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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Building on the confession of “the communion of saints” in the creed, and that God imputes righteousness through faith, Melancthon is emboldened to state that the Church is a “congregation of saints.”
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The Lutherans also wished it to be known that justification by faith did not negate the command of God for his people to do good works. However, these acts of charity and obedience are a result of faith—not a requirement of justification.
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Real faith does not happen because one decides to believe, because one disciplines herself to be a holy person, or as the result of any other personal or religious preparation.
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Using the Sacrament in a way that Christ did not intend, abuses and profanes his Holy Supper. Offering his blessed promises to the dead and to those who do not believe makes it an occasion for sin and judgment.
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Our hope is in Christ alone. His resurrection from the dead is the basis of that hope. Because we were baptized into his death, we will be resurrected like him too. The details of what comes next are a mystery but our hope is unwavering.
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Christians ought to hope for unity, beginning to do so by considering how they agree on matters of the faith. After all, they are called to fellowship together in Jesus Christ our Lord (1Cor 1:9-10). Christians are also to be ready to defend the faith (1Per 3:15), even if it is in confessing it to one another.
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There are many fine collections of prayers available. If a person reads those prayers but does not believe in God, are they effective prayers?
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The Small Catechism also, even though teaching from the Apostles' Creed that does not deal explicitly with the dual nature, teaches us that the ascended Christ is “true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary.”
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The blind man in John 9 went to a pool called “Sent,” and was blessed with sight. We have been dispatched to a fount called Christ, and have been given new life, lived forever before God in the righteousness and purity of Christ Jesus.
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Every day we must slay the old nature in us. By offering our doubts, temptations, and sins to God, we crucify the flesh. This is not a physical act like sacrificing an animal.
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If we are not careful to seek the Father’s forgiveness and remember the promises of Baptism daily, the devil may slowly stop up the well.
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In Christian Baptism, water does more than touch the outside of us, as though washing the skin. Because God’s Word is bound with the water, it cleanses and renews the whole person.
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God’s discipline is a difficult thing, but the Father does not discipline us so severely that we die. His Son, however, was disciplined to the point of death for the sins the world.
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Remember Jesus. Keep him in mind as the one who ran before you and is now waiting for you to cross the finish line. Now, if you believe and are baptized, you are in the race, but finishing the race requires the endurance of faith.
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Obedient to God’s command, Abraham took his son up the mountain to sacrifice him to the Lord. But God spared the child’s life, and his parents untold grief.
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Our lives are in the Lord’s hands. He has prepared a better place for us, a heavenly city, an excelling country. It was so for Abraham who with Sarah was made to wait in faith on God’s promise.
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There is one thing that pleases God: faith in him—faith in his existence and faith in his grace. Abel brought an offering to the Lord, having faith in God instead of a confidence in his offering, and so, his offering was acceptable or pleasing.
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Baptism is something God does to and for us. It is not our offering to God, as though God is a theatergoer soothed by our performance. It is not something we do in order to appease God.
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The promise of God is for all people. Circumcision was a signal that there is something greater than the shedding of human blood. We are meant to look to something far greater.
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All our sins are drowned in Christian baptism, for the “old man” was buried with Christ in his death (Rom 6:3). At first blush, this hardly seems fair.
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Do we give up in our praying? Or do we persist and see the Lord’s will displayed in power and glory? Abram prayed and prayed, his petitions buttressed by Sarai’s pleas to the Lord for a child.
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“Thy will be done.” We may pray this, meaning, “Please, Lord, do my will. Make my will your own.” Instead, our weekly, if not daily, prayer must also be a confession to ourselves that it is God’s will that must be done.
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God has made believers a kingdom of priests (Isa 61:6; Exod 19:6; 1 Pet 2:9; Rev 1:6). Priests are the ones who receive the tithe from subordinates, as Melchizedek did from Abraham.
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Who has commanded us to pray in the manner of the Lord’s Prayer than God himself? And whose name, whose reputation, is higher than God’s. No one’s name is greater, so we may pray with confidence.
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Is there anything more evil than the human heart? “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
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The ancient Hebrews were being led out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into a land of rest—a place where they would no longer be in bondage.
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Sin is lurking in our doorways every day. Therefore, we must be certain it does not to rule over us. The idea here is not that Cain, and we too, somehow work hard enough to stop sinning.
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Jesus, sinless and therefore perfect in our minds, was nevertheless perfected through his suffering on the cross. Because of this perfecting, God designated his Son as our great High Priest.
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Life, and with it rescue from all evil, comes through the Living Word. Everlasting life comes only through him who is the life and light of humanity, when each person receives him by believing in him.
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Do not be tempted to believe the claims others make about what you need to do in order to be saved. Instead, hang on with faith in what Christ did for you.
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Temptations come in different forms. Typically, we think of them as being interior, compulsions of the mind or heart. But temptations are exterior as well, sometimes coming from the persuasive speeches of false preachers, or even friends and family.
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How are we to be protected from the devil, or from the world, or even from our own corrupt nature? Can we provide our own protection? Are we able to purchase it with our deeds or those of someone else with the same debased disposition?
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It is tempting to merely ask God to deliver us from urges to rebel against authorities, to hurt someone, commit adultery, steal, lie, or desire what belongs to others.
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In eternity, the righteous will shine like the sun (Matt 13:43); but, I wonder, why should we wait for eternity? Let us burn brightly now. I know; I know. You ask, How can I, a poor sinner, blaze with such glory?
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It is our Christian duty to absolve one another (Matt 6:14–15; John 20:23; James 5:16), as Christ has forgiven us. Before we come to his table, we must graciously extend his peace to all.
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The unity of the church begins and ends with God. Her unity is the Spirit’s work—not yours or mine. Christ’s Spirit unites the church.
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We are not forsaken, for we have a righteous deliverer, riding in on the horse of a champion and conqueror. The war he wages is cosmic, a battle with death itself.
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Where I come from, it is illegal for drivers to make a turn without signaling. You may receive a ticket for failing to turn on that blinker.
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One may believe in Christ, a sort of historical or even biblical knowledge of him, but still, not believe on him. Believing in him may require nothing more than one would by believing in anyone or anything else.
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When we pray for our daily bread, we are only asking for what God has already promised. We confess this in the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed.
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From the early days of the church, there was concern for both spiritual and physical needs. When believers are hungry, the church must feed them. When they are thirsty, the church must provide them drink.
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Our unbelief will not change the will of God. Everything he has resolved will come to pass in its season—whether we believe it will or not.
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It was the will of the Father that his Son, the perfect Lamb of God, be born, suffer and die, and be buried, raised, and ascended to glory.
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We were created as temporal beings; we exist within time. Therefore, we must learn patience. Patience is a virtue because it is so necessary and because it is God’s will.
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We have seen the open door of the gospel but here is a door opened to heaven, so that John may see into the realm of the divine and be assured that God’s will is being done on earth.
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It is God’s will that we find our satisfaction in him. When we are content with our deeds and religious devotion, we may feel satisfied but our attitude is bile in the throat of the Almighty. Tepid religiosity is a faith killer.
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Who can shut the open door of the Gospel’s invitation to faith in Christ? It is God’s will that we are strengthened to keep the faith, to remain steadfast in his Word.
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What does love desire? A large, fine house? A car with a big red bow atop it on Christmas morning? Diamonds? Dinner and a movie every week? Each is more absurd than the next.
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We are to fear God rather than the things of this life. Suffering, even great suffering, may be our lot, yet it is only for the space of time. A Day is coming when time is undone, and with it all the tribulation of this life.
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The fear, love, and trust of God both bids us do his will and gives us the power to do so. And what is God’s greatest command than that we love him above all others, and our neighbors as ourselves?
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Being a citizen of the Father’s kingdom does not exempt us from trials and distress while we still have a foot in this world. John was imprisoned on Patmos; each of us may have our own exiles.
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We have no beasts to sacrifice, yet we are priests to our God. We have no temple where the people come to our services, for we are all priests to our God. We have no special, ornate garments, as in baptism we have been clothed in Christ.
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Our faith, which leads to salvation, is held or observed in common. What is our common faith if not summarized in this word: that Jesus delivered us from bondage?
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How may we hallow God’s name but to believe his Word and act accordingly? This old world will not be around forever, and we even less time. All of creation awaits its destruction.
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The future is unknown, so I better put more money in my retirement fund. I would have less anxiety if I could just get a better paying job. Can the government do more for me?
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Everything belongs to the Father, and in him all creation holds together (Col 1:17). Is he then, unable to grant your prayers? Indeed, there is a so-called power that holds back the hand of God.
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Consider your worth. Your own merit, that which is yours through your own deeds and religious devotion, is of course, relatively worthless. This does not give you any standing with God.
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On the last day, the Lord will return. These lengthening days of darkness will be no more, for the Lamb will be our light. We will have no concern for the heat of day, or cold, nor any interest in weather at all.
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Oh, the wonder of faith in Jesus Christ! It is faith in God that makes a saint, and saints make the church, which has the Lord Jesus Christ as her Head.
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Within the communion of the Christian church there is the true faith that receives the free gift of Christ Jesus. There, in that Body, the Head forgives; and he forgives abundantly, as there is full redemption in his blood.
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We may think of this calling of the Spirit as a solitary affair, as though the Spirit says, “You there, come and follow Christ.” And so he does call each one of us, but we follow Christ together.
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Jesus still calls. He beckons us to come to him from out of the darkness. Jesus calls us from the darkness of dependence upon anything but himself.
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If you have ever been on a boat in a bad storm, you know the helplessness of the situation. The closest many of us have come to this nautical nightmare is driving down an Interstate highway when a blinding rainstorm seems to come out of nowhere.
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Do not give up hope about the church. God’s Spirit is still calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying his people. In doing so, he unites the whole Christian church on earth with Christ.
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Frightful things are looming. Judgment is coming. “But rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Though God’s judgment on each person is approaching, there is hope for those who believe in Christ.
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The Holy Spirit sanctifies me; I do not sanctify myself. He consecrates me by giving me what I need for what he expects of me, and by forgiving me every moment of the day for my various sins...
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I do not believe in God by way of my reason, decision, determination, or strength. I come to God through God. It would be quite impossible to come to God by way of my own understanding.
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Jesus made a promise to all people that he would give eternal life to whomever would believe in him. We who confess the Apostles’ Creed believe in Christ Jesus.
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We believe that God will raise our earthly bodies, just as Jesus was resurrected. Our humble bodies will be transformed to be like Christ’s in glory.
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We believe in the forgiveness of sins. Pardon does not come by once being forgiven and then no longer sinning. The forgiveness of sins comes to us for his name’s sake, in other words, through the name of Christ.
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“I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian,” he told me. Then he added, “The Bible doesn’t say I have to go to church.” I was so informed by a police officer in the process of a raid on a house.
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What is this holy catholic church? Let us look to the defining words; and let us do so in reverse order, allowing the descriptive words to address the direct object. What is the church?
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If we agree with Luther’s teaching on the third article of the Creed, we are acknowledging that we cannot climb our way to God. We are conceding that we cannot even believe in God without the Holy Spirit’s assistance.
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Jesus did not leave his disciples alone when he ascended. Nor are we alone today; he has given us the same Spirit, his own Spirit, “the Spirit of Christ.”
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We come now to Luther’s teaching on what good it is to know this second article of the Apostles’ Creed. These benefits include the confident hope of redemption, freedom, inclusion, eternal life.
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The Father has appointed Christ alone to judge the world—both the living and all who ever lived. Christ must be the judge of the living and the dead because he is the only one appropriate to the task.
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Being at the right hand of the Father means that Christ Jesus is seated on the throne of all thrones. He has power and authority which excels all others.
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Jesus ascended; he was raised to the Father's side in heaven so that he may share in the fullness of divinity (Phil 2:9). He is not simply God, nor only a man; Jesus is now God in the flesh, seated at the Father's right hand.
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We cannot live with Jesus in eternity if he is not there. If God’s Christ is still dead and buried in the ground, we cannot live with him in heaven—nor can we live there without him.
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In reference to yesterday's lesson on Christ Jesus preaching to those spirits in prison, many people want to know who these spirits are and what this prison is exactly. It is enough to know the universality of Christ's sovereignty.
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It is a mystery to me why people want to get rid of the word "hell" in the Apostles' Creed. Are they afraid Christ Jesus cannot handle the place of the damned?
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In order to emphasize the fact of Jesus’ death, the creed states that he was buried. Burial is necessary for those who are truly human and have died. In other words, Jesus was not an apparition; he was a man who had actually died.
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Did Jesus really die? If he is God, can God die? Some say that he did not actually die. It is called the “swoon theory,” meaning Jesus only fainted on the cross, was presumed dead, then carried off to his grave.
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Why did God come to earth in human flesh? Why lower himself to such a level (if it really is such a low level)? God did so because love made him do it.
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Jesus, innocent man and holy God, was condemned to suffer the cruelest death the Romans had at their disposal. He would be crucified. His crucifixion was mere expedience in Pilate’s mind.
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Even in the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary we see that human works had no play. Mary did nothing. Joseph surely did nothing. The poor man was very likely stunned at the news...
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Jesus was born of the virgin named Mary but he was conceived by God. The Holy Spirit was the fathering agent, therefore the holy child was of two natures: divine and human. Jesus was born in “the likeness of men," that is, he is similar to a man.
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We moderns, especially in Western cultures, tend to speak of the heart as being an emotional vessel. In the consideration of the ancient Hebrews, the heart was the seat of thought and will, as well as emotion.
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As Jesus is master over life and death, so he is Lord of all things in life and death. He is God over all creation: in heaven, on earth, and even under the earth.
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Thomas, the perennial doubter, at seeing his crucified rabbi alive and standing before him, confessed what John had related at the beginning of his Gospel.
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As Abraham did not spare his own Son when God commanded it of him, God did not spare his own Son when his will demanded it of himself. Through this precious, only Son, he has redeemed the creation he loves.
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Just as God settled among his people in the Old Testament, God now “tabernacles” among those who believe. He does so through his Son, Christ Jesus, who is the exact image of God.
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Sometimes the Old Testament speaks of the king as an anointed one, a person on whom God’s blessing rests. A priest would pour a flask of oil over the king’s head as a symbol that God had anointed him king.
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The name “Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew “Joshua” (which later morphed into “Jeshua”) which means “the Lord saves.”
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“This is most certainly true!” declares Luther. “What is truth?” responds Pilate. The Truth was standing right in front of him, and he dismissed him as though truth were too difficult to nail down.
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God has given us all we need for life. More than that, he has made himself our home. Paul puts it this way: “In him we live and move and have our being.”
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When we confess that God is almighty, we are saying something more than that he is strong. This confession also declares that what is impossible with people is possible with God.
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We believe in God as our Father. He is a good Father, having provided all we need in this life. But he is more than a dispenser of goods.
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When we say that we believe in God, we mean the Lord God named by God’s Redeemer in Matthew 28:19. Jesus gave the “name” of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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The English word “creed” comes from the Latin credo, which means, “I believe.” A creed is a statement of what one gives credence to, finds credible.
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We are saved from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, sin is not a thing of the past; it is a present reality. Though we pray, “thy will be done,” and we know, even have memorized, the commandments, we cannot keep them.
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Pointing toward my stomach, the doctor said that I needed to lose my little friend. I asked, “What, about 20 pounds.” She dryly replied, “More like 30 to 40.”
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This may not be that hard to imagine. Think of the family dinner table with parents and children gathered for the evening meal. Now picture the children glued to their phones.
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Verse five from the Word today can be a troubling verse, especially if you read the NIV. In that version, it reads: “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”
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It does not matter how hard you try to be good; you are a sinner. You were born in sin, and as long as you are in this body, you will be a sinner; and you will sin.
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When the law crushes us with its demands, as it did the lawyer in today’s Scripture, what are we to do but plead for mercy? Just when we imagine that we might have become experts in religion...
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All the Commandments are rooted in the First, or as it quickly came to be understood: the greatest or most important commandment (Matt 22:36–40).
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God’s jealousy over us is ready to ignite. The word for fire in the Latin Vulgate is ignis, from which we get our English word “ignite.”
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As you find more and more joyful satisfaction, even sheer delight, in God’s company, you will find your heart desiring godly things.
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We should fear and love God so that we do not make plans to steal anything or anyone that belongs to our neighbors. Indeed, we should so fear and love God that we do not even consider such a thing.
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The Ninth Commandment deals with craving your neighbor’s goods, those inanimate possessions of your neighbor. The Tenth Commandment speaks about lusting after living things that are your neighbor’s, whether family or not—indeed, human or not.
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The example of Christ instructs us to serve one another. Because of his love, alive within us through the Holy Spirit, we look for opportunities to care for our neighbors, instead of seeking a chance to steal their property.
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If we trust God, we are able to be interested in more than ourselves. God will take care of us, so we are freed up to take care of others.
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The fear and love of God ought to constrain us from taking the property of others. The trust of God should make us content with what we have.
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There may be little worse than carrying a grudge. It lessens the life of the person holding the grudge, as well as the one for whom the grudge is held.
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We should fear God in such a way that we do not use violence to enforce his will. That is God’s prerogative. Christians are not to avenge themselves.
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How long would you expect people to stay at a party where the host walks around complaining about the party guests? When entertaining, one is considerate of the guests, shows interest in their lives, and even their opinions.
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What if God did not think the best of us? We would be hopeless. If each time he looked at us, he thought of us as irredeemable, each time he heard us, he considered us deplorable...
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In the strictest sense, we should not lie to or about our Christian brothers and sisters. No honorable reason denies this charity to all others.
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Are you content with God? Do you trust him? Do you fear him, love him? For the one who is content with God, there is no need of anything more, no need to steal from another.
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We confess that God is the creator of it all. In the beginning, he made the skies and the land, the heavens and the earth, and by this we mean to say, the universe—everything.
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We must read the Bible with the eyes of faith, instead of allowing feelings to interpret Scripture. Too often, passages like today’s verse leave us with a sense of guilt.
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Everyone plays a part. If that part is neglected it diminishes the whole. The rest must pick up the slack, and carry the burden of feeling as though they must take care of those who refuse labor.
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Our Scripture reference today was originally written about Jehoiakim, king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He made his citizens build his palace but did not pay them.
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Again, the keeping of the commandments begins with the fear and love of God. Nevertheless, we cannot perfectly keep this Sixth Commandment any more than we can perfectly love God.
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The force of the Sixth Commandment may be understood in one version of the ring vows: “with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.”
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Paul urges the Corinthians to flee from sexual sin. This would include fornication and adultery, to name a few. One flees something by running away.
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Paul teaches us to disregard the false teachers in our lives, those who would hold any religious thing, any material or earthly thing, over our heads.
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It is helpful to remember that you are baptized. In Christian baptism, Christ removed your sin, though that old nature would still rear its evil head in this life.
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We tend to consider the Sixth Commandment only in terms of sex. Yet, unfaithfulness to one’s spouse—whether human or divine—begins in the heart.
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The Song of Solomon has many beautiful images, perhaps none so striking as Song of Solomon 2:4. “He has brought me to his banquet hall, and his banner over me is love” (Song 2:4 NASB).
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Breaking the marriage covenant is not simply a physical matter. Adultery begins in the heart, with lust and intention or will. Jesus teaches us that it is possible to commit adultery mentally, in the deepest way: in the heart, as we say.
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It is vital that Christians honor the marriage bed, especially when culture plays fast and loose with the Sixth Commandment. We must make it an emphasis because our consciences are impaired...
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The sexually immoral person is an idol worshiper. The one who covets a neighbor’s spouse or anything else in that person’s household, is essentially, as the King James Version puts it, a whoremonger...
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It has always been easy to have a polluted heart; indeed, we are born with such hearts, and are bent on folly. Consider David, who from a rooftop, looked upon Bathsheba with evil in his heart.
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The Sixth Commandment is worded in the negative, but we readily perceive that “thou shalt not” (Exod 20:14 KJV) implies we must also do something.
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We live in a time that is sometimes lamented as a post-Christian era in the United States. Complaints range from social media shutting out anything Christian, to the public square no longer allowing the church a voice.
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The temptation is to lash out, to retaliate, to pay back. But that is not Jesus’ way, though he was tempted. When he was criticized and even beaten, Jesus could have called down legions of angels...
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The greatest need our neighbors have, whether they know it or not, is emotional. We must not cause them any anguish, as it is ongoing, causing stress that mounts on stress, a daily trauma to be withstood.
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Followers of Christ do not carry their anger with them day after day, nor are they to act on their anger in a way that wounds another, especially those “of the household of faith.”
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In case you think Luther takes his explanation of the Fifth Commandment too far, consider Jesus. The catechism explains not killing in terms of fighting and of being a caring friend to our neighbors.
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The motivation for taking care of our neighbor, including our enemies, is the fear and love of God. We help others because we understand our own need of assistance.
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The faith is not about religious practice alone; it is not even just about God. Our devotion to God is most keenly observed, not in our worship and service, as much as God cherishes these acts, but in the love of our neighbor.
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A mountain seems to stand steadfastly—until the plates far beneath the surface shift. Not murdering someone seems simpler to pull off than not saying something nasty.
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Leave it to God. It may sting your sense of honor if you do not avenge your dignity. But the honor belongs to the Lord anyway, and your own honor depends upon God.
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It is difficult to like some people. They may differ politically, religiously, culturally; they may be better off than you are and even flaunt it; they may be downright nasty.
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Be careful that you do not imagine yourself exempt from bothering with the Fifth Commandment. You may say that you have never murdered anyone. Think again.
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Human life is precious to the Lord. It does not matter whether that life is another’s life or one’s own, whether that life is nascent or full-formed. It is life; and it is life in God’s image.
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It is an instinct that goes all the way back to Cain: we imagine that we may solve our personal problems with violence, and if necessary, the final violence of death.
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Of all people, Jesus might have insisted on being right when confronted with his parents’ demands upon him. Yet, he was obedient and submissive to them.
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Of all people, Jesus might have insisted on being right when confronted with his parents’ demands upon him. Yet, he was obedient and submissive to them.
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They took a photograph of the men at church yesterday, in honor of Fathers’ Day. It was a collection of hoary-headed fellows.
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This is an index or table of contents of the none lessons based on The Athanasian Creed — an Overview and "Whole and Inviolable,” "Trinity in Unity," "Compulsion" "Addressing Heresies," "Equal and Subordinate," "One Christ," "Likewise," and "Standing on Your Own Feet."
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God has set others over you, besides your parents. They too, are in their positions for your benefit. Before we move on to civil authorities, let us consider a few others.
