Words of Encouragement for January 12, 2011

Meditations in Genesis

“And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: and she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.” Genesis 30:22-24 (Read Genesis 30:1-24)

In a day when we have so much scientific knowledge about the reproductive process, it is easy to forget the Creator’s role in the creation and formation of a child in the womb. The Scriptures, on the other hand, teach us that it was the LORD God who had opened Leah’s womb and given her the ability to conceive and bear children (Genesis 29:31ff.); and, after years of barrenness, the LORD heard and answered Rachel’s prayer and opened her womb as well, allowing her to conceive and give birth to Joseph and later to Benjamin.

The Bible teaches that the ability to conceive and bear children is the blessing of the LORD. After creating Adam and Eve, “God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

When Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel were barren, God answered prayer and opened their wombs, giving them the ability to conceive and bear children (Genesis 18:9ff.; 25:21; 29:31; 30:22ff.).

Psalm 139:13-16 describes God’s creative roll in the conception and formation of a child in the womb in this way: “For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

While there is nothing wrong with seeking medical help with questions of fertility and child bearing, there is something wrong with forgetting to go to the Creator of life for His help, blessing and perfect will. Since it is the LORD God who is ultimately in control, giving conception and forming each child in the womb, couples would do well to remember Him and seek His help and guidance when it comes to family planning and seeking children. He can bless and work miracles even where medicine and science say there is no hope.

We ought also remember that children are a blessing of the LORD (Psalms 127 and 128), not a curse. How we turn things around when we forget the One who gives us children and count children as an unwanted consequence rather than a blessing of the Almighty! And, since it is the LORD God who gives us children, causing conception and the formation of the child in the womb, who are we to determine that this or that unborn child is an infringement upon our lives and can be destroyed at will!

Because of our own selfish and sinful nature, we fail to see life as God sees it. We fail to see what a blessing it is to conceive and bear children and raise them up to know the LORD. How thankful we can be that, though we have in so many ways failed to live and think as God desires, He still reaches out to us in grace and mercy for the sake of His own dear Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for our sins and rose again! How thankful we can be for God’s pardon and forgiveness!

O LORD God, our Maker and our Redeemer, we thank You for creating us in our mother’s womb and giving us life; and we thank You for paying the just consequence of our sins and offering and giving to us life eternal through faith in the Son. In His name we pray. Amen.

The Augsburg Confession

Article XXVIII: Of Ecclesiastical Power

There has been great controversy concerning the Power of Bishops, in which some have awkwardly confounded the power of the Church and the power of the sword. And from this confusion very great wars and tumults have resulted, while the Pontiffs, emboldened by the power of the Keys, not only have instituted new services and burdened consciences with reservation of cases and ruthless excommunications, but have also undertaken to transfer the kingdoms of this world, and to take the Empire from the Emperor. These wrongs have long since been rebuked in the Church by learned and godly men. Therefore our teachers, for the comforting of men’s consciences, were constrained to show the difference between the power of the Church and the power of the sword, and taught that both of them, because of God’s commandment, are to be held in reverence and honor, as the chief blessings of God on earth.

But this is their opinion, that the power of the Keys, or the power of the bishops, according to the Gospel, is a power or commandment of God, to preach the Gospel, to remit and retain sins, and to administer Sacraments. For with this commandment Christ sends forth His Apostles, John 20:21 sqq.: As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained. Mark 16:15: Go preach the Gospel to every creature.

This power is exercised only by teaching or preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, according to their calling either to many or to individuals. For thereby are granted, not bodily, but eternal things, as eternal righteousness, the Holy Ghost, eternal life. These things cannot come but by the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, as Paul says, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Therefore, since the power of the Church grants eternal things, and is exercised only by the ministry of the Word, it does not interfere with civil government; no more than the art of singing interferes with civil government. For civil government deals with other things than does the Gospel. The civil rulers defend not minds, but bodies and bodily things against manifest injuries, and restrain men with the sword and bodily punishments in order to preserve civil justice and peace.

