Grace Notes 2025-07-30
Our Evangelical friends in Christ often use the language of having a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Although not typical Lutheran lingo, we tend to use Biblical wording, the expression can be defended with a few important caveats.
‘Relationship’ is a helpful word when it comes to ‘saving faith’ in Christ. That is because such faith is more than head knowledge. It is more than simply assenting to Biblical doctrines. To the point, it is a relationship of trust in Christ and what He accomplished for us on the Cross.
The word ‘personal’ is not a word you will find in Scripture. And the word can both mean ‘individual’ and ‘private’. For sure, each individual must exercise their own gift of faith. But as we are called to give a confession of our belief, we need to be careful as to what may be indicated by being private.
It is also helpful to carefully consider what kind of relationship we have been brought into with God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Baptism. Should we, for instance, imagine that Jesus is my buddy, my best pal? After all, in John 15 Jesus called His disciples His friends. The thing to watch out for here is that most often friends are on equal footing. Importantly we learn from Scripture other ways believers are in relationship with Christ.
Among the relationships described in Scripture, they include the following: We are children of the heavenly Father. We are sheep of the Lord’s flock. Collectively we are pictured as the bride of Christ. We are citizens of the heavenly kingdom. We are servants of the Master. We are students and followers of the Teacher. We are ambassadors and messengers of the King. Note that all these relationships imply the need for reverence and humility on our part.
Keep this in mind. Relationships are reciprocal. They are dynamic, not static. They involve time spent together and much conversation.
Since You Asked
Why is the Triune Name of God repeated so frequently in our worship services?
The mystery of the Trinity is one of the most distinctive elements of our Christian Tradition. Christianity is not alone in claiming to be monotheistic (belief in one Supreme Being, one god). But Christianity holds that this One, True God has revealed himself to us as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches that God the Father has revealed himself through God the Son and in God the Spirit. Only the Son can be seen, and only through the Spirit are we enabled to believe in the Father and the Son. And so we often invoke the name of the Triune God in the mystery of our faith.