C.F.W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel
Outline by unknown student (Concordia
Seminary,
[Note to American readers: Dr. Walther
employs the term “evangelical” in the 16th cent. sense, viz., “Lutheran!”
(ed.)]
The doctrinal content of all Holy
Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, consists of two diametrically opposite
teachings, namely the Law and the Gospel.
Both are equally
necessary: The Law only prepares us for
the Gospel and the Gospel gives us the power to keep the Law to some extent.
The Difference Between Law and Gospel
A. In the Manner of their Revelation to Mankind
1. The
Law: written in the heart of all men,
even if imperfect.
2. The
Gospel: the proclamation and revelation
of nothing but free acts of God’s Grace; these are not self-evident.
B. In their Content
1. The
Law: tells us what we must do: “You shall.”
It only demands.
2. The
Gospel: speaks only of what God does; it
demands nothing at all. It only gives.
C. In the Promises Offered by Both
1. The
Law promises eternal life and salvation, on the condition that we keep the Law
perfectly.
2. The
Gospel has no condition attached. It is
a promise of Grace.
D. In their Threats
1. The
Law orders man to curse himself.
2. The
Gospel has only words of consolation.
E. In the Function & Effects of Both
1. The
Law: Threefold Function.
a. Tells us what we must do, but gives us
no power to do it.
b. Uncovers a person’s sins, but offers no
way out and thus plunges him into despair.
c. Produces contrition, fear of hell, of
death, and of God’s wrath, but it has not one drop of comfort for the sinner.
2. The
Gospel.
a. Calls for Faith but grants and bestows
Faith in the demand.
b. Does not punish the sinner at all, but
removes all terror, fears, all anxiety and fills the sinner with peace and joy
in the Holy Spirit.
c. Demands nothing good of man
whatever. Demands nothing, but gives
everything.
F. In Respect to the Persons to whom the One or the Other is
Proclaimed
1. The
Law must be preached to secure sinners.
2. The
Gospel must be preached to terrified sinners.
[Pure doctrine is the narrow way to
heaven: one side is the swamp of
fanaticism, the other side is the abyss of rationalism.]
G. How Both
Teachings are to be Presented Without Mingling Them
1. The
Law must be preached in all its severity, but the hearer must be able to note
that it is for the person who is still secure in his sins.
2. The
Gospel must be preached in such a way that the people can notice that it applies
only to those who have been struck by the Law and need comfort.
3. If
either one is missing, the other is false, for a
sermon that does not offer all that belongs to salvation is a false sermon.
Thesis II
Only
he is a pure teacher who not only presents all articles of faith in accordance
with Scripture but also correctly distinguishes between Law and Gospel.
A. A Pure Teacher Presents All Articles of Faith in Accordance with
Scripture.
1. God’s
Word demands that we preserve it altogether clean and pure.
2. After
a sermon we should be able to say, “I have proclaimed the pure truth.”
B. A Pure Teacher also Distinguishes Between Law and Gospel.
1. This
is the ultimate test of a proper sermon.
2. If
a Preacher does not distinguish between Law and Gospel, then everything is
wrong.
3. The
sermon is wrong even when there is no false doctrine in it.
4. John
Gerhard: “The Law and Gospel must be
distinguished everywhere.”
a. The Law has no place in the doctrine of
justification.
b. Justification comes from the Gospel.
5. The
Lord has given the church two keys, and through the church to all Pastors.
a. The binding key: locks the door to heaven.
b. The loosing key: looses the door to heaven.
6.
The mingling of the Law and Gospel leads to disturbed
consciences.
To distinguish properly Law and
Gospel is the most difficult and exalted skill of Christians and theologians, a
skill that only the Holy Spirit teaches in the school of experience. (application and function.)
A. Properly to Distinguish Law and Gospel
is so Difficult and Such a High Art for the Preacher
as a Christian--it is the Greatest Skill
a Human Being can Acquire.
1. Not
“Depart from me, Lord and Savior!”
2. But
“Abide with me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
3. When
the Law condemns you, you must reach for the Gospel at once.
4. The
very essence of being a Christian is that he knows how to seek his salvation in
Christ and thus escape the Law.
B. Properly to Distinguish Law and Gospel
is so Difficult and Such a High Art for the Preacher as a Christian. [check?]
