Sunday, July 1, 2007

Sixth Commandment -
For the Young


Now, I speak of this in order that the young may be so guided that they conceive a liking for the married estate, and know that it is a blessed estate and pleasing to God. For in this way we might in the course of time bring it about that married life be restored to honor, and that there might be less of the filthy, dissolute, disorderly doings which now run riot the world over in open prostitution and other shameful vices arising from disregard of married life. Therefore it is the duty of parents and the government to see to it that our youth be brought up to discipline and respectability, and when they have come to years of maturity, to provide for them [to have them married] in the fear of God and honorably; He would not fail to add His blessing and grace, so that men would have joy and happiness from the same.

Let me now say in conclusion that this commandment demands not only that every one live chastely in thought, word, and deed in his condition, that is, especially in the estate of matrimony, but also that every one love and esteem the spouse given him by God. For where conjugal chastity is to be maintained, man and wife must by all means live together in love and harmony, that one may cherish the other from the heart and with entire fidelity. For that is one of the principal points which enkindle love and desire of chastity, so that, where this is found, chastity will follow as a matter of course without any command. Therefore also St. Paul so diligently exhorts husband and wife to love and honor one another. Here you have again a precious, yea, many and great good works, of which you can joyfully boast, against all ecclesiastical estates, chosen without God's Word and commandment.
(The Sixth Commandment, #217f., Large Catechism, Book of Concord)

Luther's concept of Biblical law is as old as the Torah. Most people hear that the word Torah means Law. The first things we think of when we hear Law is:
1) You must not, or
2) You must.

The Hebrew word Torah really means teaching. Luther taught natural law, meaning - God commands what is good. The Calvinists never recovered from John Calvin's training in secular law. Karl Barth, the main theologian of Fuller Seminary, was an apostate Calvinist. His ethics volume begins, "The gift is a demand." Only a Calvinist could write that. Maybe his mistress Charlotte Kirschbaum wrote the sentence. She co-authored the Dogmatics, inspiring many at Fuller to follow the example of this lovely couple.

This passage from the Book of Concord teaches that marriage and children are good, intended for virtually everyone. Luther said in a sermon 500 years ago that people delay marriage simply to justify fornication. Now we have suspended marriage and avoidance of children. How can blessings follow from the avoidance of God's good teaching?

Being married young and poor is a great idea. When people wait until they can afford everything (their version), they become selfish, self-centered, and brittle. The poor years are often those times when a family can spend the most time together. When prosperity arrives, everyone is busier. Many babies now arrive (if they do at all) in a large house with two new cars and many more luxuries. Both parents work for the luxuries, so mom is back at the office in two weeks. The baby thinks, "What happened?"

We were stranded at home in Sturgis, Michigan, when the Great Blizzard of 1978 hit. No one went anywhere for one week. Church, school, work was called off for one week. The state highway was buried for one week. We all looked 10 years younger when we got back together, surrounded by mountains of bulldozed snow. We had a Sabbath for a week. Everyone looked back on it with fondness.

Our poor years were leveraged by graduate school. I earned half-tiime pay, if that, traveled three times a week to Notre Dame, and got by on student loans. We also had a very sick daughter, Bethany, who had many trips to the hospital. We had a lot of time together, in the parsonage and the car. Sometimes Martin and I would hang around Notre Dame together. The religious orders loved having a pre-K in the marble-clad library.

We thought young marriage and early children (in that order) were great blessings. We had the overwhelming blessing of being young grandparents, another distinct advantage, beating my siblings by 10 years. You can guess why. One relative could not get married until she promised to have no children for 10 years. I thought, "Well, she is already marrying one baby. Why have a second so soon?" Sure enough, he cried at the wedding.

I am fortunate to have taught thousands of adult university students. I mention every chance I get, "Babies are a great blessing." Sometimes I quote Luther, "They are the blessed fruit of marriage."

Good News - Sixth Commandment Rescinded



Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Therefore God has also most richly blessed this estate above all others, and, in addition, has bestowed on it and wrapped up in it everything in the world, to the end that this estate might be well and richly provided for. Married life is therefore no jest or presumption; but it is an excellent thing and a matter of divine seriousness. For it is of the highest importance to Him that persons be raised who may serve the world and promote the knowledge of God, godly living, and all virtues, to fight against wickedness and the devil.

