Paul Revealed Why the UOJ Hive Cannot Grasp Justification by Faith - They Only Buzz and Sting

Many clergy slowly become unbelievers - and apostates - by allowing the weeds of Mammon and career advancement to choke and smother what little faith they had in the beginning. The result is not unlike a weed-choked plant, which still lives beneath the aggressive weed's foliage but produces no fruit.

This happens overtly in the WELS abusive sect, because every parson has to be a Kokomo cheerleader to exist. Just as publicly supporting Rauschenbusch was rewarded in the mainline denominations. so is bowing to the errors of JP Meyers and Sig Becker recompensed in WELS. The stupider the essay, the more likely the apostate will be teaching at The Sausage Factor in Mequon - where faith dies among the lies.

The process is subtler in the LCMS, because they no longer make an issue of UOJ. Being a Bronze Age Missourian, with heart-felt loyaty to F. Pieper, is no longer a selling point, now that the Bronzies are dead or retired.

Instead, the same effect is created when a pastor is punished for being fanatical about the Confessions (he actually reads them) or unionism - not wanting to march robed with ELCA women pastors. The entire ELCA-Thrivent-LWF-UN con game is really a victory for UOJ. No one can have any faith, discernment, or conscience left to work with any of those entities, let alone all four.

I can imagine the synodical responses:

"Do you recall that we voted overwhelmingly to continue work with ELCA? The synod convention - the ultimate authority, far more authoritative than the Scriptures?"

"If we don't spent all that Thrivent money, then ELCA will get it. Do you want that, you legalist?"

"We decided a long time ago that we can work with others in LWF to send relief to the poor in the Third World. I suppose that grieves you."

"What? You are in favor of malaria? I would love to tell all the dying masses that one."

But - as Grampaw used to say - "Lie down with dawgs, git up with fleas." The clergy who remain in the same stall with false teachers soon partake of the same Universal Salivation - thirsting for every god but the One True God. They handle the same warm asphalt that builds the road to perdition and think their hands are not stained and reeking.

Does St. Paul Contradict Himself?
The UOJ stylists have abandoned Romans 4:25 completely, because too many people opened their Bibles and read Romans 4:24. Sorry. Some of them ventured to read all of Romans 4 and saw that the theme of that chapter was not justification without faith, but Abraham counted as righteous because of faith. Instead of UOJ being as ancient as Stonehenge, it was re-discovered in Genesis in that citation about Abraham  - "he believed as it was counted as righteousness." Genesis 15:6

How can we believe that the Holy Spirit teaches justification by faith with utmost clarity in Romans 3 and 4, only to abandon that doctrine in favor of justification without faith in Romans 5 - if we only ignore Romans 5:1-2. The Mequon faculty is praying that you read Romans 5, minus the first two verses, with their guidance, of course.

Notify the NNIV committee, now meeting at the Gold Base of Scientology. They have a lot more additions and subtractions to make, in case people read past Romans 3.

Romans 10 KJV 
Here is another major section of Paul's inspired writing that demolishes UOJ. For now I am skipping over their thread-bare rants about reconciliation and "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." I will get to them in a future post or two.

I would just like readers to consider Romans 10 and judge for themselves whether the dark shadowy dogmas of UOJ disappear completely in the bright light of that chapter.

Romans 10 follows Paul's lament in Romans 9 that his own Jewish people do not believe in Christ.

He disposed of righteousness through the Law and any other righteousness except the righteousness of faith. Note - there is no article in the Formula of Concord called Righteousness Without Faith, but there is a crucial article, III, on the Righteousness of Faith.

Romans 10 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the Word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.

21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

This chapter clearly shows the Order of Salvation, in reverse. To put it in ABC order -

• Preachers must first be sent. As Luther emphasized, the pastoral office is the Preaching-Office, not the Entertainment-Office, not the Sheep-Counting-Office, not the Synod-PR-Office.
• The Gospel must be preached, because faith comes from hearing the proclaimed Word.
• The only righteousness that saves is the righteousness of faith, the effect of preaching the efficacious Gospel.
• The Gospel is expressed in Isaiah 53 - who shall believe our report (sermon) - an vivid account of the atoning death of Christ, the purpose of His death, and our sinful weak souls being redeemed by His suffering.
• Those who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved, and that happens only through faith, which is created by preaching the Gospel. Christ is the end of the Law, for those who believe.
• This is the salvation message (10:1) that Paul brings to Jews and Gentiles.

