Thoughts on the Divinity of Christ

The Good Shepherd - Coptic Icon

“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).

The confession of Christ's divinity is the rock upon which the Church is founded, the confession which gives eternal life (Pieper, 1951).

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).

But, Jesus does call Himself God.

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.

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.

He was essentially saying that the Messiah was God Himself, and that He, Jesus, was the Messiah (Baumler, 1997).

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.

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).

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).

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).

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.

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.

Thanks be to God that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. ###

 

 

 

Works Cited

Pieper, Francis. 1951. Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2 of 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Baumler, Gary P., 1997. The People's Bible Commentary: John. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Englebrecht, Edward, et. al., eds. 2009 The Lutheran Study Bible. Notes on the Book of Ezekiel. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Third Sunday after Trinity

Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable. “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:1-10).

The parables recorded in chapter 15 of Luke’s gospel are the heart of his account. They are the parables about finding lost things. The momentum of the book builds from here to Jesus’ declaration in chapter 19: The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. Jesus is the shepherd who “repents” His lost sheep – He seeks them out and brings them back. Jesus is the woman who searches for and finds the lost coin. Jesus is the father of the lost son who brings him back from the dead and into the banquet. (Prange 1988) Jesus uses these three parables to identify Himself as God. He is the Good Shepherd. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. He is the one, like the shepherd, the woman, and the father in the parable, who has come to seek and to save the lost. (Bailey 2014)

The parable of the lost sheep is a continuation of the good shepherd tradition, which goes back to Psalm 23, and appears throughout the writings of the prophets. (Bailey 2014) Physically, the shepherd is bringing back the sheep. Theologically, God is bringing back the sinner, causing him to repent. (Bailey 2014) As the shepherd searches, he calls the sheep. The sheep will recognize his shepherd’s unique voice and call. The sheep responds by calling back, by bleating; he also does not resist his master. The lost sheep accepts being found. (Bailey 2014) In this respect, the parable breaks down somewhat. We know from scripture that we have no capacity to aid in the search, as we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We are also, in our natural state, inclined toward evil and away from good. Until we are brought back, we have a bound will that always chooses, and delights in, evil.

Modern Bible translations often abstract the good shepherd imagery. The imagery of the shepherd was inspired by the Holy Spirit in the writers of the Bible because it is a real thing that people within the middle eastern culture were familiar with. Shepherds really do have to go after their lost sheep if they don’t want them to die; lost sheep hide themselves and bleat out of fear, rather than try and find their way back to the safety of the heard. If the shepherd doesn’t act quickly, time, exposure to the elements, or wild animals will kill the sheep. (Bailey 2014)

Repentance is not a work that man does. It is done to man by God. The Lord, Yahweh, my Good Shepherd, restores my soul.[1] He “repents me”, or turns me back, or converts my soul. (Bailey 2014)  The word used in Psalm 23:3 that the NIV translates “restores” is the Hebrew word “shuv”. It means to return, or to repent. Properly translated in this context it would read, “He brings me back,” or “He causes me to repent.” (Bailey 2014) Again, Jesus goes against the teaching of the ancient rabbis who taught that a righteous man shouldn’t associate with a sinner, even to bring him to repentance. The Pharisees, the shepherds of Israel, should be seeking out these lost sheep. Jesus tells them these three related parables to illustrate His point. He reiterates to them what He said while eating with Levi the tax collector: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.[2] (Prange 1988)

Sheep are helpless and need constant attention; they are not capable of doing the things needed to take care of themselves. When they wander from the fold, they are unable to find their way back or to survive in the wilderness. They need the shepherd to come find and rescue them. We all like sheep, says Isaiah, have gone astray.[3] We require our Good Shepherd to rescue us, or we too will die, in the wilderness of sin, separated from God’s fold. The lost sheep is a small percentage of the flock, but still worth finding. How much more valuable to God are people? (Bailey 2014) We are so valuable that He sent His Son into the flesh to bear our sin, and be our savior, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

Jesus’ summary statement that there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous person who do not need to repent may seem strange. It isn’t, however, that Jesus is saying there are people who don’t need to repent. The message of Christ and the apostles is, after all, “Repent, and believe the gospel.” This is a criticism of the self-righteous Pharisees who thought they were perfect and did not need to repent. (Prange 1988) Repentance is recognizing our sins and turning to God in faith, trusting in His mercy. It has two parts: contrition, or sorrow for your sins, and faith, or believing the message of the Gospel. That Gospel message is that our sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ, who died as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, and who rose from the dead for our justification; in Him we have eternal life. (McCain 2005)

