tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17980059678393814732024-03-06T10:54:04.652-06:00The Hodgkins LutheranYou therefore, beloved...take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18)Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.comBlogger296125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-23775551046119864222024-02-11T00:01:00.019-06:002024-02-11T00:01:00.255-06:00Thoughts on Abortion, Life, and Intrinsic Human Value<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8YNoN4XO1AHYOHBtC6bcfcC7yaJOjCQxvA4f8AIxCqZde1ZP6Ew_ezIJryGQYf8Q2vKV9VIchl4a9OAbvvl9XFOyNj243R6G8ultAtCxIbmsBMuvPo-VAyZ-gdyYMFN-m6nqhMQ1zQFvOMNbOrA30H44Sg1vicx4vLoc5-XmXSI75p8wXTbx43_v/s800/Crucifixion%20Icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="628" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8YNoN4XO1AHYOHBtC6bcfcC7yaJOjCQxvA4f8AIxCqZde1ZP6Ew_ezIJryGQYf8Q2vKV9VIchl4a9OAbvvl9XFOyNj243R6G8ultAtCxIbmsBMuvPo-VAyZ-gdyYMFN-m6nqhMQ1zQFvOMNbOrA30H44Sg1vicx4vLoc5-XmXSI75p8wXTbx43_v/s320/Crucifixion%20Icon.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We live in a culture that celebrates death. This situation is the result of our culture's improper understanding of mankind's condition; our mistaken belief that we are the masters of our ultimate fate; our rejection of the concept of humanity having intrinsic worth and rights which are inherent to it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Leftist political candidates proudly proclaim their support for the legalization of the barbaric practice of abortion. (Davis, 2024; Dovere, 2023; Gambino, 2021) When their opponents accuse them of supporting abortion even up until the point of birth, they call it a "mischaracterization," but they refuse to draw any line. They argue that there should not be a legal line. (Kessler, 2022) Some even argue that the "line" could be drawn after birth. (Saletan, 2012)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Men on both sides of our political spectrum support a person's so-called right to die; the right to commit suicide to avoid pain and suffering. There are eleven jurisdictions in America which have legal physician-assisted suicide. (WebMD, 2024) Canada is far ahead of the United States, and the consequences of the euthanasia legislation they have enacted in the Great White North are shocking. Canada has among the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world. In Canada, physician-assisted death is not just for the terminally ill. The disabled, the chronically ill, in some cases even the mentally ill qualify for MAID, or medical assistance in dying. (AP News, 2022)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Instead of working to protect human life we, as a culture, are actively working against it. The most vulnerable humans, those in the womb, those who need care at the end of their lives, or those who are debilitated due to some injury or disease are not safe from those on the godless Marxist political Left, or the godless corporate political Right.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Philosophers like Peter Singer argue that our worth comes not from our humanity, but from our personhood. Personhood, as Dr. Singer defines it, is not something with which one is born. To men like Dr. Singer, personhood is more like self-awareness. It is something that develops. And, until it does develop, men like Dr. Singer think that human beings have no rights. (Peter Singer on Personhood) We may, as Dr. Singer explains, have protections under the law as society would decide, but we have no intrinsic right to life, liberty, property, or anything else.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unrestricted abortion on demand threatens the unborn. Only the desire of the mother, not the fact that the baby is a living human who inherently has a right to life, protects him. In America, it often fails to protect him. And the mothers who have been deluded into killing their unborn children are further encouraged to "shout their abortions" by the radical feminists, so that the gruesome practice can be further normalized in society. (Shout Your Abortion; About)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a relativistic moral system such as this, where right and wrong are not fixed by God, the value of a human being changes relative to that human being's ability to adapt and survive in their environment. The value of a human being is, in such a system, determined through evolutionary mechanisms. People are not valuable simply because they are people in such a system.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There can be no intrinsic value to human life if the universe came into being spontaneously, and life evolved over time without a creator, as Stephen Hawking suggests in his book, "The Grand Design." In this scenario, there can be only natural selection and survival of the fittest. Those beings/organisms with the most beneficial traits have more value since they survive to propagate their genes. (Hawking and Mlodnov, The Grand Design) But they are not valuable simply because they are alive. The same applies equally to human beings.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a relativistic moral system, your value is always measured relative to something else. That means your value can change. A person can be considered valuable, but if their circumstances change (i.e., they experience a decline in cognitive function, a change in employment, a decline in health due to injury or advancing age) it will diminish their value and absolve society from the moral burden of caring for them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But that which God has created has value because God created it even in its fallen state. How much more has God demonstrated how much He values mankind by redeeming it through the blood of His Son Jesus, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sin?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Christian Church is often accused of being anti-science because of our belief in God's creation of the universe out of nothing over the course of six days as recounted in Genesis; because we do not consider abortion of unborn babies to suit the convenience of the already-born to be women's health care. But the Church is not anti-science. We are, instead, pro-human being. The Church is pro-life and anti-death. That is more than can be said for leftist American Democrats. They support allowing unrestricted access to abortion at any time during pregnancy, right up to the moment of birth. They support universal and rationed health care. They support euthanasia. They support all sorts of measures to reduce human population growth because of their devotion to the cult of radical environmentalism.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Men like Yuval Noah Harari of the World Economic Forum claim authority to remake western society and the world on the basis of might makes right. He believes the concept of rights are a fairy tale, just like God and religion. (No God & No Human Rights | Yuval Noah Harari) If God and human rights are a fairy tale, they can be ignored. Mr. Harari and Mr. Schwab may go about teaching the governments of the world how to remake themselves in the image of Marxist environmentalism without regard for the fictions of rights or religion.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is, after all, a vision for the greater good.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a universe where there is no God to define right and wrong, where an organism is considered valuable relative to its ability to adapt and survive in its environment; the only viable alternative is for "might" to make "right".</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">How do we respond to the situation in which we find ourselves? First, unlike secular society, we are honest about our condition. We believe what God says about mankind, and the whole creation: Life is more than just being physically alive. It is unity between man and God. (Naumann, 2023) That unity with God was severed when man fell into sin. Through Adam's sin in the Garden all men became sinful; mankind became subject to death. Mankind is powerless to make the world right, despite everything the Marxists claim and promise. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, man's unity with God has been restored.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is why we fight death instead of embracing it as the secular world does. Death is not something good. We should not accept it as merely a part of the "circle of life". It is our enemy. But Christ has removed the sting of death. He now works this thing which Satan meant for our destruction, for our ultimate good. It was not supposed to be. It came into the world through the working of the devil, and man's will. Death certainly is not the solution to our problems of suffering and disease. That solution is the life that comes by being baptized into Christ, into His death, and into His resurrection:</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5)</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even though we are all subject to physical death, for the Christian, death has been transformed into a portal through which we pass into life. The fear of God's wrath is what made death terrible. Since Christ has made atonement for sin, that fear disappears. Without having to fear God's wrath and punishment, the Christian can look at death as a slumber from which we will awaken at Christ's return and enter into eternal life. (Pieper, 1953)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">---------------------------------</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bibliography</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Davis, Susan. "Democratic Congressional Candidates Focus on Abortion in a Bid to Regain the House." NPR, January 22, 2024. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/22/1226160411/democratic-congressional-candidates-focus-on-abortion-in-a-bid-to-regain-the-house.">https://www.npr.org/2024/01/22/1226160411/democratic-congressional-candidates-focus-on-abortion-in-a-bid-to-regain-the-house.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dovere, Edward-Isaac. "Democrats Push Abortion Rights to the Ballot in 2024, Using an Old GOP Playbook | CNN Politics." CNN, April 7, 2023. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/07/politics/democrats-abortion-ballot-measures-2024/index.html.">https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/07/politics/democrats-abortion-ballot-measures-2024/index.html.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gambino, Lauren. "House Democrats Vote to Establish a Federal Right to Abortion." The Guardian, September 24, 2021. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/24/house-democrats-abortion-federal-right-vote.">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/24/house-democrats-abortion-federal-right-vote.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hawking, Stephen, Leonard Mlodnov. 2010. "The Grand Design." Audiobook. Audible.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kessler, Glenn. "Analysis | The GOP Claim That Democrats Support Abortion 'up to Moment of Birth.'" Washington Post, September 22, 2022. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/22/gop-claim-that-democrats-support-abortion-up-moment-birth/.">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/22/gop-claim-that-democrats-support-abortion-up-moment-birth/.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naumann, Rev. Edward. "Lectures on the Gospel of John." Chapter 1. September 17, 2023. St. Paul's Ev. Luth. Church. Brookfield, IL.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1953. "Christian Dogmatics." Vol. 3. Temporal Death. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Saletan, William. "After-Birth Abortion: The Pro-Choice Case for Infanticide." Slate. March 12, 2012. <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2012/03/after-birth-adoption-the-pro-choice-case-for-infanticide.html.">https://slate.com/technology/2012/03/after-birth-adoption-the-pro-choice-case-for-infanticide.html.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Shout Your Abortion -- About. "Shout Your Abortion -- About". N.D. <a href="https://shoutyourabortion.com/about.">https://shoutyourabortion.com/about.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">WebMD. "What to Know About Physician-Assisted Death," January 8, 2024. <a href="https://www.webmd.com/a-t-z-guides/what-to-know-physician-assisted-death.">https://www.webmd.com/a-t-z-guides/what-to-know-physician-assisted-death.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">YouTube. "No God & No Human Rights | Yuval Noah Harari," April 20, 2022. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8daz1pErD8.">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8daz1pErD8.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">YouTube. "Peter Singer on Personhood," December 6, 2011. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCNz95E-3Wg.">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCNz95E-3Wg.</a></span></div></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Edinburgh of the Seven Seas TDCU 1ZZ, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha-37.0680421 -12.3113147-37.17753566216043 -12.4486438015625 -36.958548537839569 -12.1739855984375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-62258256898985468672023-07-06T17:30:00.004-05:002023-07-06T17:30:00.145-05:00The Paradox of Perseverance and Apostasy<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3cLzhJY5hz3sB08P7agkSpgLfYlfUHEsDhwSXYRWKlFAtuLitXd5utpTqOKzWEK_xGT36nEMrKvW3SSKhegoLDGWGpiEPsSOxPBdvXCStd0w2y5e3mrgTR5EDbO2vu-6C9hzE1SAn4Q/s500/vdma+bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3cLzhJY5hz3sB08P7agkSpgLfYlfUHEsDhwSXYRWKlFAtuLitXd5utpTqOKzWEK_xGT36nEMrKvW3SSKhegoLDGWGpiEPsSOxPBdvXCStd0w2y5e3mrgTR5EDbO2vu-6C9hzE1SAn4Q/s320/vdma+bw.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookofconcord.org" target="_blank">Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum<br />The Word of the Lord Endures Forever</a></td></tr></tbody></table>The concept of justification by God’s grace through faith in Christ is central to Christian theology. Paul’s writings emphasize that believers are considered righteous by God through Christ’s sacrifice, despite their inherent sinfulness. This righteousness is imputed to believers through faith, a truth echoed in the faith of Old Testament saints like Abraham. At the same time, God’s word also teaches two paradoxical ideas: 1) that a person who is a believer in Christ can forfeit, or lose that faith, and 2) that God who works faith in men by means of God’s word will cause men to persevere in that faith.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">According to Paul’s writings in Romans and Galatians, God justifies believers by reckoning or counting them as righteous, even though they are not inherently righteous.1 God does this not because of anything we do; his favor is unmerited. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ because of His death and resurrection.2 God sees believers through the lens of Christ’s righteousness, despite the fact that we are sinful.3 The believer is called to actively strive against the sinful flesh,4 considering it as good as dead because of Christ’s crucifixion.5 This concept of justification through faith finds its foundation not only in the New Testament but also in the experiences of Old Testament believers. Consider Abraham: scripture affirms that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.6 Like Abraham, we believe, and God counts us righteous because of our faith. We are considered Abraham’s children by faith.7 Thus, the nature of justification highlights how God’s reckoning of righteousness extends to both old and new testament believers, demonstrating His consistent faithfulness throughout all times. He deals with all mankind in the same way.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">While believers are justified and counted righteous through faith in Christ, they are not exempt from the ongoing struggle with their sinful flesh. Paul describes this battle against the power of sin in Romans Chapter 7. He describes the tension of having “sin living in me,” acknowledging the coexistence of the redeemed inner man and the lingering influence of sin.8 The sinful flesh is not eradicated; rather, we can consider it dead and defeated because of Christ’s work on the cross.9 Believers are called to actively starve their flesh and not gratify its desires.10 This duality within the Christian experience reveals that while the inner man delights in God’s law, believers must persistently strive to overcome their sinful inclinations. It is an ongoing journey of sanctification where the inner transformation by the Spirit is met with the arduous task of mortifying the flesh. This tension between righteousness and sinfulness in the life of a believer is often referred to as “simul justus et peccator” in Lutheran theology, which means “simultaneously justified and sinner.” This concept underscores the paradoxical nature of the Christian’s state, being both declared righteous through faith and yet still struggling with the effects of sin. In the words of the Formula of Concord, Epitome:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“We believe, teach, and confess that original sin is not a minor corruption. It is so deep a corruption of human nature that nothing healthy or uncorrupt remains in man’s body or soul, in his inward or outward powers11...This damage cannot be fully described.12 It cannot be understood by reason, but only from God’s Word. We affirm that no one but God alone can separate human nature and this corruption of human nature from each other. This will fully come to pass through death, in the blessed resurrection. At that time, our nature, which we now bear, will rise and live eternally without original sin and be separated and divided from it13 (FC Ep. I, 8-10).”</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet, though we were by nature children of wrath, God graciously saved us and made us alive in Christ.14</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As there is a paradoxical element in the Christian’s nature, so too there is a paradox that must be acknowledged when discussing the faith of the Christian and the possibility of falling away from it. This is more commonly known as election or predestination. The concept of election or predestination is the understanding that God, in His sovereign will, chooses people for salvation in Christ.15 Scripture also teaches, however, that man is entirely responsible for his damnation. In the words of the Solid Declaration, “Few receive the word and follow it. Most despise the word and will not come to the wedding.16 The cause for this contempt for the word is not God’s foreknowledge but the perverse human will (FCSD XI, 41).” Consequently, Holy Scripture is littered with calls to repent, and to guard against falling away.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">These biblical teachings reflect a tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. On one hand, it affirms that salvation is entirely the work of God, as He alone is responsible for granting faith and securing the believer’s eternal destiny. This aligns with passages such as John 10:27-28, Romans 8:28, and Ephesians 1:3-6, which emphasize God’s role in choosing, protecting, and preserving His people. On the other hand, scripture recognizes the reality of human accountability and the potential for falling away. The paradox lies in holding these truths in tension, affirming both the divine initiative in salvation and the necessity of human response and perseverance.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The language of “losing salvation” can be misleading, as it implies misplacement rather than a deliberate choice (Cooper, 2018). It seems to suggest that it is something that happens to you rather than something for which you are responsible. While no external force can pluck believers from Christ’s hand, individuals can reject Christ and willfully apostatize themselves. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, the Jews who were not willing to be gathered together by Christ as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing.17 As he faces death by stoning, Stephen calls his murderers stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts, who always resist the Holy Spirit,18 which is the cause of their faithlessness. Living in unrepentant sin can lead to the forfeiture of faith, as sin destroys faith (Cooper, 2018).19 This tension between the possibility of falling away and God’s perseverance of His people is a paradox and cannot be resolved by human reason. Neither element should be ignored in favor of the other; neither scriptural truth should be used to cancel the other out (Cooper, 2018).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The author of the letter to the Hebrews warns against falling away from the faith, emphasizing the danger of a hardened heart and turning away from God.20 He gives the examples of Israel’s rebellion and unbelief as a caution.21 Similarly, Paul warns against falling away as Hymenaeus and Alexander did.22 He warns the Galatians who were trying to be justified by the law after having believed the Gospel preached to them had fallen from grace and were cut off from Christ.23 Peter describes false teachers who lead others astray and who are destined for destruction.24 Peter affirms that both the false teachers and those led astray have fallen from the faith;25 he does not say that they did not have genuine faith to begin with.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul and Peter probably learned this from Jesus Himself. Peter’s epistle echoes what Jesus teaches in the parable of the sower. In Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus explains the meaning of the parable, which depicts different types of soil representing the condition of people’s hearts in receiving the Word of God. The seed that falls on rocky ground and among thorns symbolizes those who initially receive the Word with joy but later fall away due to persecution or the cares of the world. This parable illustrates that genuine believers can face obstacles or temptations that lead them astray from their faith. Paul’s language of being cut off from Christ reminds us of Jesus’ teaching that He is the vine and we Christians are the branches.26 He urges the disciples to remain in Him, lest they become like branches that have been cut off from the vine which are gathered up and thrown into the fire.