Adiaphora Article X The Election of Grace Article

Adiaphora – Article X; The Election of Grace – Article XI Factions Which Never Accepted the Augsburg Confession and Conclusion – Article XII; Conclusion of Course

§ 1548 -1555 § X. Ecclesiastical Rites: As a result of the Interims!

1. Controversy: Adiaphoristic 2. The Question: Are church rites and ceremonies always a matter of indifference? 3. The Response: In themselves, “Yes, ” but not when a confession of faith is required.

§ I. The Controversy. 635. 1 -636. 4 635. 1: Ceremonies & ecclesiastical practices neither commanded nor forbidden, but have been introduced into the church with good intentions for the sake of order. 636. 2: One party said permissible to go along -- under the pressure and demands of the opponents -- with the enemies of the gospel in regard to restoring certain ceremonies that are in themselves indifferent. 636. 3: The other party argued that during a time of persecution that demands confession of faith – particularly when the opponents are striving against the faithful church – that even indifferent things may in no way be permitted without damaging the divine truth.

The first party = Interimist The second party = Anti-Interimist

II. The Definition of Adiaphora. 636. 5 -637. 9 A. What they are NOT: The Four Qualifications: 1. Not what is forbidden/prohibited by God. 2. Not what gives the appearance that we do not differ greatly with false religion. 3. Not what gives the illusion that we are in agreement with false religion. 4. Not any action that conveys a return to false religion (or an action that implies that this would gradually result).

The Definition continued… B. What they ARE; The Two Qualifications: 1. In and of themselves are no worship of God or any part of it. 2. That the faithful church may change these without offense; and for what is beneficial and in accord with good order.

III. The Confessional Position. 637. 10 -638. 17 A. Christian Obligation. “We also believe, teach, and confess that in a time when confession is necessary, as when the enemies of God’s Word want to suppress the pure teaching of the holy gospel, the entire community of God, indeed, every Christian, especially servants of the Word as the leaders of the community of God, are obligated according to God’s Word to confess true teaching and everything that pertains to the whole of religion freely and publicly. They are to do so not only with words but also in action and deeds. In such a time they shall not yield to the opponents even in indifferent matters, nor shall they permit the imposition of such adiaphora by opponents who use violence or chicanery in such a way that undermines true worship of God, or that introduces or confirms idolatry. ”

The Confessional Position continued: B. The Pauline Example (Gal. 2: 4 -5 and Acts 16: 3) 1. Paul taught that circumcision was an indifferent matter. 2. But when the false apostles demanded circumcision in order to confirm their false teaching, Paul would not give in to them (in this case circumcision which was adiaphora was no longer).

The Confessional Position continued… C. The Principles Involved 1. The Truth of the Gospel. (Gal. 2: 5): we must ensure that any “adiaphoron” never dilute, distract, or confuse the priority of the Gospel. 2. Christian Liberty. (Matt. 15: 3, 9): we must avoid ever treating “adiaphoron” as necessary or demanded by God as this would introduce a yoke of slavery. 3. Unionism. (Matt. 10: 32): we must avoid this so as to avoid idolatry.

IV. The Testimony of the Confessions, 638. 18 -640. 25 A. The Smalcald Articles: If we permitted the Romanists to ordain and confirm us and our preachers, we would give the impression that we approve of their “ministry, ” but we don’t. If we allow the pope to govern us, we give the impression that we agree. Can’t do this. B. The Treatise on the Papacy: If we permit the Romanists traditions, then we subjugate the Word. If we do not abandon the pope, we shun the Word [2 Cor. 6: 14: Don’t be mismatched with unbelievers!] C. The Testimony of Luther: 1. Don’t arouse God’s wrath; 2. Do not violate love; 3. Do not strengthen the enemies of God’s Word; and 4. Do not offend the weak in faith.

