Conclusion - Understanding Luther's Galatians

Conclusion (still in progress) by Gregory L. Jackson

St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians teaches only Justification by Faith. Luther did not have the insights of Calvin and Pietism to alter his precise explanations of this letter in his lectures, which are also called the Galatians Commentary. The existence of a shorter series and a much larger one is no argument for favoring one or the other. I only hope that many will enjoy Luther’s longer version, with even more treasures, especially from Galatians 3.

The argument is simple and yet twisted in so many ways. The original is the treasure of the Holy Spirit. Distortions and evasions are the work of man. Paul, taught by the risen Christ, compares two possibilities. One is forgiveness through works. The other is forgiveness through faith in the Report. The Report is the strange and seemingly contradictory account of the Suffering Servant dying for our sins (Isaiah 53). The foundation of this claim is clearly Genesis 15:6 – Abraham believed the Promises of an everlasting and ever-expanding kingdom – he believed in the Messianic Kingdom of God. That was counted as righteousness. This is carefully explained in Romans 4, summarized in Romans 5:1-2. 

Faith is access to God’s grace. 

The distortion comes from those who do not trust all of God’s work to the Holy Spirit at work in the Word. Therefore, Calvin had a divine decree – unrecorded anywhere – claiming everyone was forgiven but only some were elect and saved. Thus, many groups have used the term Objective Justification or its variations.  The concept of everyone already being righteous, without the Word, without faith, was introduced after the Reformation and refuted by one of the editors of the Book of Concord. 

The next manifestation came from the era of Pietism, exemplified by the hymn-writer Rambach, from Halle. He used 1 Timothy 3:16 to say the entire world was justified when Christ rose from the dead. Since Pietism was the force behind Lutheran missionary movement to America, this error was transferred to the United States – from Martin Stephan at Halle University to CFW Walther. The two Justifications, Objective and Subjective, were named by a famous Calvinist translator in his notes for the Pietistic lectures of G. C. Knapp, Halle University.

Nevertheless, Walther’s distorted Justification scheme did not rule over the Missouri Synod or the Wisconsin Synod. Both denominations officially taught Justification by Faith until the improvers and clarifiers began setting the Chief Article aside and claiming that status for Justification without Faith.

Another Rainbow Clearance - Roses

Heirloom - my third Heirloom rose on clearance sale. I paid $10 net for each one. $39 for each one retail - at this moment. "A rose that predates our nursery and is still going strong due to its color and sweet rose fragrance. Bred by William Warriner who was one of the world's top rose breeders. Semi-double, 4-5" blooms (petals 20-25) of deep lilac-purple on a vigorous, repeat blooming, upright plant."

Julia Childs - Mrs. Ichabod said, "I am thinking of eggs."
That was her yolk of the day.

Easy To Please

I could not resist. They offered clearance prices with free shipping.
They doubled on Easy To Please, and I have had people wish for more purple roses.

So how do I proceed?

I logged the new titles into the graphics folder for roses. When so many kinds arrive the same year, remembering them all is tricky.

I dropped them into a barrel of pure rainwater. I already set up a stored water barrel, but then it rained. So these went into the rainwater. I do not mind immersing them overnight. Tomorrow I will make sure branches are above water, which I do with paint buckets.

I have learned to place favored plants where I can see them all the time, and not far away. So I either find an open spot closer to the driveway - or - I plant them in the backyard, but not along the Gardner's fence.

Collars are good for protecting the young roses from foot traffic. I also need wood mulch and Peat Humus.

I plant them by pruning branches and roots a bit, to promote growth. Ideally, each one will have Peat Humus on top, covered by shredded wood mulch.

We have a week of rain predicted. But if that does not happen, I will water the new roses and also dampen the canes. The rose guy at one outfit yelled at me for not covering the new roses with paper bags and keeping them moist in the heat and winds of Phoenix. I was supervising a new rose garden and learned a lot during that one-sided conversation. They replaced the roses that did not leaf out, and then the first ones did leaf out. Roses can be slow when stressed.

The difference between early spring and now is stark. Cool weather and lots of rain will always favor roses. If it is baking hot, dry, and windy, extra doting on each new one is required -daily. Besides, it is great fun to coddle roses and see them grow stupendously and bloom graciously.

If a new rose is not leafing out, I prune bits off to spur growth. In the early spring, those tips may be frost-bit, as they were this year.

Roses can sit in rainwater and develop green leaves, if the branches are out of water. I have seen that happen, which was followed by rapid growth.

Rainwater is free and perfectly designed by the Creator to encourage natural (creational) growth.

 One new Veterans Honor rose bush seemed especially week this year, so I kept dousing it with rainwater. Now it has a petite stem and perfect rose.

Sunshine and Vitamin D - Still Good for People. Crepe Myrtle and Temperatures

Keeping people indoors has been a mistake, as Sassy and I would definitely argue. We are out twice a day, sunshine or light rain. I do some work in the garden, the time spent in inverse proportion to the real feel heat index.

Besides that, Team Jackson enjoys eggs (vitamin D and iron);  Mrs. Ichabod drinks Boost. I favor Geezer vitamins, which are good for a panorama of the usual stuff, plus the micro-nutrients.

A horrid winter killed this Crepe Myrtle down to the roots. Often they die above ground and spring up from the roots.

Crepe Myrtle

Our fabulous mother-of-all-myrtles died the previous winter. I wondered how that happened. Myrtles also seemed to die this last winter, including all four on the south border of the Rose Garden. I was unhappy and wondered if lawn chemicals were involved.

I noticed the myrtles at the home of the morning coffee drinkers ( I nickname them for Mrs. I) were also gone. Then my border myrtles came back with tremendous growth, and the distant neighbors' plants popped out of their lawn.

I concluded that Crepe Myrtle was unusually sensitive to winter temperatures. There is a bug and temperature swing to be noted as people move South. We have more heat and more bugs, both of which increasing southward. I used to hear from Notre Dame religious who went to the New Orleans university for events. They called it the buggiest place of all and always took a can of Raid for their rooms and suitcases.

The least damaged myrtles were the ones sheltered in the back yard. Mrs. Gardener wondered why I moved the roses from our common fence. I pointed out the march of Hostas from her yard to ours, so I now have plants more aggressive than the Hostas on my side. Besides, I found that caring for roses in two areas was a chore, for one will love one and hate the other location.

Plastic Plant Collars, Coffee Didies

I buried most of the coffee didies under some cardboard and mulch in the backyard garden (Chaste Tree, Helianthus, Butterfly Bush, Poke).

Yes, I put a collar on Poke Weed  and mulched it for fun. Do you have a bird-feeder that grows for free and provides fruit for 63 different species of birds? I thought not.

I have some new roses in the back (ignore the paragraph you read above). They have collars to prevent clumsy gardeners and guests from stepping on them. The collars are great places for the coffee didies. Each didie one has moisture, paper, and nutrition for the plant. Yes, coffee grounds are very good for the soil.

 Poke berries forming.

 Poke buds

Understanding Luther's Galatians - Front and Back Covers

Understanding Luther's Galatians will be a full color book with Norma Boeckler's illustrations.

Mind you, as the Canadians say, she is still dealing with the effects of the Midland on her basement.

I am sending a pdf around, for those who like to find typos before the book is printed. My comments in text boxes may have gitches.