Thursday, January 6, 2011

Conclusion - Luther versus the UOJ Pietists - Justification by Faith




Chapter 6: Justification By Faith Assumes the Efficacy of the Word


            Many people bewail the condition of the Lutheran church bodies in North America. The congregations and schools are failing, while the cost of a Lutheran education has quickly pushed that essential into the elitist category. Room, board, and tuition at my alma mater, Augustana, is now $40,000 per year. A Wisconsin Synod college is about $25,000 per year. To avoid the Ivy League cost of a Missouri Synod seminary, that synod offers alternative programs, reducing academic requirements and doctrinal training. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is facing massive defections from the expected results of teaching universal forgiveness and political activism for the last 50 years or more, including the pre-ELCA days of the LCA and ALC. The ELCA is so removed from historic Christianity that Carl Braaten is touted as a confessional dissenter, a dinosaur from the past, and he was always opposed in print to the articles of faith. The solutions offered to these problems are many and varied, all mistaken and bound to make matters worse.
            More money will not help the so-called conservative Lutherans: the former members of the Synodical Conference, the Wisconsin Synod, the Missouri Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The extraordinary Marvin Schwan donations promoted even more apostasy and wasteful spending. The two main groups leaving the ELCA are happy to be free, but they seem to be intent on rolling back the clock a decade or two, meaning they will eventually arrive at the same point again, even if ELCA is even worse in all respects.
            The issues debated are symptoms rather than causes. For example, women’s ordination is a symptom of teaching against the efficacy of the Word, a problem which is pandemic in all synods. The conservatives are working around the prohibition against female clergy, but they still present it as Law. “This is forbidden, so we will not do it.” They fail to teach male spiritual leadership as a positive response to the effectiveness of the Word. Women will always become default spiritual leaders if the men refuse to be leaders in their own homes, churches, and synods. Women pastors will always supplant male leadership, but male leadership will encourage the participation of men and women in receiving the blessings of the Means of Grace.
            If God allows the world to continue another century, this blighted time will be known as Era of Gimmicks, or We Trust Everything Except the Word of God. How else can anyone explain that 99% of all Lutherans have leadership trained at Fuller Seminary, the home of Church Growth and the citadel of Emergent Church? Fuller graduates dominate the old Synodical Conference. The ELCA mission people have the same doctrinal DNA. They all share Enthusiasm, separating the Holy Spirit from the Word, not trusting the Word alone to accomplish God’s will. The foundation is not merely weakened – it is missing. Congregations and synods still live from the blessings of the past, when their leaders trust the Word, but that is quickly coming to an end.
            Believers would love to see their church bodies engage in a serious study of the Book of Concord, but a corrupt corporation is bound to usurp a proper effort and turn it into Confessional Treasures and Sharing Your Treasures. When all the denominations tried to get together in the 19th century, which was called the Interchurch Movement, they agreed on one thing – raising money. They built the current building for the National Council of Churches and collapsed. In contrast, individuals today will need to take this study up on their own and rely on relatively few books. The correct attitude toward the Scriptures and the Book of Concord is needed.
            Lutheran orthodoxy can be defined as simply as 1-2-3.
1. The Scriptures
            First of all, the Scriptures are the very Word of God. The verses are individually the Voice of God. The entire Bible is one, unified truth – the Book of the Holy Spirit. But more than that, the Word works God’s will upon the person who studies it with an honest and sincere heart. We are weak, frail, impulsive creatures, tossed about by events and emotions, temptations and crises. The Word deepens our faith in God’s power - first to forgive our sins completely, secondly to guide our lives, and finally to bless us in many different ways. The most painful lesson is the cross. Lutherans easily use the phrase – Christ crucified for our sins. The difficult part is knowing the Word brings the cross, that this cross is a blessing. European Lutherans always taught, “No cross, no crown,” using a symbol of a cross surrounded by a crown. American Lutheran leaders teach, “No glory, no crown, no call.”
            Lutheran leaders cannot be trusted to provide a decent English Bible because there is so much money in backing a bad translation, as they did with the NIV. Lutherans should study the translation closest to Luther’s, which is the Tyndale-King James Version. Those who find the older English of the KJV an obstacle can always start with a modern version of the KJV and compare it with the KJV, especially in the sections about the sacraments.[1]
2. The Confessions
            The Book of Concord is not God’s Word but man’s witness to God’s Word. Lutherans are the only group where its leaders have put together a harmonious (Concordia) set of documents that defines their beliefs in relationship to the historic Church of the ages. When we read the Book of Concord, we are not saying, “This makes us Lutheran,” but “This is the universal, correct Christian faith, as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures.”
            The greatest theologians in the history of Christianity wrote the Book of Concord, but lazy pastors and members call it “irrelevant, old-fashioned, and boring.” Martin Luther and Martin Chemnitz are the greatest theologians of the Christian Church, not just the Lutheran Church. Melanchthon and Chytraeus are the third and fourth greatest. When people view the Book of Concord as their most compact and useful one-volume Bible commentary, they start to see its value. The Triglotta is the best version, and the Tappert is the best portable version, along with the Heiser English-only Triglotta.           
            Bente’s Historical Introductions to the Book of Concord are modular, just like the Confessions. A student of Christian doctrine can read about one controversy at a time, or study an infinitely detailed description of the origin of the Confessions. The Introductions only come with the Triglotta, so owning the big green volume is essential.
3. Luther’s Sermons
            Luther has 30 volumes of sermons in the Weimar Edition. I question whether many volumes in the American Edition Luther’s Works are read thoroughly. They look good on a pastor’s shelf, even better in a District President’s bookcase. Believers should begin with Luther’s Sermons, always going back to them, to read and digest their spiritual wisdom. Luther’s Reformation was a revolution in preaching, a rebirth of the sermon, and Luther believed in the power of the sermon. He said, “If you cannot preach an entire hour, preach at least 30 minutes.”
            Luther’s devotion to the sermon itself, even more than his incredible number of publications, was based upon his consistent belief in the efficacy of the Word alone.
The preaching of this message may be likened to a stone thrown into the water, producing ripples which circle outward from it, the waves rolling always on and on, one driving the other, till they come to the shore. Although the center becomes quiet, the waves do not rest, but move forward. So it is with the preaching of the Word. It was begun by the apostles, and it constantly goes forward, is pushed on farther and farther by the preachers, driven hither and thither into the world, yet always being made known to those who never heard it before, although it be arrested in the midst of its course and is condemned as heresy.[2]