V. The Five Conclusions. 640. 25 -640. 30 1. “Accordingly, we reject and condemn as false the view that human commands are to be regarded in and of themselves as worship of God or some part thereof. ” 2. “We also reject and condemn as false the procedure whereby such commands are imposed by force upon the community of God as necessary. ” 3. “We reject and condemn as false the opinion of those who hold that in a time of persecution people may comply and compromise with the enemies of the holy gospel in indifferent things, since this imperils the truth. ”

§ 4. “Likewise, we regard it as a sin worthy of punishment when, in a time of persecution, actions contrary and opposed to the confession of the Christian faith are undertaken because of the enemies of the gospel, either in indifferent things or in public teaching or in anything else which pertains to religion. ” § 5. “We also reject and condemn it when such indifferent things are abolished in such a way as if the community of God did not have the liberty to use, in a manner appropriate for specific times and places, one or more such things in Christian freedom as best serves the church. ” § (6) Not numbered as such in Kolb/Wengert, but this last paragraph seems to say that as long as we are united in teaching, then we should remember that we have freedom regarding ceremonies (this is right adiaphora in play).

§ We must distinguish between: DOCTRINE (of God) ADIAPHORA (of man) 1. The Unchangable The Changeable 2. The Absolute The Relative 3. Essential per Worship Non-essential per Worship 4. The Truth of the Gospel 5. The Word of God Ceremonies & Institutions 6. Commanded or Forbidden Neither commanded nor… 7. Christian Confession Christian Liberty 8. Matters of Conscience Matters of Indifference 9. Revelation Tradition For the sake of good order

§ The Confessional Qualification “In a time or case or period or state of confession (i. e. , statu confessionis) when a confession of the true faith is required and when the enemies of the Gospel persecute and desire to suppress pure doctrine we must… 1. Confess the true doctrine, and 2. Not yield to adiaphora

1561 -1563 XI. The Doctrine of Election

1. Controversy Addressed: No Public Controversy 2. The Question: “Does God’s predestination extend over both the godly and ungodly? ” 3. The Response: “God foreknows all things yet He elects only those predestined to eternal life.

I. Introduction. 640. 1 -641. 3 A. Intent of the Article. 641. 1: “to prevent disunity and schism over these issues. ” B. Necessity & Use of the Doctrine of Election. 641. 2 -3: Precisely because this article is so often misunderstood, we must teach it. Besides it is an article taught throughout Scripture. * We should add: because this article is extremely comforting

Story of a parishioner who wouldn’t attend Bible Study anymore. “Luther’s pastoral advice is therefore in accord with Scripture: ‘Gaze upon the wounds of Christ and the blood shed for you; there predestination will shine forth. ’” (St. Louis Ed. , II, 181; on Gen. 26: 9) [Taken from the Brief Statement, CPH, adopted 1932, p. 18] -- Luther teaches us that election is: 1) Pertaining to salvation! 2) To be seen in the light of Christ, and not in the darkness & speculation of that which is inscrutable and not revealed.

II. Foreknowledge, Election & The Problem of Evil, 641. 4 -14 A. Foreknowledge – universal and non-causative. 641. 4 B. Election – restricted and causative. 641. 5 -642. 5 C. The danger & perversity of speculation. 642. 9 -643. 11 D. The necessity & unity of revelation. 643. 12 -643. 14

641. 4 -14 641. 4: “First, we must carefully note the difference between God’s eternal foreknowledge and his eternal election of his children to eternal salvation. ” 641. 5 -642. 5: “The eternal election of God, however, or praedestinatio (that is, God’s preordination to salvation), does not apply to both the godly and the evil, but instead only to the children of God, who are chosen and predestined to eternal life, ‘before the foundation of the world’ was laid, as Paul says (Eph. 1[: 4, 5]). He chose us in Christ Jesus and ‘preordained us to adoption as his children. ’”

§ Paragraphs 4 -14 § 642. 6: “The foreknowledge of God…sees and knows even the evil before it happens, but not in such a way as if it were God’s gracious will that it take place. ” § 1. God knows the evil before it happens. § 2. The causal agents are the devil and man. § 3. However, God sets limits to the evil, “so that [all things] must promote the honor of the divine name and the welfare of his elect to the shame of the godless. ”

