(This quote by Martin Luther best expresses my contempt for the church of today, which is no church, but rather a false church. The only true church today is the Remnant, seen and known only by God.)

A response to the Elect for the coming Trial

Dear Elect:

I have received many responses from "Proclamation." Most of the responses from all Lutheran walks were/are negative and abusive. I hold no personal ill-will in my heart; I only harbor love for the truth and for the Remnant-those who would walk worthy of the vocation to which Christ calls us. I therefore make this response for the Elect; I do so in fear and trembling, lest I say anything that would harm the Elect. I submit this responsive apology with the truly Called in my mind and heart, but with the unfaithful and the vomit-eating dogs as a backdrop; I am quite sure that the stupid and foolish will find even more material here with which to continue to harass and excommunicate me. According to the spirit I take their excommunications seriously lest I be found undressed in the white robe of righteousness; according to the flesh I lust to see how many excommunications I can garner from these arrogant spiritual bastards.

"I have, to be sure, sharply attacked ungodly doctrines in general, and I have snapped at my opponents, not because of their bad morals, but because of their ungodliness. Rather than repent this in the least, I have determined to persist in that fervent zeal and to despise the judgment of men, following the example of Christ who in his zeal called his opponents a "brood of vipers," 'blind fools,' 'hypocrites,' 'Children of the devil' (Matt. 23:13, 17, 33; John 8:44). Paul branded Magus as the 'son of the devil… full of all deceit and villainy' (Acts 13:10), and he calls others 'dogs,' 'deceivers,' and 'adulterers' (Phil. 3:2; II Cor. 11:13; 2:17). If you will allow people with sensitive feelings to judge, they would consider no person more stinging and unrestrained in his denunciations than Paul. Who is more stinging than the prophets? Nowadays, it is true, we are made so sensitive by the raving crowd of flatterers that we cry out that we are stung as soon as we meet with disapproval. When we cannot ward off the truth with any other pretext, we flee from it by ascribing it to a fierce temper, impatience, and immodesty. What is the good of salt if it does not bite? Of what use is the edge of a sword if it does not cut? 'Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully…' (Jer. 48:10). I prefer to be frank and not have anyone misled by flattery. I can testify that although my shell may be hard, still my kernel is soft and sweet. I wish no one harm, but desire everyone to carefully consider these things with me. Just as my harshness has hurt no one, so it has deceived no one. Whoever avoids me suffers nothing from me; whoever bears with me is profited. In Proverbs 28:23, Solomon says, 'He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.'" Martin Luther

I make my beginning in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners has appeared in these last days through the Son, our High Priest, through whose blood, and whose blood only, we are redeemed from our sins and sinfulness. It is just this sense of sin which has been done away with in these last days. I have determined there are no sinners left anywhere in the world. Yes, there are pleasant sinners who determine the extent of their sinfulness, but who, at any given moment, actually deny their sin if their sin and actual guilt (guilt must be believed more than felt) goes against their reason.

This brings us to Luther-the greatest gift God has given to the church in 2,000 years. This is true unless you want to call Luther a liar(see "Why Luther" at www.askluther.com), in which case I don't blame you for not wanting to submit your spiritual mind to him. But any thinking person from any walk of life knows that the very foundations of all aspects of our society have been destroyed, in which case, "What can the righteous man do?" Any thinking Christian knows that the church is a sham in all respects, yet no ones takes this very seriously, but rather continues on trying to fix the problem in a way that makes sense to his mind. The fact of our disunity and no clear, singular voice, seems of little concern to us today.

But it is our mind, the most significant aspect of our flesh, which must be renewed. This "renewing" has been on a downward slope for 500 years, because for 500 years Satan has masterminded a violent, bloody coup, whereby Luther's influence has been dismissed, minimized, or subjugated to the private opinion of whomever. (This decline began with enemies from without such as Zwingli and Calvin and from within with the good, but soft intentions of Melanchthon; it continues today with the same softness on sin by Lutheran pastors, who should know better because they have been given much. Much will be required from them too, for God is not mocked. He will save a few of them, but it will be "so as by fire.") I will make my argument simple with this statement which I make according to the Spirit of God: Christ was a Lutheran. Now that I have really proven my blasphemy to the vomit-eaters, please allow me to briefly explain why I say this.