For that reason we ought to know Luther’s theology first through his sermons and use them to deepen our understanding of the Word. If Lutheran pastors and laity are so busy, why do they take the time to read drivel when they can study the greatest of all Christian writers?
            A handy, attractive, and inexpensive edition of Luther’s Sermons can be obtained from Grand Rapids – of all places. The Lenker set and the Klug set are combined in seven volumes. They are also an incentive for preaching from the Historic Pericopes instead of the Roman Catholic three-year cycle. The ministers who need more insights have two to four  sermons for each observance in the church year. The laity have the same advantage.       
God’s Only Method – The Means of Grace
            Man may arrange convention votes to obtain a temporary document in opposition to God’s Word, but those efforts based on trickery, collusion, bribes, and threats do not produce the truth. God forgives only through the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. That forgiveness is not like man’s where past sins are dredged up and rehearsed. With God’s justification, they are removed from man completely. First of all, God has graciously provided the payment for our sins in the crucifixion of His Only-Begotten Son. Then He has appointed the Holy Spirit to give us this treasure to us through His Word and Sacraments.
Believing  in Christ is forgiveness. The universal atonement of Christ is God’s action. Preaching the Gospel is arranged and guided by God. God creates trust through this faithful preaching of the Gospel Promises, and that Word-energized faith receives what God offers so freely.
God has provided the Means of Grace as His only method, yet congregations and pastors make themselves so busy doing other things that they neglect the sermon, hide Holy Communion, and move Holy Baptism out of prime time. Nothing reveals modern hatred for the Word more than a rumpled minister in casual clothes, copying a Groeschel sermon and graphics, serving popcorn and cola, and entertaining the audience with rock music.
Ministers and members must return to the motto of Luther – that faithfulness is success, that God will bring about His will through the Word and in no other way. For that reason a major part of the week must be set aside for studying the Word and Confessions, preparing the sermon carefully, broadcasting it as freely as possible, a pun based on Mark 4 and reliant on the new printing press, the Internet.
Congregations must become as proud of the sacraments as they are of the parking lot, carillon, and pit band. Every service should provide Holy Communion for all those members who wish to receive this medicine for the soul. Closed communion should be taught as a reflection of how powerful the Word is to condemn faithless reception, how powerful in preparing us for eternal life.
Every baptism should be a major part of the service, reflected upon in the sermon and aided with appropriate printed materials. Let every opponent of infant baptism and infant faith squirm helplessly while the Promises of God are proclaimed, for faith makes us bold. In large print, have the bulletin say “Baptism now saves” (1 Peter 1:21) and “Unless one believes as a child…”
No one needs to look for the cross when the pure Word is taught. The cross will be laid upon our shoulders, surely a milder and small cross than the Savior bore. If we ever doubt the survival of the Old Adam in the midst of the Means of Grace, the pinching and scraping of the cross as we complain will remind us. Like the grief that speaks hope form the Gospel about eternal life, the pain of the cross will transform sorrow into joy, showing that the precious, holy cross is indeed the work of God.


[1] The Baptists and Pentecostals—who are the natural market for the updated KJVs—are also the very people who do not like “Baptism now saves you” and “communion with the Body of Christ.”
[2] Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 202. Ascension Day Mark 16:14-20.

Things To Do

Stop buying snake oil, for starters.


Things To Do During the Collapse of The Lutheran Church

 

The question is no longer whether the established synods will collapse but when people will finally acknowledge that the wonderful one-horse shay of the Lutheran Church has fallen into pieces.

J-1043
“Have you heard of the wonderful one–hoss shay,
That was built in such a logical way
It ran a hundred years to the day…
You see, of course, if you’re not a dunce
How it went to pieces all at once,
All at once and nothing first,
Just as bubbles do when they burst,
End of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
Logic is logic. That’s all I say.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes, (1809-1894), The Deacon’s Masterpiece, A Logical Story, 1854.

The poem is a humorous description of how Puritanism collapsed in New England all at once in spite of its reliance upon logic. The one-hoss shay was built by the parson to last forever and just fell apart. In New England we can see that the Calvinists soon became Unitarians. Almost at once Yale went from teaching the inerrancy of the Bible to making fun of the Virgin Birth in a student/faculty evening of entertainment, where Benjamin Bacon was put on trial and accused of believing in the ancient doctrine.
The established synods are covered in flop-sweat from studying their own statistics. Their worship attendance and regular offerings will plummet in the next two decades, after many previous years of decline. The Tetzels have never done better, holding the feeble hands of elderly widows as they sign irrevocable gifts over to the synod, making their dupes think they are helping their church (as in congregations) when they are dumping treasure on the synod. The estate gifts will increase the arrogance of the synod officials and the decline of the Lutheran Church, similar to giving a wastrel a lump sum of money to improve his life and character.522 As noted before, the synods also face a precipitous decline in ordinations at a time when all the professions are recruiting the same people.523 Once, late entry into seminary was looked upon with great skepticism and discouraged in every possible way. One bishop said, “Men who enter the ministry late also tend to leave quickly, because they cannot abide the way they are treated. We do better with young men who have never enjoyed the benefits and efficiency of the business world.” Now the conservative seminaries are filled with older men, who are no less able to serve than younger men. However, the new seminary graduates have far fewer years to serve in the ministry, even if they stay until retirement.
Roman doctrine has taken over the Lutheran synods to such an extent that the pyramid of lapdogs all teach what his excellency, the Antichrist, infallibly declares in Rome. Some of them are a little shy about Marian doctrine and Purgatory, but they emphatically stand for the substance of papal error, as listed below:

1.    Each time Lutheran leaders want to assault a Biblical doctrine, they declare that it is suddenly a “gray area of Scripture.” The word “gray” is stretched out, as in g – r – a – y. As Chemnitz noted, this is the tactic used by Rome when clobbered in public debates while using the Scriptures to defend themselves. The Church of Rome originated the historical critical method to dispose of the Word. Indefensible errors are beyond the reach of the clear Word of God, because God has hidden His will in many g – r – a – y passages. Once the clarity (perspicuity) of the Scriptures is jettisoned, all sound doctrine vanishes.524

2.    The ultimate authority is the visible church, not the Scriptures or the writings of orthodox theologians. Lutherans hide behind the most obnoxious attacks on the Christian faith by saying, “The synod has said,” reminding me of the periodical in the Notre Dame library, The Pope Speaks. In addition, no one can question false doctrine when the synod has established it as true, whether it is justification without faith (LCMS, WELS, ELS) or self-love (Church of the Lutheran Confession, Concordia Lutheran Conference).

