Minkota Mission District – NALC

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John 13:34–35

From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession

Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law 

If there be no need of Christ, if by our love we can overcome death, if by our love, without Christ as propitiator, we have access to God, then let our adversaries remove the promise concerning Christ; let them abolish the gospel. The adversaries corrupt very many passages because they bring to them their own opinions. They do not derive the meaning from the passages themselves. What difficulty is there in this passage when we remove the imagined interpretation that the adversaries attach to it because they do not understand what justification is or how it occurs? Already being justified, the Corinthians had received many excellent gifts. In the beginning they glowed with zeal, as is generally the case. Then dissensions began to arise among them, and as Paul indicates, they began to dislike good teachers. Accordingly, Paul reproves them, recalling them to responsibilities of love. Although these are necessary, it would be foolish to imagine that works of the Second Table justify us, for they deal with people, not expressly with God. Justification is a transaction by God through which his wrath is appeased and our conscience is pacified before God. None of this comes about through works of the Second Table.

Pulling It Together: Yes! We should obey God by loving one another and doing acts of charity and other good works. Yet these actions will never conquer sin and death or provide access to God. Claiming that they accomplish such great effects is to call the good news of Jesus Christ ineffective. However, when we read the Scripture in context, we understand that God’s reconciling work is wholly sufficient. Basing a doctrine on a verse can mislead, as in the case in question. When we consider the entire unit of thought, we see that the Corinthians had already been justified by Christ and, as a result, had been eager to obey God. In time however, they listened to teachers who told them what they wanted to hear by tickling their ears with false doctrines (2 Tim 4:3, NASB) instead of teaching the whole counsel of Scripture. This is when good teachers must use the law to demonstrate that we cannot keep God’s commands. For, “the Law is a word of death, a doctrine of wrath, a light of sadness, which reveals sin and demands righteousness from us, which we cannot produce” (“Epistle for the Day of the Three Holy Kings,” Luther’s Works). Only then will people be driven back to the gospel, to the righteousness of Christ alone. When we comprehend that he first loved us, then we may rightly respond to his command to love one another.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for your law that accuses me, causing me to rely upon your Son instead of myself. Amen.

Beginning in 2016, Sola is adding a Bible Overview year to its Confirmation Series, with two ten-session booklets — one on the Old Testament and one on the New Testament. These books provide a step-by-step overview of the history and geography of the Scriptures, exploring the various time periods and sections of the Bible and how they connect to one another. The goal is to give students a sense for the over-arching story of Scripture, fulfilled in the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Source: Daily Devotions in the Lutheran Confessions

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Exodus 20:13–17

From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession

Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law 

The adversaries treat the matter preposterously, citing this one passage in which Paul teaches about fruits. Yet they omit very many other passages in which he discusses the mode of justification in a regular order. Besides, they always add a correction to the other passages that deal with faith, namely, that they ought to be understood as applying to fides formata. They add no correction that there is also need of the faith that understands we are accounted righteous for the sake of Christ as propitiator. As a result, they exclude Christ from justification and teach only a righteousness of the law. So, let us return to Paul.

No one can infer anything more from this text than that love is necessary. This we confess. Therefore, not to commit theft is also necessary. But this reasoning will not be correct if someone would desire to frame an argument like this: "Not to commit theft is necessary. Therefore, not to commit theft justifies." Justification is the approval of the entire person, not of a certain work. Therefore, this passage from Paul is not against justification by faith, so long as the adversaries do not add to it whatever their imaginations please. For he says, "I am nothing," not that love justifies. He declares that without faith, love is extinguished, however great it may have been. He does not say that love overcomes the terrors of sin and of death, that we can set our love against the wrath and judgment of God, that our love satisfies God's law, that without Christ as propitiator we have access to God because of our love, that by our love we receive the promised forgiveness of sins. Paul says nothing like this. He does not, therefore, think that love justifies, because we are justified only when we apprehend Christ as propitiator, and believe that for Christ's sake God is reconciled to us. Justification should not even be dreamed of without Christ as propitiator.

Pulling It Together: Faith is not formed by love or other good works. That is backwards thinking and contrary to Scripture. Rather, love is formed by faith. Faith in Christ compels us to love and to obey God. Therefore, faith also urges us to keep the other commandments, such as, “You shall not steal” (Exod 20:15). Yet there are people who do not steal, though they have no faith in Christ. Are they justified to God because they do not steal? No; religious and civil works do not justify. Only faith in Christ reconciles God by justifying sinners. Without faith, good deeds are of no account with God since works do not justify. That is Christ’s function, not ours. Therefore, once justified through faith, good works necessarily follow but they do not make payment for our sins or remove the terrors of sin and death. We should never imagine anything but Christ Jesus as the only satisfaction and payment for our sins.

Prayer: Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Amen. 

In Part 2 of Sola Scriptura, "The Norm of Faith" study shows how an active view of the Word informs and guides our understanding of what Scripture says. In other words, it will talk about what the Bible means based on what it does. In terms of how we come to articulate our faith and our doctrinal teachings, to speak of Scripture as the "norm" of faith means that it is the standard against which our theology and proclamation are measured.

