Winter Came...and Everything Changed! My Journey to Lutheranism

Greetings in the Name of our Father, His Gracious Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

 

You may not know me but I am extremely familiar with From Geneva to Wittenberg Blog.  You see, three (3) years ago my husband and I were Providentially brought to a Lutheran Church and subsequently the Lutheran understanding, which is the true understanding of the Christian faith. 

 

Last week I was asked to join this wonderful team and write for it.  To say I was surprised is an understatement.  Humbled, definitely.  Excited?!  ABSOLUTELY.  You see From Geneva to Wittenberg was my journey as well.  Okay, so I went from Azusa Street to Geneva then Heidelberg to Wittenberg.  Yes, a long journey to end up with the best theology, the clearest Gospel message and the most wonderful understanding of our Savior Jesus Christ (uhm, that the Bible’s story and found most clearly in the Lutheran Confessions).  This site helped me wrestle with my own questions and doubts, fears and spiritual insecurities or lack of true assurance as it probably would be expressed.  My journey may not be the same as yours, but if you’re here I have a suspicion it’s because you too are asking questions.  So, I thought, “Why not begin my entries on this blog with my own story?” (You can get the whole story in my book “The Accidental Lutheran: The Journey from Heidelberg to Wittenberg”.)  So, here we go:

Winter came…and everything changed

There is a popular show on HBO in which the phrase “Winter is coming…” is used in almost every episode.  For my husband, Bobby, and I we changed it a bit because the Winter of 2016/17 came and with it everything we knew and believed changed.

In July 2013 I completed my doctorate degree in Philosophy and Theology with a healthy dose of Apologetics mixed in.  The topic of my dissertation was the proverbial “Problem of Evil”.  Not to be witty, but after I completed this that’s when all my theological problems began.  Well, they weren’t so much problems as they were questions.  See, peering into the “secret things which belong to God” caused me a lot of inward wrestling.  I understood that God is Sovereign and just but now I believe I pressed the teachings of the Dutch Reformed view regarding the elective purposes of God just a bit too far.  The struggle began in my own heart first and then in discussions with Bobby, we both began to wonder about what we had and were still learning within the Dutch Reformed Christian world (hereafter referred to as Reformed). 

 In 2014 we moved from NYC to Idaho and began to attend a Reformed church about 50 miles away in Boise.  From the start we were warmly welcomed and felt as we had found a home in our new home.  We transferred our membership from that of our church on Long Island to the one is Boise and I began to help with the women eventually leading the mid-week Women’s Bible Study.  Going through several series, Romans, Church History and even Calvin’s Institutes, I’d felt a bond of sisterhood amongst many of the ladies.  However, the distance began to take its toll on me, in particular, with regard to friendships.  Living that far away from your church family is hard.  While we’d done that in NY (church was 45 miles away) I was so busy with completing my doctorate that I didn’t feel it too much.  However, here in Idaho I was really beginning to long for close friendships where I didn’t have to drive an hour to see them or them come to see me.  Three years later, Idaho experienced one of the heaviest snow total winters in decades.

Winter came…and EVERYTHING Changed

It began on Thanksgiving evening in 2016 and did not end until the end of April 2017.  Snow…snow…and more snow.  Bobby and I had moved here to Idaho in 2014 and our dear friends would tell us, when we asked about the winters here, “Oh, no problem. We might get 2 or even 4 inches but by noon it is all melted away.”  Ha!  While Winter 2015 did go that way, the winter of 2016 was not going to let up…at all it seemed.  Every weekend there were snow storms.  Not 2 or 4 inches but 10, 16 and 20 inches at a clip.  Over and over we were blocked in.  It was different here than living in the big city.  Back in New York City the plows would be out the moment an inch or two fell.  Not here in small town USA.  The one neighbor in our cul de sac who had a mini plow had moved back east so we were literally stuck. 

