Balak is exasperated at the realization that he cannot have his own way. He tried three times to coerce Balaam to curse God’s people, yet God blessed them three times over.
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See how unhappy King Balak is, with his godless insecurities. He will only be happy if millions of Israelites are cursed. Balaam also seems less than pleased, if the New Testament commentary has anything to offer.
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What do you want: Balak’s fortunes, or God’s blessings? We get in trouble when we want more than we need, more than what God has promised to provide.
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The story of Balaam can be confusing. We might be tempted to take his side against God, unless we understand that God allows us to pursue those things we truly desire.
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This is the whole point of the Catechism: to instill a standard of teaching to which our hearts may be conformed and confirmed. Then at all points in life...the Spirit may remind us that there is something—someone—at work within us.
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The Catechism is meant to accomplish two things: expose our sins, and reveal God’s grace. These very things may be easily overlooked if we view Catechism as a class one takes to memorize a little booklet.
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Have you ever tried to help your child with algebra homework? First, you have to learn it yourself. Second, you dare not help today but then, not help again until weeks later.
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If left to themselves, it is obvious enough, that we leave our children to the world and the rulers of the darkness of this time. So, we must teach our children to take up the armor of God.
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My grandchildren help themselves to our pantry and refrigerator. They understand that Nana and Papa do not want them to be hungry. We encourage them to take and eat.
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The power of Baptism is faith in the Baptizer, in God. Without faith in God’s word of promise, baptism is a ceremonial cleansing at best. But when the word of God is spoken through the water, and is received in faith, there is divine, salvific power.
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Why do we teach this condensed summary of the Holy Bible? We do so because Christ Jesus said, “Go.” Jesus tells his church to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of God and teaching them to obey his commandments.
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James is correct: faith must be shown in deeds (James 2:18). In other words, we are to love our neighbor. Yet, duty is learned; keeping the commandments does not happen naturally.
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Luther’s words seem extreme and even cruel to us. Yet there is nothing so cruel as to abandon one’s children at the gates of Hell. Our children, and all for whom we bear responsibility, should be taught the Scriptures.
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These lessons are primary and, therefore, necessary because they point beyond us. They direct us to God, instead of to ourselves, with our limited grasping. There is so much uproar surrounding us, demanding our attention, approval, and finally, allegiance.
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God wants us to ask him for all good things. In other words, he wants us to ask him for those things that he knows are best for us. So, being the knowing child of the Father, God’s Son teaches us how to pray.
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"We don’t believe in creeds." I have heard people proudly recite that statement many times too. "We only believe in the Bible," they usually continue.
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I don’t have to keep the law. I’m a Christian and we don’t have to do that anymore. I have heard plenty of people, even pastors, say similar words. Vehemently.
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The Small Catechism is aptly named; it is a little book of instruction on the Christian faith. It may not seem like much, and perhaps one is thinking, Why not read the entire Bible? Indeed; why not?
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There are those who are members of a church, yet not members of the Church of Christ, Christ’s body. Perhaps they were raised in the church or had a moment when they thought joining would be a good idea.
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One may find much to do, if staying busy is the plan. Or, if making money is the idea, again, there is no end to work. At the end of a life, what will be said of such people?
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Having spent the weekend with my grandchildren, I wonder if I might still be a child. I have the same question when I read the Bible and study the Catechism. There is so much to understand better.
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When Luther was praised for the great work he had accomplished, he gave the praise to God. He replied, “I did nothing; the Word did everything.”
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When I was in elementary school, I was always the fastest kid in my class. Although sometimes, Melony or Raymond gave me a run for my money. Mrs. Allen, our fourth grade teacher, tested us throughout the year, to determine the swiftest.
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A neighbor told me yesterday that she thinks, “this is a wake-up call for America.” Then she added, “I hope we're listening." She was referring to...
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When I was in high school, my grandma tried everything to fatten me up, as we say. I think skinny me was a slight on her good cooking.
