The Gospel of Christ is the Mission of God

The Gospel of Christ is The Mission of God

In recent years the language of “missions” and “missional theology” has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity among Lutherans. However, much of what falls under the umbrella of “missions” in Lutheranism, although moving ahead with clearly defined practical applications, lacks a clearly defined theological center. As a result the church develops programs, policies and projects deemed to be “missional” because we Christians are doing something for God (Roman Catholic & Reformed theology). That is, “missions” is the church’s “response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and because of God’s work for us [and because our synod/district/congregation is “dying”] we ought to do the work of faithful shepherds and missionaries to spread the kingdom of God and bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus.” The result has often been that a congregation [or a small group within the congregation who are “mission minded”] end up feeling guilty, frustrated, insecure and afraid because for one reason and another they have not met expectations or worse, succeeded far beyond expectations. Cut loose from Christ alone, failure and success end up being measured by human standards rather than the “bare Word of God” and thus, Lutherans lose their defining center - Christ and him crucified.

So, as we begin, two questions need to be asked:

1. How can you and I be sure that God justifies us if He did not justify all people everywhere in Christ? (2 Tim. 3)
2. How can you and I be sure that our faith holds a sufficient or saving grasp on the righteousness of God if it is a product of our own human pursuit and sincerity?

These are the questions which pursue and confront us anew this morning. Let us begin then, at the heart and center of who we are as Lutherans and what we confess as God’s true Word to the world. For we are seeking to determine the genuine substance and shape of who we are as Lutherans, the purpose of our synod, district and congregations and most importantly our biblical confession to the world.

1) God's Kingdom Comes – Our (the Church's) Biblical & Confessional Foundations:

a. How the Gospel reaches people (Gen. 1:28; 3:15-24; 4:26; 11:1-9;12:1-9; 17:1-7) (mission, to use a later term) sits at the heart and center of Lutherans' reading of Scripture (Gen. 3:15; Jn. 12:32; Lk. 24:44-49; Acts 2:37-41) and their formulation of what has come to be referred to as the Missio Dei - the “Mission of God” (Matt. 28:18-20; Heb. 3;1 Cor. 15; Acts 2; Matt 9; Jn. 5; Mk. 16:15-16). For Lutherans, our “material principle” - our central teaching - is that sinners are justified by faith alone [in Christ alone] apart from works of the law (Gen. 17:7; Rom. 3:28, 4:16ff; Gal. 4:21ff; Heb. 11). This is inseparable from our understanding of how the Gospel reaches people through the Missio Dei (Is. 61:1-4; Joel 2:28-32; Rev. 19:10). The fact is that Lutherans are not primarily interested in the question, “Is God something?” Instead, we focus on the Biblical question, “How is God acting?” (Ex. 19:1-6; Rev. 5, Rom. 4:13; Heb. 9; 1 Pet. 3:21; Ps. 2, 22, 118, 139, Lk. 19:10; Jn. 12:32; Eph. 2:1-10; 1 Tim. 3-6).

KEY TEXTS: Gen. 1:17, 3:15, 17:7 / Ex. 19:1-6 / Joel 2:28-32 / Jn. 12:32 / Rev. 19:10.

1. Martin Luther's answer is first that God's kingdom comes into the world through the work of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:26-28; Mt. 3:13-17, 4:17; Lk. 23:44-49; 1Pet. 1-2; Jn. 3:16-17; Acts 2:37; LC, Lord's Prayer). The Missio Dei is God's work first (Is. 44:8; Mt. 16:13-20). The church participates but it is not “the church's mission.” Second, the Missio Dei centers in the person and work of Jesus Christ who was sent by God his Father to be the great Apostle, King, Priest, and Prophet of God; through Jesus' death and resurrection salvation may now come to all (Jn. 3:16-17; Romans 6; 1 Cor. 15; Hebrews 2; AC IV). Third, for Luther it is not that God rules but how he rules (Heb. 7:2). Because Luther and the Lutheran church integrate an understanding of how the Gospel reaches people with an understanding of the Church and their expansion (Acts 7-8:4; 1 Pet. 1:1-2), Lutherans offer a valuable practical insight into the theology and practice of mission for the Christian church today.

