Our theme for this Sunday, Trinity Sunday, comes 2 Cor. 4:13, it’s not one of primary texts, but will help us see all the primary texts and the theme of the Trinity. It goes like this:
Since we have the same Spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak.
Today, you have spoken some very bold.
This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.
That’s very bold. Do you really believe that?
The word catholic there just means, according to the whole, according to prophetic, apostolic and historic Christian faith. It just means the Christian faith. But that’s still pretty bold of you.
How can you be so certain about such an important thing?
There is in our time a great deal of respect for those who are uncertain of themselves.
It’s quite popular to say, “I’m not so sure this is true, but….”
“This is just my opinion, but….”
“I might be wrong on this, but….”
And I get it, we can take opinions too far. We can be stubborn and arrogant on all sorts of things that in which there is Christian freedom in differing.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat,
And there’s more than one way to live and to talk and raise a house and keep a home.
But there is not freedom is who you should fear, love, and trust in above all things.
You shall have no other gods.
I’m sure you’re uncertain about a lot of things, a lot of decisions you have to make or have made. A lot of feelings you have, but you should not be uncertain about what you believe about God, and thus what you speak, because what you believe about God, what you speak about God, doesn’t come from you.
The Christian faith is not an opinion and we shouldn’t be uncertain about it.
Your confession of who God is – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Your confession how it is that you are saved and loved and leaded and guided and had mercy on.
What you believe and thus what you speak is based on the Eternal, All Knowing, All Powerful, merciful, mighty, loving God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who have revealed Himself in the written Holy Scriptures and of the sending of His Son into the flesh to bear your sin, bear your doubts, bear your pride and idolatry and that wrath that you deserved because of to be your Savior.
It’s a beautiful pairing today in church that we would confess the Athanasian Creed, which is the most comprehension Scriptural confession of the Trinity with Jesus meeting Nicodemus.
3 times in this text alone Jesus uses one of His favorite idioms, one of His favorite sayings, Truly, truly, I say to you….
Verily, verily…I say to you…
Amen, amen…I say to you…in the Greek.
Interesting, right? Because we say Amen at the end of things and Jesus says them at the beginning.
That’s because Jesus is saying, “What I am saying is true.” And we are saying, “What He is saying is true.” Let God be true, though every man a liar.
You need this today, to be renewed in Jesus’ and His truly, truly’s.
You ever listen to someone, and you’re pretty sure they don’t know what they’re talking?
Sometimes, it seems they’ll just keep talking just hoping they’ll find out what they’re talking about if they keep talking.
Jesus isn’t this way. Jesus knows what He means and He wants you to know what He means, too. Jesus is clear.
And Jesus is confident.
You ever listen to someone who didn’t have any confidence in themselves or in what they were saying.
When you’re life is in His hands, when you’re rescue and all your peace and joy is in His hands, you don’t want Him saying, “I might be wrong on this, but…”
No, truly, truly I say to you.
Jesus knows what He means, and He means what He says.
He know what He can do for you and what He has done and is doing for you.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
This means that we should have absolutely no eternal certainty, no eternal confidence, in ourselves or in any other person’s abilities or thoughts or opinions.
Even what we think we see with our own eye or feel in our hearts.
Nicodemus has the eternally begotten Son of God, God of God…right in front of his eyes and he can’t who He is….He can’t see the King of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus’ truly, truly’s can be summarized as warnings about who we are as sinners, but then also promises about who God is as our Savior.
You must be born again, for the Christian, turns into an Amen, “I am born again. I am baptized. The Spirit has given me new birth, new life, new powers, new eyes to see and believe and speak what is true, even when my old eyes and heart see and feel all sorts of other things.”
You must believe this in order to be saved, turns into, “This is true, whether I believe it or not. But I do believe, and so I speak.”
Today, in the midst of uncertainty about what this world is, who you are, you gather around the living voice and life giving and working Spirit of Jesus.
Jesus know what He means, He means what He says, and He wants you to know it, too.
It is not impossible to know who God is and what He thinks of you – He says it clearly in His Word, in His promises, in this Holy Supper.
Truly truly He tells you His commandments for your living and thinking.
Truly truly He tells you His commandments for your repentance to tear down any boldness and arrogance you might have in yourself.
Truly truly He has washed your sins away, you are born again, you are made new, you are His son or daughter, you are saved, you are loved, you are not judged –
He knows you and you know Him – your Savior – your God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Because He continues to speak, so we continue to believe.