It is obvious that human nature is getting weaker and weaker. Remember that Christ said even faith would grow so weak that it would at least seem as if there was none on the earth when He returned! Paul told us to follow him because he followed Christ. Augustine took us back to Paul, in part. Huss set the stage for Luther. Luther proclaimed that Paul was a Hussite. I make the proclamation, because of our weakened mindset whereby we are not able to digest Paul properly, that Christ was a Lutheran. It is absolutely clear that if Christ were to come today to straighten His Church out, He would only set about to take us back to the pure Word and Work which Luther dusted off through the Spirit. The most effective way for anyone to reform the church today is a wholesale commitment to the writings of this great prophet, Luther, who exhaustively (as far as humanly possible) expounds the Word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Allow me to make my purpose clear. I have no hope that anyone will agree with me at this point in time. I have no hope that anyone, in light of all that seems religious and godly today, will believe that the Gospel has been taken away from us and that this is the worst part of God's judgment on the church today. The external judgment which is to come is truly minor compared with the judgment which has already taken place. I have little hope that anyone will see that what theology of the Gospel is left is mostly, maybe only, a theology of the intellect and not a theology of experience. I leave you to grapple with these things now if you so desire, but know this, the time is coming when you will agree with what I am preaching. It is for this time of tribulation, suffering, and persecution that I am writing and preparing the Elect.

The most common criticism I received in regard to "Proclamation," was that I was not specific and did not make my message clear. I accept this criticism, but my intent was not to be vague. I am shocked at the difference between Adam and this generation. Adam took one verse and gave his whole life to it. I quote Christ and we seem to say, "Ho, hum, look at this babbler." It is obvious that our religious fervor has made us deaf and dumb to the words of our own Lord: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" This should frighten us to no end. Instead, we go on with hardly a glance; or, as Luther says, as a cow who looks at a new door. We are unimpressed. Some even say Christ's question necessitates a resounding "Yes." Yet Luther clearly taught that Christ's question called for a negative reply-there will be no faith on the earth when the Son of Man comes and the Elect will be deceived. How you wrestle with these apparent contradictions, I leave to you. But the history of the church, I remind you, is full of apparent contradictions. What God does often does not make sense to our minds. Remember one of your favorite verses: "His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts?"

The fact of the matter is that THIS generation will be held accountable for all the heresy, apostasy, and lukewarmess of the last 500 years, just as Jerusalem paid the debt in 70 AD for the blood of the prophets since Abel. Even this thought hardly raises an eyebrow. I cannot get anyone to read Luther on the opening chapters of Hebrews where Luther explains that there will arise a generation whom the Lord despises so much that He will not even call them by name, He has so much contempt for it. I am telling you in no uncertain terms that WE are that generation, the one whom Christ will spew out of His mouth because of our lukewarmess. WE are the generation of the Elect that will (have been) be deceived. WE are that generation that does not have faith-not like we think. (Luther stated there have been three periods of persecution: tyrants, heretics, and greed. It is this last, most deadly enemy which has blinded us to our wretched condition.)

We are the generation that will have to climb inside the broad place of Luther's ministry, just as Noah and his family climbed inside the ark. Oh yes, I am again reminded of the vomit-eaters who say, as they said to Noah, "Our boat will float just as good as yours-in fact, I don't even think we need a boat; We have God just as much as you do." Destruction will come upon such fools.

There is coming a time wherein this generation will experience what all the great people of God had to experience; a time when it seems like God hates and has abandoned His own people. Even though I contemplate these things most of my waking hours; even though I have lost career and gained much contempt for the truth of the Word of God, I cannot even begin to imagine how terrible this time is going to be. Nevertheless, it is coming and Luther is the modern day Noah's ark that you must cast yourself upon. Here is the confession you must humble your mind to:

The axe is truly laid to the root of the tree and this generation does not believe this any more than those who listened to John the Baptist. But you can count on the fact that the Pope and the Turk will rise again in full avenging force and will be used by God to purify this generation of all their impurities of faith and sound doctrine. And the reason above all reasons for this? Because we have abused, despised, and desecrated the Table of the Lord Jesus. You will see this when it is time for you to see. In the meantime, I beseech you to consider what I say in Christian humility.

