agape.DawningRealm.org

Living by faith, not by sight

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:04:37 GMT

Living by Faith: Justification and Sanctification by Oswald Bayer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This explanation of the centrality of justification in Luther's theology makes timely contact with atheistic thought.

Some highlights (numbers are approximate Kindle locations):

* Those with God's passive righteousness need not concern themselves with the judgments of others as if they were the final judgment (342).

* The power of God's word can be seen in even the smallest parts of his creation (382).

* God's actions are his words to us (588).

* Believers now have eternal life by promise, not yet by something that is felt (450).

* Make your plans as if God does not exist in order to let him work secretly through the mask of means (484, 487).

* Your justification depends in no way and your success (496).

* "Ethical progress is only possible by returning to Baptism" (779).

* In lament, the believer questions God regarding the apparent contradiction between his promise and the suffering, injustice, and other evil observed in the world (808).

* Judging on the basis of that evil, human reason always comes to the conclusion that either God does not exist or, if he exists, then he is not just (901).

* According to St. Paul's letter to the Romans, if God's righteousness could be judged by the standard of human righteousness, then his righteousness would not really be divine, but merely human (970, 973).

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Written for assurance of salvation

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:55:39 GMT

Have you ever heard that you should read St. John's first epistle to see whether you pass its tests of evidence that you have been born again? Those who teach it as a list of tests overlook the many passages in the letter in which the Elder affirms the faith of the baptized congregation reading his letter (or hearing it read). For three examples, he says, "you have overcome the world," "you know all things," and "greater is he who is in you than he was in the world." Take comfort in those promises to you, and read the letter again, looking for similar unconditional promises. They teach the gospel, the good news that you are forgiven because Christ took away the sins of the whole world, including all of your sins. There is no judgment and no fear in that message. "Perfect love casts out fear."

In order to further encourage the faith/assurance of those reading this letter, he warns them against the false teachers, the "antichrists," who say they know God without any concern for his children and who even deny that God came in the flesh to save us from our sins. Those warnings may also be applied to those who are not alarmed by their sins, including those who trust in their decision and in a false doctrine of eternal security rather than in Christ alone. To them, no good news of forgiveness should be offered but only the condemnation of God's law. Until they recognize that his law condemns their lawless works, they will not believe the gospel. Before they can receive the cure, they must recognize that they are sick.

In short, law's message of judgment is for us when we do not lament our sins. Once we are terrified by God's proclamation of judgment against us, the law has served its purpose and should be set aside to make way for the gospel, God's free promise of forgiveness.

Many false teachers take a very different approach, either by wielding the law against those who already feel its condemnation or by proclaiming the gospel to those who sense no need for forgiveness. Other false teachers mix law and gospel in a way that softens the condemnation of the law or takes away from the comfort of the gospel, against which there is no law. There still many antichrists.

Even as baptized Christians, we daily need both God's law and his gospel. Since we sin daily, daily need to hear God's judgment against our sins, to repent, and to believe the good news that we are forgiven freely. Once our heart, hearing the law, condemns us, we should take comfort in the promise of the gospel that "God is greater than our heart and knows all things" (1 John 3:20). Then our heart will not condemn us, and we will have the assurance that he hears and answers our prayers (1 John 3:21-22). That faith will be active in works of love for our brother. Later, we again become secure in our sins, and God will again proclaim his word to us: first the law, and then the gospel. The process will continue until Christ returns and we see him as he is.

Here are some related web pages:

law and gospel (Absolute Paradox)

law and gospel (Walther)

gospel written in good works

commentary on 1 John 3:20-22

The good news of eternal election

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 02:50:23 GMT

Scripture's clear promise of eternal election has been obscured by denominational divisions, with the effect that election is seen as a teaching of Scripture to be used more for debate than for the strengthening of faith. The most important debates focus on how to use the teaching for what all Scripture was intended: comfort and hope from the promise of the gospel (Romans 15:4).

Do Lutherans, as some have heard from Calvinists, really say there have been true children of God who are now eternally lost? That would remove hope from God’s good news of eternal election. Do Lutherans, as some synergists insist, really teach the doctrine of eternal security, that anyone who has ever believed the gospel will inherit eternal life even without remaining in the word of Christ? That would remove terror from God’s law, which sternly condemns us in order that we continue to take refuge in Christ as the one who has faced and defeated that terror for all people. The truth is that the Lutheran Church adamantly opposes both errors as threats to faith in the gospel.