1. A
Preacher must know the art of giving each person at the proper time what he
needs, be it Law or Gospel.
2. This
skill is acquired only through the Holy Spirit.
a. A Pastor must no longer have the spirit
of this world. [What? (ed.)]
b. The world cannot receive the Spirit.
c. Therefore, anyone who desires to be a
servant approved by the Lord must first become a Christian.
3. The
Preacher must know how to present an accurate portrait of each hearer.
4. The
Preacher cannot be too careful in his sermon.
a. You must always go over your sermon
once more and ask, “Is it neither against the Law nor against the Gospel?”
b. Your sermons must not say anything that
can be misunderstood.
c. It is also wrong if at times a subject
is not sufficiently explained.
5. It
is even more difficult to distinguish Law and Gospel in the Pastoral care of
the individual (Believer or Unbeliever).
6. It
is still more difficult to treat genuine Christians in accordance with their
specific spiritual condition.
7. It
is extremely important for a Preacher to recognize different temperaments if he
wants to judge people fairly and deal with them accordingly.
Introduction: A
simple Preacher can be an excellent theologian, while another, who has mastered
all Oriental languages and has studied who knows what else, perhaps does not
yet deserve that title. It all depends
on whether God has made him a theologian or not.
“The
true knowledge of the difference between Law an Gospel
is not only a glorious light for the correct understanding of all Holy
Scripture, but without such knowledge Scripture is and remains a closed book.”
The
true knowledge of the difference between Law and Gospel is not only a glorious
light for the correct understanding of all of Holy Scripture, but without such
knowledge Scripture is and remains a closed book.
A. The Nature of Scripture
1. It
does not contradict itself.
2. The
Old and New Testaments are harmonious.
B. The Pastor Must
have Experienced the Distinction
Between Law and Gospel Himself.
1. The
Preacher cannot say that the Law is the end.
2. The
Preacher cannot say that the Law has been repealed.
The first and most glaring way of
mingling Law and Gospel is the teaching of the Papists, Socinians, and
Rationalists that makes of Christ a new Moses or lawgiver and turns the Gospel
into a doctrine of works and, conversely, like Papists, condemns and
anathematizes those who teach the Gospel as a message of God’s free grace in
Christ.
A. What has Christ Done
and How Does This Relate to Us?
1. Christ
did not come into this world to bring new laws.
2. “Believe”
means to “make your own what Christ has won.”
B. The Cross and its Seriousness
1. Since
it is dangerous for a Christian to have only pleasant days in this world, the
Savior has made provision to lay a cross
upon him.
2. But
the yoke of Christ is easier than the yoke of the Law.
3. The
Christian and the Preacher must take seriously their resolution to become a
servant of Christ, of his church and His Word.
Secondly,
God’s Word is not properly divided when the Law is not preached in its full
severity nor the Gospel in its full sweetness, but when Gospel elements are
mingled with the Law and Law elements with the Gospel.
(How does Scripture tell us to avoid
mixing Gospel elements into the Law?)
A. The Law Knows Nothing of Grace. It Cannot Justify (Gal.
B. The Law Demands Perfect Obedience (Mt.
C. Your Best is Not Good Enough (Gal.
D. Hearer Hates the Preacher Who has Preached the Law into his Heart. He Cannot Get Rid of It.
E. “If the Law does not Proceed,
the Gospel will not Succeed.”
F. Catechetical Instruction is of the
Utmost Importance.
Introduction: By
false teaching a Preacher can become responsible for the souls entrusted to his
care not being converted, and thus being lost forever.
Not only are we to Love God’s Word, but also tremble at it,
be afraid to depart from it in a single letter, or add or subtract anything. We must be prepared to shed our blood rather
than yield in any letter of the Word of God.
God’s Word is not rightly divided, in the
third place, when the Gospel is preached first and then the Law. First sanctification and then justification. First faith and then
contrition, first good works and then grace.
A. Four
False Approaches are Possible.
1. When
the Gospel is preached before the Law (Mark
2. The
proper order is inverted when sanctification of life is preached before justification,
which consists of the forgiveness of sins (Ps. 119:32).
3. The
proper order is inverted when Faith is preached first and then contrition (Acts
4. It
is wrong to preach Good Works and then Grace (examples of wrong sermon outlines
are on page 62). (Eph. 2:8-10).