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cooper points out that the reception of the Word and the participation in the sacraments are the means by which God works in us, nurturing and sustaining our faith (Cooper, 2018). This makes sense, particularly in light of John 15. Jesus calls His disciples to remain in Him. He repeats the admonition several times. How are we to remain in Jesus? By eating His body and blood, which is real food and real drink:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.27”</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Through means of grace, and particularly the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus “perseveres” His Christians, guards them against falling away, and empowers them to remain steadfast.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Solid Declaration reflects the paradoxical nature of the biblical teaching on election and does not speculate beyond what scripture says (FCSD XI 53, 64). It acknowledges that the doctrine of election is both mysterious and profound, encompassing the tension of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. It confesses God’s choice of individuals for salvation in Christ is an act of His pure grace, independent of any merit on our part. It affirms the nature of salvation, emphasizing that God alone is responsible for granting eternal life to believers, and that this teaching about election should be a comfort to Christians (FCSD XI 45-49). At the same time, the Solid Declaration recognizes the reality of human accountability, as individuals bear responsibility for their own rejection of God’s saving grace and their resulting damnation (FCSD, XI). This understanding aligns with the paradoxical nature of election presented throughout Scripture, affirming both the sovereignty of God and the human response to His grace. From the Solid Declaration, we learn that matters such as how election works from God’s perspective should not be investigated beyond what scripture tells us, and that the teaching about election should not be considered apart from Christ:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“We neither can nor should investigate and fathom everything in this article, the great apostle Paul declares. After having argued much about this article from God’s revealed word, as soon as he comes to the point where he shows what God has reserved for His hidden wisdom about this mystery, he suppresses and cuts it off with the following words, ‘Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord?’28 In other words, we cannot know about matters outside of and beyond what God has revealed in His word. This eternal election of God is to be considered in Christ, and not outside of or without Christ29 (FCSD XI 64-65).”</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In conclusion, the doctrine of justification by God’s grace through faith is foundational to Christianity. Christians, though justified and regarded as righteous through Christ, continue to wrestle with their sinful flesh. The admonitions against falling away serve as sober reminders of the significance of perseverance and the perils of unrepentant sin. It is essential to embrace these paradoxical truths, recognizing the danger of apostasy while concurrently relying on God’s ongoing work of preservation through His means of grace, His Word and sacraments. The Holy Spirit works through His means of grace to strengthen and sustain the Christian in the faith. Through God’s Word by the working of the Holy Spirit, believers find assurance and steadfastness in Christ. ###</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">End Notes</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Romans 3:24</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Ephesians 2:1-10</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Galatians 3:27</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Galatians 5:16-17</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Romans 6:5-10</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">6. Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">7. Galatians 3:7-9</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">8. Romans 7:17-25</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">9. Romans 6:11</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">10. Galatians 5:16</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">11. Romans 3:10-12</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">12. Psalm 19:12</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">13. Job 19:26-27; 1 Corinthians 15:53</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">14. Ephesians 2:3-5</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">15. Ephesians 1:4-5; John 10:28</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">16. Matthew 22:3-6</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">17. Matthew 23:37</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">18. Acts 7:51</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">19. 1 John 1:8-10; 3:7-10</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">20. Hebrews 3:12-14</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">21. Hebrews 6:4-6</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">22. 1 Timothy 1:19-20</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">23. Galatians 5:4</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">24. 2 Peter 2</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">25. 2 Peter 2:18, 20-22</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">26. John 15:1-8</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">27. John 6:56-57</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">28. Romans 11:33-34</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">29 Matthew 11:28; 17:5; John 10:9; 14:6; 16:14; Ephesians 1:4-6</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord (Pocket Edition). Formula of Concord - Solid Declaration, XI (Election). Concordia Publishing House. <a href="https://bookofconcord.org/solid-declaration/election/">https://bookofconcord.org/solid-declaration/election/</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cooper. (2018, January 31). Can a True Christian Fall Away From the Faith? Just and Sinner. Retrieved June 15, 2023, from <a href="https://youtu.be/qbty10eg0y">https://youtu.be/qbty10eg0y</a></span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-68268410228587210102023-03-26T19:38:00.004-05:002023-03-26T19:38:00.197-05:00Thoughts on Death and Resurrection in the Old Testament<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzduQopkaELelvAnaWKHVyUYK1dTHfMkHudDdjWrwpMuLM_qpngY6NAzrzTipMgOmVNcPCrFVDQmYSNL3pbS4d5GMpJpgz07R5MFV6ASGkerK8aTpvzJSg3q8Jyo4eVfrCQSG3FWnuc4X6LxhVCbMGiXQ0GvMD48MLu5OOhkHyTekRMDjAvChvQQ/s400/CS%20Lewis%20Reflections%20on%20the%20Psalms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzduQopkaELelvAnaWKHVyUYK1dTHfMkHudDdjWrwpMuLM_qpngY6NAzrzTipMgOmVNcPCrFVDQmYSNL3pbS4d5GMpJpgz07R5MFV6ASGkerK8aTpvzJSg3q8Jyo4eVfrCQSG3FWnuc4X6LxhVCbMGiXQ0GvMD48MLu5OOhkHyTekRMDjAvChvQQ/s320/CS%20Lewis%20Reflections%20on%20the%20Psalms.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>C.S. Lewis, in his book “Reflections on the Psalms,” suggests that by the time of Jesus, Jewish theology had evolved to include life after death as we understand it today, as well as the concept of resurrection. Lewis wrote that previous generations of Christian theologians seem to have thought that the authors of the Psalms understood theology from a Christian perspective as we do today; that they wanted eternal joy and feared damnation. Lewis, however, does not think they had even the same concept of death as Christians.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though he cites many portions of the Psalms to make his case, Lewis’ idea can be challenged. The idea of an afterlife and resurrection is present long before the time of Jesus’ earthly life and even before the composition of the Psalms. In fact, the belief in life after death is a central component of the entire Bible.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the book of Daniel, the prophet writes:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This passage clearly indicates that the dead will be raised from the grave, and it suggests that there will be different fates for the righteous and the wicked.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Similarly, in the book of Job, it is written:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26).</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Job expresses his confidence that he will see God even after his body has been destroyed. Additionally, some theologians, such as Franz Delitzsch, believe that Job is the oldest book in the Bible. If this is true, it makes Job’s confession all the more significant.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In his book, Isaiah writes:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy” (Isaiah 26:19).</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This passage refers to the resurrection of the dead, and it is clear that the author believes in a physical resurrection.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lewis’s thesis is further undermined by the fact that the Sadducees, whom Lewis identifies as a remnant of the older way of thinking, were a small and marginalized group in Jewish society. The Pharisees, who were the dominant group, believed in both an afterlife and a bodily resurrection. As Kretzmann notes, “The Pharisees accepted the resurrection of the dead as a fundamental tenet of the faith, and they based it on the Scriptures.” Similarly, Keil & Delitzsch declare in their commentary, “The belief in a resurrection is so firmly established in the Old Testament, that even the Sadducees could not entirely escape its influence.” The idea of the resurrection was not something that developed late in the history of Israel. It is a concept that was present in Jewish theology from an early period; from the time of Job who expected to see his redeemer after death; to Abraham who expected God to return his son Isaac to him from the dead because of God's promise (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+22%3A1-19&version=NIV" target="_blank">Genesis 22:1-19</a>); and the prophets who, like Elijah, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+17%3A17-24&version=NIV" target="_blank">even raised the dead by the power of God.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was certainly development in the theological understanding of God’s people. As God came to them and revealed more of His word to them by His prophets, the blurry picture they had of the one who would crush the serpent’s head and restore all things came into sharper focus over time. Rather than a development of their theology, however, one could think of this as a gradual revelation. The development was not a natural evolution through stages of philosophical complexity as Lewis seems to suggest. It was a gradual expansion of their collective understanding, meticulously directed by the Almighty and Omnipotent God who created all things. He prepared them for the day when He would Himself enter His creation to redeem it from sin, death, and the devil. As the author of the letter to the Hebrews explains, those who came before us believed, but they did not get to see the fulfillment of God's promise to send a savior. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We, however, now fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He is the fulfillment of all these things. He is the resurrection and the life. Because He lives, we too shall live, having been baptized into His death and His resurrection. This is the faith we have in common with all those who came before us. And we will all rise together on the Last Day. Even though our bodies have been destroyed, in our flesh we shall see Jesus. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></u></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Delitzsch, Franz. A New Commentary on Genesis, Vol. I. Translated by Sophia Taylor, T&T Clark, 1888.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Keil, Carl Friedrich, and Franz Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kretzmann, Paul E. Popular Commentary of the Bible. Kretzmann Project, 1921.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lewis, C.S. Reflections on the Psalms. Mariner Books, 1958.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-36889694471772904872023-02-11T18:11:00.000-06:002023-02-11T18:11:26.542-06:00The Good News of the Kingdom of God<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIf2XTghZR_wp25S9ELdUY-tOsH4tkVE64Qn2_mDSHX2MJM_-aUReRARKSMM6V6GwfQSPKfMh7SSX0zIq4EBXkZiLOcD3CqpBR8iCPXRV0kfpMEwpxrvzhcZQhJIzSC2EXoDPvk4LVCAo-c6eQ0JBSmuIqru1CMfjdY_xu9OKPmXIxi4TnxI-KNA/s2048/photo%20(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIf2XTghZR_wp25S9ELdUY-tOsH4tkVE64Qn2_mDSHX2MJM_-aUReRARKSMM6V6GwfQSPKfMh7SSX0zIq4EBXkZiLOcD3CqpBR8iCPXRV0kfpMEwpxrvzhcZQhJIzSC2EXoDPvk4LVCAo-c6eQ0JBSmuIqru1CMfjdY_xu9OKPmXIxi4TnxI-KNA/w400-h300/photo%20(4).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>But he [Jesus] said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” (Luke 4:43)</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last week, two Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door. I invited them in and we spent about an hour talking. They said they wanted to talk to me about the kingdom of God. According to them, Jesus’ purpose on earth was to proclaim the kingdom of God. They pointed to Luke 4:43 as proof of this.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Jehovah’s Witnesses said that the kingdom of God is a real, physical kingdom. It is a government in heaven right now. It isn’t in the world yet, which is obvious by how much evil happens in the world. But it will be, and it was Jesus’ purpose to announce it’s coming.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the surface, there seems to be much that is orthodox about what they were saying. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to get into the topic too deeply before they had to leave. What is the kingdom of God? Why is its proclamation good news? How does one enter the kingdom of God anyway? What was Jesus’ actual purpose? I suspect our theologies would diverge quite sharply with the answers to these questions.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Pharisees asked Jesus a similar question: When would the kingdom of God come? He didn’t give them a date, a time, a location, or signs to look for. He said the kingdom of God was already among them:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><blockquote>Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:20-21).</blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The phrase which the NIV renders as “in your midst” in Luke 17:21 could also be translated as “within you.” In other words, Jesus could be saying one of two things. He could be saying that the kingdom of God was in their midst because He, Jesus, the Anointed One, was among them. Or, he could be telling them that the kingdom of God was something inside of them, which is spiritual and intangible.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The “in your midst” interpretation of Luke 17:21 seems to be better just based on the context of the conversation. Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, who do not believe in him. The idea that Jesus would tell unbelievers that they have the spiritual kingdom of God within them doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, this is the group whom Jesus calls 1) sons of the devil, and 2) a brood of vipers. It does make sense, however, for Jesus, who claims to be the Messiah who establishes God’s kingdom, to say that the kingdom has arrived among them because <i>He</i> has arrived among them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The kingdom of God is certainly both spiritual and intangible, but that doesn’t make it fake. It is a real thing. It is the redemption of man from sin and death; it is the redemption of creation from the curse. This redemption has been accomplished by Jesus’ death on the cross. We are made citizens of this kingdom of God when we come to faith in Christ and are baptized into Him, into His death, and His resurrection. <i>This is what makes the proclamation of the kingdom of God good news.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And though we are truly subjects of God’s kingdom by our faith in Christ, we remain pilgrims in this world. God’s kingdom is our true home. Here in this fallen world, as the author of the letter to the Hebrews writes, we have no continuing city. Our citizenship is in heaven. But, this current spiritual reality will one day become a physical reality when Christ returns on the Last Day to judge the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Christ returns in glory, He will establish for all eternity the kingdom of God. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are praying that God’s kingdom would come. It certainly will come with or without our prayer, as Jesus has told us. In teaching us to pray “Thy kingdom come”, Jesus teaches us to pray for several things. He teaches us to pray for the Holy Spirit that we would believe and continue to believe; that we would lead a godly life as His subject; that He would continue to grow His kingdom by bringing more people into it; and also that He would finally establish His kingdom on earth.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christians are already subjects of God’s kingdom. We have been brought from the dominion of darkness to God’s kingdom of light by the redemption of Christ:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, when will God establish His kingdom? Well, it is technically already established. That’s what Jesus tells us. That’s the good news of the kingdom of God: that by Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection we have been set free from the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil, and have therefore been brought into His kingdom. We are simply waiting for the resurrection on the Last Day when God’s real spiritual kingdom will become a physical reality. ###</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-62393091470007614372022-12-31T23:30:00.001-06:002023-01-01T10:29:13.984-06:00Thoughts on Christian Preaching<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZl1pfoxqtjzNYCERrEICjQCv4YwFKaiaS-dGk7Oz1XGUT_0_ak8lXozHBmATF7YVGG8U673OT3h8-8_-qiCchwpl5uuipOU1Iy13XS7dcZwVrAywznE6IS9M_0lz2vIT1mN_NqwjTN6YfSxG_KSAA1f8QvwMq1V2xqHAD5cCzjIKxgCbuK3JO8w/s2048/IMG_0458.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZl1pfoxqtjzNYCERrEICjQCv4YwFKaiaS-dGk7Oz1XGUT_0_ak8lXozHBmATF7YVGG8U673OT3h8-8_-qiCchwpl5uuipOU1Iy13XS7dcZwVrAywznE6IS9M_0lz2vIT1mN_NqwjTN6YfSxG_KSAA1f8QvwMq1V2xqHAD5cCzjIKxgCbuK3JO8w/w300-h400/IMG_0458.JPG" width="300" /> </span></a></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">A lot of pulpits in American churches have been replaced with the stage, the riser, and the lectern. Regardless of whether or not the pastor speaks from behind a traditional pulpit, or walks around in a cloud of smoke-machine vapor, a lot of different things happen in that place from which he addresses the assembled gathering (which I will collectively refer to as <i>the pulpit</i>). Theological essays on fine points of theology are read. Political rallies are led. Self-help lectures are spoken. People claiming to hear the voice of God speak dubious prophecies, and utter gibberish as though it were the miraculous gift of tongues.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Theological essays are fine. If I didn’t think so, I would stop writing them. Speeches urging Christian men to do their civic duty are important. Men must all, from time to time, be reminded that the things we claim to believe are connected to the world in which we live; and we ought to conduct ourselves in the world according to those beliefs. That means refusing to offer the pinch of incense to Caesar, even on pain of death. It also means peacefully but firmly resisting when secular society urges, or tries to force us to do and affirm things which are contrary to Christian teaching. Speeches of such a political and social nature, in my opinion, should not happen in the pulpit. They should happen at the gatherings outside of worship: the men’s group, the women’s group, the coffee hour after church, the Sunday school, the confirmation class, the youth gathering, and the gathering of friends and family in and outside of the home. As Christians, we should want to spend a lot of time talking with each other about how God’s Law applies to us, and to what we say and do. Our pastors should want to encourage us to do this, and to guide us in it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Needless to say, the false prophesying of modern-day prophets has no place either inside or outside of the pulpit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">What should be happening when the pastor ascends the pulpit on Sunday morning? The pastor’s job is to make disciples of Jesus by baptizing and teaching. He should, therefore, proclaim the Gospel. That seems too simple. The people in church have already heard that and believe, right? These people sitting in the pew need life-application, don't they? If we don't think we need to be called to repentance we are wrong. If we think we don't need to hear the preaching of sin and grace in Christ we should, to borrow from Luther, touch our bodies to see if we still have flesh and blood, and then believe what scripture says of them. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or, we might think, as I did for a long time, that the pastor should engage in a verse-by-verse, word-for-word exegesis of the appointed Biblical text for the day. </span><span style="font-size: large;">If you want that, go to his Bible study. If he doesn’t do that at his Bible study, encourage him to.