After distinguishing the Lutheran teaching from the Calvinistic and synergistic extremes, this essay will demonstrate that it is not someone's inference from Scripture but rather that it is plainly stated in the unadorned words of Scripture. The church that takes its stand on the bare words of Scripture concerning justification by faith alone and concerning eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ also stands firmly on the bare words of Scripture concerning election.

That stance on eternal election is stated succinctly by an influential theologian of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod: "In short, the recognition of one's election and faith in the Gospel are identical" (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, III:483). Against Calvinism, Pieper was saying there are true believers who completely fall away from Christ because they stopped believing the gospel. However, against synergism, he was also saying all those who stop believing with saving faith will be brought back to faith since they are among the elect.

Pieper was not saying that one must progress to the point of knowing about the doctrine of election to have saving faith. Rather, he was saying that any penitent sinner who believes the gospel thereby believes that he is among the elect. That is based in part on Paul's addressing Christian congregations as the elect, as will be seen.

Pieper could take both the warnings concerning apostasy and the promises of election seriously by considering the former as law and the latter as gospel. The law says that if you fall away from the faith and do not repent, you will perish eternally. The Lutheran confessions, especially the Formula of Concord, say the same thing.

While the law of God does threaten his wrath, his gospel cannot since it is by definition nothing but good news. Against Calvinism, Pieper correctly taught that the gospel, including the promise of preservation, is available to all since God sincerely desires the salvation of all, as the Formula of Concord also emphasizes. Consider also these gospel excerpts from the article of the Formula of Concord on eternal election:

Thus this doctrine affords also the excellent, glorious consolation that God was so greatly concerned about the conversion, righteousness, and salvation of every Christian, and so faithfully purposed it… that before the foundation of the world was laid, He deliberated concerning it, and in His [secret] purpose ordained how He would bring me thereto [call and lead me to salvation], and preserve me therein.

It can be seen that "every Christian" and "me" refer to the same person: every believer, every Christian. That would mean God was concerned enough with the salvation of every child of God to preserve him or her in it.

Therefore, whoever would be saved should not trouble or harass himself with thoughts concerning the secret counsel of God, as to whether he also is elected and ordained to eternal life, with which miserable Satan usually attacks and annoys godly hearts. But they should hear Christ [and look upon Him as the Book of Life in which is written the eternal election], who is the Book of Life and of God's eternal election of all of God's children to eternal life...

The formula said there that all of God's children have been elected to eternal life. That includes those of God's children who have fallen away from the faith before returning again.

Far from leading to fatalism, apathy, or lawlessness, the good news of the election of all God's children motivates the Christian life. The Formula continues with the exhortation to live in repentance, in the forgiving promises of word and sacrament, and in confident prayer:

According to this doctrine of His they should abstain from their sins, repent, believe His promise, and entirely trust in Him; and since we cannot do this by ourselves, of our own powers, the Holy Ghost desires to work these things, namely, repentance and faith, in us through the Word and Sacraments. And in order that we may attain this, persevere in it, and remain steadfast, we should implore God for His grace, which He has promised us in Holy Baptism, and, no doubt, He will impart it to us according to His promise, as He has said, Luke 11:11ff : If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him!

The Formula of Concord likewise affirms these articles among others:

4. That He will justify all those who in true repentance receive Christ by a true faith, and will receive them into grace, the adoption of sons, and the inheritance of eternal life.

5. That He will also sanctify in love those who are thus justified, as St. Paul says, Eph. 1:4.

6. That He also will protect them in their great weakness against the devil, the world, and the flesh, and rule and lead them in His ways, raise them again [place His hand beneath them], when they stumble, comfort them under the cross and in temptation, and preserve them [for life eternal].

7. That He will also strengthen, increase, and support to the end the good work which He has begun in them, if they adhere to God's Word, pray diligently, abide in God's goodness [grace], and faithfully use the gifts received.

In short, God will raise and preserve for eternal life "all those who in true repentance receive Christ by a true faith" (paragraphs 18-20), and he will do so by means of his word and sacraments and in response to prayer grounded in his promises.

Pieper (III:483-484), following Luther and the Formula of Concord, instructed us to discern our election in the wounds of Christ, that is, in the promise that he takes the sins of the world away (III:482-483). Here is an example of how the Formula grounds the assurance of election in the universality of the atonement (paragraph 70):

But they should hear Christ [and look upon Him as the Book of Life in which is written the eternal election], who is the Book of Life and of God's eternal election of all of God's children to eternal life: He testifies to all men without distinction that it is God's will that all men should come to Him who labor and are heavy laden with sin, in order that He may give them rest and save them, Matt. 11:28.

