Thursday, November 11, 2010

Book of Concord Study

By Norma Boeckler


The entire Book of Concord seems daunting, but it is a book of Confessions, not War and Peace.

The Augsburg Confession is a concise masterpiece, except the last part needs more of a plot for our days. The short concise statements are worthy of memorization. Melanchthon was the primary author.

Article IV: Of Justification.

1] Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for 2] Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. 3] This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.

The Apology is Melanchthon's defense of the Augsburg Confession. If you want more detail about justification, read the Apology's section on that topic.

http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php

But that faith which justifies is not merely a knowledge of history, [not merely this, that I know the stories of Christ's birth, suffering, etc. (that even the devils know,)] but it is to assent to the promise of God, in which, for Christ's sake, the remission of sins and justification are freely offered. [It is the certainty or the certain trust in the heart, when, with my whole heart, I regard the promises of God as certain and true, through which there are offered me, without my merit, the forgiveness of sins, grace, and all salvation, through Christ the Mediator.] And that no one may suppose that it is mere knowledge, we will add further: it is to wish and to receive the offered promise of the remission of sins and of justification. [Faith is that my whole heart takes to itself this treasure. It is not my doing, not my presenting or giving, not my work or preparation, but that a heart comforts itself, and is perfectly confident with respect to this, namely, that God makes a present and gift to us, and not we to Him, that He sheds upon us every treasure of grace in Christ.]

49] And the difference between this faith and the righteousness of the Law can be easily discerned. Faith is the latreiva [divine service], which receives the benefits offered by God; the righteousness of the Law is the latreiva [divine service] which offers to God our merits. By faith God wishes to be worshiped in this way, that we receive from Him those things which He promises and offers.

The Large Catechism is valuable because it consists of Luther's sermons edited to cover in detail the content of the Small Catechism, which people take for granted as they chant it. Many grave doctrinal errors are addressed by the Large Catechism. If someone wants a set of sermons on the Catechism - here they are. If a pastor needs ideas for a sermon - read the LC.

http://www.bookofconcord.org/lc-3-tencommandments.php

99] Likewise those fastidious spirits are to be reproved who, when they have heard a sermon or two, find it tedious and dull, thinking that they know all that well enough, and need no more instruction. For just that is the sin which has been hitherto reckoned among mortal sins, and is called ajkhdia, i.e., torpor or satiety, a malignant, dangerous plague with which the devil bewitches and deceives the hearts of many, that he may surprise us and secretly withdraw God's Word from us.

100] For let me tell you this, even though you know it perfectly and be already master in all things, still you are daily in the dominion of the devil, who ceases neither day nor night to steal unawares upon you, to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against the foregoing and all the commandments. Therefore you must always have God's Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the heart is idle, and the Word does not sound, he breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware. 101] On the other hand, such is the efficacy of the Word, whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, that it is bound never to be without fruit, but always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness, and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts. For these words are not inoperative or dead, but creative, living words. 102] And even though no other interest or necessity impel us, yet this ought to urge every one thereunto, because thereby the devil is put to Right and driven away, and, besides, this commandment is fulfilled, and [this exercise in the Word] is more pleasing to God than any work of hypocrisy, however brilliant.

The Formula of Concord is the masterpiece of Chemnitz' career. All his scholarship went into that Confession, and he had the help of other great theologians, like Chytraeus.

If someone wants to study Law and Gospel, the Formula is the place to start. There are many other places in the BOC where the topic comes up. The Concordance to the Book of Concord is handy for finding those passages. That is how I found the efficacy passages in the BOC for Thy Strong Word.

http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-lawandgospel.php

V. Law and Gospel

1] As the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is a special brilliant light, which serves to the end that God's Word may be rightly divided, and the Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles may be properly explained and understood, we must guard it with especial care, in order that these two doctrines may not be mingled with one another, or a law be made out of the Gospel, whereby the merit of Christ is obscured and troubled consciences are robbed of their comfort, which they otherwise have in the holy Gospel when it is preached genuinely and in its purity, and by which they can support themselves in their most grievous trials against the terrors of the Law.