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Honoring parents is not the privilege of young children alone. Children who still live at home with their parents are of course, expected to love them, be obedient, and esteem them as blessed gifts of God.
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God expects us to behave for our parents the way we would act in his presence. Therefore, we are to obey our parents as we would obey God: without complaining or asking why.
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Our parents are God’s agents to and for us. They are meant to be his blessed envoys, graciously given to us by God so that we may begin our education in the catechism.
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Even Jesus honored his parents with submissive behavior. This pleased his mother, and it pleases the Father when we follow the Lord’s example by being obedient to our parents.
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They say that imitation is the sincerest or best form of flattery. That must be very true for parents. It is satisfying and rewarding when children reproduce their parents’ good character and conduct.
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God’s promise to be a Father to us demonstrates the importance he places on the role of parenting. It is the first commandment on the second tablet...
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Seems right; if I did not respect my dad, he might have killed me! When he got out that paddle, I had cause to wonder. However, this is hardly what the Fourth Commandment means.
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We are to honor our parents. One of the ways that is done is by respecting, obeying, serving, and otherwise loving them throughout our shared days.
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The commandment to love our neighbor begins at home. We are to love others as we love ourselves—not just loving those closest to us.
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The principal way one honors their parents is to care for them in their old age, when they cannot take care of themselves anymore.
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The Sabbath of the old covenant observed God’s completion of creation. The Sabbath of the new covenant celebrates recreation—that people are recreated, or born again, through faith in Christ.
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What do you depend upon for religious education, for correction or downright reprimand, and for training in virtue? What is it that governs your maturity in the Christian faith? Your opinions? TV shows? Newspapers? Social media?
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The reading of Scripture to the congregation is vital. Indeed, the use of Scripture throughout the liturgy is central to our worship. But why is this the case?
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Faith comes through the proclaimed word of Christ Jesus, the message of the gospel. It is the good news because salvation comes by no other name.
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It is the Word of God received in faith that makes one holy. The preaching of that Word is vital, whether it is a lector reading the Word aloud, a pastor proclaiming it from a pulpit, or the Holy Spirit speaking through a printed Bible or app.
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When we gather around the Word of God, we are separated from the world for a while. For the moment, we are devoted only to God. This is one major way that we keep the Third Commandment.
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But the Sabbath is a Saturday, not a Sunday, you may argue. Yes, the Jewish Sabbath was Saturday; actually, it was Friday evening until Saturday evening.
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The Sabbath is a day of rest, a miniature holiday or holyday. This day of rest is to be kept because God not only commanded it, he observed it.
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Worship is always the correct attitude. If your conscience, the law, or the devil accuse you of sin, the right response is worship. Do not hide from God, as if you could.
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Let us be clear. God will not hold guiltless the one who takes his name in vain. Yet, the one who calls upon his name in sorrow over that sin will be forgiven.
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It is easy to notice the faults of others. For example, you will hear God’s name used wrongly—whether as an outright expletive or by swearing by it to gain another’s trust.
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“God told me.” When people say this, they are taking the Lord’s name in vain. They say, “God told me to do this,” so that no one will be able to disagree with them.
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So, we see that taking the Lord’s name vainly does not only break the Second Commandment; it also breaks the First Commandment. For taking the Lord’s name in vain demonstrates a lack of fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
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Why does one need to lie or otherwise deceive in order to receive some necessary thing? God knows what you need, so ask your heavenly Father, and he will provide the needs of the day.
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The Second Commandment deals with far more than using a specific word or words. If you are a Christian, then all you say and do is said and done in the name of God.
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Too much talk can lead to grand statements, to bragging backed up with oaths. Be content with silence, for the whisper of God may be heard there.
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The best way to use God’s name properly is in prayer, and the best prayer is the one Jesus taught us. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that the Father’s name will be hallowed, or “holied.”
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We are to use God’s name properly. Because we trust God, we may believe that he will take care of us. Therefore, we do not need to resort to deceitful practices of any sort in order to have our needs met by the Father.
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There are things that people fear, love, and trust above God. People may fear illness, suffering, and death above God. The result can be slavish devotion to fitness or to doctors and medicine.
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Keeping the Ten Commandments is not something that we must do in order to be saved. God does not forgive us because we keep the rules.
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While the effects of sin may linger a while, the steadfast love of God endures forever. That is the idea in the idiom: “a thousand generations.” It is like saying, “a million years.”
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The Scripture teaches us that children do not pay for the sins of their parents (Ezek 18:20). Nevertheless, they often suffer the consequences. The bad choices we make affect others.
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The effects of sin linger. I look at my own parents’ sins every day, as so many are alive in me. I learned those sins from them but they are my sins.
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The Hebrew word typically translated as “jealous” in Exodus 20:5 can mean zealous, passionate, even outraged—or simply protective. Luther translated it as “zealous” (eifriger) but the major English translations all read “jealous.”
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The idea of serving idols (“or serve them”) in verse five is specific to bringing them the service of worship. The NIV translates it so.
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Imagine that those who are made in the image of the Almighty God (Gen 1:26) would bow down to figurines of human invention. Ludicrous!
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If you knew what God looked like (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12) and made an image of that likeness, would you be able to fear the image? I suppose you could, but it would be irrational to do so.
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The command to have no other gods is packed with things to consider. Having another god means to own the god, as one could an idol. But we cannot own Yahweh, in that sense, unless we try to make him into an image that we would worship instead of Yahweh himself.
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You may initially counter that God did not bring you out of Egypt. It was the Hebrew people whom God led out of slavery to pharaohs. They were enslaved for over four centuries in Egypt, waiting for God to send Moses to lead them out.
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Exodus 20:2 does not simply say, “I am the Lord God.” It reads, “I am the Lord your God.” Without God revealing himself to the people of Israel, he may have been any deity, any one of the gods of the land.
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Exodus 20:2 does not simply say, “I am the Lord God.” It reads, “I am the Lord your God.” Without God revealing himself to the people of Israel, he may have been any deity, any one of the gods of the land.
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The commandments bring God to the forefront of our hearts and minds; the actual commandments seem almost secondary. They are commanded because of the nature of God.
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The commandments begin with a brief foreword that is the condition for the words to follow. Why should we do and not do these certain things? What is the condition for our obedience? God said so.
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Gratitude from the world? Too often, it seems like there is not much gratitude even from the church. That is a reason why a minister’s sufficiency must come from God.
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The primary task of ministers is two-fold. First, they must teach the law so that people understand they are sinners in danger of God’s judgment.
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We have no life in ourselves. Nevertheless, our old, inborn natures want to keep trying to live. Though drowned and buried with Christ in baptism, we must be reassured of our death.
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Some people think of Holy Communion as a sort of magic act: a specific incantation recited by an approved class of people. Others think of it as a legal act, something one must do in order to be right with God.
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It is clear Luther consider the catechism part of the wider education of children. Further, he believed the catechism could instill in them a heart to serve both church and community.
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We should not simply learn God's commandments and acts, fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things, we should learn about God, his character, his inclination toward us.
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You will find different areas of emphasis in your ministry—whether it be a commandment, article, petition, or Sacrament that needs stressed in the lives of your flock, or in your own life.
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It is inconceivable that a person would say of the one she loves, I’ve had enough of him; it’s time for a new stage of life.
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God’s word opens the door of the mind. Yet it does far more since it is not merely that which opens, but is itself the gateway to a person’s spirit.
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Too often, we hear something along this line: We have decided to let our children make up their own minds. All the while, the rest of the world has free access to the minds of these same children.
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The point here is that our people are to take the catechism seriously. But why?, one might object. It’s only some program Luther invented.
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What does it mean to “impress” the word of God on your heart and soul but to memorize Scripture? Other translations use “place,” “deposit,” “lay up,” and “fix.”
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What a privilege we have been afforded, that God would entrust to his church the training of young disciples. Like Jesus, we might say to any child or youth, “Follow me.”
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Walking to elementary school, I would stop by Chris’ house so we could walk together. Many mornings I had to wait for him to finish writing the 50 states and their capitals on yellow, lined paper.
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Our culinary palates may develop, given experience, but the basics remain the same. The food groups used to make exotic dishes are the same as simple dishes.
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This is a charge that may be leveled at all pastors, not merely bishops. How can pastors avoid God’s disapproval (to put it mildly) of neglecting their calls?
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Luther visited the parishes of Saxony and Meissen from October 22, 1528, through January 9, 1529. Years before this visitation, he had spoken of writing a catechism for the instruction of children.
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There is something more to these articles than doctrine; there is an attitude expressed at number 32 below that would serve the Church of Christ well.
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It is bad enough when the person outside the church swindles people so that he may live in excess. When leaders of the church of God do this to the very ones whom the Lord has called them to serve, it is nothing short of an obscene blotch on the character of the whole church.
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Those who oversee the affairs of the church are not to be loathed because of their office, whether it be called overseer, bishop, president, or otherwise.
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Scripture provides abundant comfort and assistance on the specific subject as well as on general topics that are helpful to a marriage.
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While pastors should be concerned that the Word of God is upheld in the church, they should do so only from the position of the Word’s authority. Otherwise, they have no authority.
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When the institutional church acts like the world system, there is only one answer: faith in Christ—complete trust in the truth of his gospel. Christ alone will see you through.
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The story of Haman in the Old Testament book of Esther may not be as well known as it should be. Haman was that sort of dishonorable civil official who purchases position and favor.
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If anyone does not obey the apostolic word, it is the responsibility of pastors to offer a biblical corrective to that sister or brother —even if that correction goes so far as terminating church ties with those who are not faithful
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Beware of bishops, pastors, and elders who busy themselves with duties that range often from the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Even in the overseer’s duty of ordination, this ministry of the office is celebrated...
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If bishops are apostatic, or will not ordain gifted, confessional people, the churches must ordain their own pastors.
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The saying reads, “God is not who you think he is; he is who he says he is.” As goes with the person of God, so it goes with doctrine: it is revealed in his Word.
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Everyone of faith in Christ is a priest of God. The church is that “holy nation” Peter means when he speaks of God’s people. From that chosen race, God calls each to a certain vocation.
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The keys belong to Christ and are used in his name and in his presence. Therefore, one cannot insist upon this or that, without the authority and presence of Christ.
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The Augsburg Confession declares that the church is the gathering of saints where the gospel is purely taught and the sacraments are properly administered (Article VII).
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It is Christ Jesus who sends out his ministers. While this is certainly ratified in the church and through the laying on of hands, let us be careful that we do not presume too much for ourselves.
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Here is the distinguishing labor of all ministers (shepherds) of the gospel: take care of the flock. But how is this accomplished?
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The role of bishop is not one of rule and rule making. Rather, a bishop works to hold the church together around the Word. As such, a bishop must ordain new pastors so that the Word will be preached.
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Congregations—and pastors too—often heap more onto the job description of a pastor than is often required, or even good for the church.
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We will have disagreement over some matters in the church. Nonetheless, we must never have disagreement about that which is basic.
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“That pastor caused such division when he led all those churches out of our denomination.” I heard this statement a couple of years ago while visiting an out-of-state church.
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Though no one but Christ is head of the church, there remain bishops, pastors, priests, Council presidents, and others in positions of leadership. Be sure they keep the Word of God.
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If a leader makes decisions that are firmly settled in Scripture, there would at least be the counsel of the Word and the Spirit. Most of the church would be glad of such wise guidance.
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Thank God the days are gone when oaths had to be sworn to churchmen. The Christian must be bound to no one but God. The Christian conscience must be captive only to the Word of God.
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How is a guilty conscience to be healed but through the proper instruction of Christianity? Correct teaching about forgiveness of sin would itself, work wonders in the life of a congregation, a synod, a nation.
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Even the power of God is seen most clearly in the true teaching of the First Article. Divine power is observed more clearly in salvation through faith in Christ than in any other way.
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The Office of the Keys does not refer to imposing punishments but to absolution and withholding of the forgiveness of sins.
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Christ is not present when there is unilateral authority, as Christ himself is the authority. He has determined to exercise that divine authority in the quorum of at least two believers.
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John Hus wrote, “Teach, counsel, punish, console, remit, bear, pray.” Death is not on the list. It was not on Jesus’ list either.
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If our righteousness must excel that of the religious professionals and experts, then where is our hope? Well, if righteousness truly comes through good works, correct dogma, proper services, or acknowledged tradition, then there is no hope.
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We will not venture into the details; look to the newspapers for much of what Melancthon means by “shameful acts.” But what of the reason for the tradition of celibacy...
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Whenever one wonders if a doctrine is true or false, look to the chief article. Does a teaching conflict with the first article? If so, then the doctrine is false.
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Christians often sin; it is as natural as breathing. Yet, when Christians sin, they know it. The Holy Spirit makes them aware of their sin and the guilt of their unrighteousness.
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The more we aim at purer piety, stricter law-keeping, faithful penance, and more and greater good works, the more assured we become that we can do nothing against our corruption.
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We should not pray endlessly over our sins, thinking our devotion to naming each and every transgression is cause for God’s mercy.
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There is no hope for sinners who are denied true and complete faith in Christ. So long as they are cast back upon themselves, they are sunk—the lot of them.
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Just as the grace of God is freely given, so is the means of grace. The Sacraments are not for hire. They are freely given, as need dictates. Sinners require a liberal provision of God’s grace.
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The only peace that Christ came to bestow on this earth is the peace that is had through faith in him. Believe in Christ—in God’s salvation and forgiveness given only through such faith...
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The principal part of Christian doctrine is that we have faith in God, believing that he loved the world so much that he sent his Son to save us, forgiving all sin, justifying sinners, and saving them to eternal life only through faith in Christ.
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Whether it be Sargon II, Satan, or anyone else, no one is God but God. He alone is the Most High. Climb the ranks of the kingdoms of earth or invent your own kingdom, small or large; still you are not God.
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If one imagines that salvation comes in any other way than through faith in Christ, that one is an antichrist. If he proclaims that some deeds must be done, religious services performed, or anything be believed beyond that satisfaction who is Christ himself, then that person is opposed to Christ.
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The gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims that we are saved by God’s action—not by our own actions. A person may spend a lifetime going to church and doing good works, and actually be a truly decent neighbor, yet be hell bound.
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The Bible calls us to faith in Christ, to seek his kingdom and righteousness above all things. Anyone who puts himself over Christ or even beside him must be avoided
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The saving power of the gospel begins with faith and ends with faith. There are no hoops in between. Complicated or even impossible efforts, exercises, and rule following have no power to save.
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God rules the world with both left and right hands. The left-handed governance is the administrations of both state and church. If it has to do with the flesh, with property and daily life, it is likely the left hand at work in our lives.
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Christ has given his church a greater power than crowns, robes, and scepters. He has conferred spiritual not political power. Why would he give his disciples something as fleeting and hopeless as politics and government?
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The occupation of the disciple of Christ is one of going. The follower of Christ is always moving out, for Christ is always doing so. If the disciple is following Jesus, she is naturally going.
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All shepherds of the flock, each one a pastor of the gospel and bishop or overseer of their congregations, are commissioned with the charge to preach the Word.
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Churches would be better off if they focused on the Word in the pews, rather than the person in the pulpit. The one doing the teaching adds nothing to the Word or the office.
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Peter is addressed as a minister of the office in which this confession functions. The rock that the church is built upon is the preaching of Christ and other ministries that confess Jesus as the Son of God.
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Let us reason forward from Scripture, instead of proof-texting. Deciding the way things should be, then bending a verse to fit the invention does violence to God’s Word.
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The English language lacks the nuance of singular and plural voices when it comes to the word “you.” One must determine from context, or as in this case, look at the original language...
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Before considering Melancthon’s brief reply, allow me to repeat my earlier assertion. It is upon the bedrock confession of Peter that Christ builds his Church.
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The traditions about authority that have been handed down to us by the apostles are clear and simple. They teach us that as the Son obeyed the Father’s will, every man is to obey Christ’s will, and every wife be inclined to her husband.
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If we are all one in Christ, how can there be one over all? This is a human invention; primacy is not God’s way, for he is the head over all.
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Kingdoms divide and fall under the squabbling of a king’s children. Their infighting and scrabbling for power ruins a nation. Let us look to our King, and be content with his primacy and power.
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Who ruled the Church in the time of the apostles? Peter? James? Paul? You would be hard-pressed to decide by reading the Scriptures. That is for good reason; none of them was superior to the other.
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Here is the Church of Christ: those who make the good confession, who stir up love and good works in one another, and who meet together in Christ’s name until he returns. They have Jesus as their great priest.
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Whether or not we can trust Cyprian’s knowledge of traditions and observances of such distant memory is one thing. After all, he lived in the first half of the third Century.
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It has long been the practice that churches should be the ones who decide who their bishops will be. Appointments of bishops by a bishop begins the slippery slope to the primacy of one.
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It cannot be historically demonstrated that the Roman bishop should rule over all the churches. A wider-spread authority was conferred in the fourth century. Yet, even then, the Western bishop’s administration was shared with the Eastern bishop.
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Peter himself, with a pastoral application, removed any justification for primacy of one pastor or bishop over another, when he teaches ministers of the church to be a godly example instead of a domineering master.
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The office of the ministry depends upon the Word of God, not those who would rule over those called to preach. Those who seek to watch over the church should first be concerned with looking after themselves.
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No Christian is to have power over others, let alone more or less power. As the Word was sent into the world, we are sent into the world with the Word.
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There are orders in the Church of Christ, but not levels of superiority. A pastor who will not listen is a pastor to whom no one will listen. A bishop who lords the office over others will displease the Lord.
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This is not to say that Christianity is supposed to me some form of democracy. It is not, for we do have a supreme leader, a head over us all.
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If we wish to demonstrate that the pope—or anyone else, for that matter—cannot claim rule and power whatsoever over bishops, pastors, or laity either, then we had better have some authority behind our statement.
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It is bad enough that one Christian would claim to rule over others, since there are teachings of Jesus that say otherwise, let alone the example of his own servant leadership.
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Theologians gathered at Smalcald in 1537, to construct their response to the pope’s convening of a council. This paper, “The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope,” is the result of their gathering.
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The Word of God united with faith makes things holy. Human rituals, especially when devised to make money, have nothing to do with consecration. Baptism, for example, was instituted by God to join us to Christ’s death and resurrection, and is to be received by faith in God’s promises.
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Rely on the Word of God. Human traditions will compromise Scripture and cause you to stumble in your conscience. Worse, they will leave you with a sense of angst...
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If a ceremony or regulation denies the work of Christ, God’s grace, or his plan of redemption, then it is untrue, or to use a stronger term, heresy. If it is claimed that any religious tradition attains to the remission of sins—in whole or in part—it is heresy.
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Imagining that one’s deeds earn heaven is bad enough. The notion that one’s good deeds are more than enough for self, and that the overflow may be shared with others so that they gain heaven is blasphemous.
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It is critical that we understand what real faith is, and is not. Faith is not mere belief, for as James says, even demons believe in that sense.
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Faith is the passive receiver. It does not grab or make wild efforts that get in the way, as though flailing its limbs trying to grasp the unreachable. Faith does not seize; it simply receives what is given.
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The Church is the communion of saints, that blessed fellowship of those who believe in and are faithful to Jesus Christ. Her holiness is not a sanctity or purity of her own...
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I vaguely recall a Christmas when I was 16 or 17 years old and refused to open presents. Realizing how foolish and hurtful I was acting, I conceded by joining in the festivities
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If there are no bishops to ordain pastors, or if the bishops will not do so, it remains the Church’s responsibility to make sure new pastors are prepared, ordained, and called to serve congregations.
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Christ calls ministers of his Gospel. If an institution, tradition, or just plain poor management stands in the way of their placement, it is the Church’s responsibility to make a way for them.
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The greater excommunication or excommunicatio major was an ecclesiastical penalty that introduced civil and political restrictions as well as religious limitations.
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The Word of God sanctifies all whom it touches. This cleansing does not happen to people because they do holy things but instead, because the holy God has forgiven them of all their sin.
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You see how important, how central the Word must be to all doctrine. We dare not permit anyone to claim a special word from God. Let a person speak the external, revealed Word of God and be content.
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For all his devotion and good deeds, Cornelius was not spared from the wrath of God against sin. Though he feared God, he did not know him. He believed in a coming Savior but was not saved.
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That someone could believe in someone or something that they have never heard of is an absurd notion. How can anyone believe in Christ without having heard of him?
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The Word of God is the foundation of doctrinal authority. It is God’s agency of grace. Human reason cheats people out of his grace and turns them into true fanatics who rely on their own so-called insights instead of the conviction of Scripture.
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God gives us his Spirit, and an understanding of the things of the Spirit, through his Word. “God told me,” does not cut it. “It is written,” is the way of God’s people. Examples are in abundance.
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Within myself, I delight in God’s Word. But I cannot do it, much as I try. I am a sinner; that much I can confess. And more! For, though I cannot do what the Word tells me, I keep it and remain delighted by its promises.
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It is a means of grace to be reminded of what we know—or to be told and taught what we do not know yet. Therefore, the Gospel itself is a means of grace.
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How is this binding and loosing of sins accomplished? Does it occur because one has finally confessed the last sin? If so, how does one confess an unknown sin, a stray thought, a wayward and quickly forgotten glance or word, an unknown, undone deed?
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Take this bread; it is my body. That is straightforward talk that holds a mystery. You either believe what Jesus said, or you do not, or you add to his words so that they fit human reason.
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Who should the Church listen to: God or traditions? Christ or modern-day pharisees? The Holy Spirit or the teachings of the universities? God’s Word or church councils?
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“What did I tell you?” How many times have we heard that while growing up? Listening carefully, then doing what you were told is a staple of becoming a responsible adult.
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It all falls on faith, not tradition, or in the case of these two sentences in the Smalcald Articles, not on piety, personal holiness, or the faithfulness of the minister.
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Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to children. Are they part of his kingdom because of their own goodness or efforts? No more than anyone is because of personal merit.
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The Church is made holy — completely so and without a single stain — because God says so in his Word. This is what we believe through faith in Christ. This washing is done without mystery or human explanation, by the simple agency of water and what God has spoken.
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Again, we see why repentance is so important. God is rich in mercy, forgiving sin but not absolving the "guilty." The guilty are those who will not own their sin, those who will not admit and confess all their sin.
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You now see why repentance is so necessary in the Christian life. In order for faith to remain, the Spirit must be within us. The Spirit does not continue where sin is present, where unrighteousness is permitted to remain and dwell.
