Human Judgment

Christ the Pantocrator

Monday after Cantate

“You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one” (John 8:15).

To judge according to the flesh is to judge according to the mere appearance of a thing, or to make a decision about a thing based on human reasoning. Speaking to the Jews in this passage, Jesus uses the term “flesh” as He does in Chapter six when He says, “the flesh (that is, the human nature) profits nothing.[1]” This is in contrast to how He uses the same word earlier in chapter six during the Bread of Life discourse to describe His own flesh as real food.[2] This is the way Paul uses the term “the flesh” in his writings. Paul writes in Romans, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;[3]” And, to the Galatians, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.[4]” The term “flesh”, as Jesus uses it here refers to the sinful human nature, which lusts against the Spirit, which two are contrary to one another.[5] This is the standard by which the Jews are judging Jesus. They do not accept the works He does, like healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, and raising the dead. They claim that Jesus is doing these miracles by the power of the devil, that He is transgressing the Law of Moses when He heals on the Sabbath, or that He blasphemes when He says that holy Scripture is about Him, He is the only way to the Father, and calls Himself God.

But in the same sentence Jesus says something we might find odd. He says that He judges no one. If Jesus had said that, rather than judging according to the flesh, He judged according to the Spirit, this would be more logical. But Jesus does not say that. He says, “I judge no one.” How can this be true, especially when we Christians confess that He will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead?[6] It is God’s word that judges. Jesus alludes to this type of judgment when He tells them, “It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.[7]” They should believe what Jesus teaches because in accordance with God’s word, Jesus has two who “bear witness” on His behalf: Himself, and God the Father. God’s word is what judges those who refuse to believe Jesus. Jesus will later tell His disciples, “If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.[8]” Christ offered life to His hearers, but their rejection would condemn them (The Lutheran Study Bible 2009, p. 1807).

Jesus says that He is the light of the world, but the Jews are blind to this light because they are judging Jesus, not by God’s Word as they believe in their legalism, but rather according to the flesh. This is not a problem that is unique to them. We people today are just as prone to reject Jesus as our ancient counterparts because of our sinful human nature, and chalk it up to being clever, sophisticated, and modern. But, we have the same sinful flesh to contend with as they, and therefore the same inclination toward sin and away from God. It is true of us as well: in us, that is, in our flesh, there is nothing good. Almost 100 years ago, a man named Pieper wrote about “modern theology”:

The moderns have nothing to offer but human doctrine. Refusing to accept Scripture as the Word of God, they have found it theologically unreliable and have substituted for it as the source of doctrine the human heart, the theological Ego…They are virtually demanding that theology be removed from the realm of divine truth into the sphere of subjective human opinion…we shall have to insist that what the Church needs is God’s theology and that the theology, the doctrine drawn by the theologian from Scripture…is divine doctrine (Christian Dogmatics 1957, p.53).

God’s word is true; it means what it says, and it does what it says. And it says that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day.[9] It says that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.[10] It says that He was the one promised, even going all the way back to the Garden, to come and set the captives free, destroying sin, death, and the devil.[11] It says that when we eat His body and drink His blood as he tells us to, we have the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.[12] It says that when we are baptized into Christ, we put on Christ,[13] our sins are washed away,[14] and we are saved all through the resurrection of Christ;[15] that baptism connects us to His death, and consequently to His resurrection, so it belongs to us.[16] So repent and believe the Gospel. Let’s not judge Jesus according to the flesh, and end up being judged ourselves by His word. Let’s not be too modern to receive the forgiveness of sins and inherit eternal life on the Last Day, for on that Day, all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting condemnation.[17]

Works Cited

Concordia Publishing House. 2009. The Lutheran Study Bible. Edited by Edward A Engelbrecht, Paul E Deterding, Roland Cap Ehlke, Jerald C Joersz, Mark W Love, Steven P Mueller, Scott R Murray, et al. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

Pieper, Francis. 1957. Christian Dogmatics. Edited by Walter W. F. Albrecht. Vol. 1. 4 vols. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

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[1] John 6:63

[2] John 6:55

[3] Romans 7:18

[4] Galatians 5:24

[5] Galatians 5:17

[6] John 5:28-30

[7] John 8:17-18

[8] John 12:47-48

[9] 1 Corinthians 15

[10] 1 John 2:2

[11] Luke 4:16-22

[12] Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

[13] Galatians 3:27

[14] Acts 22:16

[15] 1 Peter 3:18-22

[16] Romans 6:3-11

[17] John 5:29

A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

Christ healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5:1-17).