3.    Tradition is more important than the Word of God, and the pope (synod president) decides what this ever-changing tradition is. The little Antichrists will make ministers and laity pay for questioning their infallible authority. It’s fun to be the pope.

4.    Lutherans have pursued the cult of personality as assiduously as the Church of Rome and the Reformed. Instead of extolling the ministry of the Word, discerning the spirits, and judging according to Scriptures, Lutheran leaders cover their foul deeds by assuming a cloak of invulnerability. “He is not a false teacher. He is a nice guy.” That response is no more Scriptural than saying, “I will not discuss doctrine with you, because you are a bad person.” Watch the work of various Lutheran synods and see how the public relations people glory in the person holding the office rather than in the Means of Grace.

5.    Lutheran leaders believe in justification according to works. The entire system has been based upon leaders posing as great church builders, politicians, and man-pleasers, devoid of any firm theological convictions ever since the 1930s. Just as the pope rises to his position through a lifetime of deft political moves, so the Lutheran synods have rewarded wily politicians for positioning themselves as pragmatic saviors of the synod. Theologians are pets to be dragged to conferences, not leaders of the synod.

6.   Lutheran leaders agree with the Antichrist that no one is really forgiven. Graciousness is gone from the Lutheran Church, especially among the conservative poseurs. The lack of clergy candidates may be based upon years of observing various synod leaders obstruct justice when their pals are criminals, meanwhile crushing faithful men and destroying their capacity to do any meaningful work while driving them from the ministry and slandering them in the process.

7.   The Church of Rome has its Opus Dei, a secret society dedicated to accumulating power. Lutheran groups have their own secret groups as well. The pan-Lutheran homosexual network is one. Some in ELCA simply call it the Network. The Church Growth Janissaries are another faction, eager to denounce their opponents while denying their true allegiance. The unfeminine feminists are yet another network, working with other activists to obtain their Beelzebub-given rights.

 

Drop Out of Synod Politics

Once we have a proper understanding of the one-hoss shay, pastors can proceed in one of two directions. The first direction is to stay in the same synod [except ELCA] and withdraw from all political efforts, memorials, resolutions, and elections of synodical saviors. It bears repeating that Lutheran pastors will not accomplish God’s work by using Satan’s methods. The moment Lutherans think they can win by electing the right politician, they have defeated themselves by trusting in men rather than the Word. That is why Christian News has been a spectacular failure. Stop by the office of Pastor Herman Otten and you will realize that it is the switchboard for all synodical political moves. Certain appointed men leak the synod’s version of events to Otten, usually asking that these leaks not be published. Marcus Nitz did this for WELS. Steve Kurtzahn did the spin-doctoring for the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Paul McCain is the back door for Al Barry in the LCMS. The ELS gets its message across, helped by the connection with various Ottens attending Bethany College. Fortunately for all of the designated leakers, Herman believes the last person who talked to him. Therefore, the Lutheran switchboard is constantly buzzing with stories, counter-claims, outraged covert answers, denunciations, plots and strategies. The synods make their points through Otten, and the political circles within those synods counter-thrust through Christian News. It is such jolly fun because the conservatives constantly lose ground while congratulating one another on their astute political moves.
If a car has foundered in the mud, and spinning the tires makes it even more stuck, the driver will eventually stop revving the engine and find another solution. Pastors who think they can switch synods [except for leaving ELCA] for a more conservative one are in a dream world, because all the synods are part of the same pyramid of lapdogs. Leaving a synod means giving up friends and adopting a new set of enemies. Bloodlines cross synodical boundaries, so knowing a Tiefel in the CLC is no improvement over meeting one in the WELS. Someone from another synod is never accepted and can never object to anything, because he is “not one of ours.” The Missouri Synod can absorb ELCA pastors who have seen the light, but the smaller synods are horribly inbred, suspicious, and jealous. As Jake Preus, former governor of Minnesota and founder of Lutheran Brotherhood, warned his sons Jack and Robert, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod was too small and petty for men with ability. Jack and Robert were often panned for leaving the ELS for the LCMS, but it can also be said that the ELS made sure the Preus brothers were not welcome, especially since they came over from the much larger Evangelical Lutheran Church. Worst of all, both men had doctorates in a synod (the ELS) where no one else did. Once Ylvisaker and the Preus brothers were gone, the ELS had no intellectual leadership.
Since changing synods is not a worthwhile option, it is good to redesign one’s life according to faith in the efficacy of the Word. The pastor’s primary concern is the spiritual welfare of his congregation. He can simply spend all his time working on the sermon, the classes he teaches, and visitation. When he teaches the pure Word of God without compromise, people will be drawn to the congregation and others will be outraged. The Word will accomplish God’s will, whether it means staying in the congregation as it grows stronger or leaving under a hail of abuse and beginning an independent congregation. Conflict will draw the pastor closer to the Word. Historical antecedents will become especially interesting to study. The Book of Concord and Bente’s Historical Introductions are not at all boring when they are lifelines to doctrinal sanity and clarity. Every time Robert Mueller, Wally Oelhaven, or Floyd Stolzenburg promoted Reformed doctrine, I went back to my office and studied the classic works of the Lutheran Church.

Proclaiming the Efficacious Word

The typical minister has many different opportunities for broadcasting the Word of God and seeing a harvest:

1.       The parish newsletter can be a source of spiritual wisdom and doctrinal teaching rather than a whip to admonish people to greater levels of activity and giving.

2.       Sermons can be printed and recorded on audio and video tape.

3.       The worship bulletin, as noted previously, provides as many as 64 places to discuss the Scriptures and quote great Lutheran theologians.

4.       Many cable television stations must give access to local groups, including churches. At tiny Bethany in New Ulm, we provided weekly doctrinal talks on local cable television for about a year. It is quite a challenge, but worth the effort.

