Commemoration of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, 2023

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

Psalm 119:46-48 (The Alleluia verse for this commemoration)

Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

June 25, 2023

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 119:46-48:

“I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto Thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in Thy statutes.”

Here the Psalmist praises God for His word. God reveals His will in Holy Scripture. The Psalmist loves God’s Law. He shows us what is right and good and what we ought to do and how we ought to act and behave. The Psalmist loves the Commandments because they are a connection with the God who loves him. The Commandments can be loved first, because God has kept them for us in Jesus Christ, and, second, because God the Father and the Son have sent us the Holy Spirit, who calls, gathers, and enlightens us in the true faith.

The Psalmist delights in and loves the truth of God’s Word. He lifts up his hands in prayer with the truth of God’s Word upon his lips. Thus, he meditates on God’s Word. He knows the truth of God’s Word; how God comforts and consoles through His Word; that His Word is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. So that if it is required of him, the Psalmist will speak of these testimonies even before kings and he knows he will not be put to shame.

This same courage that the Psalmist speaks of receiving, which allows him to confidently speak of God’s testimonies before kings was the same courage that allowed the German princes to speak and confess confidently before Charles V, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. This is what the Church commemorates today—this very confession.

On June 25, 1530, the German princes confessed the truth and purity of God’s Word in the presence of the emperor. Their written confession, as many of you know, is called the Augsburg Confession. The Augsburg Confession is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and is one of the most important documents of the Reformation. For any of you who have read it, and I know many of you have, it’s composition and ordering of the 28 articles, and really the first few articles, is really quite brilliant. The Augsburg Confession is a faithful exposition and explanation of some of the doctrine taught by Holy Scripture.

The first article is obvious. When beginning with Theology or studying Theology, we start with God. The study of Theology is the study of God, thus the words Theos and -ology. Concerning God, Luther’s right hand man Philip Melanchthon wrote: “In the first place, it is with one accord taught and held, following the decree of the Council of Nicea, that there is one divine essence which is named God and truly is God. But there are three persons in the same one essence, equally powerful, equally eternal: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, All three are one divine essence, eternal, undivided, unending, of immeasurable power, wisdom, and goodness, the creator and preserver of all visible and invisible things. What is understood by the word “person” is not a part of a quality in another but that which exists by itself, as the Fathers once used the word concerning the issue.” (AC, I, 1-4) Then Augsburg Confession goes on to condemn, not simply to reject but to condemn, anyone else who believes, teaches, or confesses otherwise, such as those who do not confess the Holy Trinity.

The Augsburg Confession starts with God. But then quickly turns toward man and man’s relation to God. Of course, right from the get-go, there’s a problem in man. The problem is Original Sin, thus, the second article of the Augsburg Confession: “Furthermore, it is taught among us that since the fall of Adam, all human beings who are born in the natural way are conceived and born in sin. This means that from birth they are full of evil lust and inclination and cannot by nature possess true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover, this same innate disease and original sin is truly sin and condemns to God’s eternal wrath all who are not in turn born anew through baptism and the Holy Spirit.” (AC, II, 1-2) Then it goes on to condemn everyone who think that man can become righteous before God by his own powers, such as, “accepting Jesus into the heart” or “making a decision for Christ.”

So in the beginning, there is God. Then God creates Man but Man falls into sin. What’s the solution? The solution is Christ, the Son of God, Who is taken up in article 3, which in summary, states that Jesus is true God and true man in the one person of Jesus Christ. He alone was born, suffered, was crucified, died and was buried, in order both, to be a sacrifice not only for original sin but also for all other sins and to conciliate God’s wrath. Moreover, the Augsburg Confession confesses that Jesus Christ descended into hell, rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven in order to rule and reign forever so that He might also send the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit might make holy, purify, strengthen, and comfort all who believe in Him, and also give to them life and various gifts—all that is stated in the three Creeds.

After speaking of the atoning work of the Son of God what covers all of our sins, then the Augsburg Confession deals with the Doctrine of Justification, also known as “the doctrine on which the Church stands or falls.” The reason for this saying is because if you do not rightly believe, teach, confess, and understand Justification, then you will not rightly know or appreciate the salvific work of Christ. If we don’t believe Jesus has done everything for us, then all we have to trust and confide in are our works. The Augsburg Confession states this plainly: “Furthermore, it is taught that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God through our merit, work, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith, when we believe that Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness in his sight.” (AC, IV, 1-3) This means that there is nothing that we can or should do to make God look down upon us and say, “Well this guy is trying his best. So I’m going to work him a sweet deal.” God does not help those who help themselves. Rather, God helps those who cannot help themselves. We cannot offer God anything. Our works are as filthy rags in comparison to the perfection that God requires. And because we can’t do anything to merit our own forgiveness and righteousness before God, He has sent us His Son, so that all that is required of us is a simple faith. Believing, trusting, knowing that for Christ’s sake, God loves us and desires even us.