The present life of the Christian is one of constant repentance as we struggle daily against our sinful nature that delights in sin. Our good works, which show our repentance and faith, are not part of our repentance. We don’t do good things to show how much we are repenting. Rather, after we repent, we begin doing good things. (McCain 2005) The Roman Church’s teaching about repentance is what sparked the Reformation. Luther was angered by Rome’s practice of selling Indulgences – that a person could buy the forgiveness of sins with money. This practice was directly contrary to God’s Word, which says we are saved from sin and death by the grace of God through faith in Christ. (McCain 2005)

The forgiveness of sins comes through faith in Christ. Confessional Lutherans condemn those who say that we must do works of satisfaction to earn forgiveness, or cancel some punishment we deserve because of our sins. Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the once for all sacrifice for sin. (McCain 2005) Since faith is a gift from God, how do we receive it? Faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the message of Christ. God the Holy Spirit works through the word of God to create faith in men’s hearts. Faith is no mere intellectual decision; it is the undeserved present created in us by the Holy Spirit, who uses the tools of word and sacrament to do His work. This is how Christ, our Good Shepherd, seeks His lost sheep and brings them back.

Bibliography

Bailey, Kenneth E. The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014.

McCain, Paul T., et. al., eds. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. A reader's edition of the Book of Concord. 1st. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

Prange, Victor H. The People's Bible Commentary: Luke. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1988.

---

[1] See Psalm 23:1-3

[2] See Luke 5:27-32

[3] See Isaiah 53:6

Jesus the True Shepherd

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:1-5).

Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the teachers of the Law at the end of chapter nine. He seems to direct His illustration at them. This is one of Jesus’ enigmatic sayings; on one level it is simple to understand.[1] The sheep are God’s people; the sheepfold represents the safety and rest of the Lord. The shepherd is the one who cares for and protects the sheep. But who are the thieves and robbers? In the context of the conversation it is clear; Jesus is referring, not simply to false Messiahs and those who teach false doctrine and scatter the people of God as a wolf scatters a flock.[2] Jesus is referring to those who have been legitimately put in charge of caring for the sheep, but have shirked their duties:

Some have thought that Jesus here refers to false Messiahs who had come before his time. But this is historically incorrect and also untrue to the figure. False Messiahs would be false doors to the fold not thieves and robbers who fight shy of ‘the door.’ When Jesus adds that these ‘are’ thieves and robbers he comes down to the present and includes the present Jewish leaders. All, past and present, ‘are’ self-seekers.[3]

When we apply the Berean Test[4] to Jesus’ message to the Jews in John chapter 10, it seems to be the same message spoken hundreds of years before by God to His people through the prophet Ezekiel:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them... ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.[5]

We in the west do not have a good understanding of a Middle Eastern shepherd, or the relationship he has with his animals. The people listening to Jesus did. We might understand that the shepherd cares for his flock, but it is more than that. The idea that the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice might seem far-fetched. Kenneth Bailey, in his book, The Good Shepherd, explains that,

in the open wilderness of the Holy Land the shepherd walks slowly ahead of his sheep and either plays his own ten-second tune on a pipe or (more often) sings his own unique “call.” The sheep appear to be attracted primarily by the voice of the shepherd, which they know and are eager to follow. It is common practice for a number of shepherds to gather at midday around a spring or well, where the sheep mingle, drink and rest. At any time one of the shepherds can decide to leave, and on giving his call all his sheep will immediately separate themselves from the mixed flocks and follow their shepherd wherever he leads them.[6]

The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Teachers of the Law were the thieves and robbers. Jesus is the True Shepherd, seeking out His sheep, delivering them from all the places where they were scattered. We are those sheep. We hear His voice through the proclamation of His Gospel; He causes us to recognize His voice in His Word, and we follow Him. Through His Word we receive the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting, whether that Word comes to us through the preaching and absolution of our faithful pastor, whether connected to the waters of Holy Baptism, washing away the filth of our sins, or connected to the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, in which we eat the true body and blood of Our Lord Jesus, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins. Those who try to proclaim another gospel, or another Jesus, are false shepherds, eating the fat and clothing themselves with the wool. They are thieves and robbers, trying to climb up another way into the sheepfold.

