The 4th Sunday in Advent provides the following three readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Romans 16:25-27 and Luke 1:26-38. The verse chosen as the sermon text is Romans 16:25, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…”

There are three primary comings of Christ the Church celebrates during the Advent season. The first, of course, is His coming in the Bethlehem stable and the last is His coming on the Day of Judgment. But the second coming refers to His coming into the hearts of human beings on the day of their conversion. Most Christians would agree that such an act of conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit who gets all the credit.

However, not so unanimous in their opinion is how one remains in the faith. It is not unheard of that much responsibility is given to the saved individual to make sure that he remains in the faith. But God is Creator; we are creature. In heaven all Christians will answer with once voice as to who gets all the credit for our salvation. Answer: The Holy Trinity!

Thus, even our life of sanctification is credited to God and Him alone. That is why the text makes it clear that God establishes you according to both the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. Such preaching is a proclamation of the Word that goes way beyond transmitting biblical information. For it is not information but a transformation that saves.

Such salvation, as far as we humans known, comes through the Gospel, not the Law, and the preaching of Jesus Christ. And the Gospel is not a recounting of the history as revealed in the Bible. That is, one can believe that Jesus was born, died and rose from the dead and still go to hell. For the devils and the unbelieving Pharisees believed that.

What saves is the Gospel promises connected to the historial events of His birth, crucifixion and resurrection. Those promises always contain a “for you” element that the Holy Spirit takes not only to create faith but also to sustain such faith. Because sanctification involves proper motivation, one cannot “preach” sanctification in the sense of giving information to the hearer as to how to become more sanctified.

Rather, becoming more sanctified; that is, becoming established in the faith, takes place not by speaking of sanctification but by proclaiming the Gospel benefits of the passion of Jesus Christ which began with His birth. Once the Gospel promises are heard and believed, the works of sanctification develop spontaneously without effort on our part for they are indeed fruit of the Holy Spirit.

What better New Year’s resolution can a congregation make than to insure the establishment of faith in its midst by a proper liturgy and preaching that provides all the Gospel and sacraments necessary for the work of the Holy Spirit to prevail. Take away the pure Word and proper sacraments, and you have taken away the reason for the season.