“To obtain such faith [that is, faith that takes hold and receives the benefits of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection] God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when He wills, in those who hear the gospel. The Gospel teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our own merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe.” (AC, V, 1-3) That’s article five of the Augsburg Confession.

And then in Article Six, the Augsburg Confession speaks of a “New Obedience” where it says, “It is also taught that such faith should yield good fruit and good works and that a person must do such good works as God has commanded for God’s sake but not place trust in them as if thereby to earn grace before God.” (AC, VI, 1) Just as a good tree produces good fruit, we know that someone who has faith will naturally perform and do good works. Of course, we don’t place our trust in them. But we know that because we have faith, because we know we are justified on account of Christ, good works will follow. We might not always realize we’re doing good works, but we do. Good works are a sign and a proof that faith exists in a person.

Of course, there are other topics that are taken up in the Augsburg Confession such as ceremonies, church rites, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper among other things. If we had to break it down and summarize the basic teaching of the Reformation, we would say that it’s contained in these first few articles of the Augsburg Confession. The German princes confessed before the Emperor that we are justified not by works, but on account of Christ.

Summary of the first six articles.

This is our heritage. This is your heritage. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Lutheran your entire life or if you are still new here. This is your heritage. This is your Church’s confession as well as your own confession. For this reason, it’s important that you learn your history, that you learn your doctrine. When we say that the Augsburg Confession is our Church’s confession, we’re separating ourselves from almost every other type of Christian who does not believe what we believe, teach, and confess according to the Bible because for the last 500 years, the Evangelical Lutheran Church has determined that the Augsburg Confession is a faithful exposition of Holy Scripture. If you care about being a Christian, if you relish and love the fact that you have been reconciled to the Father because of the sacrifice of the Son, then you ought to care about doctrine, reading the Bible, and studying these things. Ideas matter. Doctrine divides. This is why we’re not in fellowship with other denominations or even other groups that call themselves “Lutheran.” This is precisely why I don’t go preach at the Baptist church down the road and why we don’t have the First Christian Church pastor come preside over the Holy Communion. We don’t confess the same thing. Of course, we desire and pray for the day when all divisions in the Church will cease. But that will only come on the Last Day.

But until then, you’re going to have to keep reading the Bible. You’re going to have to keep studying your doctrine. You’re going to have to put in some work. One of the sentiment’s I’ve heard is that some people don’t like to read their Bible not because they don’t want to, but because they’re afraid they’ll need a pastor to interpret it for them and tell them what it means. But the reality is that you don’t need me or any other pastor to explain every minute detail to you. You really don’t. To be sure, there are hard topics and difficult things to understand in the school of theology, but for the most part, you’ll be just fine to read through documents like the Augsburg Confession, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord. Of course, your own study isn’t a substitute for coming to Church and listening to sermons, remembering them, and talking with your children and family about the Sunday sermon. My point is that you can do some of this work. And you will benefit from it. All Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

To that end, if your household does not have a Book of Concord—the book that contains all the Lutheran Confession—let me know. I’m sure the church would be happy to purchase one for you. Also, check out the church’s library. There are quite a few new books, solid books that have been added from CPH and other publishing houses that are good reads. A soldier does not go out into the battlefield without his equipment, his armor, and his weapons. In the same way, we don’t just simply come to church on Sundays and then go out into the world, forgetting everything that happened on Sunday. We need to keep at it. And more and more in our day, we need to get off of screens and actually read books, because that’s good for our imagination and our brains and our overall well-being. Not only will this be good for you as individuals but it will most certainly help you evangelize and give a good witness and help you be able to articulate and talk about these things with your friends and family members who are not Christians. That’s why this matters. This stuff matters because eternal life is at stake. The Psalmist knew it. Martin Luther knew it. Philip Melanchthon knew it. The rest of the German princes knew it. That’s why they all risked their lives to confess true and pure doctrine before kings.

And so also, in the end, God forbid, but who knows, the time may come, and it may come even in our lifetime, and it’s especially even more likely to happen in our children’s lifetime, that these things could be taken away from us and these ideas and doctrines we hold so dear are declared dangerous, and hateful, and are outlawed. We may find ourselves in the same situation as the Psalmist and as the Reformers of the 16th century where we are called upon to confess these things in front of kings or rulers or a tribunal. But knowing our doctrine and taking comfort in it, learning it, by doing that, may it be God’s will that we will say and confess the same thing as the Psalmist in Psalm 119, “I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.” Surely, because of the promises of God, we will not be put to shame.

In +Jesus’ name.