5.       Many congregations now have web pages, so their space can be used to broadcast essays, sermons, and links all over the world. Many of us contact each other only through email and the Internet. Using the website wizard, Microsoft Publisher will create a website with art in a few minutes. The Publisher file converts itself to HTML files. The HTML files can then be loaded on many different free sites, including ones with no ads.

6.       A congregation can reprint a classic no longer circulating, but needed by Lutherans. The cost is difficult for one person to bear but relatively easy for a congregation. Sales will make the effort pay for itself or at least reduce any financial loss.

7.       The act of supporting newly published classic Lutheran books by buying them will help keep them in print.

8.       The congregations owe their children more than passing them through the grades and confirming them in a perfunctory fashion. Every child should reach maturity with a knowledge of the Book of Concord and a love for the Christ-centered hymns of the Lutheran Church.

On the Notorious Iver Johnson - Editor of WELS' Christian Worship


WELS Pastor Stadler, divorced and remarried, was the featured speaker at the 
Columbus WELS Youth Rally.
He was buddies with Wayne Mueller and Paul Kelm - big surprise.
Iver Johnson was on his staff.
Albrecht still is.



Kentucky Born wrote:

Iver Johnson was an ELS pastor and professor for many years. He moved on in his career to become a pastor in a WELS church in W. St. Paul MN. While serving as pastor he conducted a 15 year affair with a church secretary. He was immediately divorced by his wife of some 40 years.

He continued to serve as pastor in W. St. Paul. His congregation was either removed from WELS, or voluntarily removed itself from WELS, over the issue of women in the church at some time during Iver's tenure.

Johnson and his co-pastors prepared a document on the subject. This document Is held in contempt by WELS and ELS because it does not repeat the official WELS spin on the subject. Iver Johnson was considered to be a liberal because of this document.

One of his co-pastors, who was co-officiant at his funeral, is editor of a well-known conservative Lutheran theological journal.

Women now vote in this W.St.Paul congregation. The congregation uses the WELS hymnal. High schoolers attend the nearest WELS high school. No mission moneynor financial goes to WELS HQ.

Iver's children were at the funeral and one of them spoke eloquently about his father. The mother was not in attendance. The second wife, the former church secretary, was there.

Those old acquaintances from Iver's past don't take Iver's thoughts on the question of women in the church very seriously because no one ever accused Iver of being a theologian.

What was felt at the funeral was a sense of great sadness about the wife whom Iver set aside so rudely. There was no mention of her at this funeral. It was as though there were a cloud of acid rain hovering over the assembly.

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Pastor Richard Stadler

Office (651) 457-6343
Mobile (651) 338-8621
email: rstadler@saintjameslutheran.com















       Pastor Stadler was born in Flint, Michigan, graduated from Swartz Creek High School and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, majoring in political science and economics, before transferring to Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin, to prepare for the Seminary.  Before beginning the seminary, he taught English Composition for a year at Dr. Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota. He then completed his training at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin, graduating in 1971. During his seminary training, he served part-time vicarages for congregations in the San Francisco Bay area, Lake Geneva and West Allis, Wisconsin. He also coordinated the inner-city evangelism project for seven inner-city congregations in Milwaukee in 1970 and 1971.         






















    Stadler was assigned as the first pastor of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Tennessee, serving Rock of Ages Lutheran Church in Nashville, and planting a WELS mission congregation in Memphis, Tennessee. He also served as a civilian chaplain to WELS military personnel at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky and Millington Naval Air Station, Memphis, Tennessee.

            In 1975, he accepted the call to serve as associate Pastor at Saint James, together with Pastors Carl Bolle and Iver Johsnon, with special responsibility for evangelism and youth ministry. He also served as a part-time campus pastor at the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1980.   He participated in an archeological dig at Tel Gerisa, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1982, earned a degree in Jewish Studies from the University of Minnesota in 1985, and continues to study Hebrew, Arabic and Jewish studies.

             The congregation called Stadler to assume the responsibilities of Senior Administrative pastor in 1990, when Pastor Johnson moved into partial retirement.  In 1995, he and his colleagues, Pastor Johnson and Pastor Albrecht, were suspended from membership in the WELS, as was the congregation in June, 1995.  He and Pastor Albrecht and Saint James continue to serve as independent, evangelical, confessional Lutherans, not affiliated with any Synod.  In 1999, he spent a 3-month sabbatical in Jerusalem studying the architecture of the temple in first century Judaism and exploring the Dead Sea Scrolls with Scrolls translator Dr. Martin Abegg, at Jerusalem University College. He has also visited the Seminary and congregations of the Bible Faith Lutheran Churches of India three times to teach in the Seminary, preach in the congregations and remind them of Saint James’ support. Since 2001, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metro Lutheran, a pan-Lutheran newspaper published in Minneapolis.  

            During his free time, he enjoys traveling with his wife Cheryl to interesting places, especially Israel, making memories with their grown children and grandchildren, reading, writing songs, taking and collecting photos, and playing golf, tennis and basketball.

















Pastor Albrecht





Pastor Michael Albrecht

Office (651) 457-6796
Mobile (651) 746-4842
email: malbrecht@saintjameslutheran.com





























Pastor Michael J. Albrecht was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1955. His father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather were Lutheran ministers. 

 After graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1982, Pastor Albrecht taught German and American history on the high school level for one year. Then he was assigned to start a new mission congregation in Houston, Texas. That is where he met his wife, Donna. All five of their children were born in Texas. 

 Pastor Albrecht came to Saint James in 1990. He currently works with the Education Committee and the Missions Committee. He recently visited the Bible Faith Lutheran Church of India for the fourth time. He has also made two trips to Prague in the Czech Republic, where our missionary friends, Pastor David Jurech and Pastor Dusan Tillinger are working.

Pastor Albrecht has a special interest in church history, especially Martin Luther and the great Reformation of the 16th century. He has also done research in the writings of Prof. J. P. Koehler and the Wauwatosa Theology, which flourished in the 1920s.























Pastor Rokke














Pastor Ralph Rokke
Office (651) 457-3955
Mobile (612) 281-0808
email:
rrokke@saintjameslutheran.com












































Pastor Ralph M. Rokke was born in 1951, and grew up at Strandquist, Minnesota, graduating from high school there in 1969.  He attended Bemidji State College, and graduated in 1973, with a B.A. degree in English and German.  Then he attended the Association Free Lutheran Theological Seminary, and graduated in 1976, with a B.Th. degree.

