There is a God has left a new comment on your post "Blizzard Sign - DQ Blizzards Are Much Better":
Luther (COMFORT FOR WOMEN
WHO HAVE HAD A MISCARRIAGE, 1542)
"...because the mother is a believing Christian it is to be hoped that her heartfelt cry
and deep longing to bring her child to be baptized will be accepted by God as an effective prayer."
"Who can doubt that those Israelite children who died before they could be circumcised on
the eighth day were yet saved by the prayers of their parents in view of the promise that God
willed to be their God. God (they say) has not limited his power to the sacraments, but has made
a covenant with us through his word."
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There is a God has left a new comment on your post "Luther on the Early Deaths of Babies":
Footnote:
“So I consider and hope that the good and merciful God is well-intentioned toward these infants who do not receive baptism through no fault of their own or in disregard of his manifest command of baptism.
“Yet [I consider] that he does not and did not wish this to be publicly preached or believed because of the iniquity of the world, so that what he had ordained and commanded would not be despised. For we see that he has commanded much because of the iniquity of the world, but does not constrain the godly in the same way.
“In summary, the Spirit turns everything for those who fear him to the best, but to the obstinate he is obstinate” [Ps. 18:27].
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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Blizzard Sign - DQ Blizzards Are Much Better":
Pr. Joel.
We have lost twice on a miscarriage.
Prior to writing my piece, I thought about the question of the fate of people who have never heard.
You said...
I'm sorry, that child you loved so much is now suffering in hell for all eternity?"
This is of course a strawman with an emotional appeal.
However, it is equally wrong to state unequivocally too that they are in heaven, for if that is the case, why would you comfort the parents who have lost their child? Their sadness has no merit, in fact they should rejoice that they had a miscarriage, for after all who would not want their child to be not in heaven? IF it is true that babies who died are all in heaven, their parents' sadness is grounded in false feelings. They should be rallied to rejoice and wipe off tears from their eyes, the death of their babies are trivial, is it not? Is it not the case that they are feeling sad for something that in reality they should feel good about?
LPC
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GJ - One consideration is the false absolution of America--and the world--that massive abortions do not matter because all babies go to heaven. Babies are not born perfect and without sin. The Old Adam is more developed in adults but still there in newborns.
Another consideration is the fear and anxiety of Christian parents who lose a baby after the child is baptized. A Lutheran who knows the Word and the Confessions can comfort the parents with the truth, that justification by faith happens through the Word used with water. The faith of an infant is the purest of all, as Chytraeus wrote. More on that in another post.
I baptized our two daughters, but that does not mean I never grieve for them. We lost both of them in February, and we miss them now more than ever before. But God heals grief through the Gospel, blunting the pain and transforming it to joy. We laugh about one or the other daughter almost every day. I am quite sure that no one who has lost a child--whether by miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, disease, or accident--can deny the pain. Our society is evil for pretending that a child can be killed to solve embarrassment or to save money, that it will not leave behind a wake of emotional and spiritual pain.
I feel sorry for the WELS thugs who prate about the Gospel but use the death of two baptized, disabled Lutheran girls to attack orthodox Lutheran doctrine. Such is the desperate state of WELS pastoral work that a Groeschel plagiarist like Tim Glende can do that with impunity from the snake-pit of an anonymous blog. I wonder if he tells people he visited Erin Joy in the hospital. Such are the fruits of UOJ, Church and Change, and graduation from The Sausage Factory.
The Luther quotations say everything better than I can. We trust in the mercy of God, as Christian believers. The Gospel does not mean offering a false Gospel to the unbelieving world, to say that Judas Iscariot, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler are all guilt-free saints. UOJ is the repudiation of the Gospel, juggling the Word.
The blessing of Christian parenthood is enjoyed by the children, the fruit of that love. This is where the Roman Catholic Church gets into casuistry about the "baptism of intent" with its Baltimore Catechism nonsense. They say, "You intended to baptize the baby, so that counts as the baptism of intent."
Instead we trust in the love and mercy of God, because the Word teaches us about His nature and Christ exemplifies it throughout the Scriptures.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin because they do not utterly trust in Me. John 16.
Lack of faith in Christ is the foundational sin from which all other sins arise. The corrupt, greedy, double-dealing Lutheran corporations do not have the Gospel and cannot teach this. They love their UOJ because no one can comprehend it. Now that people are reading the priceless gems of UOJ, the high-priests of malarkey are anxious and frightened.
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Daniel Baker has left a new comment on your post "Blizzard Sign - DQ Blizzards Are Much Better":
If pro-life activists unequivocally believe that aborted infants get a free ticket to heaven, they are the cruelest people I can possibly imagine. Why fight to bring a soul into this life of sin and evil when they could spend an eternity in heavenly bliss?