Another issue, often used but abused, is adiaphora, employed to excuse aping the Enthused -

http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-adiaphora.php


10] We believe, teach, and confess also that at the time of confession [when a confession of the heavenly truth is required], when the enemies of God's Word desire to suppress the pure doctrine of the holy Gospel, the entire congregation of God, yea, every Christian, but especially the ministers of the Word, as the leaders of the congregation of God [as those whom God has appointed to rule His Church], are bound by God's Word to confess freely and openly the [godly] doctrine, and what belongs to the whole of [pure] religion, not only in words, but also in works and with deeds; and that then, in this case, even in such [things truly and of themselves] adiaphora, they must not yield to the adversaries, or permit these [adiaphora] to be forced upon them by their enemies, whether by violence or cunning, to the detriment of the true worship of God and the introduction and sanction of idolatry. 11] For it is written, Gal. 5:1: Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not again entangled in the yoke of bondage. Also Gal. 2:4f : And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage; to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you. 12] [Now it is manifest that in that place Paul speaks concerning circumcision, which at that time had become an adiaphoron (1 Cor. 7:18f.), and which at other occasions was observed by Paul (however, with Christian and spiritual freedom, Acts 16:3). But when the false apostles urged circumcision for establishing their false doctrine, (that the works of the Law were necessary for righteousness and salvation,) and misused it for confirming their error in the minds of men, Paul says that he would not yield even for an hour, in order that the truth of the Gospel might continue unimpaired.]

Another Luther gem - the Smalcald Articles. There we are inoculated against Enthusiasm. The Enthusiasts in WELS, ELCA, LCMS, and the Little Sect ran rampant today, glorying in their shame, proving that no one reads this confession, cares about it, defends it, or teaches it. Remember that fact the next time the synod has its lupine paws out for offerings - they are collecting money to broadcast the complete denial of Biblical doctrine. They are Walking Together - with Satan - hooves clicking like metronomes as they march down the broad path.

http://www.bookofconcord.org/smalcald.php#confession

3] 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. 4] 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.

5] 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. 6] 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? But of these matters there is not time now to dispute at greater length; we have elsewhere sufficiently urged this subject.

Various People Contact Me -
How To Study God's Word

The Great Physician by Norma Boeckler


I appreciate hearing from people. I cannot offer any details, except to say I exchange a lot of doctrinal views with people. The contacts are mostly email. Some are IM. A couple of people phone every so often.

I offer my opinions and satire to get people to study the Scriptures and the Confessions. Battles alert people to the issues. Otherwise we are listless and apathetic. The great Confessions have arisen during doctrinal crises, and so have our best hymns. The ecclesiastical corporations, in league with Thrivent, do not like that. But it must be God's will.

Here are some brief suggestions. I get used books from Alibris. Far better to have a few great books than tons of famous books.

The KJV is the gold standard of English translations.
For those who cannot take the KJV, some updates are fairly good, as long as people realize they are anti-Sacrament (Babtist customers). Grammar is no longer as precise, so the KJV should be the favored version for any citation.

I like the Concordia Triglotta because of its Historical Introductions. The Introductions should be read a little at a time, ignoring some of the excruciating details preserved for all posterity. The episodes like the Crypto-Calvinists should be studied. The Triglotta is the best translation.

I will talk about how to read the BOC on another post.

The Sermons of Luther should be read, studied, digested, read over again - before any other books. I have linked some on the left column. The sermon set from Grand Rapids is very cheap and in a good format.

The best authors are Chemnitz - any of his books.

Henry E. Jacobs - mostly out of print but very good. Krauth and Schmauk are from the same Muhlenberg tradition and worth owning.

Schmid - Doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This was popular among all conservative Lutherans. The ALC and WELS pastors often owned a Schmid because one volume contained so many fine quotations from the age of orthodoxy. He also wrote the History of Pietism, NPH.

Lenski is the only commentary I would suggest, and Lenski is not universally handy for people. However, for a dedicated layman, Lenski is quite useful because he deals with the doctrinal issues. I believe he tried to straddle the UOJ issue, unsuccessfully.

The best Biblical commentary is the Book of Concord.

Reclaim News 11-11-10, Synod, Inc. and the bi-coastal law suits

Reclaim News 11-11-10, Synod, Inc. and the bi-coastal law suits

Extra Nos: Re-hearing Law and Gospel

Extra Nos: Re-hearing Law and Gospel


Re-hearing Law and Gospel

The BoC says these two - Law and Gospel are to be urged upon Christians. Just been thinking about this in my quiet moments.



It is so right for me to hear this again and again. I just noticed that if I don't, I could wind up thinking that my sin is much greater than the sacrifice of Jesus that paid for it, and this is wrong.



Our souls do hunger to hear again and again, the good news, the beautiful true story of Jesus and his love.

