Two ELCA Seminaries Get a Total of $50 Million; Wartburg $500,000.But Can Anyone Teach Justification by Faith? They Are As Bad As WELS-ELS-LCMS, But They Have More Loot

 Grand Tour of All ELCA Seminaries linked here.

https://www.luthersem.edu/news/press_room.aspx?news_item_id=383

Luther Seminary receives $21.4 million commitment to pilot a two-year Master of Divinity program

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Luther Seminary has received the largest single donation in its history: a $21.4 million commitment to pilot a two-year Master of Divinity program.

The two-year degree program, covering tuition and some living expenses for students, will launch in fall 2019 and enables students to shorten their education to two years from the current three to four years and ensures that they take on no new personal debt.

Dean Buntrock, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Waste Management, Inc., and long-time benefactor of Lutheran higher education, made the donation covering the five-year pilot program. The donation includes a year of planning and resources to add faculty and staff.

“This pilot project is designed to inspire and support innovative leadership development churchwide," Buntrock said. "It will attract exceptional candidates from across the nation who show potential to be spiritually strong, theologically faithful, and entrepreneurially innovative. The outcomes will lead to further church leadership innovation for years to come. It is also my hope that others in the church will step up and ensure the long term and broad sustainability of education for our church. ”

Buntrock’s gift builds on Luther’s new vision, new curriculum and, starting in fall 2018, the new Jubilee full tuition scholarship for all Master of Divinity and Master of Arts students admitted to Luther Seminary.

“This transformative investment by Dean Buntrock promotes game-changing innovation in educating church leaders, ultimately serving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and church bodies across the nation,” said Rev. Dr. Robin J. Steinke, president of Luther Seminary.  “Luther Seminary’s new vision calls us to undertake exactly this kind of leadership formation, embedded within some of the most adaptive congregations we serve.”

Students enrolled in this newly designed Master of Divinity will work through the curriculum year-round for two consecutive years while completing concurrent part-time congregational internships that provide high-impact learning experiences through real-world application. They will receive full-tuition scholarships, living expense stipends, books and other learning materials, computer software, and travel expenses for immersion experiences. They also will be paid for their internships in accordance with ELCA standards. In addition, by reducing the time spent in seminary to two years, students will realize a significant savings in living expenses, estimated at more than $100,000 per learner.

"Identifying, inviting, equipping, and supporting leaders is one of the highest priorities for our work in the ELCA,” said Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton, who launched the ELCA Leadership Initiative in November 2016. "We are thankful for Dean Buntrock's generous investment in Lutheran theological education and the benefits this innovative pilot program will have across the church."

Founded in 1869 by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants, Luther Seminary currently educates nearly 40 percent of the ELCA’s pastors and church leaders, provides continuing education to more than 3,000 pastors each year, and supports more than 50,000 pastors every week through our Working Preacher digital resource.

Our vision is this: the Holy Spirit calls Luther Seminary to lead faithful innovation for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a rapidly changing world.

United Lutheran Seminary Gets $30 Million Gift

Latini lasted a bit longer as What's-His-Name at Michigan Lutheran Seminary (WELS), and missed out on her $30 million bonus.

United Lutheran Seminary, a theological school with campuses in Philadelphia and Gettysburg, has received a $30 million bequest from an anonymous donor, described by school officials only as a woman who lived in the Midwest and died earlier this year.

The donation — one of the largest in the history of an educational institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — will be used to fund a faculty chair and student scholarships starting in the fall of next year.

It was announced May 18 on the school’s website before graduation — the first since Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mount Airy and its counterpart in Gettysburg merged last year after decades of failed attempts.

“This [donation] will have a transformative impact on educational opportunities for future leaders of the church for decades to come,” said the Rev. Angela Zimmann, vice president of institutional advancement for the 325-student United Lutheran Seminary. “We’ve been working to reduce their educational debt and make seminary education accessible to those who feel the call to serve, and this donation will have that impact.”

The bequest was made in memory of the Rev. James Franklin Kelly, a Lutheran minister who graduated from Gettysburg Seminary in 1920, and his wife, Hope Anna Eyster Kelly.  Rev. Kelly died in 1983 at age 89, and his wife died in 1973.