Up to this point we had been attending the reformed church in Boise, some 50 miles away.  We loved this little church.  It was growing and they loved to talk about God’s Word and theology even outside of service.  The church we had come from back east highly recommended it to us.  However, getting there in the winter months was proving near impossible.  On top of snow we would have quick thaws and then blistery temperatures would leave sheets of ice all along the route out of our development.  We tried to stay in contact with our new friends the the reformed church but the distance was proving that difficult.  Emails, social media and phone calls were becoming our only connection and those were quickly fading as the harsh winter marched onward with record snowfalls and thick, dangerous ice covered roads. 

I remember joking with my dear friend, Debby, as she was on the east coast for Thanksgiving and how she and her husband would be coming back to the first winter storm.  The Mountains, all covered in white was breathtaking.  As I sat in my home office, I could see the Trinities blanketed in white looking majestic and regal.  However, the snow didn’t stop that weekend and we missed church.  Later that week, everything melted and we thought, great we can get to church the next weekend. 

That changed drastically.  The next snow fell on Saturday and on Sunday was frozen over with a thick layer of ice.  We missed church again.  Well, in 2013 in NYC we had a tough winter so we both thought we would just slog through it.  Then another melt, then a freeze then another storm with more than a foot of snow in a town that usually had 4-6 inches for the entire Winter.  Each week the snow came, melted a bit, then froze over then more snow.  Soon our little cul-de-sac was a skating rink.  Our town had two plows and didn’t come through to our side for months.  Each weekend it seemed more snow fell and we missed church again.

By January we had not been to church since Thanksgiving and I was longing for the preached Word and fellowship with other believers.  This was not happening and both Bobby and I were beginning to feel it.  Then, one Sunday morning, frustrated that we were snowed in again, we looked at the religious channels.  We hadn’t done that since we left the evangelical church.  However, we figured we might find something a bit more biblical than the charismatics and as God providentially directed we did.  This program called Worship for Shut-In. 

However, the struggle with guilt, for missing services week after week, began to weigh heavily like the ice-laden snow in our town. I struggled with not being there with friends, not worshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ, and most of all, not taking the Lord’s Supper.  That was key for me.  I was hungry.  I was hungry for the preached Word but mostly this new hunger for the Word in the Sacrament began to build up in my heart.  The guilt of missing church week after week began to take its toll.  Bobby and I discussed possibly attending the Lutheran church in town (LCMS) but the snow and ice kept us from going local as well.  The hunger grew. The guilt became overwhelming.

Then, one Sunday morning, frustrated that we were snowed in again, we looked at the religious channels.  We hadn’t done that since we left the evangelical church.  However, we figured we might find something a bit more biblical than the charismatics and as God providentially directed we did.  This program called Worship for Shut-In. 

We sat and watched, listened, even sang along with the old hymns.  It was Lutheran.  It was liturgical.  The pastor even wore a white robe.  Well, we knew that some Lutherans were solid Christians and faithful to God’s Word so we watched and were fed.  Afterwards, I looked up the website, connected with it via email and we felt a bit refreshed.  At least we can get the preached Word until Spring…or so we thought.

Winter had come…and everything changed.  Each Sunday, with every weekend snow storm, we would sit ourselves down and together watch Worship for Shut-Ins (now Worship Anew).  I would even sing along with some of the choir pieces and solos that were part of the program when I knew the old hymns.  Some of these hymns, though, we’d never heard.  However, they were rich and deep and I soon came to learn the Lutheran Service Book is filled with hymns that speak of Christ and His Work, salvation by grace alone through faith alone, and the Lord’s Supper…and Baptism as God’s work alone.  We were being fed on good, solid, biblical food.  Then came the longing to share this with other believers each week but this just wouldn’t happen. 

Saturdays we would prepare to go to church in Boise and then…snow and ice…ice and more snow.  Now, because my dissertation was on God’s Providence I was beginning to “get it”.  God was hindering us from heading up to Boise.  The connections on social media were dropping as we missed service after service.  The phone calls began to wain and emails were less and less frequent.  Separated from our church family, no longer just by 50 miles, was beginning to take its toll.  Hungry for more than just a 30 minute program, though that was helping, we longed to join with the body of Christ to worship and praise our Savior and our God.