Therefore the power of the Church and the civil power must not be confounded. The power of the Church has its own commission to teach the Gospel and to administer the Sacraments. Let it not break into the office of another; let it not transfer the kingdoms of this world; let it not abrogate the laws of civil rulers; let it not abolish lawful obedience; let it not interfere with judgments concerning civil ordinances or contracts; let it not prescribe laws to civil rulers concerning the form of the Commonwealth. As Christ says, John 18:36: My kingdom is not of this world; also Luke 12:14: Who made Me a judge or a divider over you? Paul also says, Phil. 3:20: Our citizenship is in heaven; 2 Cor. 10:4: The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the casting down of imaginations.

After this manner our teachers discriminate between the duties of both these powers, and command that both be honored and acknowledged as gifts and blessings of God.

If bishops have any power of the sword, that power they have, not as bishops, by the commission of the Gospel, but by human law having received it of kings and emperors for the civil administration of what is theirs. This, however, is another office than the ministry of the Gospel.

When, therefore, the question is concerning the jurisdiction of bishops, civil authority must be distinguished from ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Again, according to the Gospel or, as they say, by divine right, there belongs to the bishops as bishops, that is, to those to whom has been committed the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, no jurisdiction except to forgive sins, to judge doctrine, to reject doctrines contrary to the Gospel, and to exclude from the communion of the Church wicked men, whose wickedness is known, and this without human force, simply by the Word. Herein the congregations of necessity and by divine right must obey them, according to Luke 10:16: He that heareth you heareth Me. But when they teach or ordain anything against the Gospel, then the congregations have a commandment of God prohibiting obedience, Matt. 7:15: Beware of false prophets; Gal. 1:8: Though an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed; 2 Cor. 13:8: We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. Also: The power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction. So, also, the Canonical Laws command (II. Q. VII. Cap., Sacerdotes, and Cap. Oves). And Augustine (Contra Petiliani Epistolam): Neither must we submit to Catholic bishops if they chance to err, or hold anything contrary to the Canonical Scriptures of God.

If they have any other power or jurisdiction, in hearing and judging certain cases, as of matrimony or of tithes, etc., they have it by human right, in which matters princes are bound, even against their will, when the ordinaries fail, to dispense justice to their subjects for the maintenance of peace. Moreover, it is disputed whether bishops or pastors have the right to introduce ceremonies in the Church, and to make laws concerning meats, holy-days and grades, that is, orders of ministers, etc. They that give this right to the bishops refer to this testimony John 16:12-13: I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. They also refer to the example of the Apostles, who commanded to abstain from blood and from things strangled, Acts 15:29. They refer to the Sabbath-day as having been changed into the Lord’s Day, contrary to the Decalog, as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of the Sabbath-day. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments!

But concerning this question it is taught on our part (as has been shown above) that bishops have no power to decree anything against the Gospel. The Canonical Laws teach the same thing (Dist. IX). Now, it is against Scripture to establish or require the observance of any traditions, to the end that by such observance we may make satisfaction for sins, or merit grace and righteousness. For the glory of Christ’s merit suffers injury when, by such observances, we undertake to merit justification. But it is manifest that, by such belief, traditions have almost infinitely multiplied in the Church, the doctrine concerning faith and the righteousness of faith being meanwhile suppressed. For gradually more holy-days were made, fasts appointed, new ceremonies and services in honor of saints instituted, because the authors of such things thought that by these works they were meriting grace. Thus in times past the Penitential Canons increased, whereof we still see some traces in the satisfactions.

Again, the authors of traditions do contrary to the command of God when they find matters of sin in foods, in days, and like things, and burden the Church with bondage of the law, as if there ought to be among Christians, in order to merit justification a service like the Levitical, the arrangement of which God had committed to the Apostles and bishops. For thus some of them write; and the Pontiffs in some measure seem to be misled by the example of the law of Moses. Hence are such burdens, as that they make it mortal sin, even without offense to others, to do manual labor on holy-days, a mortal sin to omit the Canonical Hours, that certain foods defile the conscience, that fastings are works which appease God, that sin in a reserved case cannot be forgiven but by the authority of him who reserved it; whereas the Canons themselves speak only of the reserving of the ecclesiastical penalty, and not of the reserving of the guilt.

