We believe, teach and confess … “that the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted so that we may obtain this faith. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22] who works faith. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.” (Augsburg Confession V.1-3)
The Holy Spirit and Sanctification
We teach and confess that 35][1] this article is best linked to Sanctification, that through the same the Holy Spirit, with His office, is declared and portrayed, namely, that He makes holy. Therefore we must take our stand upon the word Holy Spirit, because it is so precise and comprehensive that we cannot find another. 36] For there are many kinds of spirits mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, as, the spirit of man, heavenly spirits, and evil spirits. But the Spirit of God alone is called Holy Spirit, that is, He who has sanctified and still sanctifies us. For as the Father is called Creator, the Son Redeemer, so the Holy Spirit, from His work, must be called Sanctifier, or One that makes holy. 37] But how is such sanctifying done? Answer: Just as the Son obtains dominion, whereby He wins us, through His birth, death, resurrection, etc., so also the Holy Spirit causes our sanctification by the following parts, namely, by the communion of saints or the Christian Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting; that is, He first leads us into His holy congregation, and places us in the bosom of the Church, whereby He preaches to us and brings us to Christ.
38] Nobody could know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and have Him for their Lord, unless it were offered and granted to their hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be received and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Spirit to bring this treasure home and makes it our own. 39] Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, which we could not get ourselves. (1 Peter 3,18).
40] If anyone would ask us, “What do you mean by the words: I believe in the Holy Spirit?” we answer: We believe that the Holy Spirit makes us holy, as His name implies. 41] How does He accomplish this, or what are His method and means to this end? We answer: By the Christian Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. 42] He has His own congregation in the world, which is the mother that conceives and bears every Christian through the Word of God, which He reveals and preaches, and through which He illumines and enkindles hearts, that they understand, accept it, cling to it, and persevere in it.
43] For where He does not cause the Word of God to be preached and made alive in the heart, so that it is understood, it is lost.
[1] BOC, www.bookofconcord.org., Large Catechism, Article 3. Note: This passage has been edited, slightly, to enhance the readability and to fit the structure of the website page.
