Saturday after Judica Sunday
Posted on April 9, 2022 by under
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 (NKJV)
5:11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
12 For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Devotion
“We…give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.” St. Paul gives permission to the Corinthians to boast of him and the other Apostles against false brethren. The orthodox Lutheran Church does the same thing, for we confess in the Nicene Creed, “I believe one holy Christian and Apostolic Church.”
What does it mean to confess that the Church is “Apostolic”? It means that the true doctrine of the true Church has not changed since the Lord Jesus Christ handed it down to the Apostles. When we confess the Nicene Creed, we confess that we believe and teach that same true doctrine which the Apostles taught.
What does it mean to “boast” in the Apostles? We boast in the Apostles when we confess their doctrine against those who teach otherwise—who, as St. Paul puts it, “boast in appearance and not in heart.”
Who are these? Anyone who confesses any doctrine which did not come from the Apostles—such as the pope, church fathers, modern preachers, or one’s own dreams—trusts in lies and has an empty boast. If these are set against the doctrine of the Apostles, they are empty and false. We boast in this: the Lutheran doctrine is the doctrine of the Apostles, which is derived from the writings of the Apostles themselves—namely, the Holy Scriptures.
Prayer: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon Thy people, that by Thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