Bobby and I would talk…well, mostly I would tell him the longing of my heart.  I was missing being with God’s People and if winters were going to be like this one, then we needed to begin attending somewhere in town.  Many times during the week I would ask, “Could we just visit the Lutheran Church here in town?”  His answer would change the course of our lives.  “Sure, go check them out and we can visit.”

I wasn’t sure Bobby was ready to change churches just because I needed something closer to home but he heard my plea and I contacted Worship for Shut-Ins to see what church in town (there were two Lutheran ones we knew of) would be good for us to attend.  A few days later an email came that Faith Lutheran was a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, which we knew to be more faithful to God’s Word than the other Lutheran denomination.  I don’t remember if I left a voice mail or sent an email but I contacted Faith Lutheran and determined that the next Sunday we would visit. 

Well, that Sunday came and Bobby was under the weather so I got ready to go to church.  I walked in, took a seat in a pew near the back and sat waiting for the service to begin.  I looked around at the stained glass, the beautiful pulpit and altar in the front and begin going through the hymnal (which is actually a service book with the whole liturgy in it).  Pastor Kellerman approached me and asked if I was Nancy.  I said yes and told him that Bobby was ill so I was there alone that day.  He welcomed me and a few minutes later service began.

I was familiar with most of the order of service but was shocked when Pastor gave absolution to everyone there.  We had corporately confessed our sins as well as had a moment to privately confess them and then the pastor said that he stood in the place of Christ and forgave us.  I was shocked to say the least.  I must have missed this at the Lutheran Church we would visit in Brooklyn, which friends of ours attend, because this just stunned me.  It wasn’t so much that a man was standing there forgiving me as I could read in the service book the words he just said, it was that sense of hearing in my own ears that Christ had forgiven me all my sins that was a bit shocking.  In the Dutch reformed churches you are given assurance your sins are forgiven but here I was being told “Your sins are forgiven you…”  Writing this just doesn’t bring out the impact of that truth but it awakened me within to the reality of hearing from Christ “daughter, your sins are forgiven…”

As the service continued it seemed to focus completely on the work and words of Christ.  Now, the reformed also focus on Christ but there is always this sense that you have to check yourself to make sure you are in the faith.  While that is biblical, the proof is where the waters get muddied.  In the Dutch Reformed church you look at the fruit you’ve produced to make sure you are a Christian and that you have true faith.  However, in this service I was hearing that we are to look at God’s work in our Baptism and that this faith is then fed through the True Blood and True Body of our Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar, the Lord’s Supper.  In the sermon the pastor reminded us that even as believers we can never follow God’s Law perfectly because we are still sinners, however, Christ did it for us and then gives us Himself in the Body and Blood of the Lord’s Supper to sustain us.  The focus was on this work of Christ which is completely, totally, 100% outside of us.  Faith is given by God through the Sacraments and then sustained in us through Word and Sacrament.

As a reformed gal the Sacraments were not that powerful.  They were “signs and seals” of God’s Work but they were not actually God’s Work.  This service opened my ears to hear God’s call of Absolution and then how He serves us in the Sunday worship service.  As I left, though the Lord’s Supper was not given that Sunday, I was full.  Then, a young man, Dennis, came over, asked my name and if I were married.  I said I was and that my husband was home sick.  His immediate response was, “Oh, we will pray for him.  Hope to see you again next week.”  That greatly impressed me, almost as much as the service itself, though I have to be honest, I was not used to following along with the liturgy through the Service Book.  However, I went home filled with the preached Word of God.  As I shared with Bobby how the service was, the topic of the sermon and how friendly everyone was, he said we could go again next Sunday.

A few weeks later, early May, we received a phone call from the Pastor in Boise.    During the call I shared how we were visiting the Lutheran church in town as the winter had kept us away.  I will never forget his words, “Well, if you have to attend an imperfect church I suppose you have to…”  That struck me in two ways. 

First, throughout our becoming Reformed we were always told that Lutherans are our brothers and sisters in the faith, only that Luther didn’t go as far as he should in reforming the church and Calvin finished Luther’s work of reformation.  Second, was our pastor somehow telling us that Lutherans weren’t a good church? Or was he saying that Lutherans were imperfect while Reformed were perfect?  The first question confused me.  The latter irked me.  I shared this with Bobby and he wondered to me if our pastor thought only the Reformed are perfect? 