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True Christians always feel the sin within them—that which they were born with and that which they commit. They must therefore, repent daily.
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Human reason simply does not comprehend the great love of God. It cannot. Natural thought goes along this line: I must have to do something. So startling is the doctrine of God’s love so freely given, that it can even make us angry.
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How often have you wished to do what is right, but find yourself unable? Within yourself, in your “inmost self” (RSV) or soul, you want to do right, but discover you cannot do so in your outward parts.
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The law was given us to show how corrupt we really are. Therefore, it shows us our need for Christ’s gospel. We should then, receive the fullness of his grace, which he freely gives...
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Over the years, I have become even more certain of one thing: I am forgiven of all my sins for Christ’s sake. If I am left to the resources of my behavior, I am altogether ruined and hopeless.
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No one was excepted in Jesus’ commission to the disciples. Even the scribes and the Pharisees were warned of their need to repent.
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Ask God to forgive you for the sake of Christ. Do not ask God to forgive you for the sake of the good or religious things you have done or will do.
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This is a matter of justification, a matter upon which we must not give way even an inch. For faith in Christ is the only thing that justifies. If it were otherwise, Christ’s death is meaningless.
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We cannot give our good works to other sinners. Who would want such filthy rags, in any case? Nor may we sell them; that would be trading in counterfeit goods.
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The hope of eternal life does not come through religious actions, the promises of pastors, priests, and popes, or payment plans. All of these will disappoint sooner or later. Your good deeds will always be suspect.
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The highest price was paid for souls because, in fact, they are not cheap. The ransom price for sinners is life. Either we pay for our sin, or God does. Either he dies or we die.
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Oh, that people would come running to Christ, who freely offers sublime peace through the full remission of sin and any penalty otherwise attached.
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No one can earn the forgiveness of sin, either in whole or in part. Nor may it be bought—or sold. Further, it is not within the purview of the Church to grant partial forgiveness of sin...
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There is only one way to know you are forgiven. Believe the word of God. Has he promised to forgive us? Yes. Has he assured us that he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness? Yes.
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Imagine the distress of a woman who longs to be with her husband but who has been told she will not see him again for another 50 years. Reunion is a lifetime away!
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We know exactly how much is to be rendered for a single sin and for all sin. Christ Jesus is the sum. He is the only means by which we may be reconciled to God.
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God does not base his forgiveness of our sin on human effort or religious devotion. Rather, God has forgiven all our sin from the earliest day until the present.
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Our sins seem infinite when we consider our thoughts, words, and deeds: the things we think, and say, and do; the things we should have thought, should have done, and should have said.
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Repentance and confession are not things we do simply because it is that time of the week. These things happen when we have a heartfelt sadness for sin.
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I suppose the desire to repent should be considered a good thing. However, basing the forgiveness of sin on this aspiration or on any other so-called good work is not good news. It is not the gospel.
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Again, the object of this kind of religion is self; it is about how much devotion or how many deeds a person can muster. Further, will that be enough to appease God’s wrath?
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Here is the tormenting question that will beset a soul: Have I been contrite enough? Who could possibly say? How does one quantify contrition?
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The object of our faith is Christ, not our works of the law. We are justified by faith in him, not by striving to be better. That would be putting faith in our own deeds instead of in the goodness and justice of Christ.
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I do not need to earn my salvation or prove, somehow, that I will do better. God is not subordinate to my actions, as though I need to do anything for him to be disposed to me in a favorable way.
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This is a superficial, thoroughly human, way of looking at sin—one that leaves the conscience troubled and rarely at peace with God.
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Simply put: if you are acting in your own power, relying upon yourself to be a good person, you are sunk. From the moment you were born, you have never been good enough...
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Judas sold out Jesus, his rabbi and Lord, for thirty pieces of silver. Would his Lord not forgive him for doing so? Of course, Jesus would forgive his disciple; he loved him.
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Knowledge of one’s sin is necessary but it is insufficient for salvation. Repentance from sin is also indispensable but regret and penance combined will not do for salvation.
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It is no accident that the gospels follow directly after the Old Testament. The offer of God’s grace must always follow on the teaching of the law.
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No one is exempt; all are born in sin and captivated by it, until they have faith. Even then, the forgiveness of God is necessary, for saints are still sinners. But here is the difference: they are repentant sinners.
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God uses his law to demolish the false righteousness of so-called saints and sinners too. He uses his Word to awaken us from the death of spiritual sleep. The effect is not that of a gentle alarm clock but rather, a jackhammer that jolts us into consciousness.
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The law’s job is to reveal sin and the wrath of God, and to convict the world of its unrighteousness and the judgment to come. That office is not closed.
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The law is always there to terrify consciences. The terror is so complete and overpowering that we have nowhere to turn, not even to ourselves.
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Justification always comes through faith in God’s gracious promises in Christ. Being right with God is never a result of one’s devotion to God. The opposite is the case on two levels.
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Let us be clear. We are all sinners, saved by the grace of God. Sin has produced a world of wickedness in a single human heart, let alone in all of humanity.
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It is not in our nature to love God or do good. That old nature must die, so that a new nature may be formed in us—a righteous nature given to us, that may love God. Working at it will not make us God fearing or good people.
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We may do some good on our own. For example, our own free will may be at work in civil matters. You may determine whether or not you will pay your taxes or stop when the light is red or if you will provide some service to your country.
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You will recall that we are dealing with theological errors that were refuted in Luther’s “Smalcald Articles.” We have seen that these errors were largely due to being in conflict with the chief article.
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We have already seen how human nature is not equal to the task. But even if some person is able to live a perfectly sinless life, that person was born into sin (original sin), and so, remains a sinner.
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People are able to choose to do some good but they are incapable of being good. Likewise, they are able to leave off from doing some evil, while remaining incapable of being sinners.
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Though this passage in Isaiah depicts the coming Messiah, it may also be seen as a model for the godly life. Within it, we see that human beings have the capacity to learn and to think.
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The kingdom of God cannot be stormed by reason. Human reason is strong but it cannot bring itself to believe in the unseen, the unprovable.
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Near the beginning, Adam and Eve paid no attention to what God spoke. He told them that they may eat of all manner of things in the garden of Eden, but that they must not eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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The prime sin, which brought all sin into the world, is a hereditary sin, making us all sinners, persons with a built-in desire to sin.
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What can you do with those who cannot or will not hear? If they will not listen, as reasonable people make a point to do, how will they be able to obey God’s Word?
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Luther knew well where these charges came from, praying the Lord’s censure of Satan. This simply means Luther recognized that, though the devil was behind it, the Lord was in control.
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If we are looking for things to go our way in a public election, in the choice of a church leader, or in an assembly’s vote, we should not get our hopes up. Despite the outcome, our hope remains the same.
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There is no teaching more false, no heresy more despicable, than for a representative of the Church to teach that salvation comes in any other manner than by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ.
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Sola Christus (Christ alone) was a predominant teaching of the Reformation. It should still be the foremost teaching of the Church today, as Christ is the central teaching of Scripture.
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The priesthood of believers leaves no room for airs, for the pretense of one Christian being greater than another. When this happens, the Church will squabble, as any family would in such circumstances, and be of no use to God.
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Salvation does not come by attending a particular church or belonging to a certain denomination. It does not happen because you follow a particular teacher or go along with a particular church leadership.
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We cannot have it both ways. Either Christ is head of his Church, or the pope is. It was claimed that the pope was supreme in the Church.
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It is one thing to have a leader in the Church. It is another thing altogether to have that leader make claims that supersede Scripture, create new doctrines for the Church, and have power over others whom God himself has called to leadership.
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Things are bound to get worse. That was Jesus’ message too. Yet, within his message was a word of hope and assurance: “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
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Oh, that Christ were head of the Church. We have no need of another. Christ has given his churches pastors, who are bishops or overseers of those congregations.
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In The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien describes 20 rings of power that were forged to rule the inhabitants of Middle Earth. One ring and its wearer was to rule over the other 19 and their wearers.
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The “great red dragon” of Revelation 5 is depicted as a beast that has situated itself in such a way that it may easily devour the child about to be born into the world.
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The real issue was, and will always be, in regards to redemption. How is one forgiven and saved? Does this happen because of our good works, religious services, the works of others, declarations of indulgence?
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This is not a matter of being unwilling to grovel. Rather, we should not address brothers and sisters in the Lord as though they were anyone but family.
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There is only one who is the head of the Church. Jesus Christ must be given this honor, for the Father has conferred that authority and power on him alone.
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Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for well-meaning people to be caught up in religious practices, thinking they are doing right, while acting unrighteously. Add to this that they are deceiving themselves.
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Monasteries and convents had become, by Luther’s time, places to earn one’s salvation. In other words, the sacrifice of living such a life was a merit of one’s virtue, imagined as deserving salvation.
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Habemus ad Dominum. This is part of the Preface prayer, just before we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy” in the liturgy. In English, we sing, “We lift them to the Lord.”
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Jesus’ disciples had just seen him walking on the sea, did not recognize him, and were terrified. Yet the people of Gennesaret “immediately recognized him” and were overjoyed at his presence.
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Only Jesus Christ is our mediator. If he intercedes for us (and he does), we need no other. He requires no assistance; he is up to the task. So, give him the honor of calling upon him in your time of need.
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Lutherans commend honoring the saints by remembering them, and emulating godly lives. We disapprove of praying to saints and angels. Scripture does not in any way teach us to do so.
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God determines the payment for sin. The Church does not do so, nor does a pope. We know this because this is what the Bible teaches. God’s Word does not teach us to trust in the goodness of either religion or religious people.
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There is a painting that hangs above the altar in St. Peter and Paul Church in Weimar, Germany. In that painting, Luther is pointing to an open Bible in his hand.
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The Mass had become property, something to be bought and sold. Huge sums were brought into the churches through the sale of the forgiveness of sins.
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We are all on pilgrimage—to appear before God in judgment. That Day is approaching, whether or not we feel its nearness. Every day, we are miles closer in our journeys.
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Again, what has this to do with Scripture? What does the Word of God say about the matter? Someone says that a spirit told them to do something. How convenient.
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We have a rule to live by: sola Scriptura. This does not mean, as some think, that we speak only where Scripture speaks and are silent on all other matters.
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See where human reason takes you without the Word of God? One invention demands another until you have a system of traditions that cannot be supported from the Scripture.
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What is written? One must look to the Scripture, then to the Church Fathers, and only listen the Fathers when they have heard the Word.
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What Christ actually instituted is sometimes quite different from what is practiced. So, let us be clear on what was actually done by our Lord, instead of what has been invented since.
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Millions of angels bow before Christ, who is worthy to be exalted over all creation. This is heard in Revelation’s septave of complete praise: power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.
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We confess in the Third Article of the Creed that we believe in the communion of saints. Personal Communion would say otherwise.
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The mission of Jesus was to take upon himself the sin of the whole world (those who have ever lived, as well as those who ever will).
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The principal abuse of the Mass itself, was that it took the glory away from Christ. People are justified through faith in Christ alone, without the merit of additional sacrifices and works
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Faith in God is essential. Without faith, we are like ships tossed about on the waves. But if Christ was not raised from the dead, our faith is futile.
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Justification is the thing around which all else circles. Look to any doctrine or practice of a church and observe how a person is justified to God.
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Luther wanted unity in the Church, but not if it meant sacrificing the very truths that upheld that Church. Three memorable, Latin slogans that came out of the Lutheran reform movement can help us determine when we are parting from Christian truth.
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Christ’s words stand on their own; we do not need—nor should we—add anything to them in order to make them effective. The reason for this, is that it is his word that makes them effective.
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The force of Luther’s writing up to this point is that the German reformers and the church in Rome held to the same basic, credal beliefs.
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While it may be “omitted without sin and danger,” it may not be done without danger of sin. If people believe that Holy Communion is a work, a sacrifice done by a priest, and a service performed by themselves to receive God’s grace and forgiveness, then they are in real danger.
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When we confess that we “believe in God,” we are saying that we believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
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Luther speaks here of the money-making Roman Mass. We have dealt earlier with masses paid for in order to absolve the dead, or others not present.
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With the Nicene Creed, Luther confessed that God the Father is eternal, that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.
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Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin. The blood of the perfect Lamb of God was the redemption price, liberating us from not only sin, but death and the devil to boot.
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Luther begins with the beginning: that God is that One God, the Only God, who has created everything. This beginning includes the great mystery of the Christian faith...
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Faith. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ alone. This must not be yielded, else anything may be believed. A system of law, or works, or any human tradition could be said to lead to salvation.
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Oh! the dawn of that glorious Day! When Jesus returns, what need will there be of Councils? Every knee will bow before him and his word will be enough for all.
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Divine justice owes humanity nothing. We do not deserve to be justified to God because of anything we do. Indeed, our sin and sinfulness deserves exactly the opposite.
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We busy ourselves with a kind of mundane yet exuberant piety, the machinations of religion, so that we might deceive ourselves (and others, I suppose) into thinking we are holy and righteous.
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The justification of sinners is received as God’s gift, not because of religious or moral activity. Justification is a legal term, appropriated by the Apostle Paul to express God’s great gift.
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All those things that Luther denounced were outward displays. They ought to be fixed, but dealing with those outer matters neglects the more important things, the inner matters that end up improving the outer.
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In this great, narrative sentence, there is one subject and a countless number of direct objects. Let us begin with the objects of the subject.
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The more things change, the more they stay the same. The old adage rings as true today as it seems it did in Luther’s day.
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It was after Jesus saw the desolate villages, the “sheep without a shepherd,” that he called the twelve disciples. God equips his Church with a variety of vocations...
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The Spirit of God often uses new situations to change our perspective, to bring us to repentance. We are all sinners, so we are all in need of daily and constant repentance.
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God uses his Word and Sacraments to grow our faith, and increase and unify the Church. Nevertheless, his Word and Sacraments are distributed by the work of his Spirit through people.
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Luther is still speaking primarily of the fanatics, the schwärmerei, those who used Luther’s words to their own ends. They twisted his teachings, bringing division to the church instead of reform.
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Luther taught that we are only able to know God as God makes himself known to us: through his Word and through the Sacraments. There was no room special revelation...
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There is only one thing worse than not being permitted to meet with those who disagree with you. Meeting with them, only to hear them speak in a manner that is unreasonable, is even worse.
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When you are brought before a group you should not have anxiety about what you should testify, since the Spirit will teach you in the moment the words that need to be spoken.
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Up to this point in the Lutheran Confessions, we have largely had the writings of Philip Melancthon, professor of Greek at the University of Wittenberg, and friend of and collaborator with Martin Luther in the Protestant Reformation.
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We cannot reason our way to God. Nor can traditions light the way to divine truth. Human institutions are unable to direct us to God.
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The old saying, “Do as I say but not as I do,” is applicable to pharisaical instruction. Jesus is teaching that we ought to observe right teaching of the Scripture, though not necessarily imitate the actions of those teaching.
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Christians are called to lives of submission. We are to honor our parents, deferring to their authority. We are to obey earthly authorities, as well as church leadership.
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The Lutheran reformers wanted to proclaim a clear word of Scripture. Human traditions that promised God’s favor were summarily dismissed in favor of God’s gracious favor being freely given through faith, for Christ’s sake.
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It is amusing to consider the things that each Christian group focuses on, as though they were God’s perpetual commandments.
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What right does anyone have to insist that we do certain things in order to be forgiven? Christ has set us free; so we are truly free (John 8:36).
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Let the power of bishops—indeed, the power of the whole Church—reside in the Word alone, sola Scriptura. If the Spirit cannot make his case through the Word alone, is a bishop able to make new laws that are effective where God is not?
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What is it that you heard from the beginning other than that you are saved by believing on Jesus Christ? That you must or must not do certain things in order to be forgiven and saved came later when people tried to foist their religious brand upon you.
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Eternal life begins during this earthly life. It starts within us by faith. First, we are forgiven and made righteous before God through faith in his Son.
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The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Nothing needs to be added to the Gospel in order to make it effective for the forgiveness of sins, justification, or eternal life.
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What should shine forth from the Church above all other things? Buildings? Traditions? Fund raisers? The pastor? Denominational programs? The youth group? Style of worship?
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No pastor, bishop, priest, or pope has the right to determine rules for apprehending eternal life when those rules have no authority from the Gospel.
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The Reformation slogan, sola Scriptura, should be kept close in our thoughts. Much doubt and anxiety may be avoided, if God’s Word is our rule of faith and practice.
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If our righteousness must exceed that of religious experts, then what are we to do? We are to understand what righteousness actually is.
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The Defense of the Augsburg Confession concludes with a word on the power of the church. It insists that the church was corrupt and that this was harmful to the people in the church.
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May we all come to this understanding: that we despair of any way of life we may have imagined would save us. May we consider all our works as filthy garments...
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These older widows had promised to not remarry so that they could receive assistance from the church. Remarrying was seen as breaking that “oath”—the same word translated as “faith.”
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It is clear enough from the context that these widows whom Paul spoke of were simply women the Church supported unless they remarried.
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We need all the help we can get. No one would deny this to be true. But if the help obscures Christ, it is not help; it is a great evil.
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We have a shared promise through Christ since we are all sons of God through faith in him. As such, all believers are joint heirs of the promise made to Christ, the Seed of Abraham.
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It is remarkably easy to take a verse or two from the Bible and construct a doctrine or a whole way of life. The safeguard to doing this, or falling prey to its adherents, is to, as we say, “be in the Word”—all of God’s Word.
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Our works, actions, and lifestyles do not make us right with God. Jesus Christ justifies us before God. This is why faith alone in the grace of God alone merits his forgiveness and salvation.
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Sometimes people make bad decisions. We all do this but one wrong decision should not necessitate a lifetime of poor choices or actions.
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Be sure that your commitments depend upon God’s promises, power, and faithfulness, instead of your own. Be doubly certain that you do not imagine keeping your promises is the way to salvation.
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Religious acting can take the form of doing worship, that is, not worshiping at all. This often takes the form of a ritual that does not come from the heart.
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The Word of God must be proclaimed with clarity, putting useless arguments aside in favor of the gospel. The best way to accomplish this is to cut a straight path through the Scripture.
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Watch your step. When going before God in worship and prayer, we must be very careful. It is easy to walk into false doctrine, hypocrisy, and useless rituals.
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Everyone who believes in Christ overcomes the world through faith. There is no need to leave the world in order to do so. There is no need for us to go to additional lengths in order to be forgiven.
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Jesus saw Matthew, a tax collector, and told him to follow: to be his disciple. How would there have been perfection if Matthew continued to sit there?
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Are you willing to follow Jesus? If it means you would lose the civil right to buy and sell, to make a living, to provide for your family, would you still follow Jesus?
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Having no bank account does not aid the spirit, though it may destroy the spirit if one takes pride in the so-called accomplishment of giving up money and property.
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I have known people who refused to work on Sunday. Some employers understood; others did not. I heard of one man who would not work on the Lord’s Day and as a result, lost his job.
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God does not command certain pietistic practices of giving up property, friends, family, food, and clothing. Indeed, Jesus tells us to not be anxious about such things.
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We must not forsake the gospel, even if it means loss of property, family, or even life. What is it that keeps you from following Jesus?
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God’s commandments forbid the forsaking of parents. Yet in this teaching of Jesus about leaving one’s family—even children—for him, it is clear that Jesus is using hyperbole to make his point.
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Does our virtuous lifestyle add anything to faith? To be sure, we are to furnish our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, and brotherly and godly love.
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We are not justified before God because of a particular lifestyle, no matter how holy or special it may seem. God is able to make a child holy while that child, as yet, has no occupation.
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How may a person of faith be found on that Day “without spot or blemish”? Even more, how may one be certain that their life is so blameless that they are at peace with God?
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As we are not made impure by physical things that enter us from the outside, so we do not purge our impurity by doing physical things.
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How much faith is enough? Is there an admittance fee to heaven, but then you have to pay for any extras? Does a little more get you more once you get inside?
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Where is your confidence, your trust? Is it your bank account or perhaps, your pension? Maybe it is the government, its promise to protect you while lowering taxes and providing new jobs.
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What a joy it is to realize that God’s forgiveness and eternal life are gifts. Now, we all understand that one does not work for a gift; otherwise it is not a gift at all. Instead of a gift, it has become something we earned.
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Those who who do not believe in salvation for Christ’s sake, in other words, because of what God has done through his Son, are not only blind and witless, they have refused grace.
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Does Jesus mean that dishonoring parents and dismissing the fourth commandment are of such great virtue that they merit eternal life? How absurd.
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I take a bit of exception to Melancthon’s verb choice—although I agree with him if I understand what he intended to say. I do not wish, however, to put my words in his mouth.
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We easily see that Paul, himself of the pharisaic tradition, taught that Christians leave the faith when they devote themselves to legal requirements such as those under consideration.
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The most important commandment is greater than people are capable of apprehending in thought, let alone action. It is the height of theology.
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There are good religious traditions, and those that are no good at all. The good ones found and construct you in the faith. These traditions are learned in the pure Word of God.
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Adiaphora are matters in which we should look for neither sin nor righteousness. They are non-essentials, things that have nothing to do with one’s standing before God. These non-essentials are typically traditions or customs.
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The “power belongs to God.” We are incapable of securing our own forgiveness and salvation. Imagine the person who looks in the mirror and declares, “I forgive you of your sins.”
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Before the advent of radio, television, and internet, news traveled slowly. In some circles, it travels more slowly today.
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Scripture is clear: those who try to justify their sin by their works have fallen from grace. We cannot balance the scales by placing good works against bad works. It is not a matter of weights and measures.
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Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Paul then said, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
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If our religion is one that earns forgiveness of sin and eternal life through religious devotion, services, and other good works, then we slander faith in Christ, just as the religious authorities in Jerusalem spurned Christ himself.
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Years ago, my Dad took me to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. On the way, we ate at a restaurant he liked. Over his protests, I bought my meal.
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What does God want? What does he want more than anything? What does God want from us “above all things”? He wants us. He wants our hearts, our trust, so that he may bless us.
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Instead of “circumcision,” one might as well say “vows” or any other legalism—the idea is the same. Neither vows nor a lack of vows counts for anything. Only faith matters.
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What a trial the Lutheran Reformers faced; we can hardly imagine such an issue in our modern culture. Back and forth the arguments went, first being written out, edited by peers, then written again and again until all could be in agreement with the document before sending it on to Rome.
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So-called evangelical perfection is the keeping of all God’s commands. Let us consider three points in this regard. First, being in a monastic order does not equal “evangelical perfection” any more than does membership in a particular denomination.
