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| Zwingli's diamond was his verse in John 6:63 that the flesh profits nothing. That was the way he saw it - typical of sectarians, who find a verse and build a systematic theology upon it, a house built on sand. |
Book of Concord, Large Catechism, Lord's Prayer
88] Therefore there is here again great need to call upon God and to 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 such forgiveness.
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GJ - This is the point where the pinheads dance around, grinning like the cat who found the cream, and say, "Here is proof that Luther taught Objective Justification - forgiveness without faith. Here is the the Book of Concord teaching OJ. You are dastardly heretics for denying this great truth!"
But avast, one little thing is overlooked. This is Luther's explanation of prayer, and only those who believe in Christ pray the Lord's Prayer, The Perfect Prayer, as recently published by the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry.
To see this in context, we also need to look at the Small Catechism, which Luther called one of his two books that needed to be kept - the rest could be thrown away. The Lutheran leaders have obeyed Luther too well and thrown them all away, keeping only this sentence in red. (The other book was his Galatians Lectures, but try to find a Lutheran pastor who has read it! The great team of Buchholz and Webber, the Laurel and Hardy of Justification, mentioned Luther' Galatians and ignored its content.)
I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean?--Answer.
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
GJ - So WELS, for example, sells a gigantic meadow muffin against Justification by Faith and entombs a perfectly wonderful Small Catechism in exactly the opposite teaching. That is the Kuske Catechism, a book by a moron designed for zombies. And yet, this useless trash prepared the way for the New NIV with its invention of UOJ (in a feeble, conflicted way) in Romans 3.
Thus Luther clearly taught forgiveness through faith in Christ, and never even suggested forgiveness or salvation without faith. The person praying "forgive us our sins" is acknowledging the Atonement, not OJ, UOJ, General Justification, or any other manufactured dogma of Calvinism and Pietism. The Atonement means Jesus has not only died for minor sins and those sins we think we can conquer, but also for great and terrible sins.
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| Laurel and Hardy, or Abbott and Costello? |
