The Apostles' Creed (part nine)

Turn me, and I shall be turned; for You are the LORD my God (Jeremiah 31:18).

The third article of the Apostles’ Creed begins with the words: "I believe in the Holy Spirit". The first verse of the Bible is concerned with God the Father; the second verse speaks of the Holy Spirit. Although we usually focus our attention on the Father and His Son Jesus, the Spirit of God is introduced before the Savior is mentioned! This helps us realize that the Spirit’s work is tremendously important. True, if the Father had not created us, we would not be alive; if His Son had not died for our sins, we would be lost and condemned; but if the Holy Spirit had not done His work, you would not be reading this and no one would have the faith necessary to be welcomed into heaven. The work of God’s Spirit is to create faith in our hearts, a confidence that through Jesus we can be forgiven and live in eternal love. And the Spirit does this work through the Gospel.

The Holy Spirit is just what His name describes. Being a Spirit, He has the ability to think and feel emotion, as well as the desire to set goals and achieve them—the only thing He does not have is a body. The Bible shows us that the Spirit has power; during the years of His earthly ministry, Jesus was assisted by the Holy Spirit who came down and rested on the Son of Man at His baptism. And the Spirit is holy; unlike the devil and his evil angels who try to lure us into disaster, God’s Spirit is always working to bring us blessings and guide us according to God’s ways.

The Lutheran Confessions state: "He is true God with the Father and the Son." The Spirit is not an impersonal force or source of power; He is a person just as the Father and the Son are persons. Just like the Father and the Son, He is all-powerful, He is present everywhere, He knows everything, He is eternal, He is righteous, merciful and holy. Just like the Father and the Son, He cares for us and listens to our prayers. Just like the Father and the Son, He is deserving of our respect and love and praise.

There is much to say about the Holy Spirit, but today we will limit our discussion to His most important work: leading us to faith in Jesus Christ. This work is described by Jeremiah as a turning; we also call it conversion. In Arlington Cemetery in Washington, there is a monument dedicated to the Unknown Soldier. Every day there is a soldier assigned to stand watch at this tomb; at regular intervals, he marches along the sidewalk, comes to a halt, makes a complete about face, and strides back in the opposite direction. This illustrates the idea of conversion. Conversion is a complete about face. By nature we fear God, distrust Him, want to go our own way without having Him look over our shoulders in disapproval. When we are converted, we are turned around so that we love God, trust Him, want to please Him with our lives and be near Him all the time. Conversion is a complete change of mind, attitude and heart, an inner change illustrated by Jesus in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

The young man in Jesus’ story didn’t respect his father and resented living by his rules. He asked for his inheritance and went off to a distant country where he felt free of his father’s oversight. The young man lived an extravagant lifestyle and quickly exhausted his funds; he soon found himself doing disgusting work for next to no money. Then, Jesus said, he came to his senses. His attitude towards his father and his home changed completely. He realized that his father was a loving man and that life under his roof was better than anywhere else. This is conversion—a complete change of attitude regarding our Father in heaven, where fear is replaced with trust, hate is replaced by love.

Conversion is about coming to trust in Jesus for salvation. Just because someone changes their behavior does not necessarily mean that they have been converted; suddenly becoming a law-abiding citizen who gives to charity can be the result of selfish motives. True conversion involves man’s sin and God’s grace. Conversion requires that you and I own up to our sins and realize a need for things to be different; it requires that we go to Jesus for mercy, and trust in His power to save us from all that is evil within us.

It has been said that hell is going to be filled with many ‘good’ people. We judge whether someone is ‘good’ based on what they do and say; God, however, looks first and foremost at what a person believes. The only people God welcomes into His eternal home are those who realize that they are not good, and that they need God’s Son to rescue them from being punished in hell. Paul was put in prison several times for teaching this truth about salvation; during one of these times, a jailer asked him what must I do to be saved? Paul’s answer was clear and simple: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:30-31). Jesus is the only means of escape from the threat of hell to the promise of heaven: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him (John 3:36). For this reason, conversion of the human heart is incredibly important.

But how does the Holy Spirit go about converting people? In the Small Catechism Luther says that the Spirit calls us by the Gospel and enlightens us with His gifts.

Jesus told the story of a man who prepared a banquet (Luke chapter 14). When all was in order, he sent his servants to the guests with this message: `Come, for everything is now ready.' The application is obvious. The host is Christ. The great banquet which He has prepared is not meat, potatoes and dessert, but something far more precious—forgiveness of sins, peace with God, hope, joy, a life on earth energized by love, and eternal bliss in paradise. As the servants called the guests, so the Spirit of God now calls us.