B. The Word of God will Never Return Empty
if it is Preached Properly. If Your
Sermons do not have the Right Goals, all Preaching is in Vain, Whether You
Proclaim the Law or the Gospel.
In
the fourth place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when the Law is preached to
those who are already terrified because of their sins, or when the Gospel is
preached to those who are secure in their sins.
A. The Gospel Must be
Preached Only to Poor, Crushed Sinners (While the Law is to be Addressed to
Secure Sinners). Examples of those
crushed:
1. The
Fornicating Woman (Lk.
2. Zacchaeus
(Lk. 19:1-10).
3. Prodigal
Son (Lk.
4. Criminal
on the cross (Lk.
5. Jailer
at
6. Luther
to Spalatin (
B. The Law is to be Addressed
to Secure Sinners. Examples:
1. The
Rich Young Ruler (Mk.
2. Pentecost
and Peter (Acts 2).
3. II
Corinthians 12:20-13:2.
[When we preach, we must first preach our hearers into hell
before we can preach them into heaven.]
[Comments on preaching:
1. Be genuinely alive, zealous
Christians, aglow on behalf of the truth.
2. When great talents and thorough
scholarship are added to a Preacher’s living Faith, he will become a great and
skilled instrument in God’s hand.
3. Walther: Hence, I urge you day and night during your
seminary days to reach the highest goal in all branches of theological
knowledge.]
In
the Fifth Place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when sinners, struck and
terrified by the Law, instead of being directed to Word and sacrament, are
instructed to strive for the state of grace through prayer and struggles, that
is, to keep on praying and wrestling until they feel that God has pardoned
them.
A. Reformed [(Puritan? (ed.)]
Theology Confuses Law and Gospel by Prescribing a Long Care for a Deathly
Illness and Attributing the Illness to God Rather than to their Own Sinful
Selves.
1. The
sects (Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians [? (ed.)], and
Presbyterians [? (ed.)]) do
not believe and teach a genuine and complete reconciliation of man with God.
a. They trust God as a very hard man whose
heart must be softened up by bitter wailing and weeping: This is a denial of Jesus Christ and His
justifying work.
b. They picture reconciliation as
thus: The Savior made God willing to
save men, if men would also be willing to be reconciled: This is an anti-Gospel.
[supralapsarian Calvinism?
Are you kidding?! (ed.)]
2. The
sects regard Faith as a quality in man that improves man; and because it does
so, it is regarded as being of extraordinary importance and benefit.
Summary: The
conversion method of the Reformed [Puritans? (ed.)] et al. is to give the stricken sinner
all kinds of rules, how he must act, what he must do, how earnestly and how
long he must pray and wrestle, until he finally hears an inner vice tell him
that his sins are forgiven and he is a Child of God.
B. The Doctrine of Doubt via the Roman
Catholics
1. The
remaining sins of the Christian must be cleansed in the fires of Purgatory.
2. No
one can be sure already in this life that his sins are forgiven and that he
will be saved.
3. If
the above two statements are true, then the promises of Christ are empty.
4. The
root of this error is the confusion of Law and Gospel.
C. Pietism
in the
1. Example: Fresenius and his Three Rules for the
Unconverted.
a. Pray for Grace.
b. Keep watch over Grace.
c. Study the Word of God in the right
manner.
2. Rather,
“What must we do to be saved?” “Believe in the Lord Jesus.”
D. The Confusion of Law and Gospel Among
the Sects Consists in their Directing
the Terrified Sinner to Prayer and
Wrestling for Grace, Instead of Pointing Him to the Word, Baptism, Holy
Communion, and Absolution.
1. The
Word of God, meaning here, the Gospel.
2. Baptism: Acts
3. The
Lord’s Supper is a Heavenly Meal on earth, full of promise and power.
4. Absolution:
When pronounced by a lowly Preacher it is not his own, but Christ's for he
absolves by the command of Christ, in His stead, and in His Name (Jn.
E. What is the Doctrinal Basis of Absolution?
1. Christ
the Substitute (Jn.
2. Christ
the Atoner for the sins of all people and the Obtainer of forgiveness for them
(II Cor.
3. Christ
the Resurrected One, the Reconciliator, the Redemptor: God the Father has affirmed and sealed this
Work.
4. Christ
the Proclaimer through the sanctified [sense? (ed.)]: Forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all.
