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| By Norma Boeckler The Efficacy Quotations |
Efficacy of the Word
KJV Isaiah 55:10 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.
KJV 1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received
the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Inerrancy
That was a witty observation on the surface, but off the mark. Most of them were Enthusiasts, divorcing the Holy Spirit from the Word. One can read various inerrancy books, stacks of them, and never get closer to the truth of the Scriptures.
The foundational concept is the efficacy of God's Word. There is a vast abyss between all the inerrancy advocates and the efficacy of the Word. My geometry teacher would say it this way, "All those who teach efficacy are also on the side of inerrancy, but very few who teach inerrancy also teach the efficacy of the Word."
The Scriptures are completely coherent and harmonious, which means that one error infects everything - not because the Word is faulty. I see the inerrancy specialists treating the Biblical documents as true because they have found historical artifacts which support the details of the Scriptures. At the next stage of thinking they fall into rationalistic philosophy. Jesus said, "This is My Body, given for you for the forgiveness of sin." That cannot be, they claim. He spoke Aramaic, and there is no is in Aramaic, so bread remains bread. But the text is Greek, quite fond of 700 variations on "to be." He really meant - "This symbolizes My Body," so the inerrantists jump the tracks early, teaching against the plain meaning of the Word they claim to defend.
Man is also consistent in his teaching. If someone is rationalistic about the Real Presence, he is also rationalistic about the Two Natures of Christ. Thus Calvin makes fun of the Real Presence in his Institutes, and also explains Jesus appearing in the locked room as coming in through a secret passage. If Jesus cannot be present in Holy Communion, a locked door also bars His way. That means His human nature hinders His divine nature.
One person posted on Christmas Day that Jesus lay in the manger "helpless." But this is what Luther wrote in his superb Christmas program-hymn:
"To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little child, of lowly birth,
Shall be the joy of all the earth.
3. "This is the Christ, our God and Lord,
Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will Himself your Savior be
From all your sins to set you free.
4. "He will on you the gifts bestow
Prepared by God for all below,
That in His kingdom, bright and fair,
You may with us His glory share.
5. "These are the tokens ye shall mark:
The swaddling-clothes and manger dark;
There ye shall find the Infant laid
By whom the heavens and earth were made."
The Lutheran Hymnal, #85.
Jesus was never helpless, even if He appeared weak and small in the stable.
When the efficacy of the Word is neglected or rejected, alien philosophies will rush in to replace the teaching of the Holy Spirit. That is not a minor problem, a trivial matter. A common philosophy means a convivial spirit and fellowship. As I mentioned when writing about Hauerwas, modern theology floats on a cloud of philosophy.
Someone can be an inerrancy star in early life and turn teach against it, only a few years later. That is the corrosive effect of rationalism. I have seen it happen in some famous people and in religious leaders not so well known.
The mysteries of God are taught in the Word by the Holy Spirit. The Trinity, the Two Natures of Christ, the Sacraments, and the Atonement are revealed rather than proven.
6. Human reason, though it ponder,
Cannot fathom this great wonder
That Christ's body e'er remaineth
Though it countless souls sustaineth,
And that He His blood is giving
With the wine we are receiving.
These great mysteries unsounded
Are by God alone expounded.
The Lutheran Hymnal, #305.
The efficacy of the Word encourages ministers and laity to be faithful to the Word. Rejection of efficacy terrifies congregations into mad, sad entertainment festivals. They imagine they will draw the Old Adam into their church with munchies and cola during the Seeker Service, then feed them with more junk food during the sermon.
Rejection of the efficacy of the Word is behind the flight to Rome and Constantinople. Trained in denomination-worship, the lemmings are running into the ocean of love offered by Holy Mother Rome or Holy Mother Eastern Orthodoxy. Holy Father Antichrist says, "You are not a real Christian until you join with Me." Run. Run.
The Receptionists of the Olde Synodical Conference are examples of rejecting the efficacy of the Word. Some leadership from headquarters would have precluded years of debate this way: "The Word of God consecrates, not the hand or mouth of the communicant."
Rejection of the efficacy of the Word allows the faux-Lutherans to pixelate the Scriptures. They focus on a few pixels from the Scriptures, ignoring the obvious contrary passages which repudiate their false exegesis. Romans 4:25 as proof of UOJ should have been laughed out of the convention, but there it is - enshrined in the 1932 Brief Confusion of the LCMS, the last gasp of F. Pieper.
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.
The Olde Synodical Conference cannot discuss the Means of Grace because they do not teach the efficacy of the Word. Jeff Gunn reduce MOG to "Me or the Group." He is the WELS pastoral genius who revealed in the fulness of time, "Jesus is my rice."
