What Would Spener Say?Mike has left a new comment on your post "Wauwatosa Equals Upside-down Exegesis":
I did a Google search and had the unfortunate result of finding your site.
Can you stand tall before God Almighty and with clear conscience affirm you are writing and working in the Spirit of Christ? Even if "the glory" is departing from WELS, would Jesus start a similarly toned blog today to correct those wayward souls? Do you believe love for Christ, his truth, the Church and individual souls douses the pages of your blog? How can you fail to see the plank in your own eye in the form of your biting criticisms, slandering, gossiping, hearsay spreading, and putting the worst construction on everything you hear and read?
Had you lived during the time of the Apostle Paul, you undoubtedly would have label him a Fuller Seminary heretic. "'All things to all people?!' Why, this fellow doesn't believe in the power and efficacy of God's Word! The glory is departing from our young church, and this so soon after Jesus' ascension."
Truth and love, Greg. For the glory of God, please consider shutting down this blog.
***
GJ - This WELS pastor is being disingenuous, but I appreciate his public display of how WELS responds to everything less than starry-eyed adoration. It reminds me of several communications from Waldo Werning, Paul Kelm, Paul Kuske, Norm Berg, Joel Gerlach, and Larry Olson (D.Min., Fuller).
The straw man fallacy is typical for the Wisconsin sect. This
Mike, who is a regular reader,
knows what I would have said to the Apostle Paul and then
announces what I would have said. Notice the implication: WELS is the Apostolic Church! Yes, reborn before our misty eyes.
Paul denounced the man who living in sin with his father's wife, 1 Corinthians 5:1ff, and the congregation for tolerating something the pagans would repudiate. That is the antinomianism found in WELS today, thanks to UOJ. For years WELS tolerated a DP known for molesting women and girls in his own congregation. He was still a DP when he was put in government housing - the state prison. Did WELS excommunicate him? Did WELS publish the facts in
FIC (False Teachers in Collusion)? Did they publish a story about the married vicar who had an affair with a minor girl while the mission board chair covered it up? State prison for him, but who knew? Another cover-up because Holy Mother WELS is perfect.
The WELS response to church workers murdering their wives was:
1. Defend the guy in court. (DMLC President Huebner defended Al Just in court.)
2. Move the murderer to a new call. (Tabor)
Just like the Apostle said, even the pagans are shocked by such behavior.
The Apostle Paul taught the efficacy of the Word, something extensively discussed in
Thy Strong Word. At the risk of offending another false teacher who wants to silence me, I will quote some passages below.
The Efficacy of the Word in Paul, from Thy Strong Word:
It should not surprise us that today conflict in the congregation is caused by exactly the same problem—an emphasis upon the person and a lack of trust in the efficacy of the Word.
Paul first attacked the problem of strife by negating the effectiveness of the individual. The ministry does not derive its divine power from personalities but from the Word. Our temptation to rely upon salvation by works, in spite of our confession, is revealed by the tendency to compare and contrast men when they are only instruments of God’s power. One cannot even compare the type of word, as Paul stated:
I have planted, Apollos watered;
but God gave the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:6Many people find their gardening efforts thwarted because the seeds they planted did not germinate well. The proper amount of moisture needed for germination is taken for granted in America, unlike in Paul’s world. [27] We do not plant the last of our seed (Psalm 126:5) with tears. But where rain is rare and food is precious, the watering of the sown crop is essential. Paul’s comparison reminds us that planting and watering are both necessary, yet only God can give the growth.
J-230
"On what has now been sown
Thy blessing, Lord, bestow;
The power is Thine alone
To make it spring and grow.
Do Thou in grace the harvest raise,
And Thou alone shalt have the praise."
John Newton, 1779, cento, alt., "On What Has Now Been Sown," The Lutheran Hymnal, #46, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.
J-231
“The work in Corinth was that of obtaining a spiritual crop. To Paul’s lot it fell to break the ground and to plant the seed of the Word; God caused the seed to strike root and to spring up. Then came Apollos and tended the young plants by developing the life of faith, by confirming the believers in their Christian knowledge; God’s merciful power accompanied his efforts and caused the plants to bring forth fruit. It follows, then, that neither he that plants nor he that irrigates is anything; they are mere instruments in the hand of God, the Lord of the harvest, who alone gives the growth, and to whom, therefore, all glory must be given: He is everything, He alone remains, all others are excluded.”
Paul E. Kretzmann,
Popular Commentary of the Bible, The New Testament, 2 vols., St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, II, p. 99.
The negation of the person is repeated in 1 Corinthians 3:7. Neither the sower nor the one who waters is anything. The only One Who causes growth is God. Paul’s inspired argument destroys the foundation for any strife about the abilities and labor of various people. The missionary who begins a congregation is nothing. The man who helps to germinate the work of the congregation is nothing. God causes the increase while we go through the motions.