 Following ordination on June 13, 1976, Pastor Rokke served a three-church parish at McIntosh and Fosston, Minnesota, for three and a half years, and then a parish in inner-city Minneapolis for sixteen and a half years.   While conducting those ministries, he also earned an S.T.M. degree in 1989, and a D.Min. degree in 1995, both from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

 In 1997, Pastor Rokke was received onto the roster of Ministers of Religion-Ordained of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, and in 1998, he was called to serve at Saint James, an independent Lutheran congregation, through special arrangement between Saint James and the LCMS.  At Saint James Pastor Rokke shares the preaching and teaching responsibilities with the other pastors.  He also works with the Stewardship Committee, and focuses on ministry to seniors, making many home visits and conducting many services at nursing homes and senior residences.
 Pastor Rokke and his wife, Kathi, have two children and five grandchildren.  His hobbies include woodworking, and enjoying and making improvements on the family’s woods-cabin.


***

GJ -Stadler was known, early on, as the pastor who scooped up members who were being disciplined in their own WELS congregations.

How interesting that the Columbus pastors (three divorced, out of six) were so keen on having Stadler be the featured speaker at the WELS youth rally. Pastor Jon Balge said to me, after Stadler preached a weird sermon in his baby-talk lisp, "Thanks for not puking on me during the sermon, Greg."

Since Iver was devoting so much pastor care to their own church secretary, Albrecht and Stadler must have known about it for years. I heard Iver dumped his wife on their 50th anniversary, telling her about a 10-year affair. The numbers blur when these things happen.

Can anyone figure out how Christian Worship became the worst hymnal ever? Iver had connections with the covert SP of WELS, Wayne Mueller.

UOJ excuses everything. Even atheists are appalled by marital infidelity, especially among the clergy. WELS rewards it, and honors the trophy second wife as well.

More on WELS as an abusive cult in the next few days.

Fatal Car Crash

 

The full Article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here.
S. Mpls. car-semi crash now claims lives of husband and wife
PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

The collision between a car and a semitrailer truck in south Minneapolis has now become fatal for a second person in the smaller vehicle, authorities said Thursday.


Kathleen Voss, 70, of Richfield, died late Thursday morning at Hennepin County Medical Center, according to the medical examiner's office. Her husband, driver Verne Voss [WELS pastor], also 70, died Tuesday, about 4 hours after the crash.


The crash happened shortly after 1 p.m., when the car was traveling north on Park Avenue and was struck on the driver's side by the semi, which was heading east on E. 46th Street, police said.

---

The car was traveling north on Park Avenue when it was struck on the driver's side by the semi, which was heading east on E. 46th Street. An investigation continues with the help of the office of the State Commercial Vehicle Inspector. The cause of the crash has not been determined, police said.

---




MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Two people who were hospitalized after a crash in Minneapolis earlier this week have died.


The accident happened Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of East 46th Street and Portland Avenue South. At time of the crash, police said the car was heading northbound on Portland Avenue South, ran a red light and was T-boned by a semi-truck towing a flatbed trailer.


Verne Voss, 70, who was in the car, died a few hours after the crash, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.


His wife, 70-year-old Kathleen Voss, died Thursday from injuries suffered in the crash.

The Minneapolis Police Department is continuing to investigate the crash.


http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/01/06/2-dead-from-injuries-in-minneapolis-crash/

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samuelthrace has left a new comment on your post "Fatal Car Crash":

Are you glad this happened? Do you take pleasure that a WELS pastor made a fatal error? Is his death just another "thing" to you that makes you feel superior to the WELS? If not, why else would you highlight the detail that he ran a red light?

You, sir, are despicable.

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GJ - Everything above is from the Internet. I supposed the news sources are despicable because they reported what the police told them. The police are despicable because they investigated the accident. They should over up the facts to make Holy Mother WELS look perfect.

I believe people should consider auto accidents and think about how they can drive more safely. I recall how the news sources said 1,000 soldiers died in Iraq after several years of fighting. I pointed out to my college classes that we lost that many each year in Arizona, from car crashes.

The red light was highlighted merely because the other reports did not give a cause and people speed read through posts.

Looking for motivation in a verbatim report is rather Eighth Commandish.

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samuelthrace has left a new comment on your post "Fatal Car Crash":

I do have sympathy for the family. It is a great tragedy. I don't think I was "hyperanalyzing" Greg's post. He had no words of sympathy for the family, either. Given his attitude toward the WELS, I don't think I was out of line suggesting that he felt a little superior when he read the article, especially (as noted before) since he highlighted the cause of the accident without a word of sympathy for the family.
Wake up, Jackson lackeys! He is a bitter, bitter man.

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GJ - Pardon me if this new comment reminds me so much of WELS Pastor Tim Glende. This anonymous (no profile) Samuel Thrace has no words of sympathy for the family, only condemnation of a simple, factual post. His two pathetic posts so far are full of rancor and bitterness. The trouble is - it could one of many WELS pastors. They are thin-skinned but eager to condemn. But - not all of them are like Glende. If they were, WELS would be even worse off than it is now.

I know a lot of people read this blog, so I posted the information as a favor to those who follow these things. For Moliners I also post obituaries and death notices on that blog and FB page. I spent some time looking for an obituary for Pastor Voss. So far it has not appeared.

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Anne has left a new comment on your post "Fatal Car Crash":

I find your highlighting of the red light incredibly disturbing and extremely disrespectful. This post is the first time I've seen your blog. (I googled Verne Voss and your blog came up...I'm sure that makes you happy.) It's obvious I don't need to look any further through it. You're a sad man. So sad. Thankfully, Pastor and Kathy won't ever read your heartless copy and paste...and therefore they won't see that you said nothing about them losing their lives and, more importantly, gaining their crown of glory. You are just sad.

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GJ - Another anonymous just found the blog post! How they do crop up and how they all read the same. But they are filled with love and concern...and more WELSian name-calling. They are good at that.

Making information known is "heartless"?

When two MLC students died in another auto crash, I copied what was available, so people could find out for themselves. I did not know them either, but I heard that many appreciated having a place to go for the information.