WELS in the News

On March 27, MLive previewed the WELS/ELS All-Star Game in Bay City, Mich., which culminates the season of the Tri-City WELS/ELS Men's Basketball League.

The March 26 edition of The Journal in New Ulm, Minn., highlighted a presentation given by Martin Luther College Professor and Heresiarch Theodore Hartwig about his 1938 visit to Nazi Germany at age 16.

The March 21 edition of The Daily Courier announced the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary concert at Christ, Prescott Valley, Ariz.

The March 20-21 edition of many papers featured the story of another WELS pastor arrested for child pornography.

The March 1 edition of The Herald-Palladium shared how Michigan Lutheran High School in St. Joseph bought a senior citizens’ complex from Martin Luther Memorial Homes to be used as housing for its students, including many international students.

Fruits of UOJ in WELS

 "Jesus is my rice." - Jeff Gunn,
a self-absorbed Jeske disciple, promoted and protected by DP Buchholz.

From Mark the Bookkeeper

Last summer the synod convention approved a ministry financial plan (budget) that called for a four percent increase in Congregation Mission Offerings (CMO). The adopted plan not only maintained current levels of ministry in most areas but also provided for limited expansion of our mission and ministry. New home mission starts were to be increased, and mission efforts around the world were to be expanded in a number of different ways. In addition, the plan enabled the financial position of our ministerial education schools to be strengthened at all levels.

CMO subscriptions for 2014 did not result in the four percent increase envisioned by the adopted plan. In fact, subscriptions for 2014 actually decreased from actual 2013 offerings by about one percent. This resulted in a $1.2 million difference between what is needed for the adopted plan and what can be expected based on the subscriptions.

Many congregations did increase their CMO commitment. Other congregations, for a variety of reasons, either kept their CMO commitment the same or actually reduced it. Regardless of the amount, we are truly grateful for all gifts made or committed that support our common mission. But if CMO remains at the levels indicated, reductions for the coming fiscal year (which starts July 1) will need to be made.

Both the Synodical Council and the Conference of Presidents (COP) have been addressing this situation. The Synodical Council is responsible for maintaining a balanced budget.  It has directed the areas of ministry to develop a prioritized list, totaling $1.2 million, that states what existing ministry would need to be reduced and what new ministry could not take place if nothing changes. That list will be finalized at the end of April.

The COP is responsible for encouraging congregations to provide needed financial support for our mission and ministry. At its regular meeting next week, the COP will be discussing the best way to address this situation from the other direction (increased financial support) so that revisions to the planned work will not be necessary. Those plans will be shared as soon as they are finalized in the coming days and weeks.

God continues to place many opportunities before us to proclaim the saving gospel to more and more people. We pray that God will bless our efforts to seize those opportunities and faithfully carry out the mission that God has given us.

Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder

Perhaps people do not see the need to send money to clods who give $500,000 away to a rich congregation (St. Peter in Freedom) so the parish can buy a bankrupt bar and liquor license for wine-bibbers (Ski Glende).

Joel Lillo Has a Tiny Circle

Fox Valley WELS Pastor Joel Lillo posts most mornings, and he makes my heart glad.

Here is one sample:

"You slander Joel Zank without knowing a thing about him. That's not just unchristian (par for the course), that's also childish (also par for the course). I'd call you a loser, but that would be an insult to the 1976 Buccaneers."

Gregory Jackson

1 second ago

 

Edit

I was quoting one of your WELS colleagues. Didja see the quotation marks? I knew you would jump on it, Joel. I have no opinion about Zank. All of the WELS clergy identify themselves with false doctrine, so I figure one DP is as bad as the next. 

I decided to investigate Joel's circles, a Google Plus concept. He has a total of three (3) in his circles:

Joel has three people in his circles

Ski

Stephen Turselli

Karen Schroeder

Who's In Your Pulpit? Luther - Or Craig Groeschel?

"The pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow."

Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Universal Salivation - The Weak Twin Pillars of Falsehood

No one can miss the angry, hectoring tone of the UOJ Storm-Brownies as they salivate about their two talking points:

1. Grammar
2. Philosophy.

Their talking points are their weaknesses - not their strengths. In fact, they destroy themselves as they carefully lay the foundation for universal salivation. They deny their devotion to universal salivation, but they always salivate when chewing on their favorite victims - Luther, truth, the Gospel, and common sense.