5. Christ the Proclaimer: from the general all, to the specific you
(every individual).
The Cross is central to the above five points. What does a Lutheran preach when he proclaims
forgiveness of sins and absolves? He
does nothing but inform the people of the Gospel (the above five points).
F. The Difference Between
Papistic and Lutheran Teaching of the Efficacy
of Absolution
1. Papistic:
(Priest-Ordination Centered).
a. Make complete confession - Everything!
b. Experience complete contrition.
2. Lutheran: (Christ-centered).
a. Completeness of Christ’s work of
Reconciliation and Redemption.
b. Christ’s command to preach the Gospel
(absolution/forgiveness) to every creature.
Introduction: Twofold
purpose:
a. We want nothing to spoil the cup of
inexpressible joy which our Heavenly Father has filled for us.
b. When you enter the ministry of
reconciliation, you must be careful not to rob poor sinners of what God gave
them long ago, in fact, planned for them from eternity.
1. The Word of God: God really gave (gives) men authority to
forgive sins, and they rejoiced (rejoice) in the Messiah.
2. Baptism: “He who believes and is baptized will be
saved.”
3. Lord’s Supper: “Given and shed for you for the Forgiveness
of sins.”
4. Absolution: “Your sins are forgiven.”
H. God’s Word is Not Rightly Divided when
People Who are Struck and Terrified
by the Law are Instructed to Wrestle
for the State of Grace through Prayer and Struggles, and Keep on Praying and
Struggling Until They Feel God has
Pardoned Them.
1. Methodists.
a. They read and hear God’s Word, but they
experience nothing.
b. If they do feel ill at ease because
they are so indifferent with regard to their salvation and have no taste for
the Word of God, they seek to quiet their conscience by saying that the
c. A person is such a state has nothing
but a dead intellectual Faith, a “Mouth-faith.”
2. Luther
clung to the Word, no matter how he felt.
Such Faith is seldom found in our day.
a. Either the people are spiritually dead
and therefore carefree and confident that they will get to heaven somehow,
b. Or they are uncertain and anxious.
3. Grace
cannot be in my heart, for it is in God’s heart.
a. First, you must believe, and only then
feel.
b. And the proper feelings will come in
due time. Just when a Christian
thinks: “Alas, I feel nothing! I am so cold and so dead! God’s Word tastes like rotten wood! The absolution does not refresh me!”—then
suddenly some great joy will revive his heart.
God will not forsake him.
Summary: One must
rely on Christ and His Word. We must not
rely on a conversion in the past, but every day must be a re-conversion, daily
repentance, daily baptism.
In
the Sixth Place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when faith is pictured
either as if merely regarding something as true would justify and save in spite
of mortal sins, or as if faith justifies
and saves for the sake of the love and renewal it effects.
A. God’s Word is Not Rightly Divided when
Faith is Pictured Either as if Merely
Regarding Something as True would Justify and Save in Spite of Mortal Sins.
1. We
must have the kind of Faith that of itself produces Love and is fruitful in
Good Works (Luther).
2. But
Faith does not justify for the sake of Love.
3. Rather,
Faith is created by the Holy Spirit and unable to do otherwise than be active
in Good Works, justifies because it clings to the promises of Grace and lays
hold of Christ.
4. If
people (Papists/Calvinists) believe that they cannot lose Faith and Grace, they
will not be concerned about repentance when they have fallen into gross sins
(based on doctrine of predestination).
5. As
soon as I lose Faith because of mortal sin, I also lose God’s Grace and become
a child of death and damnation.
B. God’s Word is not Rightly
Divided when Faith is Pictured as if Faith Justifies and Saves for the Sake of the Love and Renewal it
Effects.
1. Scripture
affirms that there can be no true Faith without Love, without renewal, without
Sanctification, no true Faith does not make the person who has it rich in Good
Works.
2. Scripture insists that this
renewal, this Love, these good works which Faith produces are by no means the
reason why Faith justifies and saves (Rom. 4:16, 4:5, 11:6; Phil. 3:8-9; Eph.
2:8-9).
3. “The
Christian religion is a religion of gratitude.” (Luther).
4. Therefore,
after we have received eternal life, we should be truly thankful to God for all
that we are and have.
5. Therefore,
those works that we do out of gratitude to God are the proper Good Works.
