The Small Catechism – part 202
Scripture Text: Romans 12:1–2
Every day we must slay the old nature in us. By offering our doubts, temptations, and sins to God, we crucify the flesh. This is not a physical act like sacrificing an animal.
The Small Catechism – part 201
Scripture Text: Genesis 26:18
Jesus confirms that we are all sinners (John 8:7). Who of us does not sin daily? Day after day, our sins can pile up in our memories. If we are not careful to seek the Father’s forgiveness and remember the promises of Baptism daily, the devil may slowly stop up the well.
The Small Catechism – part 200
Scripture Text: John 7:38–39
In Christian Baptism, water does more than touch the outside of us, as though washing the skin. Because God’s Word is bound with the water, it cleanses and renews the whole person.
The Small Catechism – part 199
Scripture Text: Hebrews 12:11
God’s discipline is a difficult thing, but the Father does not discipline us so severely that we die. His Son, however, was disciplined to the point of death for the sins the world.
The Small Catechism – part 198
Scripture Text: Hebrews 12:1–2
Remember Jesus. Keep him in mind as the one who ran before you and is now waiting for you to cross the finish line. Now, if you believe and are baptized, you are in the race, but finishing the race requires the endurance of faith.
The Small Catechism – part 197
Scripture Text: Genesis 22:12
Obedient to God’s command, Abraham took his son up the mountain to sacrifice him to the Lord. But God spared the child’s life, and his parents untold grief.
The Small Catechism – part 196
Scripture Text: Genesis 21:17–19
Our lives are in the Lord’s hands. He has prepared a better place for us, a heavenly city, an excelling country. It was so for Abraham who with Sarah was made to wait in faith on God’s promise.
The Small Catechism – part 195
Scripture Text: Hebrews 11:5–6
There is one thing that pleases God: faith in him—faith in his existence and faith in his grace. Abel brought an offering to the Lord, having faith in God instead of a confidence in his offering, and so, his offering was acceptable or pleasing.
The Small Catechism – part 194
Scripture Text: Hebrews 10:17–18
Baptism is something God does to and for us. It is not our offering to God, as though God is a theatergoer soothed by our performance. It is not something we do in order to appease God.
The Small Catechism – part 193
Scripture Text: Genesis 17:11
The promise of God is for all people. Circumcision was a signal that there is something greater than the shedding of human blood. We are meant to look to something far greater.
The Small Catechism – part 192
Scripture Text: Hebrews 9:15
All our sins are drowned in Christian baptism, for the “old man” was buried with Christ in his death (Rom 6:3). At first blush, this hardly seems fair.
The Small Catechism – part 190
Scripture Text: John 4:50
“Thy will be done.” We may pray this, meaning, “Please, Lord, do my will. Make my will your own.” Instead, our weekly, if not daily, prayer must also be a confession to ourselves that it is God’s will that must be done.
The Small Catechism – part 189
Scripture Text: Hebrews 7:1–3
God has made believers a kingdom of priests (Isa 61:6; Exod 19:6; 1 Pet 2:9; Rev 1:6). Priests are the ones who receive the tithe from subordinates, as Melchizedek did from Abraham.
The Small Catechism – part 188
Scripture Text: Hebrews 6:13
Who has commanded us to pray in the manner of the Lord’s Prayer than God himself? And whose name, whose reputation, is higher than God’s. No one’s name is greater, so we may pray with confidence.
“Resurrection of the Body”
Scripture Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
Christ has redeemed everything we might consider corrupt, so the flesh, though it undergo decay or be consumed by fire, will be raised by the power of God.
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