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We might want our pastor to organize our congregation into a community activist group that publicly protests injustices. We might want him to tell us what to think about various political issues, and to tell us which politicians to support to save western civilization. If you want that, go to a political rally. Don't be too surprised, though, when the movement, the party, or the politician lets you down. This type of thinking suggests that we are not relying on Christ and His power to save us, but rather the power of the government. I suppose the Lutheran way to say this might be that we are violating the First Commandment, since we would seem to be not fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Bible tells us not to trust man’s power to save, because he hasn’t any. It tells us that this world is the domain of the prince of the power of the air, who is Satan. Here in this present world, the Bible tells us, the Christian has no continuing city. We look toward that which is to come. That is the reason we can be so bold as to refuse to worship Caesar even when his henchman has the knife at our throat. He may kill us, but Jesus has already made us alive in Him. We will awaken on the day of resurrection and enter into the new and perfect creation to live there forever with Christ.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That is not to say that we should completely abandon the world and the society in which we live. If that were so we should retreat to the monasteries and shut ourselves away as Christians have tired in the past. I am simply saying that we should keep two things in mind. First, the world in which we live is passing away and we are looking forward to the new world which is to supplant it. Second, the purpose of we Christians gathering together - or as we Lutherans might say, gathering together around Word and Sacrament - is not the same as any of those other types of gatherings mentioned previously. The purpose of the gathering we call church is to receive God’s gifts that were won for us by Christ’s death and resurrection. Those gifts are the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. God gives them to us, primarily, in two ways. One way is through the preaching of His Word. The other way is through baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which we call sacraments. In a way, preaching and administering the sacraments are the same thing, because they are both ways that God delivers His Word to us and creates faith in us. Right now, however, I want to focus on Christian preaching.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The main purpose of Christian preaching is to deliver to men the thing which God uses to make Christians. That is God’s Word. In Christian preaching, the preacher is to proclaim the two great teachings of God’s Word: Law and Gospel. The Law tells man what he must do for God, how he cannot do it, and the condemnation he deserves. The Gospel tells man what God has done for him; how while we were God’s enemies Christ died to redeem the world. In Christian preaching the preacher proclaims that, becoming man in the person of Jesus, God suffered and died on the cross to bear the guilt of our sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Such Christian preaching brings men to faith. It crushes men under the weight of God’s Law. It shows men their sin and makes them sorry for their sins. It delivers to those so brought to repentance the promise that, for the sake of Jesus those sins have been removed; it tells them that this is true not only for them individually, but also for the whole world (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2, 1951).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Through the preaching of the Gospel, God the Holy Spirit creates faith in men’s hearts. The Gospel is the mechanism by which God tells us what He has done for us in spite of the fact that we did not deserve it: that at just the right time, while we were still God’s enemies, Christ was born according to the scriptures, died as the sacrifice for the sins of the world, and rose again for our justification. He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3, 1953).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The reason that church is different from, for example, a formal presentation of some theological points in a lecture hall is this: the preacher isn’t trying to convince the people listening to him to believe in Jesus. He is simply discharging his duty to proclaim the message he has been given. No one can be convinced into the Christian faith by rational arguments alone. The natural man cannot receive the spiritual things or know them (1 Cor. 2:14; 1:23). It is the Holy Spirit who will prove the truth of Law and Gospel to those who hear. The man who hears God’s Law and is crushed by it into contrition does not need proof that what the Law says about mankind, and about himself individually, is true. He knows his sin when it is exposed. When he hears the Gospel proclamation of how Christ died to take away that sin, he will rejoice without the aid of scientific demonstration, or apologetic explanation of why the Gospel is true. He will be happy to be out from under the weight of condemnation and death (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 1, 1950).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That isn’t to say, however, that the only place from which the Gospel can be heard is the pulpit. The Holy Spirit works how He wants to, when and where it pleases Him. He may very well use the Gospel spoken in that theological lecture, or in that conversation with colleagues in the lunchroom, to cause someone listening to come to faith. The same thing goes for all the other gatherings where Christians are present. All Christians are, in fact, called to preach the Gospel. Every person who confesses Christ is member of the priesthood of all believers. Every Christian is called to preach and teach those in whose midst he finds himself according to his various vocations (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3, 1953).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The general call of the Christian to preach the Gospel, however, is different from the call to the public ministry. The call to the public ministry, that is, to serve as a pastor in a Christian congregation, is one to preach and teach in the gathering of Christians of a specific place and time (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3, 1953). This is not a matter to be taken lightly for either the congregation, or the pastor who is called. He will be, as James writes, held to a higher standard on Judgment Day. So, where Christians are gathered together they are to choose men to administer God’s word and sacraments to them according to the guidelines set forth in Holy Scripture. This is because God is a God of order, and not of disorder (Ap AC XIV). The man whom they call is to proclaim God’s Word boldly, and in its purity, and to administer the sacraments rightly according to Christ’s institution.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, Christian preaching should proclaim the hope of glory. This is nothing other than proclaiming Law and Gospel, but from the angle of Christ’s return. Preaching the coming of Christ’s kingdom of glory was something the Apostles did from the beginning. The eyes of the early Christians were constantly directed upwards in anticipation of Christ’s return. Christian preaching should give the Christian comfort in the midst of suffering by reminding him of the fulfillment of the promise of the resurrection, and of eternal life with Jesus and all the saints in the restored creation (Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2, 1952).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The more purely and boldly preachers proclaim the Gospel, the more the Holy Spirit will do His own work of making Christians. Those saints who are regularly fed with Jesus’ body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, and by hearing their faithful pastors preach, will be sustained and grow in the faith by the miraculous power of God. Indeed, as Paul wrote, how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? They will then go out into the world to be salt and light. They won’t be able to help it. Their good works will just proceed forth from them as apples proceed forth from an apple tree. They will be bold to say, as Peter and John did, we must obey God rather than men, when confronted with ridicule and persecution. If, however, our pastors give us essays, pop psychology, seminars on positive thinking, mystical gibberish, and lies, we will begin to believe in those things instead of Jesus. ###</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Works Cited</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1950. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 1. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1951. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1953. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-45004700849985712222022-12-11T14:11:00.001-06:002022-12-11T14:11:16.804-06:00Rocky Places: Thoughts on Election, and Falling Away<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2R2AVwdu5R_Cs1DKMstmNjuisqvlQfyGKJu9HWatO-upaafUEtQ_0hPlMU0zvwblIUAZV5MoNv3TPlOWrn7RmsyNvHQT2pqb-fwZ8AuoxZs32R-Oq2gSXTQwmV8RkkGrMeB7y6wmdYHaa_MjMVfS0H63vt7F1bmlBB6BvZA8nNXt9EqL2i7PMoQ/s1971/the-sower-sower-with-setting-sun-1888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1572" data-original-width="1971" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2R2AVwdu5R_Cs1DKMstmNjuisqvlQfyGKJu9HWatO-upaafUEtQ_0hPlMU0zvwblIUAZV5MoNv3TPlOWrn7RmsyNvHQT2pqb-fwZ8AuoxZs32R-Oq2gSXTQwmV8RkkGrMeB7y6wmdYHaa_MjMVfS0H63vt7F1bmlBB6BvZA8nNXt9EqL2i7PMoQ/w400-h319/the-sower-sower-with-setting-sun-1888.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one,” (John 10:27-30).</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;">In John 10, Jesus explains to the people that He is the Christ. He says,</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><blockquote>“...but you did not believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”</blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">We can, however, walk away. We can follow false teachers. We can reject the truth and make shipwreck of our faith. God’s word tells us plainly that we can fall away from the faith.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus gives us the most compelling reason to believe that believers can fall away from the faith. He says it in two very important places: His explanation of His parable of the sower, and just before He goes off to the garden of Gethsemane to be arrested.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;"><blockquote>Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root...Listen then to what the parable of the sower means...The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away (Matthew 13:5-6; 18, 20-21).</blockquote></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">In His parable of the sower, Jesus describes the different places where the farmer scattered his seed. The farmer scatters seed all over the place: on the path, on the rocky places, among the thorns, and on good soil. The first instance of the seed on the path cannot refer to believers. Indeed, Jesus says that this is a picture of what happens when a person hears the word but does not understand it. The devil snatches away what was sown in that person’s heart. The seed sown among the rocky places, however, grows. It produces fruit. Jesus says this is the man who hears the word and receives it with joy. This person has faith. As soon as the going gets a bit rough, he abandons it. Jesus says that he falls away. It is indeed possible to receive the message of the Gospel at first with joy, but to then later fall away from that faith. You can’t fall out of something you are not in.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><blockquote>Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered,” (Matthew 26:31).</blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;">Just before Jesus was arrested, He told His disciples that they would all fall away. Peter and the others deny this, of course. They are, after all, His disciples, the ones who believe in Him. They are the ones who confessed Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. After all the others abandoned Jesus because of what He said about eating His body and drinking His blood, they are the ones who remained. They are the ones who said that Jesus has the words of eternal life and believed that He was the Holy One of God (see John 6). In Matthew 36:31-35, we have two choices: either the disciples weren’t really believers at that time, contrary to what scripture presents, and Jesus said something He didn’t really mean; or Jesus’ statement about His closest followers falling away should be understood according to its plain meaning.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">But what about baptism? Baptism seals us in the faith and sets us apart (Ephesians 5:26; 2:3). The Bible says baptism connects us to Christ, and to His death, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). In our baptism God washes away all our sins and saves us (Acts 2:38-40; Titus 3:5-8; 1 Peter 3:18-21). The food of our Lord’s body and blood feeds and sustains our faith as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Surely if God does this work in a man through these means of water, bread, and wine connected to His promise of life and forgiveness, it must be effective. It is certainly effective. Baptism, however, is always presented alongside teaching, and that is important to remember.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">At the end of Matthew’s gospel Jesus sends out His disciples saying:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">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).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">When the Bible presents the stories of Jesus’ disciples carrying out His great commission, baptizing and teaching always go together. The newly baptized are not left to find their own way after being baptized; those who are taught first, like the Ethiopian eunuch, desire to be baptized after they are taught, because of the working of the Holy Spirit on their hearts. The point is that there is no static position in Christianity. There is either a progressing forward, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus, or a gradual hardening of the heart. A man who is baptized into Christ but is neither taught to love Him nor fed by His word will eventually starve and die. He will fall away.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">Both Sts. Peter and Paul use the picture of an infant growing and maturing to describe a Christian growing and maturing in the faith. The implication is that if one stops growing, he may be in danger of falling away entirely. Peter compares us to newborn babies “who crave pure spiritual milk to sustain them and help them grow” (1 Peter 2:2). If we don’t get that pure spiritual milk by gathering around God’s word and sacraments, and gladly hearing and learning His word, we will starve. We certainly will not grow into more mature Christians who can eat and digest the solid food of more sophisticated theology.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Paul scolds the Corinthians for being worldly, but he counts them as Christians. They are concerned with divisions, and with quarrelling with one another over which teacher is the best to follow. Paul says he had to give them milk rather than solid food because they were infants (1 Corinthians 3:2). He means that he has to once again teach them elementary truths of the faith. They are infants in that they still need this remedial lesson. They are still drinking milk. He wants to give them meat. He wants them to progress in the faith so that they can distinguish good and evil for themselves. The point is that, though the Corinthians are infants indeed, they were still a part of the body of Christ. They were believers, even if they were immature. If, however, they continue along their present path, Paul implies, they will spiritually die and fall away from the faith.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace (Hebrews 6:1-6).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">The author of the letter to the Hebrews explains that someone who believes and falls away won’t be brought back to repentance. He is describing a Christian in danger of becoming apostate. He is describing a man who wilfully rejects the faith. It is the equivalent of not acknowledging one’s sin. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Someone who won’t acknowledge their sin and repent continues to reject God’s gift. Moreover, that man hasn’t been snatched out of Jesus’ hand. He crawled out of Jesus’ hand willingly. He left under his own steam.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">If, when we read these texts, we are concerned about where we stand it would be good to consider some other words that Jesus said: But unless you repent, you too will perish (Luke 13:1-9). Then, we should remember that while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of Jesus (Romans 5:10); when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, Jesus made us alive in Him by our baptism (Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 6: 3-5).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">The question, however remains: If God is working in us to will and to do, as Paul says, how is it possible that anyone in whom God does such work could either resist it, or fall away? If God does a thing, how could He not be successful? This is just another variation of a thing called the theologian’s cross (or Crux Theologorum). Why are some saved, but not others? The short answer is: We don’t know because God hasn’t told us. That may seem like a cop-out, but it really isn’t. We can only safely confess what God has revealed to us, and no more. Everything we come up with regarding “why some and not others” is speculation into God’s hidden will. That’s a dangerous no-no.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;">One of the themes of the Lutheran Confessions is saying only what God has revealed to us in His word. We are to speak where scripture speaks. We are to remain silent where scripture is silent. There is no use or benefit in investigating God’s “secret counsels”, particularly in these matters of election or predestination. God’s word teaches us that all men, in our natural state, are fallen and lost. We are by nature objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). We have been consigned to disobedience, so that God could have mercy on us all in Christ (Romans 11:32). God the Father calls all sinners to Him in Christ (John 12:32). He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-3). He doesn’t want men to despise preaching and His word. The fact is that some men do despise it. They plug their ears and refuse to take it seriously. They reject God’s gift in Christ. How this works on the cosmic scale, God does not explain to us. It remains a mystery.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves (Ephesians 1:3-6).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">Again, the key to all this is the phrase, in Christ. Those who are in Christ are secure. The idea of eternal election in Christ should be a comfort tot he Christian, not something that causes confusion or worse yet, fear or despair. Jesus promises that no one can snatch those who are His out of His hand. As long as we remain in Him, He will not abandon us. And, when we abandon Him by our sin, He calls us to repentance and will restore us, just like He did with Peter. Because, if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;">The wondrous thing isn’t that believers can fall away from the faith. The wondrous thing is that Jesus comes to us and restores us to life and faith when we fall, just as Peter and the other disciples were restored.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Public Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Public Sans";"><span style="font-size: large;">The bottom line of all this is that, ultimately, we must trust in the mercy of Jesus. We are beggars relying on the mercy of God. We can do nothing to earn the gift we seek, nor are we worthy of it. We must rely on the goodness and faithfulness of the giver. ###</span></span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-83035674567701433862022-12-02T11:10:00.002-06:002022-12-02T11:13:10.549-06:00For You Will Answer Me: Thoughts on Psalm 17<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://biblepic.com/53/14110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://biblepic.com/53/14110.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer (Psalm 17:6).</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 17 is a lament and prayer of David. In it David anticipates the joy of being in Yahweh's presence. David prays for God's help; for the defeat of his enemies, who are wicked and unfaithful, confident that God will hear and answer him. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">David prays for deliverance from his enemies. These are the ungodly men who do not have faith in God, nor keep His covenant. David is confident that God will answer him for three reasons: David is faithful, keeping God’s covenant; God is loving; David's enemies are ungodly and evil (v. 1-5).</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">David prays that he has kept himself from the ways of the violent. He is free from the kinds of wicked and unjust deeds that his enemies are committing. He is inviting God to see that because of his faith, David is a good tree that bears good fruit.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> He isn't claiming to be without sin.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> David's confidence is based on his own faith that God will keep His promises, not on how good David’s own works are.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In reality it isn’t David who does the works he calls God to examine anyway. David say that it is by God’s word that he is blameless. David writes, “As for the deeds of men - by the word of Your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent” (v. 4).</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul makes this same point when he writes, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, <i>for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose</i>,” (Philippians 2:12-13).