Paul Kelm, DMin Could Do For the Church of England What He Has Done for WELS

 

Face the Issue - The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) Are Incompetent

Whether it is the Big Sister (ELCA) or the Waltherian Four (LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC), the synodicals are bound together, whether chasing Thrivent for more money or expressing their malignant dogma. 

Allow me to explain the toxic theologians and their slippery grasp of the Bible, like someone washing the fine china with slippery hands and watching the crockery crash to the floor, angry words exchanged.

KJV Romans 4:25 - Has everyone heard this a thousand times? 

4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification!

Is this a question? It is incomplete, like saying "Who was writing..." 

But now it has been recited wrongly for ages, and the illiterate leaders keep parroting the words. Deliberate or just dumb?

Let's make sense out of their nonsense.

Romans 4

KJV Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Their LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) opinions collapse from their ignorance and lack of language skills.

Pleased note - or nota bene - Justification by Faith immediately follows this section we call Romans 4, which is all about Justification by Faith starting with Abraham, Genesis 15:6. Let that bounce around in those empty heads - Justification by Faith began with Abraham and ended with the LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic).

1 Timothy 3

A large amount of Objective Justification is based upon Jesus absolving the entire world. Because the OJers have very little  analytical capacity, they only use one phrase of Paul's hymn or poem or statement in 1 Timothy 3:16.

KJV 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: 

1. God was manifest in the flesh, 
2. justified in the Spirit, 
3. seen of angels, 
4. preached unto the Gentiles, 
5. believed on in the world, 
6. received up into glory.

This is a clear and powerful confession of faith in the Son of God. Therefore, justification in the Spirit means that Jesus' resurrection - by itself - proved His divinity. Nothing in this beautiful statement suggests "the whole world was declared righteous." Only a numbskull would claim that, a sorry example of Waltherian density. 

The new mission plan has been a breakout success.

Remember, acolytes of Saint Walther the Pietist, he learned his OJ from Bishop Martin Stephan STD, who took his followers to America, already convicted of his gross sins and debauchery. The Stephanite leaders knew the truth and lied about their knowledge of Stephan seducing young women who caught his syphilis. 

Walther was so Stephanite stupid that he collapsed the Atonement of Christ into the General Absolution of the entire world.

The foolishness from the Waltherian Four is ridiculous because they constantly search out Scriptures - used in error - to back up their Objective Faithless Justification.

 

Walther hisself loved the two justifications, which only supports his false teaching borrowed from a Halle University professor. This statement comes from a famous American Calvinist who translated Knapp's German work, the translation used extensively in America for about 90 years. The double justification formula will never cease because the Four Waltherian sects love it so dearly. 

Oh No! Quenstedt was a favorite of Dr. Robert Preus. Perhaps the truth slowly came out. All of us have been subjected to similar errors. The Waltherian cults cannot let go of their foolishness.

Note the harmony between Knapp, Rambach, and the Waltherian Four.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Pentecost 3 - "Ye are to know that it is only the miserable spirit of lies, the devil, who wishes to make you fearful, and who, under the name and appearance of God, wants to blind and deceive pious hearts."

 

Third Sermon: The Promise of the Holy Spirit to those who Love Christ, and his Comfort because of his Departure; or Christ Gives his Disciples a Five-Fold Promise

V. THE FIFTH PROMISE.

83. This is bidding them a friendly good night. Christ was willing and able to speak with his disciples in the most loving manner. Well, I must away, he says, and cannot speak much more with you, therefore ye have my good night, and let it be well with you. I wish and give you nothing else but peace, that is, that it may be well with you. (For, according to the Hebrew language, “peace” means nothing else than to give and to bestow all good.)

That is to be my last farewell. Ye shall suffer no hurt nor want because of my departure. I will richly repay you, for ye shall have from me, in my stead, the best that ye can wish, the peace and good of the fact that in my Father ye have a merciful God, whose thoughts toward you are those of a father’s heart and love. And in me ye shall have a good, faithful Savior, who will do you all good, and not forsake you in any need, will defend and stand by you against the devil, the world and all wickedness, and in addition will give you the Holy Spirit, who shall so rule your hearts that you find in me true comfort, peace and joy.

