Best Bible Translation
First of all, people need an accurate Bible translation. For years, WELS Leftists have bewitched people with the union NIV. The same apostates now want to force the New NIV on everyone, a translation simply loaded with political and anti-Christian views (such as Adam as a myth and feminazi language).
The KJV has direct lineage from Luther. Tyndale was burned at the stake for producing the first all-English translation from the original languages, a prodigious feat. Luther's Bible is called the uncle of the English Bible. Luther's influence upon Tyndale is traced in this website.
Without a good Bible, people are led into the wilderness of Enthusiasm, because the bad translations are inaccurate, political, and anti-Sacramental. They also eliminate many verses from the New Testament, based on theories less substantial than the Area 51 landings.
The Little Three have completely failed in Biblical leadership, for promoting substandard, erroneous, and misleading translations, abandoning the Nephew of Luther's Bible, the KJV.
The Little Three could easily use the KJV 21 or another modern version of the KJV. I still prefer the KJV and can easily explain unusual wordings like "our conversation is in heaven."
The Efficacy of the Word
The Scriptures reveal the efficacy of the Word. Isaiah 55:8-11 clearly teaches that God's Word always contains the divine power and purpose of the Holy Spirit. This constant association of the Holy Spirit and the Word gives us certainty about God's will and actions.
KJV Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to
the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Doubting Efficacy Is Anti-Biblical, Anti-Lutheran
Doubting the efficacy of the Word is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, showing an antagonism toward the Scriptures and Lutheran doctrine. Luther consistently taught the efficacy of the Word because he was a faithful exegete throughout his ministry.
KJV 1 Corinthians 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
The explosion of methods, programs, plans, surveys, statistics, and entertainment can be linked to a lack of trust in God's Word. For that reason, clergy plan instead of preaching. They rely on pre-digested materials instead of teaching on the basis of their own study of the Word. They do not take the Gospel to their own shut-in members, let alone the unbelievers and spiritually inert.
The Gospel
The entire Bible, says Luther, is a sermon about Jesus. The Gospel not only includes Christ dying for the sins of the world, but all promises and blessings from God.
The primary preaching of the Law is to show people this sin - that they do not utterly trust in Christ for their forgiveness.
KJV John 16:8 And when He [the Holy Spirit] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see Me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 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.
Thus the Gospel plants and sustains faith in the hearts of those who hear it. God creates and sustains this faith through His Gospel and declares us forgiven - justification by faith.
The Visible Word
Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are the Gospel in visible form, always efficacious. For that reason we should always uphold the blessing of infant baptism and teach against those Baptists and Pentecostals who denounce it as heresy.
Likewise, Holy Communion must be closed and offered frequently to demonstrate the significance of the Word in saving and condemning.
Pastoral Work in the Word
The pastor has no other calling than to preach his own sermons, based on his own study. He should offer the Sacraments without hesitation or shame, and to take Word out on visits to shut-ins, the hospitalized, the grieving, and the spiritually indolent.
Luther and the Book of Concord
Ankle-biters like to go over minor conflicts from the last century, so they can spend a few more months pounding an issue rather than teaching the Gospel. If they spent time with the sermons of Luther and the Book of Concord, they would have something to teach.
The study of Luther's doctrine has been in complete collapse for decades, with all the synod leaders (Big Four) spending their time with the Enthusiasts at Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, Mars Hill, Trinity Divinity, Granger, North Point, Sweet, and worse.
If a pastor or pastoral candidate understands the efficacy of the Word, he will make that the foundation of all he does, excluding:
- Most living authors.
- Synodical position papers, essays, and other trivia.
- Sermonic books.
Given the Biblical teaching of the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace, there can be no forgiveness apart from that faith created by the Gospel.
