Words have definite meanings, although sometimes a tiger can be a lion cheetah.
I was wondering about a layman's question, when he mentioned justification by grace, as if faith did not belong. I realized today that UOJ Stormtroopers may have consciously avoided "by faith" to emphasize their toxic opinion that the entire world is absolved from sin without faith. ELCA, Seminex, and the Universalists agree that global forgiveness is pure grace. Justification by faith does not exclude grace, but UOJers reject, distort, and condemn faith.
UOJ gurus are Enthusiasts because they separate the Holy Spirit from the Word, something thoroughly condemned by the Book of Concord. Enthusiasm has many faces:
- Receptionism is Enthusiasm because its advocates claim "we do not know when the elements are the Body and Blood of Christ." In other words, the Word does not consecrate. The Holy Spirit wanders away from the Word, as Calvin taught, and leaves everyone puzzled.
- Church Growthism is Enthusiasm, because proponents argue that their man-made programs can make up for the deficiencies of the Word, as long as they are "done right." Questions? Send your check to...
- UOJ is Enthusiasm because grace is given to the entire world, so they think, without the Word of God.
J-701
“And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i. e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare. For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word."
Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, #3-4, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312. Heiser, p. 147.
J-702
"All this is the old devil and old serpent, who also converted Adam and Eve into enthusiasts, and led them from the outward Word of God to spiritualizing and self-conceit, and nevertheless he accomplished this through other outward words. Just as also our enthusiasts [at the present day] condemn the outward Word, and nevertheless they themselves are not silent, but they fill the world with their pratings and writings, as though, indeed, the Spirit could not come through the writings and spoken word of the apostles, but [first] through their writings and words he must come. Why [then] do not they also omit their own sermons and writings, until the Spirit Himself come to men, without their writings and before them, as they boast that He has come into them without the preaching of the Scriptures?"
Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, #5-6. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312f. Heiser, p. 147.
J-703
"In a word, enthusiasm inheres in Adam and his children from the beginning [from the first fall] to the end of the world, [its poison] having been implanted and infused into them by the old dragon, and is the origin, power [life], and strength of all heresy, especially of that of the Papacy and Mahomet. Therefore we ought and must constantly maintain this point, that God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. It is the devil himself whatsoever is extolled as Spirit without the Word and Sacraments. For God wished to appear even to Moses through the burning bush and spoken Word; and no prophet, neither Elijah nor Elisha, received the Spirit without the Ten Commandments [or spoken Word]. Neither was John the Baptist conceived without the preceding word of Gabriel, nor did he leap in his mother's womb without the voice of Mary."
Smalcald Articles, VIII. Confession, #9-10 Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 497. Tappert, p. 313. Heiser, p. 147.
J-704
"Also, we reject and condemn the error of the Enthusiasts, who imagine that God without means, without the hearing of God's Word, also without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them."
Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article II, Free Will, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 789. Tappert, p. 471. Heiser, p. 219.
---"The Lutheran Confessions take a decisive stand against 'enthusiasts,' who teach that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men without the Word and Sacraments (SA-III VIII 3-13; LC II 34-62; FC Ep II 13)."
John T. Mueller, "Grace, Means of," Lutheran Cyclopedia, Erwin L. Lueker, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975, p. 344.
"On the contrary, with the Anabaptists and the Reformed Church in general, the Mennonites are Enthusiasts, lay great stress on the immediate working of the Holy Ghost, who is said to 'guide the saints into all truth.' In his Geschichte der Mennonitengemeinden John Horsch, a prominent Mennonite, states that the Holy Spirit is the 'inner word,' who enables Christians to understand the Scriptures. Without the inner word, or the light, the Scripture is a dead letter and a dark lantern."
The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 260.
Luther: "True, the enthusiasts confess that Christ died on the cross and saved us; but they repudiate that by which we obtain Him; that is, the means, the way, the bridge, the approach to Him they destroy...They lock up the treasure which they should place before us and lead me a fool's chase; they refuse to admit me to it; they refuse to transmit it; they deny me its possession and use." (III, 1692)
The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 5.
