20 Monday Dec 2010
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I know it’s been a really long time since I blogged about Walther…and I still have my bookmark in Law & Gospel to resume blogging at a later date, but I was reading some things tonight which really struck me on the nature of preaching about faith.
Melanchthon is credited by Walther as being “the father of synergism (that is, synergism within the Lutheran church)” (pg. 289-290, Concordia Pub., 2010 ed.). He quotes Melanchthon and then offers his rebuttal: Continue reading
04 Saturday Sep 2010
Posted in Personal
Tags
books, C. F. W. Walther, Calvinism, discussion, false teaching, friendship, Gospel, Law, Lutheranism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Reformed Theology, Scripture, seminary, theology, witnessing, work
Last night, I was working at the store and a Oneness Pentecostal guy came in. I told him I had relatives that had gone to ABI (Apostolic Bridal Bible Institute) and instantly he wanted to talk, which was cool.
It was a fascinating discussion. We talked about imputed righteousness, eschatology, holy living, the marks of a true Christian…all in the space of one hour. I was in it more to hear how he heard my questions and how I might ask them better of someone I’m trying to share the gospel with, so it was a fruitful time.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him, however, that not only was I not baptized “in Jesus’ Name,” but that I’ve never spoken in tongues. He did get to the point however, where he would refer to himself and me in terms I’d relate to “the invisible Church.” He put a high premium on inspiration (his own) through sermon prep and even at one point claimed to have seen the backside of God in a dream.
20 Friday Aug 2010
Posted in Book Discussion, Theology
Tags
books, C. F. W. Walther, Law, Lutheranism, preaching, theology
Part 8 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.
So far, we’ve enumerated five differences between law and gospel. They are,
The sixth and final difference between Law and Gospel relates to the persons to whom each must be preached. The Law must be preached to secure sinners and the Gospel to those who are alarmed in their sin.
04 Wednesday Aug 2010
Posted in Book Discussion, Scripture, Theology
Tags
books, C. F. W. Walther, false teaching, Gospel, Law, preaching, Reformed Theology, Scripture, theology
In part 6 of my ongoing series on C. F. W. Walther’s Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, I said:
…if the only teaching applied to people is the Law, then they despair, die and perish in their sin. More on this in a future post…
Here is that future post.
This statement is one side of a coin. Some people grow up, live and die under all-law preaching and never have this melt-down I’ve described, or better put, never realize that this is what’s ticking under their hood.
The other alternative is for a person to be crushed under the weight of the fact that they don’t love the Lord with all of who they are…and to not let themselves off the hook because they realize that they do not keep the law perfectly.
Obey! No exceptions! This is the demand of the Law.
Teaching people that “it takes more than faith to really please God” is, in reality, extremely cruel. To those who are convinced of their own righteousness, it pushes them on in their odious good works. Telling the ones who despair of their sin such a thing drives them further and further away from the Gospel…that Christ has obeyed perfectly in their place all that the law demands.
03 Tuesday Aug 2010
Posted in Book Discussion, Scripture, Theology
Part 7 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.
The effects of the Gospel are entirely different in nature when compared to the Law. The Law, as we’ve discussed, breathes threats and does not give us any means by which to fulfill those demands.
Could the people at your church wear this shirt and not be sued for false advertising?
The Gospel, as some of you will rightly point out, does demand faith. “Repent and believe the good news!” is indeed the way the Gospel is to be preached, for it is the very message the Lord Himself gave us to dispense.
The second component of this point, however, may have escaped the notice of some, so I’ll flesh it out here: The Gospel gives the very faith it demands. When we preach “Believe in Christ!”, God gives them faith through our preaching. It’s not, of course, the physical sound of the spoken word which saves…it’s the content of the preaching.
The Gospel doesn’t condemn or rebuke those who hear it. Rather, it takes all the terror, fear and anguish away from them, filling them with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Think about the prodigal father: he lavishes his riches on his wayward son. In this same way, Christ has welcomed us, his wayward and hateful children, into His home where he eats with us and us with Him.
Furthermore, the Gospel never requires anything good from the person: not a good heart, not an improvement in behavior, not piety…not even love.
31 Saturday Jul 2010
Posted in Theology
Dr. Rod Rosenbladt recorded a lecture of this same title that I think many of my readers will find helpful. Please pass it along.
Original source @ New Reformation Press.
Listen to The Gospel for Those Broken By the Church.
27 Tuesday Jul 2010
Posted in Book Discussion, Theology
Part 6 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.
The Law tells us what to do. It doesn’t give us the strength to carry out its demands; instead, it urges us on in an unwillingness to keep the Law. When the Law has forced its way into the heart, the heart rebels against it (against God himself) and becomes furious at the idea that God would demand such impossible things from him/her. This even leads to them cursing God and wishing Him dead. “The effect of preaching the Law, then, is to increase people’s lust for sinning,” says Walther.
Second, the Law offers the person no means to free himself from sin and throws him into despair.
Third, if the only teaching applied to people is the Law, then they despair, die and perish in their sin. More on this in a future post…
Come on, Dave you may say. Where is THIS taught in Scripture?
23 Friday Jul 2010
Posted in Theology
Tags
C. F. W. Walther, false teaching, Gospel, Law, Lutheranism, preaching, Rod Rosenbladt, Scripture, theology
Another instrumental lecture I’ve encountered (albeit more academic in nature) was given by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt and was aired on Chris Rosebrough‘s program, Fighting for the Faith. If you wish to listen to this important lecture, you may do so by clicking here…but you may need to give it your undivided attention as he gets fairly technical at times.
14 Wednesday Jul 2010
Posted in Book Discussion, Theology
Tags
1 Timothy, books, C. F. W. Walther, false teaching, Gospel, Law, Luke, Matthew, Paul, Scripture, theology
Part 5 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.
There is a marked difference between the Law and the Gospel in the aspect of threats: namely, that the Law is nothing but threats and that the Gospel contains no threats of any kind. The Gospel contains only words of consolation: “Your sins are forgiven,” “Christ came to save sinners of whom I am the foremost,” and so on. Should you come across a passage with a threat in Scripture, you can be sure it’s Law. Continue reading
07 Wednesday Jul 2010
Posted in Book Discussion, Theology
Tags
books, C. F. W. Walther, Gospel, Law, Leviticus, Luke, Mark, preaching, repentance, Scripture, theology
Part 4 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.
If you’re anything like me, you have (or have had) people in your life who will make promises contingent on something you do. “If you do this, then I’ll do that.” This is precisely what the Law does to us. Both the Law and the Gospel promise eternal life and salvation, but the Law gives conditions which must be satisfied prior to those items being obtained: namely, perfect obedience to its demands. Says Walther,
…the greater the promises of the Law, the more disheartening they are. The Law offers us that food, but not close enough for us to reach it. The Law offers us salvation in about the same manner as refreshments were offered to Tantalus in the hell of the pagan Greeks. …[The Law] always adds: “All this you will have, but only if you do what I command.”