Bibliography

Bailey, Dr. Kenneth E, interview by Rev. Todd Wilken. Jesus, the Good Shepherd (May 7, 2015).

Bailey, Dr. Kenneth E. The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey From Psalm 23 To The New Testament. Kindle. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014.

Engelbrecht, Rev. Edward A., ed. The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.

Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1942.

---

[1] Enigmatic sayings: difficult teachings. E. A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House), 1775, 1801.

[2] R. C. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. (Columbus: The Wartburg Press), 716.

[3] ibid.

[4] Acts 17: 10-12

[5] Ezekiel 34: 1-4, 11-12

[6] Kenneth E. Bailey, The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey From Psalm 23 to the New Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press), 41-42, Kindle.

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe 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. 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.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jew, “but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, make yourself God” (John 10:24-33 NIV).

Tell us plainly! Are you the Christ? What has Jesus been doing up to this point? Precisely what the Pharisees demand. He has shown them many great miracles from the Father. He has healed many people. He has taught in the temple and the synagogues as one who has authority. He has declared that the scriptures were fulfilled in Him. He casts out demons who testify to who Jesus is. He has called the Pharisees lying children of the devil, and Himself the Son of God. He has called Himself I AM, applying YAHWEH’s divine name to Himself. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd, the one come to search out the lost and scattered sheep, and rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered.[1] In calling Himself the Good Shepherd, Jesus is calling Himself YAHWEH. The prophet Ezekiel wrote that, because those who were supposed to shepherd Israel would neglect the responsibility given to them, God Himself would come among His sheep and be their shepherd Himself.[2] Jesus announces to the Jews here in John 10 that the long wait for their shepherd is over. He has arrived.

The Jews still reject Him. They are not His sheep, and therefore, do not hear His voice. They are the false shepherds who eat the fat, clothe themselves with the wool, slaughter the fat ones, but do not feed the sheep. They rule the sheep with force and harshness.[3] They try to charge Jesus with breaking the Law when He heals on the Sabbath.[4] After hearing Jesus read the scriptures and teach, they try to throw Him off a cliff.[5] They ignore the casting out of demons, and the restoration of people possessed by them, and say He colludes with the devil to cast out devils.[6] They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear. They have hearts, but do not understand.[7] Here, as He did just a short time before, Jesus tells them exactly who He is. He is one with the Father. Not merely one in will and work, but one in being and essence.[8] Jesus is telling us that He and the Father are one in essence, or nature, but they are not identical persons. As the Scripture says, the Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying. They took these words to be blasphemy and tried to impose the penalty for blasphemy prescribed in the law, though without due process.[9]

Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd and, in so doing, gives us an indication of the intimate relationship He has with His followers, and the love that moved Jesus to die for them all. Sheep who do not listen to the voice of the shepherd are bound to wander away from the safety of the flock and be devoured by wolves. Like the shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep, the God-man’s love for His own moved Him to endure the humiliating death on the cross to be the sacrifice for their sins.[10] Jesus’ declaration that He and the Father are one, and that no one can snatch His sheep from His hand should give all believers hope, no matter what they face. Believers can rest secure that they belong to Jesus Christ and will never perish; all of Jesus’ works affirm this truth.[11] Consequently, to reject Jesus as the Pharisees did, even in the face of the miracles Jesus did and the testimony of the Law and the Prophets, is to reject God Himself and His gift of forgiveness and everlasting life.

---

[1] Ezekiel 34:11-12

[2] Ezekiel 34:1-4; 11-12

[3] Lenski, R. C. (1942). The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. Columbus: The Wartburg Press.

[4] Matthew 12:9-14

[5] Luke 4:16-30

[6] Matthew 12:22-30

[7] Matthew 13:10-17

[8] Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. John 10:38

[9] Leviticus 24:16

[10] Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Philippians 2:8

[11] Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

I Am the Door

“All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7-8).