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">David knows that God's love will not allow Him to be indifferent to the suffering of His people. God is compelled by His very nature to come to the aid of His people. Indeed, God has rescued His people from our true enemies of sin and death by Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then come David’s petitions. He prays that he would be protected from his wicked enemies (v. 6-9). He prays that those callous and arrogant men who seek to destroy him would themselves be destroyed. He calls on God to rise up and confront his enemies, and to save him (v. 10-14).</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wicked men seem to prosper. That was as frustrating to David as it is to us today. Their end, however, is eternal punishment. While God may not strike down every enemy of His people during this present age, they will suffer eternal punishment and separation from God. They receive their reward in this age. God's people get the fullness of their reward in the age to come.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God provides for the needs of His people. He directs us to seek first the kingdom of God. He gives us daily bread. He tells us not to worry about material wealth. He will make sure we have all the things necessary to support this body and life, about which the pagans spend day and night worrying about. Not only will He meet our physical needs, but the greatest blessing possible already belongs to us in Christ: forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As with all the Psalms, it is important to consider them from the perspective of Christ. David is a picture of the promised Savior, a promise that God fulfilled in Jesus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus knows that God the Father will hear and answer Him when He prays for the same reasons as David. Jesus is faithful, even to suffering death on a cross, doing the will of the Father. God is love, and Jesus is the personification of that divine love. Because of that love God took on human flesh and rescued His people from our true enemies of sin and death.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus, who is God incarnate, came into the flesh to bear our sin. He suffered at the hands of wicked and evil men. He, who had no sin became sin for us. By His sacrifice on the cross, sinless Jesus reconciled mankind to God. So, not only is this a prayer of David, it points to what God would do for mankind in Christ. He would rise up, confront our ultimate enemies of sin, death, and the devil, and rescue His people from the wicked by His sword (v. 13).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This prayer will come to ultimate fulfillement when Jesus returns on the Last Day. At His coming all men will rise again with their bodies and will give an account of their own works. And they that, like David, by their faith in Christ have done good will go into life everlasting. They that have, like David’s wicked enemies by their faithlessness done evil will go into everlasting fire.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the meantime, God indeed stills the hunger of those He cherishes (v. 14). He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. While we live in this fallen world He sustains us by giving us His very body and blood to eat and to drink. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we will see His face in righteousness. And when we awake we will be satisfied with seeing His likeness (v. 15).</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-61952118880692290802022-11-25T11:58:00.003-06:002022-11-25T12:21:22.306-06:00Thoughts on Psalm 69<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjOFYxkJ7DfJi2JwWEoy3BH71LLUc3nVxGNT3rGoVSyH-4BlckQYb6cq9boj3HPS-3OIu3WmhZVK7Zy-_UT0fPqK0jH42_gFzUKAdvPFy6URHDSzG2x87x9T5IPUvHeg_3YvFNDS0WR_LIunSQyySz4C_baF1i7U-vBR42oEkoV6PTIjHAWaUNw/s906/Christ%20Praying.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjOFYxkJ7DfJi2JwWEoy3BH71LLUc3nVxGNT3rGoVSyH-4BlckQYb6cq9boj3HPS-3OIu3WmhZVK7Zy-_UT0fPqK0jH42_gFzUKAdvPFy6URHDSzG2x87x9T5IPUvHeg_3YvFNDS0WR_LIunSQyySz4C_baF1i7U-vBR42oEkoV6PTIjHAWaUNw/s320/Christ%20Praying.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you. Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. (Psalm 69:19-21)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 69 is a messianic psalm. It prophesies of Israel's King who was to come and rescue them. It is both a prophecy and prayer of Jesus, the true savior-king of which David was a foreshadowing. This Psalm of David is rivaled only by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+22&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Psalm 22</a> in terms of its messianic character.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the Psalm, the Messiah cries out to God that He is stuck in the miry depths. He laments that the deep waters are engulfing Him. The imagery of mire, mud, and deep waters is used elsewhere in scripture to describe the bond of sin. (Brug, Psalms 1, 1992) It is like quicksand. It is a peril from which the man in it cannot extract himself. The more one struggles to release himself, the deeper he sinks into it until he is finally destroyed. He needs someone to pull him out.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is just what the Messiah was supposed to do. He was supposed to come and rescue God's people. Only He didn't do it the way everybody thought He should. He did it by taking our place in the mud. But why was that necessary? When one man rescues another from drowning in quicksand he doesn't have to crawl into it and die in his place. Quite right. But when you remember that sin is like debt, a better picture of our circumstance emerges. It isn't something we can be plucked out of. It requires something of the one who would save us. When you spend too much on your credit cards so that you can't pay it back, the friend or family member who bails you out must pay the debt for you. And doesn't owing all that money that you know you can't pay back cause you to have a constant anxious feeling? A feeling like you are drowning? That is the feeling the psalmist is trying to evoke in these verses. That is the feeling of Jesus under the weight of our sin.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you continue on through verse 5 this becomes even more true:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">“You know my folly, O, God; my guilt is not hidden from you.”</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This talk of the psalmist being caught up in sin, and God knowing His folly and His guilt does not seem to fit into the messianic character of this Psalm. Isn't Christ sinless? How can He be foolish? Even more, how can He say that He is drowning, being deluged by sin?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though some theologians see these verses as evidence that this Psalm primarily refers to David, they can rightly be applied to Jesus, who is their fulfillment, as well. (Brug, Psalms 1, 1992) St. Paul wrote that the message of the cross is foolishness (folly) to those who are perishing (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+corinthians+1%3A18&version=NKJV" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 1:18</a>). Jesus' folly is indeed known to God the Father. It was His will that Jesus engage in it; it is Jesus will to obey the Father. It is the folly He who Himself is sinless, being made to become sin for us on the cross so that we might become the righteousness of God (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A21&version=NKJV" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 5:21</a>). He was cursed, for as it is written, “cursed is every man who is hung on a tree” (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+21%3A23%3B+Galatians+3%3A13-14&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13-14</a>). It is, therefore, quite appropriate that these words be applied to Jesus. You see, where we could not overcome sin and death, He could because He is God.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Theologians also point to verse 21 as further evidence that Psalm 69 is foremost a messianic prophecy. There is no direct parallel in David's life for, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” These specific things do, however, happen to Jesus and are recorded in the accounts of His crucifixion – when He was hung on the tree.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some people also have a problem with the imprecatory prayer found in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+69%3A22-28&version=NKJV" target="_blank">verses 22-28</a>. An imprecatory prayer is a prayer to God against one's enemies. It is asking God to punish them, to literally call evil on them. There are entire psalms which we call imprecatory psalms. Most of the time we just ignore them because they make us feel uncomfortable. I suspect it is why they were left out of our Lutheran hymnals. The reason for the difficulty is understandable. It is hard to think that Jesus would pray for His enemies to be blotted out of the book of life (v. 28).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus is indeed the one who lamented over the faithlessness of Jerusalem. He wants to gather us all like a hen gathers her chicks. He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Most, like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, would not (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A37&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Matthew 23:37</a>). Those who will reject Jesus will be damned. They will be cast into hell, which was prepared for the devil and his angels, since it is their wish to push away God and flee from His presence. This is on them, not Jesus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The last section of the Psalm (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+69%3A29-36&version=NKJV" target="_blank">vv. 29ff.</a>) is a prayer of deliverance and thanksgiving. Here Christ talks about how God will save Zion, His people. He prays also that God's salvation would protect Him in His pain and distress. God the Father does this by delivering Him from the grave and raising Him from the dead on the third day. By this work, Jesus saved His people, personified in the Psalm as Zion.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Zion will be saved. Her cities will be rebuilt. The land will be inhabited by the faithful, those who love the name of Jesus. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy will come on the Day of Judgment when Christ returns. On that day, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+7%3A13-14%3B+Matthew+26%3A62-66%3B+Philippians+2%3A10-11&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 26:62-66; Philippians 2:10-11</a>). ###</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Brug, John C. <i>People’s Bible Commentary: Psalms 1</i>. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1992.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-84934360723289690212022-11-25T10:14:00.000-06:002022-11-25T10:14:50.932-06:00The Advent of Advent<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1sXr8ioQjgs3i_lBVxX7-4_3kE_SZAgC1U1Ivr3usZk2jBJ3f9XjzOQQVFiyXB2RSi-15y5rdAguPvdOZGo4Su8k7j6gXhSznRaM9tGshN0DFbhNFfsq1dKfpnD7BRX5CoF-CdVXs-6SAfhyXlE1kmQN-hF04-Dx5E4MPZIUsVqe16IVtfXDAA/s2048/photo%20(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1sXr8ioQjgs3i_lBVxX7-4_3kE_SZAgC1U1Ivr3usZk2jBJ3f9XjzOQQVFiyXB2RSi-15y5rdAguPvdOZGo4Su8k7j6gXhSznRaM9tGshN0DFbhNFfsq1dKfpnD7BRX5CoF-CdVXs-6SAfhyXlE1kmQN-hF04-Dx5E4MPZIUsVqe16IVtfXDAA/s320/photo%20(4).JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">I know that it won't officially be Advent until Sunday, but I didn't want to wait to change the colors. Perhaps we can think of this as a couple days of "pre-advent" (LOL). </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For those of you who wonder why we've gone purple instead of blue, read this: <a href="https://hodgkinslutheran.blogspot.com/2016/11/advent-purple-and-marian-blue.html">https://hodgkinslutheran.blogspot.com/2016/11/advent-purple-and-marian-blue.html</a></span></p>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-47994546159521905812022-11-20T22:47:00.001-06:002022-11-20T22:47:27.833-06:00Thoughts on Psalm 44<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3dv4J-jrpkI3zkQeoYVkR_cajgySedXhA1uPAvI6bdE-wgFExMvG4a0G1JJbP8-wLPUK9j6mheGWGnzPsEiiTNEAePI_gtIrtqn2FgxI-98S4ynvYwUZP3vWRoeFYT61FFVNedXCBHEm5LTgkLgClC-HdtxiOkYizNlB-PV6GBUfnhoKHd11SA/s960/Psalm%2044.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3dv4J-jrpkI3zkQeoYVkR_cajgySedXhA1uPAvI6bdE-wgFExMvG4a0G1JJbP8-wLPUK9j6mheGWGnzPsEiiTNEAePI_gtIrtqn2FgxI-98S4ynvYwUZP3vWRoeFYT61FFVNedXCBHEm5LTgkLgClC-HdtxiOkYizNlB-PV6GBUfnhoKHd11SA/s320/Psalm%2044.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love (Psalm 44:23-26).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 44 is a community lament. It is Israel recalling her past victories, and lamenting that she has been forsaken by God. Luther called it a “sighing of the spirit”.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The psalm's context is debated by theologians. It could have been written in response to some defeat of Judah during Hezekiah's time. It could be from an early period in David's life when Saul was still king. There isn't really any hard evidence for either hypothesis, though the psalmist does not specifically mention David or any of his accomplishments.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The defeats that the psalmist describes are not punishments for the faithful. They are punishments for the unfaithful; those who were idolaters; those who did not keep the covenant. For the faithful who had to endure those sufferings, they were sufferings for the sake of Yahweh. This is suffering which we are to learn patiently endure and "rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed," (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+peter+4%3A12-19&version=NKJV">1 Peter 4:13</a>). It is the refiner's fire, so to speak. The faithful, suffering because of the name of Jesus, are the silver and gold being refined.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And no suffering or defeat can separate those faithful to Yahweh from Him. Paul writes this to the Romans, and he quotes this very Psalm:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A31-39&version=NKJV">(Romans 8:33-39)</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Psalm also applies to the true Israel, the Church. Idolatry is always present with us, as it was with ancient Israel. Victory over ancient Israel's enemies was not earned by wielding the sword, but rather it was given by the grace and power of Yahweh. Likewise, victory over the ultimate enemies of sin and death is not something we can earn. It is won for us, and given to us by Jesus, Yahweh in human flesh.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 44 gives us shadows of Jesus. He was rejected for us; made to become sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him (v. 9). Christ was sold for a pittance (v. 12), betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. Christ was made a reproach; He endured scorn while hanging on the cross (v. 13-16). All these things happened to Him because it was the Father's will to redeem mankind. It was Christ's will to obey the Father, in spite of the fact that Jesus had not been false or unfaithful (v. 17-19).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 44 is a prayer of the Church as long as she is in the fallen world. It is St. John's prayer in Revelation: Come, Lord Jesus. It is the voices of those suffering for the name of Jesus: do not reject us; do not forget us; rise up and help us; redeem us. God has answered this prayer already. He has redeemed us, and that redemption belongs to us right now. Christ has won that redemption from sin, death, and the devil by dying as our substitute on the cross. We will fully realize that redemption when Jesus raises us from the dead. ###</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Brug, John F. People’s Bible Commentary: Psalms I. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1992.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reading the Psalms with Luther. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2007.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com06HVF+XM Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay, AK, USA70.244949699999992 -148.425824269.504008629745428 -150.623089825 70.985890770254557 -146.228558575tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-76214851633817531052022-11-15T22:32:00.011-06:002022-11-20T22:40:09.617-06:00Old Glory Lutheran Church: A Diatribe on Flags in the Sanctuary<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBMzDgteD4zTCOjfBGrTs8qCHOhcxakjO6eAZoJfRYV5PsvQwdzN0O3iFm_FK28h_0wJeqU4jvs4MEUGCqiF5S64bwY7FJrg9DVFpa86NrhuOCJ0JL4rFpvN3PFprp5gvJrya-U34rIlL398778xdRzLm2quUAh4ei0qYOrqzATfMcAfBZUlvbA/s2782/US%20Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1654" data-original-width="2782" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBMzDgteD4zTCOjfBGrTs8qCHOhcxakjO6eAZoJfRYV5PsvQwdzN0O3iFm_FK28h_0wJeqU4jvs4MEUGCqiF5S64bwY7FJrg9DVFpa86NrhuOCJ0JL4rFpvN3PFprp5gvJrya-U34rIlL398778xdRzLm2quUAh4ei0qYOrqzATfMcAfBZUlvbA/s320/US%20Flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">A few weeks ago I noticed that the flags were missing from the sanctuary of my church.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was happy about this. I don't think either the American flag, the so-called Christian flag, or any other political symbol has any business being displayed in the sanctuary. I think it is a bit like if the early Christians would have displayed a Roman standard in their worship spaces to witness to everyone how much they loved Rome and the emperor, so they could avoid being fed to the lions. That's not the witness they gave.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We pray for our country and our leaders. Scripture tells us to do so. God commands us to obey those authorities which are over us because He has established them, unless they tell us to do something contrary to God's word. But, we are supposed to know that this world and its kingdoms are passing away. We are supposed to understand that here, in this fallen creation, we have no continuing city. We are pilgrims, looking forward to when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of Our LORD, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then the flags came back. Apparently, there was some outrage expressed. It was coming up on Veteran's Day, after all. This is not surprising.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why is this issue a hill upon which so many people are willing to die? Why are people so adamantly in favor of having an American flag inside their church sanctuary?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This genuinely is confusing to me. Whenever I look forward toward the chancel, the American and Christian flags book-ending it seems to me awkward and out of place. Standing among the other artwork, architecture, and sacred furniture are these two oddities: a symbol of political power and authority, and a symbol of 19th Century American ecumenism of which the LCMS was not supportive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is no surer way to cause controversy in your LCMS congregation than to remove, or even suggest the removal of the flags from the sanctuary. A possible exception to this is perhaps the suggested removal of delinquent members from the church membership rolls. The difference, however, is that despite the grumbling of the odd distant relative, I have been a part of congregations that have successfully removed names from their rolls. I have never personally seen a congregation successfully remove an American flag from a sanctuary. I hear tell that such places exist, though.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The most common argument against removing the flags that I have encountered is that the flags are there to show our patriotism and love of country. They show that we want God to bless our country and its inhabitants. They express our belief in the idea of the Two Kingdoms: Just as God is at work governing the Church, He is also at work governing our nation, so it is appropriate to display the flag.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That last one's a stretch.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I suspect that the real reason has more to do with our genuine love and respect for our friends and neighbors who are veterans of the US armed forces, and the patriotism instilled in an older generation of Americans according to what I call the American Civil Religion (God and Country).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you have the unmitigated gall to oppose the display of the American flag in church, however, people get angry. You are denying God's sovereignty. You are denying that America is a Christian nation (<a href="https://hodgkinslutheran.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-christian-nation.html">which I do, but that's a whole different story you can read here</a>), and you are a filthy anti-American pinko-commie rat bastard.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But I'm not a commie rat bastard. I love the US Constitution, and the principles enshrined therein. The place for showing that love of country, however, isn't inside the sanctuary. It is at the ballot box. And those principles certainly aren't our ultimate hope for salvation. Jesus is.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The sanctuary is the place where we gather to hear God's word preached. It is where we receive God's gifts of forgiveness of sins and eternal life won for us by Jesus' death on the cross, particularly in the sacraments. It is our heavenly embassy. It should look, sound, smell, and feel different than the secular world. It should direct our focus to Christ and what He does for us. When we include secular politics in the sacred space, the best-case scenario is that we confuse and diminish this function of the sanctuary. The worst-case scenario is that we are actually setting up other objects of worship next to Jesus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Saying this, however, apparently means that I do not love America.