Luther states: Christ, in order to prepare for himself an acceptable and beloved people, which should be bound together in unity through love, abolished the whole law of Moses. And that he might not give further occasion for divisions and sects, he appointed in return but one law or order for his entire people, and that was the Lord's Supper. (For although baptism is also an external ordinance, yet it takes place but once, and is not a practice of the entire life, like the Supper.) Henceforth, therefore, there is to be no other external order for the service of God except the Supper. And where the Supper is used, there is true worship; even though there be no other form, with singing, organ playing, bell ringing, vestments, ornaments, and gestures. But now it has finally come to this: the chief thing in the Supper has been forgotten, and nothing is remembered except the additions of men! (35/81)

Of course, no one believes we are doing such terrible injustice to this sacrament! In like manner, no one has impure lips. Everyone I heard from was altogether convinced that their worship and doctrine was pretty much pure. Truly, there are no sinners today. There are no unrighteous. There is no one who fears that their best works are mortal sins! How righteous we have become. We know the Creeds. We know the zeal of our hearts. We even know Scripture. Yet everyone knows of our hypocrisy. But no one knows how much we have minimized sin, because we have grown so complacent and smug. A smug person is never unrighteous.

Christ says, "Come to me, you who are burdened and troubled, I will comfort you." I do not say there are none who are burdened today. But I do say that everyone I know who carries a burden does NOT see this burden as either self-imposed and deserved and a just punishment from God whereby He desires to destroy the flesh. Again I say, we are all righteous and God is the unrighteous one. No one repents in sackcloth and ashes because everyone is too busy clothing themselves in their own rightness. The pastor says his people won't listen; the people say the pastor is weak; the children say their parents are unfair; the father says his children won't mind; the husband says he deserves to have another woman; the mother raises brats and then complains that they are brats; and the wife is so sure her family will drop off into Hell without her profound spiritual influence.

I really don't much care about all the lesions upon the Body of Christ as a consequence of our idolatry of the Lord's Table, because they are just that, manifestations of the real disease in our Body. Let me give you an example which I will use despite my fear that someone I love very much will be offended. This pastor with whom I corresponded as a result of "Proclamation" did not make the connection between the Supper and the spiritual life of the church until I made it for him. This is one of the most sincere, zealous, contrite men of God I know, and yet he misses the point of the importance of the Supper. Even he has chased after this program and that new fad to build his people in the faith. This is what we have all done to a greater or lesser degree; and in so doing, we have nullified what Luther and Christ taught us: THIS IS MY BODY; THIS IS MY BLOOD, GIVEN FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS."

Everyone wants to be forgiven of their sin, wrongdoing, and imperfection, yet in a way that makes sense to them, and not according to God's way. And no one will admit how hardhearted we have become and how callous we have grown to the things of the Spirit, and how we continue to grope in darkness for comfort for our consciences. Yet our hard-heartedness keeps us from experiencing true spiritual, tormenting anxiety-that is, poorness of spirit. And because of our hard-heartedness, the Supper is of no use to us. We must first be softened up with the terrible judgment of God and caused to quail, so that we may learn to sigh, and seek for the comfort of this sacrament.

Frankly, I cannot believe that the pastors I have talked to maintain their innocence. EVERYONE knows they are not doing their job when it comes to investigating the spiritual condition of their people. Our pastors are NOT pressing us to acknowledge and understand our sinfulness. This ministry of exposing sin requires MUCH more than just mentioning an occasional safe sin, which most will not be much offended by, from the pulpit once in awhile. I resent even having to try to prove this, when any thinking and honest person knows their pastor and church pretty much allow them great leeway in this area.

