Non-Lutheran Christians sometimes say things like: “Jesus says all who believe are saved. I believe, therefore I’m saved.”
But what does that point us to? Our own faith.
Luther approached it differently.
He would say: “Christ says to you, ‘I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Christ does not lie. Therefore, I am saved.”
This comes from Titus 1:1-2, where Paul explicitly states that God does not lie.
Paul writes as “a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth…in hope of eternal life, which God who never lies promised before the ages began.”
✔️God who never lies speaks the word that you are baptized.
✔️God who never lies speaks through the pastor when he says: “I forgive you your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
✔️God who never lies speaks through His Son’s words when he says: “This is my body. This is my blood given and shed for you.”
✔️God who never lies promises forgiveness of sins.
When He speaks through Jesus saying, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5), that’s also true, an everlasting promise.
You are made anew in baptism, sustained through preaching of the Word and the body and blood of Christ.
Christ makes all things new through His death and resurrection, taking your old sinful self into His tomb and raising it to new life.
This is the everlasting promise of the God who never lies — that you are made anew in Him.
May this peace be with you until the age to come when all things will be new, because He has promised it.
Contributor Matthew Zickler is pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Western Springs, IL.
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