Author: Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

“I AM the Bread of Life,” says Jesus. “The one who comes to me will never hunger and the one who believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35). Wow, Jesus, that’s deep. “I AM the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, He will live forever. And the bread that I give for the life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:51). Wait, what? “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Ok, now this is just weird.

Bread and flesh. It’s God’s way of feeding. The Israelites got manna in the morning and quail at night for their daily bread. Jesus fed the thousands with loaves and fishes. Bread and flesh. But Jesus’ flesh? And blood? How can we…wait! He must be talking about the Sacrament of the Altar. “Take, eat, this is My body…drink of it all of you, this cup is the New Testament in My blood” (Words of Institution). But Luther famously said that John 6 was not about the Lord’s Supper. And Jesus Himself says just a few verses later, “It is the Spirit who makes alive; the flesh benefits nothing” (John 6:63). Now what are we to do?

We confess that there are two kinds of eating. In John 6, when Jesus speaks of the Bread of Life, He’s talking about the first kind and anticipating the second; on the night in which He is betrayed when He institutes His Supper, He gives us to do the second kind in order to strengthen the first.

There is a twofold eating of Christ’s flesh. One is spiritual, which Christ describes especially in John 6:54. This “eating” happens in no other way than with the Spirit and faith, in preaching and meditation on the Gospel, as well as in the Lord’s Supper…The other eating of Christ’s body is oral or sacramental, when Christ’s true, essential body and blood are orally received and partaken of in the Holy Supper by all who eat and drink the consecrated bread and wine in the Supper (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VII.61, 63).

Spiritual eating is whenever the Word of God is apprehended by faith. It is spiritual eating because it’s the work of the Spirit. We receive the words and promises of Christ as true bread from heaven that strengthen us and preserve, not only in our souls, but also in our bodies. Philosophy (and human nature) presumes that in order to apprehend spiritual things, you need to abandon material things, like flesh and blood. But Jesus says that this spiritual bread that comes down from heaven is His flesh. Philosophy gets it backwards. We do not need to ascend to Jesus in heaven to apprehend spiritual things; He comes down from heaven to give it to us in the flesh.

Bodily eating takes place in the Sacrament—bread and wine in the mouth. While spiritual eating is always by faith, this second kind of eating is by the Word of Christ. “This is My body; this is My blood,” and “is” means “is” regardless of whether you believe it or not. The problems start to come when these two kinds of eating are confused. The people in Capernaum (where Jesus taught in John 6) thought that Jesus wanted them to walk up to Him and start gnawing on His arm. But we do not eat Jesus’ flesh and blood in such a Capernaitic way. We don’t chew and digest His body and blood like other food. His divine Body and Blood are united with bread and wine in a mysterious, sacramental way. And so when we eat His Body and Blood with our mouths, it’s not broken down and made part of our bodies, but we are made a part of His body.

Two kinds of eating. Both of them are necessary for the Sacrament. Because of the Word of Christ, the bread is the body, the body is in the bread; the cup is the blood, the blood is in the cup. Everyone who eats and drinks eats and drinks Body and Blood. But by faith and the Holy Spirit we receive this Body and Blood for a benefit—eternal life now and on the Last Day.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

The chief article of the Christian faith, the article upon which the Church stands and falls, is that a person is justified—made right with God—by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith believes that, for Christ’s sake, we are received into God’s favor apart from any of our own works or merits. Instead, it is Christ’s merit—His life, death, and resurrection—that is credited to us when we believe. God counts this faith as righteousness.

But the question is: how do we get this faith? If it is something we produce, then we’re sent right back to our own work or merit. But faith is not our work. So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given. He works faith, when and where it pleases God, in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake (Augsburg Confession V.1-3).

The Word and the Sacraments are instruments of the Holy Spirit. They are the means by which the Holy Spirit comes to you as a gift in order to bestow faith. Faith is His work, not the work of the faithful. Faith is the Spirit’s pleasure, wherever He bestows it. The Word and the Sacraments deliver the good news that God justifies the sinner, and receives Him into grace for Christ’s sake, by the faith that He works.

There are some who think that they can obtain the Holy Spirit by their own works—by meditation or inspiration or perspiration. But the Spirit will always remain elusive to those who pursue Him by their own works. The Spirit is always gift.