The following Sunday we both felt well and the weather was perfect.  The snow had melted, the ice broken up the streams flowing down the curbs and we could finally travel without feeling the highway was dangerous.  However, that phone call providentially redirected us to attend Faith Lutheran again.  We walked into Bible study this time and enjoyed hearing those around us answering questions, reading the texts and interacting with the Sunday School lesson for the day.  We were warmly welcomed and pastor spoke with us again a little more at length. 

The next week, Bobby was having surgery on his foot so we had shared this with some at church.  On the morning of the surgery the doctor had called in the prescriptions for pain and antibiotic medicines.  While at Wal-Mart two of the ladies from church spotted me and immediately asked if Bobby had the surgery already and then prayed with me.  Wow!  Was this a benefit of attending a church closer to home that I would meet fellow members at stores in town?  Having attended a church 50+ miles away, this did not happen.  The joy just overwhelmed me as I shared this with Bobby after his surgery was finished.

That week we decided we would try out the Wednesday Bible Study at Faith Lutheran.  When we arrived pastor gave us a binder with their study, which they’d been working on for about a year already:  The Reformation and Reformers.  We both love Church History and all things reformational and were excited to learn.  Once again we heard of the work of God, how He does all things regarding our salvation; of justification by faith alone through grace alone; of the sacraments; of how many in the reformation would begin denying the Presence of Christ in the True Body and Blood of the Sacrament; denying that baptism actually does something; forgive us of our sins and washes us clean.  I thought I knew reformation history but over the next several months I was learning more and more and the scriptural teachings were becoming clearer each day.  We made our home at Faith Lutheran, becoming members that September.  For us

Winter came…and changed everything. 

Wait...What?

Samuel Bolton (1606-1654) was an English Churchman of the Puritan variety and also was delegated as a member of the Westminster Assembly. In other words, Bolton was a Calvinist.

Bolton once said, "The law sends us to the Gospel so that we may be justified; the Gospel sends us to the Law again to inquire what is our duty as those who are justified."

As Lutherans, we should have some major problems with statements such as this one. In Lutheranism, we often talk about God's proper work and His alien work. His proper work is the Gospel; what God has done in Christ to save us. His alien work is the Law.

You see clearly from statements such as Bolton's, Reformed Theology reverses this altogether. God's proper work in Calvinist world is the law. The Gospel is never God's proper work. Statements such as this one betray Reformed Theology's ideas about Christ and the Gospel. The Gospel is never God's final yes. It's never God's final word. It's never His proper work. The Gospel is only a means to drive us right back to the same thing that condemns us in the first place. Now why would God do that? Sounds a little silly when you see the statement for what it is. But the truth of the matter is, in Reformed Theology the end goal is always the law, not the Gospel.

Strikingly, this statement by a conservative Puritan is theologically reflective of much of mainstream Christianity now days. The Gospel is just a means, but then we must move beyond the Gospel to bigger and better things. In the case of Bolton and the Puritans (and modern denominations such as the OPC), we have to move right back to the thing that killed us in the first place: God's Law. In the case of much of modern day Christianity, it's a bunch of other cultural norms (or perhaps even counter-cultural norms).

It's hard to label this statement as legalism, since Bolton and the Puritans would never assent to a stance that spiritual life is gained through obedience to the Law, but to use a Lutheran term, it certainly bends heavily to the Pietistic side of things.

On the other hand, statements like this have a way of stripping the believer of all assurance of salvation. Instead of looking objectively to Christ, outside of you, the believer has to look to self, to see how well they are obeying the law that the Gospel drove them to. When you chuck the heterodox doctrine of limited atonement into the mix, this problem is magnified.

Puritans such as this simply will not look objectively to Christ crucified for their sins and the means of grace where Christ has promised to meet us - Word and Sacrament. They can't. Their theology will not allow it. Their rejection of the objectivity of the means of grace forces them to look to self for assurance. In this light, Bolton's statement is just consistent with his theology.