Luther says: The pastor should indeed be the one who inquires and discerns most of all whether a person is receptive to the message. Such receptivity can never consist in anything other than faith and the desire to receive this message (of the sacrament). Sin, contrition, and good works should be treated in sermons before the sacrament of confession. (36/18) There is no way around this. The pastors most important job is not just to preach the Gospel, but to make sure, as much as is humanly possible, that knowledge of sin, faith, and an understanding of the Gospel, is growing from day to day. By our not pressing sin into the conscience, publicly and especially privately in numerous venues, we have created a cheap Gospel which only serves to candy coat our guilty conscience. The wise man looks well to the state of his herds; yet our pastors are not looking after us!

Luther states: In order that the disciples, therefore, might by all means be worthy and well prepared for this sacrament, Christ first made them sorrowful, held before them his departure and death, by which they became exceedingly troubled. And then he greatly terrified them when he said that one of them would betray him. When they were thus full of sorrow and anxiety, disturbed by sorrow and the sin of betrayal, then they were worthy, and he gave them his holy body to strengthen them. By which he teaches us that this sacrament is strength and comfort for those who are troubled and distressed by sin and evil. St. Augustine says the same thing, "This food demands only hungry souls, and is shunned by none so greatly as by a sated soul which does not need it." And it is even God's will and purpose to set so many hounds upon us and oppress us, and everywhere to prepare bitter herbs for us, so that we may long for this strength and take delight in the holy sacrament, and thus be worthy (that is, desirous) of it. (35/56) I contend that most of the Lutherans' desire has degenerated to the abyss of Hell with the Baptists who only look at their devotion to the Lord of the Meal.

Again, I assure you, the time is soon coming when God will avenge His Meal and make His Elect appreciate it far more than they do the good news of the present economy. In the meantime, those who want to be wise will do well to refrain from this sacred Meal until such time as they understand and experience the truth of the above statement by Martin Luther, priest, prophet, and servant of the Most High God.

In talking about the pastors and priests, Malachi denounces them particularly because they falsified the word of God and taught it faithlessly and thereby deceived many (2:6-10) and because they abused their priestly office by not rebuking those who offered blemished things or were otherwise unrighteous, and by praising them instead and calling them righteous, just to gain contributions and profit from them. In this way avarice and concern for the belly have always injured the word and worship of God; they always turn preachers into hypocrites. (35/333) A word of warning to the wise. I beg you to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due season. It is for this reason that we are warned by Peter to "be not many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." It will be far better for you to humble yourselves and repent before your people now instead of making God humble you in the coming judgment. When the judgment comes, you have no guarantee that God will allow you to repent.

Luther: It is right for a preacher of the gospel in the first place by revelation of the law and of sin to rebuke and to constitute as sin everything that is not the living fruit of the Spirit and of faith in Christ, in order that men should be led to know themselves and their own wretchedness, and to become humble and ask for help. (35/372) I add this quote as further encouragement to fulfill your ministry and as an example of how far we have allowed the people to depart from true humility. The fact of the matter is that you should seriously forbid your people from reading anything religious other than Luther. Virtually everything else either dilutes or disregards Luther. Only Luther is the most excellent interpreter of the Creeds, Scripture, and anything else we confide in for religious training. What are Walther and others, other than compilers and commentators of Luther?

Malachi 2:7 declares that the lips of the priest should guard knowledge. I ask you, can one guard knowledge by letting it remain buried? Wasn't some servant rebuked for burying what the Master had given him? Will we not be rebuked for leaving such a treasure as God provided through Luther buried beneath so many other writings and activities? Are you, Pastor, being faithful to your ministry and people by keeping so much knowledge from them? My son was married by an LCMS pastor who bragged to him that he was properly feeding his people. My son heard the particular sermon the man was bragging about and it was all my son could do not to laugh outright. My son, still wet behind the ears, saw through this man's deception. (In fairness to my son, it would be wrong of me to allow the reader to think he is altogether wet behind the ears. And in fairness to this pastor, he is sincere, but also sincerely duped by his alleged faithfulness.)