Whence have the bishops the right to lay these traditions upon the Church for the ensnaring of consciences, when Peter, Acts 15:10, forbids to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, and Paul says, 2 Cor. 13:10, that the power given him was to edification not to destruction? Why, therefore, do they increase sins by these traditions?

But there are clear testimonies which prohibit the making of such traditions, as though they merited grace or were necessary to salvation. Paul says, Col. 2:16-23: Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath-days. If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances (touch not; taste not; handle not, which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of men! which things have indeed a show of wisdom. Also in Titus 1:14 he openly forbids traditions: Not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth.

And Christ, Matt. 15:14,13, says of those who require traditions: Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind; and He rejects such services: Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be plucked up.

If bishops have the right to burden churches with infinite traditions, and to ensnare consciences, why does Scripture so often prohibit to make, and to listen to, traditions? Why does it call them “doctrines of devils”? 1 Tim. 4:1. Did the Holy Ghost in vain forewarn of these things?

Since, therefore, ordinances instituted as things necessary, or with an opinion of meriting grace, are contrary to the Gospel, it follows that it is not lawful for any bishop to institute or exact such services. For it is necessary that the doctrine of Christian liberty be preserved in the churches, namely, that the bondage of the Law is not necessary to justification, as it is written in the Epistle to the Galatians 5:1: Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. It is necessary that the chief article of the Gospel be preserved, to wit, that we obtain grace freely by faith in Christ, and not for certain observances or acts of worship devised by men.

What, then, are we to think of the Sunday and like rites in the house of God? To this we answer that it is lawful for bishops or pastors to make ordinances that things be done orderly in the Church, not that thereby we should merit grace or make satisfaction for sins, or that consciences be bound to judge them necessary services, and to think that it is a sin to break them without offense to others. So Paul ordains, 1 Cor. 11:5, that women should cover their heads in the congregation, 1 Cor. 14:30, that interpreters be heard in order in the church, etc.

It is proper that the churches should keep such ordinances for the sake of love and tranquillity, so far that one do not offend another, that all things be done in the churches in order, and without confusion, 1 Cor. 14:40; comp. Phil. 2:14. but so that consciences be not burdened to think that they are necessary to salvation, or to judge that they sin when they break them without offense to others; as no one will say that a woman sins who goes out in public with her head uncovered provided only that no offense be given.

Of this kind is the observance of the Lord’s Day, Easter, Pentecost, and like holy-days and rites. For those who judge that by the authority of the Church the observance of the Lord’s Day instead of the Sabbath-day was ordained as a thing necessary, do greatly err. Scripture has abrogated the Sabbath-day; for it teaches that, since the Gospel has been revealed, all the ceremonies of Moses can be omitted. And yet, because it was necessary to appoint a certain day, that the people might know when they ought to come together, it appears that the Church designated the Lord’s Day for this purpose; and this day seems to have been chosen all the more for this additional reason, that men might have an example of Christian liberty, and might know that the keeping neither of the Sabbath nor of any other day is necessary.

There are monstrous disputations concerning the changing of the law, the ceremonies of the new law, the changing of the Sabbath-day, which all have sprung from the false belief that there must needs be in the Church a service like to the Levitical, and that Christ had given commission to the Apostles and bishops to devise new ceremonies as necessary to salvation. These errors crept into the Church when the righteousness of faith was not taught clearly enough. Some dispute that the keeping of the Lord’s Day is not indeed of divine right, but in a manner so. They prescribe concerning holy-days, how far it is lawful to work. What else are such disputations than snares of consciences? For although they endeavor to modify the traditions, yet the mitigation can never be perceived as long as the opinion remains that they are necessary, which must needs remain where the righteousness of faith and Christian liberty are not known.

The Apostles commanded Acts 15:20 to abstain from blood. Who does now observe it? And yet they that do it not sin not; for not even the Apostles themselves wanted to burden consciences with such bondage; but they forbade it for a time, to avoid offense. For in this decree we must perpetually consider what the aim of the Gospel is.