Jesus is the door. The Pharisees did not understand what Jesus was telling them. Or, rather, they had some idea and they didn’t like it. Jesus’ words continue to be twisted and misunderstood to this day. Jesus is explicit. There is no other way to get to God the Father. Jesus is the door. He is the only legitimate access to a right relationship with God. A short time later in St. John’s Gospel, Jesus will again assert that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.[1]

This offends modern sensibilities at least as much as it offended the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. The Jews did not like that Jesus was calling them illegitimate children of the devil, and sinners who needed repentance.[2] They believed that they had God’s favor by virtue of their blood line, which they could trace back to Abraham, and through their keeping of the Law. As John the Baptist reminded them, however, their human ancestry meant nothing. God could, if he wanted, raise up children for Abraham out of the stones scattered on the ground.[3] If they were truly Abraham’s children, Jesus tells them, they would do what Abraham did and believe in Him. We modern, enlightened, progressive Americans also dislike when Jesus makes statements such as, “I am the door.” We don’t like that Jesus is politically incorrect. The exclusivity of Jesus’ statement makes us uncomfortable. We modern Christians don’t like other people to hear about this Jesus; He’s not friendly. This Jesus is abrasive. He doesn’t validate the beliefs of all people, something our progressive American culture encourages. In the eyes of our sinful flesh, this Jesus alienates people and drives them away by asserting that He is the door. He’s not all-inclusive, at least in the way the world thinks He should be. Our flesh thinks it can reach God by avenues of our own choosing. We invent rules, and induce mystical experiences in order to try and connect and communicate with God. Modern multiculturalism preaches the “coexist” gospel which accepts all religions as valid, even though they are contradictory. This gospel, where men make mistakes but do not sin, and all religious paths lead to heavenly bliss, is a false one.

Jesus, however, did not come to bring peace, but a sword.[4] Christ brings division. This seems a strange thing for the Prince of Peace to say. He means, of course, that while He brings peace by reconciling mankind with God through His atoning death and glorious resurrection, there will be division on earth because some will hear the message and reject Him. Before His return, those who believe will be persecuted by those who do not. And, on the Last Day, those false teachers who prophesied, cast out demons, and did many wonders in Jesus’ name, but did not have faith, will be told, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”[5] You can’t come into the sheepfold by any other door. Jesus’ sheep, however, hear His voice. Jesus’ sheep recognize His voice and follow Him. They will not follow the thieves and robbers. Jesus’ sheep will enter by Him. They will be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.

---

[1] John 14:6

[2] John 8:37-59

[3] Matthew 3:9

[4] Matthew 10:34

[5] Matthew 7:21-23

Conversion and Repentance

The Good Shepherd, by Lucas Cranach the Elder

I was recently asked this most reasonable and logical question regarding our “decision” to become a Christian, in the comments section of a previous essay (In Response to Hans Bischof Regarding Decision Theology and Silly Arguments): Don’t we decide to accept the gift of salvation, or at least decide not to reject it? I’m compelled to respond because, for years, it was also my question. Well, sure, the thought goes, we don’t do the work of salvation – the dying on the cross, or works to atone for specific sins. It would surely follow, however, that if Jesus wants to give us a gift (forgiveness), we would have to decide either to accept or reject it.

The bottom line is this: Is there any part of my salvation that is left to me to do? I generally sum up this question by asking another – Who does the verbs? If there is something left for me to do to complete God’s saving work (synergism), then I must be sure to complete my  or I won’t be saved. If God does everything and leaves nothing to me (monergism), then God is the one responsible for my salvation from beginning to end. If that is the case, then I can have a solid assurance that it is finished and my salvation is secure (as secure as God’s promise, anyway). If, however, even the smallest part of my salvation is contingent upon something I must do, then in reality it is entirely dependent upon me and what I must do. Decision Theology, which portrays man’s decision to accept Christ as the work man does to complete God’s work of salvation, relegates Jesus to the role of a partner.

The Bible teaches that the work of salvation is monergistic, that is, it is God’s work from beginning to end. He converts us. He gives us repentance and faith. He keeps us in that faith. This is a hard pill to swallow for all people, but especially for the independent-minded American. Scripture, however, cannot be denied. What Luther wrote on a scrap of paper while lying on his death bed is surely true: Wir sind alle Bettler. Hoc est verum[1].

How does God complete this work? He doesn’t simply zap us with lightning bolts. He comes to us through means. Jesus is delivered to us through the external world, whether by reading, preaching, or the Sacraments, which are the word coupled with a physical element (bread, wine, water). The Holy Spirit then works faith in a person when and where He wills it. Repentance? This is also a gift given by God, and not something we do of our own will. This was the understanding St. Peter and those to whom he reported the conversion of the Gentiles in Acts 11 had:

“If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:17-18).

God converted those Gentiles through the word preached to them by Peter. God demonstrates this by granting them the gift of speaking in tongues, the same gift given to the Apostles. When Peter recounts all this to “those of the circumcision,” their conclusion is that God granted those Gentiles repentance. Or, said another way, God “repented” them.