84. That is what is meant when he says, My peace is given you and left with you. Not as the world gives peace; for it is not able to give such peace and blessing, all its peace and good being not only transient but also uncertain and changing with each hour. The world bases peace and comfort only upon transient things — gold, possessions, power, honor, the friendship of men etc. When these are gone, then peace and confidence and courage are gone. Though it were in the power of the world to give and preserve all these, yet it has not, nor can it have, true eternal peace, so that a heart enjoys God’s favor and is certain of his grace and of everlasting life.

85. But since this is not the world’s peace, the holy cross is laid upon it; then, measured by reason and by our feelings, it means no peace, but distensions, anguish, terror, fear and trembling. Christ says in John 16:33: “In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world;” that is to be your peace. Therefore, ye are not to think that ye will have a kingdom and power and ease in the world, or that men will receive your preaching, since ye do not proclaim and bring to it what it seeks and enjoys. But only hold fast to my Word, then ye shall have peace against the devil and the world. This they shall not take from you with their distensions.

86. Observe, thus Christ has secured and satisfied his Church with peace, a peace that abides in the midst of thorns and briars, that is, of tribulation and temptation. The devil and the world, for the sake of the Word and of confession of Christ, will sting, torture and plague you; so that, as the Word is a Word of grace, love and of the peace of God and Christ toward us, so is it here in the world a Word of wrath and trouble. Therefore, when the heart feels oppressed, in anguish and even terrified and as if a fugitive before God on account of the devil’s suggestion, this peace must be fixed in faith, the heart may inclose and secure itself in the Word of Christ and say: I know, nevertheless, that I have God’s pledge and the witness of the Holy Spirit, that he wants to be my kind Father and is not angry. with me, but assures me of peace and all good through Christ, his Son If he is my friend, then let the devil and the world, so long as they do not want to smile, be angry and rave with their affliction. “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.”

87. This is the real, friendly, personal voice of the faithful Savior; he would gladly write upon the hearts of his Christians that they should have and expect from him nothing else but peace and every good. He well knows how difficult it is to retain this peace and comfort of the heart, and how the devil opposes here; even if a man is courageous and able to despise and overcome the wrath and enmity of all the world, Satan tries to drive him into terror and fear before God. Yes, Christ knows this well — that natural flesh and blood shudders and that no one laughs when it goes ill with him, when all that he has is taken and he is delivered to the hangman; much less when the devil actually seizes the timid heart and mangles it between the spurs, so that it can scarcely get its breath for anguish.

88. But hear ye well, he wishes to say, what I say unto you for the sake of my Father, that he does not want you to be fearful, nor are ye to be concerned about any affliction or fear. Ye are to know that it is only the miserable spirit of lies, the devil, who wishes to make you fearful, and who, under the name and appearance of God, wants to blind and deceive pious hearts. As a devil he does nothing publicly, for he knows that where he is known his cause is already lost. Therefore let not your heart be taken, but be only the stronger and the more undismayed, and this from love and obedience to my Father and myself, but for the confusion and vexation of the devil and the world.

89. If one could believe these words, and could see how they are the words of Christ the Lord, he would surely be comforted, and be able to despise what all hell may do to terrify him. For whom should he fear who knows that Christ, and God through him, together with the Holy Spirit, give him the pledge of grace and peace, and command him to be joyful and without fear? It is only because of our weakness that we are not able here to believe Christ, and that our flesh and blood, feeling their unworthiness, believe the devi1 and his false fears rather than the true and gracious Word, in which God if only we begin to believe on Christ, announces unto us forgiveness of sin and perfect salvation. “Ye heard how I said unto you. I go away and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father for the Father is greater than I.”