Scarcely any Canons are kept with exactness, and from day to day many go out of use even among those who are the most zealous advocates of traditions. Neither can due regard be paid to consciences unless this mitigation be observed, that we know that the Canons are kept without holding them to be necessary, and that no harm is done consciences, even though traditions go out of use.

But the bishops might easily retain the lawful obedience of the people if they would not insist upon the observance of such traditions as cannot be kept with a good conscience. Now they command celibacy; they admit none unless they swear that they will not teach the pure doctrine of the Gospel. The churches do not ask that the bishops should restore concord at the expense of their honor; which, nevertheless, it would be proper for good pastors to do. They ask only that they would release unjust burdens which are new and have been received contrary to the custom of the Church Catholic. It may be that in the beginning there were plausible reasons for some of these ordinances; and yet they are not adapted to later times. It is also evident that some were adopted through erroneous conceptions. Therefore it would be befitting the clemency of the Pontiffs to mitigate them now, because such a modification does not shake the unity of the Church. For many human traditions have been changed in process of time, as the Canons themselves show. But if it be impossible to obtain a mitigation of such observances as cannot be kept without sin, we are bound to follow the apostolic rule, Acts 5:29, which commands us to obey God rather than men.

Peter, 1 Pet. 5:3, forbids bishops to be lords, and to rule over the churches. It is not our design now to wrest the government from the bishops, but this one thing is asked, namely, that they allow the Gospel to be purely taught, and that they relax some few observances which cannot be kept without sin. But if they make no concession, it is for them to see how they shall give account to God for furnishing, by their obstinacy, a cause for schism.

Conclusion

These are the chief articles which seem to be in controversy. For although we might have spoken of more abuses, yet, to avoid undue length, we have set forth the chief points, from which the rest may be readily judged. There have been great complaints concerning indulgences, pilgrimages, and the abuse of excommunications. The parishes have been vexed in many ways by the dealers in indulgences. There were endless contentions between the pastors and the monks concerning the parochial right, confessions, burials, sermons on extraordinary occasions, and innumerable other things. Issues of this sort we have passed over so that the chief points in this matter, having been briefly set forth, might be the more readily understood. Nor has anything been here said or adduced to the reproach of any one. Only those things have been recounted whereof we thought that it was necessary to speak, in order that it might be understood that in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic. For it is manifest that we have taken most diligent care that no new and ungodly doctrine should creep into our churches.

The above articles we desire to present in accordance with the edict of Your Imperial Majesty, in order to exhibit our Confession and let men see a summary of the doctrine of our teachers. If there is anything that any one might desire in this Confession, we are ready, God willing, to present ampler information according to the Scriptures.

Your Imperial Majesty’s faithful subjects: John, Duke of Saxony, Elector; George, Margrave of Brandenburg; Ernest, Duke of Lueneberg; Philip, Landgrave of Hesse; John Frederick, Duke of Saxony; Francis, Duke of Lueneburg; Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt; Senate and Magistracy of Nuremburg; Senate of Reutlingen.

How Must God’s Word Be Preached In Order to Produce Faith in the Hearts of the Hearers?

By Franz Pieper

Luther-Hour Lectures presented to the Seminary Students

(From Concordia Theological Monthly)

SIXTH LECTURE

(C.T.M., December, 1933, pp. 898-904)

Every man is by nature an unbeliever and lost in his unbelief. Your office as teachers of the Christian Church will consist in speaking to men the Word whereby they are delivered from unbelief and come to faith and thus to salvation, for man is by nature unbelieving. You must from the start have a clear and sharp grasp of what it means to be unbelieving. Man is by nature unbelieving, but not in the sense that he denies the existence of God. The apostle Paul says expressly that also the heathen know there is a God, and that the work of the divine Law is written in their hearts. There are no atheists in the world in the sense that a man should actually hold in his heart that there is no God. An atheist only says that to himself and to others, but does not really believe it. The Apostle says, Rom. 2:15: (“Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.”) They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, inasmuch as their conscience reveals this. As the creation calls to men: “There is a God,” so also an inner voice attests the same. Hence we find the truth that there is a God attested even by blind heathen authors. You are acquainted with the word of Cicero from the Disputationes Tusculanae: “Neque ulla gens tam fera, nemo omnium tam immanis est, cuius mentem non imbuerit deorum opinio” (There is not a race so rude, nor in all the world an individual so crude, that the idea of gods has not entered their minds.). And the other word of Cicero from his writing De Nature Deorum: “Omnibus innatum et animo quasi insculptuin esse deos” (The notion of gods is innate in all and, as it were, graven on their hearts.”). Hence our old theologians correctly say that theoretically there are atheists, but not in reality. The truth that there is a God can become dormant for a while but cannot be torn out of the hearts of men.