Grammar
I am not at all opposed to grammar. I teach it and use it daily. But the glorious grammar rules the UOJ experts cite are derivative. One example from Mequon still makes me laugh, because it reveals their confused thinking. I was asked in class whether a genitive phrase was an objective genitive or subjective genitive. The "correct answer" determined the meaning.

Later I asked the seminarians if Paul paused and said, "Should I make this a subjective or objective genitive?" There is no difference in spelling. The distinction is applied after the fact, so it is a tautology (A = A) to say that the phrase means X because it is an objective genitive. To question this grammatical gnosticism is blasphemy, because it threatens the high priesthood of Universal Salivation.

The deep, dark - and often imaginary - secrets of Greek grammar are used to cloud the issue and represent the Roman Catholic view of the Scriptures. The papists claim the Word of God is so difficult to understand that only the priesthood, headed by the Antichrist Hisself, can tell us what it means. No one dare read the Scriptures and claim to know what the Word of God says.

The Word of God is so clear that anyone can learn all he needs to know and grasp from the Scriptures. He does not need to know Hebrew and Greek. A faithful translation certainly helps, but a believer can see through the defects of a phony paraphrase, like the NNIV, which adds an "all" to Romans 3 to make one verse sound like the Universal Salivation that makes Wendland drool. I tried the NNIV on a class of believers. The smartest student at the college, a doctor's son, said, "The chapter still teaches justification by faith, even with that added word."

Here is the UOJ diamon, their Precious - "all have sinned and are justified in Christ Jesus" is changed by the NNIV to "all have sinned and all are justified in Christ Jesus."

But that is not what the Greek text says, and it is not honest English. Paul often used concise language, with key words left out but easily understood. One reason for that - emphasis. I just wrote the previous incomplete sentence to prove my case.

My paraphrased version, to make it clearer, as I would in a sermon, reads

- "All people have sinned and are justified only in Christ."

Contrary to Jay Webber's confused thinking, "in Christ" only applies to believers. To argue that the entire world is "in Christ" is another tautology. Please offer one example in the entire Bible where the whole world is "in Christ."

That paraphrase is derived from context. As I pointed out in our Romans class at Bethany Lutheran Church, Paul's opening argument eviscerates every form of righteousness except the righteousness of faith. Civic righteousness is removed by his powerful argumentation. So is righteousness through the Jewish Law. All have sinned. All deserve death. Men try but fail to justify themselves through the Law or through man-made laws. Justification - the forgiveness of sins - can only come from faith in Jesus Christ.

Grammar can certainly be used to untangle the twisted argumentation of the Universal Salivationists. The UOJ Hive remains immune to this because their imagined power comes from confusing people and ending, "But you did not study Greek, as I did, so you could not possibly understand the Bible." That is the feeble argument used by Tim Glende to evade and deny his plagiarism of Craig Groeschel and his lies about that fraud.

Philosophy
Notre Dame taught me about Roman Catholic leaders being imbued with philosophy and philosophical maxims. Protestants are used to basing their claims on Biblical texts, but Catholics have a philosophical framework that determines their dogma.

Here are some:
"The Holy Spirit will not allow the pope to err." No Catholic priest or brother ever said that in class, but is is a common claim in WELS about their inebriated leaders.
"The pope is like the Supreme Court, determining what the Bible actually teaches."
"That is necessary but not sufficient." Almost any discussion could be ended that way.

The Universal Salivationists are completely divorced from Biblical language and meaning, unless they choose to abuse a word to make a point. One must always start with their philosophical assumptions, which remind me of an ocean, vast in size but only three inches deep.

1. Walther is the greatest theologian of the Christian Church, and all who dissent are anathema.
2. Pieper is the second greatest theologian, because he was trained by Walther and maneuvered into Walther's job as seminary president and infallible pope. Those who doubt? - anathema sit!
3. Justification without faith is the Chief Article, the Master and Prince of Christian doctrine, the article that judges all other articles, even though Luther never mentioned it.
4. The Brief Statement of 1932 is the Rosetta Stone of the Scriptures, Luther, the Book of Concord, and the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Those who question this are anathema.
5. Those who agree with the infallible Walther and Pieper are infallible by virtue of their agreement. Those who disagree are anathema.
6. If false teachers--like the Halle Pietists, the German rationalists, the mainline liberals, and ELCA--agree with UOJ and oppose justification by faith, change the subject.

