Proceeds

Proceeds

Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions

Scripture Text: John 15:26–27

Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions

Today's Scripture Jigsaw

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From the Confessions: The Nicene Creed

“Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son...”

Pulling It Together: The so-called procession of the Son from the Father, and the Spirit from the Father and the Son, has nothing to do with hierarchy within the Trinity. Confessing that the persons of the Trinity proceed from each other is in part simply saying that they are one. The Holy Spirit has equal share in glory with the Son, as well as the Father. Together, they are one God. Each is deity; and they are together one divinity, for they come from each other.

We are also confessing what the Scripture states clearly. Jesus said, “For I proceeded forth and came from God” (John 8:42, KJV). So we understand that the Son proceeds from the Father. Later, John writes, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26, KJV). The Spirit proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Son. We do not bicker over the words “proceeds” and “sent.” Instead, “We maintain...that there is a plurality in God characterized by an undivided essence and an inseparable unity” (Luther’s Works, vol 2, p 227). The Spirit was not birthed, but proceeds from the Father and the Son in eternity, even as Jesus comes from the Father in eternity. Though one proceeds from another, they are undivided in their essence; they are inseparably one. In Luther's words again: “The Son is from the Father, the Holy Spirit is from both, and nevertheless it is one God” (“Sermon for the Sunday in Christmastide”). This we believe and confess.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for sending your Spirit to help us in this earthly life. Amen

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