KEY TEXTS: Gen. 1:26-28 / Mt. 3:13-17 / Mt. 16:13-20 / Jn. 16-17 / Heb. 7:2 / Acts 7-8:4.

c. Summary: How does the Gospel reach people?

• 1) God's kingdom coming into the world is the work of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's why “mission” - how the Gospel reaches people – is properly called the Mission of God (Missio Dei) and not the “mission of the church” (Joel 2:28; Lk. 24:44-49; Acts 2:38-39; Rev. 19:10).
• 2) This mission of God centers in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He was sent by his Father to be King and Lord of all. It is by his death and resurrection that salvation and life come to all (Jn. 3:16-17).
• 3) The focus on the Lord's rule is not so much that he rules but how he rules (Heb. 7:2).

2) God's Kingdom Comes – Our (the Church's) Hope:

1. The Lord Jesus Christ keeps all his promises (Lk. 24:44-49; Heb 6:13-20). Therefore when the church asks the question: “How does the Gospel reach people?” It is vital that the Church go into the world proclaiming God’s promises – Christ at the center – so that the Great Commission does not become something we do for God – sinners at the center (Mt. 9, 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Jn. 5; Acts 2;1; Cor. 15; Heb. 3). What, then, are his specific promises we are to announce to an unbelieving and hostile world? First, we believe all flesh will see the salvation of the Lord (Lk. 3:6). Second, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses... (Is. 61: 1-4; Acts 1:8). Third, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground... But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come (Mk. 4:26-29). Fourth, upon this Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Is. 44:8; Mt. 16:18). Finally, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until the Day what has been entrusted to me (2 Tim. 1:12).

KEY TEXTS: Lk. 24:44-49 / Heb 6:13-20 / Mt. 28:18-20 / Acts 2 / 1 Tim. 1:12.

b. Summary: How does the Gospel reach people?

• 1) The Kingdom of God and its mission come into the world solely by God's action – this comes to us through His means of grace: the oral, written, incarnate and sacramental Word (Jn. 12:32).
• 2) God entrusts the stewardship of His Kingdom to us, the crown of his creation (Mt. 9:38; Acts 2: 38-39; Eph. 1:10).
• 3) God's people extend His kingdom into the world through being His Church on earth – His servant community (Mt. 6:33; Mk. 11:17; 1 Pet. 1:1-2).
• 4) God's Kingdom is constantly opposed by Satan, the world, and our flesh (Rom. 7:18; Eph. 6:12).
• 5) God's Kingdom comes. This reality is the Church's (our) hope (Mt. 16:18; Mk. 4: 26-29; Lk. 3:6; Acts 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:12).

3. God's Kingdom Comes – Our (the Church's) Work Together:

a. The Church currently occupies a unique place in this country. Our society is in transition, from a 'churched' (the church as a social institution whose voice is heard in the public square) to a “de-churched”/”un-churched” culture (the Church is seen as an obstacle to progress and is pushed out of the public square to the margins of society). This is a time when 'churched,' 'de-churched' and 'un-churched' coexist and overlap in our community. Although many still believe the Church is where “God’s people do God’s work” many more have left the church for one reason and another, and do not desire to participate in the daily life of the local congregation. Together with the un-churched, the de-churched may even be hostile toward the Church and the ministry of the Gospel. Likewise, non-Christians may not respond to an invitation to come to Church (if they even know what “Church” is). Worship is a value that belongs to those who are of the new creation (Lutherans refer to this as “God’s right handed kingdom”) who know Christ Jesus. On the other hand, non-Christians may respond to an invitation to an event that connects them to a value of God's first creation (Lutherans refer to this as “God’s left handed kingdom”) such as family ministry, marriage enrichment, schools or other educational ministries for their children, health needs, etc. The question: “How does the Gospel reach people?” takes seriously a community's needs and sees their needs as a natural starting places for the Lord to come into the lives of people. These starting places often become the bridges over which the Gospel will travel to reach the sin-sick soul of de-churched and non-Christian people. Finally, no matter what the “missional” starting place, its end point is the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. His reconciling death on the cross is the “missional magnet” (Jn. 12:32). As Jesus says, “When I am lifted up I will draw all men to myself.” Therefore, God's mission has but one message: Christ and Him crucified.

b. Summary: How does the Gospel reach people?