Wooden Stakes for the UOJ Vampire
UOJ, which became dominant after Gausewitz died and the Brief Confession of 1932 was foisted upon Missouri, has sucked the lifeblood out of the Synodical Conference. As Bram Stoker's classic tale describes, the ensnarement of victims is slow but inexorable. As long as the Walther myth is told and sold, UOJ will draw in all pestilences of false doctrine:

• Entertainment evangelism.
• Despising the Means of Grace.
• Chrislam - the fusion of Islam and Christianity.
• Unionism - or - any circuit meeting today.
• Clergy life-coaches who cannot keep their own Dreck together.
• Management by deceit - the synodical style today.
• Altars replaced by stages, Confessions displaced by plagiarism.

But there are two wooden stakes available, to drive through the heart of this vampire.

One is the efficacy of the Word, as taught by Isaiah 55 in its clearest form, and ratified throughout the Scriptures. God's will is accomplished only through His Word and never apart from His Word.

The second weapon - the Means of Grace, is directly related to the efficacy of the Word.

The Means are the Word and Sacraments. They are the only instruments of God's grace. No one receives God's grace apart from the Means. One description is easy to remember and use - they are the invisible Word of teaching and preaching, the visible Word of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

Deputy Doug Will Not Run for Re-Election as DP of the Anything Goes District. "Zank Will Be No Better - Another Hack."

Deputy Doug handed Boy Wonder Ski over to Kudu Don Patterson.
The Mark Jeske Mafia protects its own, no matter what.

Engelbrecht can no longer function as a Demonic Pest, but he will hang on until the summer elections. After all, it is difficult to un-resign.

When Engelbrecht proposed that Ski be put on double-secret-probation, was he thinking of his own immediate future? After all, Doug could experience a miraculous recovery and smile wanly as pastors say, "Doug, are you still alive?"

Serving as an infallible pope is not that stressful, although the much-abused office creates a lot of stress.

The Jeske Mafia is fond of rewriting the Bible, so they could fashion a new set of pastoral qualifications for the installation of Boy Wonder Ski.

If they actually read from the Pastoral Epistles, the audience will have trouble suppressing its laughter.

But - if they do not apply to Doug or Don, they do not apply to their subordinates.

"In a little while, you will not see Me,
and in a little while you will see Me again,
and again, and again."

---

Here's a hoot from the call list

Becker, Dr Bruce H Salem - Milwaukee WI 03/18/2014 Associate Pastor
Dr? of what?

Drive-by DMin from Trinity International University, which bills itself as a "Top Christian University."

http://www.tiu.edu/

In other words, Trinity in Deerfield, where WELS spent so much of your offering money that the sect was named twice in the TIU report one year. Guess who was in charge of Perish Ministries that year? Yup. Bruce Becker.

Wikipedia:

Tracing its roots to 1897, TIU formed in the late 1940s as the result of a merger of three schools:


A school run by the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, founded in 1897 in Chicago, initially as a 10-week Bible course and then growing into the Swedish Bible Institute of Chicago and finally becoming the Swedish Department of Moody Bible Institute and Seminary 
A three-year Bible school, the Norwegian-Danish Bible Institute and Academy, founded in 1910 by the Norwegian-Danish Free Church, established in Rushford, Minnesota and later moving to Minneapolis and becoming Trinity Seminary and Bible College 
The Evangelical Free Church Bible Institute and Seminary, established in Chicago in 1925.





Salem Milwaukee is where William D. Tabor's mistress murdered Mrs. Tabor in the parsonage. The very Rev. Tabor never served a day in the slammer, but his mistress did. As they say in all the novels, "She pulled the trigger, but he aimed the weapon."



Roger Zehms is the circuit pastor who facilitated Tabor being welcomed into WELS, down in Cape Girardeau. Zehms is a member of Mark Jeske's Mafia headquarters church, St. Marcus.

Tabor had been at Holy Scripture, Cape G - which is now ELS.



WELS created a mission church, so Tabor could take a group out of Holy Scripture and continue his fun.
WELS gave Ski three different man-caves in Fox Valley,
the last one with a beer and wine license.
Ski was on the Jeske Church and Change board with...
Bruce Becker.