• Study Guide   • See also Sola Scriptura, Part 1: The Source of Faith

Source: Daily Devotions in the Lutheran Confessions

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Galatians 5:22–25

From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession

Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law 

Now we will reply to those passages that the adversaries use to prove that we are justified by love and works. They cite: “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1Cor 13:2). Here they exult, claiming that Paul testifies to the entire Church that faith alone does not justify.

We have shown above what we hold concerning love and works. But a reply is easy. This passage of Paul requires love. We require it also. For we have said above that renewal and beginning to fulfill the law must exist in us, according to the word: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts” (Jer 31:33). Anyone who casts away love will not keep faith, however great it seems, for he does not retain the Holy Spirit.

Paul is not treating the mode of justification in this passage. He is writing to those who have already been justified, urging them to bear good fruit lest they lose the Holy Spirit.

Pulling It Together: The Roman Confutation claimed that people are justified by adding love and other works to faith in Christ. Conversely, the Lutherans confessed that love and good works are a necessary response to faith in the saving work of Christ. Although the work of Christ on the cross is sufficient for salvation, the person who will not love as Christ loves, has become spiritually cold and lives according to the flesh again. That person has become nothing, no longer keeping in step with the Spirit and living by faith. For the Holy Spirit does not dwell where Christian love and other fruits of the Spirit are not present.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me remember my baptism with daily repentance and sorrow for sin, so that the new person in Christ will emerge in me more and more every day. Amen. 

A Latin phrase meaning “Scripture Alone,” Sola Scriptura is one of the traditional Lutheran slogans used since the time of the Reformation. It expresses our confession that Scripture is “the only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged.” Using the familiar phrase as its title, Sola Scriptura is a new, advanced-level Bible Study in a two-part series, of six chapters each, on the functional authority of Scripture. For those who would like to cover the topic in detail, there is enough material to cover one chapter in two sessions, making each part a 12-week study.

• Leader's Guide   • See also: Sola Scriptura, Part 2: The Norm of Faith

Source: Daily Devotions in the Lutheran Confessions

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Romans 4:22–5:1

From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession

Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law 

We are speaking now of the righteousness by which we interact with God, not with men, and by which we apprehend grace and peace of conscience. The conscience however, cannot be pacified before God except by faith alone, because it is certain that God for Christ's sake is reconciled to us, according to Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Pulling It Together: The assurance of God’s love for us is always disturbed by our works. As soon as we trust in an act of charity or devotion to God, our confidence is shattered by an unkind thought or lack of devotion. That is when we must think of Christ instead of ourselves. So long as our thoughts are on our acts of charity or ability to fulfill the law, we become anxious and our consciences will be troubled. Since, however, we are not reconciled to God by our works, or even our works added to Christ’s work, we must always turn our thoughts to Christ. When we remember that we are justified by faith in Christ and not faith in ourselves, we return to a place of quiet rest and the peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7).

Prayer: Quiet my heart, Lord, and strengthen my faith in you through the power of your indwelling Spirit. Amen. 

Subscribe to Connections Magazine today. Connections features articles that connect Lutherans to the Word. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism provides the inspiration for confessional, biblical content, delivered in a stylish, readable design. 

Source: Daily Devotions in the Lutheran Confessions

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Ephesians 2:13–18

From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession

Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law 

We believe and teach that good works must necessarily be done. Nevertheless we give Christ his own honor. We believe and teach that by faith, for Christ's sake, we are accounted righteous before God. We are not accounted righteous because of works without Christ as mediator. We do not earn the forgiveness of sins, grace, and forgiveness by works, which cannot be set against the wrath and justice of God. Nor can they overcome the terrors of sin. The terrors of sin are overcome by faith alone. Only Christ is to be presented by faith as mediator against the wrath and judgment of God. If any one think differently, he does not give Christ due honor, who has been set forth that he might be the propitiator, that through him we might have access to the Father.

Pulling It Together: Polls differ as to how many Americans say that they believe in God, some as high as 80% or more. Other polls demonstrate that the most basic evidences of faith are a much lower percentage. So let us be clear. The faith that we profess is not a mere nod to God. As James says, even demons believe in God (James 2:19). Faith has feet. Real faith is put into action. It bears fruit. Real believers, not those who simply agree that there is a god, are slowly beginning to act like Jesus. First of all, they give him all the glory and honor that is his due. As it is his work that justifies us to God, we give him that honor. We do not believe that Jesus needs any assistance from us. Therefore, although works necessarily follow, or go hand in hand with faith, it is Christ who has saved us from sin and death. Our works neither save us nor give us any consolation that they do.

Christ alone is our peace. He has reconciled us to God, and did so without our help. As a result, we have access to God. There is no longer a wall between God and true believers. We are now in a corrected relationship and at peace with him because of Christ alone.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for tearing down the wall that had separated us from the Father. Amen.

The General Epistles offers a series of 12 Bible studies based on Hebrews, James, I & II Peter, I, II, & III John, and Jude. The geographical locations of Biblical characters can symbolically refer to places we find ourselves with respect to our faith. As we become more acquainted with our spiritual geography, we will better discern where God would have us go or what changes we need to make in order to serve Him better.

Source: Daily Devotions in the Lutheran Confessions