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It is an easy enough trap to fall into. One imagines he is being religious but his religion is based on human traditions. Anything can happen now—and will, as was evidenced by Christians being slaughtered at the hands of the Church.
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Greed always ends in activity that is unfitting for Christians and harmful to the Church. What begins in the heart seeps out into character and behavior.
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There are abuses in churches because there are people in churches. Sinners bring their problems and opinions with them and share them with everyone present. Of course, we should speak against certain abuses, using Scripture to reason with folks.
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It is a tightrope. We are taught to be patient and gentle, loving one another with humility and forgiveness. At the same time, we are to admonish one another from the Scripture.
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The righteousness of faith is a most blessed, gracious gift of God. Through this righteousness, we honor him and possess a constant comfort against sin and death.
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If you think that salvation is earned by the works you do, you either have become your own god or you have followed another false god. If you are able to save yourself from judgment by doing certain works...you have become your own god.
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Aerius was a fourth century bishop of Sabaste in Pontus (modern day Sivas in the Black Sea area of Turkey). His teachings about offerings for the dead not being part of the Mass labeled his as a heretic by most of the church.
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Worship in the New Testament is done “in spirit and truth.” This kind of worship means that the active agent is the Spirit of God—not us. Our works do not count for anything.
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The ancients never intended to deliver the patriarch, prophets, and apostles from a so-called purgatory. They only wished to offer up thanks together with them for the blessings that have been given to them and to us,
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Why is Scripture, or the Word of God, so important? Why is its authority paramount? It is the only objective way we have of knowing who God is, and of discerning his will among the countless voices demanding our attention.
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Using the Sacrament in a way that Christ did not intend, abuses and profanes his Holy Supper. Offering his blessed promises to the dead and to those who do not believe makes it an occasion for sin and judgment.
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What consolation would we have if forgiveness of sin were offered in Holy Communion, yet there was no respite from and remission of guilt?
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Ceremonies and rituals are nice. But a ceremony or a ritual is not fine in and of itself. For example, if I go through the motions of living with my wife but do not believe that she loves me, consider the relational benefits alone that are absent to me.
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It is obvious that there is no verse of Scripture that would have us celebrate the sacrament in such a way that it promises benefits those who are dead.
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The word “bodies,” used in nearly every English translation of Romans 12:1, does not mean body in the way we think. The Greek somata means more than the physical.
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There are many fine collections of prayers available. If a person reads those prayers but does not believe in God, are they effective prayers?
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The origin and therefore, original meaning of the term “Mass” is widely disputed. That it originates in the Latin word missa is not disputed. That word means “sending” or “dismissal.”
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So, we have come to see that the liturgy of the Church is not a sacrifice at all. It is the whole service of worship that is done for the good of all present.
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The sacrifice, or re-sacrifice, of Christ is not to be added to Holy Communion. It cannot be added, since it has already been accomplished. However, we may add our own sacrifice...
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Liturgy does not mean sacrifice. It never meant that in secular Greek and in biblical Greek it is a word related to the ministry of the Church. The term “liturgy” means a required, public service that is of benefit to others.
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Though some call it the sacrifice of the Mass, it still would not mean that this service of thanksgiving, or Eucharist, bestows God’s grace upon people whether they have faith in him or not.
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Faith is the byword of the Lutheran Reformation. The Church could only be reformed, shaped back to what it was meant to be, through faith in God. Each person receives forgiveness when they have faith in the forgiving God.
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In Confession and Absolution, we are to carefully consider our sins. We stare squarely into our souls and see who we truly are, and recognize that we are sinners.
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Do your sins torment you? Go to the forgiver of sin. Do you fear eternal death? Go to the source of life. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Then go to the table where the righteousness of another is served.
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Faith is the very thing that determines the right to eat at the Lord’s table. A person must first examine himself to see whether he has faith to eat and drink.
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Holy Communion is not effective because of motions and rituals. We are not accomplishing something because we have acted out a tragedy.
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The New Testament teaches that the highest form of worship happens within, spiritually, in the heart. One may do all the outward, religious services but do so with a corrupt heart.
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The Word has been given to reveal God and arouse faith in him. The Sacrament of Holy Communion was instituted so that, in remembering Christ, that faith may be strengthened.
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A husband may buy his wife diamonds, flowers, and many other things, but if his word does not accompany them, it is difficult to believe for long that these are signs of his love.
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Drawing significance to professions, making divisions among ourselves, is the furthest thing from the focus of the Lord’s Supper. Christ is the emphasis of our communion. Christ is our communion.
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The human heart, harder than diamonds, is determined to have its own way. Religious matters are not exempt from our hardness of heart.
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Our sacrifices—on an altar or on the altar of life do not settle the score with God. As we have shown many times, Christ alone is the sacrifice that has reconciled God.
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The disciples gathered around their Lord, bringing nothing to the table. Christ Jesus brought it all. The disciples did nothing but receive with thankful hearts.
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Besides the odious practice of marketing Christ’s body and blood, this commerce is based upon selfish desires, largely the freeing of departed loved ones from a place that does not exist.
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Holy Communion is the privilege of those who truly participate in the body and blood of Christ. This participation is genuine fellowship in the communion of saints, else it is a mockery.
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There is false security in performing a ritual, or in it being performed for us, expecting that it has some spiritual value just because the ceremony is done. It is not enough to come to the altar to eat and drink a bit of bread and wine.
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We cannot work our way to God. We cannot do so morally or religiously. Imagine someone saying, I’m good enough now to be forgiven my badness.
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The religious works of others on our behalf can no more kill or mortify us than make us alive again or quickened. The work worked by them, though perhaps very satisfying to the eye and ear, remains the work of a human being.
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Either Christ is the full and final atonement for the sins of the world, or he is not. In the latter case, two things are true.
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Paul tells us all that is required to be reconciled to God. All things in heaven and earth are brought peace and consolation through the blood of Christ alone. Through faith...
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The services of the Old Testament were a symbol or a picture of what was to come. Their use was to cleanse the flesh, the natural person, from sin. These services required constant repetition because of constant sin.
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God had a plan—from the beginning. You see it spread before you as early as the book of Genesis. He made a covenant with Abraham in order to bless the nations through the Lion of tribe of Judah.
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Jesus Christ is the only high priest able to stand between you and God. As such, he is called our “great high priest” by the writer of Hebrews. Because Jesus is our high priest, we are able to make the good confession. That confession is that he is the Christ, the one whose sacrifice has made the difference.
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What is it that proclaims the gospel? That thing belongs in our services of worship. The Sacraments proclaim the gospel on the deepest level. “Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” clearly “speak” the good news of Christ among us.
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The Lutherans believed (and believe) that we have no need of an intermediary in order to receive the benefits of Holy Communion. Christ is our intermediary. We only need his grace.
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We have been saved by God’s grace—not by our good works or offerings of money or service. This salvation happens through faith in Christ. It is that simple.
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Faith in Christ, in what he has done for us, is so important because it always makes us look to the source of forgiveness and salvation. Anything that turns our attention away from him must be avoided altogether.
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Repentance does not mean that we must go and do something to overturn God’s anger. Repetition of prayers and good deeds do not effect God’s forgiveness.
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The desolating sacrilege that Daniel referred to is not about decorations, ceremony, and other external matters. God is instead, teaching us internal, spiritual matters through Daniel’s prophecy: to keep faith...
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The good news of Jesus Christ comes to us in preaching. We must hear it; then God gives us faith. But the Word must truly be heard in this proclamation, with all that “hearing” means.
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Whether it is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or grace, forgiveness, and eternal life under consideration, God’s gifts are just that: gifts. He gives freely to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The Lutheran Reformers taught that there are two basic types of kingdoms in the world: the first, spiritual, the second, temporal. The Church at the time of the Reformation held—and wielded—both powers.
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We should not go through the motions of religious ceremony, for this is vanity and hypocrisy. Ritualism without understanding is foolishness.
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Look to Abraham. Was his putting the knife to Isaac the sacrifice God desired? No; that was a test, not a real sacrifice. The true sacrifice was Abraham’s faith in God.
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In the Old Testament, many things represented things to come; they are lesser types of a greater future. What was concealed in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament.
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Doctrine must have a sure and clear word of God, not obscure analogies. Nothing in Scripture suggests that a ceremony saves us from sin and death. God has done that for us.
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That holy priesthood called the Church is the temple of God through which sacrifices are to be made to him. We do not mean physical sacrifices.
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This is the sacrifice that is acceptable to God: our old nature mortified in Christ Jesus. The death of Christ occurred on the cross, while ours happens in baptism where our fleshly nature is slain with Christ.
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The day is coming when every knee in heaven and on earth will bow at the name of Jesus (Phil 2:10). This does not come through robotic religion; it happens when hearts are regenerated through the preaching of the gospel.
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The Lord’s name will be made great throughout the earth through the preaching of the gospel. The Spirit produces faith in individuals through the Word.
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Having been moved to faith, the Spirit of God begins to transform us through the Word, worship, and testing. He gives each believer a gift or gifts of the Spirit that should be used in service for God.
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Works are things that God rewards, to be sure, but something else is more certain. God does not reward our good works with salvation.
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Do good but do not depend upon your good works. Depend upon God, upon his word and his promises. Though they please him if done from the heart, God does not require your sacrifices.
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The Hebrew word for “obey” can also be understood to heed, listen, or hear. For to truly hear is to obey. If you do not obey, you have not really heard.
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In the New Testament, there is no offering or service or work that merits God’s favor ex opere operato—on account of the work that has been done or the service rendered.
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We are to offer sacrifices but the Lutheran Reformers wanted to be clear, not only what those sacrifices are but, what they accomplish. There is no sacrifice that we can offer or that can be offered for us.
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There is only one work that saves, reconciles, justifies, atones, provides forgiveness of sin. That one work or sacrifice is not something that any human being can do.
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After the true sacrifice had been accomplished, all analogous and ceremonial sacrifices should cease. What they pointed toward had already been accomplished in Christ’s cross.
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You may sacrifice this thing or another, hoping that God will be appeased and forgive your sins. Or you might do some good work or act of penance, again, hoping that God will remove your guilt.
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Baptism “brings about forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe, as the Word and promise of God declare” (The Small Catechism).
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Although there were symbolic types of atoning sacrifice in the Old Testament, true, propitiatory sacrifice was only accomplished by Jesus Christ.
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Our concern is what a propitiatory or atoning sacrifice is for Christians. For that matter, what is an atoning sacrifice for anyone during this Christian era? There is just one...
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Jesus ended the former type of sacrifice, that is, animal sacrifice for the purposes of reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of sin.
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Baptism is necessary for salvation. Jesus did not say, Believe and you will be saved. Instead, he adds a work that he does to us through a Sacrament (meaning a sacred thing).
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It is critical to have a right understanding. Our modern English Bible translations use the phrase, "rightly handling the word of truth." The King James puts a finer point on the phrase by following William Tyndale's lead in literally translating the phrase as "rightly dividing the word of truth."
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Scripture presents Christ as our High Priest, who through his one sacrifice has taken away the sins of the world. Those who believe are justified with God by no merit or works of their own.
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The common belief was that God’s grace and mercy could be had at a price. Therefore, spiritual benefit could come from the work worked, opus operatum.
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Peace comes to us through faith. Faith must come first, since we cannot know peace until we know that somehow we have become righteous before God. Now, any sane person knows that righteousness cannot come by virtue of human works.
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Grace is not merited “from the work worked” (ex opere operato) by humans. It is a gift received through faith in the great work of Christ. Going through religious motions accounts for nothing without faith in God’s word of promise.
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I know a man who reads his morning paper, then removes the employment section of the classified ads. He takes that bit of the paper with him on his drive to work. If someone is panhandling on a street corner, he hands them the employment classifieds.
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The Augsburg Confession, of which this document is a defense against the charges of the Roman Confutation, states that “the Mass is a Sacrament for those gathered.”
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One must trust the promise of God, believing with true faith. Yet, as we have said, this cannot be accomplished without the Word. One must actually hear the words of Scripture, not a babbling in another language but real, understandable words.
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More than one person has proclaimed to me, as though to unsettle me, I suppose, that going to church does not make one a Christian. Well, amen to that.
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The Reformers would not sit still for the scattered blows of their opponents’ Confutation. Twisting statements into something they are not could not be permitted, if the central focus of the Reformation was to be maintained.
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Cultural correctness is not an easy thing to buck. It feels like nearly everyone is against you. Yet, it is far better to have the whole world denounce you than have God condemn you.
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Only God’s Word will abide. Our idle arguments will wither, our fine words and reasoning fall with the flowers at the end of summer. As they wither and fall, God’s glory will appear in full bloom before us.
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As stated when writing about the Distinction of Meats, Jovinian was a monk and ascetic in the fourth century who wrote against celibacy and other monastic traditions. He praised the virtues of marriage and was therefore, of course, branded a heretic.
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If one cannot in his own power do what God expects, that is, if he continues to sin, then he should do what God says is the answer. It is foolhardy to do what people say ought to be done when God has provided a different solution.
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What makes a sinner pure? Flagellations? Fastings? Offerings? Are these the things that King David did in order to be clean after his sin with Bathsheba? King David well understood who did the cleansing.
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This long argument against the demonic dogma of enforced and perpetual celibacy may seem to some as being overdone. Yet these very same problems persist 500 years later.
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The Wittenberg Reformers knew something about peddlers of religion. The hucksters of indulgences plagued the lands, bilking folks out of scarce money. There were other charlatans too, who traded wholesale in religion, exchanging false promises for the blessings of life.
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What is one to do when all attempts have been made to reason with people who have willfully gone astray? There are people—yes, even in the churches—who willfully ignore Scripture, insisting instead on their own bent reasoning.
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The devil’s lies brought sin and death into the world. Knowledge of this should provide godly people with ample courage to stand for the truth. Part of that truth is that God uses both self-discipline and marriage as means of faithfulness.
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A further edition of the Lutheran Confessions adds, “God has now so blinded the world that adultery and fornication are permitted almost without punishment; on the contrary, punishment is inflicted on account of marriage.”
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We do not like to think of a wrathful God. Yet a holy God is by default, angry at times. His anger is stirred by willful disobedience, by those who think they know better than he does.
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Those who prohibit marriage, enforcing celibacy as a necessary good work, have become a laughingstock. Even their own dare to laugh when others make sport or even scorn their ways. For these ways are not God’s ways; perpetual celibacy is a human invention.
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The churches and seminaries should be places where people may safely flee the passions—not run straight into them, and with more abundance and variety than was known elsewhere.
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We should never place so-called common sense before Holy Scripture. We may imagine that we understand something perfectly well, yet God’s way are not our ways. What once seemed entirely sensible to us looks quite different through the eyes of faith.
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Not only was celibacy not the thing in Rome or in the monasteries, unchastity was on display in these places—as it is now. This hypocrisy was well-known to the people.
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Marriage should never be considered an obstacle to salvation, nor as a life filled with of sins. Quite the opposite is true. The Apostle Paul praises the married life for its unique ability to keep one from sin.
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Programs of austerity for the sake of meriting favor with God are useless. Indeed, they are harmful. These things make us think that we are the cause of our own salvation.
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These false teachings come about by not understanding the principal teaching of the New Testament, the one from which all good doctrine springs, and the central tenet of the Lutherans. That principal belief is that we are saved by God.
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Those who enjoy their ease and indolence, without the benefit of the Word of God, and having no regard for it, live their lives without worry or guilt. These conditions brought the most debauched lifestyles upon the Church, just as they do in our times.
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There must be good order in all things. I once did marriage counseling with a couple whose problems always seemed to come back to talk about sex.
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We neither require nor need any acts of purification. For it is God alone who cleanses hearts. King David knew this to be true. What work of cleansing did he do after his sin with Bathsheba?
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The ceremonial code in the law of Moses, those things concerning what is clean or unclean, do not pertain to Christians. Christians are freed from all the ceremonies of Moses, not only from the laws concerning uncleanness.
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On Saturday about Noon, in the midst of running one more household errand, I complained (again) to my wife: “I’m not going to get anything done today!”
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Whether or not we concur with the rhetorical comparisons used by Melancthon, we may understand his point. That is, we cannot earn the favor of God. Rather, because of Christ’s work, those who believe are regarded as righteous by God.
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Whenever some religious notion enters our heads, making us imagine that we must do one thing or another in order to earn God’s grace, we may confidently declare that thing to be false.
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It is the heart that must be changed, not necessarily one’s vocation or position in life. One may think that he must become a pastor in order to be on heaven’s path.
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Nothing is pure, if it is done outside of faith and God’s Word. An unbeliever may practice the most ascetic spiritual disciplines. He may fast, study, meditate, remain celibate, and feed the poor, but none of this is pure if it is exercised without faith.
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If ever there were a single word that summed up the Lutheran Confessions, it is the word faith. Everything depends upon faith in God, and that depends upon God’s grace.
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But the main point here is that marriage remains a holy estate even if one person is not a believer—not because of the beliefs of the person, but because of the God who ordains marriage.
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Christ himself says here that married people are joined together by God. He is quoting Moses and then adds that it is God who joins them together.
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Christ himself says here that married people are joined together by God. He is quoting Moses and then adds that it is God who joins them together.
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Before going on with arguments, let us acknowledge that the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments declare marriage a holy matter, something that God has ordained.
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Is a pastor purer to God if unmarried? Is this what makes people pure under the New Testament? Is it the New Testament in human purity or the New Testament in Christ’s blood?
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Regardless of wording, Daniel paints the “king” whom Melancthon infers to be an antichrist as one who exalts himself above all people, all gods, all law.
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Contrast the hardness of humans with the mercy of God. Humans invent divorce and laws like celibacy—even forcing divorces upon those already married so that human regulation will be kept, even when it is in open defiance of God’s command.
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There are those who are able to truly and consistently practice control of the flesh. But if they are not able, if they have not been empowered with restraint by God, then they should marry. This is God’s plan for us—with good reason.
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Do you imagine that you are able to be virtuous in your own strength? Of course, we must rely on God’s strength, not our own. Yet we are not to rely upon his strength alone. We must also depend upon his plan.
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God has already provided the answer; and it is a splendid solution. So, if anything, people should pray for common sense. God has blessed men and women with the sweet fellowship of marriage and the comfort and peace of the marriage bed.
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Paul does not say here that he wishes all were celibate. Rather, he speaks of his gifting from God’s Spirit to keep himself under control. He would prefer that all were like himself, self-controlled in matters of sexual appetite.
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Since the fall of Adam, the temptation to sin in general has been difficult (Rom 7:19) but the struggle with lust may be at the top of the list. Self-control is a hard habit to master.
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Evidently, the notion of celibacy had been raised with Paul by the Corinthians. The apostle gives a conditional response. There are some who have received special graces from God, so that they may be celibate.
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Natural love existed between men and women even when their nature was still pure. God told Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply,” which of course, happens in but one manner.
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In the wisdom of God, there are both male and female, the one for the other. He formed man from “the dust of the ground,” then breathing into him “the breath of life.”
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Eating, drinking, marrying, and other such natural privileges and rights are good; God has blessed these things for our use. Yet a problem occurs when we enjoy (or over-enjoy) these rights without thanks to God.
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God has built into nature—indeed, into our natures—the union of men and women (Gen 2:24). But this built-in right points to the glory of the regenerated nature that we have in Christ.
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This is human reason at work again. Scripture says one thing, but we come up with our reasons for not believing what the Word says. Men and women are made for one another...
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“Reason cannot establish anything sure about God.” But if we rely upon what is written, if we look to Scripture for our answers, we see quite clearly that God created men and women for the purposes of partnership and filling the earth with people.
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Some people just have to be right—even at the expense of being very wrong. Cultures—whether religious or political—never seem to change in this regard.
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There it is; this is the problem. When we base our positions on traditions, we end up with opinions. When our beliefs come from God’s Word, how can we do anything but oppose human opinions that are contrary to his Word?
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It is an irony. One would think that priests would be the ones to marry. After all, Paul tells us that marriage is a symbol of the relationship that Christ has with his Church.
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One cannot put on an alb and cincture, yet live like an unbound infidel, and think that putting on an extra robe will cover the hypocrisy. More laws and traditions are not needed.
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The authors of the Roman Confutation acted as if the shameful lives of so many priests were of little concern compared to the issue of priests being permitted to marry.
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There have always been and still are priests, popes, pastors, and bishops who will have nothing to do with the commands and law of God. Scripture is not their guide; indeed, they teach the people that some verses of the Bible are true, while others are fairy tales
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Christ’s command cannot get much clearer than, “Take; eat,” and “Drink of it, all of you.” He did not suggest a choice of courses. It is not a matter of whether one likes the taste of either bread or wine.
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I am always impressed by the steady hands of those who pour from a chalice into a small, individual communion cups. I am no less impressed by those who can hold the cup to the lips without spilling, and for those lips to receive without dribbling.
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The focus of the Lord’s Supper should not be the office of the minister, but Christ alone. With him as our focus, we easily see that there are indeed offices or orders in the Christ’s Church but that we “are all one in Christ Jesus.”
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All of God’s people are to be given both kinds in the Lord’s Supper—both the bread and the wine, his body and his blood. The reason for this usage is simply this: the Lord himself commands this practice for the forgiveness of sins.
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Just because someone wants it to be a certain way, does not make it so. If someone commands authority, this does not necessarily make his demands right. The dictates of an entire culture do not stamp a matter with divine approval.
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If we are to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt 6:33), what is it that we should desire? The simplest answer is that we should seek Christ.
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Even if we were to allow such a faulty example, we would need to deal with the priesthood of all believers, and that we are all one in Christ. Lutherans confess that there is no class difference in the Church.
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Who is elevated or remembered in such a distinction between clergy and laity? Is it Christ? Or is it the clergy who are given the greater dignity?
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When we speak of breaking bread, we mean that we take the time to enjoy a meal. In the Church, this may simply refer to a fellowship meal. Yet, in certain Scriptures it could be understood as being something more than a potluck.
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In the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus does not mention the bitter herbs or the sweet charoset or other elements of the Passover meal.
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The blood of Christ is “poured out for many.” This word “many” means for the multitude or for the whole gathering. This was the institution of Christ and the practice of the early Church.
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Everyone received bread; all received wine. Why? The simple reason Paul gives is, that is the way the Lord established it, so that is what the apostle passed on to the Church.
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Lutherans do no alter Christ’s institution, for in so doing, we would change the very message of the gospel. Christ gave his body and shed his blood for all.