In
the seventh place, God’s Word is not rightly divided if one wants to offer the
comfort of the Gospel only to those who, through the Law, experience contrition
not out of fear of God’s wrath but out of love to God.
A. Papists, Enthusiasts, Pietists: “True Contrition
Must Flow From Love to God. Then You
Will be Ready for the Gospel.”
B. But the Law has No Other Function Than to Bring us to a Knowledge of Our Sins. It has No
Power to Renew Us (Rom.
1. When
you preach, do not be stingy with the Gospel.
2. “Godly
Grief” (II Cor.
a. It is not the contrition that flows from Love to God.
b. It is
the grief produced by God through His Word.
Introduction: The
work of preaching is the most difficult given to a servant of the Church.
1. Only the Holy Spirit bestows a
proper sermon through the Word.
2. Hence a good sermon comes into
being for a truly believing Preacher only.
a. By the
expenditure of all spiritual and mental powers,
b. By
fervent prayer,
c. By getting rid of all earthly cares
and vain desires. [! (ed.)]
3. If a servant of the church cannot
preach properly, he has no business in the pulpit.
In
the eighth place, God’s Word is not rightly divided if the impression is given
that contrition is a cause of the forgiveness of sins alongside of faith.
A. Why
is it Mingling of Law and Gospel to Find the Impression that Contrition is a
Cause of Forgiveness?
1. Because
Contrition is effected exclusively by the Law.
2. Contrition
is not even a good work.
B. Do
Not Hesitate to Preach the Full Gospel to Anyone of Whom You May Humanly
Assume that He is Rid of His Self-righteousness and Wants to Receive Salvation
by Grace Alone.
1. So many confuse daily repentance with the repentance that
precedes Faith.
2. Daily
repentance is not exclusively the work of the Law, involving only the Law, but
it at the same time a work of the Gospel.
3. This
contrition proceeding from Love to God is indeed a truly sweet pain and
acceptable to God.
In
the ninth place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when faith is demanded in
such a way if a person could give it to himself, or at least contribute
something toward it instead of seeking to preach faith into the heart by
presenting the promises of the Gospel.
A. It is Not Wrong to Demand Faith of One’s Hearers.
B. It is
Wrong to Say that a Person Could Give Himself Faith.
C. (Melanchthon, the Synergist)
In
the 10th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when faith is demanded as a
condition of justification and salvation, as though a person becomes righteous
before God and is saved not only through faith, but also because of faith, for
the sake of faith, and in view of faith.
A. Sola
Fide : Man is not Saved by His Own Efforts, but
Exclusively Through the Work and Suffering of His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
the Redeemer of the Whole World.
B. Modern Theologians: There are Two
Kinds of Works for Salvation:
1. God’s
work for Redemption [and]
2. Man’s
work of believing.
C.
Law as Distinguished from Gospel.
1. The
Law is conditional; it demands.
2. The
Gospel is unconditional; it is a gift.
Introduction: As
servants of the Gospel it is not only your duty to Believe
as the church believes, but you must also Speak the language of the Christian
Church.
In
the 11th place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is
turned into a preaching of repentance.
A. “Gospel”
is Used in a Way Similar to the Word “Repentance.”
1. Repentance.
a. Broad sense: All of conversion:
i. knowledge
of sin.
ii. contrition.
iii. Faith.
b. Narrow sense: Refers only to knowledge of sin and a
contrite and remorseful heart. Here,
Faith is equal to repentance.
2. Gospel.
a. Broad sense:
i. All that Jesus preached, including the
Law.
ii. As the
opposite of the Old Testament, referring only to the teaching of the Law.
b. Narrow sense:
i. “It is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who has Faith” (Rom.
ii. The Lutheran Confessions also use
“Gospel” in a broad and in a narrow sense.
B. It is Not Only Extremely Dangerous But Also Destructive of Souls to Preach in Such a Way that the People are
Led to Think that the Preacher Regards the Gospel
in its Proper and Narrower Sense as a
Proclamation of the Law, as a Penitential Preaching that Reveals God’s
Wrath Because of Sin.
Introduction:
1. Mankind consists of 3 divinely
established estates:
a. Teaching (Lehrstand) church and school.
b. Nurturing (Naehrstand) farmers, artisans, artists, scholars.
c. defending
(Wehrstand) rulers, government officials,
jurists, armed forces.
