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Who faithfully interprets the Word of God?
Dr. Martin Luther or
CFW Walther, BA,
Stephan's pimp and enforcer. |
Luther devastated all future UOJ claims by teaching the true meaning of the
Cantate Gospel.
"The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they do not utterly trust in Me for the forgiveness of sin." [New Jackson Living Paraphrase]
KJV John 16:8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;
As most readers know, the
Holy Spirit can often be replaced with the
Word of God, because they always work together.
"The Word of God will convict the world of sin, because they do not utterly trust in Me for the forgiveness of sin." [New Jackson Living Paraphrase Commentary]
There is a distinct difference, so no one can say, the Father, the Son, and the Word of God. Such distinctions are never imagined by the UOJ Storm-Brownies, who think the atonement and justification are exactly the same. They even imagine that their favorite word
grace removes
faith from justification and election, so they will quote Ephesians on "saved by grace" but eliminate faith from that quotation - as one WELS congregation did on their
church-sin. [A church-sin is a church sign used to promote false doctrine or cutesy-wutesy coaching tips. Please vote if this term is worthy of the Icha-slang dictionary.]
The Word of God is always efficacious, just like the rain and snow coming down from heaven. Just as the rain and snow will inevitably have an effect, so will the Word of God. Isaiah 55:8ff.
Those who deny John 16:8-9 also oppose the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at work through the Word. Those who think they have to help the Word of God through entertaining, screaming, and bawling, are blaspheming the Holy Spirit. They have taken the first steps toward complete unbelief and they have started their blind followers on the same journey.
Justification by faith is quite simple. The preaching of the Gospel plants and sustains faith by the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word. Those words are often recited by Church Growth Enthusiasts, at least in part. The late Waldo Werning was famous for copying Church Growth insights and adding "through the Holy Spirit in the Word," but the message was attenuated at best.
We had an issue with our Ustream broadcasts. Speaking came through well, but music had all varieties of distortions and sour sounds. This shift came with better Ustream technology. The answer was moving the plug away from the interference on the back of the computer, where interference from various sources mangled the music. LI suggested the plug on top, far away from the others on the back of the computer, completely apart - just as the Word must be completely apart from human books and not mingled and distorted by them.
The entire Bible is a sermon about Jesus, as Luther said. The only purpose of the Bible is to create faith in Christ, which is why the Holy Spirit wrote, published, and promoted the Scriptures. If God is going to write only one book, He is going to give it 100%. No other book is written by God, so no other book or conference essay should be regarded as equal or superior to the Scriptures.
Every verse of the Bible is hyper-linked to all other verses, so that sections that baffle us are illuminated by the ones clear and simple for us to understand. The baffling passages are not God's fault, but ours for sticking with our human assumptions and supposed wisdom.
John 16:8-9 teaches us to cast aside all human wisdom and trust only in the Word that gives us faith and forgiveness. The Word, whether visible in the Sacraments or invisible in teaching and preaching, gives us Christ. The visible and invisible Word is the Instrument of God's Grace.
Therefore, preaching the Gospel, which includes separating the Law from the Gospel, is always going to have a positive effect, which can often include dividing a congregation or synod. The ELCA finally woke up to this when the 2009 convention approved homosexual ordination and marriage. One faction continues on its merry--or rather--gay journey, while the other faction has worked hard to depart. Although many remnants of the old liberalism remain in LCMS and NALC, the departing ELCA members have found the pruning to be productive and fruitful.
The SynCons major in
doing rather than
believing. They do not care what someone teaches and believes, as long as he belongs to the right group (theirs) or the right three groups (in Jeske's case). A corollary is that a leader in the right group cannot be wrong, because the Holy Spirit will not allow a leader of
their group to wrong (exactly as Rome teaches).
The answer to "What must I do to be saved?" is clear. "You must join our sect." Therefore, the sect is efficacious and the Word is not. The Law saves. Moses is the savior and Jesus is the law-giver.
No wonder people are leaving in droves. When the sheep are being flogged, scattered, slaughtered, and poisoned, the flock will diminish.
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The Word of God turned water into wine,
so why do we need secular methods and man's wisdom? |