90. All is intended richly to comfort the disciples and to strengthen them in view of his departure; therefore he speaks very plainly with them, saying: “If ye loved me” etc., and yet he means it beyond measure most kindly, even as the dearest friend would feel toward another. I have told you, says he, and it is true, that I must leave you. Ye do not like to hear this, for ye know that, so long as I am with you, joy is your only portion in me. But, my dear disciples, if ye have heard the one message, then hear the other likewise, and listen to what is said, that I will again come to you with better and greater ‘comfort and joy than ye so far have had in me.

Reformation Seminary - Objective Justification

 

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The favorite term is Objective Justification, but they also like General Justification, Universal Justification, and Universal Objective Justification. The terms are not exactly limited to the Four Waltherian Sects  - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic). Other cults use the term Objective Justification.

The Scriptures do not teach Objective Justification except Romans 3:24 on "all are justified," which includes two NIV versions and four others. The list is here. The previous NIV Bible did not include the "all," perhaps because that is absent in all of the manuscripts.

NIV Romans 3:24  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The earlier NIV had - "and are justified..."

Walther followed his syphilitic Bishop's advice and even claimed OJ saved CFW's life. The LCMS, WELS, and ELS eventually forced out Justification by Faith and began exotic Biblical interpretations of Objective Justification - dynamic equivalence - Eugene Nida.

OJ False Claims

Everyone has already been forgiven, often "since the crucifixion," though others take the universalism concept back to Adam.

One variation is "guilt-free saints in Hell."

The ELCA simply states that everyone is forgiven. Their dogmatics double-volume also mocks the Trinity.

OJ Confusion

The OJ fanatics confuse themselves about the Atonement, which is clearly Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of the world. They seem blinded to the difference between the Atonement for all and Justification by faith for all who believe.

Sources - Calvinism and Pietism 

Lutherans have moved into unionism ever since Calvinism united with the state church.

I Erased a Post on ELCA Apostasy

 

Dore

The ELCA Exposed blog has a lot of information. A little bit of study shows how much is going on through wasted funds and agitation. 

Another source is Protestia.

The best source of all is using search engines to find material and pass it along to others. 

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Pentecost Third Sermon - "Therefore, it must, in our case, come to this: In need and danger we look about and sigh for comfort; then the Holy Spirit can perform his office of teaching the heart and bringing to its remembrance the Word preached."

 

Third Sermon: The Promise of the Holy Spirit to those who Love Christ, and his Comfort because of his Departure; or Christ Gives his Disciples a Five-Fold Promise

THE OTHER PART OF THIS GOSPEL.

IV. THE FOURTH PROMISE.

“These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you. But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.”

72. These, now, are closing words which Christ speaks to his disciples — a conclusion to his sermon, his utterances of comfort. He wishes to part from them; he thus takes his leave and directs them to further future comfort, when the Holy Spirit shall be given them, who shall teach them to understand all these things and to experience this comfort in very deed. As if he would herewith say: So far I have been with you, and have done for you what I should and could do. I have given you my Word, and have comforted you by word of mouth, to which you are to hold when I depart from you. It is true that the comfort of the words which I have spoken is indeed great and sublime; but while I am still with you, you do not take them to heart that you experience their sweetness and power. They remain only as the Word that I speak to you, and are as yet nothing more.

73. But they are not to continue simply as my words and speech, but are also to become a part of your own experience; not a mere empty sound or echo, but a living comfort in your hearts. This however cannot be so long as I am with you, for ye now possess only the bodily and physical comfort of my presence; therefore, I must be taken from you, in order that this comfort may become effective in you and that the Holy Spirit may teach you these things. When ye have lost me and are left alone in danger, need and fear, then, for the first time, ye will realize the need of comfort and of praying for it. Then will the Holy Spirit find you to be really teachable pupils. He will prove to be your helper and reminder. Through his aid you may perceive to what end I said these things. Then shall your hearts experience the comfort and power of the fact that I manifest myself and the Father unto you, and so abide in you that others may also learn of this comfort through your word.

