Realmscapes

The Lutheran Confessions: Apology, Article IV – Justification

I am engaged in an online Bible study focusing on The Lutheran Confessions. These posts are more or less the posts I made on the study's blog and I am happy to share them with the Realmscapes audience for discussion here.

The way Melancthon rebukes the Roman Catholic Church with writings from ‘superheroes’ (e.g. Augustine, Ambrose) of the very Church history they purport to be descended from reminds my of Jesus’ use of Moses and the Law throughout the Gospel of John.

I sincerely wish it that so many of my family and friends could read the words of comfort in this Article. So many are taught by their churches that only by emotional drama (public or private) or by levels of knowledge can they be sure grace is truly there’s. I see in their social networking statuses things to the extent: “…but how I do I really know God isn’t punishing me today because I thought my contriteness was genuine before church yesterday but it appears it wasn’t.”

By the same token they judge that Lutherans are not ‘true’ Christians because they don’t perceive the spiritual sweat on our brow when we speak of being justified; that we are somehow mocking them and their personal testimony by declaring justification by faith.

Right here in Bangor we have a pastor boldly declaring, even through the Bangor Daily News, a doctrine contrary to everything confessed in sections 107-116.

This Article so thoroughly, by Scripture, sets free the conscience. If a Lutheran were inspired to have a ’95 Theses’ moment, this is the Article that should be nailed to the doors of hundreds of churches in the 21st century.

Consider the following related questions:

"Is an old man in a Christian being suppressed (decreasing) by the power of the Holy Spirit as the new spiritual man comes forth (increasing)?

Doesn’t the Holy Spirit ‘change’ us in the new spiritual man?"

In the Large Catechism, Luther identifies the work of Baptism as suppressing the old Adam to the point of death and then, by its power, we are raised again to new life. This is a daily activity. [Romans 6:1-11, Galatians 3:23-29, Colossians 2:12-14]

The Holy Spirit calls us to faith and sanctifies us through the Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion. That we are ‘changed’ may not be the best word to describe what is going on because it suggests that we are becoming something we weren’t before; Scripture uses the terms ‘regeneration and renewal’ [Titus 3:5-7], and says we are being continually recreated through Word and Sacrament to what we were before sin entered the world (and which will be completed when we receive eternal life). This is the work going on in the horizontal realm of mortal life.

At the same time, we are already restored and reconciled to God through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit present in the means of grace. This is the work that has already taken place in the vertical realm of the Kingdom of God. [John 5:24-25, Ephesians 2:4-6, 1 John 5:11]

There isn't a single, life-long 'decreasing/increasing' progression. What we have here is more of God’s ‘mystery work’: we are being daily regenerated through the death-to-life work of our Baptism, and yet we are already fully restored in God's eyes by the Spirit's call of faith through Word & Sacrament, faith which is solely justified by Christ.

The Lutheran Confessions: Large Catechism – Baptism & Holy Communion

I am engaged in an online Bible study focusing on The Lutheran Confessions. These posts are more or less the posts I made on the study's blog and I am happy to share them with the Realmscapes audience for discussion here.

The whole area from 428:52 – 429:63 on the incorruptibility of the two Sacraments is profound to the fullest meaning of the word. It strikes me that there is an underlying tone of “judge not lest you be judged” when it comes to the Sacraments. That is, we should be less concerned about how a person receives a Sacrament and focused only on what that Sacrament gives us.

We cannot be one bit reckless with God’s Sacraments; I am not at all suggesting that we should be 1) practicing 'open Communion', 2) devaluing personal reflection before, during, and after receiving the Lord's Supper, or 3) advocating abandoning Confirmation. But if--within these contexts--they are given and received in good Christian conscience and faith, then that is sufficient since God’s Word, and thus His Sacraments, cannot be reduced even the smallest fraction.

Further, it is strongly suggested in these sections that to believe that man can reduce God’s Word or corrupt His Sacraments is more a sinful action of vanity than someone who may receive the Sacraments falsely. Moreso, that such behavior could well lead to self-righteousness, et al.

So it appears Luther is exhorting us to stay focused solely on the promise of grace given in the Sacraments, and in their power to strengthen faith and change hearts; that any other approach to the Sacraments, in effect, makes them a part of the works-righteousness doctrine, and therefore no different than the actions of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable of the two men in the temple--a context which would thereby make the Sacraments, ironically, a means of divine condemnation instead of saving grace.

Pastor added the following point:

Your comment about the Sacraments as a means of divine condemnation brings to mind that this is precisely the Reformed position of the “strict Calvinists.” Since God predestines whom He will to damnation, the sacraments are received by those whom He damns, not for their salvation, but for their condemnation. Absurd!

Faith & Film: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - The Author

I am engaged in an online Bible study focusing on C.S. Lewis', The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. These posts are more or less the posts I made on the study's blog and I am happy to share them with the Realmscapes audience for discussion here.

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite writers and Christian apologists. I am happy to be his student through his work because he put the Christian faith on a stage in a way that it could be engaged by all. He didn't write his Christian work (fiction or non-fiction) to convert, merely to meet his reader wherever they were and present an environment or argument for them to apply and/or enjoy at their leisure.

This is the mark of a "good" writer and there isn't enough "good" writing on today's bookshelves. It is fine to have an agenda as a writer, but that doesn't excuse the writer from being civil or approachable. And a writer should always be prepared to discuss their book's content in a conversational manner. This was C.S. Lewis. Those authors or readers who feel intimidated by a children's story about Christian truths are telling; it is ridiculous to believe Lewis intended to "brainwash" his audience. Part of a Christian's life is recognizing truth, and reflection.

And besides, the Christian faith is not a thing that can be chosen [Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 10:17]. As Lewis so aptly confessed about his faith in Christ: one day you simply find yourself surprised by Joy, and that is how you know you have engaged something completely unique in the world. From there, you just can't help telling people about it, especially if you love to tell stories.