Tag: gospel

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As Lutheran As It Gets

66: Philip Melanchthon – The Power of the Law

Martin Luther referred to Philip’s Loci Communes as “one of the clearest statements of the Christian religion ever written.” With this in mind, pastors Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Philip Melancthon’s Loci on the power of the law and the gospel.  What is the power of the Law? What distinguishes God’s Word of Law from human definitions of the law?

Text: Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon

Show Notes:

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And as always, don’t forget Pr. Gillespie’s coffee for your caffeinated needs.

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HT Video Shorts

Jesus believes for me OR Lord, I believe help now my unbelief – HT Video Short

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Catechesis

The Divine Service: The Gospel of Leviticus

Seven miles they walked with Him. And, in that journey, the incarnate Word of God opened their eyes to the One of whom the Law and the prophets spoke. The Key of David unlocked the Scriptures and proclaimed to them the Gospel—using the Old Testament.

Martin Luther once wrote, “The Gospel is not Christ.” Norman Nagel continues, “The Gospel is the proclamation of Christ. The proclamation of Christ is the proclamation of the cross, the proclamation of the cross for you.” And, on that road to Emmaus, the risen Christ proclaimed this Gospel to His beloved disciples.

As they traveled through the Scriptures, the Law and the prophets gave witness to how Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection overcame sin, death, and hell for them. Books such as Leviticus pointed to the atoning work the Lamb of God would accomplish for them. And, for you and me.

So, why do we still read from both the Old and New Testament every week? Because it’s all about Jesus! (Luke 24:27) The Old Testament is filled with the promise of our Savior. Jesus is first promised to us in Genesis 3:15. That promise of redemption is repeated throughout the Scriptures and fulfilled in Christ.

In the Divine Service Jesus is working through His Word delivered to our ears to give us the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is working in the reading of the Word to create and sustain faith in Christ. Jesus is giving Himself to us here in the Gospel.

Jesus said that the entire Scriptures speak of Himself (Luke 24:27), which means Leviticus also proclaims the work of Christ for us. The Gospel Leviticus proclaims is the good news of Christ’s redemptive work for our justificaiton and sanctififcaiton.

John Kleinig writes, “Leviticus proclaims the same Gospel that is enacted in the Divine Service of Word and Sacrament, the same Gospel that the church is to proclaim to the world until the close of human history. This book, then is most relevant to the life of the church because it proclaims the Gospel of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Leviticus is not an outdated, irrelevant book in the Bible. The Word of God is at work bearing witness and proclaiming the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is our Great High Priest who removes our sin with His own blood and sacrifice in our place (Hebrews 9:11–14). Jesus’ work on the cross is the peace, guilt, and sin offering—one time for all time (Hebrews 9:25–26).

We may not be walking on the road to Emmaus with Jesus, but Jesus is still at work and present in the Divine Service with His gifts. He is still the Key of David which unlocks our minds to the beautiful Gospel. He has made us His own through His priestly and sacrificial work on the cross given to us richly and continually through Word and Sacrament.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 15

Rev. Donavon Riley

By 1517, Luther was turning late medieval theology on its head. As students and guests at his dinner table trickled out from Wittenberg and took home with them what they’d learned, Luther’s teaching also began to change the day-to-day religious practices of ordinary Christians.

Luther wasn’t just attempting to tweak the system he had grown up with, he was putting an axe to the roots of late medieval Roman Catholic theology. Monasticism, a life of self-denial, spiritual exercises intended to earn God’s favor, and the life gained a Christian nothing, Luther taught. Only the Gospel, the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, could save sinners from judgment and eternal death.

As Luther said during the Romans lectures: “We must know we are sinners by faith alone, for it is not manifest to us; rather we are more often not conscious of the fact. Thus, we must stand under the judgment of God and believe his words with which he has declared us unjust, for he himself cannot lie.”

Before this, Luther had been shown by his teachers to find the law in the Gospel. Now, as one Luther scholar wrote, Martin was shown by the teaching of St. Paul that “the purpose of the law was to drive Christians to Christ alone.”

