Classical theology has much to say about the means by which the Gospel is conveyed to those who need to hear it. Martin Luther listed these five means of grace: the Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Confession of Sins, and Mutual Encouragement of the Brethren. Consider those to be input through which the Holy Spirit can work.
But classical theology has nothing to say about the Spirit’s output—what happens when the Spirit is at work in an individual or congregation. What differences does the Spirit make in lives that know the Gospel of redemption in Christ? How can you tell if the Spirit is allowed to work more effectively in one congregation compared to another? Churches do differ in how open they are to the Spirit’s work in their midst.
Since Reformation theology did not provide answers for a question never asked, I can feel free to offer some answers to my question. That question, again, is how well the Spirit is touching and changing lives in a congregation?
In his Small Catechism, Luther taught that the Holy Spirit “called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified me, and kept me in the true faith, even as he calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth.” To recognize how well the Spirit is able to work in a church, look especially for how well Christ’s Spirit is enlightening and sanctifying the people who make up the congregation. Do most see themselves in a closer relationship with God than ten years earlier. Are most more sanctified than they were five years ago.
That last question about the degree of sanctification is very difficult for Lutherans to pursue. After I had preached on a Sunday, I received a note the next day from a visitor accusing me of preaching sanctification, and Lutherans don’t do that. I understood where he was coming from. The key issue of the Reformation was the distinction between justification and sanctification, between being made just and doing good works. Never confuse the two. Good works do not make you righteous before God. Such righteousness is a gift from God.
Yet I believe sanctification is almost as important as justification. Translate sanctification as becoming more like Christ. A legitimate question is how a believer or a church has become more like Christ over the last ten years or so. That is a measure of how well the Spirit has been allowed to work in their midst.
The Holy Spirit changes lives. Is there any evidence of such change? Specifically, is there evidence of growth in the fruit the Spirit produces, like love, joy, peace and patience? Is congregational life more loving and joyful? Do participants have more patience with each other? If not, why not?
At a minimum, a congregation can and should do a better job of cultivating the Holy Spirit’s presence in their life together. Leaders can equip those participants to do ministries that help fellow participants become more like Christ.
To invite the Spirit’s greater presence, the pastor and church leaders can promote more Spiritual disciplines that put us in the Spirit’s workshop. The acronym GROWTH offers a good framework: Go to God in worship and prayer. Receive his Word for you. Opt for self-denial. Give Witness to your faith. Trust God in a new venture. Humble yourself before God.
Congregations can have two kinds of growth. One is quantitative, growing in numbers. When that happens, such growth is a special gift and beyond the church’s direct control. The other is growth in the quality of Christian life together. That’s something leaders can do by providing more Spiritual growth opportunities.
Pastors might start with themselves. Does their thinking have greater depth than years ago? Have they been growing in love, joy, peace and patience? If not, will they be willing to pursue one or more of the Spiritual disciplines that more deliberately and effectively open themselves to the Spirit’s empowerment?
Pastor Luecke. I believe the answer to your question of how well is the Spirit working is not a good place to start nor go to. I think the proper question should be “Is the Spirit working in your life?” And that question can be rightly and is answered both in Scripture and in what you call “classical theology,” contrary to your claim in this post.
Galatians 5:22-23 states the fruit of the Spirit; and if that fruit is present in a person’s life – and they believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord – then that person does have the Spirit working in their lives. That individual or congregation is simply carrying out the good works that God has prepared in advance for them to do. How well is the Spirit working, trying to measure the level of the Spirit’s work, is not for use to fathom. He either is or is not at work in a person’s life. To determine a level of spirituality is a human construct and unproductive to the Christian life and can lead to faith in our “increasing” good work rather than in Christ.
I challenge your comment “To invite the Spirit’s greater presence…” The Spirit does not work in degrees as the Spirit gives completely and fully to His work, just as Christ gave Himself completely to the work of saving fallen mankind. The Holy Spirit does not work stronger in some and lesser in others as if we have to do something special for that “greater presence.” The natural man, the Old Adam that still clings to us, fights against the work of the Spirit and that can result in varying works. The more mature in faith one is the better able to resist the temptations and trials of the sinful flesh, the world and the devil; but it is not a result of the level of the Spirit’s working.
Secondly, “classical theology” as brought forth by Dr. Luther did speak quite thoroughly in his Small and Large catechisms regarding the “Spirit working” in a person or congregation’s life. You have the commandments and their meanings in the Small Catechism; and the fuller explanation in the Large Catechism. This you likely know as the 3rd use of the law, as a rule and guide.