J-232
"But ye have not the power to create faith. For there is a great difference between planting and giving the growth; as Paul says to the Corinthians: 'I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.' 1 Corinthians 3:6"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 362.
J-233
“The two aorists: ‘I planted,’ ‘he watered,’ point into the past—the men did their little work and are gone. So it is still: each performs his little instrumental task and leaves. When he is describing God’s activity Paul writes the imperfect hu;xanen (gave the increase) which refers to an act begun in the past but going on and on indefinitely, for the tense is open and sets no terminus. Paul and Apollos have left Corinth, God is still there and causing the growing. Why quarrel about men when the Corinthians should unite in praising God?”
R. C. H. Lenski,
Corinthians, Columbus: Wartburg Press, 1947, p. 128.
Those who doubt the power of the Word alone are exasperated by this explanation, saying, “If God can do everything and does everything, where do we fit in? Why even try?” In a world governed by Law, it does seem strange to say that God does everything, but nothing is more liberating than realizing we only need to be faithful. Pharisaical weakness makes us want to glory in our own deeds and not in God’s power, so we are inclined to adulterate the Gospel, sell it as a commodity, cheapen it, or make it appealing as a way of proving our worth.[28] The antidote is to boast about God rather than ourselves:
The Power Behind the Peculiar Glory of the Lutheran Church Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to explore every example of the efficacy word-group (energeia, energew, energhs, energhma) in the New Testament. In every single New Testament use, we find either God or Satan at work. However, most uses of the word-group in the New Testament are divine rather than demonic.[1] Lutherans are unique among Christian confessions in teaching that the Holy Spirit works only through the Word and never apart from the Word: the invisible Word of preaching and the visible Word of Baptism and Holy Communion. The only way to test the soundness of Lutheran doctrine is to study those passages that relate to the Means of Grace, the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. The foundation for all assertions about how God works must be grounded in the Scriptures.
J-101
"The doctrine of the means of grace is a peculiar glory of Lutheran theology. To this central teaching it owes its sanity and strong appeal, its freedom from sectarian tendencies and morbid fanaticism, its coherence and practicalness, and its adaptation to men of every race and every degree of culture. The Lutheran Confessions bring out with great clearness the thought of the Reformers upon this subject."
"Grace, Means of," The Concordia Cyclopedia, L. Fuerbringer, Th. Engelder, P. E. Kretzmann, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1927, p. 299.
The literature is singularly lacking in its treatment of the efficacy word-group, perhaps because the spirit of this age has promised to leave so many modernists widowed in the age to come. An academic wrote with some discernment about the misunderstanding of the efficacy word-group in the New Testament, complaining about recent translations:
J-102
"Our contention is that these are all under-translations, short of the mark, modernizations not only in language but in idea. They do not live in the first century Christian experience. They all apparently refer to an inner human capacity, rather than to that external supernatural divine spirit which had possessed both Peter and Paul. The translations live in the realm of humanism, rather than of supernaturalism. Yet no quality is more characteristic of the first century than its supernatural imagery and belief."
Kenneth W. Clark, "The Meaning of Energeo and Katargeo in the New Testament," Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 54, 1935, p. 93.
1.1 The Pauline Example
1 Thessalonians 2:13 – Power in Conversion
When the apostle Paul preached in Thessalonica (Act 17:1-10), a new congregation was created within four weeks by proclaiming the Gospel. A mission board would have given the apostle high marks for starting a new congregation so quickly in a major seaport, but they would have censured him for starting a riot (Acts 17:5). Paul’s deeply personal remarks to the church of the Thessalonians not only reflect his intimate experience with them but also proclaim the theme of this volume:
KJV 1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
The apostle emphasizes two spiritual truths in this verse:
a) The Word of God is not the word of men;
b) The Word of God works effectively.
Many church leaders are desperately seeking effective methods today for accomplishing their ecclesiastical work. This verse clearly reveals God’s unique method and its power.
Paul is saying here that he, Timothy, and Silvanus are just as thankful as the Thessalonians for the conversions that took place through preaching the Gospel. The townspeople did not hear and receive men’s opinions, but the Word of God. Then, as now, the opponents of sound doctrine attacked the preaching of the Word by making personal attacks upon the preachers. Unbelievers, “moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar…” (Acts 17:5) God’s methods and Satan’s methods never change.
The Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 seems to be literally the “Word of hearing of God” (logon akoes…tou theou; lo,gon avkoh/j parV h`mw/n tou/ qeou). The phrase does not emphasize the act of hearing, but rather the preaching which is heard. Arndt and Gingrich[2] translate the phrases using akoe thus:
Galatians 3:2 – “I wish to learn this only from you, did you receive the Spirit from the works of the Law or as the result of preaching which demanded only faith.”