Luther makes this statement: A servant of God should be a "wise and faithful servant" (Matt. 24:45). If he does not pay attention to the former qualification of wisdom, he will become a mere specter and slothful and unworthy of such honor. Thus in those people who in foolish humility try to get along with everybody everywhere and to be popular with their charges the influence of authority is necessarily lost, and familiarity breeds contempt. How gravely do they sin! They allow the things that belong to God and that have been entrusted to them to be trampled underfoot. They should have seen to it that these things were honored. On the other hand, if he does not pay attention to the latter qualification of faithfulness, he will become a tyrant who always frightens people with his power. He wants to be considered grim. Instead of striving to make their authority as fruitful as possible for others, such people try to make it as frightful as possible, even though according to the apostle that power was given not to destroy but to edify. But let us call these two faults by name: softness and harshness… These are the two main faults from which all the mistakes of pastors come. No wonder! For softness is rooted in evil desires, (like the many mothers who today spoil and are soft on their children for their own benefit, and are raising their children for themselves rather than for society) and harshness is uncontrolled wrath. These two faults are responsible for everything that is evil, as everybody knows. Therefore, it is difficult to accept an office unless these two beasts are first slain. They would do even more harm, should the power to cause harm be available to them. (25/139)

Does it not indicate softness when many of our leaders have responded to me with answers such as, "How can we examine so many people?" and "We don't want to become the Holy Spirit!" Look at the excuses we make to avoid being faithful to the Word. Yet we say we are faithful to the Word. We say faith, Scripture, and grace alone, yet we will not fully investigate what they really mean.

Habakkuk's song declares, "In wrath he remembers mercy" (3:2). It is my sole desire to do my part in making it possible for the Elect to "find" this mercy when the time of God's wrath comes. With Luther, I say, "In the same way we must support Christians with the word of God in anticipation of the Last Day, even though it appears that Christ is delaying long and will not come." (35/327) You will be best supported for the Last Day with the writings of Luther, because God has blinded our minds and hearts to the true meaning of the Word and the Gospel! You will be made to humble yourself to Luther. You will not be able to stand only on Luther's doctrine of justification by faith, the Bible as the sole authority, and the universal priesthood of believers. Why? Because these have degenerated into a justification of people who are not truly sinners, of having the Scriptures according to our private interpretation, and our priesthood being nothing more than a lascivious and false freedom and liberty.

The days of Noah are upon us, more than I even suspected. No pastor has stood with me on my stand about Luther. Even the best want to fight for their own interpretation of Scripture without even thoroughly investigating Luther. This only shows how far we have gone astray and why God finds our spirits detestable. Have we not degenerated below the times of Luther, when every faction claimed Scripture for itself and interpreted it according to its own understanding, the result was that Scripture began to lose its worth, and eventually even acquired the reputation of being a heretic's book and the source of all heresy, since all heretics seek the aid of Scripture? Thus the devil was able to wrest from the Christians their weapons, armor, and fortress, so that Scripture not only became feeble and ineffective against him, but even had to fight against the Christians themselves. He got Christians to become suspicious of it, as if it were plain poison against which they had to defend themselves. Tell me, wasn't that a clever scheme of the devil? Once Scripture had become like a broken net and no one would be restrained by it, but everyone made a hole in it wherever it pleased him to poke his snout, and followed his own opinions, interpreting and twisting Scripture any way he pleased. (37/13)

Have we not degenerated into a stance of Scriptural Relativism? Is this stance not consistent with the spirit of this particular age? Sure, some of you can see this spirit in other arenas, but what about your own! What punishment ought God to inflict upon such stupid and perverse people! Since we abandoned his Scriptures, it is not surprising that he has abandoned us to the teaching of the pope and to the lies of men. O would to God that among Christians the pure gospel were known and that most speedily there would be neither need nor use for this work of mine. (35/123-24)

Like Baptists, Lutherans seem to think that Luther was nothing more than a catalyst and something to be improved upon, as if Luther was incomplete and gravely ineffectual. I will not bless the reader here with Luther's comments about his own importance, but I remind the reader that I have compiled a list of his references to himself on the website www.askluther.com. It is entitled, "Why Luther." But I will remind the reader of Luther's comment that while the doctrine is not his, he does stand for the true doctrine, and to reject Luther is to reject the doctrine. In like manner, I contend that to reject my ministry, which is absolutely based on that of Luther's, is to reject the pure doctrine of the Word, the Gospel, and Scripture! Until the church gathers and shows me where Luther is wrong, I stand against the whole church for the authority of Luther. Why? Because I have absolutely no indication that Luther taught anything but what was scriptural. I love Luther because he teaches me about Christ and His Word. I fear for the church because I see a wide gulf between what Luther taught and what the church is practicing today. A wide gulf, indeed!

