rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "WELS, Little Sect, and Missouri Are Mainline Denom...":
"They pretend to teach, but there is no teaching where doctrine is set aside for the easy, smooth way. The surest indication of that is the refusal to identify false doctrine. If a congregation or denomination cannot identify false doctrine, it rapidly descends into apostasy."
There was a point in time when pointing out the errors in false doctrine, and their side effects, was done on a regular basis. Many of the statements in the Lutheran Confessions are worded in this manner: positive - we believe and teach.......; negative - therefore, we reject......
This emphasizes the perspicuity of Scripture. Each doctrine is specific in its nature, although they are all connected in some manner.
"3. God's Word will accomplish His purpose in abundance and power. The Word will save multitudes who trust in the merits of Christ and condemn multitudes who do not. The Word will open the eyes of those who listen to the Gospel in sincerity and cling to its message, but blind those who judge and condemn the saving work of Jesus. The Word will convert unbelievers and harden the hearts of those who oppose His will."
This Biblical truth has been all but forgotten, or never even learned, by so many today. It is a mistaken assumption that all will be saved. Yet, Scripture tells us that God's Word will accomplish what He desires. Is it any wonder that those who trust in their own efforts are so frustrated? They look at the delinquent member list, paltry offerings, failed programs and say "we have got to do more". Sometimes, the best way to understand false doctrine is to take it to its logical conclusion. It starts with "all can be saved" (False) > which leads to "it is our job to do it" (False)> which leads to "do whatever is possible, short of sinning, to save them" (False)>which leads to "just preaching the Word must not will not turn unbelief into belief" (False)>which ultimately leads to "all are saved, even when they do not know it"(False). The readers here at Ichabod understand that last statement as UOJ..
Many doctrinal errors start out microscopic in size and significance. Yet, Scriptures uses the analogy of a little bit of leaven working its way through all of the dough. Lenski rightly warns us to resist the beginnings.