The point Luther drew out from this was that since we are shown to always be sinners, we are always called to repent of our sin. Therefore, since we are always repenting, since we are always sinners, we are always justified by faith in Christ to whom we look for forgiveness of sin. Thus, a Christian is always a sinner, always repentant, and therefore always declared righteous on account of Christ.

This paradox confused many. Where others had tried to smooth over and systematize such (seeming) contradictions, Luther plunged into the tension. He stood as sinner and righteous at the same time, and he rejoiced because he was shown that there is where a Christian hears Law and Gospel, is put to death and raised to new life, is condemned to hell and yet is lifted up into heaven with Christ.

As Luther said in the Romans lectures: “It is not he who possesses a certain quality who possesses righteousness; rather, this one is altogether a sinner and unrighteous; but he has righteousness to whom God mercifully imputes it and wills to regard as righteous before him on account of his confessing his unrighteousness and his imploring of God’s righteousness. This we are all born and die in iniquity, that is, unrighteousness. We are just solely by what the merciful God imputes to us through faith in his Word.”

Next time we will examine how Luther’s pastoral concerns drove his teaching and preaching in the face of growing opposition.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

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Christ on Campus

Christ on Campus: Fish Don’t Want to be Caught

Article PDF | Bible Study PDF | Leader’s Guide PDF

by Rev. Philip Young

It happens quite frequently when people find out that I do college ministry. They comment with words similar to this: “That’s awesome! What a tremendous opportunity!” I agree wholeheartedly with that assessment. But then comes the question, “How large is your group?” I tell them: “Three so far.” (We’ve been up to five and down to two.) The response? An uncomfortable “Oh.”

For some reason, many people think that college ministry should be easy. They have in their minds our Lord’s words to Peter and Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19), and they believe that the college campus is the ideal setting to fish for men. It actually is, but that doesn’t mean that the fish jump into the boat any more than they do in any other setting in the world.

I’ve watched fellow pastors analyze LCMS campus ministry opportunities by looking at the size of the school. For example, the thinking is that since there are over 5,000 students at a particular school, surely we should be able to get our share of converts and have at least 50 (1 percent) in a college group. It doesn’t always work that way. In fact, not even all the LCMS students come to Lutheran student groups or attend church.

Regarding Christ’s words about fishing for men, a wise pastor once taught me that fish don’t want to be caught. Peter and Andrew were fishermen, and they knew this truth. That’s why they cast a net. The fish that they sought on a daily basis were happy to swim away, but the net brought them in.

Now what is it about colleges, especially public and private secular institutions, that would make students want to be caught by the Holy Spirit and renounce their Old Adam? I could make the case that colleges are the hardest places to fish with their deep, dark depths of evolutionary theory, atheism, sexual perversion, false religions and communism. But too much of that talk could make you think that fishing for Christ is dependent on the fishermen.

So often the “so-called” campus ministry experts say that you have to entice and lure students with free food and dynamic music and sports programs and exotic spring break destinations. Fish are smart! I’ve had the worm stripped clean from my hook tons of times. I’m happy to give out free pizza (as long as there is slice of pepperoni left for me), but pizza will not be the means for bringing in the catch for Christ.

The net that God gives his Church is the Means of Grace—the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament. Recall what Jesus told his disciples after the resurrection: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a). Our Lutheran Confessions say, “To obtain such faith [justifying, saving faith] God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel. It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe” (Augsburg Confession V 1-3). Therefore, sound teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the Divine Service are to remain foremost in pastoral campus ministry efforts.

From one semester to the next, I don’t know what kind of catch God will bring in. From the Word, though, I do know the character of fish, whether in schools or out. There is nothing that the Holy Spirit will use to gather them other than His appointed means.

To all our campus ministry pastors, sponsor congregations, and students: Rejoice when even one is unwillingly caught in God’s net and hauled aboard!

Rev. Philip Young is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and he serves as the pastoral advisor to the Lutheran Student Fellowship group at Vanderbilt University.