Therefore I have always taught that this estate should not be despised nor held in disrepute, as is done by the blind world and our false ecclesiastics, but that it be regarded according to God's Word, by which it is adorned and sanctified, so that it is not only placed on an equality with other estates, but that it precedes and surpasses them all, whether they be that of emperor, princes, bishops, or whoever they please. For both ecclesiastical and civil estates must humble themselves and all be found in this estate, as we shall hear. Therefore it is not a peculiar estate, but the most common and noblest estate, which pervades all Christendom, yea which extends through all the world.
(The Ten Commmandments, #208f, The Large Catechism, Book of Concord)

The Sixth Commandment is as unpopular among ELS/WELS leaders as it is in Las Vegas. ELS seminarians were taught that the synod had a "Two strikes, you're out" policy. That is, a pastor could commit adultery, destroying two families at once, and still count on getting another call. Leaving the state is a good way to keep the ELS insurance premiums from going up. Lawsuits from a distance are expensive. However, if he did not learn his lesson the first time, will he he learn it the second time? Wait a minute. He did not learn the catechism the first time, took a call to teach the Law and Gospel, violated his call and contract, and then got another call to escape the tar and feathers? Yes, the ELS is orthodox and confessional, as they never tire of telling people.

The pernicious Universal Objective Justification opinion of ELS/WELS/LCMS is probably foundational for these problems. How easy it would be for someone to say, "I know I am already forgiven," before the self-destructive acts begin.

Nothing eases the mind more than certain knowledge of another call waiting for the adulterous pastor. Adultery means another call. Criticizing the synod means defenestration. Which is more attractive to the Old Adam?

When WELS DP Robert Mueller's VP was caught in adultery in his congregation, the man was allowed to resign under false pretenses and accept a job managing a WELS nursing home. Doubtless the ladies were charmed, after watching The Producers in its first version. Mueller explained that he stopped telling congregations the truth when giving them adulterous pastors. "When I did, the men were voted down." A layman heard this and his jaw dropped to the table.

Paul Kuske, now riding in on his white charger to save MLS, was First VP of the Michigan District, WELS, when he helped create an agency to give Floyd Luther Stolzenburg a stealth pastor's job. Stolzenburg left the LCMS ministerium fast, for cause. His wife divorced him, for cause. Stolzenburg hated WELS, so WELS had to have him as a Church Growth consultant, $40k per year, plus benefits. Kuske made it happen. Then after years of teaching false doctrine to WELS members, Stolzenburg received a letter of reference from Kuske for a call to an independent congregation in Columbus.

Matters are no better in Missouri. One pastor told me of efforts he made to get a pastoral child predator out of the ministry. The Missouri DP slammed his briefcase on the pastor's desk and screamed at him. On his way out of the church property, the DP said to a member of the church, "Your pastor is one of the best ministers we have."

The pastor said, "You can imagine the rage I felt inside."

Above are examples of the destruction caused by church leaders who refuse to do their jobs, pastors and seminary professors who rewrite the Scriptures to suit the Old Adam.

Luther's explanation of the Sixth Commandment glorifies marriage as the highest possible calling. Nothing enrages the false teachers more than someone enjoying marriage. False teachers are never happily married and seldom happy about anything. Marriage disturbs their well-being because God's holiest estate is a bulwark against the most evil designs of men and their Father Below. That is why such people pick at the pastor, his wife, and his children. They hate the Word of God, but that is not a good conversation starter.

The cases of adulterous Church Growth pastors are so numerous that any minister could easily rattle off a number he knows. Church Growth puffs up ministers for several reasons.


  1. First of all, they have the blessing of the ELS, ELCA, WELS, and LCMS, a bad beginning.
  2. Second, people may respond to the marketing methods, confirming the minister in his error.
  3. Third, certain women like to be groupies, probably out of hatred for ministers or revenge toward their husbands.
  4. Fourth, Satan blinds false teachers so that they glory in their success until the scales are ripped from their eyes. The head of the National Association of Evangelicals had a huge church, wife and children, when a male prostitute announced their business relationship.


Lenski said this a long time ago. The men who are not faithful to the Word often fall into many other grave errors as well. He dealt with many cases as a district president. (That was when district presidents were theologians instead of being politicians.) Walther said that a man could commit adultery only if he had already lost his faith.

When pastors have talked to me about the misery caused by apostate leaders and the minority being stirred up in their congregations by these fiends, I always said, "There is something that requires no vote by any church council. No approval is needed from your DP. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your marriage."

Luther said, "God does not take the troubles from your heart. He takes your heart from the troubles."