Statements like this get it all wrong. Bolton fails to realize that the entire life of a Christian is one of continual repentance, as Luther pointed out in the first of his famous 95 theses. The Christian life is never a life of continual victory and obedience to the law. It is one of continual repentance and forgiveness of sins. The third use of the law is there for Christians to see what is good and pleasing to God - not for us to be driven back to that law by the Gospel. The Gospel is always God's final word. It's His ultimate yes.

And if this is the case, the Gospel is not a means to an end, it is an end in itself. The Christian needs the law too, but mainly for repentance. We see the law and must admit we have not kept it, even while in Christ. Hence, we can never move beyond the Gospel. We must hear those sweet words of Absolution, of what Christ has done for us in the Word, and receive that body and blood in our mouths for the forgiveness of our sins. We continually need the Gospel. It is truly the last word, not a means to drive us back to the very thing that condemned us in the first place as fanatics like Bolton and the Puritans would have us believe.

+Pax+

Christ is Sufficient

Christ is sufficient. This is most certainly true. If there is anything humanity needs to do in order to be saved, two things are also true. First, Christ would be insufficient, in Himself, as a Savior. Second, nobody would be saved.

Christ did it all. There is nothing more that needs to be done in order to be saved. Works will not get you there, for there is one who died and rose on your behalf and made satisfaction for all of your sins. Not just some, and certainly not just your sins before you became a Christian. No. All of them. Not only so, but Christ Himself established a Church and He delivers this free grace to us through Word and Sacrament. He washes us clean in our Holy Baptism. He pronounces us forgiven in absolution. He delivers us His Word in the preaching of the Gospel. He feeds us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. It's all a one-sided deliverance of gifts. This is Gospel. This is THE Gospel. To turn around and say that we have to add to that is to effectively deny the Gospel. To say that there is something more to add is to claim that Christ did not do enough. May it never be so!

If Christ is not sufficient by Himself, nobody would be saved. Not one. If you think that Christ saved you, but now it's up to you to make good of grace to finish your salvation, then it's safe to say that you probably don't understand grace or your sinfulness. Different churches sometimes teach exactly this idea in different ways. Some churches flatly say that we are justified by faith plus works. Hey, 10 points for honesty and clarity. Others give you Christ and then take Him right back once you've made a decision - putting you on the treadmill of living out the life in a victorious way.

The truth is, even for the Christian, you can never move beyond the Gospel. You can never move beyond Christ. He is the center of everything for us. And Christ has done it all.

But Christ had to do it all, didn't He? I mean, just look at what the Holy Scriptures say about who we are and what we have done.

Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Romans 3:10-12: as it is written, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Then go ahead and read verses 13-18. Not to mention, keep in mind that it's impossible to totally stop sinning, and God still has a standard of absolute perfection. Of course, that is why Christ does it all. The epistles of St. Paul point this out quite nicely. He writes numerous letters to first century churches addressing sin problems. 1 Corinthians is a great example. And he never hesitates to call these people brothers. They're simultaneously sinner and saint. Thus says St. Paul.

And to further the good news, Christ directly delivers His grace and good gifts to us directly and objectively through means. He does not grace us secretly in a Gnostic manner so then we can turn around and show Him how obedient we are by getting baptized and eating crackers and Welch's grape juice. That's not what the Scriptures say. The Bible does not talk about these sacraments in an ornamental fashion. It talks about them in a Sacramental fashion. They are God's objective means to save us.

That completely sufficient Christ gives us Himself in completely sufficient means of grace. Pretty nice, huh?

Hence, it's quite important that your theology and worship majors on the majors, so to speak. Who is Christ? What do we believe? How is man made right before God? To put it simply, if worship and theology is not Christocentric, it's missing the point and ends up majoring on the minors, so to speak.

The completely and perfectly sufficient Jesus at the center. All the time. For you.

+Pax+

Creeping Gnostic Means of Grace Denial

The means of grace. The sacraments. The Word. All of these are important terms in Christianity. And there are certainly a plethora of ideas on what constitutes the means of grace and the sacraments now days.