2 are telling me what they think:


Schütz said...
Hi,Lito. We haven't touched base for a while, but this topic attracted me. I know how dear the Law/Gospel paradigm is for Lutherans, and believe me, I could divide Law and Gospel with the best of them once upon a time. But the problem is, it is really a paradigm that is imposed upon Scripture, rather than one inherent in it. On top of that, it is a paradigm that was unknown in the Christian tradition until the 16th Century. And it isn't even true to Paul's use of the terms "Law" and "Gospel". I can see how it has been helpful for many Lutherans in the way you describe, but there are plenty of believers out there who know that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for all their own sin and the sin of every human being, who don't work with this paradigm. So, I recognise that it can help and can protect certain truths of the Gospel, but it also obscures others, such as Jesus' command to "love one another as I have loved you" and his teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, and Paul's insistence upon the "obedience of faith" and his affirmation that it is the "doers of the Law who will be justified" etc. In other words, the paradigm obscures as much as it clarifies.
LPC said...
Hi David, Glad you dropped by. Firstly I do see Law and Gospel in Gal 3. Also I read that Ambrose was into this too. However, I suspect when you were in seminary you were trained on Walther's Law and Gospel. Unfortunately, Walther's UOJ shined forth in that book. I am not a buyer of Walther after rereading some of the things he said. He made plenty of over statements. Also if you follow his method, you will wind up not having the 3rd use of the Law. I am a firm believer of the 3rd use of the Law. I believe there is the place of the Law in the Christian's life. There is a time for everything, and through the Word being used by the HS, we get exposed to what is needed at that time. As an aside, I could not criticize Walther enough. Just for your info. LPC

Don’t be duped by Today’s New International Version (TNIV) « Churchmouse Campanologist

Don’t be duped by Today’s New International Version (TNIV) « Churchmouse Campanologist


Longtime readers will know that I have used the New International Version (NIV) translations in the past for my scriptural posts.  No longer, not after having read about the translation modernisations and knowing that dubious ancient texts have been used to give the Bible more of, among other things, a Roman Catholic flavour and interpretation.  However, that will be another post for the future, as I am still gathering information on it.
What I can tell you is that Bible Gateway says on its site that they will begin offering Today’s New International Version — TNIV — beginning in 2011.  Wow. I would advise you to avoid it.  No doubt most of my regular, confessional readers adhere to the KJV or the ESV for the most part.  However, casual readers may think the TNIV a readable and reliable version to use.
Here are three short videos about it.
First, the translators and theologians who worked on it are from a primarily evangelical background.  Given the state of today’s evangelicalism and its penchant for a one-world church, I am suspicious.  The TNIV contains expressions such as ‘common good’ and ‘community’ (see the second video below).  And the Bible is not about communitarianism.  Anyone who is familiar with the pre-1970s translations will know that.
Yet, this video from the TNIV site attempts to reassure us that all is well.  Don’t be duped by the years of experience about which you hear — they are but honeyed words:
This second video should sound alarm bells.  TNIV is endorsed by none other than Rob Bell.  Listen to his enthusiasm for the use of ‘a new humanity’ and ‘common good’.  Watch how lightly he treats the Word of God near the end of the video.  This appears to have been made by Zondervan — which promotes Rob Bell’s products — in association with TNIV.  Note how Rob Bell touches — as emergents do — on divisiveness by saying this is a great, courageous translation and it was time for something new with regard to Scripture.  If Rob Bell is promoting this, that should be your surest sign to avoid it!
Finally, we have John MacArthur’s views on TNIV.  He says that translation — particularly of the Bible — relies on finding the word which most closely and accurately approximates what the original term meant.  It does not involve tweaking or altering or omitting texts in order to fit in with present-day cultural demands. Enough said.
Please make sure that your children are aware of the translation tweaks in TNIV.  It is all too easy for people who don’t know the Bible that well to assume that every translation says the same thing, only in simpler language.  That is not necessarily the case.  Bible scholars and translators have their own agenda, and you can see from the Rob Bell video that the TNIV suits the emergent church to a tee.

Jeff Gunn on the Means of Grace - Bait and Switch


Small Group Leadership
(Pastor Jeff Gunn)

The means of grace are the key to people growing in their faith. One way to deliver the means of grace to the people of our congregation is via a groups system. [GJ - Pietistic Cell Groups] "Growth groups" are gatherings of 12-15 people in homes of the congregation for the purpose of sharing the word of God with one another, praying and worshipping with one another, enjoying fellowship, serving in the congregation and community, and reaching out with the gospel. In this portion of our coaching network we will discuss the groups system: why it is beneficial, how it operates, how to set a groups system up and get it rolling, what the challenges to running a groups system are, how to deal with problems with groups, and how to continue to expand groups to meet the various needs and character of the congregation.