74. And note well this text, how Christ here binds the Holy Spirit to his Word, and fixes his limit and measure, so that the Spirit may not go further than his Word. Everything which I have said he shall remind you of, publishing it further through you. Thereby he shows that in the future nothing else shall be taught through the Holy Spirit in all Christendom than what the apostles had heard from Christ, but which they did not yet understand, until the Holy Spirit had taught them. So the teaching may always proceed from the mouth of Christ, then be transmitted from one mouth to another, and yet always remain the Word of Christ. The Holy Spirit is thus the school-master who teaches these things and brings them to remembrance.

75. Secondly, it is shown here that this Word precedes or must be spoken beforehand, and that afterwards the Holy Spirit works through the Word. One must not reverse the order and dream of a Holy Spirit who works without the Word and before the Word, but one who comes with and through the Word and goes no farther than the Word goes.

76. Thirdly, the example of the apostles show how Christ rules his Church in her weakness; the Holy Spirit does not dwell in Christians at all times, nor so soon as they have heard the Word does he come with such power and effectiveness as to enable them to believe it all and rightly to understand and grasp it. And in our case there is a great difference between hearing the Word and feeling in it the power and effect of the Holy Spirit. For although the apostles are so far advanced — the Holy Spirit working so much in them — as to hear Christ’s Word willingly and to have begun to believe, yet even they can not take these words of comfort to heart until the Holy Spirit teaches them after the departure of Christ.

77. So it is at present. We hear God’s Word, which is in fact the preaching of the Holy Spirit, who is at all times present with it, but it does not always at once reach the heart and be accepted by faith; yea, in the case of those who are moved by the Holy Spirit and gladly receive the Word, it does not at once bear fruit. One may not, indeed, for a long time feel that he has been made any better or comforted and strengthened, especially where as yet he has experienced no fear and danger, but only peace and rest. This was the case with the apostles before Christ was taken from them; they thought of nothing more than of preserving bodily comfort. Therefore, it must, in our case, come to this: In need and danger we look about and sigh for comfort; then the Holy Spirit can perform his office of teaching the heart and bringing to its remembrance the Word preached.

78. It is then profitable always to hear the Word and to train one’s self there with, even if it does not at once reach the mark, in order that in time of need the heart may recall what it has heard, and may begin rightly to understand it, and to feel its power and comfort. As an illustration, the embers that have lain under the ashes for a time will burn again and kindle if one stir and blow upon them. One should, therefore, not look upon the Word as ineffective or as having been preached in vain, nor seek for another because its fruit is not at once apparent.

79. It is not worth while here to answer the papists, who, in this text “He shall teach you all things” etc., want to find support for their figment and so foolishly say that Christ has not taught the apostles all that they needed to know, but has left and reserved much for the Holy Spirit to teach them. Such drivel is sufficiently destroyed by the text itself, which declares in clear, plain words: “The Holy Spirit shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.” So, also, before this, he directed them everywhere to his Word alone, as he says: “If a man love me, he will keep my Word.” Likewise, in John 16:14, he says concerning the Holy Spirit: “He shall not speak from himself but he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.”

80. But it is a sin and a shame to hear and suffer such pretension in Christendom as this, that the Holy Spirit should teach — I will not say something adverse only, such as the pope, as the live Antichrist, with the open abominations of his doctrine, teaches, things directly against Christ, namely, those things which the pope urges most as merit of personal work, the offering of the mass, denial of the cup, celibacy, calling upon departed saints, lies of purgatory and fictitious power — but that he should teach something different and better than Christ the Son of God has taught, who himself is the teacher, sent from heaven for that purpose. Or that Christ should have omitted something more needful, which it was necessary to reveal and teach by means of the councils. Excepting the first councils, wherein the Scriptures established against the heretics the one doctrine concerning the deity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, the councils dealt only with the lesser matters of doctrine, which pertain merely to things of human arrangement and ordinances, for which the Holy Spirit’s power is not needed, either to promise or to give anything. Ah! he has much higher things to teach and to reveal, things concerning which human councils can neither order nor establish anything: how one may escape God’s wrath, conquer sin and death, trample the devil under foot. Christ alone teaches these things and he says that whoever would accomplish them must keep his Word.