Not all denominations receive Scripture's good news that all of God's children have been elected to eternal life. Taking the Presbyterian Church as an example, the Westminster Confession of Faith explicitly makes the promises of the gospel conditional on evidence of conversion. Since, by contrast, the scriptural article of election is a promise of the gospel, there are only at most two teachings on election consistent with the gospel:

Teaching #1. Those true children of God who will fall away without ever returning believed the gospel promise of justification but not the gospel promise of election. That would mean God's children can be divided between those who believe the gospel for election and those who believe the gospel for justification but not for election. Were that the case, it would give special urgency to providing instruction on the article of election.
Teaching #2. There is only one gospel promise, the promise made in baptism, which includes all the benefits of Christ's universal atonement, including justification and preservation to eternal life. Later instruction on the details of the two natures of Christ, election, etc. are important for the preservation of faith by the means of grace but adds no promises to that of the Trinitarian baptism formula. Pieper put it well: "Every poor sinner, therefore, who keeps his faith focused on the Gospel, without any side glances in the direction of the Law, is eo ipso [thereby] believing his eternal election." That includes those poor sinners who have not received specific instruction on the article of election.

In other words, if there is a promise of preservation, then either it is the promise of the gospel that all believers accept, as Pieper argued (Teaching #2), or it is a separate promise that some believers do not accept (Teaching #1). Again, Teaching #1 would divide faith that justifies from faith in the promise of election. In other words, there would have to be a Stage 1 gospel and a Stage 2 gospel. First, believe the Stage 1 gospel that your sins are forgiven. Then, believe the Stage 2 gospel that you are elect. According to that scheme, those who believe the first promise but not the second permanently fall from faith. In that case, the doctrine of election should receive special emphasis beyond the emphasis it has in Scripture.

No, there is only one gospel: election is promised by the same gospel that promises justification. Those who believe one promise thereby believe the other (Teaching #2).

Not everyone believes. Pieper correctly attributes a lack of faith solely to the stubborn rejection of the offer of salvation Christ makes to all, sincerely desiring their salvation. At the same time, Pieper also correctly attributes faith solely to the grace of God. There should be no question that election is a cause of saving faith. Pieper rightly stressed, "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed." While aware of the apparent contradiction, Pieper points out that all attempts to resolve it lead to either Calvinism or synergism.

The Lutheran teaching on election (Teaching #2, above) did not originate with the Formula of Concord but can be traced at least as far back as Luther's Large Catechism:

Let this, then, be the sum of this article that the little word Lord signifies simply as much as Redeemer, i.e., He who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same.

As the Large Catechism says, everyone confessing faith in the second article of the Creed (that Jesus Christ is Lord) thereby confesses faith that he "preserves us in" righteousness. Indeed, every baptized child of God has justifying and sanctifying faith and thereby believes all articles of gospel, including its promise of preservation in righteousness. It is not that everyone who is baptized necessarily believes, but rather than all who believe the promise of baptism are elect. Since the promise of the good news that Jesus is Lord includes the promise of preservation, all who believe the gospel will be preserved in the true faith to the end. Otherwise, God would break his promise that was received in faith.

What about the threats of Scripture against those who only believe for a time? Of course, the word "believe" has meanings in the language of the New Testament apart from its specifically Christian meaning, "believe with saving faith," and context always determines how a word is used. For example, the Fourth Gospel spoke of children of Satan who had believed in Christ without really keeping his word (John 8:31-33, 43-44, 51, ESV):

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone…" "Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires… Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

See also John 2:23-25 and 5:37-38. The threats in John 15:1-10 and other Scriptures about what happens to those who believe without remaining in the word of Christ pertain to the law, not to election, since election is pure gospel. Citing Romans 10:11, Pieper observed (III:485),

There is no cause for concern lest time believers be deceived when preservation of the faith is promised them in the Gospel and thus their eternal election is revealed to them. This is a purely hypothetical case. He who confidently believes God's gracious promise to keep him in faith will not fall away finally.

Thus, Pieper distinguished "time believers" from elect believers. The citation of Romans 10:11 is apt: "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." A literal translation of the Greek reads, "The one believing [present] in him will not be shamed [future]."

Similarly, consider Romans 8 ("whom he justified, he glorified") and other Pauline passages: "Christians can and should be assured of their eternal election. This is evident from the fact that Scripture addresses them as the chosen ones and comforts them with their election, Ephesians 1:4; II Thessalonians 2:13" (Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 1932 Brief Statement).

That is just a sampling of the Scriptures that promise preservation and eternal election. John 6:40 is particularly clear: "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

Amen. Surely God will keep that promise.

Are you anxious about whether you are one of the elect? Do you fear that your faith in Christ may one day wither and die? There is good news for you. Since you now believe in the Son of God, you most certainly will be resurrected when he returns. He himself told you, "this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:40).