BIO

Jeff Gunn is pastor of Crosswalk Lutheran Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona.  A teenage convert to Christ, Jeff was brought into the WELS fellowship through a neighboring family, an experience that God used to develop a life-long passion for outreach with the gospel. He graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1982 and subsequently served for 14 years in the Central Africa country of Zambia.  Six of those years were spent living in the bush, pastoring multiple village congregations. In the next eight years, Jeff continued to serve congregations as a pastor, but also served as WELS field coordinator for the Zambia Mission, and as a professor at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary in Lusaka.  Jeff's 14 years serving in Zambia have given him a unique perspective on the management of the ministry of the gospel.  Since returning to the U.S. in 1996, Jeff has served as religion instructor and assistant principal at Arizona Lutheran Academy for five years. In 2001, he became Director of Native American Missions for the WELS. Finally, in 2004, Jeff received the call to launch CrossWalk Church on the campus of Arizona Lutheran Academy.  Starting with about 30 people in 2004, God has blessed this ministry so that today there are two services and 500 people worshipping each Sunday at CrossWalk. CrossWalk uses a contextualized approach to worship, weekly growth groups, and ministry teams as key components to its approach to gospel ministry in a church that describes itself as a "church for unchurched people."

[GJ - Some call it a church for WELS members from the area, without being a WELS church. Others call it glorified sheep-stealing.]

http://www.nextdisciple.com/giaprojects/crosstraincoaching.html

Gunning For You - Grace in Action,
Jeff Gunn,
Kudu Don Patterson






AGENDA






Wednesday, December 1






7 pm - 9 pm Introductions, Top 3 Challenges,


Most Passionate in Ministry About,


My Goals for this Seminar Are






Thursday, December 2






8 am Breakfast


9 am Opening Devotion


9:15 am Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen)


10 am Break


10:15 am Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen)


11:45 am Lunch


1 pm Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen)


2:30 pm Break


2:45 pm Developing a Growths Groups System from


Scratch (Jeff Gunn)


3:30 pm Break


5 pm Supper

6 pm Developing a Growths Groups System from Scratch (Jeff Gunn)





8 pm Social Hour






Friday, December 3






8 am Breakfast


9 am Opening Devotion


9:15 am Developing a Growths Groups System from


Scratch (Jeff Gunn)

10 am Break


10:15 am Preaching that Sticks (Don Patterson)


11:45 am Lunch


1 pm Effective Strategies for Developing Leaders


(Don Patterson)


2:30 pm Break


2:45 pm Effective Strategies for Developing Leaders


(Don Patterson)


3:30 pm Break


5 pm Supper


6 pm Group Debrief, Next Steps and


Professional Action Plan


8 pm Social Hour

Your Costs?

  • Commitment to receive 12 months of services - including a monthly webinar and personal time with your coach
  • 3 days of your life for personal and professional training at a conference center*
  • Personal time for completing homework including self-assessments, personal inventories, specialized readings, and much more
  •  Willingness to exchange ministry strategies, Bible studies, and sermons
  • Willing to coach fellow participants
  • $1200.00 for the twelve months of services

*Services and costs for the 3 day conference subject to vary


This ministry is being partially funded by Grace in Action (GIA) and WELS Kingdom Workers.

http://www.nextdisciple.com/giaprojects/crosstraincoaching.html

---

http://blogs.wels.net/welstech/
Found these statements from Don Patterson following the link above:
I was recently at the airport in Chicago, waiting in the baggage claim area. For some reason, our luggage was delayed, so I had time to do my favorite airport passtime - watching people.
In my search for interesting people, I saw one young couple, apparently reuniting after one of them had been on a trip. They were facing each other, foreheads pressed together, holding hands so tightly you could see their white knuckles. They were similing and whispering to one another, oblivious of their surroundings. Their display of affection was pure and undistracted.
It reminded me of how my wife and I acted in our first years of dating. Now, after 20 years of marriage, our love is weathered. We understand one another, trust one another and love one another, but instead of a "first love" attitude, we most often display a durable, "tried and true" type of love to one another.
In our relationship with him, God longs for us to stay in that "first love" frame of mind. In Revelation, Jesus cries out to one church like a wounded lover:
I hold this against you; You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
-Revelation 2:4-5
God wants a passionate, undistracted relationship with us. How do we do that?
We have to get away and be alone with God. In a quiet place, we need to listen to Jesus, "forehead to forhead", taking in his love, contemplating what he did for us and thinking about his promises. When we do that, we fall in love all over again.
-Don Patterson
http://areasonforhope.net/
 
Quotes:
"Jesus cries out to one church like a wounded lover"
"God wants a passionate, undistracted relationship with us. How do we do that?"
"We have to get away and be alone with God. In a quiet place, we need to listen to Jesus, "forehead to forhead", taking in his love, contemplating what he did for us and thinking about his promises. When we do that, we fall in love all over again."
Brett M - That's just more Methodist New Age enthusiasm and an open door to demons. It says nothing about Christ and the Holy Spririt only coming to us through God's Word. How is he listening to Jesus?  Is Patterson attempting to start another Time of Grace operation with A Reason for Hope?

Oh, The Cat Came Back The Very Next Day, The Cat Came Back, We Thought He Was a Goner, But The Cat Came Back The Very Next Day To Stay

Suggested by Joel.