Rev. Kelly served as pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wilmington from 1926 to 1953. He also led the congregations of Christ Lutheran Church in Erie and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Connersville, Ind., where he moved after he resigned from the Wilmington church.

According to obituaries in several newspapers, the Kellys had one daughter, Gladys Kelly Ellis, who died at age 95 in February. She had battled polio and rheumatic fever as a child and became a nurse as a tribute to the women who had tended to her.  During World War II, she worked at Fort DuPont in Delaware, helping treat prisoners of war. She later married George M. Ellis Jr., a prominent physician in Connersville, and the couple worked together in his office for 40 years. Dr. Ellis died in 2010. The couple had no children.

Zimmann said that she had met with the anonymous donor in December but had no idea that the bequest was $30 million until the benefactor passed away shortly after their visit.

“The executrix called and said, ‘Do you know how much?’ ” Zimmann said. “We were floored.”

School officials also have announced that Richard Green, who served as interim president of Lincoln University for two years ending in 2017, will become interim president of the seminary on June 4. He takes the helm following the departure of Theresa Latini, who was fired from her position as president in March after less than a year on the job.

Latini was dismissed after reports that she had once led an organization that supported reparative therapy practices claiming to turn gay men and women straight. Latini had long ago repudiated the organization and such practices, but did not disclose her affiliation with the group during interviews for the position. She had told the chairperson of the school’s trustee board about the association, but the official did not share the information with the remainder of the governing body until rumors began circulating on campus. Eight board members resigned during the controversy.

Green, a lifelong Lutheran, is a graduate of Concordia College, an ELCA school in Moorhead, Minn. He earned his doctorate from the University of Louisville. He has served as interim provost at both St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and Albany State University in Georgia.

He joins the seminary at a time when school officials are working to merge two schools, faculties, staffs, student populations, and campus cultures. The seminary is also coping with changes in theological education and religious practice and commitment that are remaking faith life.

Zimmann said she expects the $30 million donation will help the school confront those changes.

Published: May 30, 2018 — 5:43 PM EDT

Wartburg Seminary's Fast Track Program

 Every seminary president should have a doctorate, so Louise Johnson's school gave her one, for outstanding registration work at the Philadelphia Seminary.

Wartburg Theological Seminary has received a $497,115 grant from The Kern Family Foundation to streamline preparation for pastoral ministry for first career ministerial students in partnership with Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. The grant allows for implementation of a fully integrated Bachelor of Arts/Master of Divinity degree program to provide leadership, theological education and spiritual formation embedded in congregational contexts. 

This new program will include 3 years of BA education at Wartburg College with at least one semester interfacing with Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, IA. The final 3 years (which includes a year to complete an internship required by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) will be located in a collaborative congregational context.

Louise N. Johnson, Wartburg Seminary President, explains, “The generosity of the Kern Foundation and the partnership of Wartburg College offer us an extraordinary opportunity to press into our calling to form young faith leaders, who can proclaim words of hope, healing, forgiveness, mercy, grace to a world desperately longing to hear and to know the living God.”

 Webber started out ELCA, so UOJ is just like home for him.

The Importance of Weeds When Considering Sound Doctrine

Trailing Arbutus is an exquisite woodland flower that boasts sweet-scented, pastel pink beauty blooms along running stems of shiny evergreen leaves, creating the ultimate groundcover for woodland gardens. (Epigaea repens)
More about weeds here.

Definitions
Creation Gardeners - let us consider the nature and attributes of weeds. They are not simply plants growing in the wrong place. In one famous example, a man tried many times to get rid of a pesky vine. A weed! you say? By that definition, yes. But he was working on a trailing arbutus, a relatively rare and hard to grow flower, prized for the difficulty in raising it.

Some attributes of weeds are:

1. Aggressive growth, especially when ignored
2. Resource hogging - sun and water
3. Toxic and irritating - often simply by brushing against them.

Giant Hogweed grows so well, so fast.
Too bad it is toxic and its seeds worthless.

