Trinity 12

1  Only One of God’s Ministries Can Save You

Everyone wants a connection to God.

Many think they already have one.

Without a Creator,

there would be no reason to be good.

We couldn’t even agree what “good” means.

But we all see that good and evil exist. We want to be on God’s good side.

There are two lines of connection between humans and God:

One is His Law, and the other we call the Gospel.

God’s Law connects us to Him in a two-sided relationship.

It’s a ministry where He offers us His blessings and favor

in return for our complete obedience.

It’s a ministry of the letter,

where everything He wrote must be honored.

If any of it is not honored, it condemns.

The Gospel connects us to God in a one-sided relationship.

It’s a ministry where He blesses us with His favor,

without any requirement from us.

We can still refuse it,

like a child refusing to eat a good meal.

But we don’t need to do anything to receive it.

You can be connected to God through the Law, or the Gospel.

Most people prefer to be connected through the Law,

so most religions and even some Christians

require your obedience as a condition of God’s blessing.

Both the Law and the Gospel are glorious ministries of God. Both are based upon God’s righteousness, which we need. But their glory is not equal.

The ministry most people prefer

is the one that would condemn every imperfection.

But the ministry of the Gospel, the New Testament,

is the one that can save us all.

To have life, we must remain in the Gospel.

We learn this in today’s Epistle lesson,

where Paul writes about the ministry he shared.

Only one of God’s ministries can save you.

The Law condemns the unrighteous to death The Spirit justifies the those who repent, for life

2  2 Corinthians 3:4–11

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

2.1  The Law condemns the unrighteous to death

Only one of God’s ministries can save you,

because the Law condemns the unrighteous to death.

This letter of Paul’s to the Christians in Corinth

is a wake-up call for those who prefer the ministry of the Law.

On some level, we’ve all preferred the ministry of the Law.

In other words, we’ve considered our connection with God

as based upon our righteous life here on earth.

It should be obvious why that’s no good:

We can’t keep the Law!

We can pretend to keep it. We might even pretend so well that we believe we keep it.

But we can’t keep it.

In the end, those who rely upon that connection to God

will be condemned for their own unrighteousness.

But it’s not obvious, is it?

Paul wrote The letter kills.

The “letter” is the Law of God,

written upon the tablets of stone for Moses.

The same Commandments some would like in courthouses.

They kill.

Oh, they do show the difference between right and wrong. They do give us the best advice for living our lives on earth. But for any who try to use them to reach heaven,

they will give death instead of life.

The problem is not in the letter of the Law,

but in people like us, who fail to keep it.

Don’t you?

Don’t you fail to keep the Ten Commandments?

Maybe you haven’t worshipped a golden calf lately,

but have you been afraid of something more than of God?

Remember, He can condemn forever.

Have you loved something on earth more than your Creator?

Remember, He made you to be His alone.

Have you trusted something more than you trust in God?

Remember, He even provides for those earthly things

that we think we can’t live without.

We may not have bent the knee to an idol

but we have certainly bowed our hearts.

To say nothing of the way we misuse God’s Name, or the way we treat His Word as something common.

Yes, we fail to keep the Law —

without even considering what we owe toward our neighbor.

So the letter kills, every time, without fail.

Even if I tell you how you should live by God’s will,

the letter will slay you as unrighteous.

But don’t think the Law is evil. There is nothing more good!

Though for us it’s the ministry of death,

the Commandments of God have spectacular glory!

In making another point, Paul described it like this:

The ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance.

Do you remember that from Sunday School?

(See, those lessons are important!)

When Moses came down from the mountain with the Law,

His face was shining from being in God’s presence. He had to wear a veil to speak to the Israelites.

That was the awesome glory of God’s good Law.

Yes, we have an awesome God,

with a mighty, glorious will for us and our lives.

Sinners like us just can’t survive His awesomeness.

It condemns us and kills us.

Do you remember Elijah the prophet from Sunday School?

He lived in a really godless time. At one point he went up against 400 prophets of Baal,

and won.

When the queen heard they were all killed,

she promised to kill Elijah. He ran.

Elijah ended up at Mt. Horeb,

where Moses had received the Commandments.

God came and spoke to Elijah in person.

He showed His awesome power and might,

but also that our saving connection to Him is different.

And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

That still, small voice was not the Law,

but the ministry of the Spirit.

This voice is the connection that can save you.

2.2  The Spirit justifies the penitent for life

Only one of God’s ministries can save you,

because the Spirit justifies the penitent for life.

What does this mean?

Our text says, if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

You know what the ministry of condemnation is:

The Law that connects us to God.

It defines what is good and right and best,

showing us how we should live in all respects.

But in addition, it also condemns us.

The ministry of righteousness is different.

Instead of the result being condemnation,

it’s righteousness.

The Law defines and demands righteousness we don’t have. The Gospel freely gives us the righteousness of Jesus.

You can’t find God’s favor by living a righteous life,

though it’s exactly what His Law demands.

The Gospel connects us to God through Jesus Christ,

so we automatically have God’s favor,

and with His favor comes every blessing.

Only the Gospel can save you.

The Gospel is good news.

It’s more glorious than the thundering of the Law,

because only by the Gospel do we have eternal life.

But what becomes of the Law, then?

Paul wrote, For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

Is the Law truly passing away? Can we now safely ignore it?

Now we have a connection to God that saves us! Jesus Christ provides us His righteousness,

and takes away all our sins.

That still, small voice has given us eternal life!

Does that mean we can forget the terribly awesome Law?

We’d like to think so,

and that’s exactly why we can’t.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

That means the ministry of the Spirit has changed us.

We have a new nature, one that will last forever. Our life has a new character:

the decisions that we make, our relationships with other people, the way we use our talents and time:

It all has a place in our new life in Christ.

Paul also wrote in Romans 7: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

That means our old, sinful nature still exists,

though it is already doomed by the Law of God.

This wicked nature in us has its own take on life:

on the decisions we make, our relationships with other people, and the way we use our talents and time.

Even though the sinful flesh has no future with God,

yet it still has its influence upon us.

It’s our sinful flesh that would like to forget the Law of God.

You see, that’s what the Law kills in us.

The Law can’t condemn the new self, created by the Spirit.

So our new, selves, justified before God,

have nothing to fear from the Law.

In Christ, we love the Law, and we love what’s good.

But the old, sinful nature would like to forget the Law,

to be rid of its sting.

Do you see why the Law is still important for us?

Even as justified Christians, we need it.

It alone has power over our sinful nature It’s like the sharp knife of a surgeon,

which must cut away the deadly cancer in us.

The Law is not pleasant for us, even as Christians.

It still kills us, and the flesh does not die easily.

It also trains and instructs us to know what is good,

to hold God’s favor as more important

than even our own friends and families;

more important

than even our own will and desire.

We all want to be connected to God.

Let your connection be the blood of Jesus.

Through that connection, that ministry,

your sins are all forgiven, and heaven is promised to you.

There is nothing to prevent you from reaching eternal life.

In Christ, you already have God’s favor.

Don’t dwell upon the awesome majesty of God

in His mighty, righteous Law.

We can’t survive that.

Instead, let your focus be upon His gracious mercy in Jesus Christ,

upon the still, small voice of forgiveness.

That’s where He wants you to find Him, for now and always.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!