This is from St Andrew's - Middleton - the one with the 2nd campus that took out the pews and made it a coffeehouse church - - - -

cut and paste:



Call for Crossroads Consulting - Q & A

It was our privilege to have Pastor Stroh as our guest two weeks ago to explain more about the ministry of

helping churches. Pastor Stroh reviewed for us some of the questions people asked and the answers below:

 Is Pastor Stroh taking the place of our vicar who just left?

 No. The timing might make it appear that way, but this has nothing to do with the vicar program.

 Isn’t it unusual for a pastor to be asking for a call?

 Yes, these are unusual circumstances but this is a special opportunity to be a blessing to many WELS

congregations… for the sake of God’s Kingdom. District President Herb Prahl is supportive of this

call and is happening in other churches, too.

 Would this be a permanent or temporary call?

 This could be limited to one year, for both Pastor Stroh and St. Andrew to see if the partnership is

mutually beneficial.

 What will this cost our congregation?

 Pastor Stroh is not asking for any financial commitment from us, however our leadership is

recommending we support this ministry to other churches by paying the pension for Pastor Stroh, app.

$2,000 per year.

 Why are we considering doing this? What’s the rationale?

 When Parish Assistance was defunded by the WELS for budget reasons, congregations continued to

ask for assistance. Many encouraged Pastor Stroh to launch a new consulting ministry. Pastor Stroh

would like to partner with a local congregation to remain a called pastor in the WELS; it will help him

relate to churches he’s serving. He considers St. Andrew a congregation others can learn from and a

good fit for his consulting ministry.

 What would you actually be doing to help our WELS congregations?

 Go to http://www.nextdisciple.com and click on GIA Projects to access the process of Crossroads

Consulting. Grace in Action (GIA) is a group of WELS lay leaders who came together to provide new innovative methods to extend existing ministries and develop new ministries to proclaim the gospel message of Christ crucified.

---

Crossroads Consulting Ministry is directed by Pastor Elton C. Stroh. Pastor Stroh served as a WELS parish pastor for 24 years during which, under God, he launched a new congregation, served as senior pastor in a turnaround congregation, and was privileged to serve in a number of district and synodical positions. Most recently he served as a church consultant and directed WELS Parish Assistance – a consulting ministry that became a blessing to about 500 congregations with the assistance of both full- and part-time lead consultants and well over 100 associate consultants. Pastor Stroh also conducted the Turnaround Churches in the WELS research project.

Crossroads Consulting Ministry offers both a comprehensive and streamlined ministry planning process, both of which are custom designed around the needs and desires of client congregations. Each planning process includes the following: (1) analysis of current reality, (2) development of short- and long-range ministry goals, and (3) strategic implementation. Special services are also provided as requested. Examples of these services include developing multi-site ministries, coaching/mentoring, leadership development, organizational realignment, organizing staff for maximum effectiveness, teambuilding, and assisting with conflict management.

***

GJ - Pastor Randy has the female "Minister of Worship," but that does not make her a female pastor. Oh no.

In Flanders Fields

Poppy, by Norma Boeckler



In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields. -
John McCrae

ELCA Exposed - on universal salvation - Exposing the ELCA

ELCA Exposed - on universal salvation - Exposing the ELCA

Judge for yourself if ELCA teaches another version of UOJ.

ELCA Teaching and Accepting goddess Worship, Praying to 'Mother,' and Gender Neutral Language - Exposing the ELCA

ELCA Teaching and Accepting goddess Worship, Praying to 'Mother,' and Gender Neutral Language - Exposing the ELCA

ELCA Exposed - on other Critical Issues - Exposing the ELCA

ELCA Exposed - on other Critical Issues - Exposing the ELCA

ELCA Exposed - on Called to Common Mission - Exposing the ELCA

ELCA Exposed - on Called to Common Mission - Exposing the ELCA

Leonard Sweet’s Nat’l Debut to LCMS Educators -Disneyland in 57 days.




Leonard Sweet’s Nat’l Debut to LCMS Educators -Disneyland in 57 days.

Why Is This So Difficult for the Kokomites?


Part III, Article XIII. How One is Justified before God, and of Good Works.

1] What I have hitherto and constantly taught concerning this I know not how to change in the least, namely, that by faith, as St. Peter says, we acquire a new and clean heart, and God will and does account us entirely righteous and holy for the sake of Christ, our Mediator. And although sin in the flesh has not yet been altogether removed or become dead, yet He will not punish or remember it.