Why is it important that the gift of the Holy Spirit comes through means? St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Another way of saying, “jars of clay,” is, “earthy vessels.” Through very simple, earthy means—an uttered absolution, a handful of water, a bite of bread, and sip of wine—God delivers His Holy Spirit. The beautiful simplicity of these means shows us that it is God’s power, His Word of forgiveness, that both creates and sustains our faith. As one old Lutheran teacher once said, “The earthier, the giftier.” In the name of + Jesus.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call (Augsburg Confession XIV). One short sentence is all we get for the 14th article of the Augsburg Confession. The only thing it says about order in the Church is that it should be ordered. That’s a bit redundant. So what does it mean by “a rightly ordered call?” The 14th article of the Augsburg Confession doesn’t elaborate much, but you can think of it as including three things: preparation and examination, call, and ordination.

First, pastors should be prepared for their task. The disciples were taught by Jesus for three years, and when they sought a replacement for Judas, they required the candidates to have been with them from the beginning and to have been witnesses to the resurrection (Acts 1:21-22). Pastors should be able to teach (1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:2, 24). You wouldn’t want a doctor who has no knowledge of the human body and the medicines and treatments available for sick people. Likewise, you wouldn’t want a pastor who doesn’t know where to find Obadiah in the Bible or how to plan a midweek Lenten service.

At the end of his preparation a pastor is examined. In The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, pastors are required to have a theological interview (kind of like a more intense confirmation examination) either with his seminary professors or in some cases a committee from the synod. This examination prepares a man for ministry as much as it tests his preparedness. Remember that Jesus spent a good long while examining His disciples on the night He was betrayed. You can read about it in John 13-16.

Next, the call is the heart of a rightly ordered call. It’s the divine part. A congregation who is in need of a pastor extends a call—a document that outlines the duties of preaching the Gospel, administering the Sacraments, forgiving sins—to a man who has been prepared and examined.

Why is this call necessary? Jesus sent out the disciples with no call other than the command to make disciples through Holy Baptism (Matthew 28:16-20), to proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:14-20), to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-49), and to forgive the sins of all who are penitent and to withhold forgiveness from the impenitent (John 20:21-23). But Jesus has now ascended into heaven where He rules over the church. He no longer sends out preachers immediately; He sends through the church’s call. He confirmed the message of the Apostles by accompanying signs and wonders (Mark 16:20), but He confirms the message of your pastor by his divine call. He speaks on God’s own authority.

Finally, there is ordination. It’s the ordering part of the call. You can even see the word “order” in it. Ordination is the public confirmation of the church’s call, and it’s performed by neighboring pastors. Just as Paul told Pastor Timothy to appoint pastors (1 Timothy 1:5-9—the word elder here refers to pastors), and himself laid hands on Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6), so now pastors take part in the appointing of other pastors, and lay their hands on them with the blessing of God’s Word and prayer.

So is this really just a bunch of churchy nonsense so that pastors can protect their phony-baloney jobs? Quite to the contrary. It’s for the sake of the Gospel. No one should publicly teach or administer the sacraments in our churches apart from this order because this order shows you, without a doubt, the place where the forgiveness of sins can be found. It shows you that what your pastor speaks is not some vaguely religious notion that he’s come up with, but is a Word from God Himself. He is bound to his public vows to preach the whole counsel of God, to hear confessions and pronounce forgiveness on your worst sins—and never to mention them again. It shows you that Christ is faithful to His promise: He does not leave you without comfort, but continues to send the Holy Spirit to you, using an ordinary man who is prepared and examined, called by your congregation, and ordained to bring you the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri. He can be contacted at pastor.ehrhard@gmail.com.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

I only remember one sermon from my youth. Not that my pastors were bad preachers—they were pretty good, actually—but there’s only one I really remember. It was based on Psalm 25:7. “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!” Remember not the sins of my youth.

It’s something you can say at any phase of life. When you’re a teenager you can look back at all the dumb stuff you did as a kid. As a young adult you can look back at your teenage years and be ashamed of the things you were capable of. When you start progressing through middle age you see a whole pile of increasingly sophisticated sins building up. Remember not the sins of my youth! Then you get to the point when the end of your life is closer than its beginning. You look back over the incredibly foolish things you did in your 40s and 50s and 60s and 70s. Remember not the sins of my youth.

Many things change as you get older. One thing that doesn’t change is your capacity for sin—sin in ways you’d never expect yourself to be capable of. Chances are good that your worst sin may still lie ahead of you. But the prayer of Psalm 25 remains constant. Remember not the sins of my youth!

