Luther's insight about religious opposition to Jesus is just as significant today. Jesus taught His followers that righteousness came from the outside, extra nos, not from within. This infuriated the Pharisees, who believed in their own righteousness.
Jesus taught the surging crowds that righteousness came from believing in Him, the Messiah, the One sent from God. As Luther noted, that overturned everything the Pharisees believed, taught, and practiced. That is also why God chose a Pharisee, Paul, to be His most productive apostle. Paul knew about salvation by works. He lived it before His conversion on the road to Damascus.
God has made His plan of salvation so simple that no one wants to teach it. The Holy Spirit works exclusively through the Word to convict the world of sin, the primary sin being unbelief in Christ. The Word of God creates this faith through the Gospel Promises, and believers freely receive what God graciously gives through His Instruments of Grace. Believing is forgiveness, and forgiveness is salvation.
Decades ago I learned that Dow Chemical prevents fires and explosions by replacing oxygen with nitrogen. Nothing will burn in pure nitrogen; explosions are just fires on steroids. One church member pulled nitrogen out of the air and sold it to Dow.
The Olde Synodical Conference supplants the Gospel with works, filling people with despair. They are not good enough. They do not work hard enough for the Kingdom of God. Most of all, they do not give enough money. The solution is simple - they must work harder and give more. The synodical leaders make the original Pharisees look good in comparison. When they are not bragging about themselves, they are running down everyone else.
Every synodical leader despises the other synods, because the others are all defective. And yet, they all work closely together. Do they really despise one another? That is like assuming that the noisy cats in the backyard are really fighting instead of mating. No one can pull the synodical leaders apart, metaphorically speaking, because they have so much in common.
The Olde Synodical Conference - and ELCA - they are all about grace. All their histories are Fifty Years of Grace, etc. Every single person in the world is forgiven, even before birth. Paul Wendland, the NNIV salesman/seminary president, says that is the basis for world missions, telling the startled head-hunters and cannibals they are already forgiven. Luther said, "If you start with forgiveness, they will look at you the way a cow looks at a newly painted fence." But who reads Luther? Luther quotations make the Lutheran leaders apoplectic with anger.
They are all grace, they say, but they are the meanest, most dishonest, and slimiest characters around. Why does the Olde Synodical Conference keep going downhill, in spite of its stance as the alternative to ELCA? Because the ministers and congregations are terrified of the leaders. They do not admit it openly, but their behavior shows it. Anyone who dares depart a millimeter from the grand plans will be punished. Mentioning an issue is a sin. Therefore, people act like the terrified captives in a village run by a bullying little boy - Twilight Zone. No matter how much the officials waste millions of dollars and cover up crime, the trembling pastors say, "but it's a real good thing you did. A real good thing. And tomorrow....tomorrow's gonna be a... real good day!"
They do not trust the Word of God, so they preach the synod instead of Christ. They realize that few care about synod franchises, so they are trusting in generic entertainment services now. Are tattoo parlors around the corner, as AC V suggested? Remember when you thought no Luther pastor would get on a stage in slob clothes and introduce a "really exciting experience for you today"?