2] And such faith, renewal, and forgiveness of sins is followed by good works. And what there is still sinful or imperfect also in them shall not be accounted as sin or defect, even [and that, too] for Christ's sake; but the entire man, both as to his person and his works, is to be called and to be righteous and holy from pure grace and mercy, shed upon us [unfolded] and spread over us in Christ. 3] Therefore we cannot boast of many merits and works, if they are viewed apart from grace and mercy, but as it is written, 1 Cor. 1:31: He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, namely, that he has a gracious God. For thus all is well. 4] We say, besides, that if good works do not follow, faith is false and not true.

http://www.bookofconcord.org/smalcald.php#keys

Christian Doctrine 101

Miraculous Draught of Fish, by Norma Boeckler


KJV Luke 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy Word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that theybegan to sink.

Garrett has left a new comment on your post "Compare and Contrast - On Justification":

Indirectly addressed to Teh ANGREH mlc student(?) loroffpj:

Reading about theology and perusing this blog just makes me wish all the more that MLC freshmen would get a real doctrine class sooner rather than later. Students are both very impressionable but also (as visible ambassadors of Christ) give big impressions. Why must they wait three years to finally read in their doctrine textbook...? :

God desires the salvation of all sinners. Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, God justified the whole world. Yet not all people will be saved. The reason for this is contained in Jesus' words: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mk 16:16). Through faith, sinners receive the benefit of the redemptive work of Christ (Jn 3:16; Mk 16:16; Ac 16:31; Ro 3:22,28; 4:5). Our dogmaticians have called faith the "receiving instrument" (greek: organon leptikon) in distinction to the gospel, which is the instrument God uses to give faith, the "giving instrument" (Greek: organon dotikon). Lange, Lyle W. God So Loved the World. (C) 2005 by NPH. Chapter 16: Justification, pg 348.

Even better, and more concise, just take a look in the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration III:13.
"For faith does not make people righteous because it is such a good work or such a fine virtue, but because it lays hold of and accepts the merit of Christ in the promise of the holy gospel. For this merit must be applied to us and appropriated through faith if we are to become righteous through it."

Read up on everything. Challenge it. Search the scriptures and consult the Lutheran Confessions. You'll be surprised. I was.

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GJ - College should be a time to exercise critical thinking rather than engage in repeat-after-me talking points from the synod PR department.

Lange's OJ, a regurgitation of the Synodical Conference fundamental error, is another example of the blind leading the blind. As one church worker's son has said, "The Wisconsin Synod has lost the Gospel."

"Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, God justified the whole world." - Lange


Where is this Kokomo/Brief Statement revelation located? Not in Romans 4, which teaches only justification by faith. Anyone can see the deceit in the UOJ Stormtroopers when they extract their precious doctrine from a justification by faith sentence:

KJV Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

That repudiation of UOJ is immediately followed by:

KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Examining the Biblical claims of WELS/ELS/LCMS will show that they do not even acknowledge the efficacy of the Word. The entire "conservative" wing of Lutherdom is sunk in Enthusiasm, separating the Holy Spirit from the Word.

The Smalcald Articles are very good about this.

3] 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. 4] 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.

5] 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. 6] 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? But of these matters there is not time now to dispute at greater length; we have elsewhere sufficiently urged this subject.

7] For even those who believe before Baptism, or become believing in Baptism, believe through the preceding outward Word, as the adults, who have come to reason, must first have heard: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, even though they are at first unbelieving, and receive the Spirit and Baptism ten years afterwards. 8] Cornelius, Acts 10:1ff , had heard long before among the Jews of the coming Messiah, through whom he was righteous before God, and in such faith his prayers and alms were acceptable to God (as Luke calls him devout and God-fearing), and without such preceding Word and hearing could not have believed or been righteous. But St. Peter had to reveal to him that the Messiah (in whom, as one that was to come, he had hitherto believed) now had come, lest his faith concerning the coming Messiah hold him captive among the hardened and unbelieving Jews, but know that he was now to be saved by the present Messiah, and must not, with the [rabble of the] Jews deny nor persecute Him.

9] 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. 10] 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. 11] 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]. 12] 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. 13] And Peter says, 2 Pet. 1:21: The prophecy came not by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Without the outward Word, however, they were not holy, much less would the Holy Ghost have moved them to speak when they still were unholy [or profane]; for they were holy, says he, since the Holy Ghost spake through them.

The blabbermouths say they worship Jesus, not Luther. They name Jesus but leave people in utter confusion about how they are brought to trust in the Word, justified by faith, and included in the Kingdom of God.

As I showed on an earlier post, WELS/ELS together reject the Book of Concord while claiming to have a quia subscription to the Confessions. No one needs an essay from the big green WELS Talmud to prove the case. Both sects have an unrestrained love for every doctrine except Luther's. When challenged, they repeat the errors of UOJ.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Compare and Contrast - On Justification

The picture is absurd, but so is UOJ.




Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Introduction to the WELS Zarling Essay":

A simple exercise in doctrinal discernment. Compare the following Confessional statements. Is there a difference? Now ask your pastor, professor, parents and fellow congregation members why there is a difference between The Lutheran Confessions and the (W)ELS doctrinal teaching on the central doctrine of Christian faith - Justification by Faith Alone.

THE LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS
"1. That the human race is truly redeemed and reconciled with God through Christ, who, by His faultless [innocency] obedience, suffering, and death, has merited for us the righteousness which avails before God, and eternal life. 2. That such merit and benefits of Christ shall be presented, offered, and distributed to us through His Word and Sacraments. 3. That by His Holy Ghost, through the Word, when it is preached, heard, and pondered, He will be efficacious and active in us, convert hearts to true repentance, and preserve them in the true faith. 4. That He will justify all those who in true repentance receive Christ by a true faith, and will receive them into grace, the adoption of sons, and the inheritance of eternal life." Formula of Concord, SD, XI. #15. Of God's Eternal Election. Concordia Triglotta

(W)ELS
"And yet many Lutherans still labor under the delusion that God does not forgive us unless we believe. Instead of seeing faith as nothing more than the spiritual hand with which we make the forgiveness of God our own, they see it as a reason why God forgives us. They believe that Christ has indeed provided forgiveness for all men, that God is willing to forgive them, but before he really forgives he first of all demands that we should be sorry for our sins and that we should have faith. Just have faith they say, and then God will forgive you. All the right words are there. The only thing wrong is that the words are in the wrong order. God does not forgive us IF we have faith. He has forgiven us long ago when he raised his Son from the dead." (p. 59) (W)ELS doctrinal book Our Great Heritage

"When we speak of objective justification, we mean (33) that justification is complete. It does not need to be completed by faith or any other work. It is (34) finished, perfect. God has declared the world righteous for Jesus' sake. This is an objective (35) reality, whether anyone believes it or not. Even if the whole world rejected the message of the (36) gospel, it would still remain an objective reality that God had acquitted the world of sin." Page 5
http://scdwels.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/schleicher-paper.pdf

(68)"But, sadly, Satan worked and continues to (69) work within the Lutheran ranks. Some wanted to make justification an act of God “at the moment of faith” and so (70) they denied and even rejected universal, objective justification." Page 4, The Doctrine of Justification since the Reformation, Pastor Nate Bourman WELS
http://scdwels.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/justification-paper.pdf

"But universal and objective justification is one doctrine whose place in the victorious Christian life is clear. Wherever men teach that faith comes first as a condition that must be fulfilled or a work that must be done or even as a fact that must be recognized before forgiven is bestowed or becomes real, men will be trained to look into their own hearts for assurance rather than to the words and promises of God. If my sins are forgiven only if I first have faith then I have no solid foundation on which to rest my hope for eternal life. I must then know that I have faith before I can know that my sins are forgiven." Page 13, Objective Justification By Dr. Siegbert W. Becker / The Importance of Objective Justification
http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BeckerJustification.PDF

Remembrance Day: At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month « Churchmouse Campanologist

Remembrance Day: At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month « Churchmouse Campanologist


(For those who may have missed it, here is my 2009 Remembrance Sunday post.)
The event commemorates the time of day the war ended. At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front finally fell silent after more than four years of brutal trench warfare … The poetic timing of the event, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, helped to cement it in grateful public affections. Up to 13 million people died in the conflict that destroyed the empires of Germany, Austria, Russia and Turkey.
In May 1919, an Australian journalist, Edward George Honey, wrote a letter to the London Evening News in which he proposed a respectful silence to remember those who had given their lives in the war. The letter caught the attention of King George V and on 7 November he issued a proclamation which called for a two minute silence. On the first anniversary of the armistice four days later, the two minutes’ silence was instituted as part of the main commemorative ceremony at the new Cenotaph in London. In Britain, the second Sunday of November is now known as Remembrance Sunday. At 11am on this day, a two minute silence is observed at war memorials, cenotaphs, religious services and shopping centres throughout the country.
At the west end of the Nave of Westminster Abbey is the grave of the Unknown Warrior, whose body was brought from France to be buried here on 11 November 1920. The grave, which contains soil from France, is covered by a slab of black Belgian marble from a quarry near Namur. On it is the … inscription, composed by Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster …
Around the main inscription are four texts:
(top) THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS,
(sides) GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS and UNKNOWN AND YET WELL KNOWN, DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE,
(base) IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE.
The idea of such a burial seems first to have come to a chaplain at the Front, the Reverend David Railton (1884-1955), when he noticed in 1916 in a back garden at Armentières, a grave with a rough cross on which were pencilled the words “An Unknown British Soldier”. In August 1920 he wrote to the Dean of Westminster, Herbert Ryle, through whose energies this memorial was carried into effect. The body was chosen from unknown British servicemen exhumed from four battle areas, the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. (The number of bodies exhumed varies in different accounts between four and six). The remains were brought to the chapel at St. Pol on the night of 7 November 1920. The General Officer in charge of troops in France and Flanders, Brigadier General L.J.Wyatt, with Colonel Gell, went into the chapel alone, where the bodies on stretchers were covered by Union Flags. They had no idea from which area the bodies had come. General Wyatt selected one and the two officers placed it in a plain coffin and sealed it. The other bodies were reburied.
We will remember.