• 1) Bible Study – If the Word of God (oral, written, incarnational and Sacramental) is absent the Church has no Life, no Truth, and no Way (2 Sam. 22:29-33; Ps. 118:17; Jn. 14:6).
• 2) Prayer – We pray, asking our heavenly Father to convert family, friends and neighbors (1 Sam. 12:19-24; Is. 56:6-8; Mt. 5:44; Lk. 6:28; Rom 8:26-30; 1 Tim. 2:1-8a) because, “God has commanded us to pray and promised to hear us.”
• 3) Thinking about Church – Belonging to the Church means belonging to a new family – our first family – with that belonging brings responsibility (Ps. 133; Mt. 12:46-50; Rom. 7:29; Gal. 6:10; 1 Pet 4:16-18). The church is not a museum nor is the church a social club. The church is distinct from all earthly institutions and organizations only because of who claimed us. We are a family of faith; corporately, not individually. Likewise, church is not “us” who make up the family of faith and establish it in “our church” over-against “them” who’ve failed to do what I think they should do.
• 4) Thinking about Mission – How does the Gospel get to people? We are to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:37-39). Jesus “opened their mind to understand the Scripture...” (Lk. 24:45) and then gave them the promise of the Father (Acts 2) which “drove them out” of the upper room, into Jerusalem and into the whole world as per Jesus’ command. We pray he does the same to us. Why? Having our minds opened to understand the Scriptures does not mean adding a committee here and trimming away a weekly event there. It means the “map is redrawn” with clear lines by Christ (Ps. 25) who then sends preachers to create faith which only listens to the voice of the Good Shepherd. Just as Lutherans read the whole Bible as it points to Christ, so too do we read the whole Bible missionally. That is, every word of the Scriptures points to how God gets the Gospel to people (Jn. 3:16-17; Rom. 6; 1 Cor. 15; Heb. 2).

In conclusion, it is not programs but people, not policies but preaching, not projects but the public confession made “before the face of all nations” that Jesus‘ saving death and resurrection is “for you, and for your children, and for all who are far away” which alone defines us as Christians and thus defines our “mission.”

The idea of God and the reality of Christ

"Jesus lives" - The pious hear an opportunity to interject meaning.

"He sits at the right hand of God" - The pious reflect, “Ours is the kingdom and the power and the glory.”

"He was crucified for us and took our place in death." - The pious preach, “We are resurrected!”

He comes to us as the newly ordained "high priest, like Melchizedek the king of Jerusalem" (Vgl. Heb. 7). - The pious teach, “We are victorious!”

Contrary to the pious, the words gain their meaning in the activity of the Word upon the hearer: He is the resurrected and living one, who himself administers the work of earthly life. He has not let it escape his hand. It is not laid in your hands so that you can make something out of it, something you want to take from it or get out of it: yet another “religion.” Jesus does not give his life’s work away. He himself administers it, he brings it before God, and he comes to us in only that way, only insofar as he is Lord. But that is not all there is. That is still in no way the main point, which should be emphasized about this question of meaning. The main point still lies in the assertion of the first witness he encounters: He is resurrected! Or the message of the angel, which means: What are you doing looking for the living amongst the dead? Lk. 24:5. Therein our whole world is signified as a world of death.

Gunther Bornkamm had it right when he said: “We are the dead, he is the living one.” Or as it written in John: “He is the life.” (Vgl. Jn. 11:25)

We stand today before a whole new work, which runs counter to the false assumptions of the Enlightenment. We should understand the resurrection of Jesus as occurring definitively within our worldview, his resurrection throws the historical text forward upon us in the present as he contexts our understanding that this is a witness for us. This is more than just a spiritual substance and/or the internalization of the historical Jesus. This is the word become flesh without distance or meaning. This is the doing and the being done unto. In this risen one, we now know what a miserable thing it is for sinners to fall into the hands of a living God.

Faith is the doer, love the deed

Having ignored the way Luther works categorically in his theology scholars have often wrecked upon Luther’s distinction (notdivision!) of law and gospel, faith and works, God hidden and revealed, freedom and bondage, etc. Justification, then, finally comes down to a distinction: the acceptance by God of those who are reckoned by him as godless. Hans Iwand writes, “Luther calls this recognition: becoming a sinner. He does not mean the sins a person commits, but rather the recognition that breaks in on a person as to who he really is.” Of course, this is not a matter of knowledge, it has to be believed.