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">How did the flag get in the sanctuary in the first place? The common myth is that the American flag came into the sanctuaries of LCMS churches during World War I. That's not entirely true. It was, rather, a process that happened over a long period of time stretching back to the 1890s.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the 1890s the Grand Army of the Republic (the precursor to the modern American Legion) began promoting the patriotic display of the American Flag. The GAR, and other patriotic civic organizations, purchased and donated flags to private and public institutions alike, including public buildings, libraries, and even churches (immigrant and native congregations alike). By the time of the Great War, churches displaying the American flag - though not in their sanctuaries - was becoming a common practice. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the official story goes that, during the Great War, German-speaking Lutherans were suspected of not being loyal to America, but rather to their ancestral home. Being targeted for persecution, we filthy, backward, non-English-speaking immigrants nervously began displaying the flag to show that we were not subversive, and to better fit into American society and culture.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">By the time we were getting ready to make the world safe for democracy by entering the Great War, churches displaying the American flag were becoming the norm. The magazine The Lutheran Witness documented the patriotism of German Lutherans in America during the war by showing how proudly they displayed their flags. But, it wasn't a reaction to wartime persecution as much as it was a positive response to community activism, and an effort to blend in. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most importantly, in the examples cited by The Lutheran Witness, the flags weren't inside the sanctuary. That didn't happen until after World War II.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When the LCMS was actually being persecuted during World War I because she was a German-speaking church, and her pastors preached in German, there was a huge fight over whether the Synod should abandon German for English. We seem to never have fought about the flags. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the end, demographics decided the language question in favor of English, but there doesn't seem to have been a similar debate over the flag. Everyone just seems to think displaying the flag was a good idea.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">By the 1950s the LCMS was publishing guides to show congregations how to properly display the flag inside the sanctuary. To this day the Synod officially treats the issue of displaying the American flag in the sanctuary as an adiaphoron. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">To me, that is just a pious way to avoid making a decision that the important people know will upset the wrong group of laymen too much. The men in charge all know that the American flag, or any other political symbol, doesn't belong in the sanctuary. No one wants to bother with the argument.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Displaying the American flag in the sanctuary confuses our worship. It makes it look like we are worshiping the State. By the way many people react when one suggests moving the flags out of the sanctuary to a more suitable location, I'm beginning to think that maybe we do worship the State.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We did, after all, follow the edict of the governor (here in Illinois) and suspend worship at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, offering very little resistance. Between March 16 and May 31, I think we can be a little charitable. We were still trying to figure out just what we were dealing with; we didn't understand how deadly the virus was (or wasn't), or whom it affected the most; many of us (myself included) still believed that our government was acting in good faith during that time.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then came the protests.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When politicians and news reporters began to encourage the “mostly peaceful protests” in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, their lie was exposed. They said people should protest because systemic racism was a bigger public health crisis than Covid-19, but they still worked to keep Christians from gathering together to worship. (Bernstein, “De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban.”) Even after this blatant display of the government's agenda, many church members continued to shout “Romans 13! Romans 13!” and advocate for online worship. Many others were just too timid to say anything. (Klotz, “Civil Disobedience.”)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The point is this: most people were willing to trust the government when the government ordered us to wear masks, even after there was evidence that masks did little to stop infection. People were willing to trust the government when they forced us to stop going to church for our own safety but said it was safe to protest the police, or go to Walmart, Target, or other essential (read corporate) businesses.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, many of us Christians (myself included at the beginning) didn't trust Jesus enough to say that we must obey God rather than men and, willing to accept the temporal consequences, gather in spite of the government ban.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We didn't trust Jesus enough to obey Him, to gather around Word and Sacrament, and to eat His body and drink His blood as He told us to. We were afraid that Jesus would kill us, and we trusted the government to save us. It should be the other way around. In fact, we should trust Jesus so much that, even if He does kill us, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe it's more accurate to say that we were more afraid to disobey the Government than we were to disobey Jesus. If that's so, we would do well to remember what Jesus said about fear: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That's Jesus, God in human flesh, not J.B. Pritzker.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, perhaps we do worship the government. Perhaps it would be more appropriate, and cause less of a furor to remove the crucifix from above the altar and keep the flags. We could maybe replace it with a picture of an American Bald Eagle. We could worship our idol by eating apple pie instead of the Lord's Supper; the Scriptures could be replaced by readings from the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers; preaching by telling people to be good citizens.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our transformation into adherents of the American Civil Religion of generic “god” and Country would be complete.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or, we could confess our sins, and God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. For the part I played in our unfaithfulness, I repent.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then, maybe also at least move the flags to the fellowship hall. ###</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bernstein, Brittany. “De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban.” De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban. Accessed November 15, 2022. <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/blasio-black-lives-matter-protests-115502505.html">https://news.yahoo.com/blasio-black-lives-matter-protests-115502505.html</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Concordia Historical Institute. “US Flag in Missouri Synod Churches - Concordia Historical Institute.” Accessed November 13, 2022. <a href="https://concordiahistoricalinstitute.org/about-chi/chi-reference-and-research/frequently-asked-questions/us-flag-in-missouri-synod-churches/">https://concordiahistoricalinstitute.org/about-chi/chi-reference-and-research/frequently-asked-questions/us-flag-in-missouri-synod-churches/</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Klotz, Joseph. “Civil Disobedience.” The Hodgkins Lutheran: Civil Disobedience, November 26, 2021. <a href="http://hodgkinslutheran.blogspot.com/2021/11/civil-disobedience.html">http://hodgkinslutheran.blogspot.com/2021/11/civil-disobedience.html</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nickodemus, Ben. “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.” Historical Footnotes, 2017. <a href="https://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://concordiahistoricalinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HF62_2_American_Flag_LCMS_Churches.pdf">chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://concordiahistoricalinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HF62_2_American_Flag_LCMS_Churches.pdf</a>.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-4985083789465655712022-11-05T22:22:00.007-05:002022-11-20T22:32:06.913-06:00Christendom<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DvNtsaGCfauqjoU4G2xALL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DvNtsaGCfauqjoU4G2xALL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:10-15).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We watched Thor: Ragnarok the other day, and it got me thinking about Western Civilization, which was in the not-so-distant past referred to as Christendom.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It would be hard to look at the violence and depravity present in much of the modern post-Christian West and believe that society isn't going to hell in a handbasket. But isn't that the story of human society? I mean, human societies are full of humans, and humans are sinful and imperfect. There are ebbs and flows. There have been times of moral decay and moral awakening. But generally speaking, things get worse, and not better. And Jesus said they would get worse.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe we need to stop worrying about these things as though our life depended on them. Maybe we need to let it go.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul didn't try to save western civilization as he preached and taught in Athens. He didn't tell them how great their society used to be, and that they needed to do a lot of things to make it great again. He instead preached Christ. He called those pagans to repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. He didn't have a First Amendment to protect his freedom of speech or his free exercise of religion. Ultimately, he got his head chopped off for his preaching. He was, nevertheless, fearless because he had Christ. He knew that even if they killed him, Jesus would make him alive again.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the movie, as Asgard is about to be destroyed, Odin explains to a dejected Thor that Asgard is a people, not a place. Thor wants to save Asgard from destruction, but Odin basically tells him to just let it go. It's the people that make the kingdom. Wherever they are, that's where Asgard is.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the past, Christendom has generally been defined as the Christian world. Some people include the United States. Certainly, many American Christians believe the United States to be a Christian nation, even if they don't refer to it as a part of Christendom. More broadly speaking, the word Christendom can refer to Christianity in general, but it has most commonly been thought of as a political division or entity in distinction from, as my 1921 Webster's Dictionary puts it, "heathen or Mohammedan lands."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, like the fictional Asgard, Christendom is, in reality, a people, not a place.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christendom is not a physical community or kingdom. It is all the pious, believing Christians assembled by the Holy Spirit who, working through the Word, creates faith in the hearts of men (Pieper, 1953). But it isn't a human organization, political entity, or a specific geographical location.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This does not mean that Christ's kingdom will always remain spiritual, however.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christendom will not always be without physical substance. Our Christian hope is not limited to disembodied existence in Heaven for eternity. Our hope is in Christ. By being baptized into Him, our sins have been washed away. We are connected to Him and His resurrection. We confess that when Christ comes in judgment on the Last Day, He will call all believers from their graves and raise them to everlasting life. We will live with Him in the new creation, free from sin, death, and the devil forever.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That ending is way better than what happened to the Asgardians in the movie.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have the same hope as Paul. We can be fearless like him because we know that, even if they kill us on account of Christ, He will raise us up on the Last Day. Maybe we need to worry less about trying to save our so-called Christian civilization by voting for the right secular politicians. Maybe we should instead repent of our sins and believe the Gospel, and call others to repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Maybe we should embrace the fact that here on this earth, we are pilgrims and have no continuing city instead of becoming more and more comfortable in this fallen and sinful creation. In Christ, we are subjects of a kingdom that is not of this world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not yet, anyway.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1953. "Christian Dogmatics," vol. 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0PW3V+V7, Zuunmod, Mongolia47.704695 106.94324747.334978104251945 106.39393059375 48.074411895748057 107.49256340625tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-28486057890253106092022-10-31T22:14:00.004-05:002022-11-20T22:21:30.137-06:00Thoughts on Ephesians 4:19<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqp4S9Lsw_xgn_dmvb0MUblJ9BkYVUKQ0R1Wk6rHm3HhsSsC59Vdd5NlF53iOi20093n8wnQg8eYcNjSz5MD1OCK9ODVF-aAay2p8hmmHfR2zdVpLwOobFH4plRSpTtUWCEkcfWr5I8krH-lHIH_V1MgQe0CX-gTkJZ86FgNJvGkLP9CogRGJ4w/s1600/crucifixion-mantegna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1600" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqp4S9Lsw_xgn_dmvb0MUblJ9BkYVUKQ0R1Wk6rHm3HhsSsC59Vdd5NlF53iOi20093n8wnQg8eYcNjSz5MD1OCK9ODVF-aAay2p8hmmHfR2zdVpLwOobFH4plRSpTtUWCEkcfWr5I8krH-lHIH_V1MgQe0CX-gTkJZ86FgNJvGkLP9CogRGJ4w/w400-h295/crucifixion-mantegna.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (Ephesians 4:19)</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul tells the Ephesian Christians that they must no longer live as the Gentiles do. What is Paul talking about? Who are these Gentiles?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sure, Paul might be talking to a gathering of people made up of both ethnic Jews and Greeks. Paul, however, means something different than race when he uses the term Gentile here. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul made it clear that neither ethnicity, bloodline, social standing, nor anything else mattered where God was concerned. Faith in Christ is what makes a child of Abraham. Faith is what takes hold of God's promise of the forgiveness of sins in Christ.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, who is he talking about, then?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">He describes the Gentiles as futile in their thinking. He says they are darkened in their understanding. They are separated from the life of God because of their ignorance. Their hearts are hardened. The result of this situation is that their condition is manifest in how they live. They are given over to sins of the flesh with a continual lust for more. One gets the impression from Paul's writing here that this appetite for sensual sins is meant to be understood as unquenchable.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In short, they are people who are not Christians.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">He also talks about this in his letter to the Romans. At the beginning of that letter, Paul describes how mankind rejected God and was given over to sinful desires, shameful lusts, and ultimately to a depraved mind. Paul writes, "Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them" (Rom. 1:32).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The more things change, the more they stay the same. Location, language, culture, technology, and time might separate us from the Ephesians of the Roman Empire, but our culture is just as depraved as theirs seems to have been. The reason: their society, just like our society, was filled with fallen sinful human beings, living in a fallen creation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul calls us out of the world just as he called the Ephesians to come out. He calls us to put off the old way of life and put on the new man. The old man is corrupted by deceitful desires. The new man is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Paul says to be made new in the attitude of our minds. How do we do that?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not a command for us to do so that we become better Christians. It is not a positive affirmation. It's more like Jesus' command to Lazarus to rise from the dead and come out from the tomb. The Word of God is the very thing that brings about the new attitude, just as it was efficacious to raise the dead. It is this renewing of the mind that transforms one into the new man who does not conform to the pattern of the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ultimately, Paul is calling the Ephesians, and us all, to repentance. That is the concept behind his imperative "to be made new in the attitude of your minds." He's talking about a change of heart and life that is affected in us by God's Holy Spirit working through the Word.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-1831934274507473972022-10-16T14:49:00.000-05:002022-11-25T12:23:28.492-06:00The LORD Shall Judge the Peoples: Thoughts on Psalm 7<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIH1eoDMBzS5Ao8k491OvCfdy3Un2FrRthpd0TgGjXV4nBVuX21Na8mYLgdI7ddM9NbZKYhH83-H9M5LTubGKLogvsC2kxUJumDDiKdDoxYJp3uo_Cwu3UKvAwv_ODdFS8GqcydJC9lpkfH1WVG_AFjgyxcCHkiYrkvNpUNoT07KWt39tvRW--Ww/s800/Crucifixion%20Icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="628" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIH1eoDMBzS5Ao8k491OvCfdy3Un2FrRthpd0TgGjXV4nBVuX21Na8mYLgdI7ddM9NbZKYhH83-H9M5LTubGKLogvsC2kxUJumDDiKdDoxYJp3uo_Cwu3UKvAwv_ODdFS8GqcydJC9lpkfH1WVG_AFjgyxcCHkiYrkvNpUNoT07KWt39tvRW--Ww/w314-h400/Crucifixion%20Icon.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>The LORD shall judge the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me (Psalm 7:8).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This verse frightens me every time I pray it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I suppose that sounds strange to many ears. Our instinct is to think that reading the Bible is supposed to comfort us, not make us afraid. God’s word should make us feel good.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps that is what mainstream American Christian-style religion would teach. We like to mine verses for our comfort. The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We repeat them to ourselves as though they are true out of context.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The LORD is indeed my Shepherd. We cannot, however, ignore that something called the valley of the shadow of death is also involved. We aren’t afraid because Yahweh is with us, but we walk through the valley, nevertheless.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Law is supposed to make us afraid. It should terrify our consciences. Jesus summarized the Law in two parts: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That should make us afraid. Only someone who is tremendously naïve would think they could keep this law perfectly. Only someone who was delusional, or lying to himself would claim that he actually kept it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, when in the course of my prayers I pray verses like Psalm 7:8, it frightens me. It is the Law which terrifies the conscience and drives me to repentance. The last thing I want to do is to ask God to judge me according to my righteousness and my integrity. I know precisely how righteous I am because I am with me 24 hours a day. I am aware just how flimsy my integrity is.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In his immediate context, the psalmist is writing a prayer for deliverance from the physical danger which threatens him. He’s pleading with God to save him from their wickedness because David trusts in Yahweh, and his wicked persecutors do not. So, when he writes that he is righteous, it is like when Job is described as blameless. To say Job is blameless isn’t saying that he was without sin. It is saying that Job was an outwardly good man. He is a believer. He is a Christian.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That isn’t the only context, however. The Psalm is also gospel.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">These words of David are also Jesus’ words. When you understand the Psalter as the prayer book of Christ, these verses that sound like harshest law are also sweetest gospel. If the law is what God requires of us, the gospel is what God has done for us. And since I am baptized into Christ, and His righteousness is now my own, I can be bold to pray, “Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded (v.6).”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart. The upright in heart is me, because of Christ. He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. Because we are in Him, because He has given us His righteousness and taken away our sin, we can pray His prayer and know we have what He promises. ###</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Bulawayo, Zimbabwe-20.1457125 28.5873388-20.661255199331094 28.03802239375 -19.630169800668902 29.13665520625tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-24847830811032760772022-06-27T15:26:00.002-05:002022-07-05T11:04:11.095-05:00Nitpicking Hymns: Lord, Thee I Love With All My Heart<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6rvQoi4ZQqh2KjZU0on0Lc0xUliALHeZwvaAPKVzPkzpeJu4K5En0d9twGmGjIK9fgIxiXhPY8Giqqctgi0AtTX-jqdT1coOKTpFZABwVWZNqkiiiliKlSQ1uJ2DyEgHDFCPz51Mr9sKeF16NF35PXBoTfgiVTKdhmPi9jhVCqQrrOMVA3qvcw/s906/TLH%20429%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6rvQoi4ZQqh2KjZU0on0Lc0xUliALHeZwvaAPKVzPkzpeJu4K5En0d9twGmGjIK9fgIxiXhPY8Giqqctgi0AtTX-jqdT1coOKTpFZABwVWZNqkiiiliKlSQ1uJ2DyEgHDFCPz51Mr9sKeF16NF35PXBoTfgiVTKdhmPi9jhVCqQrrOMVA3qvcw/w453-h640/TLH%20429%20%281%29.jpg" width="453" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies (Psalm 18:1-3).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, I took a quick look at the first three lines of TLH 429, “Lord, Thee I Love With All My Heart.” After studying the German translations of other hymns, I wasn’t surprised to find, what is to me, a significant discrepancy between the author Martin Schalling’s German text, and the altered translation from Catherine Winkworth. As in every case, the German text is much more orthodox than its English counterpart.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the first stanza, we sing:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, Thee I love with all my heart;</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I pray Thee, ne’er from me depart,</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">with tender mercy cheer me.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This raises the question for Lutherans: Can I love the Lord with all my heart? We are certainly commanded to do so. God commands His people to love Him will all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. Jesus tells the Pharisees that this is the greatest of God's commandments. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just because we are commanded to do something, however, does not mean that we are able to do it. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In our fallen state, our sinful hearts are inclined away from God, not toward him. We cannot, by our own reason or strength, believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ, or come to Him. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For theological traditions which believe that they cooperate in their conversion and salvation, this line poses no problem. If I can decide to have faith in Christ by an act of my own free will, why wouldn’t I be able to decide to love Him with all my heart? It’s the same thing, isn’t it?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For the confessional Lutheran, however, we must take issue with this translation. There is no scriptural basis for saying that we regenerate humans, who are simultaneously sinner and saint, can love the Lord our God with our whole hearts. Indeed, we confess weekly that we have not loved Him with our whole hearts, and that we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Putting the best construction on the text, one could look at it as an expression of overwhelming thankfulness and joy. However, m</span><span style="font-size: medium;">aking such an expression is equivalent, as