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Jesus cannot be more clear. One must partake of both his body and blood in order to have new life in Christ. To eat and drink of the Sacrament is a holy communion with Christ himself.
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The purpose of government is to maintain God’s will on earth. Specifically, our leaders are to do two things: maintain the faith and protect the people.
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The unity of Christ’s Church depends upon the Holy Spirit—not our actions. However, individual congregations can be destroyed by both our deeds and an intolerance of biblical teaching.
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The promise of the gospel is righteousness, peace, and joy—not religious and dietary laws. More rules and laws provide none of these benefits.
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Without “the words of faith” the Christian Church will cease to be. Traditions and myths bring no peace but the plain teaching of Scripture brings contentment.
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“Well, I don’t know what art is but I like pink.” That opinion may be fine for my granddaughter but it will not fly at the Guggenheim. It does not work in Christian faith either.
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The office that Melancthon refers to is that Christ is our Propitiator and Mediator. Christ alone has atoned for our sin and it is he who stands between sinners and God.
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The Scripture is not some pulp fiction, read for shallow thrills on an idle evening. Rather, the word permeates our whole lives, penetrating and informing us who we are before God.
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The mercy of God knows no bounds. He even forgives us when we are unfaithful to him, as we see in his forgiveness of Peter’s denials.
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The “Apostolic Fathers” inform us that Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John, and “the angel of the church in Smyrna.” Irenaeus was his disciple and tells of the bishop’s faithful life, teaching, stand against heresy, and martyrdom.
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God has done great things through his people, both in the Church and in the affairs of the world. There are so many examples in the lives of his peculiar people...
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It is a slippery slope. It is one thing to ask someone to pray for you, but quite another to expect that person to mediate between you and God.
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Great value was placed on...what the early theologians and bishops called the Church Fathers taught about the Christian faith from the time of the apostles through the seven ecumenical councils of the Church.
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The Lord himself is our sure defense. We need cry out to no other, for no one other than the Almighty is able or inclined to save us. This is what the Scriptures teach us.
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All Christians are priests before God. The Church, a “holy priesthood” of believers prays to God through Jesus Christ. God does not require other intercessors who are in his presence.
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We cannot stand on our own two feet, let alone lend our works or merits to other people. This is the purview of Christ alone. Christ Jesus imputes his righteousness to us, but we do not ascribe our righteousness to anyone.
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Because of his sacrificial death for us, Christ alone has satisfied the just requirement of God’s law, something which we nor the saints could ever do. Scripture therefore, calls only Christ our Mediator.
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Scripture does not tell us that Mary is the victory over sin and death, not does it even hint at such things. Christ conquered death for Mary and for us all.
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The one who died but lives again causes us to live forevermore through faith in him. Jesus tells us that it is his voice that the dead will one day hear when some will be resurrected to eternal life.
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No saints are named by Paul (or any other writer in the New Testament) as responsible for the act of cleansing the church. Christ alone has made the church holy.
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No one draws near to a king unless he is commanded to do so. Therefore, if you wish to have the king’s ear, it must be done through one who is already in the king’s presence—and to whom the king will listen.
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Jesus said that whoever comes to him would never again hunger or thirst (John 6:35). Now that is satisfaction: to never be hungry or thirsty—and to never worry about being filled.
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Everything that we have comes from God. Both our physical and spiritual lives are gifts. Since all comes from God, why would we think righteousness and eternal life come from another source?
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It pleases God to answer our prayers when we pray according to his will. So, just as we are careful to ask that his “will be done” in heaven, we should be as concerned that God’s “will be done on earth.”
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Christian prayer must be founded upon both God’s promise and the merits of Christ. We may confidently approach God because he has promised to hear our prayers.
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God’s law and holiness demands perfect holiness from us. Sadly, we do not act so devoutly. The just punishment for our failure is death. Happily, God sent Christ to become our substitute.
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The rest that Jesus gives is rest despite the work, and further, regardless of the troubles of life. Jesus provides something more than physical rest; he gives spiritual rest, comfort, and peace.
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Jesus is teaching us to have confidence in God each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, saying “Our Father.” Who else addresses the Father than his children?
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More than 80 times in the Old and New Testaments, the prophets, apostles, and others indicate the importance of what has been written in the Bible as a test of truth.
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What we are really discussing here is God’s ability to keep his promises. Does he forgive and justify those who have faith in Christ? Or not? We confess that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and does so for Christ’s sake
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It is no accident that solus Christus (through Christ alone) was as central a slogan of the Reformation as sola fide (by faith alone). We have bold access to God through Christ alone.
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“The prayer of faith” is an important dimension in Lutheran Christianity. But like too many other Christians we may have developed a misunderstanding of the prayer of faith.
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One cannot invoke the saints of heaven with confident faith because the practice is based on human tradition instead of Scripture. It is based on the word of man, not upon the Word of God.
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If we teach as command, promise, or an example to be followed that which is not found in Scripture, we run the risk of heresy and worse, pulling others down with us.
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Why is there so much confusion about this matter, other than that Scripture is ignored, in favor of human traditions? The prayers of saints and angels do not compare to the prayers of Jesus.
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We have already noted two honors that we ought to give to the saints: thanksgiving and the strengthening of faith. Let us be clear what we mean by honor. The honor that we give to “sleeping” saints is not the veneration of their images or praying to them.
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Who could be more guilty of sin toward Christ and his Church than Saul of Tarsus, who would become better know as the Apostle Paul? Because of his persecution of Christians, Paul eventually considered himself to be the greatest of all sinners.
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To be sure, the Confession is not referring to the invocation of saints. Rather, like Paul, the Lutheran Reformers taught the churches to honor those who have been made holy and called saints because of their faith in Christ.
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Let us clarify our terms again. Saints are those who have been made holy by God’s grace; they are not those whom we have declared holy. Indeed, they are those whom God has declared holy for Christ’s sake.
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We receive salvation, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit because of God’s grace—not because we deserve these gifts or have earned them. There is no merit in keeping the law, since it cannot save us, even if we could keep it, which we cannot do at any rate.
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We do good works for three principal reasons. One, we are to bear good fruit so that God is glorified, and two, to prove that we are real disciples of Jesus. Doing good in Christ’s name not only shows others whom we follow, it also shows us that we are his disciples.
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The Holy Spirit calls us to faith through the Word, and thereby grants us eternal life. The promises of God have already been gifted through belief in the promise. To this we are to add the qualities of faith
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We confess that for salvation, nothing else needs to be added to faith in Christ, or what is also called belief. Much is said in the record of Scripture about doing good works but never so that one would be justified with God by doing those works.
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A promise has been made. All that remains is for us is to believe in God’s commitment to save us from sin. There is no need to do something in order to obtain his promise
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Anyone who earnestly reads the Bible will soon observe that the teaching that we obtain the forgiveness of sins by faith freely for Christ’s sake has its foundation everywhere in the Bible.
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When medicine cannot revive you, and doctors are of no use, and when death is imminent, your good works will give you no solace. You must have a reliable treatment for your condition when the despair of sin and death overwhelm you.
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We must hold the ground of the gospel and not give an inch. When the choice is between Scripture and tradition, the choice is clear even if it is sometimes difficult.
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The Father’s purpose in sending his Son into the world was so that the Christ would bear our sins. Nowhere has God’s plan been that we should bear our own iniquities.
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God, who is faithful and just, forgives us of all sins and cleanses us from unrighteousness. He alone is legally and ethically righteous and honorable to forgive. He is the just justifier.
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It is hard to believe. But it is true and must be believed. Christ came to save poor sinners—and he does not need our help. Our works are not the way; Christ is. Religion is not the truth; Christ is. Our devotion is not the life; Christ is.
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The gospel clearly teaches that people are forgiven for Christ’s sake. The Apostle Paul instructs us in no uncertain terms that we are not saved from sin and death because of our works.
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God did not establish a world where sin existed. He created all good things and all things good. He did not create evil. Nevertheless, it is within his will that we may sin—otherwise, we could do no evil.
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The young man in Matthew 19 had been keeping the commandments his whole life, or so he claimed, but still knew something was lacking. So he asked Jesus, “What good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?”
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Everyone is able to abide by the laws of the land, else the Scripture would not command us to do so. Furthermore, one may choose to obey the laws of the land or not.
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Faith is a gift from God; it is not something that we can conjure by reason or industry. Do you truly fear, love, and trust God? Then you have been regenerated or born again and faith is at work in you.
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A person who is not enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit—an “unspiritual” or “natural” person—does not, by natural reasoning or abilities, perceive or receive anything pertaining to God’s will and divine gifts.
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But when one comes to the understanding that he is a sinner, through and through, always has been, and always will be, that person may then have the hope of finally pleasing God.
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Without the Spirit, people walk along the natural course of the world. This is the path of sin and death. We cannot do otherwise; we cannot move toward God on our own.
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Without having ever taken a confirmation class, everybody knows that they should honor their parents. Do we need to understand that it is the sixth commandment in order to know we ought to be faithful to our spouses?
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Lutherans reject the Pelagians and others who teach that we are able to love God above all things and keep his commandments by the power of human nature alone, without the grace of the Holy Spirit.
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Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we confess that on the last day of the world, he will bring with him all who have died in the Lord to be with him forever.
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As God has established all civil authorities, he would have us pray for them—whether we like them or not. Christian love demands that we hold them before God in prayer.
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Because Jesus said, “Do not take an oath at all,” we may feel guilty when we do make contractual promises. The issue here is not what we sometimes think it is.
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It is dangerous to souls for us to concede that anything people do produces perfection. We are only made perfect by God through faith in Christ.
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It is God who makes us perfect. There is nothing we can do or not do, possess or not possess, that makes us perfect or complete in the eyes of God.
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If someone wrongs you, are you to take matters into your own hands, taking vengeance on the one who has wronged you? No; vengeance is the Lord’s.
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When the Lord says that vengeance is his, one way his retribution is felt is through our governments, the political kingdoms in which we live.
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The gospel does not give us new laws, nor does it call us to replace existing laws with the old Jewish law code. Instead, we are to obey the laws of the land while also living according to the rule of a higher kingdom, a spiritual kingdom.
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Christ does not rule like earthly rulers, through the passing of laws and the enforcement of the same. He governs by his Word and through preaching.
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God is the final authority; all authority comes from him. Every governing power exists because of God. This is why Christians may serve in public office or be otherwise employed by governments.
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I was declined in a congregation’s consideration as a new pastor once, in part, because the church I was serving at the time did not use the Nicene Creed as much as the church in deliberation.
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What difference does it make if you eat so-called unclean foods? Will you go to hell because you ate some rabbit stew? Will God withhold his forgiveness because you had a pork chop?
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Start to read through the Bible in a year, and you will probably get behind at some point. Guilt will likely set in, especially if you do not catch up right away.
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It serves us well to discipline these human wills, bringing them in line with the will of God. This the very thing we ask so often, praying, “Thy will be done.”
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Paul exhorts the young pastor to devote himself to three practices in his ministry: being sure that the Scriptures are read in services of worship, and preaching and teaching the Word of God.
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The gospel of God’s grace through Christ was snubbed as something “Lutheran” in the 16th century. In the 21st century, other gospels persist in churches.
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Holy Communion is not a ritual that is to be performed as though it were a good work done by us. Communion is a means of grace, something done by God for us and for Christ’s sake.
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Toward the end of my pastorate in her church, I visited Lucy on a day when she seemed a little upset about something that she could not put into words.
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Jesus says, “Hear and understand.” This is important. A person’s righteousness is not earned in the keeping of traditions or rituals or doing good works.
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Do you have hope? If so, what is the reason for your hope? The Apostle Peter says that we should be ready to give a reliable reason for the hope that is in us.
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Christ alone has the authority to institute rites in the Church that justify, reconcile, and forgive. Why is it though, that the Church or its bishops cannot establish these ceremonies?
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If we are going to follow a command of God, let us keep this one: believe in his Son, Jesus Christ. For “this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”
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When one takes time for study of the Scripture, it is easily discovered that no one merits God’s favor, forgiveness, et cetera through these human traditions in the Church.
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How can there be a secure and sincere hope of glory when that hope is based in one’s own ability to perform? That would be to despair of glory. Our hope is based on a truer self than self.
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There is no need to enter a religious order to be righteous or lead a holy life. Christ makes husbands, wives, and parents as holy as priests.
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Human righteousness tends to look down its nose at those not religious in the same way. It is always watching to see what others are not doing so that it can compare all it does.
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I have enjoyed wearing the most comfortable jeans. But it seems that just a few months after I get them broken in, they wear out and I have to start all over. Who knows how many pairs of jeans I have worn out in my life?
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Maintaining rites for the sake of order in the Church is one thing. But to contend that these rites justify God is in opposition to the doctrine of the Apostles, and contrary to both the Old and New Testaments.
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We will surely sink, for our focus has become the wind of our opinions, instead of Christ. When this happens, even those things meant for good order will divide us.
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The face of Christianity is changing in many places. Things that were once considered true because they are the testimony of Scripture, are now cast aside in favor of personal and public opinion.
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Since rituals invented by people—instead of those instituted by God—have no testimony in the Word of God and no demand on his people, how could they have anything to do with real unity in the Church?
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Our own will—and willpower—has nothing to do with being part of the family or kingdom of God. We are reborn into the kingdom of Christ because of faith in the King of the kingdom.
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Our robes are washed and whitened—that is to say, we are cleansed from sin—through the blood of the Lamb. This is not done at the neighborhood laundromat; it must be believed.
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The highest service of God is to have faith in him. There is nothing you can do that is more precious to God than to trust him, believing his promises—to have faith, which is “more precious than gold.”
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“You can’t make this stuff up,” people sometimes say when they hear something incredible—like the guy who called 911 because he was locked in his car. You can’t make this stuff up.
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There is no clearer teaching in all of Scripture than that which teaches us how and why we receive grace. God’s grace is received by faith, and only for Christ’s sake.
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God does not start a process that we must then finish. The Father sent his Son to accomplish a mission, not to partially complete the task. That task was to save the world through faith in Christ.
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God did not tell Abraham that if he kept certain traditions and fulfilled various commands, that he would be blessed. Rather, he promised him a son and descendants that would bless the whole world.
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The traditions of the Church, though often useful for devotional purposes, can not make us right with God. Pastors and priests are not mediators between God and sinners. But they can point the way. And that way—the only way—is Christ.
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I do not have a truck payment this month. In fact, I have not had to make my monthly payments for years. By making regular payments until my debt to the bank was paid off, I received the title to the truck.
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God has accomplished something wonderful that the wisdom of the wise will never comprehend, the strength of the strong will not possess, and the piety of the religious can never earn.
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We love a lie, especially when it seems like it just might be true. That kind of untruth seems to be especially attractive.
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Our works will never earn us salvation, nor were they meant to do so. We cannot reconcile ourselves to God, earn his grace, or otherwise make satisfaction for our sins by keeping the law.
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The Golden Rule is another way of stating the second half of the greatest commandment. It helps us put the commandment into action by telling us how to love our neighbor as ourselves.
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Is the result of your doctrine love or hate, peace or discord? Do you find that you are often agitated with people, politics, the news, life in general?
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When there are divisions in the Church that are based in human reasons or traditions, they must be either resolved or condemned. In the end, after patient and prayerful dialogue, only the truth must stand.
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There should be a form of order and discipline in the Church, as there is in every organization. The Lutherans had no squabble with the Roman Church about the ordering of such matters.
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One must believe that God acts in the sacraments according to his promises. This is not difficult to comprehend. Simply going through the motions of a ritual is of no effect.
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When the sacrament is used with faith in God to do as he promises, great comfort is had, and anxious minds are conferred the peace of God, who is Christ Jesus himself.
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What advantage are the sacraments if they are not believed, if there is no faith in the promises attached to them? Without faith in the Word of God connected with it, baptism is only water
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Faith is absolutely necessary. Christianity is not a list of things to do; it is faith in the one who has done what we could never do.
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God does command his people to pray. Rewards are promised to those who pray. However, there is no promise of grace attached to prayer.
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We do not quarrel over whether marriage is instituted by God. Still, it is not commanded that all marry but only that there is faithfulness among those who do marry.
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There are groups who claim that there is something better than God’s Word. They believe that the Holy Spirit counsels them directly, without the aid of Scripture.
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The Bible says much about the command to preach and teach the Word, and to administer the sacraments. It bids the Church to appoint such persons who are called to this ministry of Word and Sacrament.
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Every Christian is a priest before God. Each Christian’s faith in God’s grace is representative of the old priesthood. It is faith itself that is is the duty of the new priesthood—not ceremonies
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Are we to make sacrifices? Yes. For example, John teaches us that we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Paul teaches us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
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By definition, confirmation and extreme unction, or last rites, are not sacraments. They do not contain the clear command of God in Scripture, nor do they have a promise of his grace.
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We find in God’s gracious commands, in the sacraments, the essence of New Testament. For these things must be received in faith. We must come before the Word with soft, believing hearts.
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The sacraments have the express command of God for all the people of God. Go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching (Matt 28:19–20).
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The sacraments are not merely indicators of who we are, in the sense of someone thinking that since a group baptizes in water, and ceremonially eats bread and drinks wine, they must be Christians.
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There are times when it is difficult to believe that God really loves us. When we sin, we sense an estrangement with God that must somehow be overcome. The instinct is to make an offering...
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There are no confessed sins that Christ Jesus cannot or will not forgive. Therefore there is no confessed sin for which a minister of the gospel cannot and should not give absolution.
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The purpose of the keys involves both peace and terror. For those who believe in Christ and confess their sins, there is the comfort of knowing that they are forgiven because Christ alone is God’s satisfaction.
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Where is it written? Where do the Scriptures teach that we pay the price of freedom from eternal death? How do our punishments replace the excelling merit of Christ’s satisfaction for sin?
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In order for us to produce good fruits, we must depend upon God’s promises. We must have faith in him. Otherwise, we would eventually despair of doing much, if any, good.
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Does God say to do something? Then it must be done. You shall love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself. These are not options.
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You may have all of the outward signs of a Christian but if you neglect the greatest commandment, you are headed for trouble.
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Repentance means a changed mind. We might think of it as a change of heart. It follows that a real change of heart would include different fruits or results in that person’s life.
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God will do what he must for the good of those he loves—even if it means inflicting them with some corrective troubles. Perhaps the psalmist’s bones were not actually broken but...
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It has long been known that sparing the rod creates spoiled brats. Just like good, earthly parents, God sometimes punishes us so that we will not spoil.
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When a child says, “I’m sorry,” sometimes a parent responds, “Then act like it.” This is no different than the relationship that a child of God has with the Father.
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Works of repentance are required of us. They are not non-compulsory things that we can use to purchase our redemption or righteousness.
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Saul of Tarsus was a scholar, presumably with good eyesight, able to read scrolls and manuscripts. Then he was blinded by God on the Damascus road.
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Many people think that our troubles originate in our sins. Often enough, this is precisely the case—but not always. Sometimes our troubles are meant to point us and others to the glory and the power of God.
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We should learn to regard our troubles as signs of impending grace. God is at work in these afflictions. When we have gotten to the other side, we can see that suffering drew us back to God, and caused us to rely upon him, and persevere.
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In the reasoning of God, we are to be holy, yet we are not holy, nor can we become holy, so God makes us holy through Christ. This does not make sense to our natural reason.
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God may impose certain punishments for sins, by way of making an example of some people, and to discipline others. But these punishments are corrections and examples, not a means of grace and forgiveness.
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Life happens. There are going to be troubles throughout life. All of them, whether they come from God or not, are allowed by his will.
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Martin Luther proclaimed in his sermon, “On the Hymn of Zacahrias,” that as long as we are clothed with this flesh, sin is not extinguished, nor can be wholly subdued.
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God disciplines his children because he loves them. He does not require this discipline as some means of grace. For how could this be grace, if it is required of us to endure?
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The human heart that is heartily sorry always turns to God. But when we are not really contrite, we seek human remedies to our guilt.
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Imagine a husband or wife who has truly wronged his or her spouse, offering a box of chocolates, a bouquet of roses, or even a fancy meal, in an effort to gain their forgiveness.
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Being a disciple of Jesus Christ involves taking up one’s cross and following him. That means one is willing to die rather than stop trusting God.
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When we imagine that there is something we can do to appease God’s wrath toward our sin, we soon discover that we have deceived ourselves.
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We are threatened on every side. Ten things are listed in Romans 8:37–39, over which we have no power or control. Indeed, the tenth thing Paul lists is anything not mentioned in the first nine.
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Do not make the mistake of thinking that you need to do something special to conjure up the feeling of religious success.
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He would have us do good and seek justice because he commands these righteous acts. However, the works themselves do not make us righteous
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Honest people should be able to admit that they do not keep even the one, greatest commandment (Deut 6:5), let alone all of God’s law.
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Imagining that extra works (supererogation) must be performed in payment for sin, casts aspersion on the character of Christ. Does Christ save — or not?
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Melancthon seems to depend upon the Vulgate (the Latin translation) here. The Old Testament of the Luther Bibel would not be available for three more years.
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Do good works because God commands them to be done and because they bring him glory. But never hold the delusion that by doing good works, your sins will be forgiven or you will go to heaven.
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The commands of God’s Word are not negotiable. We are obliged to obey God. To disobey is to sin. After sinning, we are unable to work off those sins by either deeds or devotion.
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Scrub and scrub; scour as much as you like. Invent cleansing agents, potions, and rituals. You will still be unclean. The stain of your guilt will remain before the Lord.
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Jesus Christ is so completely holy and meritorious before the Father that he is holy and worthy for me. God is so pleased with his Son that he is well-pleased with those who believe in him.
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If one may buy off the need for the satisfaction, what then really, is the point—that if we have enough money, we may buy God’s remission of temporal punishments?
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When Scripture tells us to repent it is not speaking of something one may do beyond this life. All that goes with repentance is to be done in this life.
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Good works are mandatory. But they do not appease the wrath of God against sin. Repentance is required, as it is commanded by Christ (Matt 4:17).
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We are either slaves to the devil, sin, and death, or to God, righteousness, and life. Whichever we are bonded to will determine the fruit we get. The fruit or the wages of sin is death.
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We are indebted to God in Christ to no longer live in the sin for which he died. This does not mean that we no longer sin, for as long as we are in this flesh, this mortal body, there is sin and death.
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The only one who is able to heal you, restore your soul, and give you peace, is near you right now. He is “at hand.” So there is no need for anxiety.
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Political and civil peace would be nice. Family peace would be a true blessing for many people. And of course, better finances and health would afford to many a certain peace of mind.