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The Revised Standard Version may not be the most literal English translation of 1 Timothy 1:4, but the idea of “divine training” has its appeal. Training does not seem too tempting, at first glance.
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It is too easy to become a heretic. It is easier to stop believing. Perhaps the easiest thing is to be lazy. Church membership rolls are filled with all three, but probably more of the third class.
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There are those who take no thought of the Bible, or even the Word in brief, speaking of the Catechism. They are either too dull or too brilliant.
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I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me (Psa 16:7–8). How can we keep God’s commandments if we do not know them, or worse, forget them?
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The Catechism is a short discourse, packed with God’s Word. In it, the law accuses us, yet as we read on, we are reminded of the gospel, of God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ.
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When we work in the Catechism, we are essentially learning one thing in different ways. And what is it that the Catechism, in all its parts, teaches us but the greatest commandment which is the sum of all of God’s commandments?
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In many cases, Greek is difficult to translate into English in a way that makes sense. Today’s New Testament lection is such a case. Many English translations makes it sound like Christians do not sin.
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What goes for the pastors and theologians, goes, of course, for the whole church. None of us should presume that we have learned the Catechism, the basics of the Christian faith.
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Who calls pastors and teachers? God, of course. He should be able to expect of those he has employed that they do their work as he intends. Yet, in our churches, too many have ignored the basic teachings of Scripture.
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When I was a boy, I would walk down to Jeff’s house and he would join me on the walk to school. We would stop a few houses down the street to get Chris. Many mornings we had to wait on him to finish writing out the 50 states and their capital cities, before we could walk on together.
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There are plenty of know-it-alls out there. They have all the answers for you, and are happy to let you know what they call “truth.” Sadly, some of these gasbags are in our congregations.
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When my wife and I were dating, we would spend hours on the telephone. We did not have anything to say to each other for long stretches of time, but we would not hang up. We just wanted to be together, if only silently.
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We need not lay this at the doorstep of the past. Let us look to ourselves. One has to wonder how much fruitless babbling occurs on Sunday mornings.
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God provides everything we need for the ministry of his church. Now, we must use what he has provided. For example, if he has granted that one is a teacher of some kind, that person must teach truly, so that others may grow correctly.
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What does it mean for Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith? It means that you have cast off all moorings to what you imagine brings security. You no longer depend upon those things; you trust in Christ alone.
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Notice how the Catechism deals with both Law and Gospel. We see readily enough, how the Ten Commandments deal with God’s law, telling us what we must do and must not do. These are commands, or law. In the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Sacraments, we hear the word of grace, the Gospel.
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God knows us through and through. He comprehends the underlying reasons for all our actions, even before we have performed them. Further, he understands our inaction too, our sloth, our interest in things other than his will.
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How are we to go, unless we go with the whole Word of God: both his moral Law and his gracious Gospel? How are we to teach that Word of God, unless we know it? And how would we know it well and properly, unless we have a guide?
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Paul is famous for writing greetings like: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." How could he wish such abundance on the saints, if he did not love them and pray for them?
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What else is there for anyone to do but to love God and one’s neighbor? This is the greatest commandment. What better way is there for anyone to love God than to spend time with him?
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Young people are to learn humbleness and submissiveness to those who already know how to live before God. They learn, not simply by obeying the commandment but by observing the rest of us live in this godly manner.
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It all goes back to the commandments. It always does, the greatest commandment encompassing them all. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
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There are over 40 million slaves in the world today. Far, far more feel enslaved by the workplace, though that is a far cry from any semblance of truth. Nonetheless, the same word goes for all.
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How many times have we heard it said to us by our parents? Who can say how much good those four little words have done for us? “Because I said so.”
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Our heavenly Father knows of everything we need, but do earthly parents understand everything that their children need? We know the basics, yet some of the real necessities can go begging.
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When we do well, we should not be afraid of anything that might bring terror into this life. What is more right and holy, more acceptable to God, than to offer ourselves to him in the living worship of seeking his mercy and grace?