Iwand continues, “the confession of sin does not depend on recognition of sin, but the other way around: the recognition of sin is conveyed and defined through the confession of sin.” Through recognition of sin one receives peace with God, receiving assurance from the Word of God that he is wholly saved apart from any worth or merit on his part. This certainty has been a formal sticking point for Romans Catholics since Trent.

Understood in Catholic-Augustinian terms, Luther is speaking of justification as an internal transformation, a perfected inward righteousness. But this is not the case at all. Luther is asserting his trust in the promissio which comes to him extra nos from the Holy Spirit, from the tongue of his preacher, who is called “the mouth of God.” Luther believed that unless you fully trust Christ, you will never be delivered from this body of death. It is trust (fides) that finally brings freedom; the very hub of the Christian life. Not so that we can co-operate freely with God’s grace as Trent affirmed but, taking care of our need to establish our self, God frees people to serve their neighbor.

As Luther wrote, “Faith remains the doer, love the deed.” Theology (relation to God) precedes ethics (relation to the neighbor). Inversely, in Catholic-Augustinian thought, ethics leads to theology.

Talk about justification, for Luther, is also speech about the truing of creation. The change that follows is not comprehended as a transformation of substance ad modum Aristotilae but a change of relationship between Creator and creature. The need to inquire after some kind of interior goodness is broken off: the godless sinner is named and simultaneously recognized as being loved by God. This categorical way of speaking becomes a criteria having but one purpose, one goal or aim: that the Holy Spirit may be plunged into the conscience of the godless one in order to set them free to be for God and the neighbor. The godless one is claimed by God, he is named as creature and beloved child on account of Christ's work for him. In this way one is plunged down into creation - to serve creation according to God's original intent for Adam and Eve. One is not saved in order to journey heavenward - up and out of creation.

The Catechism- A Prayer Book?

Luther: "I am also a doctor and a preacher, just as learned and experienced as all of them who are so high and mighty. Nevertheless, each morning and whenever else I have time, I do as a child who is being taught the catechism and I read and recite word for word the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Psalms etc. I must still read and study the catechism --and I also do so gladly" (Preface to the Large Catechism, Kolb/Wengert, 380).

"The world has now become very sure of itself. It relies on books and thinks that if these are read it knows everything. The devil almost succeeded in getting me, too, to become lazy and secure and think: 'Here you have the books. If you read them you'll have the answers.' So the fanatics and sacramentarians suppose that because they have read only one little book they know everything. Against such security I pray the catechism every day like my little Hans and ask God to keep me in his dear holy Word, lest I grow weary of it" (Luther in a "table Talk" of July or August 1532, AE 54:163).

Luther's letter to Peter Beskendorf in 1535 (Tappert, pp.124-130). In this open letter, Luther gives instructions to pray the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments: "Out of each Commandment I make a garland of four strands. First of all, I take each Commandment as a teaching which is what it really is, and reflect on what our Lord God earnestly demands of me here. Secondly, I make a thanksgiving of it. Thirdly, a confession. Fourthly, a prayer….These are the Ten Commandments treated in a fourfold way --as a doctrinal book, hymnbook, confessional book, and prayer book" (in Tappert, pp, 129-130).

Of all the catechisms of Christendom, only Luther's Small Catechism may be prayed (Loehe).

THEOLOGY OF GLORY, THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS

from John Pless, "Theology of the Cross & Pastoral Office."

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5346088747&topic=9424

Why the theology of the cross?

• Luther: "In John 14(:8), where Philip spoke according to the theology of glory, 'Show us the Father,' Christ straightaway set aside his flighty thought about seeing God elsewhere and led him to himself, saying, 'Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). For this reason true theology and recognition of God are in the crucified Christ" (AE 31:53).

• "We can bear the ebb and flow of history, its unpredictability, and its seeming meaninglessness only if we entrust it to the God who is hidden within it, in order that he may lead us upon new paths when we no longer see the path at all. The key to this mystery is provided by the cross. Luther said, 'Behold, Christ became powerless on the cross, and yet there performed his mightiest work and vanquished sin, death, world, hell, devil, and all evil.' For those who believe, the cross of Christ is the assurance that God really works where, from the human point of view, everything in the life of the individual, the church, or the world is lost" (Bornkamm, 55).