But the most important one is this -
Every undesirable weed can be mistaken for a valuable plant.

Sometimes the grower does not know until it flowers and bears fruit. Then the horrible truth reveals itself late in the season - he has nurtured a noxious weed, which is well established and multiplying fast.

Universal Objective Justification Is the Weed-Twin of Justification by Faith

UOJ is based on the false premise that God has proclaimed - the entire unbelieving world absolved of sin and saved - without the Gospel Word, without faith, grace without the Means of Grace.

Notice the weedy deception of UOJ.

1. Justification is a Biblical and a Book of Concord word, but it always means Justification by Faith.
2. Objective Justification suggests the Atonement, because the Atonement is objectively true whether anyone believes it or not - but OJ is not the Atonement, as the gurus hasten to affirm.
3. Subjective Justification seems to be Justification by Faith, assuming OJ is the Atonement, but SJ is not JBFA. SJ is making a decision for the universal forgiveness of sin, without the Word, without the Holy Spirit, without faith.

If the UOJ Stormtroopers were honest, they would say that SJ is not Justification by Faith. But in pursuing their crooked mission, they avoid discussing SJ because the SJ concept is even harder to define and defend than OJ is. That is why WELS has about 60 essays about OJ in their precious Essay File, their Holy of Holies, but they barely touch upon SJ.

 Here is WELS' Subjective Justification.
Will the individual make a decision for OJ?

 John Sparky Brenner calls this the "Justification of the World," but he cannot say the words Justification by Faith.

The WELS-CLC sic-ELS-ELCA-LCMS Leaders Want This Confusion and Ignorance To Continue

Long ago, when discussion how OJ/SJ came from the Halle University Pietists, some people asked, "What happened to SJ in the mainlines?"

The mainlines simply dropped SJ and maintained, because of God's grace, everyone in the world is already forgiven and saved. This poor man's Universalism is widely distributed among mainline Protestant leaders, modern theologians, and the Roman Catholic leaders.

The Olde Synodical Conference is now in the process of dropping their SJ completely, because sufficient amounts of OJ simply kill faith.

Bad dogma, bad grammar.

The Bitter Fruits of UOJ
Someone can take the history of any original Lutheran group and see great examples of scholarship, writing, faithfulness, sacrifice, and overwhelming blessings.

Now that UOJ has a complete grip on all the Lutheran groups, the following characteristics are dominant:

• Holy Mother Sect lies all the time and hides its crimes.
• The leaders enjoyed almost free education but now impose horrible burdens on their future teachers and ministers.
• The leaders and publishers hate Luther as much as they despise his Biblical doctrine.
• The clergy and teachers have the moral standards of Medieval monasteries and convents.
• The groups feign opposition to the others but they all work together to siphon off funds for the leaders to spend on themselves and their hobby projects.
• They are prolific
  but sterile. No one really wants their empty theories and self-indulgence, so people drift away - empty churches, empty seminaries, empty colleges.

Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Yale

Yale Law Library

Mrs. Ichabod and I visited the Yale Law School, but our work was at Yale Medical School - the Child Study Center and the Medical Library.

Judge Kavanaugh graduated from Yale College and Yale Law. He is the nominee for the US Supreme Court.

Yale College and Law School have had many presidential hopefuls and candidates in recent years:

1. Gerald Ford - Yale Law
2. VP Candidate Joe Lieberman - Yale College and Yale Law
3. Presidential hopeful Gary Hart(pence) - Yale Divinity and Law
4. President William Clinton - Yale Law
5. Hillary Clinton - Yale Law
6. President George H. W. Bush - Yale College, Skull and Bones
7. President George W. Bush - Yale College, Skull and Bones
8. Presidential candidate John F. Kerry - Yale College, Skull and Bones

Bill Clinton came back to Arkansas to teach law;
Hillary followed him because she could not pass the bar exam in New York. When they married, they lived in the Swanson house in Fayetteville, a few minutes from our home. Swanson invented the frozen TV dinner.

