed sinner. If you try to get a person to tap into power, you will get a power-hungry sinner. If you try to get a person to be rich, you will get a greedy sinner. If you tell someone that they are okay and that there is nothing wrong with them, you will get a satisfied and slothful sinner.[1]

As with the alcoholic, if we ignore the root of the problem, which is that the sinful old Adam cannot improve or be fixed, then meager advice and optimistic encouragements do nothing. Advice only gives the impression that we can fix our old Adam.  

Dear friends, whatever we do, we cannot change our sinful old Adam. The sinful nature is too addicted to sin. The sinful nature is too twisted, too dark, and too perverse. Therefore, "the old man is not converted, he cannot be; he is not renewed, he cannot be. . . . [But rather,] our whole old nature must be removed,”[2] it must be put to death. We must bottom out and realize that improvement of the old Adam is not only a delusion but an impossibility. Indeed, the sinful old Adam is not just a “mere figment of imagination which can be adjusted by thinking differently”[3] or more positively. But rather, the sinful old Adam must be put to death – it must be smashed into a thousand pieces. It must be poured down the drain. It must be dragged out and confessed before the throne of grace. It must be slain. And until this happens, nothing will change for the good, but more often than not, things will only get worse. 

This is exactly what we hear in our Epistle Reading from Colossians. We read that this old Adam, along with its fruit, must be ‘put to death.’ Yes, Paul says that the old Adam and its fruit must not be reformed or converted or improved, but put to death, put away, and stripped off! The sinful old Adam mustn’t pass Go and does not collect $200.

I think we are getting a clear picture right about now that there is no hope for this old Adam. In fact, this old Adam is not to be treated with kid gloves, but rather, this old Adam is to be treated as an enemy combative.  This old Adam needs to be kicked around – admonished, forced, threatened, punished, and ultimately executed.[4]

Too often though, we Christians give this old Adam a hall pass. That is to say; we are way too easy on our old Adam. Case and point – think of Sunday mornings. The alarm goes off. The old Adam says,

“Hit the snooze button you’ve had a long week.”

So the snooze button is hit. The alarm goes off again, but this time you are awake. So, you get up, and you’re your feet to the kitchen to make coffee. You then realize that it is Sunday and that church is in an hour, to which your old Adam says,

“It has been a tough week. You should just stay home. Besides pastor won’t care, he is a pretty nice guy.”

And so, you make the decision not to go to church, but then you find yourself conflicted. Maybe you should go, for church is a good thing. But then your old Adam speaks up again,

“You don’t need to go; you’ve been fairly consistent lately. Missing today won’t impact your spirituality, for you’ve got your faith under control. Besides if you go, your morning will be eaten up and you won’t have time to get to your weekend project done.”

And so, the old Adam wins out. Church is skipped, the Word and Sacrament are not received, and the Third Commandment is broken.  

Dear friends, I know this is a struggle for many of you on Sunday mornings because it is a struggle for me as well – and I am the pastor. You see, our sinful nature despises church because the last thing it wants, is to be confronted by the Lord. And unlike many churches in America, Zion Lutheran is not going to bait your sinful nature into the pew by promising you entertainment in the worship services.

So what does this mean?

Dear friends, first, we need to understand that not wanting to go to church is breaking the Third Commandment, which is not good, but bad.

Secondly, we have to acknowledge that this sinful old Adam within us is like a stubborn donkey and hates church. The old Adam will never change and like church, no matter what we do at the church services.  Even if we gave away free door prizes at church, the old Adam still would despise coming, because the old Adam despises the preaching of God’s Word.   

Thirdly, we need to realize that the very fact that our old Adam does not want to go to church is the very reason why we need to go to church. So, instead of letting the old Adam have his way, we instead confront the sinful nature. Remember you are a Christian, the sinful old Adam can never be given asylum with a Christian. The sinful nature is never to be granted a voice or a safe haven with the Christian, for it is our enemy. And so, when the stubborn sinful nature grumbles, you kick the old Adam and drag this sinful nature to church, where you stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone else and confess, “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You O God all my sins…” And then the pastor hearing the confession, makes the sign of the cross reminding you of your baptisms while saying, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you of all of your sins.”

And at that moment the old Adam is executed – the old Adam is plunged into your baptisms where it drowns and dies.[5] Indeed, at that moment your faith is strengthened – faith that kills the old Adam and makes you altogether a different person.[6]

And here is the catch, dear Baptized Saints, this is the life of the Christian.  The daily Christian life is nothing other than a daily baptism. Because you belong to Jesus and because you have been put at war against your old Adam, you are to daily plunge into your baptisms by confession. Yes, when you confess your sins and confess the old Adam within you, the Lord declares to you that you are baptized - forgiven! Your baptism is not just a past event but a present reality. You received forgiveness of sins in baptism, and that forgiveness remains day by day as long as we live, that is, as long as we carry the old creature around our necks.”[7]   

So, we fight against the old Adam, not by reforming the sinful nature or trying to make it better, but by putting it off – putting it to death. And when we attack the old Adam by confessing, which is repentance, we are also walking in our baptism where we are given the grace, Spirit, and strength to fight the good fight and finish the course.[8]

Strip off the old Adam, put him to death, dear Baptized Saints, for you have died in Christ and are raised anew by faith in Him – clothed in the radiance of your baptisms.

The old Adam cannot be carried forward because Christ is your life. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Don Matzat, Christ Esteem: Where the Search for Self-Esteem Ends (Harvest House Publishing, 1990), 32.

[2] R.C.H. Lenski quoted on Buls Notes on the New Testament, “Colossians 3:1-11,” Pericope Dot Com, http://pericope.org/buls-notes/colossians/colossians_3_1_11.html (accessed March 6, 2018).

[3] Don Matzat, Christ Esteem, 32.

[4] See the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, VI:24.

[5] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism: Baptism.

[6] Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, IV:10.

[7] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism: Baptism.

[8] Paraphrase of 1 Timothy 4:10.

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