• "Already in his earlier thought, Luther regarded the theology of the cross not merely as one part of theology but as theology in its totality, that is, theology in so far as it is capable of understanding the unity underlying the antithesis in the divine works: God's righteousness under his judgment, his grace under his anger, the life he bestows even in the midst of death, his power to turn the present evil into a thing of good. As Luther expresses it in his own special vocabulary: 'God's real work must be understood through his strange work.' Such a theology is both a stumbling block to the pious (the Jews) and utter foolishness to the wise (the Greeks), for it suggests a transvaluation of all values" (Prenter, 2).

• "The theology of the cross is not a chapter in theology but a specific kind of theology. The cross of Christ is significant here not only for the question concerning redemption and the certainty of salvation, but it is the center that provides perspective for all theological statements. Hence it belongs to the doctrine of God in the same way that it belongs to the doctrine of the work of Christ" (von Loewenich, 18).

• "All that we think and do in the church has to be cleansed by the theology of the cross if we are to escape the perils of a theology of glory." (Sasse, 52)

• "Religions of glory have as their first and foremost goal the encouragement of good human performance. The theology of the cross aims at bestowing a new identity upon sinners, setting aside the old identity, by killing it, so that good human performance can flow out of this new identity that is comprehended in trust toward God. Therefore 'the theology of the cross is an offensive theology….because it attacks what we usually consider the best in our religion,' (Forde) human performance of pious deeds. A theology of glory lets human deeds determine God's deeds, for his demonstration of mercy is determined by the actions of human beings" (Kolb, 447).

• "Now our preaching of the cross will evoke faith only if people notice that it is not the proclaiming of earnest theoretical principles which we have arrived at admidst clashing world views. The theology of the cross is never a Christian philosophy, as is always the case with the theology of glory. I cannot stand over against the One on the cross as an objective observer and give my judgment on Him. Rather, it is He who judges me-condemns me, acquits me" (Sasse, 52)

• The theology of the cross clarifies the fact that God is the subject not the object of theology. This theology calls a thing as it is. "…in a theology of the cross it is soon apparent that we cannot ignore the fact that suffering comes about because we are at odds with God and trying to rush headlong into some sort of cozy identification with him. God and his Christ, Luther will be concerned to point out, are the operators in the matter, not the ones operated upon (thesis 27, Heidelberg Disputation)….We are rendered passive by the divine activity” (Forde, viii-ix).

• The theology of the cross guards against the slippage and erosion of theological language into sentimentality and as such is essential for evangelical preaching. “We no longer live in a guilt culture but have been thrown into meaninglessness-so we are told, The language slips out of place. Guilt puts the blame on us sinners, but who is responsible for meaninglessness? Surely not we! Sin, if it enters our consciousness at all, is generally something that ‘they’ did to us” (Forde, x).


• The theology of the cross protects the church from the temptation to mistake penultimate cures for ultimate redemption. The theology of the cross will not allow the language of preaching and pastoral care to be trimmed so as not to give offense. “The theology of the cross…provides the theological courage and the conceptual framework to hold the language in place” (Forde, x).

• The theology of the cross will not permit the preaching of the cross to become preaching about the cross. Note Luther’s words in his treatise, “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion” (1519): “Some people meditate on Christ’s passion by venting their anger on the Jews. This singing and ranting about wretched Judas satisfies them, for they are in the habit of complaining about other people, of condemning and reproaching their adversaries. That might well be a meditation on the wickedness of Judas and the Jews, but not on the sufferings of Christ…..Some feel pity for Christ, lamenting and bewailing his innocence. They are like the women who followed Christ from Jerusalem and were chided and told by Christ that it would be better to weep for themselves and their children (Luke 23:27-28)….They contemplate Christ’s passion aright who view it with a terror-stricken heart and a despairing conscience” (AE 42:7-8). Then Luther goes on to say “You cast your sins from yourself and onto Christ when you firmly believe that his wounds and sufferings are your sins, to be borne and paid for by him, as we read in Isaiah 53:6, ‘The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ St.Peter says, ‘in his body has he borne our sins on the wood of the cross’ (I Peter 2:24). St. Paul says, “God has made him a sinner for us, so that through him we would be made just’ (I Cor. 5:21). You must stake everything on these and similar verses” (AE 42:12).