Jesus visits the pool of Bethesda. There He meets a crippled man lying among the sick. The man is alone. He has no one to place him into the pool after the water is stirred by the angel so he can receive the miraculous healing. Jesus simply tells the man, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” Reaching out with the hand of faith, the man does as he is bidden. The Pharisees are not moved by the healing. They instead focus on the fact that this man, whom they recognize, is now carrying his bed on the Sabbath. He is sinning by doing work on the Sabbath day.[1] They may have been technically correct, according to the letter of the law. They were, however, turning a blind eye to the spirit of God’s law. They were so focused on earning God’s favor by their observance of God’s law, which they perverted by the imposition of their man-made regulations, they forgot that God desires mercy, and not sacrifice.[2] God gave the people of Israel the law through Moses to show them their sin. This was so they would repent of their sin, turn to Him and be healed.[3] God tells the prophet Hosea that, while He certainly wants to see his law obeyed, His commanded sacrifices were only pleasing to Him if they came from the heart, a heart of true repentance.

This is what Jesus tells the Pharisees. St. Matthew records Jesus’ Sabbath-day healing of a man with a withered hand.[4] On that occasion, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking God’s law by healing on the Sabbath. When they ask Him if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, Jesus turns the question back on them: What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.[5] Jesus, by his examples of “doing work” on the Sabbath, shows us that doing good takes priority over a legalistic interpretation of the Law.

Jesus later seeks out the man whom He had healed at the pool and talks with him.[6] Jesus calls the man to repentance. See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. He directs the man’s eyes away from his physical health to his spiritual health. Jesus is not implying here that it is possible for man to become perfect. While we are in this fallen and sinful world we will continually remain in a struggle with our sinful flesh.[7] Jesus is calling this man to live in repentance and faith; to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.[8] He calls us to do the same. If we walk according to the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that we do not do the things that we wish.[9] But, repenting of our sins and trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins, He heals our spiritual infirmities. Walking in the Spirit, we may do good works for our neighbors, and cause God’s mercy to extend to those around us.

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[1] Exodus 31: 12-18

[2] Hosea 6:6

[3] Romans 3:19-20; 7:7; James 2:10

[4] Matthew 12: 9-14

[5] Matthew 12: 11-12

[6] John 5:14

[7] Romans 7:13-25

[8] Romans 8:1

[9] Galatians 5:16-17

Sin and the Child of God

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous (1 John 3:1-12).

John marvels at the love God the Father shows to those who believe in Christ. We are called children of God. We have been born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.[1] We are sons of God by an incorruptible seed through the word of God, which abides forever.[2] We have been united to Christ in His death and resurrection by our baptism.[3] We are clothed with Him, so that when God the Father looks upon us He sees His Son.[4] We are His adopted sons in Jesus Christ. Consequently, because of our status in the family of God as adopted sons, we no longer belong to the world. Just as the world did not know Christ, though he was in the world, and the world was made through Him, the world no longer knows, or recognizes us.[5] Unless, of course, we conform ourselves to the world, rather than to Christ.

John tells us in his epistle that he who practices righteousness is righteous, and he who sins is of the Devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. He who has been born of God cannot sin. This, then, must certainly be proof that we have not truly been made to be sons, for we continue to sin. If we have done so much as become angry with our brother, we have murdered him, and we are told elsewhere by John that no murderer has eternal life. So what is John telling us? Do we have no hope?