Then Luther expounded on the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work in the Table of Duties. We know it as the doctrine of vocation. Here is where he discusses the manifestation of the Spirit’s work in the persons daily life. And these manifestations are seen in the ordinary and mundane things in our lives. As human beings, we are constantly looking for the glorious and glitzy to see how much the Spirit is working. This is was the problem Luther was fighting against in the Reformation with the clerical class. He made it clear that a mother of faith that changes the dirty diapers of her child does a greater holy and glorious work in the sight of God than all the works of priests and nuns combined.
To quote a familiar hymn, “we live by faith and not by sight.” I agree with you that we should as Christians “Go to God in worship and prayer. Receive his Word for you… Give Witness to your faith. Trust God in [all things]. Humble yourself before God.” But that is not our doing, but the Spirit doing His work in us. If we are regular in worship, prayer, Word and trusting in Him above all things, then the Spirit will work in a person’s life. Let that trust and faith in God be all that is necessary, looked and clung to as the foundation and source of salvation.
Thanks for taking this blog so seriously. The input of Word and Sacrament is basic. But their effectiveness can vary, depending on how well they are interpreted. Luther does declare mutual encouragement as a means of grace (Smallcald Articles Part III, ArticleIV) Such conversation is a supplement. We take the input seriously. Why not also the output? If nothing changes in a person’s Spiritual life in terms of fruit of the Spirit, the input was not very effective. How can it be improved? Application, application. I talk about the Spirit’s workshop as believers gathered around God’s Word and sharing their experiences with whatever that word has for them. Look especially there for improvement in output. I like you question as a starting point “Is the Spirit working in your life?” It should prompt a lot of discussion.
Pastor, thank you for this particular post. I try to read most of your stuff, but time is sometimes hard to find. Today’s subject is very timely for me and my SBC church here in central Mississippi. God has done a lot in my life during these covid-19 days (months) and I’m so very thankful. He has begun working it through the church now as well. While I’ve always stressed the disciplines in my teaching and preaching, many more in my congregation are seemingly responding the work of the Spirit in ways that are becoming evident. Most recently I’ve been preaching from Acts, and wanting us to see what the Spirit and the early church was doing that we can apply to our church and community today. And it has been exciting. All that to say, the GROWTH acronym is something I can use to encourage my church. I’m so glad you shared that. This article has moved me to deeper thought and desire for the Spirit to reveal more and more of His work in me and our church. Blessings!
Thank you very much. Glad you found GROWTH so helpful. Acts, of course, is very good at describing the Spirit at work. You can supplement your preaching and teaching with Virtual Church Fellowship (www.VirtualFellowship.church) that I have developed. It is free except for a small technical charge to set up your own congregation’s mini-website. I will be glad to talk with you about at dsluecke@aol.com. I personally gain nothing from VCF except a sense of accomplishment at furthering God’s mission.
James 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
If the Spirit of the Lord is within us then the fruits of that Spirit bless our lives immensely. So much so we should not be able to keep it bundled up inside of us. We are moved to action to help those that are in need, to share this “Good News” with as many as we possibly can so they may be blessed as well. God’s word speaks to us loud and clear as to the path we need to take, the fullness of life that it brings and the promise of what is to come. We are commanded to share these blessings with the world around us and it is in the process of doing so that our own faith matures. Anything that the church can do to promote this activity will truly be richly blessed in so many ways.
Hi, Lee. As usual, well said.
I think Luther talked about the fruit more often than most realize. We find that in his published sermons.
The other question is how to address the lack of fruit in a person’s life. Is it to name that lack of fruit and call for repentance and faith (Law and Gospel), or is it to exhort people to try harder.
If you have any of those Luther references, I would like to have them.
You can’t command someone to love, or be joyful or be at peace. What you do is help them be in the Spirit’s workshop, which is other believers gathered around God’s word and sharing their experiences. And pray.
I’ll get to work getting some references. In most cases, what Luther talked about was the fruit of faith, rather than the fruit of the Spirit. Luther talked a lot about good works in his published sermons. However, he pointed out that the Law could not produce this kind of fruit, on the Holy Spirit working faith in the believer could produce this fruit. I do agree that Luther shied away from talk about the Spirit after his conflict with the Schwarmerei, but later on in “The Council and the Church”, he focused heavily on the work of the Spirit through the Seven Marks of the Church. This is precisely the Spirit’s workshop that you are talking about. So what I’m saying is in agreement with your basic thesis, that the old forms of motivating people no longer work, and that your proposal to that we use a better form of motivation is in line with Luther. Again, my thesis is that when Luther talks about faith, grace, and the fruit of both, he is speaking of the Spirit. We need to reclaim that and be explicit about it as you are doing.
It is my intent to be fully in line with Luther and the Lutheran Confessions. Faith is a fruit the Spirit produces. It’s not either/or. Somehow I missed On the Councils and the Church. I see it is in Volume 41. I will read it.