Paul's use of Isaiah in his letter to the Romans (revisited)

There was probably no more influential book in Paul’s life than the book of Isaiah. Paul quoted from the book of Isaiah more times than all the other prophets put together. As you make your way through the book of Romans, Paul’s most extensive Gospel treatise, you will notice that Paul actually uses the prophet’s writings as a skeleton of his Gospel presentation. Look at the quotations of Isaiah from Paul in the book of Romans:

“As it is written, ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you’” (Romans 2:24; Isaiah 52:5, LXX).

“Their feet are swift to shed blood: ruin and misery mark their paths and the way of peace they have not known” (Romans 3:15-17; Isaiah 59:7-8).

‘Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the Israelites should be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry our his sentence on earth with speed and finality.’ It is just as Isaiah had said previously” (Romans 9:27-28; Isaiah 10:22-23, LXX).

“Just as Isaiah said previously, ‘Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah.’” (Romans 9:29; Isaiah 1:9, LXX).

“As it is written, ‘See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall’”(Romans 9:33a; Isaiah 8:14).

“and ‘the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” Romans 9:33; Isaiah 28: 16, LXX).

“As the Scripture says, ‘He who believes in him will not be disappointed’” (Romans 10:11; Isaiah 52:7, LXX).

“As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news’” (Romans 10: 15; Isaiah 52:7).

“For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’” (Romans 10:16; Isaiah 53:1, LXX).

“And Isaiah boldly says, ‘I was found by those who did not seek me, I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me’” (Romans 10:20; Isaiah 29: 10, LXX).

“What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not attain, but the elect did. The others were hardened as it is written: ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day’” (Romans 11:7 -8; Isaiah 29: 1 0, LXX).

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, ‘there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27; Isaiah 59:20-21, LXX).

“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:34; Isaiah 40: 13, LXX).

“For it is written, ‘As I live, sayeth the Lord’” (Romans 14:11a; Isaiah 49: 18).

“Every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11b; Isaiah 45:23, LXX).

“And again, Isaiah says, ‘The root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him’” (Romans 15:12; Isaiah 11:10, LXX).

“Rather, as it is written, ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand’” (Romans 15:21; Isaiah 52:14, LXX).

excerpts from Martin Luther's 'de Servo Arbitrio' (1525), pt. 2

"when you are finished with all your commands and exhortations ... I’ll write Rom. 3:20 over the top of it all" ("...through the law comes knowledge of sin.").

"For if man has lost his freedom, and is forced to serve sin, and cannot will good, what conclusion can more justly be drawn concerning him, than that he sins and wills evil necessarily?"

"...'if thou art willing' is a verb in the subjunctive mood, which asserts nothing...a conditional statement asserts nothing indicatively." "if thou art willing", "if thou hear", "if thou do" declare, not man's ability, but his duty."

"the commandments are not given inappropriately or pointlessly; but in order that through them the proud, blind man may learn the plague of his impotence, should he try to do as he is commanded."

Speaking to Erasmus, "Throughout your treatment you forget that you said that 'free-will' can do nothing without grace, and you prove that 'free-will' can do all things without grace! Your inferences and analogies "For if man has lost his freedom, and is forced to serve sin, and cannot will good, what conclusion can more justly be drawn concerning him, than that he sins and wills evil necessarily?"

"Even grammarians and schoolboys on street corners know that nothing more is signified by verbs in the imperative mood than what ought to be done, and that what is done or can be done should be expressed by words in the indicative. How is it that you theologians are twice as stupid as schoolboys, in that as soon as you get hold of a single imperative verb you infer an indicative meaning, as though the moment a thing is commanded it is done, or can be done?"

"The passages of Scripture you cite are imperative; and they prove and establish nothing about the ability of man, but only lay down what is and what not to be done."

"Does it follow from: 'turn ye' that therefore you can turn? Does it follow from "'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart' (Deut 6.5) that therefore you can love with all your heart? What do arguments of this kind prove,
but the 'free-will' does not need the grace of God, but can do all things by its own power...But it does not follow from this that man is converted by his own power, nor do the words say so; they simply say: "if thou wilt turn,
telling man what he should do. When he knows it, and sees that he cannot do it, he will ask whence he may find ability to do it..."