If you think this makes WELS look good, to send such immature comments anonymously, you must have studied at Mequon.

Anyone who thinks that others rejoice in a car accident is a sick person.

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Vern Voss was a Church Growth leader in WELS and joined the LCMS after retirement.

Justification by Faith Alone is the NT Message, The Book of Concord Witness, The Martin Luther Paradigm



Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Justification in the Book of Concord - From Thy St...":

Luther rejected the Universal Justification, as taught by today's Lutheran Synods and churches, in his sermon on Galations, "You cannot extricate yourself from unbelief, nor can the Law do it for you. All your works in intended fulfilment of the Law must remain works of the Law and powerless to justify in the sight of God, who regards as just only believing children."

http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/MLSermons/Galatians4_1_7.html

God, who regards as just (Justified) only believing children.

The false teachers may try and say that Luther meant Subjective Justification but that is a perversion of what Luther consistently wrote and confessed.

There will never be an end to the (W)ELS deceptive manuever of "Wider" and Narrower" senses or Objective and Subjective. It allows them to interpret God's Word any way they want to suit their desires.

God does not allow for any interpretation of Scripture other than His own through Scripture.
2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

What Makes the Speaker of the House Cry So Often?

Cardinal: pope stunned by anti-Christian violence

Cardinal: pope stunned by anti-Christian violence


Cardinal: pope stunned by anti-Christian violence


By FRANCES D'EMILIO
The Associated Press 
Thursday, January 6, 2011; 11:20 AM
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI is stunned by the wave of violence and intolerance toward Christians around the world, Italy's top churchman said Thursday at Epiphany services.

"Together with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, we are stunned in the face of religious intolerance and so much violence, and we are asking ourselves, in sorrow: why?" said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of Italy's bishops conference in an Epiphany homily in Genoa. Bagnasco, in his role at the influential Italian bishops body, works closely with the pontiff and other Vatican officials.

Christian Copts in Egypt, where a bomb outside a church on Jan. 1 killed 21 people, mark Christmas on Jan. 7, will flock to Christmas vigil services on Thursday evening. Other Orthodox Christians also celebrate Jesus' birth on Jan. 7.

Faith on the Hill: The Religious Composition of the 112th Congress - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Faith on the Hill: The Religious Composition of the 112th Congress - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

How the 112th congress compares with the american public

Wang Lutheran disaffiliates from ELCA, Maynard Lutheran - Granite Falls, MN - Granite Falls Advocate Tribune

Wang Lutheran disaffiliates from ELCA, Maynard Lutheran - Granite Falls, MN - Granite Falls Advocate Tribune

"In fact, this was a “case in point” for the current church, which had been sharing a minister, now The Rev. Brad Larson, with Maynard Lutheran Church. “This has been going on for a couple of years now,” Lerohl added, “but we put it all on hold until after the celebration.”
Several weeks ago a vote was held by the Wang congregation, with 76 percent of its membership voting to disaffiliate with the ELCA. When a second vote was held it passed by 90 percent, along with the agreement to affiliate with another Lutheran group which is yet to be determined.
While this means that a partnership between Wang and Maynard Lutheran will cease to exist, Pastor Larson has agreed and has permission to continue to serve both congregations until Wang finds a different partnership and minister."

Moline, Illinois Food Puts DC on the Map

From CNN and Bernie Hanssen's tip

Pizza man's first day as a Congressman

bobby_schilling_group.top.jpg 

A big crowd of supporters, including his wife, Christie, kids, and the new Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner, came out to celebrate the ceremonial swearing in of Bobby Schilling (wearing a red tie) to Congress. By Catherine Clifford, staff reporter


WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- At the open house gathering to celebrate the official swearing in to Congress of Rep. Bobby Schilling in Washington, D.C., the pizza and ice cream were shipped in from Illinois.
The pizzas came in overnight from Saint Giuseppe's Heavenly Pizza, the shop that Bobby Schilling has owned for 14 years in Moline, Ill. Before deciding to run for Congress, Schilling was a pizza man. And lucky for supporters, there are pizza ovens in the historic D.C. office building, so the pizza was hot.

The ice cream, meanwhile, was shipped on dry ice from a local ice cream legend in Illinois, Whitey's. The owners of Whitey's Ice Cream weren't able to attend the party in D.C., but they wanted to show their support for Schilling on his big day.

For all of Congress, Wednesday was a big day. The 112th Congress was officially sworn in, giving Republicans a majority in the House, while Democrats maintained a slim majority in the Senate. Veteran Rep. John Boehner of Ohio took over the chamber from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But it was an especially big day for the Congressional first timers: Ninety-four new House members took office.

"It has been really, really busy," said Schilling, standing in the hall of the House, waiting to cast a rules vote about 4 p.m. But "I come from the restaurant business; you're talking to a guy used to working 12, 14 hours a day." When there isn't time for a meal, the pizza man resorts to energy bars: it "keeps you so you are not going to pass out," he said.

In addition to the official swearing-in ceremony, a family photo with fellow Republican Boehner to commemorate the day, and his first votes as a member of Congress, Schilling was meeting constituents and new colleagues, and being interviewed by reporters. And if there weren't enough cameras swarming Schilling, there were plenty of kids underfoot: He has ten. And his chief of staff has four, with a fifth on the way. There were kids all over the office, ranging from toddler age on up.

Schilling's son Levi, 18, said coming to D.C. for his father's swearing-in had been a "whirlwind." He flew in on Monday afternoon and the "first thing we did was come to check out my dad's office, that was pretty cool," he said. Since then, the family has been exploring the city from Chinatown to the central train hub, Union Station. The whole experience has been a little strange, though: "I have always known my dad as a pizza guy," said Levi.

With limited seating available in the chamber for the official swearing-in, supporters, friends and family watched two TV screens in Schilling's still-being-set-up office.

Friends and supporters Tim and Gin Wray drove 14 hours from Illinois with their 13-year-old daughter, Sierra, to be there for Schilling's big day. Gin went to high school with Schilling in Rock Island, Ill., and has been helping Schilling's campaign. She has a full time job as a landscaping manager, but helped out with everything from fundraising to watching kids if necessary.

"He is a family man, a business man," said Gin. "To help him get elected and to help him stay elected, I will do whatever he needs me to do."