If there’s one thing you should know about the church it’s that in every phase of your life you will fail—sometimes miserably. But in every phase of life, the church is your place where those sins and failures a remembered no longer. The church is the destination for sinners. There is where you will find the steadfast love of the Lord that remembers only the obedience of Jesus. There God’s goodness is freely distributed, regardless of age. And when it comes to your worst sin and your biggest failure, they will soon become sins of your youth. Remember not the sins of my youth!

Pastor Jacob Ehrhard serves as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven, MO.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

Repentance. Metanoia. Literally it means, “a change of thinking.” A change of heart. Repentance is what brings you to Holy Baptism. “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” proclaims St. Peter (Acts 2:38). But repentance isn’t just to prepare you for baptism; it’s also for the baptized when they fall into sins. Repentance is life for a Christian.

Now, strictly speaking, repentance consists of two parts. One part is contrition, that is, terrors striking the conscience through the knowledge of sin. The other part is faith, which is born of the Gospel or the Absolution and believes that for Christ’s sake, sins are forgiven. It comforts the conscience and delivers it from terror (Augsburg Confession XII.3-5).

The first part of repentance is contrition. Sorrow over sin. This doesn’t necessarily mean overwhelming emotions and that you’re reduced to tears because of how horrible you are. It’s the knowledge of sin, to know that even your most righteous works are nothing before God. It’s a change of thinking.

But if you are left wallowing in your sin, you have not yet repented. The second part of repentance is faith that is born of the Gospel–the forgiveness of sins. It’s comfort for a terrified conscience. Faith completes repentance. It isn’t just faith in general, but faith that your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Repentance and forgiveness always go together. Our Lord makes doubly sure when He says, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem (Luke 24:27).

Repentance. Two parts: contrition and faith. Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruit of repentance (Augsburg Confession XII.6). Notice that good works and the fruits of faith are not, properly speaking, a part of repentance. Your work neither begins nor completes your repentance. Repentance is God’s work. He works contrition; He works faith. And, therefore, good works–the fruit that repentance bears–are likewise not your works, but the work of God. He renews your heart and gives you the mind of Christ, who emptied Himself, became a servant, humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross–and God raised Him up to glory (Philippians 2:5-11).

Repentance. Metanoia. A new way of thinking. The rhythm of the Christian life. Contrition and faith. Confession and absolution. Death and resurrection.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri. He can be contacted at pastor.ehrhard@gmail.com.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

He descended into hell. You say it every time you say the Creed. But what do you mean when you say it? Jesus descended into hell. It’s not part of any of the Gospel narratives. Where did it come from? A couple of obscure passages are our only clue. As an aside to his proclamations of Jesus’ ascension in to heaven, St. Paul writes, “In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:9-10).

St. Peter also makes an obscure reference in his first epistle: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water” (1 Peter 3:18).

Neither of these are particularly helpful; they’re dark, obscure passages. Most of the questions we want to ask about this little sentence, He descended into hell, are simply not answered by the Bible. How did He do it? When did it happen? How could He if His body was in a grave? What happened when He was there? The Scriptures are silent.

This article, like the preceding article, cannot be grasped by the senses or by our reason. It must be grasped through faith alone. Therefore, it is our unanimous opinion that there should be no dispute over it. It should be believed and taught only in the simplest way (Formula of Concord, Epitome, IX.2).

As an example of such simple teaching the authors of the Formula point to Luther’s Easter sermon from 1533, which teaches that Christ’s descent into hell is an article of faith. Reason cannot grasp it. God has only seen fit to reveal that Christ has descended, not for punishment or for additional suffering, but in victory. His descent is the beginning of His exaltation.

And what’s more, God reveals the purpose of His descent: to proclaim. Jesus descends into hell to preach the first Easter sermon. Luther says to believe it like the old pictures portray it: Christ as a mighty conqueror, holding a banner, with death and Satan under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25-28). By His death, He has destroyed the power of death, and by His resurrection, He has opened for us the way of everlasting life. His descent means our resurrection.

So think on this and say it out loud whenever you say the creed — as if you yourself are beating down Satan under your feet with these words — He descended into hell. Because in Baptism you are joined with Christ’s death and His resurrection and made part of His body, which means that His foot that holds down Satan is also your foot and His victory over death is your victory over death.

Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I’ve traveled, All your might has come unraveled.
And, against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!
-Lutheran Service Book 594, stanza 3

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri. He can be contacted at pastor.ehrhard@gmail.com.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:5). All have sinned are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). (Smalcald Articles II.I.1-3).

That right there is the heart of the Lutheran Confession. All have sinned. All have been justified freely without work or merit. Justification–becoming right with God–is something that happens outside myself, apart from myself. It’s objective. My redemption is in Christ Jesus, in the blood that He shed.

But that’s just the first part of the first and chief article. If this righteousness is outside of myself and apart from myself, then it does me no good. If the Lamb of God took away my sin and is nowhere to be found, if His blood was shed 2,000 years ago and is all dried up now, what benefit is it to me? So the first and chief article is completed: This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. As St. Paul says: For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28) That He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Smalcald Articles II.I.4). Faith is the personal application of the benefits of the objective righteousness that is found in Christ. Faith saves because faith is not my own work, but the work of God for me and in me.

Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) And with His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) Upon this article everything that we teach and practice depends, in opposition to the pope, the devil, and the whole world. Therefore, we must be certain and not doubt this doctrine. Otherwise, all is lost, and the pope, the devil, and all adversaries win the victory and the right over us. (Smalcald Articles II.I.5)

Nothing yielded or surrendered. Christ died for our sins, was raised for our justification, bore our sins, redeemed us by His blood, all by grace, apart from works. Faith grabs hold of that righteousness and receives it as God’s work alone. And He does it all as gift.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO. He can be contacted at pastor.ehrhard@gmail.com.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

What a ridiculous thing to say: God is born. A contradiction of terms. God is eternal. Without beginning. How can He be born? There must be some divine trick, some heavenly illusion at work at Christmas. But against all human reason, the angel appears to Mary and says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 NKJV). No tricks here, just the promise of the ages coming to its fulfillment in time: the Seed of the woman born to crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).

The question, “Who is Jesus?” was one that kept coming up in the first 400 years of the New Testament church’s history. Four church-wide councils were held to work out this question based upon the witness of Scripture. The statements of these ancient church councils were incorporated into the Lutheran Confessions. The Lutheran church is not a new church, but a continuation of the one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic church, and we boldly confess what the church has always confessed concerning our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Formula of Concord takes up the issue of the person of Christ in its eighth article, and gives us a little Christmas cheer right in the middle:

We believe, teach, and confess that God is man and man is God. This could not be the case if the divine and human natures has (in deed and in truth) absolutely no communion with each other. For how could the man, the Son of Mary, in truth be called or be God, or the Son of God the Most High, if His humanity were not personally united with the Son of God? How could He have no real communion (that is, in deed and in truth) with the Most High, but only share in God’s name? So we believe, teach, and confess that Mary conceived and bore not merely a man and no more, but God’s true Son. Therefore, she also is rightly called and truly is “the mother of God.”

God is born. It’s a ridiculous thing to say according to human reason. But God often does foolish things to put to shame the wise in the world. And His foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God-who is Himself God-unites Himself so completely with our human nature that the virgin who bore Him receives the title, “the mother of God.” This is not so much to teach us about who Mary is, but about who Jesus is. The nature of God is so intimately united with the nature of man that now of Jesus it can be said, “God is born.”

But even more importantly, because of this personal union of the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ, it can also be said, “God died.” St. Paul writes to the Corinthians: “they crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). If it was only a man, or only human nature that was crucified, then it would do us no good. But it was no mere man who hung bleeding on the cross. God has purchased us with His own blood (Acts 20:28). No blood except God’s blood could pay such a price.

The great mystery of the Incarnation, of God becoming flesh-which we celebrate this holy day-has one last blessing for us. Because Jesus is risen from the dead and ascended to heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand, this means human nature is also exalted. As true as it is that God was born on that first Christmas, so it is also true now that a man sits at God’s right hand. This man feeds you His Body and Blood-the same Body and Blood born of His virgin mother, the same body that hung on the cross, the same blood that spilled from His veins. And as you join Him in this holy Supper, you also are raised to new life and exalted with the Man who is also God.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

When Jesus encountered a Roman Centurion with a sick servant, we learn a bit about authority. “For I too am a man under authority,” says the Centurion, “with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matthew 8:9). When he speaks, things get done. He recognizes this same authority in Jesus. “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8).