John describes here the same situation Paul describes in his letters. Paul writes in Galatians, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”[6] You, adopted son of God, have a war raging inside you between flesh and spirit. Do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. There is a great difference between a man who struggles with committing sin while practicing repentance, and one who practices sin. The first sins and repents; He rejects what he was and struggles to act like the man he now is in Christ, in spite of his inclinations to the former. The second says that he cannot change because he is who he is. He scoffs at calls to repentance because he says there is nothing for him to be sorry for; we must accept him the way he is. Thank God that though we sin daily, Christ continues to forgive. He is the propitiation for our sin, and empowers us to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfill the lust of the flesh.[7] He makes us to practice righteousness, and gives us eternal life.

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[1] John 1:13

[2] 1 Peter 1:23

[3] Romans 6:3-5

[4] Galatians 3:27

[5] John 1:10

[6] Galatians 5:17

[7] Galatians 5:16

Trinity Sunday and the Athanasian Creed

By Rev. Joel A. Brondos

This past Sunday, Trinity Sunday, our congregation made its annual pilgrimage to the Athanasian Creed. Sure, there was an explanatory paragraph in the bulletin. That paragraph was not only intended to be informational, but to buck up the congregants for plunging into the thing with gusto.

Modern Christians (both clergy or laypeople) seem to need the reminder that the size of that ecumenical creed is commensurate to the size of its historic significance. And yet, the reading in unison of this confession no doubt left many members with the painful thought that on some occasions, the spirit might be as unwilling as the flesh is weak. And that is precisely the point.

On these Trinity Sundays, the credal behemoth is juxtaposed with the appointed Gospel reading for the day: the account of Nicodemus visiting Jesus by night in John 3. How appropriate. From the lectern the people hear “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” From the nave they then respond with “it is necessary to everlasting salvation; that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Whether Nicodemus and Jesus or Athanasius vs. Arius, it’s all about flesh and spirit: Was Jesus God incarnate, true man and true God, the Word made flesh? Are the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve nothing more than the dust of the ground? Can flesh be reborn of the Spirit?

Before continuing, a brief aside: the word “flesh” is used in at least two ways throughout the Scriptures. In some instances, “flesh” means skin and bones, body and blood. In other passages, it refers to the sinful nature. While the Scriptures describe a constant war between flesh and spirit, still, the one cannot ultimately be divorced from the other.

Without this crucial distinction, some have been led to imagine that God is to be blamed for creating sinful flesh and blood, while others have opted for mystical asceticism, trying to divorce their pure spirits from sinful physiques.

It would be a worthwhile investigation to track how flesh and blood became so closely identified with the sinful nature (or to ponder whether body and soul can be equated with flesh and spirit . . . but while you are catching me in flagrante delictu exceeding the 500 word limit for this article, I admit that, even without a license for prolixity to match the 660+ word quantity of the Athanasian Creed, I cannot even begin to approximate its quality.)

All this is especially significant for those who claim to be spiritual, but not religious -- by which they mean that their carcasses will never be found taking up any space and time located physically in a church pew. They never seem to take the time to contemplate and embrace the grace and gravity of the incarnation. Spirits are neither crucified nor baptized. Spirits seem quite impervious to thorns and nails. While it may flow quickly off a duck’s back, water doesn’t even do that much to spirits.

The wondrous and marvelous thing, however, is the coming together of flesh and spirit in Jesus Christ. In Him, the God who is spirit (who must be worshiped in spirit in truth, John 4:24) becomes the incarnate, body-and-blood Word made flesh for our forgiveness, life, and salvation in body and soul. In Christ the Spirit of truth comes to the sinful nature. All this happens where Christ gathers the bodies and souls of His people around Word and Sacrament, incarnational means of grace: water, Word, and Spirit; body and blood joined to bread and wine by word and Spirit. In the Divine Service, religion is never divorced from spirituality.

And so, the Nicodemus who learned by night about being born again by water and Spirit was one who came to remove the body of Jesus from the cross (John 19:39). This grisly act was no spiritual reverie, but one which has Nicodemus with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven joining with us in the confession of the Athanasian Creed, not as tedium but as Te Deum.

Luther’s Grumpy Best

The Crucifixion

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:16-24).