For this post, I'll try to keep it simple. The means of grace are ways through which the Holy Spirit works and gives grace to fallen humanity.

So what is the big deal here? Shouldn't we all be on the same page on this one? After all, the root question behind the discussion here is: How are we saved? How does God give us His grace? Are there specific manners in which He does this? Or are we the means of grace? Does He give us this grace via specific natural means which He has instituted? Or does He give us grace in response to our actions?

There are in essence 3 ideas on this topic and they can't all be correct.

1. God gives us grace in response to our choice of Him. Thus, our faith comes first and grace comes second, as a response.

This is a synergistic error. In essence, this error can take the form of Pelagianism or semi-Pelagianism. All orthodox Chirstian bodies have repeatedly rejected this error as heretical. Ecumenical church councils have rejected this, as well as Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed Confessions, documents, and councils.

Ultimately, this view rejects means of grace in the natural world here and now altogether. In short, this view says that grace is given as a result of our decision. This means that this view rejects the sacraments as means of grace.

2. God gives grace first which creates faith, but the Holy Spirit works apart from means via a secret inward call to one of God's elect.

This view is held by *some* Calvinists. In other words, this view says that the Holy Spirit works apart from means and regenerates the elect, who then afterwards believe the Gospel.

Some Calvinists then go on to assert that the means of grace are for our sanctification after we are already regenerate and justified.

This view insists that any means through which the Spirit works violates monergism. They insist that the Holy Spirit is sovereign (true) and works independently apart from means, regenerating the person and creating faith as a gift of God.

There is much to be commended about this view. They correctly recognize that faith is a gift of God and only God Himself imparts it.

The big problem with this view is two-fold. First, in their effort to uphold the sovereignty of God, they fall into a Gnostic error without even realizing it. They basically argue that the Spirit does not use the natural world as means to save the natural world. This view proves too much in the end. I mean, Jesus is a man, right? Granted, none of these folks are interested in denying the incarnation, but why not? It's consistent with their theology in this regard.

3. God uses specific natural means through which He gives grace. The Holy Spirit works through these means in the salvation of sinners.

This is the orthodox view. This view says that God uses natural means through which to work, and these means are clearly described and given to us in Holy Scripture. All means of grace are driven solely by the creative Word of God. The means of grace are the means of grace precisely because God works through them in His creative Word.

In short, in Holy Baptism, we are washed with water and the Word. (Eph 5) It's the Word that gives Baptism it's power. In the Eucharist, we are fed with the Word Himself, receiving the body and blood of Christ. In Holy Scripture, we are given the very Word of God in written or spoken form.

In other words, God has chosen to use the natural world to save the natural world. He uses water, bread, wine, sound waves, and light waves.

Far from removing the sovereignty of God, this orthodox view actually reinforces the sovereignty of God, showing that God can supernaturally create faith and save the natural world by means of the natural world, precisely because God has power and control over the natural world.

Far from rejecting monergism, these means are monergistic and objective. They deliver Christ, who died at Calvary in the natural world, to us in natural means in which God has said He will be present.

What blessed assurance! God saves us by natural means and promises that we are His through these natural means.

How am I saved? Well, Christ saved me 2000 years ago at Calvary. Now He delivers that salvation to me in Baptism and the Eucharist, and gives me His Word in Holy Scripture to back up His promise and deliver me even more assurance.

How do I know I am saved? The means are objective. That's another beauty of it all. God saves me via Word and Sacrament, and I can know I am saved also because of this Word and Sacrament, which deliver me the faith that clings to Christ alone for my salvation.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ~Romans 11:33

The Law Kills...So Let's Insert An Easier One.

Bad Theology rears its ugly head again.

Have you ever heard a well-meaning brother or sister in Christ share a story that goes something like this?

I thought I was a Christian. I went to church every Sunday because that's what Christians do. And I thought I was a pretty good person. But I eventually realized that nothing I did could ever save me. I was not a good person and I was lost. I was not saved just by going to church.

Sound familiar so far? So far, it's not so bad. The person has realized that they cannot do anything to save themselves and the perfect demands of God's Holy Law has crushed them. They then continue with something like...