Washing the Weeds Off - They Have a Good Purpose. "There must be weeds among you, so y'all can tell the good plants from the baduns." 1 Little Rock 11:19

 Dandelion removal has been as successful as the Church Growth Movement, each one spawning an rewarding industry with horrible results.
Click here for false doctrine as a weed.

I have various weeds in the garden, strengthened by sun, watering, and mulch. They are:

1. Pokeweed
2. Dandelion - no, it's an herb!
3. Plantain 
4. Hog Peanuts
5. Bermuda grass - the worst
6. Various coarse and obnoxious grasses.

They like nothing better than popping out from under mulch, where they are kept moist, yet basking in the sun and overtaking the plant, if possible. Large plants like Joe Pye take care of themselves. Nothing grows close enough or tall enough to overwhelm them.

Every scrap of weed - minus Poison Ivy, Giant Hogweed, and Hemlock - can be turned into useful and nitrogen rich compost. 

Mainline Gardening. 

The surest sign of a mainline church body - which includes all Lutheran synods - is to maintain a smooth, boring organization where no real debate is allowed.

But Bubba emailed (in my new Surfer Dude Paraphrase) - 

"There must be weeds among you, so y'all can tell the good plants from the baduns." 1 Little Rock 11:19

19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

1 Corinthians 11:19 KJV

Mainline gardeners work the property for that smooth, green, weed-free appearance. They are willing to douse their soil with pre-emergent poison, post-emergent weed-killer, and furious weeding of anything that interrupts the tedium of their tidy lawns and fringe, up-against-the house plants. 

However, Creation gardeners allow the works of God to show how and  where they will prosper. For example, birds plant wild strawberries below their favorite roosts and squirrels plant nut trees in favorable spots, like my roses.

 These yokels have the same plan - not allowing anyone to discuss - or even mention - Justification by Faith. They are ashamed of being Lutherans; we are ashamed they are, too. They allow no debate about doctrine - their dogma is settled for all time.

The denominations send in their goons to stop anyone from debating anything, let the tranquilized peace be disturbed.

The Lutherans I know are awakened because they entered into the struggle about sound doctrine and found themselves rattled and shaken by the apostasy of the "conservative Lutheran" leaders. Let's make that "confessional Lutheran" leaders, who sold trinkets in the name of Luther last year - and made a bundle.

Everyone outdoors has run into poison ivy and has learned to identify it and avoid it (mark and avoid). Note how that concept is turned around to mark and avoid anyone who wants to discuss Christian doctrine. 

 St. Jon-Boy of Tempe

Soil Amendments - The Good, the Bad, and the Ridiculous

 Gabe Brown had four years of crop failures, which made him change his methods and emphasize cover crops.

Ridiculous
Let's start by dismissing the two ridiculous soil amendments, highly recommended by word-of-mouth, but useless for the soil:

1. Egg shells are made of calcium but they do not blend with the soil. They might be picked up by birds but do not affect the soil. Like meat products, they may attract the wrong crowd.
2. Epsom Salt is promoted by Martha Stewart - world famous gardener cook and hostess. The compound is a good bath salt and dissolves instantly in water. I bought an economy 8-pound bag and let half of it fall into the water. Not on purpose! It dissolved into the water and vanished, just like my toenials. No, I made that up. We use it for foot soaks. The Epsom Salt Council recommends it for every plant imaginable, but that is seldom the case. 

The Bad

Foods are not a good idea since they promote a distinctive and unpleasant garbage can aroma in the garden area. That is why most composters will stick to leafy matter that does not attract raccoons, skunks, and bears.

Chemical fertilizers can have a temporary impact on plants but they slow down or stop God's Creation process. Man-made fertilizers are toxic. Walk down that fertlizer aisle and inhale.

 Decades ago, the Salatin family began building the soil, which had been stripped bare from predatory farming.

Chickens hunt for food in the heavily manured fields.
This reduces pests and fragrance, preparing the chickens for market.

The Good

I am willing to share decades of reading and experience with everyone, which should save time and effort for some, incite curiosity among others.