KJV Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Professor R. C. H. Lenski makes the same point about the hearing of faith:
J-103
“’Works of the law’ and ‘hearing of faith’ are exclusively opposites; neither tolerates the other. ‘Works’ are such as we do, and they are many so that no man can know whether he has done enough of them. The opposite is akoe, but not in the active sense, the actus audiendi [act of hearing], but as Cremer-Koegel 106, etc., shows, in the passive sense: ‘being made to hear’ what God wants us to hear…This belongs to faith in the sense of being intended for us to believe. When God speaks and makes us hear, He wants us to believe. As law calls for works, so our being made to hear calls for faith. Compare Romans 1:16-17; also Hebrews 4:2.”
R. C. H. Lenski, Galatians, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, pp. 126f.[3]
KJV Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
In this context, lest there be confusion, the preached Word also causes hardness of heart among those who reject the Gospel. The Word is always at work with God’s power, converting or hardening, enlightening or blinding.
J-104
“The Word did its utmost to accomplish this, beating upon their ears constantly so as to enter their hearts by faith. They indeed hear it, but hardened their hearts, the very thing the Word warned them not to do (3:8 etc.). That is why they perished in the wilderness. Their tragedy was their unbelief (3:19).”
R. C. H. Lenski,
Hebrews, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938, p. 128.
So when we read that faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), the text does not intend to teach us that it is primarily the act of hearing, but God’s proclamation of the Gospel which creates faith. Isaiah 53:1 asks, “Who has believed our report? (akoe)” Paul quotes the same passage in Romans, as a foundation for how we begin to believe:
Jackson Literal Version Romans 10:16 But not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed our preaching (akoe)?” 17 Therefore, faith comes from preaching (akoe), and preaching (akoe) from the Word of God.
KJV Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
J-105
“This whole chapter [Romans 10], let us repeat, hinges on the Word, on this means of grace, which is applied by preaching, by commissioning preachers, by making men hear and enabling them to hearken and to believe (v. 14, 15). It is the main thought, and it should not be overlooked that ‘then’ (ara) Isaiah, too, makes ‘the faith’ of which he speaks (hence the article) a result (ek) of what one is made to hear (akoe); and here the thing the Jews were made to hear (akoe, now properly with the article) is mediated by (dia) Christ’s own uttered Word.”
R. C. H. Lenksi,
Romans, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, p. 667.
The faithful commentators show that these passages use akoe as a technical word, to mean the preached Word of God. Works do not convert people to faith in Christ. Love, friendship, and cultivated relationships do not convert anyone. Buildings, chancel drama, and programs do not convert a single soul. God has given us a singular method, the proclamation of the Gospel, and no other. Jesus Himself used the preached Word to convert people to faith during His earthly ministry. This Word belongs to God and no one else.
J-106
"It is God alone who may speak the word of pardon, who can produce faith, but it is God who is speaking in the Gospel and the Sacraments (Luke 24:47: 'in His name') and creating faith through them (Acts 16:14—Lydia; James 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). The word of the Gospel is therefore not a dead letter, nor are the Sacraments empty symbols, but they are the power of God. The power of God is inseparably connected with, is inherent in, the means of grace."
Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace,"
The Abiding Word, 3 vols., ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 335. J-1001.
J-107
“The efficacy of the Bible is that property by which the Bible has indissolubly united [Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13] with the true and genuine sense [Ephesians 3:3-4; Acts 8:30, 31, 34] expressed in its words the power of the Holy Spirit, [Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:5] who has made it for all times the ordinary means by which He operates [Psalm 19:8; Psalm 119:105, 130; 2 Peter 1:19; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17] on and in the hearts and minds of those who properly hear and read it [Revelation 1:3; Ephesians 3:3-4; John 7:17].
A. L. Graebner,
Outlines of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1910, p. 12. J-1002.
J-108
"Thou holy Light, Guide Divine, Oh, cause the Word of Life to shine!
Teach us to know our God aright And call Him Father with delight.
From every error keep us free; Let none but Christ our Master be
That we in living faith abide, In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"
Martin Luther, 1524, "Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord!",
The Lutheran Hymnal, #224,
St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.
J-109
"God would not have the sinner die,
His Son with saving grace is nigh,
His Spirit in the Word doth teach
How man the blessed goal may reach."
Author unknown, 1719, "God Loved the World So That He Gave,"
The Lutheran Hymnal, #245, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941. (John 3:16)
J-110
"Besides, it is an exceedingly effectual help against the devil, the world, and the flesh and all evil thoughts to be occupied with the Word of God, and to speak of it, and meditate upon it, so that the First Psalm declares those blessed who meditate upon the Law of God day and night. Undoubtedly, you will not start a stronger incense or other fumigation against the devil than by being engaged upon God's commandments and words, and speaking, singing, or thinking of them. For this is indeed the true holy water and holy sign from which he flees, and by which he may be driven away."