one of my pastor friends put it, to receiving a million dollars
from a billionaire and then offering to buy him lunch as an expression
of gratitude.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Saying that I love the Lord with all my heart is a bit like <i>deciding</i> to respond to an altar call. Without the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word, you would not have been able to decide to follow Jesus, nor would you want to do so. The Holy Spirit already made you a Christian before you stood up, walked down the aisle, and said the Sinner's Prayer. You didn't decide to believe in Jesus. He chose you, even though it may look like you made a decision by an act of your will.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This issue, however, does not exist in the original language. This is what the author wrote originally:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Herzlich lieb hab' ich dich, o Herr,</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Ich bitt' woll'st sein von mir nicht fern</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Mit deiner Güt' und Gnaden.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Translated, this would be something like:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I love you dearly, oh Lord;</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I beg you not to be far from me,</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">with your goodness and grace.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a much more orthodox, confessional Lutheran, English rendering of Schalling’s original text, though not poetic and singable.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to the Handbook for the Lutheran Hymnal, “This hymn, a prayer to Christ, the consolation of the soul in life and death, after Psalms 18 and 73, is a treasure bequeathed to the Church from the heart of Schalling.” Indeed, the beginning of Psalm 18 sounds similar to the first stanza of the hymn:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">I will love thee, oh Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies (Psalm 18:1–3).</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David writes that he will love the Lord. He does not write he will love the Lord with all his heart.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One argument could be that the new man we are in Christ certainly loves the Lord with all his heart. It is the old man, whom we fight against daily, drowning him in the waters of our baptism, who doesn’t.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The idea that the new man cooperates with God, and does good works, while the old man remains is not contrary to scripture. It is affirmed in the Lutheran Confessions. All of Paul’s epistles recognize this tension between the Spirit and the Flesh, the chief passage being Romans 7. Paul continually exhorts Christians to abandon their pagan ways. He calls us to stop gratifying the flesh and its desires. He calls us to walk in the good works God has prepared for us to walk in. He calls us to walk according to the Spirit, to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit, and to turn away from the acts of the Flesh. Paul calls us to the lives of Christians, the new creations into which Christ has made us, by doing good. The good we do is not ours, nor does it save. It is a natural outgrowth of our faith in Christ and our regenerate state.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The good works which God gives us to do to benefit and serve our neighbor, as Schalling writes in stanza two of his hymn, praises God’s grace to us.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is how David can say that he will love the Lord. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, this is how we can say we love the Lord. It may not be right, however, to say that we love the Lord with all our hearts. We can only do so properly if we project this phrase into the future. After Christ returns, and He destroys sin and death forever, and we live with Him with glorious bodies like His, in the new creation free from sin, we will indeed love him with all our hearts.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Personally, I would much prefer a more accurate poetic rendering of Schalling’s first three lines. That way, this whole issue is moot. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the meantime, in this fallen creation, while our new man struggles with our flesh constantly, we must be content to say by the Holy Spirit, as David did, “I will love thee, oh Lord, my strength.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Regardless, this still remains one of my favorite hymns. ###</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Tristan da Cunha, TDCU 1ZZ, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha-37.1052489 -12.2776838-90 -152.90268380000003 40.731152405892821 128.34731620000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-35039556327784808752022-04-20T22:22:00.001-05:002022-04-20T22:22:46.417-05:00Though You Have Made Me See Troubles: Thoughts on Suffering<div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykNZetEnRfY1BQ8qtCx1-HWv1VJkmZ6SnLjMJ0el2xBNDT308TZizcOMtZo5AEAfmOkE2fqpT_9L7SbbjdoewamfjzKD3flg9zjvURxRmeMEPB5c_DnhQmLwUci8hB8HFvOEunYj-_pxSE7_X-DmUBz7JbbNpWyOPrAm-4VlIC1MxQ6O6MXgMTA/s999/Die%20Auferstehung%20Christi%20by%20Cranach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="748" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykNZetEnRfY1BQ8qtCx1-HWv1VJkmZ6SnLjMJ0el2xBNDT308TZizcOMtZo5AEAfmOkE2fqpT_9L7SbbjdoewamfjzKD3flg9zjvURxRmeMEPB5c_DnhQmLwUci8hB8HFvOEunYj-_pxSE7_X-DmUBz7JbbNpWyOPrAm-4VlIC1MxQ6O6MXgMTA/w300-h400/Die%20Auferstehung%20Christi%20by%20Cranach.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up (Psalm 71:20).</span></b><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why me!? It’s the age-old question we ask ourselves when something bad happens to us, or to one whom we love. It’s a more personalized version of, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” <br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, the TL;DR answer to that question is simple: There are no good people. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No one is righteous, not even one. Whatever bad things happen to us, the one thing we can’t say is that we didn’t deserve them. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">That’s pretty bleak, but it isn’t the whole story. A better question to ask would be, “Why is there suffering?” </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Is God punishing me? Is the devil persecuting me? Is whatever happened simply the luck of the draw? Yes, but also no.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">See, it depends on our perspective, and on God’s ultimate goal. God isn’t focused on giving us a comfortable and happy life here on earth. We are focused on that. God’s goal is to save us from sin, death, and the devil for eternity. He wants all men to be thus saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth. This is why He sent His Son into the world, to die as a ransom for many.</span><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">If we try to see things from this angle, we might start to understand and to cope with the world as it is a little better. <br /><br />We generally see things in a more pagan way. Now is the most important time. Here is all there is. We need to do whatever we can do to make our best life here and now. If I do this, god does that. If I do things to make god happy, god will do things to benefit me. Conversely, if I make god angry, he will punish me. It’s up to me to figure out what pleases god, so I can do those things. When I fail at this, things go badly for me. This all seems natural. That’s why it’s easily understood and accepted by human beings. It is, generally speaking, how we operate in our every day lives. <br /><br />If this is our perspective, it’s only natural to try and guess what we did wrong whenever we face suffering, and try to correct or make up for it. It’s only natural to try and please <i>god</i>, or <i>the gods</i>, or <i>the Universe</i>, or <i>fate</i>, or whatever we believe has control over our lives. It is not natural, or easy for us to accept troubles from the One True God as well as good, to paraphrase Job. <br /><br />So, we can either guess or we can accept. If we choose to guess about these hidden things, we can never be certain. God afflicts both to discipline His children and to punish the wicked. Which is it in my case? How would I know for sure if I am His child, or one of the wicked? The devil torments all humanity. Peter tells us that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. How do I know whether or not Satan is the cause of my suffering? Maybe I am just the random victim he happened to find to devour. How do I know?<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />This way of thinking leads to despair, hopelessness, and eventually to a loss of faith, which is spiritual death. It is one-dimensional thinking. It assumes that our current life and world is the most important thing. It assumes you are capable of pleasing God by what you do, and that He is waiting to punish you when you do bad. This is the way pagans look at their gods. It’s the way atheists think Christianity works.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God tells us, however, that this life is not all that there is. This corrupt world, tainted by sin and death, is passing away. Here we have no continuing city. If the pagan way of thinking was really the way things were, there would be no need for Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of the world. We would be left with the task of working things out on our own. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Good luck. Here’s hoping we make all the right decisions…</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">It’s far better to accept. It’s better to try and make sense of things from God’s perspective; to hold onto and believe His promises: God is the author of all good. Satan introduced sin and death into perfection. God cursed the creation and expelled man from the garden as part of a longer game. Rather than destroy it all and start again, God would instead redeem His creation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">But, because creation is cursed and man’s nature is corrupt, bad things happen. People lie, cheat, and steal. They misuse the things God has created in perverse and evil ways. They kill each other. They kill themselves. And, even when we don’t kill each other, we are all subject to physical death. So, rather than to go down the path of despair, hopelessness, and spiritual death, it is far better to believe God’s promise: At just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. He adopts us into His family and sanctifies us by the washing of water by the word, making us clean from our sin. He promises us that, even though we have trouble in this world, He has overcome the world by His death, and the proof of that is His resurrection from the dead. It means that Jesus is God in human flesh. And, when He returns we will be raised from the dead like Him. We will be raised to eternal life in a perfect, sinless body, in a perfect, sinless creation. </span><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And, He promises us that, in the meantime here in this world, in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Nothing can separate us from this love of God in Christ Jesus. <br /><br />“All things” includes all the bad things as well. It includes all the suffering we experience from things like war, famine, disease, crime, poverty, mental illness, and any other thing you can think of. It includes all the things the atheists point to, to prove that the idea of God is irrational. Why does God allow suffering? It is so He can use it for our eternal good.<br /><br />God is omniscient. He sees the whole picture of space and time. We don’t, and neither does the devil, God be praised. But, because we are blind in this way, we have a hard time understanding how us suffering or dying is good for us. God, however, does not. That’s why there are times when He allows us to suffer, and there are times when He allows us to die. You might even say that there could be times when God kills us for our own good.<br /><br />From His perspective, it is better to suffer physical death and remain a part of the Body of Christ, than it is to continue living on earth if the life path you were going down ends with you rejecting the faith. We can’t know those things, though. Only God can.<br /><br />The barest level of grasping this concept is this: God the Father sent Jesus to die on the cross to solve the problem of mankind’s eternal survival. He uses our temporal suffering here during this relatively brief slice of eternity to shape who are will be. He refines us like gold in a refiner’s fire. And, He uses our physical death to make our adoption as God’s sons irrevocable; to confirm us into the new creation we became when we were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, and into which we will fully blossom when we are raised from the dead on the Last Day.<br /><br />Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up. ###<br /></span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-27997968953042345582022-02-04T00:00:00.003-06:002022-02-04T00:00:00.219-06:00Thoughts on the Divinity of Christ<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPkZTHsF8ao9FmOwxQxe-brz2ZtYt9vQfl4NM8HtCsr3UhOHWEwb-UNiuioTlwj0xOGf8cbfkjFN-munZ-2johAy08vw5FYhFcxd04Sp2sxeHTkiQG5eqmmtQfWXWd-HREHXLm7ridRZl9rlgcRvUllfIvCyvOaed0VA4siHwqkkAkO8aT__OeiA=s2652" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2652" data-original-width="1905" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPkZTHsF8ao9FmOwxQxe-brz2ZtYt9vQfl4NM8HtCsr3UhOHWEwb-UNiuioTlwj0xOGf8cbfkjFN-munZ-2johAy08vw5FYhFcxd04Sp2sxeHTkiQG5eqmmtQfWXWd-HREHXLm7ridRZl9rlgcRvUllfIvCyvOaed0VA4siHwqkkAkO8aT__OeiA=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/373446994097306813/" target="_blank">The Good Shepherd<b> - Coptic Icon</b></a><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:11-16). <br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;">The confession of Christ's divinity is the rock upon which the Church is founded, the confession which gives eternal life (Pieper, 1951). <br /><br />Rationalists deny the true deity of Christ. Jesus is God, they might argue, only in the sense that the Father's will was active in Him. Worship of Jesus as God, therefore, comes from "pious sentiment" rather than the scriptures, since Jesus didn't really claim to be God or command worship (Pieper, 1951). Rationalists, generally, object to the literal deity of Christ. This is because they generally discount anything supernatural or miraculous. And, if the deity of Christ is figurative, we don't have to accept the miracle of the God-man (Pieper, 1951). <br /><br />But, Jesus does call Himself God. <br /><br />We might not be able to recognize it immediately. Those people with whom Jesus directly interacted sure did. That's why the Jews wanted to stone Jesus to death when He told them, “I and the Father are one.” This is Jesus Himself claiming literal union with God the Father. Jesus says that He and the Father are made of the same material (Pieper, 1951). To claim to have a divine nature is to claim to be God. Scripture also calls Jesus God in other ways. It says that He is before all things. It says that Jesus is the creator of all things. It describes people worshiping Jesus as God, and He does not stop them. The opening verse of John's Gospel call Jesus God: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God (John 1:1). Jesus is the word of God incarnate. John says here that Jesus, the Word, was God. Whether or not you believe what John writes is another matter entirely. You cannot dispute the plain meaning of what he wrote. <br /><br />In John 10, Jesus says, "I am the gate for the sheep," and "I am the Good Shepherd." Speaking in this way, Jesus intentionally applies God's name to Himself. This is a name so sacred to the Jews that they would not even say it out loud in order to avoid unintentionally misusing the name of Lord. It shocked them to hear Jesus describe Himself in messianic terms while using God's name. <br /><br />He was essentially saying that the Messiah was God Himself, and that He, Jesus, was the Messiah (Baumler, 1997). <br /><br />Jesus is simultaneously the Good Shepherd and the Passover Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (Baumler, 1997). If Jesus is just a man, His death can be described as a tragic but notable example of self-sacrifice for people to copy. If Jesus is God, then His death is the propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the world. It is the Good Shepherd dying for His sheep. <br /><br />Moreover, the title Good Shepherd says to us that Jesus is God. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God said that He Himself would rescue His sheep. When Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd who will die for His sheep, He is making two very important statements. First, He is saying that He is the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy. Second, He is claiming to be God and asserting His authority over all the earth (Englebrecht, et. al., 2009). <br /><br />Jesus is also calling the Pharisees, the religious leaders of His day, the bad shepherds whom Ezekiel describes. They were being removed and replaced by God Himself (Englebrecht, et. al., 2009). <br /><br />Ezekiel wrote that God would get rid of the bad shepherds who do not care for God's flock. God would not, however, replace them with earthly rulers, as the people of Jesus' day perhaps expected. Those bad shepherds would be replaced with David. God Himself would enter humanity to rescue His flock. He would lay down His life to redeem them. He would unite all His sheep into one fold. He would rule them by His servant David. All this was accomplished in Jesus, God in human flesh, great David's greater Son (Englebrecht, et. al., 2009). <br /><br />Without the literal deity of Christ, Jesus becomes a mythological object lesson teaching people to be nice. Being nice is great, but if there are eternal consequences for our sin, then some more is necessary. Nice won't take away the guilt of our sin. And, Jesus' words can be twisted so that “nice” means whatever you want it to mean. It also means that nothing is required of us. Or, at least, we are able to do whatever God requires of us. Men like that idea. It makes them responsible for their own destiny. It makes us all our own god. <br /><br />If, however, mankind's salvation can only be completed by God becoming human to be the propitiation for the sins of the world, then our own efforts to earn God's favor, or to appease His wrath are worthless. <br /><br />Thanks be to God that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. ###</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Works Cited </b><br /><br />Pieper, Francis. 1951. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2 of 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. <br /><br />Baumler, Gary P., 1997. The People's Bible Commentary: John. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. <br /><br />Englebrecht, Edward, et. al., eds. 2009 The Lutheran Study Bible. Notes on the Book of Ezekiel. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. </span></span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-80164508845702160402022-01-14T00:00:00.004-06:002022-01-14T00:00:00.175-06:00Thoughts on Death, the Soul, and Soul Sleep<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXGNF7Cy1ndYz95_fj0635pnaWk8kPDiQkZFOTmfRLdI3smrlibZRJJ_h2GzTEojugi7gShC6u7QrirBmGkbMb5Rx9_U8Wpu1BwVJ0w9KCqyWfnrgu4tAMJCLyOXRgtHwguTwFQXGDEEuqavUePtIMQAqjNxeRZ3mlzXFnHiQR4aLOrDc2Ib7ubw=s999" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="645" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXGNF7Cy1ndYz95_fj0635pnaWk8kPDiQkZFOTmfRLdI3smrlibZRJJ_h2GzTEojugi7gShC6u7QrirBmGkbMb5Rx9_U8Wpu1BwVJ0w9KCqyWfnrgu4tAMJCLyOXRgtHwguTwFQXGDEEuqavUePtIMQAqjNxeRZ3mlzXFnHiQR4aLOrDc2Ib7ubw=w259-h400" width="259" /></a></div>But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Watching TV the other day I saw a commercial for a religious program. One of the intriguing things the presenter said was, if you think you're destined to just go to heaven when you die, think again. He talked about the concept of "sleeping in death" and what this could possibly mean.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Doing a few minutes research on the internet, I found that the program, Beyond Today, is supported by the United Church of God. On their website, they say that those who have died are unconscious and in a dream state awaiting the resurrection, and that popular concept of hell where the wicked suffer eternal torment is not found in Holy Scripture (Beyond Today, 2022).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That got me thinking, "What does scripture say about the human soul, and death?"</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Athanasian Creed summarizes scripture's teaching about what a person is by saying that a man consists of a reasonable soul and human flesh.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">God created man's flesh from the dust of the earth, and that He breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, thereby joining soul to flesh (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+2%3A7&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Genesis 2:7</a>). To tear apart this union of body and soul is unnatural (Pieper, 1953). When He created man, God did not intend for man to experience that separation of soul and body. Death was brought into the world as a result of man's sin (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+3%3A17-19&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Genesis 3:17-19</a>) (Pieper, 1953).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">People are not reincarnated, or born again into other physical forms. Such teachings are contrary to God's word. The destiny of man since his fall into sin is to die once, and then to face the judgment of God (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+9%3A27-28&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Hebrews 9:27-28</a>) (Luther's Small Catechism, 1986).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">At the time of physical death, the dust of the body returns to the ground. The body is buried and experiences decay. The spirit returns to God, who gave it (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+12%3A7&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Ecclesiastes 12:7</a>). The body "sleeps" while the soul goes to heaven to be with the Lord. Paul, writing to the Philippians, explains that his death is desirable to him, because it would mean that, though Paul would be away from the body and physically dead, he would be at home with the Lord in the heavenly paradise (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A23-24&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Philippians 1:23-24</a>). Jesus also promises the thief on the cross next to Him, not that his body and soul will lie dormant in the grave until the Judgment. Jesus assures the man, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23%3A42&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Luke 23:42</a>) (Luther's Small Catechism, 1986).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jesus promises that if we keep His word, we will not see death. We will still, however, die physically, but not eternally. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has removed the sting of death. Physical death is but a slumber to those who are connected to Jesus' death and resurrection by their baptism. Though our bodies will sleep for a while in the grave, our souls will be in Christ, and we will wake to eternal life on the Last Day at the resurrection.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Christ will return to raise the dead on the Last Day. He will raise the same bodies that went into the grave. This hope of the resurrection is taught throughout the scripture. Job says he will see God in his own flesh, and with his own eyes, even after Job's flesh has been destroyed (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+19%3A25-27&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Job 19:25-27</a>). Jesus explicitly says that, one day, the dead who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out (John 5:28-29). Paul explains to the Thessalonians that, when Christ returns, it is the dead Christians who will rise from their graves first (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+4%3A16&version=NKJV" target="_blank">1 Thessalonians 4:16</a>) (Luther's Small Catechism, 1986).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">All people, however, will be raised and will stand before Christ on the Last Day. Christians will rise to eternal life. Christ will transform their bodies to be like His glorious body, though God's word does not give a lot of information about what that will be like. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A31-46&version=NKJV" target="_blank">People who do not believe in Jesus will be told to depart to the eternal fire. Believers will experience life everlasting. Unbelievers will experience everlasting death</a> (Luther's Small Catechism, 1986).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There are three types of death described in Holy Scripture: physical, spiritual, and eternal. Physical death is the separation of body and soul. Spiritual death is to be dead in sin and separated from God (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A1-10&version=NKJV" target="_blank">Ephesians 2:1-10</a>). It is not believing in God's words of promise. Eternal death is to be cast into hell and suffer eternal separation from God. Jesus, as part of His salvific work, suffered both physical and spiritual death for us (Petersen, 2021).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In spiritual matters, man does not have a free will. This is one of the results of the Fall, and Original Sin. This is part of the spiritual death Adam and Eve experienced when they disobeyed God and passed on to us (Pieper, 1950).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">During the time between the death of a person and Christ's return, the souls of the unbelieving people are kept in "prison". This is clearly a place of punishment. Souls of believers are with Christ in paradise. Paul says that this "departing to be with Christ" is far better than our current state (Pieper, 1953).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Questions about such things as soul sleep can be a hindrance to the Gospel. Satan likes to tempt men into worrying about, and arguing over "useless questions" questions such as this. The more people become fixated on these secondary things, the easier it becomes to lose the primary things (Pieper, 1953).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The soul of the Christian, between that believer's physical death and bodily resurrection, is alive, it is at rest, and it is with Christ. That is what scripture says conclusively. We can talk of the soul of the departed being asleep, but such a sleep could not exclude the enjoyment of God (Pieper, 1953).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Scripture doesn't say a lot about what happens to the soul between physical death and the resurrection on the Last Day. Instead, scripture focuses us on that Last Day of judgment, and Jesus' return (Pieper, 1953). ###</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Beyond Today, 2022. "What Happens After Death?" United Church of God. <a href="http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/bible-study-aid/what-happens-after-death">www.ucg.org/beyond-today/bible-study-aid/what-happens-after-death</a> .</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Luther, Martin. 1986. Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. The Apostles' Creed: IV. The Resurrection of the Body, 187-189.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1950. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 1 of 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Pieper, Francis. 1953. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3 of 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-87194915810975741842022-01-07T00:00:00.002-06:002022-01-07T07:36:20.563-06:00Thoughts on Psalm 50<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgV6refDUI5QgqaoGj3eMR00nllO_JdJTLkWdTNZE6HMH7jiS247zCz9ttBOrLDGlX34XWAFY8ax9bvxg6cB84__XWkOVgyqGFpOKOR2ePDjqmeNrc2-iBA5o2fKKQYjV7FcTK4qWKUe8FXlPtxIPE2pmo3mT2XBU0kDnUOoU7dxsrfk2tv9MnPuw=s793" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="627" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgV6refDUI5QgqaoGj3eMR00nllO_JdJTLkWdTNZE6HMH7jiS247zCz9ttBOrLDGlX34XWAFY8ax9bvxg6cB84__XWkOVgyqGFpOKOR2ePDjqmeNrc2-iBA5o2fKKQYjV7FcTK4qWKUe8FXlPtxIPE2pmo3mT2XBU0kDnUOoU7dxsrfk2tv9MnPuw=s320" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.monasteryicons.com/product/christ-the-lightgiver-icon-614/icons-of-christ">Christ the Lightgiver</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before Him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people: "Gather to Me My consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice." And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is judge (Psalm 50: 3-6).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Christ summons the earth from Zion (v. 2), that is, through His body the Church. Christ, the incarnate YAHWEH, calls the peoples of the world to take refuge in Him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">God took on human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary as the God-man Jesus. He came to earth to make a covenant, which He did by shedding His blood on the cross (v. 5). God Himself, Our Lord Jesus, is indeed judge.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jesus proclaimed salvation to the people by God's grace through faith in Him rather than by sacrifice. He condemned the wicked, those who would despise God's word, who would praise God with their lips but whose hearts were far from Him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In addition to describing Jesus' first coming and judgment, Psalm 50 also illustrates the judgment of the wicked on the Last Day.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">God calls the wicked to repentance (v. 16-23). If the wicked continue to despise God's grace, they will be torn to pieces with no one to rescue them (v. 22). Those who honor God through faith in Christ will be shown the salvation of God (v. 23). Indeed, they have already been shown that salvation in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But He is also calling His own people to repentance (v. 7-15).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">If trust in riches is useless, so is trust in empty ritualistic worship. The Psalmist is talking about people who think they have forgiveness, life, and salvation because of the ceremonies they perform.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><i><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">(Or because their name is on a church membership roll because they were baptized there 45 years ago.)</span></i></div></i><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This is the kind of religion or worship done out of habit to earn God's love and favor. God doesn't need our works. They are filthy rags to Him (Isaiah 64:4-7). He owns the cattle on 1,000 hills (v. 10). He doesn't need for us to feed Him (v. 12).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). He is the one who, when He lifted up on the cross, would draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). No one comes to the Father except through Him, who is the exact representation of the invisible Yahweh in human flesh (Hebrews 1:3). The One who longed to gather Jerusalem as a hen gathers her chicks, but they would not (Matthew 23:37)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Worship that is true is to be joyful and willing service to God. After the Old Covenant, that looks like not despising preaching and God's word, but holding it sacred, and gladly hearing, and learning it. It looks like gathering together with God's people around His word to receive the gifts He gives to us through that word: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27). ###</span></div></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783526.956011405566592 -105.43596 56.581829994433413 -70.27971tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-59019542486388356262022-01-02T00:00:00.005-06:002022-01-02T00:00:00.169-06:00Thoughts on Psalm 11<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIC4PC2XRh4n44cLAmZKJpw7EILq67ShzjFt0Qf08S1HozxSnAngz0ytKfmpGGnFNMjds5Sb3U3voB57EgZXRP8HJLYSDQcnfq2823gX7CxFNRyJGY34S_vzO82jaTJ78h4oMVQpUk6ET4ZjeJQosqIOes2EXdhs2mRxNjagR9osgH2iNomu7OVw=s480" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="390" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIC4PC2XRh4n44cLAmZKJpw7EILq67ShzjFt0Qf08S1HozxSnAngz0ytKfmpGGnFNMjds5Sb3U3voB57EgZXRP8HJLYSDQcnfq2823gX7CxFNRyJGY34S_vzO82jaTJ78h4oMVQpUk6ET4ZjeJQosqIOes2EXdhs2mRxNjagR9osgH2iNomu7OVw=s320" width="260" /></a></div>In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: "Flee like a bird to </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">11:1-3).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">David is not afraid when the evil men of this world do evil. In Psalm 11, he appears to be answering those around him who lament their seemingly hopeless situation - righteous men in an unrighteous world. David reminds them that God is in charge when they say to flee to the mountains. God will destroy the wicked.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It doesn't look like that, though. David realizes that. He doesn't deny that evil is in the world, or that wicked men do wicked things and even prosper. David knows, however, that the wicked things they do, even if they harm him, will not go unnoticed by God.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In His discussion with the disciples about the signs of the end of the age, Jesus tells them that the temple will be destroyed. He tells them that they should leave Jerusalem when they see this thing about to happen. "...then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains..." But the foundation of those who believe in God. It is in Him they take refuge. This catastrophe that looks a lot like the end of the world will not destroy you, even if God allows it to kill you.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God is in His holy temple. The real one is in heaven. He is on His heavenly throne. God's kingdom is not of this corrupt and fallen world. And that God is the Lord Jesus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God observes man from His throne in judgment. The Lord observes the righteous, but He hates the wicked. Who are the wicked? Who are the righteous? It is important because the wicked will be destroyed at the judgment on the Last Day. Upright men, however, will see God's face.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus says that the pure in heart are blessed because they will see God. But we know that there are no pure in heart. There are none who are righteous, no, not even one. All have sinned. All have fallen short of the glory of God. So who will get to see God's face? Who will avoid the judgment of which David writes?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">All of the people who saw Jesus when He declared, "Blessed are the pure in heart" saw the face of God because Jesus is God in human flesh. He is the image of the invisible God. He put on that flesh so He could rescue men from sin and death. He endured the punishment for our sin that we wicked men deserve so that we could see His face on the Last Day, and be saved from the fiery coals, burning sulfur, and scorching wind. ###</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-79226435196441317592021-12-31T10:29:00.000-06:002022-11-25T12:24:11.328-06:00Thoughts on Psalm 46<div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/97/59/cd/9759cdf174fbe0fae4b8ad9caed8446c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/97/59/cd/9759cdf174fbe0fae4b8ad9caed8446c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201958364524977344/" target="_blank">The Last Judgment - Cranach the Elder</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging (Psalm 46:2-3).</span></b></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">God isn't going to stop the earth from giving way, or the mountains from falling. Not ultimately.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In fact, He is going to cause it to happen on the Last Day, when Our Lord Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. He will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. The dead in Christ will rise first. Those who are alive at His coming will be caught up to meet Him in the air. "And so we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's when the earth will melt, and the mountains will fall, and seas will foam, and why we won't be afraid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We don't have to be afraid because we are in Jesus. We are part of His body. We are safely concealed inside the fortress, the God of Jacob, by our baptism into Christ.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is the help God gives His people at break of day. His city, Zion, wherein He dwells is set apart. It is holy (v 4). When Jesus lifts His voice and the earth melts, the city of God's people will not fall. This is also how He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth (v. 9). He doesn't do it by diplomatic means. He doesn't put a magic spell on everyone to suddenly make them nice. He judges the wicked. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the shields with fire.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Knowing the heavens will disappear with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare, we should look forward to this day of God. We should wait for it eagerly, living godly lives that are set apart from the unbelieving world (2 Peter 3:10-13).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But living life soberly <i>isn't</i> being afraid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">We don't need to be afraid. Not of the end of the world. Not of war. Not of economic collapse. Not of disease. Not of our death. Not of anything. We belong to Christ. He bought us with His holy, precious blood, and by His innocent suffering and death on the cross. We will live under Him in His kingdom. We will serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. No more sin, no more death, no more devil.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We will look on from inside His mighty fortress as He carries out His judgment, and throws the devil, death, and all the wicked into the lake of fire (Revelation 20: 7-15).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We will rejoice as He remakes creation anew. ###</div></span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-67930713587853679882021-12-31T00:00:00.000-06:002021-12-31T00:00:00.184-06:00 Women's Ordination?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qHfRfR0HJzezwsjVLATJP1DJ-jXhh4JI2ZuyAmfUJASKmil6kHcWssMz1qSZg-GlPhurYrK3WCPM-3vBTVqcYYEBkmXBN6PW4gNENErTJfb3pOHmdqs3Kh5ppFE1OhiXF1cklnrFWw/s816/12052021+Sasse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qHfRfR0HJzezwsjVLATJP1DJ-jXhh4JI2ZuyAmfUJASKmil6kHcWssMz1qSZg-GlPhurYrK3WCPM-3vBTVqcYYEBkmXBN6PW4gNENErTJfb3pOHmdqs3Kh5ppFE1OhiXF1cklnrFWw/w245-h400/12052021+Sasse.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>Herman Sasse was one of the foremost confessional Lutheran theologians of the 20th Century. Sasse was born in Germany in 1895. He survived service in the Great War and went on to earn a master's degree in theology. He taught at the University of Erlangen in Germany, where he participated in the ecumenical movement. Sasse, Bonhoeffer, Niemoeller, and others opposed the Nazis and spoke out about their mistreatment of the Jews. He survived the Nazi era because he was a popular lecturer, and the dean of the university where he worked was able to protect him. After World War 2, Sasse left Germany for Australia, where he was instrumental in creating the Lutheran Church of Australia. He died in 1976.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sasse was committed to the idea that scripture is the divinely inspired word of God. Throughout the debates on the role of women in the church during the 1960s, Sasse did not pull any punches. In his essay, "Women's Ordination?", he briefly discussed the development and spread of women's ordination throughout the church in Europe and Australia and why it needed to be resisted.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sasse wrote that the so-called liberation of women has been good for society. It has also influenced the Church in many good ways. Now there are female teachers, physicians, and women working in a wide range of professions who previously would have been excluded from those jobs by virtue of their sex. Now that women have access to other areas previously denied them, the movement has focused on the pastoral office, something perceived to be one of the last strongholds of male superiority. The office of Pastor, however, is different from other vocations. There is a scriptural prohibition against women holding that office.