The Centurion has authority over the body. When he speaks, those under him must obey. And if you don’t, well, there’s a reason that he also wears a sword. The 28th article of the Augsburg Confession states, Civil rulers do not defend minds, but bodies and bodily things against obvious injuries. They restrain people with the sword and physical punishment in order to preserve civil justice and peace (AC XXVIII.11). Civil authority is authority that governs the body, but it has its limitations. It can rule the body with threats and punishments, but it cannot rule the mind or the heart. It cannot make you love. It cannot create faith.

But there is another authority-a distinct authority-that governs the heart and deals with eternal things. This authority the Augsburg Confession calls the Authority of the Keys, which is the authority to forgive and retain sins. This authority is exercised only by teaching or preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, either to many or to individuals, according to their calling. In this way are given not only bodily, but also eternal things: eternal righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life (AC XXVIII.8). For sinners, civil authority governs unto the grave, but spiritual authority governs unto life. The Authority of the Keys governs beyond the grave and deals with eternal things.

In His last words in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Both authorities, while distinct, come together in Jesus Christ. And so when He responds to the Centurion, He first speaks to his heart. Then He exercises His authority over the body. “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith…Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment” (Matthew 8:10, 13).

Jesus has brought the spiritual authority to forgive sins to earth. The eternal Son of God has come into the body in order to suffer in the body. On the cross, He suffers the punishments for the sins of the world. And because He suffered for your sins, He has authority to forgive your sins. But He doesn’t keep this authority for Himself. He sends out His ministers to speak in His stead and by His authority. And His servants speak, He speaks. And when He speaks, things get done. Your sins are forgiven. Even though you inhabit a body of sin, your sin cannot rule over you when your sins are forgiven.

“I have authority to lay it down,” Jesus says concerning His life, “and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:18). Jesus laid down His life-body and soul-by submitting to civil authority to the point of death on a cross. But death does not have authority over the Crucified One, to whom all authority has been given. He exercises His authority over the body by rising from the dead. And so He will also exercise His authority over your body on the Last Day when He returns to judge the living and the dead. At His Word, your body will rise.

When He speaks, He gets things done. In the name of + Jesus.

Jacob Ehrhard is the pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven, Michigan.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

You bite your tongue just before you let loose with some scathing snarky remark intended to cut down the weird girl who sits a couple of rows over. It was a close one, but you remembered what you learned in catechism class about defending other people’s reputations and speaking well of them. You caught yourself just in time. Whew! You didn’t sin.


But you wanted to. In your heart-deep down beneath your polished Christian exterior-you really wanted to. It would have felt good, actually. Insults always come much more naturally than compliments, as if cruelty is sort of hard-wired into you. It’s a good thing that you’re a Law-abiding Christian. At least, well, you were this time.

But just because you didn’t sin doesn’t mean that you didn’t sin. Before you could even think of sinning, the desire to sin, the inclination to sin already existed. It’s the part of your sin that you can’t control. It’s the sin that precedes all sin. We call it “concupiscence.” “Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam, all who are naturally born are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin, called concupiscence. Concupiscence is a disease and original vice that is truly sin. It damns and brings eternal death on those who are not born anew through Baptism and the Holy Spirit” (Augsburg Confession, Article II.1-2).

Even the desire to sin is truly sin. Even if you bite your tongue, you’re still guilty of the sin you really wanted to commit. The world’s narrative is that whatever comes naturally is good and right – it should be encouraged and celebrated. But by nature you don’t fear God, you don’t trust God. By nature, you’re His enemy.

The solution for those born in the natural way lies with One who was born in a most unnatural way, One who was conceived by God’s Spirit of a virgin mother. Jesus Christ alone is without concupiscence and so only has the inclination to do His Father’s will. It’s for this reason that He became the sacrifice for sinners. On the cross, He bore your sin and your inclination to sin.

And what’s more, He also offers you the cure to your concupiscence. He offers a new birth – a birth from above, a birth by water and the Spirit (John 3:1-16). With this new birth comes a new nature, a nature quite distinct from the nature inclined to sin. This new birth is your baptismal identity, marked by the cross as one redeemed by Christ the crucified one. Because of this water and Spirit, your inclination is now toward the things that are above – the things of God.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri. He can be contacted at pastor.ehrhard@gmail.com.