The Holy Spirit is probably the mysterious person of the Trinity. I think we see that in the way that the 3rd article of the Creed gets written. The 1st and 2nd articles seem to have this formula that goes, “I believe in (Father/Son), and this is what He does…(creates, comes to earth and redeems). But the 3rd article has always seemed to change up that formula. It goes more like: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (meaning universal) Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life ever lasting.” It just seems to lay out all of these things and then includes the Holy Spirit in the listing as if whenever I say one, I get the rest.

Not only that, but then we get Luther’s explanation of the 3rd article of the Creed that starts off, note: starts off, by saying: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.” Woah Luther. You are just telling stuff about Jesus there – not about the Holy Spirit. What is the deal?

But for Luther and for Lutherans – this is the deal. Because of our sins, we have been separated from God. We are not able to believe in God because our sins lead us toward unbelief. So we need someone to come and fix that problem for us – and that person is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through things like the Church, the communion of saints, and the forgiveness of sins. In those things, He “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies” us so that we receive the gifts of resurrection and eternal life. It all boils down to this simple idea that we actually talked about this Sunday: I can’t do this on my own. I’m needy. I need help. And God provides.

The Holy Spirit may be mysterious in His identity and behaviors, but He is absolutely un-mysterious in something else: that He is here to bring us faith, forgiveness, and life eternal. We believe in Jesus because of Him.

This summer we’re going through Luther’s Small Catechism. If you’re interested in learning more, please go to: https://catechism.cph.org/