KJV Romans 10:13 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.
The bankrupt seminaries of all denominations have failed to grasp and to teach two major sections of the Scriptures. Both passages teach the efficacy of the Word of God, one in Isaiah 55, the other in Romans 10. Both passages are so clear than no one can ignore the clear message - everything accomplished by the Christian Faith comes from the exclusive effectiveness of God's Word.
This effect comes from
- reading,
- hearing, and
- remembering the Scriptures.
Are popcorn, peanuts, soda, and coffee effective? Then why use these lures to make worship appealing? The crowds who followed Jesus into the desert ignored their peril because His Word was divine in authority, not like the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees. They were fed miraculously because they had so much faith in the Son of God.
The Means of Grace Chapters
The connection between Romans 10 and Isaiah 53 is also significant. Several terms come up, teaching the same concept. Faith only comes from hearing the Word, also called the Rumor or the Report.
For centuries, Isaiah 53 meant very little. Rabbinic literature had trouble with a Suffering Servant. The disciples were initially deaf to the three predictions of the suffering Jesus and His resurrection. But read or hear Isaiah 53 and Romans 10 together - The report of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection creates faith in Him.
KJV Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our Report?KJV Romans 10: 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our Report?
That is why we read the Scriptures to newborns when they are baptized. They listen and pay close attention to everything. That is why it is so good to hand a newborn to a stranger wearing a robe - instant in waking up and getting attention, plus crying. The doubters say, "A newborn cannot have faith. Wait until he is 6 years old, or 8, or 12." But the baby has faith in his mother and becomes peaceful and happy in her arms, from her whispers. The Word which created everything in the universe (John 1:3) also plants Gospel faith in the heart of the infant.
Today's Lutherans
Reject Faith in the Scriptures
Faith in Jesus Christ is almost completely gone among the Lutheran synods, worshiping themselves and praising Holy Mother Synod. ELCA is farthest out simply by embracing every error of our time. The ELS-WELS-LCMS-CLC-ELDONUT sects have the same hardness of heart, directly from clinging to CFW Walther, BA, and his notorious repetition of Objective Faithless Justification.
Consider the irony - Jim Heiser, searching for his bishop's mitre, united with the ELS and WELS to deliver one more Waltherian sect into this world. They formed the Luther-lite Confessional Synod, which adored Objective Faithless Justification. Later, without blushing, they switched.
Another irony - the Lutheran sects oppose Luther and the Reformation.
And - they love every Bible but the KJV.
And - they are failing just as fast as the mainline sects because they have the same rationalistic, works-righteousness.
The sects have no power because they do not recognize the efficacy of God's Word.
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| One pastor stopped talking to me because this is a translation of Knapp, ignoring the fact that the Calvinist translator - a dominant Calvinist in his time - used these soon-to-be-popular terms. His sect will soon be "only a footnote in the history of Lutheranism." |