"By the law is the knowledge of sin' [Rom 3:20], so the word of grace comes only to those who are distressed by a sense of sin and tempted to despair."

As to why some are touched by the law and others not, so that some receive and others scorn the offer of grace...[this is the] hidden will of God, Who, according to His own counsel, ordains such persons as He wills to receive and partake of the mercy preached and offered."

The "imperative or hypothetical passages, or wishes, by which is signified, not what we can do, or do do...but what we ought to do, and what is required of us, so that our impotence may be made known to us and the knowledge of sin may be given to us."

God Incarnate says; 'I would, and thou wouldst not." God Incarnate, I repeat, was sent for this purpose, to will, say, do, suffer and offer to all me, all that is necessary for salvation; albeit He offends many who, being abandoned or hardened by God's secret will of Majesty, do not receive Him thus willing, speaking, doing, and offering. As John says: "The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness com comprehendeth it not' (John 1.5)"

And again: "He came unto his own, and His own received Him not. (v. 11)"The law indicates the impotence of man and the saving power of God..."if any man will come after me': 'he that wills to save his life'; 'if ye love me'; 'if ye shall continue'. In sum, as I have said-let every occurrence of the conjunction 'if', and all imperative verbs, be collected together (so we may help the Diatribe...)"

Let all the 'free-will' in the world do all it can with all its strength; it will never give rise to a single instance of ability to avoid being hardened if God does not give the Spirit, or of meriting mercy if it is left to its own strength."

"...omnipotence and foreknowledge of God, I repeat, utterly destroy the doctrine of 'free-will'...doubtless it gives the greatest possible offense to common sense or natural reason, that God, Who is proclaimed as being full of mercy and goodness, and so on, should of His own mere will abandon, harden and damn men, as though He delighted in the sins and great eternal torments of such poor wretches. it seems an iniquitous, cruel, intolerable thought to think of God; and it is this that has been such a stumbling block to so many great men down through the ages. And who would not stumble at it? I have stumbled at it myself more than once, down to the deepest pit of despair, so that I wished I had never been made a man. (That was before I knew how health-giving that despair was, and how close to grace.)"

"...it was not of the merits of Jacob or Esau, 'but of Him that Calleth that it was said of Sara: the elder shall serve the younger' Paul is discussing whether they attained to what was spoken of them by the power or merits of
'free-will"; and he proves they they did not, but that Jacob attained what Esau did not solely by the grace of "Him that Calleth."

Now, since on God's own testimony, men are 'flesh', they can savour of nothing but the flesh; therefore 'free-will can avail only to sin. And if, while the Spirit of God is calling and teaching among them, they go from bad to worse, what could they do when left to themselves, without the Spirit of God? Your [Erasmus] observation that Moses is speaking of the men of that age is not to the point at all. The same is true of all men, for all are 'flesh'; as Christ says, 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh' (John 3:6) How grave a defect this is, He Himself there teaches, when he says: 'Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (v. 5)...I call a man ungodly if he is without the Spirit of God; for Scripture says that the Spirit is given to justify the ungodly. As Christ distinguished the Spirit from the flesh, saying: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh', and adds that which is born of the flesh cannot enter the kingdom of God', it obviously follows that whatever is flesh is ungodly, under God's wrath, and a stranger to His kingdom. And if it is a stranger to God's kingdom and Spirit, it follows of necessity that it is under the kingdom and spirit of Satan. For there is no middle kingdom between the kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan, which are ever at war with each other."

"I say that man without the grace of God nonetheless remains the general omnipotence of God who effects, and moves and impels all things in a necessary, infallible course; but the effect of man's being carried along is nothing--that is, avails nothing in God's sight, nor is reckoned to be anything but sin."

"...the Baptist's word means that man can receive nothing unless given him from above; so that free-will is nothing!"

I say that man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit's kingdom, does and endeavours nothing to prepare himself for that new creation and kingdom, and when he is re-created has does and endeavors nothing towards his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves..."

"All the passages in the Holy Scriptures that mention assistance are they that do away with "free-will", and these are countless...For grace is needed, and the help of grace is given, because "free-will" can do nothing."