Yes, baptized child of God, he will doubtless keep you in his word and in the one true faith unto life everlasting.

Trinity made in the USA

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:25:15 GMT

Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity by Kevin N. Giles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Many conservative evangelicals have been teaching that Christ was always submissive to the Father from eternity past, before the creation of the world. As Giles points out, their rejecting aspects of Arianism does not absolve them of the subordinationist error inherent in that teaching. He cites the Athanasian Creed as a clear witness to Scripture's condemnation of all forms of subordinating the Son to the Father apart from the Son's human nature:

"Accordingly there is one Father and not three Fathers, one Son and not three Sons, one Holy Spirit and not three Holy Spirits. And among these three persons none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another..."

According to Giles, those evangelicals interpret 1 Corinthians 11:3 to teach the subordination of the Son to his Father, even before becoming a man, in order to support the submission of wives to their husbands. Ironically, Giles's opposition to that subordinationist error may have led him to a different Trinitarian error. Perhaps in unguarded statements, he seems to teach that the now-exalted Christ, in his human nature, is no longer subordinate to the Father. That is also clearly condemned by the Creed:

"...our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at once God and man ... equal to the Father with respect to his Godhead and inferior to the Father with respect to his manhood."

Giles, at least in this book, failed to affirm the inferiority of Christ with respect to his human nature. By making such an affirmation, he could have more consistently followed his wise advice to echo Scripture's clear teaching on the Trinity without being clouded by social agendas.

[Quotations of the Creed are from Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (The Three Universal or Ecumenical Creeds: III, 1-40). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.]

More book reviews

Deism of natural law

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:59:46 GMT

The [Stoic] concept of [natural law] also implies a deistic conception of God. It thinks of God as having written certain ethical principles on the human heart, at the creation. Even when he is out of fellowship with God he has these principles in him and can direct his life accordingly. But Paul believes in God as living and ever active with men, even with the heathen, in life's concrete situations, showing them what is good and what is required of him... He has written "the works of the law" in their hearts so that, if they do otherwise in the concrete situation, they are aware they have done evil.

Anders Nygren. Commentary on Romans. New edition. Augsburg Fortress Pub, 1978. On Romans 2:1-3:20 (2).

Deism of natural theology

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:59:04 GMT

Natural theology assumes a deistic view. It postulates a God who, after creation, withdrew from the world and concealed himself behind that which He had made. And it looks upon men as left to themselves and desiring nothing more than to find God by means of the evidence of Him which creation bears; for they would worship and serve Him.

But Paul believes that God is living and ceaselessly active. Ever since creation He has been active in the life of man. In His work He reveals His eternal power and glory. As to mankind, Paul holds that, though God ever comes to meet with him, man does not honor him as God or give thanks to Him.

Anders Nygren. Commentary on Romans. New edition. Augsburg Fortress Pub, 1978. On Romans 1:18-32.

Greater righteousness

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:05:28 GMT

"For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20).

Jesus did not mean a greater righteousness of the law, but rather the righteousness of God rather than the righteousness of the law (Anders Nygren. Commentary on Romans. New edition. Augsburg Fortress Pub, 1978. On Romans 1:16-17).

Receiving God's love

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:14:22 GMT

"Although the controversies of the Reformation dealt more with the definition of faith than with either hope or charity, the Reformers identified the uniqueness of God’s agape for man as unmerited love; therefore, they required that charity, as man’s love for man, be based not upon the desirability of its object but upon the transformation of its subject through the power of divine agape" (Encyclopædia Britannica).

"The life of faith is the vita passiva, living as trusting receivers of God's goodness whether that be in the realm of creation or redemption... By believing the serpent humanity falsely believes itself not to be the receiver of all that is good. As a result humans must stand in a relationship of rivalry and self-justification before God... I must claim [righteousness] on the basis of my own activity rather than my receptivity" (pp. 27, 28-29 of Jack Kilcrease, Logia 19 (4), 21-33).

God at his most glorious

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:17:29 GMT

Luther on the Theology of the Cross by Robert Kolb | Excerpt:

God at his most glorious, in his display of the extent of his mercy and love for his human creatures, appears, Luther believed, in the depth of the shame of the cross. There he is to be seen as he really is, in his true righteousness, which is mercy and love. There human beings are to be seen as those who deserve to die eternally but who now through baptismal death have the life Christ gives through his resurrection, forever.

Eros values; Agapē creates value

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:06:38 GMT

"The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it. ...sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive..."