Mid-Week Lenten Service, April 2, 2014. Isaiah 53

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, April 2, 2014

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Daylight Time 

The Hymn #227   Come Holy Ghost                 2. 72  
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41

The Psalmody                                                 p. 128
The Lection                            The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #249            Isaiah Mighty Seer            2.72  

The Sermon –      Isaiah the Preacher

 
The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn # 660                Heaven is My Home                         2:46

KJV Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it wereour faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah the Preacher

KJV Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

This  preaching of the Atonement is found in the greatest of the major prophets, hidden in plain sight for centuries.

There are many Messianic passages throughout the Psalms, found in the major and minor prophets. They begin with Genesis 3:15.

Romans 10 uses this passage in reference to preaching. Report - something heard. Faith comes by hearing the report - the preached Word of God.

This was hidden in plain sight because it was in plain sight, in this major prophet, and often read, but not seen for what it was. And yet, because people knew the words themselves, it was was clear when they were fulfilled.

In the same way we hear words growing up from our parents, too many times to count, and we realize what they mean much later when they come true. 

No one expected the Messiah to bear the sins of the world, to suffer and die in disgrace and abandonment, and yet to show Himself the true Savior by this death, to reveal this truth in His resurrection.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Verse two leads into verses 3-5 to give a picture of this great paradox - that He became our Savior and Messiah while becoming utterly disfigured and repulsive in the gore of the crucifixion. And it was not just the bloody torture, but also the rejection and abandonment - the cry of abandonment - Why have You abandoned Me?

Although the crucifixion was horrific, it was also life-giving  and peace-giving, since it was all done for a purpose - to pay for our sins, to give us the peace of justification, and to heal us with the Gospel. 

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

This is another paradoxical section, a seeming contradiction. First of all, we are the weak, foolish sheep, prone to wander away from the Shepherd, and yet He is the sheep sacrificed for His flock. He is both Lamb of God and Shepherd, victim and High Priest.

As anyone can see, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by not making a defense for Himself. He warned the Romans and the religious leaders about what they were doing, giving them a chance to repent, but He did not defend Himself and spoke only reluctantly.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

All this  took place  to atone for the sins of all people. Just one verse shows how perfectly the crucifixion and resurrection were predicted, centuries before the events took place. Jesus died with known criminals, and all three were buried. But Jesus was buried in a rich man's tomb, one never used before.

He was honored in His death because He had done no wrong. Thus we speak of the righteousness of Christ that we receive through faith. There can only be a righteousness of faith or a righteousness of works. If faith is denied, works are being taught - and they are always taught in the name of grace (as Rome does). 

But grace is not grace when earned.

Thus we can only experience grace through faith, and this is delivered by Instruments or Means - the Word and Sacraments.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

This chapter is pure Gospel and used many times in the New Testament. This is a sermon about Jesus that creates and sustains faith. These verses comfort every sinner, because we all hear what Christ did for us, so the message - the report - would tell us forgiveness comes from Him, through God's grace, received in faith, not from our works, or some carefully crafted philosophical acrobatics lesson.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Jesus is exalted because of this atoning death. This is so clear that when I read it to children and ask who it is, they all say, "Jesus" without hesitation. How could it be anyone else?

http://www.normaboecklerart.com

Virtue Online - Why the Church Can Never Embrace Gay Marriage

The first female president of a Lutheran seminary is a single woman,
and somehow that is not news.

Why the Church Can Never Embrace Gay Marriage

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue D.D.
www.virtueonline.org
April 1, 2014

The Church of Jesus Christ, in all its myriad manifestations, is in the midst of the greatest cultural change on sexuality since Apostolic times.

Never before in church history has the ontology and cosmology of human sexual behavior been so challenged. Not even the Borgia Popes dared challenge the definition of sexuality, however debauched their behavior was. In some denominations today efforts are underway to overturn prevailing definitions. The speed with which all this has taken place is breathtaking in its brevity and stunning in its acclamation.

When I wrote my first editorial in 1979 for the Virginia Churchman titled Gay is Not Okay, I could not have envisaged, over three decades later, the ordination of openly homosexual practicing bishops, both men and women. Nor could I have possibly dreamed that this would become such a defining issue that it would tear the fabric of the Anglican Communion apart, pitting province against province, diocese against diocese, archbishop against archbishop, bishop against bishop, splitting whole congregations, and leading to massive schism with lawsuits running into the tens of millions of dollars. It has also led to broken friendships, angry bloggers, screams of homophobia, and capitulation by churches, including bishops and archbishops, as well as corporations, states and possibly, in time, an entire nation led by a homosexual affirming President.