Of all the confessional writings contained in the Book of Concord, The Smalcald Articles are my favorite. The Smalcald articles are one of three documents contained in the Book of Concord penned by Martin Luther himself (the other two being the Large and Small Catechisms). That fact alone, however, is not the reason for its appeal. In the Smalcald articles, as one theologian recently described, you get Dr. Luther at his “grumpy best”. The reason was simple: Luther thought that he was dying.

In December 1536 Luther was commissioned by elector John Frederick to write a statement of faith (McCain, Baker and Veith). This statement of faith was to contain all of the things in which the Evangelicals absolutely could not yield, and was to be used as a guide for the Lutheran theologians when they eventually met at the council called by the Pope. John Frederick ordered Luther to treat this document as his last will and testament, and he meant it:

It will nevertheless be very necessary for Doctor Martin to prepare his foundation and opinion from the Holy Scriptures, namely, the articles as hitherto taught, preached, and written by him, and which he is determined to adhere to and abide by at the council, as well as upon his departure from this world and before the judgment of Almighty God, and in which we cannot yield without becoming guilty of treason against God, even though property and life, peace or war, are at stake” (McCain, Baker and Veith).

Shortly thereafter Luther became deathly ill. Historians believe that he suffered a heart attack at that time (McCain, Baker and Veith). Luther did not have to pretend that The Smalcald Articles were his last will and testament. He believed that his own death was imminent, and he wrote in such a manner as to fit his circumstances. The language is urgent, to the point, and sometimes terse. He comes right to the point and does not concern himself with the feelings of his theological opponents. No flowery language, just Biblical theology. To me, this comes out most clearly in Luther’s writings about sin, the Law, and repentance.

He wastes no time telling us what sin is:

Here we must confess, as Paul says in Romans 5:12, that sin originated from one man, Adam. By his disobedience, all people were made sinners and became subject to death and the devil[1] (McCain, Baker and Veith).

And what the fruits of sin are:

The fruit of this sin are the evil deeds that are forbidden in the Ten Commandments. These include unbelief, false faith, idolatry, being without the fear of God, pride, despair, utter blindness, and, in short, not knowing or regarding God. Also lying, abusing God’s name, not praying, not calling on God, not regarding God’s Word, being disobedient to parents, murdering, being unchaste, stealing, deceiving, and such. This hereditary sin is such a deep corruption of nature that no reason can understand it. Rather, it must be believed from the revelation of Scripture (McCain, Baker and Veith).

He writes about how the Law shows us our sin:

But the chief office or force of the Law is to reveal original sin with all its fruit. It shows us how very low our nature has fallen, how we have become utterly corrupted[2] (McCain, Baker and Veith).

He writes about how God justifies us sinners, not by the Law, but through faith in Christ:

Allegory of the Old and New Testaments Hans Holbein the Younger

By the Law He strikes down both obvious sinners and false saints. He declares no one to be in the right, but drives them all together to terror and despair. This is the hammer. As Jeremiah says, “Is not My word like…a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” This is not active contrition or manufactured repentance. It is passive contrition, true sorrow of heart, suffering, and the sensation of death[3]…but to this office of the Law, the New Testament immediately adds the consoling promise of grace through the Gospel. This must be believed[4]…Whenever the Law alone exercises its office, without the Gospel being added, there is nothing but death and hell, and one must despair, as Saul and Judas did. St. Paul says, through sin the Law kills. On the other hand, the Gospel brings consolation and forgiveness. It does so not just in one way, but through the Word and the Sacraments and the like[5]… (McCain, Baker and Veith).

Good stuff, all of it. Then he gets grumpy. The subject of how sinful man is justified is the A-1 topic of the Reformation. In Article III, Section III of the Smalcald Articles Luther discusses what he called the false repentance of the Papists. He writes that his opponents teach incorrectly about repentance because they teach incorrectly about sin. Luther angrily points out that people were being taught that, if they confessed their sins and rendered satisfaction for them, they merited forgiveness. Luther writes:

So even in repentance, they taught people to put confidence in their own works…There was here no mention of Christ and faith. People hoped to overcome and blot out sins before God by their own works. With this intention, we became priests and monks, so we could protect ourselves against sin[6] (McCain, Baker and Veith).