—Martin Luther, Heidelberg Disputation

How to interpret the Bible

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:31:22 GMT

Composed to comfort: Hopefulness of Scripture as hermeneutical principle

Agapē & Eros: worldviews in conflict

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:38:43 GMT

	Agapē worldview	Eros worldview
God's love	Freedom in giving, even to sinners	N/A
Neighborly love	Continues God's love, even for enemies	The good in others is loved in order to attain God as the Highest Good
Love for God	Thankful response to God's love	God satisfies deepest desires
Self-love	N/A	The basis of all other love

[based on Agape and Eros, pp. 217-219]

Transvaluation of all human values

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:15:52 GMT

Agape and Eros (pp. 202-204):

"Modern men," [Nietzsche] says, "hardened as they are to all Christian terminology, no longer appreciate the horrible extravagance which, for ancient taste, lay in the paradox of the formula, 'God on the Cross'. Never before had there been anywhere such an audacious inversion, never anything so terrifying, so challenging and challengeable, as this formula; it promised a transvaluation of all ancient values."... But "God on the Cross" is only another name for the Agape of the Cross... The idea of Agape is by no means self-contradictory. On the contrary, it is a quite simple and clear and easily comprehensible idea. It is paradoxical and irrational only inasmuch as it means a transvaluation of all previously accepted values.

Eternal election

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:44:51 GMT

"In short, the recognition of one's election and faith in the Gospel are identical... As regards those who believe only for a time, they are such solely because they do not believe the Gospel, which specifically promises also preservation in faith" (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, III: 483).

Unlike Calvinists, Pieper is saying there are true believers who fall away because they stopped believing the gospel. However, unlike many synergists, he is also saying they will return to faith since they are among the elect. In short, one's faith will be preserved in the end but not necessarily at every point in time. As Jesus prayed, Peter's faith did not finally fail even though he stopped believing for a time.

That is the gospel. Those who actually fall away and remain unrepentant instead need to hear the law: if they die in unbelief, they will be condemned.

One should not seek assurance of election according to speculations about God's hidden will but rather in the wounds of the Christ who as God reconciled the world to himself, as Luther found. That good news is proclaimed by word and sacrament, through which the Spirit creates and sustains saving faith in the same gospel. Faith in that good news includes confidence in one's election.

These Reformed errors contradict that gospel:
1. The Calvinistic teaching that anyone who ever has saving faith can never cease to have such faith even if committing mortal sin.
2. The Arminian teaching that some among those who are not among the elect exercise true, saving faith.

Against the first error, Lutherans affirm that saving faith may be completely lost. Against the second error, Lutherans deny that saving faith may be finally lost.

"Upon this your confession"

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:30:12 GMT

"But when prior to the absolution we ask those desiring it whether they sincerely repent of their sins, believe in Jesus Christ, and have the good and earnest purpose henceforth to amend their sinful life, we do not mean to imply that the remission of sins is based on contrition, faith, and improvement of life... Our one aim in asking those questions before pronouncing absolution is not only to keep secure sinners from becoming fortified in their carnal security, but to console poor, brokenhearted sinners. Any other interpretation of our form of absolution would contradict the Gospel of grace and, instead of consoling burdened consciences, would drive them into the sea of doubt" (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, volume 3, page 201).

See pages 199-207 for further discussion. The unconditional nature of evangelical absolution is what distinguishes it from the various Reformed gospels. Pieper was not exaggerating when he said, "... for the Reformed the gospel is not even the news of a remission, but merely a proclamation of the conditions under which man can secure for himself the remission of sins" (page 203).

The gospel written in good works

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:31:37 GMT

What did Melanchthon mean when he said a conscience terrified by the law can find comfort in a promise connected to good works (Ap. 3:151-155)? The answer is not immediately obvious. Following David Scaer in seeing a third use of the law that is distinct from its first two uses can help here. Since the same word "law" can mean different things even within the sixth article of the Formula of Concord, let me clarify. By "law," I here mean the unchanging will of God. I will use the same word in a more narrow sense shortly.

Melanchthon said Christ often attaches promises to good works not only to destroy Epicurean delusions, but also to offer a variety of signs and testimonies for the terrified conscience. A key to seeing how Melanchthon could find comfort for terrified consciences in those promises lies in properly distinguishing the second and third uses of the law, that is, between the law in the narrow sense and the fruit of faith, "against which there is no law."