There are some who believe that the Spirit brings people to faith through dreams and visions. But Luther rejected such claims; he insisted that the Spirit calls through the Gospel—which, of course, is what the Bible teaches. Paul wrote faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). He also stated, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel (1 Corinthians 4:15). Peter reminded the followers of Christ that they were born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:23).

The Gospel is the means of grace, the pipeline through which the Holy Spirit brings us the water of life. The New York City metropolitan area has a population of millions of people. Do you know where they get their water? There are huge reservoirs in the mountains to the north of the city, which are filled by the melting snows of spring and the rains of summer. This water, however, would be of no practical value to the residents if there were no pipes to bring it to the city and into their homes. Without those pipes, the city of New York could not survive. In a similar way, there is a vast reservoir in heaven filled with the water of life. Jesus provided this life-giving water by suffering and dying on the cross to atone for our sins. The Gospel is the pipeline by which the Holy Spirit brings these blessings from heaven into our lives. Without the Spirit and the Gospel that He uses, we would all die of spiritual thirst.

The Gospel is the pipeline that makes spiritual life possible. That’s why Christian parents are so concerned with teaching their children about Jesus. You can teach a child that it is important to obey the Ten Commandments, but obeying the Law of God can’t save anyone. What that child needs more than anything is to be taught about Jesus’ life, crucifixion and resurrection. To find eternal happiness, that child needs to know that Jesus alone can provide it.

The Gospel is the pipeline. That’s why Christians are so concerned with bringing the Good News to those around us who remain unconverted. That’s why Christians offer a portion of their income to support mission work, so that the unconverted in countries far away can also hear what the Bible teaches about Jesus and be saved.

The Spirit also enlightens us with His gifts. ‘Enlighten’ means to give light, to open the eyes of people so that they might see. Before conversion, all people live in spiritual darkness. Such a person does not know the truth about himself. Such a person does not know God or how to get to heaven. In fact, the person living in darkness doesn’t even know that heaven and hell exist. But through the Gospel, the Spirit of God removes the spiritual cataracts from our eyes so that we can see reality: that we are sinners, that God loves us and is willing to forgive us, that we can never earn God’s mercy by our own weak efforts, that life on earth is only a journey to our true home at Jesus’ side.

To be ‘enlightened’ means seeing the truth and embracing it. It is such a tragedy—so many people hear the truth of the Gospel but won’t believe it. The idea that God’s own Son would suffer and die in our place, then rise from the dead to live forever, sounds like foolishness to the unconverted. When the apostle Paul spoke to the philosophers in Athens they were happy to listen to him, because they were always interested in new ideas; but when Paul spoke of the resurrection, they lost interest. When Paul was on trial for preaching about Jesus and explained the Good News to the court, he was told: Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy! (Acts 26:24) This is why our Catechism says: "I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts…"

Are you a Christian? Give thanks to the Spirit—it was He who converted you! Are you a Christian? Don’t look down on those who are not. You didn’t convert yourself. Are you a Christian? Spread the Good News that Jesus died for our sins and rose again to open heaven to us. Through this message the Spirit of God can convert the unconverted.

Have you ever been sick in the hospital? Typically, there are three steps to getting you cured. The doctor diagnoses your case and writes a prescription; the pharmacist fills the prescription; the nurse gives you the medicine. In the same way, there are Three in heaven who work to cure the sickness in your soul. The Father wrote out a prescription which involved the suffering, death, and resurrection of His Son. Jesus filled the prescription by dying for our sins on Good Friday and rising from death on Easter morning. The Holy Spirit gives us the medicine, which is the Good News about Jesus. It is all God’s work, from beginning to end.

But if conversion is entirely the work of God, why then are some saved and others lost—even if they were baptized at the same church, went to Sunday School together, and were classmates throughout Confirmation? The Bible assures us that the Lord does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But even though a doctor prescribes the best medicine, the pharmacist fills the prescription correctly, and the nurse brings the medicine to the patient, that patient can refuse to take the medicine and die. Even though God wrote a prescription for our salvation, Jesus filled that prescription, and the Holy Spirit offers it to all who hear the Gospel, a person can obstinately reject it and perish everlastingly in hell. Many of the Pharisees did so in Jesus’ time, and many do so today. I pray that no one reading this would act so foolishly!

Blessed are you who believe. Do you trust in Jesus as your Savior, your Helper, your Friend? Thank the Holy Spirit, because He is the One who called you by the Gospel and gave you that gift of faith.