"A denial of the efficacy and sufficiency of the means of grace is contained in the theological systems of all religious enthusiasts."
Edwin E. Pieplow, "The Means of Grace," The Abiding Word, ed., Theodore Laetsch, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1946, II, p. 343.
"And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i. e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare. For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word."
Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, 3-5, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312.
"The practical result of the separation of the divine power from the divine Word of Scripture is the rejection of the Bible as the only source and norm of faith (norma normans). This is proved by the very fact that the enthusiasts have invariably placed the 'inner word' (verbum internum), or the 'spirit,' above Holy Scripture (verbum externum), assigning to the latter an inferior place in the realm of divine revelation. To the enthusiasts the Bible is only a norma normata, or a rule of faith subject to the 'inner word,' that is, to their own notions and figments of reason."
John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 135.
"The Christian doctrine of the means of grace is abolished by all 'enthusiasts,' all who assume a revealing and effective operation of the Holy Spirit without and alongside the divinely ordained means of grace."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 127.
"To remain properly humble while firmly rejecting all erroneous teachings regarding the means of grace, we should remind ourselves how even Christians who teach and, as a rule, also believe, the correct doctrine of the means of grace, in their personal practice very often lose sight of the means of grace. This is done whenever they base the certainty of grace, or of the forgiveness of sin, on their feeling of grace or the gratia infusa, instead of on God's promise in the objective means of grace. All of us are by nature 'enthusiasts.'"
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 131.
"Our opponents hold that saving faith must be founded on Christ Himself, not on the means of grace. This reasoning, common to the Reformed, the 'enthusiasts' of all shades, and modern 'experience' theologians, assumes that faith can and should be based on Christ to the exclusion of the means of grace."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 152.
"The Lutheran theologians, in general, had reason to illustrate very particularly the doctrine of the operation of the Word of God, in order to oppose the Enthusiasts and Mystics, who held that the Holy Spirit operated rather irrespectively of the Word than through it; and to oppose also the Calvinists, who, led by their doctrine of predestination, would not grant that the Word possessed this power per se, but only in such cases where God chose...."
“And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i. e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare. For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word."
Smalcald Articles, VIII., Confession, #3-4, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 495. Tappert, p. 312. Heiser, p. 147.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Three Faces of Enthusiasm":
One of the frequent claims on this blog is that the enthusiasts separate the Holy Spirit from the Word. That the HS can not work independent of the Word. If the Word can not be separated, then how was the thief on the cross saved? There is only one recording of this scene in Luke. Jesus tells the thief he is saved and yet you do not see the sequence of unbelief, receiving the Word by the Holy Spirit, repentance, forgiveness and granting of saving faith etc...as you all seem to have figured out. To put it another way...how do you know that the Holy Spirit has not given faith to an infant that dies before it is born?
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GJ - As Luther pointed out, Jesus always converted through the spoken Word. The fulness of the godhead dwelt in Him, so there is no separation between the Word of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The thief on the cross was converted from hearing the Word from our Savior. Jesus absolved him and promised him eternal life.
Baptists like to use the thief on the cross against the efficacy of Holy Baptism. The Bible does not teach the absolute necessity of baptism, but it does teach the absolute necessity of faith in Christ. God gave us the sacraments of baptism and communion to unite the power of His Word with visible elements.
There is no better example of the Gospel than infant baptism. The naked, weak baby has nothing to offer God but receives faith in the Gospel Promises. The parents, congregation, and extended family know, "This is when he became a believer" by this specific divine act.
10 comments:
I get what you are saying, but what is your take on the scene of the cross when the thief became saved. All this talk makes this scene fuzzy.
You keep telling it like it is Pastor GJ! How is your book comming along? There is no true faith without the "means of grace." This cannot be emphasized enough. Churches that do not offer communion are denying the means of grace.