It has been a sexual blitzkrieg without moral equal and with a ferocity unequalled since the beginning of the Civil Rights movement with its struggle for racial equality in the 1960s.

Still the case has not been made that the Bible is either irrelevant on the subject or can be ignored or deconstructed to make it mean something other than what it says and means. It is disingenuous to write off the Apostle Paul as locked into his own culture or that the Bible never speaks to committed, faithful same-sex unions. Few, if any, serious Christians will deny the Apostle spoke prophetically and wisely on adultery and fornication. To say that what he said about homosexuality can now be discounted is to deeply violate Scripture.

While many denominations and churches have conceded that monogamy (from monos, “single,” and gamos, “marriage”) is the same as or the virtual equivalent of a “stable homosexual union,” Gamos in scripture is usually always rendered “marriage,” which assumes a heterosexual union. It is a highly idiosyncratic use of gamos to translate it as a “stable homosexual union.” Gamos (“marriage,” “wedding”) and gameo (“to marry”) occur 16 and 29 times respectively in the New Testament. In NO case do they refer to same sex oral or anal intercourse.

So also with the term homophobia, which so often appears in anti-Catholic and anti-Protestant polemics. The word rightly refers to fear ofsameness, not to fear of homosexuality at all, as is often assumed.

Wherever homophobia is bandied about, its etymology should be first examined before any knee-jerk defensiveness or marginalization is elicited. “Classic Christian teaching is not homophobic but hemophilic in the sense of attesting God’s love for all of us as the same kind of sinners in need of unmerited grace,” writes Thomas C. Oden, Professor of Theology at Drew University.

Christian marriage is by definition an enduring covenant between one man, one female since grounded in the potential gift of sexual generativity, bonded with a solemn promise of enduring mutual commitments in the service of holy matrimony, offered up in the presence of God and the community of faith, so as to provide a nurturing environment for the parenting of children, the most precious gift that can come of sexuality, says Oden.

Same-sex intercourse cannot offer this gift or lead to generativity or natural birth, but only to fleeting individualistic, narcissistic pleasure that may haunt memory, undermine identity, and sear conscience. 

Classic Christian teaching views it as an oxymoron that persons of the same sex might be feigned in God’s presence as being “married” in a valid holy matrimony, though they may indeed have enduring friendships and may, like all of us sinners, receive the forgiving grace of baptism and Eucharist, says Oden.

JESUS AND HOMOSEXUALITY

When Jesus was asked questions about marriage, he went straight back to the defining passages in Genesis that say that marriage is between male and female and is meant to be life long. He saw the Creation accounts in Genesis as authoritative in His day. And what is authoritative for Jesus is authoritative for Christians, also. While Jesus did not specifically teach on homosexuality, His establishment of the Genesis passages as the fundamental passages on marriage (even more fundamental than the Law) leaves no doubt as to the outcome. One might also point out that Jesus said nothing about Bisexuality, Bestiality and any of the now 58 other sexualities that litter the sexual lexicon. He did firmly condemn child abuse.

“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’“
—Matthew 19:4 (NKJV)

“But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’”
—Mark 10:6 (NKJV)

Whenever the Bible mentions marriage, it is between a male and a female. The first mention of marriage, Genesis 2:24, describes it as a man leaving his parents and being united to his wife. In passages that contain instructions regarding marriage, such as 1 Corinthians 7:2-16 and Ephesians 5:23-33, the Bible clearly identifies marriage as being between a man and a woman. Biblically speaking, marriage is the lifetime union of a man and a woman, primarily for the purpose of building a family and providing a stable environment for that family.

The Bible alone, however, does not have to be used to demonstrate this understanding of marriage. The biblical viewpoint of marriage has been the universal understanding of marriage in every human civilization in world history. History argues against gay marriage. Modern secular psychology recognizes that men and women are psychologically and emotionally designed to complement one another. In regard to the family, psychologists contend that a union between a man and woman in which both spouses serve as good gender role models is the best environment in which to raise well-adjusted children. Psychology argues against gay marriage. In nature/physicality, clearly, men and women were designed to “fit” together sexually. With the “natural” purpose of sexual intercourse being procreation, clearly only a sexual relationship between a man and a woman can fulfill this purpose. Nature argues against gay marriage.