Small business owners have been especially supportive of Schilling. Not only is Schilling a small business owner himself, but his conservative political agenda favors smaller government, popular on Main Street.
At the open house, Dan Caulkins, the owner of several nursing homes in central Illinois, observed: "This room is really populated with small business owners."

For many newly elected members of Congress, having no experience in Washington was their ticket in.

"He is a fresh face. We share common ideology about the Constitution and limited government," said Caulkins, adding that Schilling is "very honest, open, and he is not a politician and not a lawyer." To top of page

Justification in the Book of Concord - From Thy Strong Word




Augsburg Confession


J-525
"Also they teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, did assume the human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so that there are two natures, the divine and the human, inseparably conjoined in one Person, one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, that He might reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men."
Augsburg Confession, III. #1. Of the Son of God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 45. Tappert, p. 29. Heiser, p. 12.

J-526

“Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for 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. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Romans 3 and 4.”
Augsburg Confession, IV. #1. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 45. Tappert, p. 30. Heiser, p. 12f.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession


J-527
"The Third Article the adversaries approve, in which we confess that there are in Christ two natures, namely, a human nature, assumed by the Word into the unity of His person; and that the same Christ suffered and died to reconcile the Father to us; and that He was raised again to reign, and to justify and sanctify believers, etc., according to the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, III. #52. Of Christ, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 119. Romans 4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:19ff. Tapper, p. 107. Heiser, p. 32.

J-528
"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."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #48. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 135. Heiser, p. 36.

J-529
"Now, that faith signifies, not only a knowledge of the history, but such faith as assents to the promise, Paul plainly testifies when he says, Romans 4:16: 'Therefore it is of faith, to the end the promise might be sure.' For he judges that the promise cannot be received unless by faith. Wherefore he puts them together as things that belong to one another, and connects promise and faith."
            Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV. #51. Of Justification, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 135. Romans 4:16. Tappert, p. 114. Heiser, p. 36.

J-530
"This faith, encouraging and consoling in these fears, receives remission of sins, justifies and quickens. For this consolation is a new and spiritual life [a new birth and a new life]. These things are plain and clear, and can be understood by the pious, and have testimonies of the Church [as is to be seen in the conversion of Paul and Augustine]. The adversaries nowhere can say how the Holy Ghost is given. They imagine that the Sacraments confer the Holy Ghost ex opere operato, without a good emotion in the recipient, as though, indeed, the gift of the Holy Ghost were an idle matter."
            Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV. #63. Of Justification,, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 139. Tappert, p. 115. Heiser, p. 37.

J-531
"Now we will show that faith [and nothing else] justifies."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #69. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 141. Tappert, p. 116. Heiser, p. 37.

J-532
"But to believe is to trust in the merits of Christ, that for His sake God certainly wishes to be reconciled with us. Likewise, just as we ought to maintain that, apart from the Law, the promise of Christ is necessary, so also is it needful to maintain that faith justifies. [For the Law does not preach the forgiveness of sin by grace.] For the Law cannot be performed unless the Holy Ghost be first received. It is, therefore, needful to maintain that the promise of Christ is necessary. But this cannot be received except by faith. Therefore, those who deny that faith justifies, teach nothing but the Law, both Christ and the Gospel being set aside.”
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #69. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. p. 141. Tappert, p. 116. Heiser, p. 37.

J-533
"We do not believe thus [that faith is just a beginning of justification] concerning faith, but we maintain this, that properly and truly, by faith itself, we are for Christ's sake accounted righteous, or are acceptable to God. And because 'to be justified' means that out of unjust men just men are made, or born again, it means also that they are pronounced or accounted just. For Scripture speaks in both ways. [The term to be justified is used in two ways: to denote, being converted or regenerated; again, being accounted righteous.] Accordingly we wish first to show this, that faith alone makes of an unjust, a just man, i. e., receives remission of sins."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #71-2. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 141. Tappert, p. 116f. Heiser, p. 38.

J-534
"But since we receive remission of sins and the Holy Ghost by faith alone, faith alone justifies, because those reconciled are accounted righteous and children of God, not on account of their own purity, but through mercy for Christ's sake, provided only they by faith apprehend this mercy."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #86. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 147. Tappert, p. 119. Heiser, p. 39.

J-535
"In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul discusses this topic especially, and declares that, when we believe that God, for Christ's sake, is reconciled to us, we are justified freely by faith."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #87. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 147. 2 Corinthians 5:19ff. Tappert, p. 119f. Heiser, p. 39.

J-536
"These things are so plain and so manifest that we wonder that the madness of the adversaries is so great as to call them into doubt. The proof is manifest that, since we are justified before God not from the Law, but from the promise, it is necessary to ascribe justification to faith."
            Apology of the Augsburg Confession, III. #177. Of Love and the Fulfilling of the Law. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 205. Tappert, p. 153. Heiser, p. 60.

J-537
"Scripture thus uses the term faith, as the following sentence of Paul testifies, Romans 5:1: Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Moreover, in this passage, to justify signifies, according to forensic usage, to acquit a guilty one and declare him righteous, but on account of the righteousness of another, namely, of Christ, which righteousness of another is communicated to us by faith... 1 Corinthians 1:30. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. And 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. But because the righteousness of Christ is given us by faith, faith is for this reason righteousness in us imputatively, i. e., it is that by which we are made acceptable to God on account of the imputation and ordinance of God, as Paul says, Romans 4:3, 5: Faith is reckoned for righteousness."
            Apology of the Augsburg Confession, III. #184. Of Love and the Fulfilling of the Law. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 205f. Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21. Tappert, p. 154. Heiser, p. 60.

J-538
"But as the Confutation condemns us for having assigned these two parts to repentance, we must show that [not we, but] Scripture expresses these as the chief parts in repentance and conversion. For Christ says, Matthew 11:28: Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Here there are two members. The labor and the burden signify the contrition, anxiety, and terrors of sin and of death. To come to Christ is to believe that sins are remitted for Christ's sake; when we believe, our hearts are quickened by the Holy Ghost through the Word of Christ. Here, therefore, there are these two chief parts, contrition and faith."
            Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XII (V). #44. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 263. Matthew 11:28. Tappert, p. 187. Heiser, p. 81.