81. If these perverted, shameful glosses of the papists were not otherwise faulty, one should condemn and curse them as the devil’s poison and lies because they tear hearts from the Word of Christ. If one thinks Christ has not taught everything, then eyes and ears are at once wide open to gaze and listen elsewhere and one thinks: Oh, there must be still something great, not taught by Christ, which the Holy Spirit is still to teach! Oh, if I could but hear and know this, then I should surely be saved!

82. The result of this is harm and mischief: one does not attach importance to the Word of Christ, and when he afterwards hears anything new, he deems it a precious thing and necessary unto salvation. Christ, in order to warn us against everything that is not his Word, as if against the devil’s poison, not only binds the Holy Spirit to his Word, that he should not teach anything else, but he, himself, in his preaching appeals to his Father’s command and says: It is not mine, but my Father’s Word. How, then, can one sanction councils in teaching or ordering some new thing when they can never present any authority for such action? The apostles have the command from Christ and the Holy Spirit that they should teach nothing but the Word of Christ, as they, themselves, testify; hence; councils and all men are in duty bound to abide by the same command and to show that what they teach is the same doctrine. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”

Fake Research Articles Force the Closing of Many Worthless Journals, Thousands of Fake Research Articles.

 

 They moved on to fake science articles.

Fake studies have flooded the publishers of top scientific journals, leading to thousands of retractions and millions of dollars in lost revenue. The biggest hit has come to Wiley, a 217-year-old publisher based in Hoboken, N.J., which Tuesday announced that it was closing 19 journals, some of which were infected by large-scale research fraud. In the past two years, Wiley has retracted more than 11,300 papers that appeared compromised, according to a spokesperson, and closed four journals. It isn't alone: At least two other publishers have retracted hundreds of suspect papers each. Several others have pulled smaller clusters of bad papers.

Although this large-scale fraud represents a small percentage of submissions to journals, it threatens the legitimacy of the nearly $30 billion academic publishing industry and the credibility of science as a whole. The discovery of nearly 900 fraudulent papers in 2022 at IOP Publishing, a physical sciences publisher, was a turning point for the nonprofit. "That really crystallized for us, everybody internally, everybody involved with the business," said Kim Eggleton, head of peer review and research integrity at the publisher. "This is a real threat." The sources of the fake science are "paper mills" -- businesses or individuals that, for a price, will list a scientist as an author of a wholly or partially fabricated paper. The mill then submits the work, generally avoiding the most prestigious journals in favor of publications such as one-off special editions that might not undergo as thorough a review and where they have a better chance of getting bogus work published.

"There must be some scientific facts in here somewhere!"

New Testament Greek Lesson

 

John 3 Stephanus

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16 ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον αυτου τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

17 ου γαρ απεστειλεν ο θεος τον υιον αυτου εις τον κοσμον ινα κρινη τον κοσμον αλλ ινα σωθη ο κοσμος δι αυτου

18 ο πιστευων εις αυτον ου κρινεται ο δε μη πιστευων ηδη κεκριται οτι μη πεπιστευκεν εις το ονομα του μονογενους υιου του θεου

Mark 16:8

8 και εξελθουσαι ταχυ, εφυγον απο του μνημειου; ειχεν δε αυτας τρομος και εκστασις και ουδενι ουδεν ειπον, εφοβουντο γαρ

8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

Mark 16:16

16 ο πιστευσας και βαπτισθεις σωθησεται ο δε απιστησας κατακριθησεται

She's Back!

 

ELCA now has women and men parading as same-sex bishops.

Bishop Eaton Reflects on UMC’s Historic Changes and Ecumenical Growth

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reflects on the profound changes emerging from the recently concluded United Methodist Church (UMC) General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. After being postponed since 2020, the conference highlighted the UMC's adoption of significant measures including the lifting of a 40-year ban on the ordination of practicing homosexual clergy, and the expansion of marriage definitions to include same-sex couples. These actions represent a major step toward a more equitable, diverse, and global church structure. 

Additionally, the UMC celebrated full communion proposals with The Episcopal Church and ongoing communion with the Moravian Church. 

