Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Romans 6:15–18 (NKJV)

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Shall we sin? Certainly not! The answer seems obvious to the Christian. And yet history shows that the simple question and answer need to be repeated often, because God’s people, influenced by the devil, the world, and our flesh, easily grow complacent and secure. Such was certainly the case for Israel at Mt. Sinai. God had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and claimed them as His special people. They were finally safe and secure under the grace and protection of the LORD God. But instead of serving Him and obeying the commandments He had recently spoken to them, they went right back to serving sin instead, and the consequences were fatal.

And so, just as Paul warns the Corinthian Christians in today’s Epistle, so he instructs and urges the Romans in today’s devotional text: Shall we sin? Certainly not!

Why not? Because you wanted to be free from sin. Remember? The Law condemned you because of your sins. It warned you of God’s wrath and eternal punishment, and you were rightly afraid. And then the Gospel called you away from the judgment seat of the Law to flee in faith to Christ Jesus, to be judged under grace instead. There you received the forgiveness of sins and were welcomed into God’s house and into God’s service, leading to life instead of death. It’s good to be reminded of that, because the devil would gladly convince you that you can live under grace while also living in willful sin. He would lull you to sleep, convincing you that you are secure in God’s grace even as you reject that very grace through impenitence. When he makes such an attempt, return to Paul’s question and answer. Shall we sin? Certainly not! For you have been delivered from sin and death and are now a servant of the God of grace, to do good instead of evil.

Let us pray: Merciful Father in heaven, we thank you for delivering us from sin through faith in Your beloved Son. Help us by Your powerful Spirit to flee from sin each day and to serve You in righteousness. Amen.

2 Corinthians 6:11–7:16 (NKJV)

¹¹ O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. ¹² You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. ¹³ Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open. ¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” ¹⁷ Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” ¹⁸ “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” ¹ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ² Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴ Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. ⁵ For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. ⁶ Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸ For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. ⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. ¹² Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. ¹³ Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴ For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true. ¹⁵ And his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. ¹⁶ Therefore I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything.

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

The great promises of which St. Paul speaks are the Lord promise to dwell with in the baptized and be their God so that the baptized belong to God and God belongs to them.  The second promise is that God will be a Father to them, making them His sons and daughters. These are great promises indeed! The Lord promises to be with us, to dwell within us by faith so that we belong to the Lord! He promises that we are His sons and daughters and therefore co-heirs with Christ of all the heavenly blessings! All of this He promises us in His Word and all of this He gives us in Holy Baptism.

Therefore since we are baptized and have received such great promises, St. Paul urges us to cleanse ourselves from all the world’s filthiness of body and soul by godly sorrow. All manner of lusts, ambition, greed, along with every excuse and rationalization for our sin, are to be acknowledged for what they are: sins which displease God and earn His wrath. We also sorrow over the sin in our flesh,  desires and impulses, as displeasing to God. This sorrow leads to true repentance, that we confess our sins and believe the gospel of Christ’s full atonement and perfect righteousness which He promises to the penitent. Worldly sorrow, however, doesn’t lead to repentance and faith. Worldly sorrow is only sorrow for being caught and having to endure the earthly consequences. Godly sorrow and faith in God’s promises of forgiveness, enables us to live our identity as temples of the Spirit and children of God the Father. Living in this identity each day we put off our sins and work, with the Spirit’s aid, to perfect our holiness in the fear of God.

Let us pray: Lord God, grant us godly sorrow that leads to repentance so that we may rejoice in your promises and live according to the identity You give us in the gospel. Amen.

2 Corinthians 2:1–3:3 (NKJV)

¹ But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. ² For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? ³ And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. ⁴ For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. ⁵ But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. ⁶ This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, ⁷ so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. ⁸ Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. ⁹ For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. ¹⁰ Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. ¹² Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, ¹³ I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. ¹⁴ Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵ For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. ¹ Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? ² You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Paul urges the Corinthians to forgive the man who had taken his father’s wife as his own. Paul advised them to hand the man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh “that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5). Being excommunicated from the church led the man to see the severity of his sin and sorrow over it. Now Paul urges them to forgive the penitent man lest he be swallowed up by excessive sorrow and despair that he is beyond forgiveness. Despair is the first of the devil’s devices of which St. Paul wants the Corinthians to be aware. Another satanic device the Corinthians must watch for is the temptation to become puffed up at the fact that they had not fallen into such a sin and say with the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men.” Although despair and pride seem very different they are both unbelief. Despair says, “I am beyond forgiveness for my sin.” Pride says, “I have no sin for which I need forgiveness.” Love for the erring brother  is not puffed up nor is it unwilling to forgive if he repents.

The saving knowledge of Christ that forgives sins and offers newness of life is a sweet smelling fragrance that God diffuses through Paul’s preaching. To those who are perishing in their unbelief, the gospel reeks of death by requiring the admission of their sin, repenting their pride, trust in Christ’s death and righteousness, and amendment of life. The gospel is the fragrance of death to unbelievers because it means the death of their old Adam, which many will not tolerate.

But to those who are being saved, like the penitent Corinthian, Paul’s ministry is the fragrance of life. It smells of life because as it puts the Old Adam to death through repentance, it raises up the New Man who is renewed in Christ’s image. The New Man lives before God in righteousness and purity, for where there is forgiveness of sins there is new life and the promise of eternal salvation.

Let us pray: Keep us from pride and despair by true repentance and faith, O Lord, and grant us new life. Amen.

2 Corinthians 1:1–24 (NKJV)

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶ Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷ And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. ⁸ For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹ Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ¹⁰ who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹ you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. ¹² For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ¹³ For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end ¹⁴ (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁵ And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit—¹⁶ to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? ¹⁸ But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. ²⁰ For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²² who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. ²³ Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.

Paul writes in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” In today’s reading he explains two ways in which God works even our afflictions for our good.

First, although while suffering any affliction we feel the sentence of death hanging over our heads, we learn to daily trust in God who raises the dead. In the midst of our sufferings, tribulations, and crosses the Holy Spirit wants to lead us to deeper faith in the gospel. Though we might even despair of our very lives because of hardship, Christ uses our sufferings to show that His strength is made perfect in weakness, just as it was during the days of His earthly life.

Second, God comforts us in our afflictions so that  as we receive heavenly comfort, we might turn around and comfort those in our lives who need the comfort of the gospel. This is not a generic comfort. It is the comfort of the Holy Ghost working through the Word of God to give us Christ. The word comfort is the same word used to name the Holy Ghost the Comforter in St. John’s gospel. The comfort which the God of all comfort offers to Paul in His tribulation is that of the Holy Ghost, who calls to His mind the perfect peace Jesus brings by forgiving sins, bestowing righteousness, and the ability to do all things with the strength Christ provides.

This is the comfort that Paul, and all the faithful, offer to each other in the midst of their afflictions. It is the comfort that as our Lord suffered while in the flesh, so must His baptized suffer. But as Christ was vindicated by the Father on the third day, so all the baptized will be vindicated from their sufferings, if not in this life, then on the Last Day at the resurrection of the dead, so that nothing lasts forever except the comfort, peace, and joy of the gospel.

Let us pray: Lord God, grant us the holy comfort of Christ’s peace and strength in our afflictions, so that, rejoicing in your comfort, we may comfort others with the same. Amen.