If aborted babies go to heaven, we need to press immediately for wide-spread abortion, especially in third world countries where the Word is not readily spread!
Of course, I am being sarcastic. On the other side of the coin, however, I do not wish to pontificate on the idea that unborn infants spend eternity in hell. That concept is truly base, to the extent that I really don't even want to think about it. Moreover, it would certainly be heartless and cruel to bring up such things in the presence of one who has recently lost an unborn child.
Having said all of that, if one cannot see the danger in this line of thinking, they are an ignoramus. I side with Dr. Luther in this matter, and quote his words from the document There is a God cited:
"Enough has been said about this. Therefore one must leave such situations to God and take comfort in the thought that he surely has heard our unspoken yearning and done all things better than we could have asked."
8 comments:
Footnote:
“So I consider and hope that the good and merciful Cod is well-intentioned toward these
infants who do not receive baptism through no fault of their own or in disregard of his
manifest command of baptism.
“Yet [I consider] that he does not and did not wish this to be publicly preached or believed because of the iniquity of the world, so that what he had ordained and commanded
would not be despised. For we see that he has commanded much because of the iniquity of the world, but does not constrain the godly in the same way.
“In summary, the Spirit turns everything for those who fear him to the best, but to the obstinate he is obstinate” [Ps. 18:27].
"...because the mother is a believing Christian it is to be hoped..."
"So I consider and hope..."
"Who can doubt that those Israelite children..."
These are emotional statements and not Scripture passages that establish prayer and hope as another Means of Grace aside from God's Word and Baptism.
Luther's writings need to be tested against Scripture as much as any man. These statements do not have a Scriptural foundation and in fact are contrary to it.
"God (they say) has not limited his power to the sacraments, but has made a covenant with us through his word."
This issue is not about establishing God's power - God is omnipotent. The issue is what has God ordained to be the Means of Grace by which he brings a man to faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins and salvation. Scripture on this is abundant and clear that only through the Word and that Word with the water of Baptism does the Holy Spirit graciously work contrition and faith by which a man dies to sin, having been under the Law, and is raised again to life to live under grace by faith in Christ.
The error of UOJ destroys the ability for the one who confesses it to accept what God has ordained, to understand what unbelief truly is and the importance of refuting and removing false doctrine, false practice and false teachers from leading people away from the one true faith.
Then listen to James' inspired words:
"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment." (James 2:12,13)
Let James say it again: "Mercy triumphs over judgment."
Listen again to our Lord Jesus: "...go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" (Mt. 9:13)
The Lutheran Confessions
Article IX: Of Baptism.
1] Of Baptism they teach that it is necessary 2] to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God's grace.
3] They condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the baptism of children, and say that children are saved without Baptism.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.php#article8.3
Abraham was not baptized. In fact he was not circumcised for some time after his faith was credited to him as righteousness.
I agree Joe. It is the Word which works. And whether alone or in Baptism the Holy Spirit works through it to convert all those God the Father has called to believe in His Son. Emotional appeals aside, Scripture and the Confessions are very clear about the doctrine of Original Sin and the consequences of dying without faith in Christ worked graciously through the Means of Grace.
Article II: Of Original Sin.
1] Also they teach that since the fall of Adam all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with 2] concupiscence; and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Ghost.
3] They condemn the Pelagians and others who deny that original depravity is sin, and who, to obscure the glory of Christ's merit and benefits, argue that man can be justified before God by his own strength and reason.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.php#article1.5
We know that Mary was born with original sin. We also know that Mary was a believer and that she was sinless in God's sight. Since believers have the gift of the Spirit, they are holy in God's sight. So Jesus was born of a holy woman. I think believing parents who lose their offspring before they are born can take comfort in this: That these unborn children are sanctified by their parents faith. We don't know the mysteries of God. These children have not received faith as we perceive it should be, but how do we know that faith is rejected? I am not saying this is so...but it may be what Luther was getting at.
Instead we trust in the love and mercy of God, because the Word teaches us about His nature and Christ exemplifies it throughout the Scriptures
This is what I mean when we trust that God is just and righteous, part of God being righteous is his mercy. What I mean is that God knows what to do and what he decides we humbly submit our will to his.
I cannot check the Luther quote just supplied above, I am poor when it comes to Luther resources...but even Luther (I will trust and grant for the moment that the quotation is accurate) seems to be much guarded when he said...
“Yet [I consider] that he does not and did not wish this to be publicly preached or believed because of the iniquity of the world, so that what he had ordained and commanded would not be despised
LPC
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