So, if the Bible, history, psychology, and nature all argue for marriage being between a man and a woman—why is there such a controversy today? Why are those who are opposed to gay marriage/same-sex marriage labeled as hateful, intolerant bigots, no matter how respectfully the opposition is presented? Why is the gay rights movement so aggressively pushing for gay marriage/same-sex marriage when most people, religious and non-religious, are supportive of—or at least far less opposed to—gay couples having all the same legal rights as married couples with some form of civil union?

The answer, according to the Bible, is that everyone inherently knows that homosexuality is immoral and unnatural. The only way to suppress this inherent knowledge is by normalizing homosexuality and attacking any and all opposition to it. The best way to normalize homosexuality is by placing gay marriage/same-sex marriage on an equal plane with traditional opposite-gender marriage. Romans 1:18-32 illustrates this. The truth is known because God has made it plain. The truth is rejected and replaced with a lie. The lie is then promoted and the truth suppressed and attacked. The vehemence and anger expressed by many in the gay rights movement to any who oppose them is, in fact, an indication that they know their position is indefensible. Trying to overcome a weak position by raising your voice is the oldest trick in the debating book. There is perhaps no more accurate description of the modern gay rights agenda than Romans 1:31, “they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

To give sanction to gay marriage/same-sex marriage would be to give approval to the homosexual lifestyle, which the Bible clearly and consistently condemns as sinful. Christians should stand firmly against the idea of gay marriage/same-sex marriage. Further, there are strong and logical arguments against gay marriage/same-sex marriage from contexts completely separated from the Bible. One does not have to be an evangelical Christian to recognize that marriage is between a man and a woman.

According to the Bible, marriage is ordained by God to be between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:21-24; Matthew 19:4-6). Gay marriage/same-sex marriage is a perversion of the institution of marriage and an offense to the God who created marriage. As Christians, we are not to condone or ignore sin. Rather, we are to share the love of God and the forgiveness of sins that is available to all, including homosexuals, through Jesus Christ. We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and contend for truth with “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). As Christians, when we make a stand for truth and the result is personal attacks, insults, and persecution, we should remember the words of Jesus: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

In an era of rampant sexually transmitted diseases where an estimated 110 million Americans have an STD, the ecclesial blessing of same-sex intercourse is hardly a constructive contribution to a “safer” form of sex. “Safe,” according to its advocates, refers merely to the avoidance of pregnancy or disease, not to the moral strength or spiritual serenity that follows from obedience to the divine command. Sex that draws people into illusory dreams and demoralizing liaisons never becomes truly safe.

Marriage is an important goal for most Americans, research shows, although it may not be their top priority. Having a successful marriage is “one of the most important things” in life for 36% of adults, according to a 2011 Pew Research survey. An additional 48% said it is “very important but not the most” important. Being a good parent is seen as “one of the most important things” by a larger share of adults (53%).

What are the advantages of marriage? According to the public, it is easier for a married person than a single person to raise a family (77% say so).

Gay marriage is untenable biblically; it is a capitulation to the culture; it is a caricature of real marriage. As Kenyan Anglican Archbishop Eliud Wabukala noted, marriage is under attack and the homosexual movement has become an ideology that attacks human identity as male and female created in the image of God. He also said that laws legalizing same sex marriage passed in England recently are “a profound rejection of the law of God.” He is right.

He affirmed his church and the Bible’s stance that marriage is the lifelong union of one man with one woman for the raising of children, joyful companionship and the blessing of society and the nation. “We have no other position than the teaching of the Bible.” His statement openly rejects polygamy.

“In his teaching about marriage, Jesus reaffirms that marriage is the coming together of a man and a woman in accordance with the pattern of creation itself when he says ‘from the beginning of creation God made them male and female’ (Mark 10:6). For the health and well-being of both church and society we must promote this great God given gift of marriage without compromise and ambiguity,” the Archbishop concluded.

END

Ten reasons why homosexual marriage is harmful and must be opposed can be seen at this link:
http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/politically-incorrect/homosexuality/10-reasons-why-homosexual-marriage-is-harmful-and-must-be-opposed.html

VOL is indebted to the following sources for this article: Requiem: A Lament in Three Movements by Thomas Oden. Recommended Resources: The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage: 6 Things You Must Know About What's Really at Stake by Erwin Lutzer and Logos Bible Software and Mr. S. Michael Houdmann of GotQuestions.org

What would Thrivent say?