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When I was a boy, I learned to carry a full cup of coffee to my father. I walked through the kitchen, down the carpeted hallway, and in to the living room, then handed it to him without having spilled a drop.
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People doubt from time to time. Jesus said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41). It is unrealistic to think that everyone will always be strong in faith.
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Life is hard enough without those in authority leading people astray. Scripture teaches us to have faith in Christ for forgiveness and justification.
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Misrepresentation of Holy Scripture will upset the faith of some, those who have itching ears, but also those who are unlearned. Such deception even leads people into lives of ungodliness.
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It is important for us to keep the faith—both in the sense continuing to believe in God, and in remaining true to the Word of God.
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It has already been stated here, more than a few times, that genuine faith is shown in its works. This is an entirely different matter than saying that forgiveness happens because of those works.
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Lutherans confess with Scripture that sinners are justified before God—that is, absolved of all sins and condemnation, without any worth or work of their own—through God’s pure grace.
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In the worldly kingdom, there are many disciplines we might bring to bear in order to make things more civil and orderly. Requiring certain satisfactions can even make folks feel better for a time.
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We do well to appeal to the highest authority. The academics of scholastic theology turned to Peter Lombard, who wrote the standard medieval texts on theology, as their authority.
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Guilt and punishment alike are borne by God in Christ alone. We are set free from all bondage—from waterless pits to the depths of hell—because God promised to do so.
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It bears repeating: our love, devotion, good works, and religious activities do not satisfy God’s justice. Only God’s Son propitiates, appeases, or satisfies God’s just demand for holiness.
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Recently, a car rental company called, wanting to know when I was going to pay the bill on a transaction from over a month ago. I let them know that the company had paid that bill, informing them of the transaction details
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God’s justice requires the punishment of sin. We either take the punishment or pay the penalty. However, we cannot make restitution. We can neither keep from sinning, nor pay the penalty of that sin.
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It doesn’t mater how far you have fallen, how respectable you are, or if you are downright notorious; God cleanses the worst of sinners.
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Your remorse does not merit God’s forgiveness. Being sorry—even though you go on at length about your specific regrets—does not repair your sinful condition or your broken fellowship with God.
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Luther, in particular, was tortured by guilt, and would therefore wear out his confessor with hours of specific lists of sins.
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So, the penitent must always be reminded of God’s grace. For God has promised to not remember our sins. He does so for Christ’s sake...
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We have been born again to the image of Christ. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is causing us to grow up into new people who share the mind of Christ.
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Anyone who wants to achieve righteousness or justification with God through religious devotion, doing good deeds, or by other things they imagine gain them merit with God, will be dreadfully unsuccessful.
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We are in bondage to sin, just as the ancient Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. We can no more free ourselves than they could.
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Always interpret Scripture in the plainest sense, using the clear meaning of the words. If a parable is being used, we might allow our minds to wonder what Jesus meant — until he tells us plainly.
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God is the Judge from whom no secrets are hidden. Yet he is Judge of a different kind of court than we may have experienced...
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These are the words of forgiveness—or indeed, the refusal of forgiveness. These messengers open the gates of heaven, and shut them as well.
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An indulgence was a certificate purchased with either prayers, good works, or money, that claimed to reduce the amount of one’s time spent in Purgatory.
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Of what use is repentance, if it is merely being sorry for sins and then doing something good? People will remain in guilt, knowing that they are never good enough to merit forgiveness.
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Because the guiltless and incarnate God died for our iniquities, bearing upon himself the sin of the world, he carried our sins to the grave.
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Should you try not to sin? Certainly; but your ability or inability has nothing to do with forgiveness. Should you be sorry when you sin, and seek to do better? Absolutely, yet again, this has nothing to do with forgiveness of sin.
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Faith must always be in the forefront because it makes us think of Christ. Even sorrow, though necessary but, because it naturally causes us to try to settle our own sins, must never be considered alone.
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Let us be reasonable. Were we to depend upon our own righteousness and faithfulness, who could survive the wrath of God? They are deluded and arrogant persons...
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Someone better make us holy and righteous or we are in eternal trouble. We have faith that Jesus was sent by his Father to accomplish this very thing.
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It is not possible for someone to have a peaceful conscience, if they doubt that God is gracious toward them. No matter how hard they try to do right and be religious, they still question whether they have forgiveness of sins.
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James is speaking to the topic of receiving wisdom from God in this passage of Scripture. However, the same exhortation may be applied to anything one asked of God. Ask in faith. Believe!
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How can I keep the law without Christ’s help? I cannot, for I will either not do it at all, do it imperfectly, or as likely as not, do it with an impure devotion.
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Cleansing from sins has always been necessary to God. Atonement has been required since the earliest days of Judaism. Even the first sin needed covering with death.
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If we believe that we must keep the law in order to be forgiven by God, then we are saying that justification, righteousness, and forgiveness are not matters over which Christ has any power.
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The law incarcerates; it does not free. Only faith in Christ frees us from captivity to sin and death. Yet thank God for the law, for without its accusations, we would never know our need for salvation and God’s grace.
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Believe the promise of the gospel; it is the truth. Know that Christ’s own righteousness has been granted to you as protection against sin and death.
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We cannot read the law with veiled hearts and expect to find the grace of God. All we sense is God’s displeasure. So, we cannot expect the law to come to our rescue.
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Think for a moment how silly it would be for a person to look in the mirror and say, “You’ve been so good lately; I forgive you.”
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We preach and confess that Christ died for our sins and saves all those who believe. The world responds, “What kind of babbling is this?"
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Faith in Christ arouses good works, but it is faith in Christ that receives forgiveness. Although God certainly wills that we speak and do good, our salvation does not depend upon such goodness.
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It was common in Jesus’ time for people to think their physical ailments and disabilities were the result of their sins. Think of the paralyzed man being carried on a cot to Jesus.
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We must be sure to believe in the word of God, not the words of men. The testimony of men reasons that we must do good things to appease an angry God.
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In C. S. Lewis’ poem, “As the Ruin Falls,” he writes, “a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek.” People may sound authoritative; indeed, some birds may seem so. But by their singing, one may determine what sort of birds these authorities are.
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The doctrine of justification by faith is one for which people have given their lives. Luther himself, knowing that his life would be forfeit, declared that his conscience was captive to the Word of God, not to the doctrines of men.
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We are saved, forgiven, and made righteous through faith in God’s Christ. There is no other way (John 14:6); there is no shortcut.
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The whole of Scripture proclaims that forgiveness of sins is received only through faith in Christ. Those who suppose that God forgives their sins because they are good people, are led astray by their vain imaginings.
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Everyone acknowledges that, “You can’t take it with you.” Common sense wisdom understands that our works have no eternal value. So why do some try to stack them up as having merit with God? Belief in God’s promises is what counts as righteousness.
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The forgiveness of sins is received—not earned. Now a sizeable portion of the Church thinks otherwise. Yet this is clearly what Scripture teaches us. Forgiveness is received by faith.
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If you cannot believe God’s promise then you may as well insist that the sun will rise in the west tomorrow morning. For if you cannot believe that which is most sure, how certain is anything else that has been taken for granted up until now?
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Promises are laughable words, unless received with faith. Abraham and Sarai were promised a son in their advanced old age. Abraham laughed; he laughed so hard that he fell to the ground.
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We cannot place our trust in works wrought by ourselves. Surely, this is evident to everyone. Who among us has been found faithful—even to his own intentions?
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Being sorry for our sin does not merit forgiveness. You probably heard a retort something like this at some point in your life: “Sorry doesn’t fix what you broke.”
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These are important distinctions. Faith is different than sorrow or contrition. It is also different from devotion or works of penance. Faith stands apart, believing in the Redeemer...
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In this passage, we see two kinds of sinners. One is dull in spirit, self-absorbed, and very capable of seeing the sin in others but unable to see it in himself. The second is overcome with sorrow over her sin.
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When David was brought up short by the knowledge of his secret sin, he was contrite and confessed his sin. After his confession, the prophet Nathan spoke words of forgiveness from the Lord.
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After we take the tantalizing fruit of sin, a frightening self-consciousness overwhelms us. All we want to do is cover our sin and hide from God. This terror is contrition; and it is not enough.
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The promise, though veiled, goes all the way back to Genesis. That very first sin demanded the declaration of a Savior from the loving God. For from those tragic bites of forbidden fruit...
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How strange it must seem to a child, for the parent who loves, to also seem so angry. For the threat of an oncoming car does not concern the unknowing child who is chasing a ball into the street.
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Life and death are in God’s hands. And there is nothing that we can do to deliver ourselves from the grave. The foolish harden their hearts to this fact of life. But the wise are contrite.
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Our ways lead us to certain death. They are low and dusty, clinging to the world and sin. Yet, God is always calling us to the way of life.
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We are in bondage to the flesh: these bodies of death with their natural inclinations that serve the law. We are bound by nature to sin “in thought, word, and deed.”
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It is the height of arrogance for someone to think that justification occurs through the human acts of contrition, devotion, or other acts of love or good works
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Paul speaks plainly about these two parts of repentance. He writes that we are dead to sin, this taking place through our baptism.
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It is not enough to only believe the history of the gospel. One must have faith in the one who is the incarnate gospel. One must trust in Christ for the remission of sins.
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To think of repentance in terms of contrition alone is to act in accordance with the law. This is unstable ground since it depends upon the person who is sorry for their sin.
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God has always been ready to forgive. Proof of his willingness is the ways he has provided for people to have faith and turn to him.
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Here is one of the surest and most obvious ways that the Lord’s Prayer is answered. We pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
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The promise of divine grace is received through hearing the gospel. This hearing occurs in many ways. It is received through the reading of the Scripture, both individually and corporately.
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We cannot fear, love, and trust God without faith. In other words, we cannot keep even the first of the commandments without faith, let alone the rest of the law.
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The witless child who does not believe his parents got him a birthday present, will never enjoy the gift. Perhaps he was sorry for having been a disobedient child but just could not accept that his parents loved him nonetheless.
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If repentance is only a matter of sorrow for sin, then human nature tries to appease God. But we cannot appease God by any means.
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As long as we live in this flesh, we will experience all of these feelings. For the law will never cease to accuse us of sin.
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We are very weak. Jesus reminds us if this fact of our human nature. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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Simply stated, contrition is when a person, because of love or fear, stops defending sin and confesses it instead.
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Repentance begins with a heart that is moved toward God’s mercy and then has faith that he forgives for Christ’s sake.
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The Lutherans, on the other hand, confessed that the power of the keys was the authority of Christ spoken by any confessor, and dependent upon two things: contrition and faith.
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The fault with indulgences lies not only in who it is that forgives sin, but in what this forgiveness costs. God’s gracious forgiveness is a gift.
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Going to church, doing good works, being president of Council, having perfect attendance, teaching Sunday School, and even knowing all three of the ecumenical creeds by heart mean nothing without faith.
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The Lutherans however, confessed that everything hinges on Christ. He bore our sin on the cross so that we would be made “the righteousness of God.”
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We have to admit that our sins are great in number, that they have gone over our heads as if if we were drowning in our iniquities. Who could confess such a volume of transgressions?
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So today, we ought to be teaching our people that God forgives sins for Christ’s sake, not because we perform certain rituals.
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The power of the keys binds things in heaven, not just on earth. When a “door” is unlocked or locked on earth in the name of Christ, it is done in heaven too.
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So we confess that our holiness, our works of contrition, is insufficient for the remission of sins, while faith in Christ merits forgiveness of sin...
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It is not enough to be sorry for our sin. Nor is it enough to do good. For we cannot assist ourselves. Instead, we must avail ourselves of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
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Although we should certainly “fear, love, and trust God” (Small Catechism), these things, including the fear of God (attrition), do not earn grace.
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You cannot reason or work your way into God’s grace. God’s grace is a free gift, something that is given by him for you.
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Since the consequence of sin is death, it is no wonder there is the felt need to confess all sins. Perhaps, we might imagine, if we could confess them all, we might overcome death.
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We confess that we are in bondage to sin, that we cannot free ourselves, and that Christ alone has redeemed us from sin.
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The first step in repentance is being contrite. God does not desire sacrifices from us, in order to appease him (Psa 51:16).
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There is nothing confusing about the gospel when it is heard with the ears of faith. We confess that Christ has killed our sinful old nature through his own death on the cross.
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Our anxieties about sin may be managed on the surface with words and semantics, but when the test is applied in the heart, these matters turn out differently.
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Look to the Word. What is written? How far does God say that he hurls our offenses? “As far as the east is from the west,” is how far he removes our sins from us.
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The power of the keys is the clear charge of Christ to preach the gospel, to remit and retain sins, and to administer the sacraments.
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Around the time of the Reformation, there was endless quibbling in the Church about how and when things happened.
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Peace is only found in the grace of God. This is why Peter says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Who does this math?
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The doctrine of faith is no small matter, for true repentance depends upon faith. Repentance needs faith to believe that God is so merciful toward us that our sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
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What are we to do but to turn again and again to Christ? The heart of this turning, this repentance, is faith. We believe that in turning from our sins to Christ, those sins are blotted out.
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God creates clean hearts within us. This happens when we are first, stricken in our consciences, and then, have faith that God will forgive us and make us righteous for Christ’s sake.
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Confession must lead to Christ—not to more and more confession. Christ is the focus, not ourselves. Therefore forgiveness must be the outcome of confession, not the tyranny of a guilty conscience.
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Only a foolish or crazed person would undertake the task of counting the hairs on his head. There are too many to count.
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The imposition of rules and regulations will change no heart. The Holy Spirit changes hearts. The crucified Christ draws people near.
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Our focus should be Christ, not our sins. One can spend so much time in introspection and the endless recounting of sin that Christ is lost in the shuffle.
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Confession precedes Holy Communion. We are to earnestly confess our sins and hear the words of absolution before receiving Christ.
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As Christ is known to us in the breaking of the bread, the early Church assembled to know Christ in his Supper, the Apostles’ teaching, prayer, and fellowship.
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Confession and absolution provide persons of faith with the regular assurance that their sins are forgiven because of what Christ has accomplished for them.
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People recoil at the idea of fearing God because they believe that God loves them. “Why should I fear someone who loves me?” they might ask.
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Holy Communion is not something that we do; it is something that God does for us. It is not an act or ritual that we perform; it is an activity of God that we receive.
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We have been talking about Holy Communion, Baptism, the Church, justification, and other matters but in all of these topics, we are actually considering faith.
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Jesus called the bread that he broke and gave to his disciples to eat, “my body.” He said of the cup, “This is my blood.” This is what we believe.
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This participation, as the Revised and English Standard versions translate the word, is a fellowship or, as the King James Version phrases it, a communion.
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God gives authority to people to speak and act in his name through Holy Baptism. The pastor seems to be the one using the water, and if that were all the pastor did then that would be all there was to see.
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The universal grace and promise of the gospel is just that: universal. It is not applied to everyone except some persons.
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The divine promises of grace and of the Holy Spirit do not belong to the old alone, as if Jesus, who loved little ones, would have them wait for his promises.
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When a child, or anyone else in a household or family, is baptized, the will of God, the promise of God’s salvation is realized. The work of salvation continues through faith.
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It is important for us to distinguish between the two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and worldly kingdoms. Both Church and State are under God’s authority but they serve different ends.
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Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions urge us to be not only wary of false teachers and ministers, but to have nothing to do with them.
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The words of Christ spoken over the bread and wine insure the promise of grace to those who believe. When we speak his word over the elements, he is truly present in them.
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I like to sing the “Kyrie” in worship. For that matter, I love to sing the entire liturgy, including the intonation of the Psalm. Some of our churches do not sing the liturgy; they speak the words.
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The truth of the gospel is that righteousness and salvation come through faith in Christ. This is the word that sets us free.
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We may well suppose that if two Lutheran churches in the same county celebrated Easter on different Sundays that people would have something to say.
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There is nothing wrong with celibacy or fasting or many other disciplines. Even in marriage, abstinence can be a good thing, if the couple agrees together to abstain for some spiritual purpose.
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If others wish to abstain from certain foods on certain days, that is between those people and the Lord. Do not let them convince you that abstinence is a matter of righteousness.
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“It is written.” This was a favorite saying of the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles, and Jesus. Sometimes it is phrased as a questions: “What is written?”
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External is not eternal. These outward things will never secure everlasting life. Furthermore, they will never give us peace. The heart must be changed by God for these things to be ours.
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How heartbreaking it would be to run in a race, and to run so swiftly that you won the race, only to find out that you had been disqualified because of a false start or a lane violation.
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I have convictions but if I dare to make those things qualifications for your righteousness and salvation, please take me to task.
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The Church is that gathering of saints where the Gospel is correctly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
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We are not big on excommunication these days. But we still do a pretty fair job of driving people out of our churches.
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If you believe these things, we agree that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God”—no matter the particular manner of our ceremonies.
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The effectiveness of the sacraments depends upon Christ. Were you baptized in a stream or at a font, at the hands of a priest or a pastor, by a saint or a sinner?
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Every pastor who presides over Holy Communion is a sinner. Some are worse sinners than others. Some do not even believe in Christ or the Word of God.
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It is the duty of pastors to preach the gospel. It is each church’s obligation to make sure that they do. Yet, it is more than a duty; it is a joyful compulsion.
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The prophet Daniel presented the Antichrist along similar lines as this sarcastic paragraph from the Confessions. There is no ruler of rulers but Christ.
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We should not expect everyone in a collar or alb to represent the kingdom of God. Every preacher in a pulpit does not necessarily proclaim the Word of God.
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We must not replace Christ with works, offices, masses, or anything else. These things do not save; Christ alone saves and justifies.
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You will find the church wherever two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, that is, with faith in him, teaching the gospel, and administering the sacraments.
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Many kinds of people are drawn to the Church, but not all are members of the Church. Some have an outward appearance of of belonging, yet that does not make them true members of the spiritual kingdom of Christ.
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Jesus was clear on this matter when he was brought before Pilate. His kingdom is not of this world. It is not temporal but instead, spiritual.
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As worshipers come forward for Holy Communion, many pause at the baptismal font, place their fingers in the water, and make the sign of the cross on their forehead.
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All those who by nature were born Jews, or Abraham’s seed, were given the law so that they might be an example to the nations of how God would have people live.
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The Body of Christ is not an organization that merely goes through the motions of ceremonies. The Church has gifts in the heart, namely, the Holy Spirit and faith.
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The “house of the righteous,” the church, is infiltrated by the wicked. Sometimes, they seem petty, though they are aggravating and ungodly.
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When we perceive the threat to the Church—a threat that exists both from within and without—we can be led to despair of her continued existence.
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We believe in the Church. This is the congregation of those who believe in Christ. They are spread throughout the ages—past, present, and future.
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So we must be careful to confess that sinful people, such as ourselves, become righteous and holy only through the grace of God.
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We deplore the condition of some church bodies, that they have abandoned the Word of God for culturally correct beliefs. Yet, we should not complain overly much.
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Some people attend church because they were raised to do so. They give no thought to faith; it is simply the right thing to do.
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Nearly 40 years ago, a half dozen people from a local cult attended my church, trying to get people to follow their false god.
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Jesus did not come into the world to teach sinners how to save themselves. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
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Declaring that a Christian’s deeds are required for justification and salvation both denies Christ and leaves the believer in despair
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The disciples were in hiding, very likely imagining that they were next, that the authorities would come for them too. They had crucified the Lord; what would they do to his followers?
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Surely, it is thought, there must be something we must do. This is the seed of religion and heresy, for faith knows that we can do nothing.
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It is human nature to imagine that we can buy our way out of problems. The person caught speeding, therefore, pays the court to keep the offense off the books so that insurance rates will not increase
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Let us continue to keep Christ at the center of all things. The promised Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin from the lineage of kings, suffered, was crucified and buried for our sins.
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The ability to love God is not something that we are born with or that we can develop on our own with this fallen nature of ours. In order to love God, one must first be born again.
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Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they valued their own traditions more than God’s commandments. We must be careful to evaluate those things that we believe and do.
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It is easy for us to confuse the plain sense of things. Sometimes we need someone to come in to our midst and cut to the chase. What is the point that underlies everything we do?
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Lift up the shield of faith in Christ every time the devil attacks. Do not trust your thinking and your doing. Trust Christ, who is your shield.
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Justification, righteousness, and salvation are not only received by faith, these things are preserved for us to the end of time.
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If we go to church, feed the hungry, and buy coats and mittens for the poor, but have no faith in the God who calls us to do such things, do those good works save?
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Jesus satisfied God’s requirement of keeping the law perfectly. Moreover, he paid the penalty for the sins of those who cannot keep the commandments.
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The living grace of God is Jesus Christ. There is no salvation available to us without this grace. There is no grace without Jesus Christ.
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We cannot reason our way to righteousness. Who has been able to say, “In this way, I shall be a good person” and been successful in the enterprise?
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There is a difference between justification and sanctification. Justification is that obedience to the gospel that hears and believes, that trusts God’s promise.
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Lasting peace with God comes through faith. Our deeds can make us feel good for a while but that feeling is not only false, it does not last.
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Yes, God wants our good works, but he earnestly desires our hearts. Works that are done with an unbelieving, faithless heart are not good works; they are hypocritical.
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Be careful that you do not expect God to favor you on the merits of your offerings or works or religious activity. God only has regard for such things when they are done with faith in him.
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Works must always flow from a heart of faith. Abraham did not make an offering of his only son, Isaac, as a mere work. Nor did he expect that God would honor the work itself.
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We must remain aware of a dangerous temptation as we try to keep the law. As we observe the law, we can be enticed to think too highly of ourselves.
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Do the things you are commanded and see if he will not pour out his blessings. But never expect him to justify you for the things you do.
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The issue here—and always—is Christ. Let us not think so much about rewards, but instead, about the reward. We must press on toward the real goal.
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We belong to Christ because of faith. This belonging means that we are his servants. So, we are to do his will and bidding. It also means...
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The Lord has fought the fight. He has gone before us and has won the long battle. He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.
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Some orders of monks placed their hoods upon dead bodies, indicating that their good works were transferred to the account of the deceased.
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The opponents’ conclusions were that if one pays for his own reward, he can pay more than is due. Therefore, the credit must be transferable to others.
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There is nothing worthy of forgiveness and the resurrection of the body to everlasting life, save the work of Christ. Imagining otherwise does great damage to Scripture and to troubled hearts and minds.
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Eternal life is a reward from God that is based on something very important: his promise. It is not based upon how much work we have done.