Bishop Eaton underscores the ELCA's joy and gratitude for 15 years of full communion with the UMC, celebrating the shared commitment to inclusivity and unity in Christian teaching.

Read @ elca.org

Dear church,

In 1 Corinthians 12:26 the apostle Paul reminds us that "if one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." For 15 years we have accompanied our full-communion siblings in the United Methodist Church (UMC) through joyous and challenging times. We know firsthand the pain of debate, disaffiliation and division that they have experienced. Yet we also know the hope-filled renewal of Christ's church.

Last week the UMC General Conference, postponed since 2020, concluded in Charlotte, N.C. With each day's news we witnessed our partner church emerging strengthened, revitalized and united. Several actions will shape the future of the UMC. These include the adoption of a plan for worldwide regionalization to restructure the UMC as a truly equitable, diverse and global church, which now goes to annual conferences for ratification. Regionalization will allow for unity within the worldwide UMC structure, even as members hold diverse opinions on the following actions:

Lifting a 40-year ban on the ordination of practicing homosexual clergy.

Lifting restrictions on clergy to officiate at, and on congregations to host, weddings between adults of the same gender.

Eliminating from the UMC's Social Principles the assertion that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.

Broadening the definition of marriage to be between either a man and a woman or two consenting adults.

The UMC welcomed over 70 ecumenical guests, who were present when the conference adopted a proposal for full communion with The Episcopal Church (TEC); this now awaits action by the TEC General Convention. Worship included a postponed celebration of full communion with the Moravian Church in America (Northern and Southern provinces), ratified in 2018, and a sermon titled "Christian Unity Matters," preached by the Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches.

These significant actions and the UMC's witness to the ecumenical vocation we share come as we celebrate 15 years of full communion. The ELCA rejoices and gives thanks to God for the opportunity to proclaim together, from this point forward, that Christian teaching is for all people and that the gifts of all are welcome and needed to serve Christ's church.

In unity,

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton

Presiding Woke Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Synodicals Are As Greedy as the Well Endowed Universities

 

St. Paul, German Village, Columbus, Ohio is now in a high crime area, but it has a lot of endowment money. Very few attend church and hardly any use the school. Plums wither up and become prunes, especially when they are built on the quicksand of Fuller Seminary business theory. Where are the WELS Church Growth counselors with their Church Growth principles?

The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) enjoy their baskets of money. They look up to ELCA with burning envy, because ELCA dominates the Thrivent agenda - "From Your Pocket To Ours!"

Thrivent thunked up (from the German word for very stupid) the idea that the synods could sell their Irrevocable Charity Trusts by means of Giving Counselors aka Annuity Salesmen. All an annuity contract needs is a designation of the loot and a signature on the bottom line. No insurance fees, no blood workup. Suddenly, the estate is moved into the greedy jaws of the synods, who hesitate to call the contracts Irrevocable.

Colleges and congregations come and go - but they are in the go cycle now. Acres and piles of masonry were gathered to make a good impression. Now the emptiness is making a bad impression on anyone who might visit, and a burden on the remaining members. 

Many wish the World's Most Interesting Kid to come back and repair the damage wrought by Church Growth bullies, mendicants, and snake oil salesmen.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Pentecost Third Sermon - "He speaks here not of Moses’ word or the declaration of the Law, but of the proclamation of the love and grace which Christ has shown us by taking our sins upon himself and offering for us his body and blood, and by doing this from pure grace, that we might be comforted and thereby learn to know in real experience his love."

 

Third Sermon: The Promise of the Holy Spirit to those who Love Christ, and his Comfort because of his Departure; or Christ Gives his Disciples a Five-Fold Promise

III. THE THIRD PROMISE.

I. THE OCCASION OF THIS PROMISE.

20. Just a moment before he began with almost the same words when he said: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.” Thereupon the pious apostle Judas asked: “Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?” For he, together with the other disciples, was still entangled in the Jewish notion that Christ would become a secular lord and king; they hoped that they, themselves, should become great and mighty lords over lands and people, and oft had they disputed and quarreled among themselves as to who among them should be the greatest.