The terrified conscience of Luther turned not only to the promise that those who believe and are baptized will be saved, but also to the promise that those who forgive are forgiven:

But there is here attached a necessary, yet consolatory addition: As we forgive. He has promised that we shall be sure that everything is forgiven and pardoned, yet in the manner that we also forgive our neighbor. For just as we daily sin much against God, and yet He forgives everything through grace, so we, too, must ever forgive our neighbor who does us injury, violence, and wrong, shows malice toward us, etc. If, therefore, you do not forgive, then do not think that God forgives you; but if you forgive, you have this consolation and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven, not on account of your forgiving, for God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches, but in order that He may set this up for our confirmation and assurance for a sign alongside of the promise which accords with this prayer, Luke 6:37: Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Therefore Christ also repeats it soon after the Lord's Prayer, and says, Matt. 6:14: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, etc. This sign is therefore attached to this petition, that, when we pray, we remember the promise and reflect thus: Dear Father, for this reason I come and pray Thee to forgive me, not that I can make satisfaction, or can merit anything by my works, but because Thou hast promised and attached the seal thereto that I should be as sure as though I had absolution pronounced by Thyself. For as much as Baptism and the Lord's Supper, appointed as external signs, effect, so much also this sign can effect to confirm our consciences and cause them to rejoice. And it is especially given for this purpose, that we might use and practise it every hour, as a thing that we have with us at all times.

This is not Presbyterianism's uncertain "inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made", but the very certainty of the gospel: "...if you forgive, you have this consolation and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven, not on account of your forgiving, ... Thou hast promised and attached the seal thereto that I should be as sure as though I had absolution pronounced by Thyself."

Luther indeed found comfort in the promise of Mark 16. He also found comfort in the promise of Luke 6:37 and Matt. 6:14. He needed manifold consolation. After all, he subscribed to Melanchthon's statement that "we have need of external signs of so great a promise, because a conscience full of fear has need of manifold consolation. As, therefore, Baptism and the Lord's Supper are signs that continually admonish, cheer, and encourage desponding minds to believe the more firmly that their sins are forgiven, so the same promise is written and portrayed in good works, in order that these works may admonish us to believe the more firmly."

heure [hour]

Non-eucharistic interpetation of John 6

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:15:17 GMT

Craig R. Koester (Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, pp. 301-309) gives a strong argument for what this essay calls the non-eucharistic interpretation of the Bread of Life Discourse.

Praying for the Spirit

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:42:23 GMT

And in order that we may come to Christ, the Holy Ghost works true faith through the hearing of the Word, as the apostle testifies when he says, Rom. 10:17: Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, [namely] when it is preached in its truth and purity. Therefore, whoever would be saved should not trouble or harass himself with thoughts concerning the secret counsel of God, as to whether he also is elected and ordained to eternal life, with which miserable Satan usually attacks and annoys godly hearts. But they should hear Christ [and look upon Him as the Book of Life in which is written the eternal election], who is the Book of Life and of God's eternal election of all of God's children to eternal life: He testifies to all men without distinction that it is God's will that all men should come to Him who labor and are heavy laden with sin, in order that He may give them rest and save them, Matt. 11:28. According to this doctrine of His they should abstain from their sins, repent, believe His promise, and entirely trust in Him; and since we cannot do this by ourselves, of our own powers, the Holy Ghost desires to work these things, namely, repentance and faith, in us through the Word and Sacraments. And in order that we may attain this, persevere in it, and remain steadfast, we should implore God for His grace, which He has promised us in Holy Baptism, and, no doubt, He will impart it to us according to His promise, as He has said, Luke 11:11ff : If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him!

Formula Of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article XI, Paragraphs 69-71

What is the gospel of the kingdom?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:41:40 GMT

According to the Synoptic Gospels, the apostles had announced the good news of the kingdom of God even before they understood that Jesus must die and rise again. By word and miraculous sign, they had proclaimed the truly glad tidings that Jesus had come to free Israel from death and from her demonic enemies and to preach good news to the poor, thereby fulfilling Messianic prophecy. Jesus' work to destroy Satan's kingdom continued as he died, rose, and ascended to heaven. The Son of the Virgin Mary now reigns with all power on heaven and earth.

St. Luke is particularly clear about the content of "the gospel of the kingdom." Jesus and the apostles heralded the gospel, the good news of the kingdom (Luke 4:43; 8:1; 16:16; Acts 8:12). Jesus was anointed as Messiah to announce to the poor the good news of liberty and healing (Luke 4:18-19, 43):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Jesus proclaimed to the poor this good news of freedom from the curse (Luke 4:20):

Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.

Jesus and the disciples not only proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, but actually brought the glad tidings of the kingdom as he healed the sick and cast out demons (Luke 7:22; 8:1-3; 10:9-11). By attending to that message rather than the things of this age, Mary of Bethany received the one thing needed, which would not be taken away from her (Luke 10:38-42). The very Consolation of Israel, One greater than Solomon, long foretold by the law and prophets, had come! His reign means the deliverance from all of the enemies of God’s people!