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“Blessed are the poor,” Jesus says in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit."
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Faith is the means of justification, righteousness, and salvation. Only faith keeps our souls at peace before God. Our good deeds will never give us at rest.
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We are reborn with a purpose. But let us be clear; the purpose does not precede or cause rebirth. That purpose is the result of our being newly created.
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What will be the result in the future life for the way we have lived the present life? Left on our own, sin and death are terrifying.
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We should recognize in ourselves that we are disposed to fall back into old ways. But we should also consider that others are just like us.
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Good works are evidence that a person has been justified. For the Spirit who produces good works only indwells the justified.
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Why did the gentiles come to a state of righteousness when the Jews worked hard at it but never arrived? Why did the gentiles attain righteousness when they did not even try?
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What came first, the chicken or the egg? Some love to deliberate over such things; these questions wear out other people.
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The difference that precedes salvation is easy to determine. That distinguishing feature is trust in the one who saves.
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We are indentured servants, slaves to sin and death, and we can never earn our freedom. Either the master sets us free—and death and the devil are not going to do that—or someone pays our debt and sets free.
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The old nature believes that if one loves enough, is joyous all the time, at peace, patient and kind toward others, is good, faithful, and self-controlled, that person will have earned God’s grace.
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If a man was swimming in the ocean and began to drown, he would be quite correct to not trust his own efforts to save himself. But he would yell with his last breath to the lifeguard.
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There is faith and there is the fruit of faith. Faith ought to have results in this life, not just the result of an eternal life to come.
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God forgives us for the sake of his name. His reputation is at stake, so he will keep his promise. This is easy to understand.
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Behold, what importance some people place in their works. They value deeds so thoroughly that they distort the words of Christ. When he downplays works, they exalt them.
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When we think that we have earned God’s mercy and may therefore, demand it, we rob God of the glory that belongs to him alone.
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The First Commandment teaches us that God is faithful to deliver his people. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."
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Our sin leaves us indebted to God. This is why Jesus tells us to pray, “Forgive us our sins.” Matthew uses the word “debt," making it clear that we owe God for our moral failure.
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Pour some dirt into a cup of water and find out how many people will drink? Just so, we are not palatable; each person is just some good mixed in with the bad.
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We cannot make any offering for sin that produces mercy and forgiveness. Our virtue will not do it, nor will religious works, the right disposition, or remorse.
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Everybody sins. Anyone who claims otherwise, is kidding himself but God is not fooled. We were born into sin; it invades all of life.
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Some people have faith in their works. They believe that there are certain things they can do to earn God's grace. This imagined acquisition of grace is called condignity.
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The spirit is compelled to have faith in God but the flesh is weak. It is hard to stay awake and watchful against the accusations of the law.
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Those who consider themselves Christian would confess that Christ saves. But the later actions of some betray a different belief than what they confess.
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There is no good thing that we can do, or even a lifetime's collection of good works, that God would dignify as a righteousness worthy of eternal life.
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True faith in Christ is not shaken for long, since it remembers the source and object of its faith. Faith does not seek to appease an angry God.
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Faith is not a mere intellectual understanding of God. Many people believe there is a God but they neither know who he is nor put their trust in him.
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If you would be righteous, you must live by faith (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38). For if you imagine that you can be righteous by being virtuous and religious, then you are misguided by conceit.
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Hope believes even when the situation appears hopeless. Abraham was confronted with an utterly hopeless situation.
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If you are looking for something that you must do, some righteous work that gains eternal life, there is only one thing necessary. Believe in Christ Jesus.
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Jesus took our sin upon himself and died with it on the cross. When our sin was transferred to Christ, his righteousness was assigned to us through faith in him.
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We cannot reason our way to God or become justified before him because we have come to some intellectual understanding of divinity.
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Surveys are often filled out by a person who marks the box, “Christian.” Often what this means is that the person thinks there is a God.
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Christ came to the law keepers first, to show the truth of God’s promises. God fulfilled those promises in the Messiah by fulfilling the law for them, something which they could not accomplish.
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What a blessing it is to be assured of eternity. Jesus gave us this assurance when he said that whoever believes his word and in the one who sent him has eternal life.
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What a burden it is to fulfill the law on our own. Who can keep the law? Is there anyone who can satisfy the demands of the law?
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Sometimes, even the simplest things are spun into complexities, the clearest teaching of Christ turned to sophistry, the clarity of orthodoxy twisted to heresy.
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We are made children of God through his grace. We were not born to his house but have been reborn and adopted by his merciful will (Eph 1:5). Therefore we have hope.
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I never understood why the rules of baseball allow a pinch runner. A coach is allowed to substitute a faster runner and remove the slower runner from the game. That does not seem fair.
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Jesus warned keepers of the law that the wrath of God was coming (Matt 3:7). The Pharisees already did not like Jesus, and this did not make them any happier.
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“Look toward heaven.” When we look to ourselves, we tend to get in trouble. Initially, Abram believed God’s promise of a son.
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It is good to be reminded and to have the point driven home again and again. For we are easily led astray, imagining that we must do something to reconcile God, since we imagine he must be angry about our sins.
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We inherit the kingdom through faith, just as an orphan receives a new family. When a child is adopted, she must follow her new family through the orphanage doors.
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The word “atonement” translated in Romans 5:11 in the Geneva and King James versions is abandoned in subsequent New Testament translations...
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God wants us to live lives that reflect his own holiness and are in keeping with the regeneration that comes to us through faith.
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It is not the severity of our religious observances or the long list of our good works over a lifetime that makes us fit and worthy for the kingdom of God.
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The Scriptures are very clear. We believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ by the grace of God. We are God’s children because he has chosen us, not because we have chosen him.
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How may one know that they are forgiven of their sins, reborn, and are now children of God? Can this be determined because one has always lived correctly?
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We are to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt 3:8; Luke 3:8). Yet we do not pin our hope of salvation upon these works.
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All things are clean to you if you are clean within and without, bathed on the inside and the outside, washed in faith and in action.
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If you are not clean on the inside, your outside will never be clean, despite regular religious washings. These outward ceremonies do not cleanse the person who is unclean within.
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Common sense informs us that giving from the heart means one expects to gain nothing from the gift. When one gives from within...
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If we only read verse 8, we may end up believing good works are the point, that we must “be careful to devote [ourselves] to good works” (Titus 3:8).
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Our works are not good works—they do not please God—unless they are done in faith. They are not good works, no matter how fine they may seem to us...
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Because Christ is the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, those living under the New Covenant are to offer sacrifices of praise to God.
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The Father sent his Son into the world to save sinners from the condemnation of sin and death. When people have faith in God’s sacrifice for their sin, they are saved, justified, and reborn.
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The great mystery of the ages has been revealed in Jesus Christ. All people—Jews and Gentiles alike—have been redeemed from their slavery to sin and death by the atoning work of Jesus.
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The promise of forgiveness is bound to repentance. They are inseparable. “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.”
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We should have no other gods before the Lord (Exod 20:3). He alone is God (Deut 6:4). We think that in the churches today, idols are a thing of the past.
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The rich man wanted to know what good deed he as yet lacked so that he could earn eternal life. Having boasted that he had kept all the commandments, he nonetheless felt that he still lacked some fine deed.
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The preaching of the law must have its rightful place among us. The law sets necessary boundaries in society so that we might enjoy a measure of order and civility in society.
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You may work all day and night, trying to prove yourself worthy to God, only to discover at the break of day that you do not believe he finds you worthy.
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Consider this teaching from the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive, and you will be forgiven. The first part in this doctrine demands amendment of life and good works, while the second part adds the promise.
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So let us reject the entire squabble as not only a misunderstanding of the text, but a mistranslation as well. May we understand the gospel instead, for there is nothing uncertain in Christ.
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Daniel does not simply demand certain kingly works such as alms giving. He demands faith by saying, “Break off your sins by righteousness.”
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Even the prophets of old required faith since they too conveyed the promises of God. Promises require faith because they involve trust in the one making the promise.
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The law is used by God to achieve certain results. It exhorts us to look out for “number two,” or to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31).
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As the parable indicates, we are indebted to the King. Our sin-debt should cost us our lives (Rom 6:23) but God is merciful, forgiving us and making us into new persons.
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God commands us through the prophets to do good. Yet, through those same prophets, he makes it clear that our righteousness does not come from the works worked.
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The law must be preached. Yet, it must also be taught that the keeping of the law does not bring new birth. Only God can regenerate the dead, which we most certainly were.
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Those who have been justified through faith in Christ are expected to act righteously. They are not, however, forgiven of their sins because they act in accordance with God’s will.
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Any keeping of the law requires God’s help. Before we can ever keep the law in a way that God finds acceptable, we must have faith in Christ.
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Again, James is referring to those works that should follow faith. So, it is well said that the one who has faith and good works is righteous. Righteousness is not earned through the works...
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One cannot create faith by deciding to believe in the historical Jesus, but then, going on to live the same old, natural life. This is the sort of dead faith to which James refers.
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Every good gift comes from the Father—most notably, the gift of new birth in Christ. Salvation is a gift. Forgiveness of sins and justification are not things that can be earned.
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The old real estate expression, “Location, location, location,” might be modified when it comes to reading. “Context, context, context,” is crucial when interpreting a text.
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Propitiation means appeasement of God. The argument the Lutherans were making is simply this: Christ alone is the satisfaction for our sins. What God has worked into us, we are now to work out...
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James reinforces what kind of faith he has been referring to in this passage. Faith is not mere assent, such as you hear from people today when they say things like, “I believe in God,” or “I am a Christian,” or “I go to church.”
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Presidential pardons, bestowed by outgoing US presidents, are received with gratitude but also sometimes, with irritation by those who disagree with a president’s choices.
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Think of how often the smallest spark of some perceived offense in a congregation is fanned into flame by someone who chooses to make the matter personal.
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We must be careful not to build a doctrine of righteousness and salvation upon anything that we do. Such a house would surely fall, since it is founded on the limited and human instead of upon the infinite and divine.
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We should not worry ourselves over the actions of others toward us. Instead, we should be devoted to the gospel. This means that we will love those who hate and hurt us.
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God is able to do far more with the Church than we could possibly imagine (Eph 3:20). Knowing therefore, not only what God is capable of doing but is actually accomplishing in spite of us.
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During a committee meeting, a brother suddenly spoke strong words against his pastor. There was silence in the room. People did not know how to respond.
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Having understood that Christ alone is the satisfaction for our sins, we see love in a new light. “We love because he first loved us," not because we expect special favor from God.
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Paul consistently teaches that we are accepted on account of Christ and not on account of our love, or our works, or because we keep the law. For no one perfectly fulfills the law.
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The wisdom of the world concludes that effort makes the difference. So, some believe that human righteousness makes the difference with God.
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It makes sense that doing good deeds and being religious would cause God to love us and forgive us for our efforts. If God commands it, then there should be the reward of his favor. Yet, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.”
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God does not say, “Do this thing and you will be saved.” He could have said something like, “Do a cartwheel and you will be saved.” Of course, he said nothing so absurd...
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Yes! We should obey God by loving one another and doing acts of charity and other good works. Yet these actions will never conquer sin and death or provide access to God.
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Faith is not formed by love or other good works. That is backwards thinking and contrary to Scripture. Rather, love is formed by faith. Faith in Christ compels us to love and to obey God.
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The Roman Confutation claimed that people are justified by adding love and other works to faith in Christ. Conversely, the Lutherans confessed that love and good works are a necessary response to faith in the saving work of Christ.
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The assurance of God’s love for us is always disturbed by our works. As soon as we trust in an act of charity or devotion to God, our confidence is shattered by an unkind thought or lack of devotion.
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Polls differ as to how many Americans say that they believe in God, some as high as 80% or more. Other polls demonstrate that the most basic evidences of faith are a much lower percentage. So let us be clear.
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If you pay attention to the sports headlines, you will hear an odd assertion from time to time, especially during professional basketball season. A very talented player will either claim or a reporter will state that the athlete was a one-man team.
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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” (Matt 5:6) Note that Jesus did not say blessed are those who have dug a well and quenched their own thirst.
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Being a pastor or missionary is not a free ticket to heaven. While the work that such people do is important to the kingdom of Christ, it is only faith in Christ that opens the gates of heaven.
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But the Lutherans confessed that there was no grace to be derived from the work itself. Thus, the Lord’s Supper is not a work through which we receive forgiveness because we went through the motions.
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In the 1950s, the farmers and ranchers of a small town in southern Texas quit working. For one year, they all laid off work and built a brand new Lutheran Church. What a sacrifice!
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The working of the work does nothing to temper the Almighty. You could sacrifice a thousand burnt offerings and it would not pacify him. You could serve on every committee in your church and it would not justify you to God.
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God wants us to be confident of eternal life. He does not dangle salvation over our heads, tempting us and teasing us to work a little harder, or else. Instead, we are to believe in the great name of Jesus Christ, who died and rose and ascended so that we might do the same.
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So long as we think our relationship with God depends upon ourselves, it will also suffer. As long as we imagine that we make the difference with God, we will fail God...
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You were baptized before you ever thought to do a good deed. God put his seal on you first. So, baptism, like circumcision, is a sign that God gives Christ’s righteousness to sinners.
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Garry Trudeau produced a popular series of cartoons in the 70s called I Have No Son. The father in the series seemed to disown his son for being an embarrassment, someone who did not think or act at all the same as himself.
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That God rewards one’s labors is certain but what he rewards to “fellow workers,” and when, is unknown. What is very certain, however, is that all who believe in Christ...
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You may think that your little church does not contribute much to the kingdom. Never think that way. That is the same as saying that Christ does not contribute much to his own kingdom.
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You are not yet perfect. You are weak. The old nature still clings to you, thereby making your works, however well-intentioned, seem poorly executed and blemished.
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He has freely promised his merciful grace through Christ. The forgiveness of sins is certain because it depends upon the promise of God, not your deeds.
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There is nothing ambiguous about the distinction between the law and the gospel. The law requires one to keep its commandments, rules, and rituals. The gospel requires one to believe that Jesus has fulfilled the law.
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Most of us have been a part of group projects in school. Three or four people are assigned to a team to complete an assignment. Many times, one person does all the work while the entire group gets the credit.
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Peace is a profound need in our world that is torn apart by war and terrorism. There is also the lack of peace caused by bad economic conditions. Yet the lack of peace that is most dire is spiritual.
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You are not whole because you have filled yourself. If you believe in Christ, you are whole and filled in him, by him, because of him. So far, and as far as this life allows, you will never be whole as a result of your religious works and moral behavior.
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It will always be impossible in this life to do anything in an altogether pure manner. However unfulfilled our efforts seem to us, they are accepted by and pleasing to God if they are done with faith in Christ.
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We profess that the law ought to be kept. We also declare that it is kept because Christ has fulfilled it—we did not, nor can we. So we seek to please God by keeping his perfect law even though we keep it imperfectly.
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From the moment we are born again, the battle begins. We are always at war within ourselves. The flesh resists the Spirit who has moved into our lives.
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Imagine the poor apostle, wanting to be godly but failing at the task. The things he set out to do, he was not able to perform. Conversely, the very things he wished to avoid were what he kept on doing.
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When people hear the gospel and believe, God cleanses their hearts and gives them the Holy Spirit. If we add works and the keeping of the law to the simple requirement of faith in Christ, we test God by seeking to undo what he has accomplished through Christ Jesus.
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Original sin is a powerful thing; it holds humanity in its clutches with a grip so tight that no one can escape its deadly consequences.
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We are not only unable to keep the law, but if we trust our works as righteousness, we will find that we have been idolatrous.
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Love and other obedience to the law would indeed be considered as righteousness—if we kept the law. Because people did not keep the law, the promise of grace was given.
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Take note of this sentence: “For the law does not justify as long as it can accuse us.” The purpose of the law is to teach people to live as God wills and, when they deviate, to accuse them of breaking the law.
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What good is it to go to church on Sundays, bring an offering, be an usher, and serve on a committee, if the doing of these things is the whole of one’s religion? All of these things and more can be done without any faith in God.
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Faith in Christ freely obtains forgiveness of sins and delivers a person from sin and death. The result is love and worship. Faith in one’s religious works and moral excellence, however, is a deadly trap.
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The conscience is a restless thing. It is always busy trying to soothe itself. This never works since there is only one thing that brings peace.
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The very inclination to imagine that we can satisfy God’s holy demands is proof of our depravity. We cannot transcend ourselves by our own efforts.
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The law is kept in this way: first, God loves us. Then, while we are still ignorant of his love, our disobedience to God begins to unsettle and even frighten the conscience.
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People cannot keep the law of God as long as they have bad hearts—while they operate in their original, sinful nature. They may undertake to practice the law but these will only be lifeless, cold actions.
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Why did the Father send his Son to earth? He did this so that humanity would be redeemed. In other words, Jesus, the long-awaited Savior, came to save us from sin and death...
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“The greatest of these is love.” Therefore, we must keep the whole law, the first commandments as well as the latter. We must not only honor our parents...
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“Let me know how that works out for you,” some friends of mine remark whenever people say they are going to do something considered unlikely or even impossible. It is a sarcastic reply...
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Yes! We ought to keep the commandments. Our hearts urge us to do so, as do the Scriptures. The law is written upon our hearts and should be lived out. As Christians, we ought to be doing a much better job of keeping the law...
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Justification is no idle dream among Christians. The Church stands upon the promise of God in Christ Jesus. Otherwise, we have built the Church on sand. But the Church has built its house on the Rock.
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Faith happens when the heart is prompted by the Holy Spirit to believe that the promise of God is true. By faith, we take hold of the gospel with confident hope, becoming certain that Jesus died for the sin of the world.
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The idea that faith only comes into existence when it is formed by love is contrary to Scripture. Faith comes first, as a free gift of God. Only then do virtues like love begin to develop.
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We often think of Paul’s mysterious “thorn” as a physical affliction. However, if we consider it a spiritual thorn, we may find some profit.
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The bill is overdue. Ignoring it does not help a bit. It looms over you and you know that your service is about to be cut off. In the same way, our sin has put us in debt.
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Jesus was pierced for our “transgressions.” He bore the discipline that was our due, eternal death. Though we strayed, he went willingly to slaughter, knowing that his death would mean our life...
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William Temple said, “If we are traveling heavenward, we are already in heaven.” Our lives have already been transformed in a heavenly way. More than that, we are so assured of eternity...
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The Rymans are a pretty decent bunch of folks. You should have met my grandfather. He was a great man in my book. But salvation is not available to me in the name of Fred Ryman, nor in the name of Ryman—the whole of my lineage.
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Verse 39 of today’s Scripture reads in the English as either justified” or “freed.” The older the translation, the more chance there is that it will read “justified.” It is a legal term...
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If God expected us to save ourselves, we would be condemned before we begin. Even if we were capable of doing enough good moral, civil, and religious works to cancel out our sins, we would still be sinners.
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Having been a devout Jew, a Hebrew among Hebrews and as to the law, a Pharisee (Phil 3:5), the Apostle Paul would never have let a phrase like “faith justifies” slip out unwittingly.
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The key phraseology of Paul is “through faith” or “by faith.” He mentions it 31 times. Not only Paul though, since James and Peter each use the phrase once, and the writer of Hebrews uses it 24 times.
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Our lives come from God. Every good and perfect gift comes to us through the Father. (James 1:17) Well, except salvation and righteousness; we must work for those. No! Heaven forbid!
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Even if you had to do some things in order for the promise of forgiveness to apply to you, how would you know when you had done enough good? At any rate, merit has been taken away from us...
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Melancthon may as well have said that he could quote Paul, Augustine, and the Fathers all day long, but see here! Peter too, and the prophets also, lend support for justification by faith.
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Only the high priest could represent the people before God in the temple. But Jesus, the “great high priest,” represents us before the Father in heaven. We cannot represent ourselves.
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Some people rely on religion as a way to gain peace or go to heaven—or rather, not go to hell. This puts the cart before the horse. Instead, they should be interested in being with God.
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Søren Kierkegaard wrote in Sickness Unto Death that we acquire a new appreciation of ourselves when the self is viewed “directly in the sight of God.” When we see ourselves as God sees us, everything changes.
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It is easy to admit that everyone is a sinner, since we see the evidence in the news, in the lives of those we love, and certainly in our own lives. Scripture also plainly states...
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Imagine a man condemned to spend the rest of his life in prison. One day, the word comes from the jailer that the president has pardoned his offense. It is too good to be true.
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What else do I need to do? Nothing. Christ has done it all. He he has taken unrighteous sinners and assigned his own righteousness to their account.
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Even our currency proclaims Christ alone. “In God we trust.” What is unwritten is that we do not trust in money or what it buys—or who does the buying. Yet when it comes to religion, we want to trust in the things we do, as though they can buy salvation.
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Faith is not ineffectual—or as some insinuate, “pie in the sky.” Faith is a light, life, and force in a person as to renew the heart, mind, and spirit. Faith makes new people of those who believe in Christ
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Saving faith does not happen because one performs the right deeds or recites the correct formula or prayer. Nor does it come about all at once.
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Daily sacrifices were performed at the temple in Jerusalem because God commanded. Sacrifice was done as an outward expression of grateful dependence upon God.
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Even the saints of old understood the kind of worship that expected blessings from God. It may not have seemed like they understood anything but a quid pro quo religion.
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Justifying faith, properly understood, includes these three things. First, that a promise has been made. God has promised to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness in order to reconcile the world to himself through Christ.
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If a promise is made, faith—not work—is required. This is true in human relations and it is no less true in the relationship between the human and the divine.
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We should certainly offer our whole selves to God (Rom 12:1). Yet, to imagine that this appeases God's wrath or earns justification and salvation is self-deception.
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Knowing stories about Jesus is not faith. Faith is a matter of the heart over the head. Faith trusts that God loves me even when I think that he cannot.
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Ironically, so-called personal faith does not rely upon personal works but upon the person of Christ. It is solely because of him that God is reconciled and made favorable toward us.
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How misleading—and even rude—it would be to invite people to a party and then demand that they serve the guests in order to stay.
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Circumcision was a seal or sign of Abraham's faith in God's promise. It was not a requirement for earning God's grace. Rather, it was a sign that Abraham believed what God promised.
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The law is always accusing us of wrongdoing. That is the law's job. Furthermore, we know the law is right. In ourselves, we have no leg to stand on. The law has us dead to rights.
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God is concerned, though not primarily so, with the things that we do. The external matters such as are found in the second table of the law are there—in second place—for a reason.