I was not saved just by going to church. I would stay out all night doing x, y, and z. Then I would get up and go to church in the morning. I realized my lost state and then really, truly, gave my life to Jesus. I made it a personal relationship. I could not do anything to earn my salvation, but I made sure I was really, truly, saved. I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.

And here is where the train goes off the rails. The first part sounds so good! The Law did it's job! It crushed the person and drove them to Christ. Score one for the Law.

But then...but then...but then. It's supposed to read: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved" (Eph 2:4-5)

But it doesn't. It reads: I gave my life to Christ and made Him my personal Lord and Savior. I gave up those things I used to stay up all night doing; x, y, and z. All of them. I'm not perfect, but I love Jesus. This of course is accompanied by heavy emotion, choked back tears, and such.

So here is the rub. The person ultimately is rooting their salvation in doing something. Whether that be "making Christ Lord and Savior" or "surrendering" or "accepting Christ," they're rooting their salvation in...voila, an easier version of the law. This is all purely subjective. How can this not lead to a lack of assurance of salvation? I gave up x, y, and z. Well, what if you do x, y, and z again? or even just one of them? Well, there goes your assurance and now you're back at square one.

The other thing is that this just is not at all what Scripture tells us about salvation. Scripture tells us that Christ saves us. Alone. By Himself. It's like, all 100% Him. There is no "I'm saved because I gave my life to Christ." That's not in Scripture. There is also no "I made Jesus my personal Lord and Savior." That's not in Scripture either. There is really no "I'm a Christian and know I am really, truly, personally saved because I gave up all these things." That kind of sounds like you're boasting in leaving behind things. Know what I mean?

The other thing that is bothersome about testimonies like this is that they downplay the role of the Church. Big time. They always pit "personal relationship" vs. "church." You hear phrases like "going to church doesn't make you a Christian," and things like that.

Well, the Church is precisely the place that delivers Christ to you: personally and objectively. Not by your willing it, not by you making Christ Lord, and not by your giving up things. Those are all subjective, and those are all works!

Instead, the Church gives you Christ the way Christ said He is to be given. Christ gave us officers in the Church to deliver His good gifts to us. We call this the office of the ministry. Your pastor preaches Christ crucified to you. He is present in His Word. Your pastor baptises you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In that you are united to Christ. Your pastor administers the blessed Sacrament of Christ's body and blood, which is for the forgiveness of sins.

When, oh when, did we start replacing the Law with an easier law of "accepting Christ," "making Christ Lord and Savior," and giving things up? That's how we know we're really saved people will say.

I say nonsense. We know we are really saved because Christ strengthens our faith weekly by giving us Himself in Word and Sacrament. We ARE baptised. He has claimed us. We are His.

Get rid of Pietism. It's a dead end and it's terrible theology. And stop chucking the Church under the bus. The Church gives you God's good gifts. If God is your Father, the Church is your Mother.

Pax

Questions About Salvation

HELLO WORLD!

My name is Jason Harris. I'm an LCMS pastor in Northern Indiana. I grew up influenced by a variety of Protestant sects, including Charismatic, Fundamental Baptist and five-point Calvinist. It wasn't until about halfway through seminary that I became a plain old boring Lutheran. I was pleased and honored to receive a request by my friend Andrew Taylor to make some contributions to this blog. I'll try to fill in bits and pieces about my journey from Methbapticostal land to Wittenberg as I go along. Following is a letter I wrote to answer a question when I was volunteering as a Lutheran expert at AllExperts.com:

"hello. i confessed with my mouth that jesus is lord and was baptised about nine months ago but Im worried about not being saved and that I may eventually lose my salvation. Any help? -Kitty"

Greetings Kitty,

This is a very common issue that many Christians have dealt with in all times and places. It is especially problematic in modern America with many churches wrongly teaching that salvation is a matter of personal decisions, obedience, and symbolic actions.

This will always lead the Christian to gaze into his or her heart wondering:
      "Did I really mean it when I asked Jesus into my heart?"
      "Have I really turned my life around and become morally better?"
      "Did I follow all the right rules and jump through the right hoops to be saved?"