The Large Catechism, Preface, #10,
Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 570f. Tappert, p. 359f. Heiser, p. 167.
In this era of confusion and ambiguity, the Scriptures teach us that God’s Word alone creates faith. To make this especially clear, God shows us that the Word is efficacious, effective, energetic, always at work. Although the concept of efficacy is not confined to one word or word group in the Bible, the New Testament does have a word group that precisely expresses how God works through the Word. The following list should help those who do not have a Greek concordance of the New Testament, so that students of the Word may see and study the passages associated with this word group.
1.2 Energeia, energeia
Ephesians 1:19 the working of His mighty power,
3:7 by the effectual working of His power,
4:16 the effectual working in the
Philippians 3:21 according to the working whereby
Colossians 1:29 striving according to His working,
2:12 through the faith of the operation of
2 Thess. 2:9 is after the working of Satan
2:11 shall send them strong delusion (working of error)
Energeo, energew
Matthew 14:2 works do shew forth themselves in him
Mark 6:14 mighty works do shew forth themselves
Romans 7:5 did work in our members
1 Corinthians 12:6 God which worketh all in all
12:11 all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit
2 Corinthians 1:6 which is effectual (literally, that worketh) in the enduring
4:12 So then death worketh in us,
Galatians 2:8 For he that wrought effectually in Peter
The same was mighty in me
3:5 and worketh miracles among you,
5:6 faith which worketh by love,
Ephesians 1:11 of him who worketh all things
1:20 Which he wrought in Christ
2:2 the spirit that now worketh in
3:20 the power that worketh in us
Philipians 2:13 God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
Colossians 1:29 which worketh in me mightily
1 Thess. 2:13 which effectually worketh also in you
2 Thess. 2:7 mystery of iniquity doth already work:
James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Energema, energhma
1 Corinthians 12:6 there are diversities of operations
12:10 To another the working of miracles;
Energes, energhs
1 Corinthians 16:9 a great door and effectual is opened
Philemon 6 become effectual by the acknowledging
Hebrews 4:12 word of God is quick, and powerful
According to Kittel, the Greek word “energeia , energia” is derived from “to be at work.” The words are found in the pre-Socratic period in the sense of activity or energy.[4] Although we cannot make automatic conclusions from the previous use of the word, as shown in the English word “gay,” it is worth noting that Moulton and Milligan list a few examples of the word-group before New Testament times.[5] More importantly, as the list above shows, the word group is used exclusively for divine and demonic activity. Therefore, Paul distinguishes between the word of man and the Word of Proclamation (akoe). The miraculous creation of the Thessalonian mission congregation is proof of the divine power of the Word. They received the Word and the Word converted them to faith in Christ, making them thankful and Paul ceaselessly grateful. Nothing in the Scriptures suggests that people make a decision for Christ after weighing a carefully crafted and skillfully executed presentation.
J-111
"This Word works in the Thessalonians what Paul states in 1:3; it came to them with the power of the Holy Spirit and much assurance (1:5); it turned them from the idols to the living God, to Him who raised up Jesus from the dead, the Savior from the wrath to come (1: 9, 10). This effect, wrought by the Word, convinces all believers, all who experience this blessed effect, that this is, indeed, God's Word."
R. C. H. Lenski,
Thessalonians, Columbus: The Wartburg Press,1937, p. 261.
The conversion of Grace Fuller, wife of the founder of Fuller Seminary, is told with great force and conviction, illustrating the very point made by Paul in this passage.[6]
1.3
Conversion of Grace Fuller J-112
"Mrs. Barnhill looked at me and said, with such a loving look in her gray eyes, 'Oh, Grace, Christ said, 'No man cometh unto the Father but by Me,' and, my dear, you have no way of approach to a holy God unless you come through Christ, His Son, as your Saviour.' "The Scripture which she quoted," Mrs. Fuller continues, "was the Sword of the Spirit, and at that moment Unitarianism was killed forever in my heart. I saw the light like a flash and believed at that moment, though I said nothing. She had quoted God's Word, the Spirit had used it, and, believing, I instantly became a new creation in Christ Jesus. She might have talked and even argued with me about it, but instead she just used the Word."
J. Elwin Wright,
The Old Fashioned Revival Hour and the Broadcasters, Boston: The Fellowship Press, 1940, p. 54.
As Grace Fuller realized, the proclaimed Word has the power to slay the elegant doubts of Unitarianism and to energize faith in the Gospel in an instant. Therefore, believers have an abundant witness in the Scriptures about the power, clarity, and effectiveness of the Word, but they also have the added benefit of experiencing the energy of the Law and Gospel, which work together to kill the dead old skeptical sinner and to create a new man who loves God and wants to serve Him. The Old Adam remains, but the leaven of the Gospel continues to work in those who hear the Word.