But this, too, is an expression of the wrath of God, who gives the devil free rein to produce crude, clumsy errors and thick darkness to punish our shameful ingratitude for having treated the holy gospel as so wretchedly despicable and worthless-to make us, as St. Paul says, "believe what is false, since we have not received the love of the truth" (II Thess. 2:10f.). (37/19) It is for this reason that I will live out my days separated from the apostate lukewarmness of this age; I will continue to feed my family with the true Word of God as explained by Luther; I will continue to give my family and myself the True Body and True Blood of Christ; and I will continue to stand against this age in any way God so leads as a testimony against it. I will be obedient to Christ, who says, "Come out from among them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." I will be obedient to the wisdom of Luther who says, "One should not celebrate mass where there are no real and genuine Christians." I look forward to God's continuing to send the Five Arrows of my Noahic-like family into the world armed with the true meaning, both theologically and experientially, of the Word and Sacrament.

It is clear to this prophet that this generation has trodden underfoot the Gospel of God, especially because of how we have minimized sin, as evidenced by our lax attitude of allowing virtually anyone to eat this precious Meal virtually unexamined. We have become so entrenched in our righteousness that we will have to experience the wrath of God so that we might learn the patience and wisdom of Job. This generation does not understand what Job came to learn by experience: God alone is righteous, and yet one man is more righteous than another, even in the sight of God.

But, as Luther states, "this is written for our comfort, that God allows even his great saints to falter, especially in adversity. For before Job comes into the fear of death, he praises God at the theft of his goods and the death of his children. But when death is in prospect and God withdraws himself, Job's words show what kind of thoughts a man-however holy he may be-holds toward God: he thinks that God is not God, but only a judge and wrathful tyrant, who storms ahead and cares nothing about the goodness of a person's life. This is the finest part of this book. It is understood only by those who also experience and feel what it is to suffer the wrath and judgment of God, and to have his grace hidden. (35/252) The fact that this generation cannot fathom God's wrath will become a most significant source of profound confusion.

But I fear that this hypocritical generation is not ready to learn this lesson as of yet. I comfort my heart by believing that Christ will build His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I have some understanding that Christ is truly a "strange cook." The Elect will be preserved, sanctified, and glorified. I also have to submit my desires for the purity and unity of the church to the fact, as Luther states: we learn from Jeremiah among others that, as usual, the nearer the punishment, the worse the people become; and that the more one preaches to them, the more they despise his preaching. Thus we understand that when it is God's will to inflict punishment, he makes the people to become hardened so they may be destroyed without any mercy and not appease God's wrath with any repentance. (35/281)

As I wash my hands of your blood, I trust you will consider what I have said to you in the fear, truth, and the Spirit of God. While I am tempted to commend you to God, I rather commend you to the writings of Luther, who will take you to God. Don't think you will approach God without means-He is too angry, already, that we have neglected what He has already offered us in the ministry of Luther. Consider what I say and the Lord will bless you when the time of trouble comes. I only add one side note: Luther openly admits, in many places, that the meaning of eschatology was a mystery to him. I say this to alert him who has ears, to be prepared for anything in these last days. Have an open mind; beg God for humility to consider what I am saying; and believe that God wants to be merciful to you, even though it is going to look otherwise. I have said enough. All you need is here in this letter of rebuke and exhortation, on my website, and in the books of Luther.