• Save time! Soil amendments - whether finished or raw compost, leaves, manure, shredded wood, plant material, or all those exotic materials listed by Rodale Press - can be left on top of the soil, where God's own sanitation crew will pull it down up to the soil's capacity. Some common sense should be used for the kinds of manure, the freshness of the bouquet, and the amounts.
• Red Wiggler earthworms will pull down organic matter, dig, aerate, and fertilize for free. I added them early to the entire yard, and the results were immediate.
• Leaves are the foundation of all soil fungi, which are the network builders in feeding all plant roots in the yard. Leaves are mostly carbon, which should not be scorned. Fungi need carbon to grow, so why pay money or exert effort to haul carbon sources away.
• Pine Needles have a pleasant aroma for a long time. They can be a perfect mulch, not allowing any weeds through, but some gardeners fear they are too piney. I covered one garden deep and hardly any weeds came up - and even that took some time. But I grew Hostas, Pokeweed, and Blackberries there. Books say - do not overdo pine needles. I suppose it is good not to use them by the truckload, except where suppressing weed growth is a virtue.
• Coffee grounds add nutrition to the soil. Some people get pounds of them from coffee shops. I just toss the coffee didees into the rainwater barrel. Every so often a rich mixture of rainwater, grounds, and paper soak the bird bushes near our window. I dote on those bushes so they serve as shade and as perches for birds when feeding and entertaining us.
• Cover crops are great for the soil and for weed suppression. I overwhelmed myself with Buckwheat last year, but it built up the soil and elbowed all weeds aside. Buckwheat dropped enough seed to come back and grow six feet tall this year. All growing roots improve the soil.
• Weeds are powerful in improving the soil. Invasive weeds are not fun (English Ivy); nor are toxic ones (Poison Ivy, Giant Hogweed, Poison Hemlock). But deep taproots should not be scorned (dandelion, Poke) since they contribute so much to soil building as they shed organic matter and feed the beneficial fungi. I let Pokeweed grow modestly in the rose garden and then prune it back, but wildly in the back to feed the birds. Dandelions are herbs, so they grow where they wish.
• Newspapers, Cardboard. They must improve the soil because I have to replace them as weed blockers. Cardboard lasts the longest. I hold down both with shredded wood.
• Shredded Wood Mulch is best when used without dyes. I am not sure what chemicals are included in those dyes, but coloring wood is akin to spraying the lawn green. Wood mulch holds down the newspapers and cardboard, limits the sun germinating weeds, keeps moisture in the soil, and decomposes into the soil.
• Tree stumps and logs are ideal when borrowed from people removing trees from their property. Stumps are primarily food zones for all kinds of creatures, where the soil meets the wood. They also serve as perches for birds, bases for solar lights, and modular fences.

 This is the best single book on the soil food web.
Lowenfels realized the folly of chemical gardening.

 Those who study this book will be decades ahead of the rest, but it is not easy reading.

One gigantic effort is not going to convert a property overnight. Who has the energy or materials to do that? Instead, a regular application of natural ingredients will build the soil over time.

I asked neighbors for newspapers and received stacks of them, used those, and then areas to use stacks more. When I had plenty of paper from a small truckload of them, a second load arrived. Now I open the front door a crack and yell "No more newspapers!" They laugh.

Sometimes I appear at a neighbor's door with a bunch of roses in a paper cup. "Here are your newspapers back." They like that as much as I like their contributions.

YouTube
One way to study this topic is to search YouTube for organic gardening advice. I am linking a few for starters.

Gabe Brown on Soil Health - Cover Crops

Joel Salatin Polyface Farm

Joel Salatin - Building the Soil

Soil Carbon Cowboys

Hot Peanuts fix nitrogen in the soil and the plant is everywhere. City slickers buy nitrogen and kill the plant with toxins. Make sense?

Zarling Should Have Polished His UOJ Diamond Speech. Appalling Graduation Numbers at Martin Luther College WELS

UOJ is the Chief Article - never mind what Martin Luther, Melanchthon, or the Book of Concord editors wrote. In our circles, mark my word, UOJ is the Chief Article.

Bivens enjoyed the Zarling paper so much, he copied UOJ as the Chief Article of the Christian Faith argument from Zarling. The Bivens/Zarling plagiarism is here.