The message of Jesus to be heralded to the nations in the power of the Spirit was the message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47-49). The fact that the main way the Spirit works in Luke-Acts is by empowering bold proclamation of that message means he brings the kingdom through the forgiveness of sins. That is as hard as making a lame man whole (Luke 5:23 = Mark 2:9 = Matthew 9:5): Jesus announced that message by the power of the Spirit (Luke 3:22; 4:1, 14, 18), just as he brought the kingdom through exorcism in the power of the Spirit (Luke 11:20 with Matthew 12:28). Indeed, he was rejected at Nazareth because he claimed to be the one who was empowered by the Spirit to heal the sick and to proclaim the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18-21); doing those things showed John's disciples that Jesus was the Messiah (Luke 7:22 = Matthew 11:4-5). The coming of the Spirit to Gentiles showed that they, too, should receive the baptism of forgiveness (Acts 10:47-48). Baptism in Luke-Acts is cleansing for repentance and forgiveness (Acts 2:38; 22:16) and thus is included in the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins to be proclaimed to the nations (Luke 24:47); those who believed the good news of the kingdom were baptized (Acts 8:12).

Just as healing was performed in Jesus' name, forgiveness through faith in his name was proclaimed (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:6; 3:16; 4:10-12; 10:43; 16:18). For through his disciples acting in his name, Jesus himself continues to heal and to proclaim the good news (Acts 9:34; 26:22-23). Jesus called sinners to repentance from the beginning of his ministry (Luke 5:31-32; 19:10), and the risen Lord still blesses sinners by turning them from their iniquities (Acts 3:26)—repentance as well as forgiveness is a gift from the now-exalted Prince (Acts 5:31).

The good news of salvation from sin and its curse is encapsulated in forgiveness through faith in Jesus’ name. This is "the good news of peace" (Acts 10:36-43; cf. 17:30-31):

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

Paul, according to Luke, gives examples of how “all the prophets” bear witness of that (Acts 13:32-39):

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.' And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.' Therefore he says also in another psalm, "'You will not let your Holy One see corruption.' For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Rejoice, believing the forgiveness of sins that has been proclaimed to you!

Chemnitz on objective justification

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:16:16 GMT

Martin Chemnitz, a chief author of the Formula of Concord, pointed out that justifying faith rests in the good news that the world has been reconciled to God:

... in 2 Cor. 5:18-19 Paul says that God who "reconciled the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them," gave to the apostles the message of reconciliation, likewise that He entrusted to them the message of reconciliation.
Examination of the Council of Trent, I:9.2.9

That Chemnitz accurately summarized the passage is seen in its parallel structure and the connection between verses 18 and 19 with the words "that is" (ESV):

	The good news	Proclaiming the good news
2 Cor. 5:18	"Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ,"	"and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,"
2 Cor. 5:19	"that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them,"	"and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

As that parallel structure makes clear, Paul took confidence in his own reconciliation with God because he believed the good news that the world to which he belonged was reconciled to God. Chemnitz, citing Rom. 4:25 and 1 Cor. 15:17, recognized that the work of God in Christ to reconcile the world to himself included his resurrection as well as his atoning death:

And this whole action of the Mediator turns on this, whether the Father would accept that satisfaction and obedience of the Son for the whole world. But this the Father showed especially in this, that He did not leave in death, the Son, whom He had smitten for the sins of the people, but raised Him from the dead and set Him at the right hand of His majesty.
Examination of the Council of Trent, I:8.4.13

Seeing that the world has been reconciled to God, justified by Christ's resurrection, why is anyone finally condemned? The Fourth Gospel is very relevant to that question, attributing damnation to stubborn disbelief in the Son (John 3:18-20; 9:39-41; 16:9), as explored in "The Third Use of the Law: Resolving the Tension" (PDF). Accordingly, the Beloved Disciple taught that the damned refused to believe God's promise that they had been forgiven through his Son (John 3:33-36; 1 John 1:10; 5:10-12).

What is Christian prayer?

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:10:07 GMT

The daily prayer for forgiveness is nothing other than the humbling cry for forgiveness, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (Luke 18:9-14, ESV). As Luther put it,

For what is our prayer but a confession that we neither have nor do what we ought and a plea for grace and a happy conscience? This kind of confession should and must take place incessantly as long as we live. For this is the essence of a genuinely Christian life, to acknowledge that we are sinners and to pray for grace. [Martin Luther, Preface to the Large Catechism, 1529 revised edition. Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.]