On another topic, are you related to Ichabod 2.0? Who is this "us" that he is speaking on behalf of. Now GJ, everybody knows that you would never use bad grammer and puctuation.(You got to admit, it does give the ID thieves away.) I encourage all to read this blog. Perhaps Ichabod 2.0 will read the Scriptures and BOC.
In Christ,
from WELS church lady
Anonymous at 8:07am, can you explain your question in detail? Thanks.
One of the frequent claims on this blog is that the enthusiasts separate the Holy Spirit from the Word. That the HS can not work independent of the Word. If the Word can not be separated, then how was the thief on the cross saved? There is only one recording of this scene in Luke. Jesus tells the thief he is saved and yet you do not see the sequence of unbelief, receiving the Word by the Holy Spirit, repentance, forgiveness and granting of saving faith etc...as you all seem to have figured out. To put it another way...how do you know that the Holy Spirit has not given faith to an infant that dies before it is born?
Anonymous, these Scripture passages speak directly to your question.
Galations 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?"
Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Romans 10:14, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"
These passages declare that the Holy Spirit comes to men only through the Word. Through the hearing of the Word of God the Holy Spirit works faith to believe that Christ paid for the worlds sins and believing and trusting in this alone a person is forgiven of all sin. By this gracious gift of the Holy Spirit a person dies to sin and is raised again to life, to live by grace through faith in Christ.
The following verses confirm that without this believing, or faith, we stand condemned by God the entire time we are upon the earth.
Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
John 3:18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
In Christ,
Brett Meyer
Yeah...I didn't think you had a response...hard to know the heart of God, isn't it?
That last comment was aimed at Mr. Meyer. You sidestepped the the stillborn child. How convenient.
Really, the heart and focus of your paragraph length question was the last reworded question? You even stated that it was only a rewording of your previous attempt at articulating your question ("to put it another way...) Note also that I didn't directly address the thief on the cross either. My response was to address the core issue of the requirement to believe and that belief or faith is created by the Holy Spirit through the Means of Grace alone.
Anonymous, I will address the last question as it now appears to be the real question you had. The issue of the child dying in the womb either naturally or by the murderous act of abortion is squarely addressed by the verses I posted. Without faith in Christ as his Lord and Savior from sin, death and the power of the devil the child remains in unbelief and is condemned to hell for eternity. The Holy Spirit alone creates faith in Christ's promises. The Holy Spirit works through the Word alone as the Scripture verses above confirm. Without the Word working contrition and faith in Christ the unborn child is condemned to hell for eternity.
You state, "hard to know the heart of God, isn't it?" You talk as if you are trying to know the heart of God beyond what He has revealed to the world in Scripture. What God would have us know of His heart is all clearly revealed to us in Scripture and by the grace of God perfectly explained in the Lutheran Confessions.
You can't say that about an unborn child because you don't know the heart of God. You just said yourself that He has revealed what He wants us to know which leads me to believe it isn't everything. To say the child is damned goes against the doctrine of election. He tells us he is a loving and just God.
Anonymous, the unborn child upon conception is just as much a person with a God given body and soul as a man who is 80 years old. Since they both are equally human the way of Justification that God has revealed in Scripture is the same. The Scripture passages quoted above state clearly that if a person doesn't believe in Christ alone they ,remain condemned by God. We are born in sin and thus the wrath of God abides upon us from conception.
Your reference to the doctrine of Election speaks directly to this. Romans 8:30, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Christ declares that those he called he justified. How does Christ justify mankind - through the righteousness of faith. The doctrine of election only supports justification by faith and not the enthusiasm you propose or the enthusiasm UOJ promotes.
Your premise plays into Universalism. If the Holy Spirit works faith in Christ in an unborn child in a way that is not revealed in Scripture than it opens that same possibility to all men who have been born. The words of Christ leave no room for any other way to be saved than through the righteousness of faith, graciously worked by the Holy Spirit through Word and Baptism.
I share your concern and empathy for unborn children who die without faith in Christ. My wife and I were affected by this as many people are. At the same time we cannot allow our emotions to dictate or suggest that God has any other way to justify an individual than what's revealed in Scripture.
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