NEW ULM — One hundred forty-eight students received degrees marking the completion of their training at Martin Luther College (MLC) May 12.


Graduates received 36 Bachelor of Arts (pre-seminary) degrees, 94 Bachelor of Science in Education degrees including 16 in early childhood education, five Bachelor of Science degrees and four seminary certifications.

 Only 36 pre-seminary grads mean about 18 who will graduate from Mordor with their UOJ/Church Growth degrees. Enrollment keeps dropping. Soon it will reach CLC numbers.

 CLC Donkey Basketball is better than WELS entertainment.
At least the men are not in makeup and skirts.

 Make-up? Skirts?
WELS Michigan Lutheran Seminary is their fading high school in Saginaw.

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 2018.

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 2018

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Sunday, Central Daylight Time

The melodies are linked in the hymn title. 

The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.

• The melody site is linked here.
• TLH Lyrics site is linked here.

The Hymn # 331:1-4            Yea, As I Live                                               

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn # 331:5-8            Yea, As I Live                         

Justification Begins the Christian Life

The Communion Hymn # 387:1-5             Dear Christians                   

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #  209     Who is This                                                     

Sixth Sunday After Trinity

Lord God, heavenly Father, we confess that we are poor, wretched sinners, and that there is no good in us, our hearts, flesh and blood being so corrupted by sin, that we never in this life can be without sinful lust and concupiscence; therefore we beseech Thee, dear Father, forgive us these sins, and let Thy Holy Spirit so cleanse our hearts that we may desire and love Thy word, abide by it, and thus by Thy grace be forever saved; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

KJV Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Justification Begins the Christian Life

Justification by Faith

Starting with Romans 3, Paul develops his case from Scripture about Abraham being the example of Justification by Faith rather than the righteousness of the Law.

He begins with Justification by Faith in Romans 3, develops the example of Abraham in Genesis 15 in chapter 4 of Romans, and emphasized Justification by Faith in Romans 5. 

As Hoenecke observes, the Pietists make a crucial mistake. They confuse the Christian Life (sanctification) with Justification and make the Christin Life the cause of Justification. That sounds complicated, but we all know examples of that. Someone cannot join a church unless he gives up alcoholic drinks completely. Or - one must prove a exemplary life before being allowed to join a church. And - as evidence of this - the proof of this - "I never touched a drop in my life." 

That changes forgiveness from faith in Christ to the righteousness of the Law, whether people realize it or not. And Lutherans have similar flawed concepts, such as saying, "I am a fifth generation Lutheran." Or "My family has done so much for this synod." 

KJV Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

The temptation in pagan Rome is the same as Pagan America - to see Justification by Faith as an excuse to do anything and everything.

Paul even brings that up - should we continue sinning than grace may abound? As Luther writes in his sermon, sin is so great that God has provided an answer which is even more powerful.

We are all familiar with over-the-counter cures, and some of them actually help. However, when we have a major medical issue, we do not trust in minor medicines or the advice of a neighbor. We want the most powerful antidote against that disease.

Against cancer - surgery, radiation, and medicine. The best hope is to remove all diseased cells and kill off what might start the bad growth again.

Against infections - even more powerful antibiotics. Against structural defects - surgery to repair the problems.

Against sin, God's own Son stood in our stead to bear the wrath of the state and the false teachers of Judaism. Suffering alone was not enough, but suffering and death. This punishment was so great that it almost destroyed the disciples, they were driven to so much despair. 

God allowed the disciples to share the grief and torment, which made them better teachers of faith in Christ and His mercy. They were dragged as far down as anyone could go, from the joy of traveling with Him, hearing Him teach, and observing His miracles - to the arrest, the torture, and the death.

Therefore, faith in Him means forgiveness and death to sin. As powerful as sin is, God's grace is even more powerful. However, losing faith in Him means falling away from this grace, from the Means of Grace, the Gospel Word and Sacraments.

God did not stop with the proclamation of all that Christ has done for us. If we think about the Good Samaritan - Who is Christ - so much more is done than conversion. The Christ-figure treats the wounds, carries the stricken to a place of healing, tends to him, and asks that more be done to bring him back, offering to pay extra for that labor. 