§ Paragraphs 4 -14 642. 8: “God’s eternal election not only foresees and foreknows the salvation of the elect but is also a cause of our salvation and whatever pertains to it, on the basis of the gracious will and good pleasure of God in Christ Jesus. As this cause, it creates, effects, aids, and promotes our salvation. Our salvation is founded upon it, so that ‘the gates of hell’ [Matt. 16: 18] may not have any power against this salvation, as is written, ‘No one will snatch my sheep out of my hand’ [John 10: 28]. And again, ‘As many as had been destined for eternal life became believers’ [Acts 13: 48]. ” Espinosa: from our perspective and the Father’s perspective our salvation is in Christ, but we must begin with the Incarnate Christ in time even though God preordained our election in Christ from eternity. Both the incarnate work of Christ and the eternal election in Christ are causes of our salvation.

Paragraphs 4 -14 9 -14: We cannot leave this to speculation; election cannot be left to “God’s…secret, inscrutable will or counsel. ” Without a Christological foundation we will be filled with doubts and despair (or sorry delusion). Instead: 643. 13: “one should focus on how God’s counsel, intention, and preordination in Jesus Christ (who is the genuine, true ‘Book of Life’ [Phil. 4: 3; Rev. 3: 5; 20: 15]) is revealed to us through the Word. ”!!!

III. Eight Point Outline of the Doctrine of Election. 643. 15 -644. 24 1. The human race has been redeemed by Christ. 2. This merit and the benefits of Christ are offered and given through Word & Sac. 3. God wills to effect conversion by the Holy Spirit working through the Word. 4. God wills to make righteous all who in true repentance accept Christ by faith. 5. God wills to sanctify those He justifies. 6. God wills to protect these in their great weakness against devil, world & flesh. 7. God wills to strengthen them and preserve them as they abide in the Word. 8. God wills to save and glorify them forever in eternal life those elected, called, and justified.

Did you notice where election was mentioned in that previous slide? What is the significance of this fact? So where do we begin to see our election? But given election is where it is – in our biblical theology considerations – how is it nevertheless tremendously comforting?

IV. The Problem of Identifying the Elect. 644. 25 -648. 42 A. The use of means. 645. 27 B. The universal call (Law & Gospel). 645. 28 C. The efficacious call. 645. 29 D. The hidden & the revealed will of God. 646. 33 E. The consistency (non-contradiction) of God. 646. 34 -36 F. Accepting or rejecting the Word of God. 647. 37 -648. 42

645. 27: “However, this is revealed to us, as Paul says in Romans 8[: 29, 30]: ‘Those whom God has foreseen, chosen, and preordained, he has also called. ’ Now, God does not call apart from means. He calls through the Word, which he has commanded us to preach, the word of repentance and the forgiveness of sins [Luke 24: 47]. ” 645. 28: “Therefore, if we want to consider our eternal election to salvation profitably, we must always firmly and rigidly insist that, like the proclamation of repentance, so the promise of the gospel is universalis, that is, it pertains to all people (Luke 24[: 47]). ”

645. 30 -646. 30 “Therefore, the elect are described as follows. In John 10[: 27, 28], ‘My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life. ’ In Ephesians 1[: 11, 13]: Those who are preordained ‘according to his purpose’ to receive his ‘inheritance’ are those who hear the gospel, believe in Christ, pray, give thanks, are sanctified in love, have hope, patience, and comfort in their crosses (Rom. 8[: 25]). Even if these things are all very weak in them, they still have a hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5[: 6]). ”

646. 33: “We should concern ourselves with this revealed will of God, follow it, and devote our attention to it, because the Holy Spirit bestows grace, power, and ability through the Word, through which he calls us. We should therefore not attempt to fathom the abyss of God’s hidden foreknowledge…” 647. 40: “God preordained in his counsel that the Holy Spirit would call, enlighten, and convert the elect through the Word and that he would justify and save all those who accept Christ through true faith, so also he concluded in his counsel that he would harden, reject, and condemn all those whom he called through the Word when they spurn the Word and resist and persist in resisting the Holy Spirit, who wants to exercise his power in them and be efficacious through the Word. This is why ‘many are called and few are chosen’ [Matt. 22: 14]. ”