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GJ - We cannot say enough about the sacrifices of our military and their families. 

Introduction to the WELS Zarling Essay


Mark Zarling, President of Martin Luther Church Growth College, gave this UOJ essay
at Roger Zehm's Martin Luther Church Growth Congregation.
Zehms helped take the murderous adulterer Tabor into WELS.
The murder came later.



loroffpj has left a new comment on your post "Question and Answer with MLC President Zarling Ton...":

Will you just stop this please? I find your comments to be very hurtful and narrow-minded. I do understand that everyone is entitled to their  (sic) own opinions, but as a WELS member I don't like this blatant opposition to our synod, and your constant ridicule of us really hurts.

loroffpj has left a new comment on your post "WELS Still Defending Their Gay, Illegal Video":

Will you just stop it with all this gay stuff? You're not perfect yourself, you know.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck our of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)

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MLC_Student has left a new comment on your post "Introduction to the WELS Zarling Essay":

annnd here's your typical ignorant, MLC student taking Holy Mother Synod over correct doctrine. I submit to you that he's the narrow minded one that's been brainwashed since birth and fails to do any research of his own.

Patrick, I encourage you to read the WLS essay files and Synod statements and compare them with what the Confessions say and with what scripture says. Also, check out Thy Strong Word.


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GJ - Another irony - I received these anonymous comments on Luther's birthday.

My opposition is not to any synod. This blog concentrates on doctrinal apostasy in all synods. The Wisconsin sect is especially hypocritical in:
  1. Talking fellowship principles while plagiarizing Groeschel and others, attending a wide variety of Schwaermer schools.
  2. Teaching against homosexuality while producing a homosexual video at Martin Luther (sic) College.
  3. Threatening to discipline false teachers while promoting them to leadership positions.
  4. Talking up justification while presenting a bungled version of Universalism.

The Zarling essay is a classic, because it reveals so much background information about WELS and their favorite UOJ sources. For instance, "two sides of the same coin" comes from Mischke, the WELS SP who did the most to establish Church Growth and fellowship with ELCA. Gurgle tried hard to catch up, but he was ousted before he could ruin the synod completely. He is back for another try, down in Texas, like Napoleon escaped from Elba.

Texas WELS is hotter than Georgia asphalt for UOJ - and Emergent Church, Exponential, Ed Stetzer, and the rest of the yokels from Fuller/Willow Creek.

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Gems from this essay, courtesy of Brett Meyer:

“the glorious Gospel: In Jesus, God has declared the entire world righteous and forgiven, irregardless of whether or not the world believes it. Such is the jewel described by objective, universal, or general justification.” Page 2



“Likewise a verdict of acquittal was declared on all men because of the righteousness of Christ.” Page 5



Quoting Permit Stoeckhardt, “If God has already in Christ justified all men and forgiven their sins, then I also in Christ have a gracious God and the forgiveness of all my sins.” Page 5



“Irregardless of man's faith, God declares the world just.” Page 6



“Our salvation is an accomplished fact. It is done. It is finished. The resurrection is the proof that God has declared the sinners justified!” Page 6



“Faith does nothing more than receive the forgiveness which is offered in the Gospel. It is not a condition we fulfill nor is it a cause of forgiveness. We are already forgiven.” Page 7



“Simply present Law and Gospel. Warn sinners that unbelief damns, and rejection of Christ will bring eternal torment. Then comfort them with the glorious objective reality that all sins are already forgiven in Christ.” Page 7



“The Bible says, "God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." God's will has been carried out on the cross. Salvation has been accomplished for all people. The world is declared just. God's will has been carried out by the work of Christ. Just because men in unbelief reject that salvation doesn't mean it was not effected. Such unbelievers will be damned eternally for turning their backs on Jesus. Yet their unbelief does not nullify the work of Christ. Justification is an objective and universal fact.” Page 9

WELS Zarling UOJ Essay, Pages 1-4




WELS Zarling UOJ Essay, Pages 5-8








WELS Zarling UOJ Essay, Pages 9-12




WELS Zarling UOJ Essay, Pages 13-16