Does anyone miss that Christ works through the Christian Church and the Means of Grace, which He has appointed and managed through ordinary people? (Yes, most do miss that. They are taught this is a Righteousness of the Law parable, teaching us to feel guilty for not "making the world a better place.")

Luther:

2. Such argument Paul now confutes. He says: It is not the intention of the Gospel to teach sin or to allow it; it teaches the very opposite — how we may escape from sin and from the awful wrath of God which it incurs.

Escape is not effected by any doings of our own, but by the fact that God, out of pure grace, forgives us our sins for his Son’s sake; for God finds in us nothing but sin and condemnation. How then can this doctrine give occasion or permission to sin when it is so diametrically opposed to it and teaches how it is to be blotted out and put away P 3. Paul does not teach that grace is acquired through sin, nor that sin brings grace; he says quite the opposite — that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” Romans 1:18. But because the sins of men which are taken away are so grievous and numerous, the grace which drowns and destroys them must be mighty and abundant also. Where there is great thirst, a great draft is needed to quench it. Where there is a mighty conflagration, powerful streams of water are necessary to extinguish it. In cases of severe illness, strong medicine is essential to a cure. But these facts do not give us authority to say: Let us cheerfully drink to satiety that we may become more thirsty for good wine; or, Let us injure ourselves and make ourselves ill that medicine may do us more good. Still less does it follow that we may heap up and multiply sins for the purpose of receiving more abundant grace. Grace is opposed to sin and destroys it; how then should it strengthen or increase it ?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Paul uses figurative language so we see the power of the Gospel in baptism, whether as infants or as adults. Forgiveness is so powerful that it begins a new life in following Christ, from death to resurrection.

The reason is - the believer now has heaven and earth, and God's power to guide him is no longer a mystery. If all else fails, we still have God's Word to guide us.

Man's wisdom has us going over the past and reviewing everything to fix up the future. But baptism and faith in Christ promise us forgiveness and a daily renewal in grace. Here is a great example from Alec Satin's publications -

Thought you might appreciate this quote from Simon Peter Long, from a sermon he gave on the Fifth Sunday after Trinity in (I believe) 1903.

Alec

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When Superintendent Weller got so despondent and so melancholy that all the pastors of the city could give him no comfort, they sent for Luther. Luther went to the superintendent and tried to comfort him with one verse after another, but the poor man lay there so despondent that like a worm in the dust he could not get any comfort. At last Dr. Luther said to him:

“Weller, I want you to stop this nonsense. Are you not baptized?” And in that moment, like a flash of lightning, Weller received light. Of course he is baptized, and baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, into Christ’s death and resurrection; why should he be unhappy? why melancholy? Why not remember it is a good thing to be a child of God, and cheer up? There is a wonderful power in baptism. Consider your baptismal covenant. The more you think it over the more you will find that one of the greatest acts of God in the history of the world, after Jesus had died to save us, was to apply that redemption by the means of grace.

One great trouble in the present day is that many people know nothing about the means of grace. They want to build a house, but they do not want to know anything about stone or lumber; they want to build a ship, but they do not want to know anything about the vessel; they want to cross the ocean, but do not want to know anything about the boat; they want to do things, but they want to do them their own way. God has His way to save souls, and His way is to give us the Word and the holy sacraments, and it is our duty to be true to them; and when in those holy sacraments He pours out a blessing, it is our duty to receive it. God help you not to serve sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Amen.

From “The Eternal Epistle: Sermons On The Epistles For The Church Year” by Long, Simon Peter, (1860-1929)

So when someone bothers us, for example, the immediate temptation is to be upset, resentful, and eager to make things right - by getting even. Sometimes we even get annoyed when those are typical habits and not in any way intentionally harmful or hurtful. The antidote is to dwell on Christ's forgiveness of our all our sins, daily, through faith in Him.

Resentment is a prison we build for ourselves. No one else does that to us. It is simply an attitude within, and it can really pile up. So dwelling on our forgiveness first makes us realize that we have many similar faults, which we really hope are overlooked. Instead of building resentment, we think about how we can be more thoughtful and considerate ourselves.