For the sake of my own conscience, I do leave you with quotes from Luther which explain the Law and the Gospel: The first sermon, and doctrine, is the law of God. The second is the gospel. These two sermons are not the same. Therefore we must have a good grasp of the matter in order to know how to differentiate between them. We must know what the law is, and what the gospel is. The law commands and requires us to do certain things. The law is thus directed solely to our behavior and consists of making requirements. For God speaks through the law, saying, "Do this, avoid that, this is what I expect of you." The gospel, however, does not preach what we are to do or to avoid. It sets up no requirement but reverses the approach of the law, does the very opposite, and says, "This is what God has done for you; he has let his Son be made flesh for you, has let him be put to death for your sin." So, then, there are two kinds of doctrine and two kinds of works, those of God and those of men. Just as we and God are separated from one another, so also these two doctrines are widely separated from one another. (35/162)

Again: Preachers of repentance and grace remain even to our day, but they do not explain God's law and promise that a man might learn from them the source of repentance and grace. Repentance proceeds from the law of God, but faith or grace from the promise of God, as Romans 10:17 says: "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ." Accordingly man is consoled and exalted by faith in the divine promise after he has been humbled and led to a knowledge of himself by the threats and the fear of the divine law. So we read in Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (31/364)

Again: The Word is the gospel of God concerning his Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead, and was glorified through the Spirit who sanctifies. To preach Christ means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and save it, provided it believes the preaching. Faith alone is the saving and efficacious use of the Word of God, according to Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Furthermore, "Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified" (Rom. 10:4). Again, in Romams 1:17, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." The Word of God cannot be received and cherished by any works whatever but only by faith. Therefore it is clear that, as the soul needs only the Word of God for its life and righteousness, so it is justified by faith alone and not any works; for if it could be justified or given peace by anything else, it would not need the Word, and consequently it would not need faith. (31/346)

Again: If I have sinned, yet my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned, and all his is mine and all mine is his, as the bride in the Song of Solomon (2:16) says, "My beloved is mine and I am his." This is what Paul means when he says in I Cor. 15:57, "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," that is, the victory over sin and death, as he also says there, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (I Cor. 15:56). 31/352)

Finally: Behold, from faith flows forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love a joyful, willing, and free mind that serves one's neighbor willingly and takes no account of gratitude or ingratitude, of praise or blame, of gain or loss. For a man does not serve that he may put men under obligations. He does not distinguish between friends and enemies or anticipate their thankfulness or unthankfulness, but he most freely and most willingly spends himself and all that he has, whether he wastes all on the thankless or whether he gains a reward. (31/367)

I leave you with the following sentence quotes from Luther which certainly reveal how far afield we have gone. I was going to include some quotes from the four volumes of Word and Sacrament, but I am sure I have already included most of them within my other compilations on the web.

Beseeching you in Christ's stead,

Timothy Vance
October 19, 2000
www.askluther.com

"We would have cured Babylon, but she was not healed. Let us forsake her; therefore, let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy." (Jeremiah 51:9 and Revelation 22:11)

I am concerned that while we bravely battle over grace and good works, we do not in the meantime deprive ourselves of grace or of works. When I consider these fearful times of wrath, I ask only that my eyes become fountains of tears so that I may bewail this latest desolation of souls (Jer. 9:1) which this reign of sin and of perdition is producing.

Sentence quotes: (Do you have the courage to discover how much your people disagree with truth? How Lutheran/Christian they are not?)

The sacrament calls for only hungering souls, oppressed by sin.

Only Christ belongs in the conscience.

When we look at what we do, we have lost the name, "Christian."

Belief is more important than faith or works.

No one is certain that he is not continually committing mortal sin, because of the most secret vice of pride.

The sooner we die after our Baptism, the better.

On the way home, assume your house has caught fire, your wife has a life-threatening disease, your son has violated a girl, and your daughter has died.

Hope does not grow out of merits, but out of suffering which destroys merits.

There is no moral virtue without either pride or sorrow, that is, without sin.

It is dangerous to say that the law commands that an act of obeying the commandment be done in the grace of God. From this it would follow that fulfilling the law can take place without the grace of God.

Law and will are two implacable foes without the grace of God.

What the law wants, the will never wants, unless it pretends to want it out of fear or love.