In another sense all men are by nature total unbelievers, namely, in the sense that they do not believe on Christ but on their own works as the basis of the forgiveness of sins and salvation. So says the Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 2:14: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Church Fathers have spoken of an anima naturaliter Christiana. But that is a fiction. The anima is not naturaliter Christiana, but pagana, inasmuch as every man by nature does not believe on Christ as his Savior, but holds his own works to be basic to the forgiveness of his sins and salvation. Hence the Apology expresses the situation clearly, correctly when, in contrast to the anima naturaliter Christiana, it says: “Haec opinio legis haeret naturaliter in animis hominum, neque executi potest, nisi quum divinitus docemur” (This opinion of the Law inheres by nature in men’s minds; neither can it be expelled, unless when we are divinely taught.) Ap., (Art. III), par. 144 (Triglotta, pp. 196, 197 ).

You, my dear friends, must recognize it as your task in the exercise of your office – minister – to drive the opinio legis out of your hearers and to lead them from the Law to the Gospel. In this way you will make believers out of unbelievers; in this way you will preach faith into the hearts of your hearers. You must unceasingly show them that it is the greatest foolishness in the world if anyone wants to be saved through any works whatsoever of his own instead of alone through Christ. You must show that it is not merely foolishness but the greatest godlessness and blasphemy there is here among men. Why is it the greatest foolishness? Because the way of works does not lead into life but directly into hell. In Gal. 3:10 the Apostle Paul says that those who want to be saved through their own works do not obtain salvation but damnation; they draw down upon themselves not grace but wrath. And why is it godlessness and blasphemy? Because every one who wants to come to God by his own works despises the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; for Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, purchased for us with His own blood forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, and he who wants to obtain salvation with his own works treads the blood of Christ under foot. Do not forget always to describe the way of works as foolishness and as contempt of grace.

Luther is a glorious example of how to lead men to faith in this manner. I read you today from his large commentary on Galatians his exposition of Gal. 2:20 (St. Louis Ed., IX, 236): “These words: ‘the Son of God,’ ‘He loved me,’ He gave Himself for me’ are veritable thunderbolts and fire from heaven against the righteousness of the Law and the teaching of works. Such great malice, such great error, darkness and ignorance was in my will and understanding that I could be freed only by such an unutterably great ransom. Why do we boast so that our reason leads us aright (de dictamine rationis), that our natural powers are unimpaired, that our reason is inclined toward that which is best, that every one must do as much as in him lies?” Luther directs these words against the teaching of the Papists and Scholastics.

These said that man must do as much as lies within his powers (Then he can still do something to gain grace.). Then only will God save him by grace. But that which man’s own power can and must do is basic. He who performs this will be saved.

You see, this is the religion of the world, and that is the religion of most sectarian preachers. That is the error in which the world is besotted. Such people speak of the grace of God; but also the heathen speak of the grace of the gods, and nevertheless regard their own doings and sacrifices as basic. By nature men represent God to themselves as though He, according to His Law, would be satisfied if man would only be diligent in virtue and would improve his life to the extent of his ability; that when He observed this He would then for Christ’s sake give him so much additional help that he might be saved. Just make inquiry and see whether you do not find this to be the general opinion of natural man. But there is no such God. That opinion is heresy. The true God, who has revealed Himself in Holy Scripture, deals according to His Law in such a way as is written in Gal. 3:10: “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law.” That is the true God, if we men want to deal with Him according to His righteousness on the basis of our own works and deservings.