It is in these situations in which I always direct the person outside of themselves and onto Christ. You were not saved nine months ago. You were saved two-thousand years ago when Jesus took your sins and nailed them to his own flesh on the cross. Your baptism was not a personal action of obedience or symbolic gesture, it is a washing of rebirth and renewal in which Jesus came to you and washed your sins away. The Christian confesses not "I was baptized" but "I am baptized!" Your faith in Christ crucified and risen did not come from your own choice or reasoning ability, it was worked in you by God Himself the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament.

You, like all humans, are sinful and weak. You can't saved yourself nor are you yourself able to remain in God's salvation. But fear not! Your salvation rests entirely on who Jesus is and what He has done. When you have doubts and your conscience is troubled, look to Christ! Read his precious Gospel promises. Receive his Holy Sacraments. Hear his Holy Absolution. Through these things the Holy Spirit with strengthen and renew your trust in these promises. You are Jesus' little lamb. He holds you in the palm of his hand. In Christ, you are the apple of His eye. Nothing in this entire world, not even Satan himself, can wrest you out of the loving arms of your Bridegroom who has promised to be with you always, even to the end of the age.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Harris

Why Lutheran? Objectivity.

Lutheranism is objective. From assurance of salvation to the means of grace, to Christ crucified, it's objective. I don't think Reformed Theology or Arminianism, let alone Roman Catholicism, has the level of objectivity that Lutheranism does. I'll explain.

In Lutheranism, the means of grace are objective. We are baptised into Christ and Christ is truly given to us in baptism. Not only some people receive Christ in baptism, but everyone does. If Christ is rejected in baptism, it is all on the person rejecting, not because they did not receive an inward call or because they didn't make their own baptism effective by their own free will. This also applies to the Sacrament of the Altar. Christ is truly and objectively given to you - this means to everyone who receives the Eucharist. The Reformed claim that Christ is only received by the elect in the Eucharist. Therefore, He is not received by the non-elect. In Arminianism, the Eucharist is usually just a memorial.

The atonement of Christ is also objective in Lutheranism. In Lutheranism, Christ died for you. Thus, we know He died for us because He died for everybody. Not only that, but Christ universally objectively justified the human race at the cross (Rom 5:18). This, of course, must be received through the means of grace. But, Christ's atonement is perfect and justifies; a work already done that only need be received as a free gift. In Calvinism, it does the same thing, but is limited to the elect alone. Therefore, the question comes up repeatedly: How do you know Christ died for you? In Arminianism, Christ's death is not penal at all. It's all dependent on the will of man to make it effective. There are worse theological problems with that, but that is for another time.

This all brings us back to the assurance of salvation. In Calvinism, which of course is another Reformation tradition, they have grace alone through faith alone. Rock on. However, this faith alone is not a sure thing because of the lurking question of did Christ die for me or not? They could be baptised and not receive grace; hear the Gospel preached and not receive grace; and receive the Eucharist and not receive grace. All of these are dependent on the mysterious sovereign inward call of the Spirit. Thus, assurance of salvation generally comes back to less sinning. In Arminianism, assurance all revolves around holy living; sometimes salvation itself. This is not to say that Calvinists and Arminians cannot have assurance of salvation. But it is to say that they have less objectivity in that realm that the Lutheran doctrines teach.

In Lutheranism, we know we are justified because a) Christ justified us on the cross, outside of ourselves, and b) we have received Christ in baptism, the Word, and the sacrament as a free gift, by God giving Himself to us. Both of these are outside of ourselves and the means of grace actually work faith in the recipient (cf. Eph 2:8-9). Thus, God gives us Christ on the cross, for everyone - and then Christ is given to us via Word and Sacrament, as a free gift, apart from our willing or doing (Rom 9:16). Both Word and Sacrament are to be received by faith alone; which they themselves bring! All of it is completely outside of ourselves. All we contribute is the sin that made it necessary. These means of grace give forgiveness of sins and faith and the Holy Spirit is there all the time. Not because we believe the Spirit can be manipulated, but because God has said He will come to us in grace in these ways.

Thanks be to God.