Even the petition for bread is a plea for grace, for in it we pray we would have enough to keep us from falling into mortal sin but not so much that our faith is undermined (Proverbs 30:8-9; cf. David Scaer, Discourses in Matthew). Since prayer is a plea for grace, it has God's promise of grace, which is why doubting that one will receive the things requested accuses God of breaking his word:

Thus God has briefly placed before us all the distress which may ever come upon us, so that we might have no excuse whatever for not praying. But all depends upon this, that we learn also to say Amen, that is, that we do not doubt that our prayer is surely heard, and [what we pray] shall be done. For this is nothing else than the word of undoubting faith, which does not pray at a venture, but knows that God does not lie to him, since He has promised to grant it. Therefore, where there is no such faith, there cannot be true prayer either. [Martin Luther, Part III of the Large Catechism, emphasis added]

Objective reconciliation

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:17:50 GMT

These LCMS Theses on Justification (PDF) succinctly distinguish objective justification from subjective justification and give the sedes doctrinae for the good news that God absolved the world by the work of his Son:

In normal Biblical and ecclesiastical usage the terms "justify" and "justification" refer to the ("subjective") justification of the individual sinner through faith (Rom. 4:5, 5:1, etc.; AC IV, 3; FC SD III, 25). But because theologically justification is the same thing as the forgiveness of sins (Rom. 4:1 -8; Ap IV, 76; FC Ep III, 7), it is Biblically and confessionally correct to refer to the great sin-cancelling, atoning work of the Redeemer as the "objective" or "universal" justification of the whole sinful human race. (John 1:29; Rom. 5:6-18; 2 Cor. 5:19; Col 2:14-15; 1 Tim. 3:16; Ap IV, 103-105; LC V, 31, 32, 36, 37; FC SD III, 57)

That is the position of the Lutheran confessions (Ap IV, 103-105; FC SD III, 57), not a later development.

Some argue against objective justification by starting with the premise that justification is either objective or subjective, finding proof that Scripture teaches a subjective justification, and concluding that objective justification is not taught in Scripture. One could as cogently start with the premise that reconciliation between God in Christ and the world is either objective or subjective, find proof that Scripture teaches a subjective reconciliation, and conclude that objective reconciliation is not taught in Scripture.

That the premise is false is clear from 2 Cor. 5:19-20, where Paul immediately follows his announcement that the world has already been [objectively] reconciled with God with an exhortation to be [subjectively] reconciled with God. On the relationship of reconciliation with justification or the forgiveness of sins, see Objective justification: God in Christ reconciled the world, not imputing their sins against them (PDF).

Happy Reformation Day!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:38:03 GMT

“For most people, October means cooler weather, raking leaves, and, at the end of the month, celebrating Halloween. For Lutherans, October includes the commemoration of Reformation Day — the day Martin Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.”

— Mark A. Loest

Blest Halloween that struck the hour
When Luther’s hammer rose and fell
At Wittenberg in heaven-born power
And rang dark popery’s funeral-knell,
When long and cruel night was gone
And smiling rose the promised dawn!

“[I believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
[This means that] I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, in order that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.”

— Martin Luther

More information: http://tiny.cc/c3oAY | http://www.bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php

Perfect wrath

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:29:59 GMT

How the cross proclaims the law as well as the gospel:

Yea, what more forcible, more terrible declaration and preaching of God's wrath against sin is there than just the suffering and death of Christ, His Son? But as long as all this preaches God's wrath and terrifies men, it is not yet the preaching of the Gospel nor Christ's own preaching, but that of Moses and the Law against the impenitent. For the Gospel and Christ were never ordained and given for the purpose of terrifying and condemning, but of comforting and cheering those who are terrified and timid. And again: Christ says, John 16:8: "The Holy Ghost will reprove the world of sin"; which cannot be done except through the explanation of the Law.
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration 5:12

Calling God a liar

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:32:06 GMT

If anyone doubts that he has been personally forgiven, he accuses God of lying:

... consciences cannot be made tranquil, unless they know that it is God's command and the very Gospel that they should be firmly confident that for Christ's sake sins are remitted freely, and that they should not doubt that these are remitted to them. If any one doubts, he charges, as 1 John 5, 10 says, the divine promise with falsehood... Therefore, if any one be not confident that he is forgiven, he denies that God has sworn what is true, than which a more horrible blasphemy cannot be imagined.
(Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XII, paragraphs 88, 94)

Contrast that unconditional promise of the gospel with the false doctrine that God's promise is given only on the condition of evidence that God is at work within the human heart.