Now just as God is beyond our understanding holy and righteous and a consuming fire over against all imperfect works, so is He also beyond our understanding gracious and merciful. This holy, inviolable righteous God is not willing that any man should be lost. Hence out of grace and mercy toward men He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all. We men could not reconcile God by anything that we might do. But what we could not do, for that God Himself made provision; for we read: “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself”; and this He now offers to men. But for that very reason men shall not venture to come before God with their own doings; for they have a ransom price, the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. In view of this, all thought of coming before God with any works of their own should perish. They should cast themselves in the dust, despairing of everything that is their own, and implore His grace. If they do not do this, then they tread the blood of the Son of God under foot. Luther continues: “How should I bring before God, who, as Moses (Deut. 4:24) says, is a consuming fire, this stubble of mine (my own works), yea, my terrible sin and dispute with him that He should for this give me grace and eternal life, while nevertheless I hear in this place that there is so much evil in my nature that the world and all creatures were not sufficient to reconcile God, but God’s Son Himself had to be offered up for this purpose?” (L.c.).

In the following, Luther with truly great eloquence shows how good this ransom is and that every man should abandon all thoughts of trying to deal with God with his own works.

An honest burgher’s wife entered a store where precious stones were sold. The merchant had advertised that precious stones were to be had for an adequate price. This burgher’s wife had saved five dollars, and for this sum she desired to acquire a jewel for her daughter, whom she loved dearly. She entered the store, but as she stepped into the section of the store where she desired to make her purchase she noticed how just before her a man had bought one of these jewels and was handing the merchant a check for one thousand dollars in payment. When the woman saw this she had sense enough to retreat with her small sum of money and gave up the idea of buying one of these jewels. Just so, my dear friends, should all men in the world have sense enough to retreat with their works when the acquiring of God’s grace and salvation is at issue, since they see that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, has paid the full price for the acquisition of these jewels, the heavenly treasures.

Luther says further: “But give careful attention to this ransom price and behold this One who is taken and delivered up ‘for me,’ and you will realize that He is infinitely greater and more excellent than all creatures. What will you do when you hear that Paul says such an immeasurably precious ransom price has been given for you? Will you still come with your cowl and your tonsure, with your chastity, obedience, and poverty? What is all that? Yea, what is the Law of Moses and the works of the Law?” (L.c.) As it is written, 1 Peter 1:18-19: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Our confidence that we might still deal with God with our own works should indeed be brought to naught. When you as teachers of the Christian Church speak of the priceless value of Christ’s blood as Luther does, then people will cease from their own doings and with their whole heart base their hope only and alone upon the blood of Christ. Then you have effected faith in Christ, have preached faith in Christ into their hearts. Then you have reached the goal for the attainment of which the office of the ministry was instituted. If anyone does the opposite, still places his works beside the blood of the Son of God as purchase price and ransom price, then, says Luther, he is the grossest blasphemer of God. He writes: “If you would but behold this treasure, then indeed you should curse all cowls and tonsures, all vows, works, merit de congruo and merit de condigno, tread them in the dirt, spit upon them, execrate, and cast them into hell. Therefore it is an intolerable and terrible blasphemy if you invent any work whatever whereby you presume to reconcile God, since you see that He cannot be reconciled otherwise than by this immense and infinite treasure, namely, through the death and blood of His Son; for one drop of this blood is of more value than all creatures.” (L.c.) The people who want to gain God’s favor with their own works, with watching, fasting, and with self-castigation, naturally, have our sympathy.

There are two sorts of men: such as cultivate only their belly, who, as you can see from a hundred paces and farther, are not concerned about their salvation, and then such as Luther was once. These latter are earnestly concerned about their salvation, as Luther says: “I was a monk in full earnest.” He did not go into the monastery to enjoy good days but because he supposed that in this way he would become sure of God’s grace. And hence we see him for years wearing himself out with castigations, watching and fasting, till he almost forfeited his life, and the question still in his heart was always: When shall I become pious? When will God be gracious to me? When have I done enough? These people naturally have our sympathy. That impresses a person; and yet piety it is not. That is godlessness and blasphemy, in view of the fact that our God through the blood of His Son has already gained forgiveness for us. Who am I, wretched man, that I should suppose that when I chastise myself then He should turn from His anger who is already gracious to me on the basis of the infinite ransom price of His Son? Hence Luther says that all cloisters and similar institutions to wring from God grace that His Son has already gained for us are pest-holes for human society. There men are ensnared in the delusion that leads them to hell, that one can come to God with his own works and that for this reason God is gracious to us.

