Convicted by the Spirit published by Lutheran Press is the written record of Luther’s Postil 235 – John 16:8‒13. This sermon was never preached publicly by Luther but was published with the intent that it would be read in public by someone other than the author. It’s committed to being a help in the preparation of a sermon or is to be read for personal edification of the one reading it.

Luther was requested to prepare such postils for pericopes every Sunday of the Church Year in 1520 by his sovereign, Fredrick the Wise. This was done as an act of grace, allowing Luther the opportunity to escape the firestorm that surrounded him. Luther saw it as a necessary task that would bolster the state of preaching in the congregations of his day. The condition of the preaching per Luther was “somewhat dim.”

What I learned from Luther was in the spirit of personal edification for the strengthening of my understanding of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Someday I may use it again as a resource that helps prepare me, so that I may one day preach a sermon that is less than dim.

In the truth that we are always learning, I read with the intent that God would fill me with His grace as Luther expanded on the Word of Christ through his explanation of the Gospel of John 16:8‒13. I was not disappointed either by God or by Luther as he expounded upon Christ’s words,

And when the helper comes, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, that they do not believe in Me. Of righteousness, that I go to the Father, and you will no longer see Me. And of judgment, since the prince of this world is judged. I have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. Yet when the comforter, the Holy Spirit, will come, He will guide you into all truth.

In the book, Luther provides the reader with keen insights into the mind of the world, the mind of those who teach error, the mind of the good man, and the mind of the Christian, and most importantly as he himself was guided by the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ.

The book tutors us through the Word of God to see that our chief sin is our lack of faith for all things in Christ. Luther explains the truth that the righteousness attributed to us for the sake of Christ occurred as Christ went to the Father. The teaching moves to understand the world’s judgment and the truth that the world will, in fact, be judged for its pious attempts to undermine the work of Christ. Luther concludes with a scolding of the papists as they, instead of expounding upon the central theme of Christ in Scripture, proclaim that the words of Christ allow for extra-biblical intrusion of man’s thoughts that would provide the church with different knowledge than the knowledge proclaimed fully to the apostle by Christ and the truth that the Holy Spirit came to provide the apostle with greater understanding of Christ’s words, as all of Christ’s words point back to Himself as our Savior.

This book is a kind reminder of the error associated with an intermingling of man’s thoughts with God’s. The result of such striving will always end in disaster for the one who believes them to be true.

My prayer for you is that you will find your true blessing in Christ Jesus, as Luther points you to Him through Postil 235 – John 16:8‒13, Convicted by the Spirit.

Pr. George C. Lautner
Living Faith Free Lutheran Church/Middle Grove Lutheran Church Larimore, ND/Mekinock, ND

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