Therefore, Judas is astonished at this saying of Christ and cannot restrain himself. He must come out with it and ask Christ what he means by saying that he will not manifest himself to any except to them alone. His thoughts must have been these: What kind of a king will he be if he will not show himself to anyone? If he who has hitherto gone about only as a servant though he has preached publicly and wrought wonders — if he now intends to begin his kingdom in such a private and secret manner and with such doubtful plans as not to allow himself to be seen or known by any but the few who love him, what kind of a king will he be? It seems to me, his thoughts were: You should now begin to manifest yourself fully, and let yourself be seen by all, even by your enemies, in order that all may be obliged to fall down at your feet. And what does it mean, that everything depends upon our keeping your Word? What shall we accomplish thereby if we do not add something else? And who are going to be your subjects if to know and love you is left simply to the choice of individuals?

21. But Christ answers in the same strain just for the purpose of rooting out their Jewish notions and of portraying his kingdom to them in the right light. No, my dear Judas, he would say, it will not be as you think. The world has honor and glory here on earth, and power and might. It is by means of these that the world rules in the kingdom of men; those things do not concern you and me. But it is essential that you love me and keep my Word. In such hearts I will rule, and to them alone can I manifest and show myself. For my government is not one of force and might, such as is necessary among the wicked men of the world, but I desire to rule men’s hearts, and to have my subjects come to me cheerfully and of their own will. Those who do not believe on me, will not do this.

22. God had before, often and in various ways, tried governing the Jewish people simply by the Law and under punishment; the result was that almost the whole nation was exterminate in the wilderness, and afterward the people were smitten again and again, and carried away as captives, until finally they were completely annihilated. In no way could he bring them to obey him in sincerity and to keep his commandments.

And what should they keep? In the beginning, when God spoke with them and gave them the Ten Commandments, they were not able to endure nor to hear him, but prayed that he might permit Moses to speak with them; him they were willing to hear. And then when Moses came and brought the ten commandments, they were not able even to look upon his face, but made a veil for him; which veil, St. Paul says, is upon their hearts to this day, so that they cannot understand, much less experience in their hearts, what God asks of them — that they should love him with all their hearts and be obedient unto him.

23. If, now, God, in the case of his own people, whom he had selected and honored above all others, was not able to bring them to himself through Moses and the prophets, how should he be able to accomplish more in another case by means of man’s instruments — law and force? If he would have loyal subjects upon earth he must employ different means in his dominion. He would not accomplish his purpose if he were simply to compel disobedient nature by means of terror and threats; although threatening may still serve a purpose in revealing the certain result of disobedience and sin, and teaching men to tremble at the wrath of God.

But love and friendship must attract before love and longing toward God are begotten.

24. And only in this way can they be begotten: In place of the terror of God’s wrath, which we have deserved by our disobedience, we must receive the Word of grace and the assurance that God is ready to withdraw his wrath and to pardon sin. Such assurances of friendship and grace Christ now gives in his Gospel. He begins his kingdom by leading hearts to learn of his love, and by teaching that he, through his suffering and death, has procured for us God’s grace and mercy as a free gift, and in addition has given the Holy Spirit. He so rules us that we continue in this kingdom of grace, the Holy Spirit working in us, so that we, on our part, begin to love God and to obey him willingly and cheerfully.

II. TO WHOM THIS PROMISE IS GIVEN.

25. Concerning obedience he now says: “If a man love me, he will keep my Word.” And just before he said: “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.” Keep his Word or commandment — that is what the soul must do who loves Christ, who understands and appreciates what he gets from Christ; no one else will love him. He speaks here not of Moses’ word or the declaration of the Law, but of the proclamation of the love and grace which Christ has shown us by taking our sins upon himself and offering for us his body and blood, and by doing this from pure grace, that we might be comforted and thereby learn to know in real experience his love. And if we believe it, he requires nothing more of us than that we should be thankful for it and should continue in faith and confession, and out of love and honor to him seek the welfare of his kingdom by word and deed.

