Tag Archives: Lutheranism

Getting Used to Justification

08 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by in Book Discussion, Personal, Theology

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For my Spiritual and Ministry Formation class, we’re assigned blog summaries in which we interact with material assigned the previous week.  This week’s assignment was to read the Lutheran view of Sanctification as discussed in Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification, edited by Donald Alexander, published by IVP.  The Lutheran view was articulated by Gerhard Forde.  I figured I’d share my assignment on my blog.

Dr. Forde begins his discussion of sanctification as “the art of getting used to the unconditional justification wrought by the grace of God for Jesus’ sake.  It is what happens when we are grasped by the fact that God alone justifies.”  In other words, Dr. Forde asserts that sanctification is the natural byproduct of justification and thus, all of it is indeed brought about by none other than the Christ who bought us.  Many people view sanctification as the “getting down to business” of the Christian life.  It’s what we bring to the table after Christ saves us and is (so it is thought, anyway) the way we stay in God’s good graces.  This is, Dr. Forde asserts, “entirely false.  According to Scripture, God is always the acting subject, even in sanctification. ”

Repeatedly, Dr. Forde calls attention to the dangers of speaking of sanctification.  All the discussion appeals to the old man, he says, becoming a verbal exercise which sounds very impressive, but lacking the necessary foundation of love which the old man is completely incapable of laying himself.

Sanctification, as well as justification, is rooted in the unconditional promise of God.  This is something the old man does not know how to handle because “as old beings, we simply cannot understand or cope with the unconditional promise of justification pronounced in the name of Jesus.  What we don’t see is that what the unconditional promose is calling forth is a new being.  The justification of God promised in Jesus is not an ‘offer’ made to us as old beings; [instead,] it is our end, our death.”

Are you putting YOUR old man to death?

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An interesting interaction

04 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by in Personal

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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.

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Ok, who gets what?

20 Friday Aug 2010

Posted by in Book Discussion, Theology

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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,

  1. Law and Gospel differ as to how they were revealed to us.  The Law was written on our hearts and can indeed be found in other religions, but Christianity is the sole steward of the Gospel.
  2. The contents of the Law and Gospel are different.  The Law demands…the Gospel takes nothing but only gives.
  3. The Law and Gospel give us different promises.  The Law offers us salvation, but doesn’t give us any means to lay hold of it.  The Gospel tells us that Someone has laid hold of that salvation in our place.
  4. The Gospel does not threaten us; indeed it removes the believer’s desire to sin.  The Law, on the other hand, is nothing but threats.
  5. The effects of the Law are threefold.
    • The Law tells us what to do, but gives us no way to carry that out, instead prompting us in an unwillingness to keep the Law.
    • The Law uncovers a person’s sins, but offers the sinner no help to free himself from sin and hurls him into despair.
    • The Law creates feelings of contrition by showing terrors of hell, death and the wrath of God, but it never offers one drop of comfort to that sinner.  If the Law is the only teaching applied to people, then they must all despair, die and perish in their sins.
  • The effects of the Gospel are threefold.
    • What the Gospel demands (namely, faith), it provides.
    • The Gospel does not rebuke sinners.  Instead, it takes all terror away from them, filling them with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
    • “The Gospel,” as Walther says, “does not require people to furnish anything good–neither a good heart nor a good disposition nor an improvement of their condition, neither piousness nor love–whether toward God of men.  The Gospel issues no orders. Rather, it changes people.  It demands nothing, but gives all.”

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.

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I Have to Divide the Scriptures?

23 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by in Theology

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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.