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When marriage is rightly considered as a vocation, a calling for life, it is sobering. Would that more couples entered into the estate with a proper understanding of the gravity of what lies ahead.
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See how Moses did not take matters into his own hands—perhaps as he had done when he emptied his hands of the tablets in a fit of exasperation and anger. He soon humbled himself under the Lord’s will, bowing in worship.
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It can be difficult to obey the will of God when we are busy listening to our own voices. This was the case of the people of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness.
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Those called to the ministry of the Word deserve their wages. It is written, but it does not say how much or how well. The closest we can come to an understanding of salary is that those who do so most ably deserve twice as much pay for their labors.
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The Beatitudes provide us a sufficient test of those who would be teachers of the Word of God. The rest of Scripture makes it even clearer, but if we looked for evidence of the Beatitudes in the lives of those whom congregations are considering for pastoral call, we would do well.
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Even when facing the fear of God’s wrath, the leaders of the people were able to go up into the mountain of God with Moses and Joshua. How is it that they were able to do such a fearsome act?
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When at table, and we consider all of God’s benefits, we must not think only of those things that go into our mouths. We should also give thanks for what comes out of God’s mouth.
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Once again this morning, I looked for Coronavirus news in the local paper. Specifically, I was looking for news about social isolation and stay-at-home orders.
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When we return thanks to God, our gratitude should not be merely for the food and drink we have received from him. We should be thankful for all his benefits.
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What is your concern, perhaps even an anxiety? Your heavenly Father cares for you, so he shares your concern—though it is no cause for angst in him.
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There are many lessons to be learned in this one verse. Let us learn one: that we may depend upon God for our daily bread, just as that wilderness congregation could.
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It seems, these days, that I am looking forward to going to bed as soon as I wake up each morning. When I was a young man and earlier, a teenager, going to bed was the last thing on my mind
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Jesus wants us to do more than follow him. Following Jesus is the starting point, from which eventually, there must be something more, lest following becomes stiff habit and we hang dead upon the vine.
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“Go to your work with joy” does not mean that you love your work. It means you love the one you work for, and who is with you while you work.
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I used to sing quite softly, especially in worship. Because I was unsure of my voice, I held back for fear of sounding worse to others than I did to myself.
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We entrust ourselves this day to the care of the one who will bring us into everlasting day. As eyelids flutter into wakefulness, our sleeping eyes will be instantly awakened.
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Luther encourages us to give thanks for making it through the night. That idea has a little more gravity when there is a global pandemic. So, we should thank God for each new day.
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The ordinance of the Passover provided a way for Jewish people to remember who and whose they are. In this observance, they remembered how the Lord delivered them from more than four centuries of slavery in Egypt.
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I love that Richard Pryor line toward the end of the movie “Silver Streak” when a gunfight has broken out between the FBI and criminals. Bullets are flying everywhere and Pryor, hunkered down behind a 55-gallon drum, has had enough of the chaos.
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Belief is the key to readiness. Do you believe that you are a sinner? If you do, then you are almost ready for the table. Do you believe that Jesus died to save sinners?
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All of our religious devices will never set us free from sin and death. Prayer will not do it, nor will Bible reading, Sunday School, or going to church.
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I would sit in the pew, trying to decide if I had been good enough in the past week to receive the bread and the wine. Of course, I was not good at all, nor would I ever be good.
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The struggle to be righteous is a desperate effort. There have been times when considering my life—my thoughts and actions—I nearly despaired.
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How solitary sits the city, how lonely and desolate. This is the lament of Jeremiah over Israel. Jesus grieves similarly over the people because they are without a shepherd.
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Be sure you do not get caught out in the field with your cattle. God’s forgiveness is abundantly available—even to pharaohs, even to sinners. Just come in from the storm.
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Holy Communion is a turning to the Lord, and in it, we behold his glory. Furthermore, the table is a sort of mirror in which we may begin to behold ourselves as God sees us.