§ 647. 42 “Thus, many accept the Word ‘with joy, ’ but thereafter they ‘fall away’ (Luke 8[: 13]). The cause for this, however, is not that God did not want to give the grace of perseverance to those in whom he had ‘begun the good work, ’ for that is contrary to St. Paul in Philippians 1[: 6]. Rather, the cause is that they willfully turn themselves away again from God’s holy command grieve and embitter the Holy Spirit; they entangle themselves once again in the defilements of the world and redecorate their hearts as a haven for the devil, so that their last state is worst than their first (2 Peter 2[: 10, 20]; Luke 11[: 24, 25]; Heb. 10[: 26; cf. Eph. 4: 30]). ”

V. Effects of the Doctrine of Election. 648. 43 -653. 77 A. Gives all glory to God. 648. 43 -44 B. Gives comfort to the sinner & the church. 648. 45 -649. 50 C. Admonishes & warns the hearers of the Word. 649. 51 1. To restrict themselves to revelation. 649. 52 -650. 64 2. To consider election only in Christ (the Word). 650. 65 -651. 70 3. To repent & believe God’s promise. 651. 71 -652. 72 4. To grow in grace. 652. 73 -74 5. To continue in the faith. 652. 75 6. To make use of the means of grace. 652. 76 -653. 77

§ 648. 48 -649. 49 “This doctrine also gives us wonderful comfort in crosses and trials, that in his counsel before time began God determined and decreed that he would stand by us in every trouble, grant us patience, give us comfort, create hope, and provide a way out of all things so that we may be saved [cf. 1 Cor. 10: 13]. Likewise, Paul treats this matter in such a comforting way in Romans 8[: 28 -39], pointing out that in his intention before time began God preordained what sort of crosses and sufferings he would use to conform each one of his elect to ‘the image of his Son, ’ and that the cross of each should and must ‘work together for the good’ of that person, because they are ‘called according to his purpose. ’ On this basis Paul concluded with certainty and without doubt that neither ‘hardship nor distress…neither death nor life…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. ”

650. 65: “Accordingly, the eternal election of God should be considered in Christ and not apart from or outside of Christ. ”

VI. The Reason why not all who hear the Word come to faith. 653. 78 -82 A. The vessels of honor – the work of God. A. The vessels of dishonor – the work of the Devil and man.

653. 78 -80: “The reason why not all who hear the Word believe it (and thus receive the greater damnation) is not that God has not allowed them to be saved. Instead, it is their own fault, for they heard the Word not so that they might learn from it but only to despise, revile, and ridicule it; and they resisted the Holy Spirit, who wanted to work in them through the Word, as happened at Christ’s time with the Pharisees and their adherents [Matt. 23: 26 -36; Luke 11: 37 -54; John 7: 48; 8: 13; 9: 16, 41; 12: 42]. Thus, the Apostle very carefully distinguishes the work of God, who alone makes vessels for honor, and the work of the devil and of human beings, who, at the instigation of the devil and not of God, have made themselves vessels of dishonor. For it is written in Romans 9[: 22 -23], ‘God has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath that are made for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared beforehand for salvation. ’ For the Apostle clearly says there that God ‘endured with much patience the vessels of wrath, ’ and he does not say that God made them vessels of wrath. For if that had been his will, he would not have needed to have ‘much patience. ’ That they were prepared for condemnation is to be blamed on the devil and the human beings themselves, not on God. ”

VII. The Matter of Hardening. 653. 83 -654. 86 A. Falling from grace. B. The case of Pharaoh.

§ 653. 83 “Carefully consider this as well. When God punishes sin with sin, that is, when he later hardens and blinds the hearts of those who were converted but then fell into security, impenitence, and intentional sins, it should not be misconstrued as if it had never been God’s gracious will that such people should come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved. For both are God’s revealed will: first, that God wants to receive into grace all who repent and believe in Christ; second, that he wants to punish those who arrogantly turn away from holy prayer and entangle themselves again in the defilements of this world (2 Peter 2[: 20]), who adorn their hearts for Satan (Luke 11[: 24, 25]), and who outrage the Holy Spirit (Heb. 10[: 29)]. Moreover, if they persist in their sins, they will be hardened, blinded, and eternally damned. ”