Sometimes, dysfunctional people are just plain mean all the time. For various reasons, they go out of their way to be difficult, insulting, and harmful. I run into this with online classes because we do not know each other well. Some student will start working me over. I remember a TV character saying, "I would understand your loathing if you knew me better." I can actually say to myself, "This is not about me," although it does steam me up at times. When my response is calm and helpful, the issue dissolves and there is often a big apology.

My best boss said, "Imagine that person is coming for dinner at your house today. How would you talk to that person?"

It is not for nothing the Proverb says, "A soft answer turns away wrath." If someone hates us for being faithful to the Gospel, the best answer to hatefulness is patience. In that way, sourness can be converted, but that is the power of the Gospel, not our own power.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

I like this planting allegory, because a gardener often starts new life by digging a hole and burying something in that hole. Sometimes they are bulbs, corms, or pips. They may be tiny slivers of plants placed in the ground before the winter frosts, tiny leaves just above the ground. In two instances, I planted three tiny bushes together - Crepe Myrtle - so they grow together as they mature and produce three kinds of flowers.

There is always a sense of death with these plantings, because no one knows what will come up. So Paul was speaking to the orchardist, I think, someone growing olives or grapes, planting in the ground with the hopes of new life from that effort. So when we die to sin in baptism, there is only a hint of the future, a person, but only a slip of a person, not developed, full of potential in both ways.

There is no claim that the believer will be perfect and without sin. That will always be with us as long as we live. However, we do not need to let sin dominate and control our lives. When people engage in what is easy to do, such as lying, then that begins the control, because the temptation becomes the habit, and the habit becomes the ruler.

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

I think of the old nature of these plants. What dies in being buried in the soil is not what we want. Instead, it is a hint of what may come forth in the future. A weak little slip becomes a big plant with flower stalks. An ugly bulb (hiding the flower already formed) becomes a colorful plant that reminds people of their homeland - Wales, or the flowers their mother grew - "buttercups."

The old life keeps the new life away, so it is crucified and left behind.

10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Baptism only happens once, so that death to sin is onetime, but living in God, in the Gospel, that goes on forever through faith.

Paul's motivating words are not the condemnation of sin but the grace of forgiveness. There is no doubt about the enslaving power of sin, but far greater is the freeing power of the new life in Christ.

Luther:
14. The apostle speaks consolingly of the death of the Christian as a being planted, to show that the Christian’s death and sufferings on earth are not really death and harm, but a planting unto life; being redeemed, by the resurrection, from death and sin, we shall live eternally. For that which is planted is not planted unto death and destruction, but planted that it may sprout and grow. So Christ was planted, through death, unto life; for not until he was released from this mortal life and from the sin which rested on him and brought him into death on our account, did he come into his divine glory and power. Since this planting begins in baptism, as said, and we .by faith possess life in Christ, it is evident that this life must strike root in us and bear fruit. For that which is planted is not planted without purpose; it is to grow and bear fruit. So must we prove, by our new conversation and by our fruits, that we are planted in Christ unto life.

To bear fruit - that glorifies God, because we only bear fruit through the Gospel Word, by remaining with the True Vine through the Means of Grace.

The neighbor boys were fascinated by Sassy and by the gardening I was doing. I said, "Do you want flowers for your moms?" They did, so I snipped five or six daisies for each one. "Give that to your mom and tell her you love her." They were grinning, waiting for their bunch, and each one ran off. They quickly ran back and said, "She said thank you." Either two or three moms were there to help with the group yard sale.

My wife said, "Include some daisies if you have any left, tomorrow." I counted 50 daisies in bloom. 

That is how the Gospel bears fruit. It multiplies through growth and sharing. There is no way to know how far it goes. People fear pruning because it means removes part of the plants and some of the flowers. But God created the plants to be even more abundant when cleansed, as John 15 teaches. 

The Means of Grace make us more fruitful because the power of the Gospel Word is always effective and always accomplishes God's purpose. Not only that, it prospers God's will.