Then Luther points out that the failure to behold the sacrifice which Christ has offered is the cause of the unbelief and the teaching of works in the Christian Church. If one would behold Christ crucified, then he would forget his desire to deal with God with his own works; all would go over to Luther’s side; all men would become Lutherans if they would but rightly behold Christ and would apprehend the perfect merit of Jesus Christ in faith. Luther continues: “Therefore I often say that we have no other power and no other means to ward off the sects than this one article of the Christian righteousness. If we have lost that, then it is impossible to ward off any errors or sects. This we see today in the fanatics, the Anabaptists and Sacramentarians, who, since they have fallen away from this article, will unceasingly fall, err, and delude without end, and without doubt will give rise to innumerable sects and always think up new works.” (L.c. 238)

Do not be deceived by the fact that the sects talk much of Christ. Today, especially in America, there is a very great deal of talk about Christ, but about Christ as an example. It is asserted that if we would follow His example then we would obtain God’s favor.

You have no doubt read about people banding themselves together to live for three or four weeks as Christ lived. And in this they place the essence of the Christian religion. But that is all blindness. The Christian faith has this content and that is the whole faith – that I believe that God is gracious to me for Christ’s sake alone. Our following of Christ has nothing to do with the foundation of our faith. The foundation of our faith is and remains Christ crucified. If you preach that, then you will work faith in Christ. Hence Luther says: “Therefore these words: ‘Who loved me’, etc., are full of faith, and he who could speak this little pronoun ‘me’ and apply it to himself in the same faith as Paul did, he would be, just like Paul, a very good disputer against the Law. For He (Christ) did not give a sheep, an ox, gold, or silver, for me, but all that He was, the whole God, that is, Himself He gave for me, for me I say, who was the most wretched and damned sinner. Thus by this delivering of the Son of God into death I again revive and appropriate Him to myself, and this appropriation (applicatio) is the proper power of faith” (L.c. 239).

You see, salvation is at hand for men without exception. It has been dearly purchased by the blood of the Son of God; but here in the world it is distributed without price, for it is a free gift. That is the content of the Gospel. He who will not take it freely does not receive it; for as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse. If you preach this, then you will lead men away from their own works and lead them to Christ’s work alone. And so by divine grace you have made believers out of unbelievers.

(To Be Continued….)

Bible Study in Preparation for Sunday

Scripture Readings appointed for Sunday are: Psalm 40; Isaiah 49:1-13; Acts 22:30 – 23:10; John 1:29-42. Please read them in their context as you prepare for worship on Sunday. The Adult Bible Class will continue in the Gospel of John at chapter 15:9ff.

Remember to Pray

Remember to pray for our church and for all our members, that none be lost to Christ’s kingdom but that all continue in repentance and be strengthened and built up in the true and saving faith in Christ Jesus through the hearing and study of His Word. We pray for God’s healing and strengthening of our congregation, as well as for God’s help with our church’s financial needs. We continue to pray for all who have been sick or who are suffering among us – for Sam Rusch, who has had repeated stays in the hospital; and for Regina Wood (the sister of Lonnie Moll), who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy – for those who have been absent from us, for our extended families and for Christians who are alone and have no congregation. Continue to pray for Lutheran congregations which desire to remain faithful to Christ and His Word, for the Lutheran churches in the Philippines, for Christians in Nigeria, Haiti and Chile, and for believers around the world who are persecuted or suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.

Events and Announcements

The next congregational evening Bible study is tentatively planned for 7 p.m. on Jan. 19.

The choir continues to practice after church services on Sundays. More voices are welcome.

On-line video of worship services can be found at: http://goodshepherdrogers.org/blog/worship-service-video/

Information for bulletins or newsletters may be sent to Pastor Moll by calling him at 479-233-0081 or by e-mail at goodshepherdrogers@yahoo.com.

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29

[Scripture in this Newsletter is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]