Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use · George Mezger
LESSON 30.
The Third Article: Of Sanctification. The Holy Ghost. The Triune God. Which is the beginning of the Third Article? _I believe in the Holy Ghost._ 1. According to the Second Article we believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, that is, we do not only know that it is true what God's Word says about Christ and His work for us, but _we put all our confidence, all our trust, in Him as our Savior_ who has redeemed us. That is the true, saving faith. This saving faith is not our own work. _It is the work of God the Holy Ghost._ Without Him and the work which He performs in us no man would come to Jesus and believe in Him. The Holy Ghost alone can and does bring to Christ those that believe in Him. About the Holy Ghost and the work which He performs in us we learn in the _Third Article of our Christian Creed._
2. _"I believe in the Holy Ghost,"_ these are the first words of the Third Article. We _believe_ in the Holy Ghost, thus we confess. To believe in some one means, as we have learned, _to put one's whole confidence and trust in him._ Now, God tells us in the First Commandment that we should fear and love Him above all things _and trust in Him alone. In God only_ we should believe. And therefore we believe in the Holy Ghost, because He is the true God. _In saying that we believe in the Holy Ghost, we confess that He is the one true God, that He is our God, God as truly as the Father and Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord._ The apostle says: _"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God, dwelleth in you?"_ 1 Cor. 3,16. Because the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, dwells in us, we are _God's_ temple. The Holy Ghost therefore is the true God.--Remember what you learned in the history of creation. There we read: _"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."_ Gen. 1,2. The work of creation is ascribed to the Spirit of God, to the Holy Ghost. Creation is the work of God. _Therefore the Holy Ghost must be God._
3. _We believe in the Father, and we believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, and we believe in the Holy Ghost._ There are _three distinct persons_ in whom we believe. There are three persons whom we confess to be our God--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. And we confess this according to Scripture. Christ, our Lord, commands us to baptize in the name of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Matt. 28,19. Let me remind you of the _baptism of our Lord._ There the three divine Persons revealed themselves. _God the Son,_ our Lord Jesus Christ, stood in the river Jordan, being baptized by John. _God the Father_ revealed Himself in a voice from heaven, saying: _"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."_ And the heavens opened, and the _Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost,_ like a dove, descended upon our Lord. _There are three distinct divine Persons in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost._
4. We confess that the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. _There are not three gods, however, but only one God. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord, our God, is one Lord."_ Deut. 6,4. The one and only true God has revealed Himself in three distinct divine Persons. _Our God, the one true God, besides whom there is no other God in heaven and earth, is God the Father, God the Son, and God, the Holy Ghost, three divine Persons, but one God._ Because God has revealed Himself in three divine Persons, we say: _God is the Triune God, the Holy Trinity._--How it is possible that there are three distinct divine Persons, but only one God, we do not _understand;_ but in accordance with the Word of God we _believe_ in the Triune God, in God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who has created us, redeemed us, and sanctifies us, or makes us holy. In Him we believe, Him we praise and adore as our God. 5. The Holy Ghost is the true God, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. The Third Person is called the Holy Ghost because _He Himself is perfectly holy,_ even as the Father and the Son. He is without sin. _"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory."_ Is. 6,3. Three times God is called holy, because there are three divine Persons in God.--But the Holy Ghost is called holy also _because He makes us sinners holy._ That is His work, making us holy, who by nature are unholy and sinful. He makes us holy by bringing us to Christ, our Savior, by kindling faith in Him in our hearts. This work of the Holy Ghost we call _sanctification._
1. _The Holy Ghost is true God together with the Father and the Son. Therefore we confess that we believe in Him._ 2. _The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. According to Scripture we confess three distinct divine Persons in God._ 3. _There are not three gods, however, but only one true and eternal God, who has revealed Himself in three Persons._ 4. _The one true God, our God, is the Triune God, the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost._ _Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?_ 1 Cor. 3,16. _Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost._ Matt. 28,19. _Hear, O Israel: the Lord, our God, is one Lord._ Deut. 6,4. _Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory._ Is. 6,3.
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