Similarly, St. Paul also thought that repentance was a gift given to men, rather than a work to be performed:

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Paul instructs Timothy in the way he, the Lord’s servant, must act when teaching and dealing with others, especially his opponents. He is to be patient and kind, correcting error with gentleness. To what end? That he may reason his opponents into the faith using carefully crafted and rhetorically complex arguments? That they would, through an act of their will, intellectually agree with and voluntarily accept his teaching? No. Timothy is to deliver the word, as Paul describes elsewhere, “in season and out of season[2],” and God, the actor in terms of salvation, may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. The Book of Concord (FCSD II 89), quoting Luther sums all this up nicely:

Luther says about conversion that a person is purely passive. This means a person does nothing at all toward conversion, but only undergoes what God works in him. Luther does not mean that conversion takes place without the preaching or hearing of God’s Word. Nor does he mean that in conversion no new emotion whatever is awakened in us by the Holy Spirit and no spiritual operation begun. But he means that a person by himself, or from his natural powers cannot do anything or help toward his conversion. Conversion is not only in part, but totally an act, gift, present, and work of the Holy Spirit alone. He accomplishes and does it by his power and might, through the Word, in a person’s intellect, will, and heart, “while the person does or works nothing, but only undergoes it.” It is not like a figure cut into stone, or a seal pressed into wax, which knows nothing about it, which neither sees him nor wills it. Rather it happens the way that has just been described and explained (McCain, et al. 2005).

Consider the example of the shepherd which Jesus uses in his Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15. The shepherd and his interaction with his sheep can offer us insight into man’s role in his own conversion and repentance.

So He spoke this parable to them [Pharisees] saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons [upright persons] who need no repentance” (Luke 15:3-7).

Jesus, in the parable, describes repentance as being found by the Good Shepherd and carried back to the sheep-fold by him. The sheep can take no action on his own, he is lost. He can only “be found” and rescued by the shepherd. Dr. Ken Bailey, author of “Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15,” explained in an Issues ETC interview that Jesus here means to impure the “Shepherds of Israel” for losing their sheep (Bailey 2015). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, had to come and do what they would not. He finds the sheep and carries it back on his shoulders. He “repents” it. This idea is not novel but, suggests Dr. Bailey; it is shown to us also in Psalm 23:

The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:1-3).

This most famous and beloved of the Psalms describes the interaction of the Good Shepherd and his sheep. Again, God is doing the verbs – He makes me lie down; He leads me; He restores. The key word in this passage, however, is “restores.” I always got the image of a person weakened by hunger or thirst, who was restored to vigor again after being fed or given drink, when I read this in the past. Dr. Bailey, however, points out that the word translated “restore” is the Hebrew word Shuwb (pronounced “Shoob”) which means “to turn back,” or repent (Bailey 2015). He (God) repents, or turns back, my soul.

I disagree with Dr. Bailey’s choice of working when, at one point in the interview responding to a similar question to the topic of this essay, he says, “You make a decision to accept to be found” (Bailey 2015). We Lutherans don’t like the word “accept” because it smells of decision theology. The problem is that we are limited to nouns and verbs when attempting to express these ideas using language. On this side of eternity, we will not ever express it adequately.

Decision theology, as stated before, views man’s decision to accept Christ, to give him your heart, to make him lord of your life etc., as the completion of God’s salvation work. God’s work of salvation, to the contrary, is already finished. Or, in terms of the parable, the sheep is helpless to return to the fold of his own accord and the Shepherd retrieves him. The sheep “accepts” the rescue performed by the Shepherd. This act of acceptance, which is really not an act, but rather the sheep’s passive acceptance of an action done to it, does not complete the Shepherd’s rescue. Every part of conversion and repentance is effected upon us by God of his grace, through means of the external word, done by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Works Cited

Bailey, Dr. Ken, interview by Rev. Todd Wilken. Jesus, the Good Shepherd (May 7, 2015).

McCain, Paul Timothy, Robert Cleveland Baker, Gene Edward Veith, and Edward Andrew Engelbrecht, . Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Translated by William Hermann Theodore Dau and Gerhard Friedrich Bente. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

---

[1] When Martin Luther died on February 18, 1546, a scrap of paper was found in his pocket with his

final seven words, a mix of Latin and German. Wir sind alle Bettler. Hoc est verum —“We are

all beggars. This is true.”

[2] 2 Timothy 4:2