654. 85: “That God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (so that Pharaoh continued to sin and so that the more he was admonished, the harder of heart he became) was a punishment for his previous sin and his horrible tyranny, which he imposed upon the children of Israel in many, various, and completely inhuman ways, against the indictment of his own heart. Because God had his Word preached to him and his will proclaimed to him and Pharaoh arrogantly rebelled against every admonition and warning, God withdrew his hand from him. In this way Pharaoh’s heart became hardened and obdurate, and God made him an example of divine judgment. ”

VIII. Summary & Conclusion. 654. 87 -655. 93

1. The Father sends The Son sends The Spirit: The Message of The Gospel (normative authority) 2. The Spirit leads to The Son leads to The Father: The Purpose/Benefit of the Gospel (causative authority) 3. The Father authored the plan of salvation – The Son accomplished the work of salvation – The Spirit applies the Word of salvation 4. The Wisdom of sinful man contributes nothing to God’s plan – The Work of sinful man contributes nothing to Christ’s merit – The Will of man contributes nothing to the Spirit’s Quickening 5. A Divine Revelation – A Divine Satisfaction – A Divine Election 6. Luther vs. Reason 7. Natural man refuses the Father – Natural man rejects the Son – “ “ Resists the Spirit -- Luther vs. Works -- Luther vs. Free-Will

§ Deus Absconditus (speculation): The Unapproachable Majesty of the Hidden Will § Deus Revelation (revelation): Christ, the Word as the Revealed Will § Discuss why this distinction is important regarding election.

§ Gen. 4: 4 b-5 a John 13: 18 Rom. 11: 29 § Gen. 6: 7 -8 John 15: 16 I Cor. 1: 26 -29 § Gen. 12: 1, 4 Acts 13: 48 Gal. 1: 15 § Ex. 19: 4 -6 Rom. 8: 29 -30 Eph. 1: 4 -5 § Ex. 11: 7 b Rom. 9: 11 Eph. 1: 11 § Deut. 7: 6 -8 Rom. 9: 15 -16 2 Thess. 2: 13 -14 § Matt. 20: 16 Rom. 10: 12 -13 2 Tim. 1: 9 § Matt. 22: 14 Rom. 11: 5 2 Tim. 2: 19 § Luke 10: 20 Rom. 11: 7

655. 94 -656. 96: read together in class & discuss

Controversy Addressed: Anabaptists, Schwenkfelders, New Arians, and Anti. Trinitarians. 657. 9 -658. 27: Anabaptists 658. 28 -659. 34: Schwenckfelders (see footnote on page 658) 659. 36: New Arians 659. 37 -660. 40: New Antitrinitarians The Question: Are sectarian errors to be found among the followers of the Augsburg Confession? The Response: Sectarian errors are exposed and rejected by the true followers of the Augsburg Confession.

§ Missional Considerations Part I: Creeds: We Must Speak! Part II: AC and AP: We Risk Our Lives! Part III: SC and LC: We Take The Time To Teach! We Live With People! Part IV: SA and Treatise: We Engage In Real Power Encounters! Part V: Formula of Concord: We Prepare For Multiple Fronts & Afflictions, But Are Consoled, Sustained, and Empowered by Our Fortress!

§ Quite unorthodox, but this will help me as this was my first time teaching: 1. Review each of the 5 major sections. 2. For EACH section, ask yourself, “What stood out as something that I learned for the first time (or clarified for the first time) that I did know prior to this class? ” 3. For that which you identify under each of the 5 sections, write one page on: a. Your prior understanding. b. Your new understanding (here back it up with the Confessions…explicate, teach, apply). c. It’s importance for 1) your personal life; 2) your holy ministry to God’s people.