A large collection of quotations on the efficacy of the Word is here.
No better sign of Lutheran apostasy is its silence about the Means of Grace in the last 30 years. In fact, the Missouri battle for the Bible was simply another installment, not a long-term solution. The Missouri Synod laity and pastors opposed the rationalistic and unionistic trends that moved their synod into fellowship with the ALC, LCA, while dabbling with Romanism. Arguing for inerrancy was rather easy, since most people active in the 1960s were raised with the historic conception of the Bible being inerrant or infallible, without contradiction or error. Only those brainwashed in the Historical-Critical Method thought otherwise, but they were the leaders of the LCMS, ALC, LCA, and WELS...among the followers of Gerke and Jungkuntz. A large number of Seminex leaders graduated from Northwestern College, Watertown. Like Missouri, WELS never had the guts to deal completely with the HCM advocates. Ted Hartwig remained in WELS, launching the unisex Creeds in the odious Christian Worship.
Not trusting in the Means of Grace means turning to methods, tricks, gimmicks, techniques, mostly borrowed from business, advertising, and Enthusiasm. For example, the next trend in the Shrinker Movement is to have cuddling parties. That was old a few years ago, among the unwashed hordes of bored and lonely secularists. As the LCA used to say, now someone is going to "baptize the popular trend." Here is the post on CGM cuddling, which is bound to be more popular than snake-handling.
The Means of Grace are God's instruments to bring grace to us. He has provided everything and pledged Himself to give us his pardoning grace in no other way. The Enthusiasts hate the Means of Grace and make fun of this Biblical doctrine. Entire Biblical translations (NIV, RSV, etc) have been given over to erasing such Means of Grace passages as:
- Baptism now saves you.
- Is this not communion with the Body of Christ?
- Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them...
The Word of God is powerful and effective because it is not man's program or method. The Word is like yeast in dough, slowly permeating and affecting every particle.
The Word is like seed sown carelessly and yet producing a bumper crop in the midst of many calamities caused by Satan's wiles and man's carelessness.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Time To Study the Means of Grace":
It is especially the Nicene Creed in Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal that is weak. The words "became fully human" are very weak and could be easily accepted by the neo-orthodox. All three words are open to misunderstanging. "Became" can be a process or a one time event. "Fully" does not clearly carry biblical Christology, since we accept the fact that Jesus did not have two personalities, but that he had only a divine personality, and not a human personality. Also, because of the saying, "To err is human," some may draw the conclusion that Jesus had a sinful nature. "Human" can be used in a variety of ways. Some people say, "Our dog is as human as it can be," just as a woman may say, "That dress is simply divine." Neither "human" or "divine" carry the full clarity needed in a creed.
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GJ - I can add a few more caveats to the clear and compelling ones above.
- The same thing was done to the Athanasian Creed, but never addressed.
- WELS lied and said they were forced to do it by the ecumenical commission that wrote this bastardized creed. No other Lutherans had used these Leftie creeds up to that point. So did the unionistic commission hold WELS at gunpoint or threaten to take away their grants?
- Ted Hartwig, heresiarch of WELS, officially presented the feminist creeds in the magazine and the journal. Hartwig was never disciplined for promoting the Historical-Critical (apostate) approach to Isaiah. WELS PR said he was, but he simply became a rallying point for all the apostates in WELS. Meanwhile, WELS charged Missouri with no having doctrinal discipline.
- WELS showed itself to be arrogant and divisive by introducing ambiguous creeds to Lutherans when all Lutherans--indeed all Christians--endorse the clear witness of the Ecumenical Creeds.
- Worst of all, James Tiefel was left in charge of a hymnal.