The law, as taskmaster of the will, will not be overcome except by the "child, who has been born to us" (Isa. 9:6).

The law makes sin abound because it irritates and repels the will.

The will is always averse to, and the hands inclined toward, the law of the Lord without the grace of God.

Since the law is good, the will, which is hostile to it, cannot be good.

The grace of God is given for the purpose of directing the will, lest it err even in loving God.

When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent", he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. This does not mean only inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortifications of the flesh.

The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self, that is, true repentance, until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. (What does this do to our most prized doctrine—self-esteem?)

A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins.

The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last (Matt. 20:16).

Away with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!

Although the works of man always seem attractive and good, they are nevertheless likely to be mortal sins.

Although the works of God always seem unattractive and appear evil, they are nevertheless really eternal merits.

The works of the righteous would be mortal sins if they would not be feared as mortal sins by the righteous themselves out of pious fear of God.

Arrogance cannot be avoided or true hope be present unless the judgment of condemnation is feared in every work.

In the sight of God sins are then truly venial when they are feared by men to be mortal.

Free will, after the fall, exists in name only, and as long as it does what it is able to do, it commits a mortal sin.

The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that be becomes doubly guilty. Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ.

It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.

The law brings the wrath of God, kills, reviles, accuses, judges, and condemns everything that is not in Christ (Rom. 4:15). Yet that wisdom is not itself evil, nor is the law to be evaded; but without the theology of the cross man misuses the best in the worst manner.

The law says, "do this," and it is never done. Grace says, "believe in this," and everything is already done.

The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.

God changes eternal punishment into a temporary one, that is, the punishment of carrying the cross.

Every priest must absolve the penitent of punishment and guilt. (Why, then, do we have so much guilt? Why are as many of our kids on Prozac as the general population?)

A Christian is perfectly free lord of all, subject to none; A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

It is evident that no external thing has any influence in producing Christian righteousness or freedom, or in producing unrighteousness or servitude.

No good work can rely upon the Word of God or live in the soul, for faith alone and the Word of God rule in the soul. Just as the heated iron glows like fire because of the union of fire with it, so the Word imparts its qualities to the soul.

He who fulfills the First Commandment has no difficulty in fulfilling all the rest.

The more Christian a man is, the more evil, sufferings, and deaths he must endure.

Faith is not disturbed when it sees its enemies. This is so because it believes that the righteousness of Christ is its own and that its sin is not its own, but Christ's, and that all sin is swallowed up by the righteousness of Christ.

Since by faith the soul is cleansed and made to love God, it desires that all things, and especially its own body and mind, shall be purified so that all things may join with it in loving and praising God. Hence a man cannot be idle, for the need of his body drives him and he is compelled to do many good works to reduce it to subjection. But those who presume to be justified by works do not regard the mortifying of the lusts, but only the works themselves, and think that if only they have done as many and as great works as are possible, they have done well and have become righteous.

It is indeed true that in the sight of men a man is made good or evil by his works; but this being made good or evil only means that the man who is good or evil is pointed out and known as such.

The perverse notion concerning works is unconquerable where sincere faith is wanting. Those work-saints cannot get rid of it unless faith, its destroyer, comes and rules in their hearts. Nature of itself cannot drive it out or even recognize it, bur rather regards it as a mark of the most holy will.

Your one care should be that faith may grow, whether it is trained by works or sufferings.

Any work that is not done solely for the purpose of keeping the body under control or of serving one's neighbor, as long as he asks nothing contrary to God, is not good or Christian.

In brief, as wealth is the test of poverty, business the test of faithfulness, honors the test of humility, feasts the test of temperance, pleasures the test of chastity, so ceremonies are the test of the righteousness of faith. "Can a man," asks Solomon, "carry fire in his bosom and his clothes and not be burned?" (Prov. 6:27)

God hates this life and wants it over with as quickly as possible. Ps. 90

A girl who marries cannot sin, but everyone admits that she does sin in discharging her obligations to the flesh. This is proved by Ps. 51:5, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." How does the one who marries both sin and not sin?