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The words of Jesus are enough. If it is Jesus who makes us free, how dare we try to make ourselves free through works of the law? So some say, “Yes, he sets you free but you must add works to remain free.”
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Lutherans insist that Christians should do good works. However, they also confess that these works do not earn God's grace and save them from sin and death.
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An external religion does not earn the grace of God. Therefore, anyone merely keeping appearances, even if they strive to keep the commandments, is still in sin.
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The first use of the law is social in nature, for it creates boundaries and consequences for those who do wrong. This is as far as reason or earthly righteousness goes. By itself, it can never create true love for God.
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Just as people are not forgiven of their sins because of civil deeds and religious works, these works also will never make them righteous before the holy God. Their works and their external piety, no matter how fine, will never make them holy on the inside
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There is an earthly righteousness that comes from human work and ability. Keeping the commandments, being a good citizen, exercising control over what is said, and minding one's own affairs with diligence and humility are examples of this kind of righteousness.
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The law is a good thing. It teaches us how to interact with God and with each other. The law also provides necessary restraint on the uncivil elements of society so that good order may be maintained.
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The foolish person builds a house on sand. This should make me wonder about that beach house I have always wanted. Trying to live by the law is like owning a beach house.
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Why would one wonder whether they had fully earned or received God's grace? If it must be earned, is it grace? Wondering about such things is an indication that one does not understand the ways of God at all.
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The Reformers were answering challenges from a church that really believed it was their own works that earned them eternal life. Take that in for a moment.
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If Christianity is simply another philosophy, then Christ and the cross offer no distinctive benefit to sinners.
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The whole problem of the scholastics, as it is with the world's philosophers, is that they believed that people are capable of being good.
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Some things come to us naturally. For example, we can look at the beauty and complexity of nature and understand that there must be a creator.
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The defense of the doctrine of justification begins with a definition of terms. The revelation of God is understood easily by seeing it in its simplest functions.
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This is the foremost of the chief articles for the Lutherans. Justification touches every other article and doctrine in the Augsburg Confession and its Defense.
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Even a doubter like Thomas understood that Jesus is both God and man. Jesus Christ is God incarnate, or in the flesh. Thomas said that he would not believe Jesus was raised from the dead unless he saw him in the flesh.
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Melancthon cut to the heart of the issue in this closing paragraph of his article defending the doctrine of original sin. The issue was truth. The Lutherans were convinced that they correctly believed.
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Sin is a far more serious problem than most people realize or want to admit. In our day (at least in much of European and American societies), many people seem to think that if they ignore sin or call it something other than evil that it will go away.
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As we have seen, part of the confutation or refutation of the Augsburg Confession was a disagreement with the Lutherans about what has been called, up until now, concupiscence. Today, Melancthon names it with the Greek word, "fomes."
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It was not only those who penned the confutation who did not consider concupiscence, lust or the inclination and desire to sin, an actual sin in and of itself. Other Reformers thought the same thing.
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God gives us the sacrament of baptism to cleanse us from our sin nature. He cleanses us with his word of promise in the water but he does even more cleansing.
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This lengthy response to the confutation (and there is a good deal to go yet) is all to show that the Lutherans taught the same thing about original sin as the Scripture and the Church. Yet they wanted to be specific about what the lack of original righteousness means...
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We too often consider sin something we do. It is more than what we do; sin is the reason we do the things we know to be sinful. We sin because we are full of sin.
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Original sin is an inability to seek God and his righteousness. What we are left with is the inordinate ability to seek after the things of the flesh.
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The original sinful nature that we are all born with must be drowned in baptism. Thereafter, since the flesh is so comfortable in its old clothing, there must follow a daily and even a continual putting off of that old self.
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Not only did these two Church Fathers consider the image of God to be his nature, even Lombard, who was one of the scholastics whom the Lutherans cared little for (and this is putting it mildly), clearly stated the same.
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Melancthon probably did not expect push-back on the doctrine of original sin, and so, he provided an article of a few sentences in the Augsburg Confession. As the Lutherans' opponents wished to quibble, Melancthon furnished them a far lengthier defense to chew on.
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By means of reason, one may understand that without the doctrine of original sin, God must be considered rather foolish. Why would he send his Son to redeem people who were capable of redeeming themselves?
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The Lutherans used the same terminology as the scholastics, at least when speaking of original sin, but they meant something else than the scholastics seemed to be saying. Scholasticism was a school of critical thinking in medieval universities that valued artful argument above all things.
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We discover that we are sinners from a very early age. Every one of us is known to walk in sin, and so, Scripture teaches that we are dead in our trespasses. This corruption of human nature skips no one.
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One of the slogans of the Reformation was (and continues to be) “sola Scriptura.” Those Latin words mean “Scripture alone.” The idea behind that motto is that the Bible, the written word of God, may be relied upon as a sufficient guide and last word on truth
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It is quite evident that such subtleties have originated in the schools, not in the council of the Emperor. But although this sophistry can be very easily refuted; yet, in order that all decent folk may understand that we teach nothing absurd on this matter, we ask that the German Confession be examined first.
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Lutherans teach that original sin is actual sin, not merely the inclination to sin. The result is that we are naturally without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with all the lusts of this life.
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The Church in Rome believed the same thing about God's nature that Lutherans believed. Yet, as we shall soon see, there was much in the Lutheran Confession at Augsburg that they found disagreeable.
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The Church in Rome replied to the Lutheran's Augsburg Confession with what is called the Confutation. However, the Lutherans were not permitted to have a copy or to know what was contained therein, except that they agree to three things.
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There can be endless debate on religious and political topics. 500 years, the Lutherans were embroiled in both. It was the Emperor who ordered the Lutherans to set forth their differences with the Church in Rome.
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The Lutherans would not back down when it came to the unmistakable teaching of the gospel. The keeping of rules would never do—not when it was said that by doing so, God's grace could be earned.
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Legalism demands that we keep as law even those things that were never intended to be law. Ancient customary matters of hair, dress, jewelry, food, drink, and other minutia become the focus for some people. “Do this! Don't do that!” preoccupies their attentions and energies
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It is no wonder that people think one has to do something to make God happy. This is the way with religion. We imagine that God must be appeased and that religious people must do the pacifying.
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The Large Catechism regards the Sabbath as “an entirely external matter, like the other regulations of the Old Testament associated with particular customs, persons, times, and places.”
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It is perfectly fitting for a congregation to develop rules for how things are done in the church. And it is perfectly wrong to say that one earns God's grace by keeping those rules.
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There are some who sin by having faith in the things that they do. There are others who are not content with this but must have a following, leading others astray from a knowledge of the truth. This should not be a strange revelation...
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The Church has no need of more rules and traditions. The law which is in place through the Scripture is more than sufficient to make people aware of their sinful condition. The grace...
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The issue for the Lutherans was not whether one should, for example, fast during Lent or observe a service of worship beyond the Lord's Day.
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No bishop or pastor should create any tradition that promises people God's grace. Nor should the people be threatened with God's disfavor when people do not obey these human inventions.
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The jurisdictions of Church and State must be kept separate. If a bishop has secular power, it was conferred by the government, not by divine agency.
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Powers are kept at bay and the kingdom of Christ is advanced every time we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
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The power of the keys is as clear as the plain commissioning of the gospel. Preach! Inherent to the proclamation of the gospel is the administration of God's grace through his sacraments.
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Put in plain terms, the Church has power in spiritual matters. The State is left to deal with all else. Both Church and State overreach when they enter into the affairs of the other.
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God's will is that we would perform our normal duties of life faithfully and sincerely. In other words, we must not run from life, hoping that a deal we make with God will somehow make us perfect.
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What is there to do when the advice one gets at Church is in conflict with the gospel? First of all, we should not be surprised.
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Christ is the sole player in our perfection. He has made satisfaction and atonement for our sins. We can add nothing to his perfect work on the cross.
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To say that one may do something—anything—that could earn God's grace is an insult to the gospel of our Lord. The Lutherans pointed out this fallacy in the monasticism practiced at the time of the Reformation.
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The Lutherans believed that marriages could not be annulled by monastic vows. Indeed, the opposite is the case: marriage vows annul monastic obligations.
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When the Apostle Paul was a grown man, able to make decisions as to whether or not to be married, he seems to have chosen to remain unmarried so that his time could be devoted to the kingdom of God.
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The practice of religion can be insincere and downright hypocritical. Even our devotion can be disingenuous when it is focused on self instead of God. So we should watch our step and guard our words.
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The Lutherans at Wittenberg allowed those under vows to marry. Some had been placed under monastic orders by their families, and others by their own ignorance
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The Apostle Paul admits that he is not perfect, but struggling against his flesh. (Rom 7:15) He presses on toward the goal of completeness, in spite of his imperfect state.
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The idea that one could earn favor with God permeated the Church. Monastic vows was one more example of this doctrine of works.
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Lutheran worship is well-known for being traditional, often in form but always in terms of those things that contribute to good order.
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The difference was, as it always was for the Lutherans, that they did not regard discipline of the flesh and other Church traditions as necessary for salvation.
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God's grace cannot be earned or increased by keeping Church customs. So, Lutherans confess that we are saved by the grace of Christ alone, as the Scriptures teach.
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The Lord insists that we teach his Word with patience and clarity. We must take a firm stand on matters of doctrine, for people's souls hang in the balance. Such was the case for the Lutherans in Wittenberg.
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“They can't see the forest for the trees” is a saying that could easily be applied to the Church. What difference does it really make whether the Bible is carried into the sanctuary in just the right manner, so long as the Word of God is read?
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The kingdom of God is not in the doing of things but in believing what has been done. There is nothing wrong, of course, with following God's law and keeping his commandments. Christians keep God's commands but they do not believe that religious acts elicit God's mercy. God loves us with a perfect love.
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The Lutherans insisted that they were under no such obligation to satisfy God since we are not forgiven by our works but instead for Christ's sake alone. Justification with God is through faith in Christ's work, never by religious deeds.
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No one can remember or even be aware of all of his sins, so that sort of confession that demands a litany of every last sin is hopeless. Trying to do so will produce a miserable person, overburdened under the weight of both his sins and the Church's demands.
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Both the Small and Large Catechisms of Luther provide instruction about how to make confession. We teach that people must confess their sins before receiving Holy Communion. And they must be forgiven.
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Holy Communion is a benefit for those gathered. It is not to be served to those who are not present or to unbelievers or the dead. When the Church gathers for worship, Communion is celebrated with proper order. Communion is not a potluck that feeds the belly.
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When you approach the altar, you ought to ask, “What am I doing here?” The answer, of course, is that your Lord has called you to his table. You might think that you are unworthy to eat from his hand. Nevertheless, he has called you — commanded you. Take. Eat.
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It was believed that the Mass was an additional sacrifice that atoned for people's sins—indeed, not just the sins of the living but the dead as well. Because the Church had come to accept that Christ's death only atoned for Original Sin...
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It is bad enough when people who know better turn a blind eye to the truth. It is worse when they do so for financial reward. This was a leading problem facing the Church, not only at the time of the Reformation but for hundreds of years prior to the reform efforts of the Lutherans.
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The Mass, or Holy Communion, was being bought and sold in the days of the Reformation. It was thought that one could purchase a Mass to be said for himself as a way of earning some merit with God.
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Lutherans celebrate Holy Communion often—many of our churches communing each Lord's Day. We do so with order and reverence, beginning with the acknowledgment that we all sin...
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Then, he too took a wife, a former nun by the name of Katherine. She became everything God intended in marriage. She was in all ways Luther's helpmate and better half.
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When we begin to change the plain meaning of God's Word or remove words that offend us, we offend God and are condemned by the very words we omit.
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But corruptions had begun to creep into the Church. Reform was badly needed so that people's hearts could again be comforted by the mercy of God in Christ.
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Since it has been shown that the Church Fathers also agreed with their teachings, it must be noted that the Wittenbergers were also in accord with the whole Church.
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Lutherans encourage an old tradition: imitate those who imitate Christ. (1 Cor 4:16; 11:1) We hold up the lives of the saints as models of faith to be followed. But we do not venerate the saints or pray to them.
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The doctrine of justification by faith does not rule out doing good works. Rather, it shows us how we are able to do good works. Left to our own devices, we would not do those principal Christian works.
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Faith is completed or fulfilled in our good works. One may say that she believes in God but if she left her brother hungry or threadbare would anyone suspect she was a member of the family of God? This is not a living faith.
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Lutherans teach that God loves all people. Indeed, he loves us so much that he sent his own Son to bring eternal life to everyone who believes in the Son. (John 3:16) His limitless love brings peace and comfort...
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Our works are always questionable. Does one do enough, for the right reason, and so forth? Therefore, the conscience cannot be consoled as it will debate with itself as to whether one has become good enough for God. However one may try, she will never be good enough.
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When one tries to reconcile God through good works, the conscience still trembles. One must put aside trust in self, and trust in Christ alone for righteousness before God. Nowhere in Scripture does it tell us to turn to ourselves and find peace.
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The doctrine of justification by faith is not a Lutheran innovation. We are not alone in our understanding of the Scripture. Even in the earliest days of the Church, it was taught...
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Faith trusts in Christ alone for salvation. This must be preached in all the churches since it is the teaching of Scripture and because this doctrine consoles Christians. (Rom 5:1)
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The Lutheran emphasis on justification by faith alone was attacked by those who insisted on being cleared of their sins by religious acts alone. Those who insisted that God's favor was earned instead of freely given...
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Yet, because of our human nature, we easily turn away from God, intent on having things our way. It is our wills that resolve to not do good; and this we call sin.
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Lutherans confess that they are entirely dependent upon God's grace from start to finish... We may be a good citizen of earth, but will never be fit for the kingdom of God until we become people of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
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The theme of the Reformers in Wittenberg was faith. The standard of salvation and eternal life for Lutherans is always faith in God, not the lack of it nor of a reward for good works. On the Day of the Lord, Christ will return to judge...
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Scripture urges us to pray for those who rule over us. God has instituted good government. It is his servant for our good. The laws of the land, in so much as they agree with the Word of God, are to be obeyed.
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The human heart must constantly be reminded that Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10:4). There are “profitable” things that we retain, such as fasting during Lent, but to make fasting during this season a law and obligation is contrary to the gospel.
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God does not call all to these responsibilities, as some of the more radical wings of the Reformation taught. He calls “some”...
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The gift of Christ's Body and Blood may only be received in faith. It is not mere religious observance. Instead, it is God working through his Supper to enliven and establish our faith through continued grace.
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We confess that God's grace is freely available to sinners both before and after baptism, and should be just as freely declared to all repentant persons.
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Confession can be good for the soul. Generally, this is the case when a particular, perhaps difficult sin needs to be confronted squarely so that one might be healed.
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For now, in the tenth article, the Lutherans only and plainly confess that Christ's body and blood are truly present in his supper. His body and blood are also conveyed as true food and true drink to those who receive the sacrament.
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As there is no way to receive God's grace without baptism, strictly speaking from Scripture, they condemned the idea that children—or anyone else—could receive grace without baptism.
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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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Building on the confession of “the communion of saints” in the creed, and that God imputes righteousness through faith, Melancthon is emboldened to state that the Church is a “congregation of saints.”
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The Lutherans also wished it to be known that justification by faith did not negate the command of God for his people to do good works. However, these acts of charity and obedience are a result of faith—not a requirement of justification.
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Real faith does not happen because one decides to believe, because one disciplines herself to be a holy person, or as the result of any other personal or religious preparation.
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It sounds as though a sixteenth century Lutheran wrote the words but they were penned by the Apostle Paul and inspired by the Holy Spirit in the first century. “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Rom 3:28) There is no mingling of the two.
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To be as certain as they could be that the Church in Rome understood that the Lutherans were orthodox, they continued to confess key doctrines at Augsburg. So far, there are none where they would disagree.
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The Lutherans of old wanted to make it clear at Augsburg that they were sinners. Indeed, they wished it understood that they believed all people since Adam (Rom 5:12) were in this condition from the very beginning of their lives.
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Christians ought to hope for unity, beginning to do so by considering how they agree on matters of the faith. After all, they are called to fellowship together in Jesus Christ our Lord (1Cor 1:9-10). Christians are also to be ready to defend the faith (1Per 3:15), even if it is in confessing it to one another.
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At first blush, it might seem to some that a salvation of works is being advocated. That interpretation would contradict the rest of the creed.
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The Small Catechism also, even though teaching from the Apostles' Creed that does not deal explicitly with the dual nature, teaches us that the ascended Christ is “true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary.”
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He is not two beings, a god and a man somehow in a kind of symbiosis. Nor is he some kind of compound or complex organism, made by the joining of two beings, but no longer quite human or divine as a the result.
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The issue of the Athanasian Creed is not only that we rightly understand the Trinity of God but that we correctly understand the dual nature of Jesus Christ.
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As Paul says, repetition is good for us. We need to hear the difficult teachings many times before we begin to understand. So we hear again that each of the three Persons of the Trinity are uncreated.
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How can it be that there are three Persons but only one God? We try to make sense of it through human and earthly analogies but, of course, all of them fall short of the glory who is God.
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Now this is the catholic faith: we worship one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being.
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The latest theological craze attracts the spiritually distracted like deer to headlights. The more glaring and wilder, the better. What difference does it make, since they will likely be chasing a new idea within the month?
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The whole three Persons are coeternal together, and coequal, so that in all things, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped.
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Everlasting life is a free gift from God. Jesus was sent by his Father so that we might not perish but by believing in what Jesus has done for us, live with him forever.
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The confession of resurrection is as important as that of the divinity of Christ or of creation or of any other item in our creed. Without resurrection, the rest of the creed falls apart.
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The “one baptism” into which we are baptized is Christ's baptism. His baptism is our own; it is why he was baptized: to fulfill all righteousness — even ours.
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We believe in the Church established by God, not a church established by Luther. Nor do we believe in the churches or denominations begun by any other parties.
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The Creed helps the uncomprehending to confess and believe the Scriptures so that they may come to understand the incomprehensible.
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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.
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The Holy Spirit is too often thought of as impersonal, a power, rather that the relational third person of the Trinity who is God.
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Since God himself is eternal, his kingdom also remains forever. Within any kingdom, including God's heavenly kingdom, are its citizens, the king's subjects. The citizens of the kingdom of heaven are both angelic and human.
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Here we see a straightforward denial of the Arian heresy: Jesus is “not made.” If there was any uncertainty about the definition of the word begotten, here is the clarification: “not made.” The Son of God is not a created being, like angels or humans.
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These days, we say, “true God of true God,” and rightly so, since “very” used to be used as truly or true. The Latin word from which we derive the English word “very” is verus which means “true.” We still think this way, even if we do not realize we do so.
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Jesus is not a reflection of this light. He is the light. He is the “true light.” (John 1:9) He is that “joyous light of glory” whom we confess as God. As he is by definition, “God of God,” he is by description, “Light of Light.”
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Jesus is God, as the Father and the Spirit are God, and they are together God. He is the very essence of what it is to be God. He is the pith of divinity.
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In other words, the Son is eternal, as John testifies in his Gospel. The Son of God is not a created being, even one of a higher nature than man, but instead is himself the Creator.
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In the Nicene Creed, we confess one more thing about the Father than we do in the Apostles' Creed. We already profess that the Father is Maker of heaven and earth but now we say more specifically that he is Creator of all things—those things both visible and invisible, the things we know about and those we do not.
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The Nicene Creed originated from a need to confront a certain false teaching, or heresy, head-on by concisely and correctly teaching what the Scripture says about Jesus Christ.
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We spend our lives waiting on things to happen. As children, we were known to ask, “Are we there yet?” We could not wait for birthdays, Christmas, and vacations. They seemed never to arrive...
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Christ has redeemed everything we might consider corrupt, so the flesh, though it undergo decay or be consumed by fire, will be raised by the power of God.
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The forgiveness of sins is available because we admit our condition, the need of a Savior, and the truth that the Father sent his Son into the world to accomplish this very thing once and for all (Heb 10:10).
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From the Confessions: “The communion of saints" Community is not a solo event. It takes many saints to make a communion...
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From the Confessions: “The holy catholic Church.” We confess three things in this phrase. Let us consider them in reverse order. First, we confess that God has constructed himself a Church. Jesus told Peter...
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Christians believe that the Lord our God is one God yet three persons, or Trinity. We have named the first two persons of the Trinity who is God.
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We confess that Jesus ascended to his Father and that as Lord of of heaven and earth, he is appointed to be the judge of both the living and the dead.
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From the Confessions: “He ascended into heaven." Christ was not raised from the dead and ascended to the Father so that he would escape from death and this earth...
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Like Jacob, who simply believed the report of his son being still alive, we confess that on the third day Christ Jesus rose from the dead and lives.
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We should, however, find great comfort and hope that Jesus descended into hell. We celebrate the Ascension; we should observe the “Descension” too.
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All of Jesus' ministry looks toward the crucifixion. He tells his disciples over and over that this is why he came to earth. Sometimes it is a veiled announcement...
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The trial, a sham, complete with trumped up charges, an all-too-literal whipping boy, and a villain set free, would see Jesus spit upon, humiliated, scourged, a crown of thorns pressed into his scalp, and finally crucified...
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The divinity of Jesus is seen in the Spirit of God causing Mary to be pregnant. He came over her and overshadowed her. There was nothing physical in the act...
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Even in the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary we see that human works had no play. Mary did nothing. Joseph surely did nothing. The poor man was very likely stunned at the news...
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A lord is one with authority over another. He has the power to exert his authority, and likely will do so. He is master and absolute ruler of all under his dominion. In one sense, this is the meaning of “our Lord.”
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We believe that Jesus Christ is the only one who is “eternally begotten of the Father,” as we profess in the Nicene Creed. He is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,” yet at the same time man. He is God in the flesh.
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The conjunction “and” is important. It is not used for word flow alone; nor is it used as merely an “also,” as if to say: Additionally, we believe in Jesus Christ. It is an intensifier.
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Here, the Apostles Creed echoes the opening words of Scripture. All things were created by the word of God. There is nothing that has been made apart from his word. Genesis tells us creation was spoken into existence...
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Though the Apostles Creed was not written by the Apostles, we consider it apostolic because it teaches their chief doctrines, often doing so with the very words of Scripture. It begins with the doctrine of “God the Father"...
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The Shema (meaning “hear” or “obey”) states that God is one God: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD, The LORD is one.” (Deut 6:4) However, the English translation obscures much in this verse.
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...Our word “creed” comes from the Latin “credo,” which means “I believe.” When we say a creed, we are concisely confessing what we believe.
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