J-539
“That absolution, however, is not received except by faith can be proved from Paul, who teaches, Romans 4:16, that the promise cannot be received except by faith. But absolution is the promise of the remission of sins [nothing else than the Gospel, the divine promise of God’s grace and favor]. Therefore, it necessarily requires faith. Neither do we see how he who does not assent to it may be said to receive absolution.”
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XII. #61-62. Of Repentance. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 269. Romans 4:16. Tappert, p. 190. Heiser, p. 83.

J-540
"The Gospel teaches that by faith we receive freely, for Christ's sake, the remission of sins and are reconciled to God."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XV. #5. Human Traditions. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 317. Tappert, p. 215. Heiser, p. 96.

The Smalcald Articles


J-541
“Likewise: All have sinned and are justified without merit [freely, and without their own works or merits] by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood, Romans 3:23f. Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be otherwise acquired or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us, as St. Paul says, Romans 3:28: For we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law. Likewise, v. 26: That He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Christ.”
            Smalcald Articles, The Second Part, Article I. #4. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 461. Tappert, p. 292. Heiser, p. 137.

J-542
“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. And such faith, renewal, and forgiveness of sins is followed by good works.”
Smalcald Articles, The Third Part, Article XIII. #1-2. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 499. Tappert, p. 315. Heiser, p. 148.

The Large Catechism

J-543
"Therefore there is here again great need to call upon God and pray: Dear Father, forgive us our trespasses. Not as though He did not forgive sin without and even before our prayer (for He has given us the Gospel, in which is pure forgiveness before we prayed or ever thought about it). But this is to the intent that we may recognize and accept [erkennen und annehmen; agnoscamus et accipiamus] such forgiveness. For since the flesh in which we daily live is of such a nature that it neither trusts nor believes God, and is ever active in evil lusts and devices, so that we sin daily in word and deed, by commission and omission, by which the conscience is thrown into unrest, so that it is afraid of the wrath and displeasure of God, and thus loses the comfort and confidence derived from the Gospel; therefore it is ceaselessly necessary that we run hither and obtain consolation to comfort the conscience again."220
The Large Catechism, The Lord's Prayer, Fifth Petition, #88-89, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 723. Matthew 6:12. Tappert, p. 432. Heiser, p. 202f.

 Formula of Concord

J-544
"The third controversy which has arisen among some theologians of the Augsburg Confession is concerning the righteousness of Christ or of faith, which God imputes by grace, through faith, to poor sinners for righteousness."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #1. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 917. Tappert, p. 539. Heiser, p. 250.

J-545
"These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the Father, and are eternally saved."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #10. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 919. Tappert, p. 541. Heiser, p. 250.

J-546
"Accordingly, the word justify here means to declare righteous and free from sins, and to absolve one from eternal punishment for the sake of Christ's righteousness, which is imputed by God to faith, Philippians 3:9. For this use and understanding of this word is common in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. Proverbs 17:15: He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. Isaiah 5:23: Woe unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Romans 8:33: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, that is, absolves from sins and acquits."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #17. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 921. Philippians 3:9; Proverbs 17:15; Isaiah 5:23; Romans 8:33. Tappert, p. 541f. Heiser, p. 251.

J-547
"For when man is justified through faith [which the Holy Ghost alone works], this is truly a regeneration, because from a child of wrath he becomes a child of God, and thus is transferred from death to life, as it is written; When we were dead in sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ, Ephesians 2:5. Likewise: The just shall live by faith, Romans 1:17; Habakkuk 2:4."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #20. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 921. Tappert, p. 542. Heiser, p. 251.

J-548
“But here very good attention must be given with especial diligence, if the article of justification is to remain pure, lest that which precedes faith, and that which follows after it, be mingled together or inserted into the article of justification as necessary and belonging to it, because it is not one or the same thing to speak of conversion and of justification. For not everything that belongs to conversion belongs likewise to the article of justification, in and to which belong and are necessary only the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and faith, which receives this in the promise of the Gospel, whereby the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, whence we receive and have forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, sonship, and heirship of eternal life. Therefore true, saving faith is not in those who are without contrition and sorrow, and have a wicked purpose to remain and persevere in sins; but true contrition precedes, and genuine faith is in or with true repentance [justifying faith is in those who repent truly, not feignedly].”
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #24-26. Of the Righteousness of Faith Before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 921. Tappert, p. 543. Heiser, p. 251.

J-549
"Moreover, neither contrition nor love or any other virtue, but faith alone is the sole means and instrument by which and through which we can receive and accept the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and the forgiveness of sins, which are offered us in the promise of the Gospel."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #31. Of the Righteous of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 925. Tappert, p. 544. Heiser, p. 252.

J-550
"Here belongs also what St. Paul writes Romans 4:3, that Abraham was justified before God by faith alone, for the sake of the Mediator, without the cooperation of his works, not only when he was first converted from idolatry and had no good works, but also afterwards, when he had been renewed by the Holy Ghost, and adorned with many excellent good works, Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:8. And Paul puts the following questions, Romans 4:1ff.: On what did Abraham's righteousness before God for everlasting life, by which he had a gracious God, and was pleasing and acceptable to Him, rest at that time?
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #33. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 927. Romans 4:3; Romans 4:1ff; Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:8. Tappert, p. 545. Heiser, p. 252.

J-551
"For good works do not precede faith, neither does sanctification precede justification. But first faith is kindled in us in conversion by the Holy Ghost from the hearing of the Gospel. This lays hold of God's grace in Christ, by which the person is justified. Then, when the person is justified, he is also renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, from which renewal and sanctification the fruits of good works then follow."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #41, Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 929. Tappert, p. 546. Heiser, p. 253.

J-552
“...God in His purpose and counsel ordained [decreed]:
  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, Thorough Declaration, XI. #15. Of God's Eternal Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1069. 2 Corinthians 5:19ff. Tappert, p. 619. Heiser, p. 288. [emphasis added]

J-553
"On this account, as the Augsburg Confession in Article XI says, we also retain private absolution, and teach that it is God's command that we believe such absolution, and should regard it as sure that, when we believe the word of absolution, we are as truly reconciled to God as though we had heard a voice from heaven, as the Apology explains this article. This consolation would be entirely taken from us if we were not to infer the will of God towards us from the call which is made through the Word and through the Sacraments."
Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, XI. #38. Of God's Eternal Election. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 1075. Tappert, p. 622. Heiser, p. 289.