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What a pleasing fragrance arises to God when his church believes the gospel by eating and drinking in remembrance of Christ Jesus. The aroma of our witness extends horizontally as well.
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The Lord is still driving us out of the land of slavery, not a three-day journey, but a full six days into the wilderness, to feast with the Lord.
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I remember so many Sundays about 40 years ago, when I remained in the pew, trying to decide if I was ready to receive Holy Communion. Was I penitent enough, devoted, pious, holy?
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Oh, that we would listen to Jesus. I once knew a brother in a congregation who would walk straight out of church as soon as he had communed.
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I do not intend for us to understand this verse as being about Holy Communion. Obviously, it is about Baptism. Yet, there is relationship between the Sacraments, at least in Spirit and Word.
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One wonders if John Mark wrote this verse with tongue in cheek, or if Peter had told him the story with a wry tone at the memory. The disciples were worried about bread for their bellies, while they had the One Loaf to share as they sailed.
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This is how Jesus established his holy meal, and this is how we pass it down, like Paul, from generation to generation. We receive from the Lord himself, his body and blood—his own precious life—in the elements of bread and wine.
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When we share in Holy Communion, we are receiving the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. We are not simply receiving bread and wine that we eat in memory of what Christ did for us.
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Jesus reveals his divine power at times when those in need may apprehend. He speaks to peace of heart, saying, be not afraid, grab some courage. This word is always predicated on the fact that he is present.
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Jesus fed people throughout his ministry. A have a feeling that he fed people far more often than Scripture chronicles. The recorded cases were miraculous in nature, a little going a long way.
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Sometimes, it is when we imagine ourselves most right, that we may be very wrong. In today’s larger reading, Paul discusses Christian freedoms or rights, the liberties and privileges we have in Christ.
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The old proclamation of the twelve disciples still has legs. Even now, they go from house to house, urging us to repent. Have we failed God in the light of any of his commandments?
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Who was this woman, so afflicted that she hemorrhaged for a dozen years? She would have felt unclean and, no doubt, been considered unclean by others.
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The storms of life howl upon us, and we are frightened. The obvious example, at the moment, is the coronavirus. We shrink before the tempest, yet muster enough courage to rush out and purchase more toilet paper, soap, and sanitizer than we could use in a month of Sundays.
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We are united with the Lord, and by his grace made one spirit with him. Therefore, we should take special care not to sin, as our sins are really sins against the Lord, since we are one with him.
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Like Joseph’s brothers, we must confess, “In truth we are guilty.” Ours may seem to us lesser or greater crimes. No matter. We are guilty.
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Imagine a person who goes to church and thinks, I do not need to confess my sins because I am a good person. It is easy enough to imagine a person like this outside the church, but they exist inside the church too.
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Is the power of God at work in you? God forbid that it is only talk, just religion. The power of God’s kingdom has accompanying signs. These are not the sort of signs one finds in the world; they are God signs, signals of an unfamiliar power.
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Sometimes we think that if we try harder and work smarter, we will become good people. Then, a new day dawns and we discover we are still sinners.
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Some people have a problem with one person forgiving the sins of another. This is largely because they do not understand whom it is who is actually doing the forgiving.
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Perhaps we can see in Joseph’s escape from the pit, a foreshadowing of Christian baptism. In baptism, God snatches us from death and the evil intentions of the devil—though, indeed, we die in that pit.
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Sanctification or holiness is not something we do. Instead, Christ has become our sanctification. His righteousness is ours through faith. So is his sanctification and redemption.
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Paul remarked how thankful he was that he personally baptized only a few, so that personality cults could not rise up around him. I used to think it was Pastor Chu who baptized me at St. Luke’s back in 1955, but then I read his obituary and discovered he was pastor there from 1960 until 1966.
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Just as God does not need, nor does he use, a person's virtues to bring her to saving faith, he does not require so-called good men to deliver his grace or make it valid in a congregation.
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