He goes on to describe the attitude of the people toward sin and repentance during his time, If we are honest, we will admit that little has changed in the intervening centuries. People will gladly repent of the sins they consider to be “bad”. The problem arises when we consider the sin “good”. Luther uses the examples of illicit love and vengeful anger. These two particular issues have not changed from the Fall to the time of St. Paul, to the time of Luther, to the present day. 

He who could not have contrition at least ought to have “attrition.” I call that half a contrition, or the beginning of contrition. The fact is, they themselves [Luther’s opponents] do not understand either of these terms, anymore than I do. But such attrition was counted as contrition when a person went to Confession. If anyone said that he could not have contrition or lament his sins (as might be the case with illicit love or the desire for revenge, etc.), they asked whether he wished or desired to have contrition. When one would reply “yes” – for who, save the devil himself, would say “no”? – they accepted this as contrition. They forgave him his sins on account of this good work of his. Here they cited the example of St. Bernard and others[7] (McCain, Baker and Veith).

People were being taught – and were willing to believe – that they could live as they wished, doing as they pleased and, as long as they made the proper penance, they would be justified. How often have the faults of the spouse and the feelings of “love” toward the lover been cited in an effort to justify the dissolution of a marriage? How many times have we justified our ill-treatment or hatred of our enemies based on logical reasons (not to mention emotions that felt so good)? Sure, we recognize that it is sinful to commit adultery, but our case is special. Surely God understands the intricate nuances of our individual situation, and won’t count this particular case of adultery against us. After all, we’re in love.

We understand that Holy Scripture teaches us that to hate our brother is to murder him[8], and we even agree! It’s just that, in the case of our particular enemy, things are different because they are particularly evil. Surely God doesn’t hold us to this standard in our particular case, seeing as he is just, and knows how bad the other person is, and just how terrible the thing is that they have done to anger us.

Luther described how the people would exhibit contrition by basically wishing that they felt bad for the “just” sin that they were committing, but didn’t because they had a good reason for committing it. We are no different today. They, like us and men of all ages, tried to earn their salvation and forgiveness by keeping the law. They realized, however, that they couldn’t, so they set up their own law to keep, much like the Pharisees. The depravity of man is so complete, however, that men cannot even keep their own contrived rules. We are dead in our trespasses. We are utterly lost and cannot reconcile ourselves to God. Worse yet, we don’t want to be reconciled to God. In our unregenerate state we want God to accept us on our own terms. We act as though we have a bargaining position in this situation.

In our baptism we were united with Christ, who died to set us free from sin and the way of the Law (Engelbrecht). Now we should act like it. Eternal life has been promised to the justified. Those who live according to the flesh, as evidenced by their unrepentant continuation of the “works of the flesh” St. Paul describes, retain neither faith nor righteousness[9]. Having been united with Christ in our baptism, we have, as St. Paul says elsewhere, been united with Christ in his death, and we will also be united with him in his resurrection[10].

The Christian freedom which St. Paul describes earlier in his letter to the Galatians means conducting oneself by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit (Engelbrecht). So, each day we attempt to walk according to the Spirit as new creatures in Christ. When we inevitably stumble and sin, doing not the good we want to do but the evil we do not want, we come to the cross in penitent faith and receive the forgiveness that Christ won for us there with his holy precious blood and by his innocent suffering and death. This gift is just that – a gift we cannot earn. Any attempt to do so, however small or logical the human requirement may seem, demeans Christ and his sacrifice. There is not room for our penance on Christ’s cross. All Christians should become a little grumpy with whoever attempts to tell us that there is.

Works Cited

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

McCain, Paul Timothy, et al., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Trans. William Hermann Theodore Dau and Gerhard Friedrich Bente. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

End Notes

[1] SA III I 1

[2] SA III II 4 

[3] SA III III 2

[4] SA III III 3

[5] SA III III 7-8

[6] SA III III 12, 14

[7] SA III III 16-17

[8] 1 John 3:15

[9] Ap V 227 

[10] Romans 6:5

Click here to listen to Rev. Todd Wilken and Rev. Paul McCain discuss the Smalcald Articles in the first part of a weekly series on Issues ETC.