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In America, groups like the Salvation Army, the Quakers, some Pentecostal, Methodist, and Congregational churches had female ministers. In Germany, the first step down the path to women's ordination was taken with the introduction of female vicars. Their job was "to minister to women in institutions" and assist pastors. However, the female vicars crept into full ministry roles during the war when men were not available.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Acceptance of female pastors happened in the German Protestant church by years and years of decay and compromise and by the loss of Biblical authority. Because of the influence of rationalism and the acceptance of the higher critical method of Biblical interpretation, Sasse says that the pastoral office was changed. It became an academic office instead of a spiritual one. The pastor gradually became something more like a professor or philosopher rather than one who cared for souls. While there were indeed some hold-outs, the matter of women's ordination has been settled in the German Protestant churches for a long time.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the Swedish state church, where pastors are considered civil servants, there was a disconnect between the bishops, the government, and the laity. They are appointed by the king. Liberal politicians worked to change the law to allow for female pastors. Less radical church leaders did not fight against the changes because they thought such a contentious debate on the role of women would destroy the church. The moderates figured if they could preserve the church's structure, it would remain a means for proclaiming the Gospel, even with women's ordination. This faction consoled itself by believing that the ordination of women did not hinder the Gospel and that only a man-made law was being removed.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Contrary to the Swedish bishops, however, the laity reacted strongly against the ordination of women. Confessional clergymen organized against women's ordination. There was still disunity among the confessional Lutherans and confusion about their actual goals. At the lay level, however, the issue was simple. The average laymen might not have been able to understand precisely how a given heterodox preacher was deviating from scripture and the confessions when delivering his long and erudite sermon. When, however, he saw a lady at the altar in contradiction to the plain reading of God's word, he knew that something was wrong.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This apparent contradiction between the concept of women's ordination and the plain reading of scripture, which was clear to the average layman, is the foundation of Sasse's argument.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is to this idea which, in good Lutheran fashion, Sasse appeals. He says there is no need to make human arguments against women's ordination. God's word plainly excludes women from the office of the holy ministry. Paul explicitly excludes women from the ministry in his first letter to Timothy. He makes clear that this prohibition is universal, i.e., binding for all Christian congregations of all times, in his first letter to the Corinthians.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">To those who would cite Galatians 3:28 to try and justify the ordination of women, Sasse says it is a twisting of God's word. Galatians 3:28 is talking about salvation, not the pastoral office. It does not do away with the difference between male and female, in the sense that the differences between male and female are meaningless and that all roles are now unisex. There is no contradiction between Galatians 3:28 and 1 Corinthians 14:32-40. In terms of His saving grace, Christ makes no distinction between male or female, Jew or Greek, slave or free, etc. In terms of the Church carrying out its functions of proclaiming the Word and administering the Sacraments, Galatians 3:28 does not apply.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It all comes down to whether or not you believe God's word is true. The words of scripture are plain and simple to understand in the vast majority of cases. The corrupt mind of a sinful man can rationalize any explanation he wants to make him comfortable in his sin. We human beings are adept at twisting God's word to explain why what we do contrary to God's commands is OK. With issues like women's ordination, scripture is clear. The pastoral office is forbidden to them. But we want to ordain women, so we say Paul was a misogynist. We twist Paul's words and make him argue against himself. That was a cultural prohibition, not a theological one. Sure, his words are plain and meant what they said when they were written, and in that particular place, but they don't mean that for us today.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Doesn't that sound like Satan's original lie to Adam and Eve? Did God really say...?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sasse concludes that female pastors are deceived and misled. He calls on all to pray for them and that Christ would abide with us and cause the light of His word always to shine among us and illumine us.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God can and does work for the good of those who love Him. God can bring blessing from unlawful ministerial acts. However, that does not make the ordination of women contrary to God's word acceptable. We should not count on such a blessing, especially when we deliberately and knowingly act contrary to what God has told us. Sasse warns faithful Christians not to attend churches that have embraced the ordination of women to the pastoral office, even out of curiosity. They certainly should not kneel at their altars for the Lord's Supper.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">At who's altar you kneel, their doctrine you confess. ###</span></div></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Adelaide SA, Australia-34.9284989 138.6007456-90 68.28824560000001 20.572656766512708 -151.08675440000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-57973118070391058082021-12-24T00:00:00.008-06:002021-12-24T00:00:00.194-06:00 I Am the Alpha and the Omega<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WyjeZuOWRPCaF0_LywVxSAdN6wGEm-JXZbYrrNpV0Xr8A6ECeCStOLhaSJf-jMXgloWuY13jSlDB3_uObfNZ1NSjPBesDJOMltuwWgiPLBJuGjO6uQBnkIKk4GcAz-TCObmk2wvK_w/s500/12052021+alpha+omega.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="396" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WyjeZuOWRPCaF0_LywVxSAdN6wGEm-JXZbYrrNpV0Xr8A6ECeCStOLhaSJf-jMXgloWuY13jSlDB3_uObfNZ1NSjPBesDJOMltuwWgiPLBJuGjO6uQBnkIKk4GcAz-TCObmk2wvK_w/s320/12052021+alpha+omega.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is Jesus telling John that He is Yahweh. Yahweh, often rendered in our Bibles as the Lord, is who we encounter in Genesis 1:1: In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">John already knew this, of course. John's Gospel, like the other three Gospels, is littered with accounts of Jesus confronting His people with this fact. Jesus is telling John so that John can continue to tell us.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus told the Jews to whom He came that He was God in many different ways. One way Jesus does this in John's Gospel is by saying "I am". I am the true vine. I am the bread of life. I am the door. Before Abraham was, I Am. This is significant because God revealed His name to Moses as "I Am Who I Am". In other words, He is God, the self-existent one. He is the one who is, who was, and who always has been.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Jews understood that Jesus was calling Himself God by calling Himself "I Am" and they tried to stone Him for it. That was the penalty for such blasphemy, recorded in Holy Scripture.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Except that it isn't blasphemy if Jesus claims it, because He is Immanuel, God with us. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the same message Jesus and the disciples preached: God came into human flesh as a man and died on the cross for us, as the ransom for our sin, so we could have forgiveness and eternal life.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This message is what Christianity is.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That Jesus is God incarnate is the only reason what He says is binding. If He were not God, His words would have no more weight or authority than those of other teachers. If Jesus is just a man, then His commands are just opinions. You know what they say about opinions.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, do we listen to Jesus? If He is God, we had better. Jesus' resurrection proves that He is. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But what He tells us is not a list of rules to follow to please Him. He doesn't give us tasks to accomplish to make ourselves better, or to atone for our own sin. He tells us that He is God, and He has taken away the guilt of our sin by the shedding of His own blood. He offers that gift to us when we hear people proclaim His message, when people are baptized into Him, His death, and His resurrection, and when they eat His body and drink His blood in the Lord's Supper. He empowers us, through His Word, by the working of His Spirit, to believe it, and to turn away from our sin. He makes us who were dead in our trespasses - really and truly spiritually, damned-for-all-eternity dead - alive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Only God can do that. ###</span></div></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-28978537805308480972021-12-17T00:00:00.003-06:002021-12-17T00:00:00.189-06:00The Sin and Doom of Godless Men<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7NUwlnBw2bps860lhtUpKYSmLWvviUlSMJBKhkg0yIcKpghNDQcbVUDFwzULSnj9pheVIitILU1BuRz9Iv3fqlcO-AmfBx7RX3lJj75-3Kj0hit-qbRRvWfzoQ1WQl1KA53jQ5HQlg/s1920/12042021+Scrooge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7NUwlnBw2bps860lhtUpKYSmLWvviUlSMJBKhkg0yIcKpghNDQcbVUDFwzULSnj9pheVIitILU1BuRz9Iv3fqlcO-AmfBx7RX3lJj75-3Kj0hit-qbRRvWfzoQ1WQl1KA53jQ5HQlg/s320/12042021+Scrooge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I read a devotional resource recently which used as the kernel for its brief message Jude 16:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><blockquote><b>These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.</b></blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a be-a-better-person message recalling the image of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Don't be a grumbler, boasting about yourself like Scrooge. There was redemption for him. He changed to be more likable. Because of Christ's birth, we can be transformed too.<a href="file:///E:/JUDE_16.DOC#_ftn1">[1]</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Indeed, we may be transformed by Christ. But what kind of transformation? Christ wasn't born into this world to provide us with a good example to follow, though He certainly also is that. Christ was born into this world to die on the cross as the ransom for many, the sinless sacrifice for our sin. Jesus was born into this world so that we could have eternal life.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The transformation we have in Jesus is from being dead in our sins, to being alive in Him. The being-nicer is a by-product of that, and it certainly isn't of primary importance.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Be advised: I say this, of course, being a cantankerous person.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, Jude 16 isn't about people who are crabby during the holidays. It isn't about Scrooges being convinced to treat their Bob Cratchets better. It's about false Christians. Apostates. The final judgment. It's about the Christian life in this fallen world and calling us Christians to persevere in the faith in the midst of it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jude is talking about the sin and doom of godless men.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jude is warning the Church about apostates. Jude is reminding all of us of the warnings of the Apostles: that false teachers, false prophets, false apostles, and false christs would come and would deceive many people.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the consistent message of all the Apostles: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. He did this for you. Now, act like the new man that you are. Love and serve your neighbor. Gather together to hear God's word. Pray. Baptize. Eat Our Lord's body and blood, proclaiming His death until He comes. Watch your life and doctrine. Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The men who are, as Jude calls them, grumblers and fault-finders who follow their own evil desires; who boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We can rest assured, however, that these godless men will be convicted of all their ungodly acts when the Lord Jesus returns with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone on the Last Day.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">He calls us to persevere. What does that look like? First off, according to Jude, it looks like remembering what we have been told already about the state of things and acknowledging it is true. We have been told that scoffers would come, and follow their ungodly desires. They would divide the Church. Second, knowing and acknowledging this, "build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit." Gather together to hear God's word and to receive His gifts in His sacraments. Call upon His name in trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">End Notes</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///E:/JUDE_16.DOC#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Gunn, Scott, editor. 2021. "Forward Day by Day: Daily Devotions for Disciples." Devotion for Friday, December 3. Cincinnati: Forward Movement, an agency of the Episcopal Church. <a href="http://www.forewardmovement.org">www.forewardmovement.org</a>.</span></div><div><div id="ftn1">
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</div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1798005967839381473.post-79130135218835175722021-12-10T00:00:00.003-06:002021-12-10T00:00:00.175-06:00Some Thoughts on the Carnivore Diet<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtv0537IVd6ewQvG5xjvNpFT-MgpG1kblRC43nAgyNQNy4KwNnbH8cCZMPsMxL0LnjcnkNJs8XgsVcfG5rFROUduAKBHmRlJPzOUCcAXqFM9aN0jISZ8CXsQB7xG0cUktcy-P-8x2AA/s400/12042021+Carnivore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtv0537IVd6ewQvG5xjvNpFT-MgpG1kblRC43nAgyNQNy4KwNnbH8cCZMPsMxL0LnjcnkNJs8XgsVcfG5rFROUduAKBHmRlJPzOUCcAXqFM9aN0jISZ8CXsQB7xG0cUktcy-P-8x2AA/s320/12042021+Carnivore.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>I bought the book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Carnivore-Diet-Shawn-Baker/dp/162860350X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GGPTI2HHNNMF&keywords=the+carnivore+diet+by+dr.+shawn+baker&qid=1638646590&sprefix=the+carni%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1" target="_blank">"The Carnivore Diet" by Shawn Baker, MD</a> after hearing Rev. Jonathan Fisk talk about it in <a href="https://stopthewhitenoise.transistor.fm/11" target="_blank">episode 011 of his podcast "Stop the White Noise," Pain and Crosses.</a> Overall, it was a good read. I got through it in a couple of days. There is certainly a lot of good information in it for someone looking into the carnivore diet (as I am).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rev. Fisk has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pounds living this new carnivorous lifestyle, and is, according to his own testimony, the healthiest he has ever been.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">He's even learning jujitsu now.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">By contrast, I'm a fat guy who likes to eat sugar and sit in a chair. I get winded thinking about jujitsu. I knew that before I began reading the book, so I didn't need the hard sell to be convinced my lifestyle wasn't optimal.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It all seems to make so much sense, especially the way Dr. Baker lays it out. He is certainly spot-on in his assessment of how the pharmaceutical industry, along with food-processing corporations and animal rights activist groups, control what our diet looks like today. They all have interests in telling Americans and the world what to eat. That the developed world is being pushed toward a plant-based diet by the powers that be, as Dr. Baker discusses, seems obvious to me as well.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even White Castle has a version of the Impossible Burger.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That this push toward a plant-based diet has its roots in the religious beliefs of the Seventh-Day Adventists is not as obvious, but the information is there for the reading. Dr. Baker points the reader in the right direction to learn about that interesting development.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The basic premise of carnivore is simple. Human beings don't need to eat plant material. We didn't evolve to digest fiber. All we need is meat, fat, water, and salt. Dr. Baker goes through the science of the carnivore diet theory. He answers common objections to the diet in a rational way, and casts reasonable doubts on the settled truths of the nutritional community. He also confronts vegetarian and vegan opponents head-on about the health claims they make for their respective lifestyles. I'm not going to get into all the arguments. I encourage anyone who is interested in these things to buy the book. It is interesting and worth the time to read.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are a couple things I just can't get my head around, though.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Foremost is the issue that the human digestive system is more similar to that of cats and dogs, in that it isn't designed to process plant material (fiber). Along with that is Dr. Baker's belief in evolution being responsible for this. To be clear, Dr. Baker says that humans are able to extract some nutrition from plant material, but we weren't intended to use plants (i.e. fruits, vegetables, and grains) as our primary source of nutrition. That role is supposed to be filled by meat. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">While discussing nutrition, Rev. Fisk said that it is amazing that God would use two things that are poisonous to us - alcohol and bread - to save us. Perhaps it is a bit of hyperbole and I'm just taking it too literally. Certainly, we eat too much carbohydrates. I'm not sure I am ready to classify bread as poisonous.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Clearly, plants, including bread made from grain, have been integral to man's diet throughout history. This is what scripture records both before and after the flood.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">According to the Bible, man started out as a vegetarian. First, God put man in a garden after He created him. He gave Adam and Eve "the trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food" (Genesis 2:8-9; 16). After the Fall, because of the curse man had to eat the plants of the field by the sweat of his brow, "through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life" (Genesis 3:17-19).</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">After the flood, however, God gave man animals as food: "The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything" (Genesis 9:2-3).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">God did, of course, give some rules for the eating of meat. But I don't think God's covenant with Noah indicates that we were changed so that we couldn't eat plants and had to only eat meat.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Notably, God feeds the Israelites with the bread from heaven, manna, while they are in the wilderness during the Exodus. He also gives them meat in the form of quail when they complain about having to eat the manna. This certainly was miraculous, and God could have also miraculously made them able to digest bread without a problem, just as He caused their clothes not to wear out. Maybe today's bread is different from our old-fashioned breads from Bible times. Obviously, manna is different from the loaf of pre-sliced Butternut white bread that we buy at Walmart. And, maybe manna is called the bread of heaven in a figurative sense, and it is really some other substance entirely. It is definitely a symbol of Jesus, who is the true bread from heaven. This is what He explains to His followers in John 6 that causes them to abandon Him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus also feeds the multitudes with loaves of bread on two separate occasions. Jesus calls Himself the bread of life. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51). All of these things seem to indicate that, rather than changing mankind from being an herbivore to a carnivore, God made us omnivores after the flood. We are able to digest both bread and meat.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is our American diet screwed up? For sure. Are we being manipulated to eat processed crap which isn't good for us so corporations and politicians can make money and have power? I think so. Is sugar a powerfully addictive drug? Yes. I had a much more difficult time quitting tobacco than going 24 hours without a candy bar, which was stunning to me (I wish that was an exaggeration).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, if you believe, contrary to the laws of thermodynamics, that the universe created itself spontaneously out of nothing, and man evolved upward from a state of simplicity to states of greater and greater complexity contrary to entropy over a period of millions of years, you more than likely disregard what the Bible has to say about many things, including man's diet.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, if you are interested in nutrition things, check out this book. It was interesting. ###</span></div>Joseph D. Klotzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11796195056379854251noreply@blogger.com0Hodgkins, IL, USA41.7689207 -87.85783513.458686863821157 -123.014085 70.079154536178848 -52.701584999999994