LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 1

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
No Confession, No Faith

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President’s Report

Confession of the Christ before God and all the world. “He
who confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord [the context demonstrates that this means ‘Jesus is Yahweh’] and believes in his heart
that God raised him from the dead, will be saved” (Rom. 10:9–10).
The heart believes and the mouth speaks. Sadly, Judas “confessed”
agreement to the price of thirty pieces of silver to betray the Messiah
(Luke 22:6). His mouth confessed the content of his heart. In many
cases in the New Testament, this word to “confess” is tantamount to
and paralleled with “bearing witness” to who Jesus is—namely, God
in the flesh come to save the world (1 John 4:2). “This is the witness
of John … He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not
the Christ.’ … The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and
said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”
(John 1:19f.). Jesus Himself “bore witness” and “made the good confession before Pilate” (1 Tim. 6:12–13). Read the story of the woman
at the well who went out and “witnessed” to her fellow Samaritans,
and they “believed because of her testimony” (John 4:39). The writer
to the Hebrews says, “Since then we have a great high priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast
our confession.” And what is it? The writer continues with a marvelous confession of our Savior’s humanity and divinity, for us. “For we
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of
grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of
need” (Heb. 4:14ff.).
As you have time, read through these many passages which tie
“confession” with eternal life (Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:9f.; 1 John 2:23),
hope (Heb. 10:23), God’s own confession of fidelity to us (Acts 7:17),
confession of Christ before authorities (Acts 24:14), fighting “the
good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12ff.), and rejecting false teaching about
Jesus (1 John 4:2). The New Testament squarely and firmly urges
Christians to clearly confess who Jesus is and what He means for the
world. God help us to do that! And our “Rock” is “Christ” (1 Cor.
10:4). But there’s more.

Upon This Rock
Is there reason for hope? Yes! By faith in Jesus, we stand upon
an immovable, eternal Rock. Christ posed a question to his disciples,
“But you, who do you say that I am?” Peter answered for them all,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus responded,
“Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you,
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom
and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:15ff.).
In short, since the Keys (the power to speak the effective Law and
Gospel and administer the Sacraments) are given here to Peter on
behalf of all the apostles, and elsewhere to the whole church (Matt.
18:17–20), our Lutheran Confessions state “certainly the Church has
not been built upon the authority of a man. Rather it has been built
upon the ministry of the confession Peter made, in which he proclaims
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Treatise 25). We have a sure
rock in the Gospel, in Baptism, in Absolution, in the Supper. This
means we have eternal life now, in the face of a world gone nuts, and
we base our lives and very existence upon the Rock which is Christ
and His forgiveness unto eternal life.
But what do you make of Jesus?
Our text poses to us a profound truth about the Christian faith and
life. It is a confession of who Jesus is. It is also a confession of who
we are, both as sinners and as joy-filled forgiven people who praise
the Savior. In discussion with nonbelievers and wavering Christians,
I always try to pull the discussion around to one question: But what
do you make of Jesus? The word confession is a profound and rich
term in the Bible, and it answers this very question. Its fundamental
meaning is “to say the same thing” (homo-logein). Among its many
nuances, three uses stand out:

Joy

1. Confession of sin
2. Confession of Christ, our Savior from sin, before God and to all the
world

“If the love of God has touched your heart, please inform your
face!” The New Testament quickly moves from the confession of
the content of the faith to the joyous confession of God’s glory and
praise! Jesus leads the way. “I confess [always translated ‘praise’]
you father that you have hidden this from the wise and revealed it
to babes” (Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21). Paul’s magnificent confession
of Jesus as God in the flesh moves from the great truth of the incarnation to the church’s praise throughout the ages. “Though He was
in the form of God … He humbled Himself by becoming subject to
death, even death on a cross … so that every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:6, 11). Paul tells
the Corinthians that their material aid “flowed” from their “confession of the Gospel of Christ” and would result in much thanksgiving
and praise (2 Cor. 9:11f.). Finally, what astounding texts we have for
unity (“why do you despise your brother? … every tongue shall confess to God”; Rom. 14:10f.) and joy and praise for mission: “For I tell
you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s
truthfulness in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. As it
is written, ‘Therefore I will praise [confess] You among the Gentiles
and sing to Your name. … Rejoice, O Gentiles!’ ” And Paul ends the
section with hope. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may
abound in hope” (Rom. 15:8ff.). Wow! This is why it was said of the
apostles after they were persecuted, “Then they left … rejoicing that

3. Confession as praise and thanksgiving

When we “confess,” we say back to God what He has told us about
Himself and about ourselves!
No Sin, No Savior
Confession of sin. “And they were baptized by John in the River
Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). “But if we confess our
sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9; cf. Heb. 11:13; Matt. 3:6;
Mark 1:5; Acts 19:18). “Confess your sins to one another and pray
for one another …” (James 5:16). Simply put, only sinners need a
Savior. Confessing our own sin puts us in a position of dependence
upon our Savior and of humility with respect to every other Christian
and non-Christian in the world. At the end of the day, there are only
two ways to go through life—either “God be merciful to me a sinner,”
or “I thank Thee Lord that I’m not like others.” It’s either repentant
tax collector or self-righteous Pharisee (Luke 18:9–14). No middle
ground. When Jesus told officials He was the “cornerstone,” the stone
the builders rejected, He said, “And the one who falls on this stone
will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush
him” (Matt. 21:42–44). The Law is a necessary hammer and necessary precisely in order to serve the Gospel.
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