[T]he preacher needs to frame his address in a way that would awaken in every poor sinner the desire to lay down the burden of sins at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and say to Him, "You are mine, and I am Yours." Here is where Luther reveals his true greatness. He rarely appeals to his listeners: "Believe, really believe!" Rather, he preaches the work of Christ, salvation by grace, and the riches of God's mercy in Jesus Christ. Everyone gets the idea: "All I have to do is receive; all I need to do is rest in the lap of divine grace." That is the great art that you must seek to learn, so each listener will think: "If that is true, then I am a blessed person. All my anguish and unrest has been unnecessary. I am completely redeemed. I am reconciled with God. I am among the saved, among those whom God has made His gracious face to shine." The moment a person thinks these thoughts, he attains faith.
C.F.W. Walther, Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible,
(trans. Christian C. Tiews; St Louis: Concordia, 2010), 287-288
(trans. Christian C. Tiews; St Louis: Concordia, 2010), 287-288
4 comments:
"Preach Christ's Finished Work So the Sinner May Find Rest"
"There is no peace for the wicked, saith my God." (Isa 57:21)
Maybe Marcion was right after all that my God and your god aren't the same.
As I have no idea which God (or god) you believe in, that is entirely possible.
Had you but read the content of the post, you would have known Walther was speaking of rest for the contrite and repentant sinner. You pulled one verse of Isa 57 to make a point, yet the verses preceding (15-19) make mine:
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near," says the LORD,
"and I will heal him."
I don't see anything where one word about repentance is mentioned in the post. If it had been, I wouldn't have made this comment. But when you say "All I have to do is receive; all I need to do is rest in the lap of divine grace" you obviously are excluding repentance. If you had said "All I have to do is REPENT and then receive" then that would be different, wouldn't it.
You do not have the benefit of full context. While it is true that repent is not explicitly mentioned in the paragraph, Walther made repentance and confession plain in other sections.
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