26. This loyalty to Christ’s kingdom is now considered a simple thing by the presumptuous and inexperienced spirits who deem themselves so holy and so strong in the faith as to be able easily to do what they hear, and who think that the Word of God is something that is obeyed as soon as it is heard.

For everyone who has not yet had the experience of grace thinks, Who would be so wicked as not to love Christ, nor to keep his Word which speaks of the grace of God? Just so did the people of Israel in the wilderness when Moses told them all the words of the Lord (Exodus 24:3); they all cried out with one voice: “All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do.” But when they were to do these words, their conduct was such that, on account of it, they were obliged to remain in the wilderness forty years — until they all had perished. Yes, if Christ bestowed gold and silver by means of his Word, or conferred honor and reputation upon our holiness and wisdom, then everyone would cheerfully keep the Word and hold it fast. But it is none of those things for which a man on earth has any desire; on the contrary, he is such an unlovely figure that all the world is offended and flees from him.

27. Experience, therefore, teaches how difficult it is to keep this Word, for the holy cross has been laid upon it. Not only do our own flesh and the old nature resist, in accordance with its disposition, and prefer that which is easy and agreeable, but also, when one begins to confess the Gospel, then the devil, with all his followers and confederates, bears hard upon one and everywhere attacks him by means of the persecutions of the world and by all kinds of temptations. He opposes him inwardly, with unending conflicts and fears of the heart, and outwardly, with constant danger of body and life, until one must cry to heaven for help. Experience certainly teaches that it is not such an easy, simple thing to keep the Word of Christ as it is to observe the juggling of Jewish ceremonies, of a man-made divine service, monkery and the like.

28. Therefore, Christ says that the heart must cling to him and love him, for it cannot otherwise survive in the world, which is the devil’s kingdom and is opposed to Christ. The Church upon earth must strive and contend with weakness, poverty, misery, fear, death, shame and disgrace. By necessity the Christian is driven to step out of himself and not to rely upon the advice, help or strength of men. He must love Christ in his heart, and must hold his name, his Word and his kingdom more precious than all things of the earth. Whoever does not do this, but seeks his own honor and glory, or the favor and friendship, the pleasures and enjoyments of the world, and who loves his own life more than Christ — to such a one it is useless to speak of these things. Jesus shortly afterwards says: “He that loveth me not keepeth not my Words.”

29. Christians, to whom Christ here speaks as to those who know him and know what they have in him — they, I say, should be moved to this love by the love and friendship which he has shown us in delivering us from sin, condemnation and eternal death, laying them upon his own shoulders. He thus surely deserves that we should love him. Therefore, shortly before, he reminded them of this when he said: “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments;” as if he would say: If ye know and feel that I have deserved this at your hands, then in turn do me the favor of loving me and keeping my Word; for if ye believe this and consider it, then ye will surely also love me.

30. But “to keep his Word” does not mean simply “to love” with words; the living work and proof of love must be present. It is the love which battles and conquers. Such is the real nature of love that it does everything for the sake of the beloved, and nothing is too hard for it to suffer and bear, and do it even cheerfully; as we see also in the natural love which God has implanted in fathers and mothers toward their children, which is an image of his divine love toward us. Such love is spent altogether freely upon those who are undeserving and is impelled to do them good. So Christ, when he dwelt in divine majesty, eternal God and Creator, showed the highest love toward us — toward us poor creatures, when we as yet had no kinship with him and deserved nothing but wrath and condemnation.

31. Since love does these things for those from whom no love had been received and who had deserved no love, and since we, aside from this, would still be in duty bound to love him as our maker and God, even although he had not otherwise so greatly deserved it: how much more should we love ‘him because he so greatly loved us and loved us first. If we would take this inexpressible kindness to heart as we should, then, of course, nothing that we might be called upon to endure and bear for his sake would prove irritating or too hard for us, so long as we might continue in his love. This, then, would not only be hearing his Word willingly, but also holding it fast and conquering. “And my Father will love him.”