2. The estate of teaching: the most despised and hated, and the most
glorious. (Note 7 points on page 146).
C. The Gospel
in the narrower sense.
1. When
the Gospel is placed in opposition to the Law, it surely cannot be taken in the
wider sense, but must be understood in the narrower sense (Eph.
2. When
the Gospel is presented as the teaching peculiar to Christ and as the message
Christ, the Law cannot be included (Jn.
3. When
the message is directed to poor sinners, it is certainly Gospel in the narrower
sense (Mt. 11:5; Lk.
4. When
the effects of the Gospel are forgiveness, righteousness, and salvation by
Grace, it is Gospel in the narrower sense (Rm.
5. When
Faith is the correlative of Gospel, it is Gospel in the narrower sense (Mk.
In
the 12th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when it is suggested that
shedding certain vices and performing certain works and virtues is a true
conversion.
A. Rationalism, Paganism, Neo-Judaism, Islam: “You must first get rid of your vices and
exercise yourself in virtues, and then you will become a different person.”
B. Christianity: “Repent,”
change your attitude, have a different heart, a different spirit (Jn. 3:5-6;
Mt.
In
the 13th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when believers are pictured
in a way that does not fit all believers at all times with regard both to
strength of faith and to the feelings and the fruitfulness connected with it.
A. The Final
Goal: To make believers certain that
they have forgiveness of sins before God and the Hope of eternal life, so that
they can confidently face death.
B. A Christian
Often Acts in a Very Unchristian Way (Rom. 7:14, 18; Phil. 3:12; Gal. 5:17;
James 3:2; Heb. 12:1; Is. 64:4; Job 14:4; Ps. 32:6).
Christians are not always:
1. happy,
2. even-tempered,
3. patient,
4. fearkess concerning death,
5. humble,
6. self-confident,
7. fervent in prayer, [or]
8. free givers.
In
the 14th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when the universal corruption
of mankind is described as if the true believers were living in dominating and
willful sins.
A.
The Law Produces Damned Sinners.
B. The Gospel Produces Free and Blessed People.
In
the 15th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when the preacher gives the
impression that certain sins are not in themselves damnable but only venial.
A. Mortal
Sins: Those which result in spiritual death,
that is, the Holy Spirit departs, he cannot pray like a child of God and can no
longer bravely resist temptation. [unbelief solely? (ed.)]
B. Venial
Sins: Those that a Christian commits
without losing the Holy Spirit, sins of weakness and rashness, the everyday
sins of Christians
C. Our Christian Experience Teaches that No Sin is Itself Venial. Little Sins Become Big Sins When We Think
Little of Them.
In
the 16th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when salvation is linked to
membership in the visible orthodox church and
salvation is denied to anyone who errs in any article of faith.
A. The Members of the Church are the Ones
who Cling in Firm Faith to the Word of the
Apostles and Prophets.
1. Christ
is the Head of the Church. A member
hears His voice, and follows Him.
2. Christ
is the Shepherd. A member heeds His
voice, and follows Him.
B. It is Possible to See Who is Associated With the Church, But is Not Possible to See Who the True Members
Are (Tappert pp. 170 ff.).
C. Do
Not Permit Yourselves to be Drawn into the False Teaching that the
Introduction:
Requisites for a theologian.
1. He must have a complete, exact, and
clear knowledge of all teachings of the divine revelation.
2. He must understand the mutual
relationships of the teachings in order to be able to apply them correctly.
3. He must have courage and love for
his theological calling.
In
the 17th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when it is taught that the
sacraments have a salutary effect even if they are merely performed ex opere
operato.
A. The Gospel
Teaches that Man is Justified and Saved by Grace Alone and Only Then is Able to do
Good Works.
B. We Teach that in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper God Makes a
Promise to You. Cling to that
Promise and Do Not Doubt.
C. By Performing These Two Small Acts We Receive the Forgiveness of Sins.
In
the 18th place, God’s Word is not rightly divided when a false distinction is
made between awakening and conversion, and not being able to believe is
confused with not being permitted to believe.
A. The Pietists
Posited 3 Classes of People:
2. those Awakened but not Converted (One Who has not
Experienced a Thorough Contrition).
3. the Converted
B. According to Scripture, There are Only Two
Classes:
1. Converted
2. Unconverted
C. Where There is
but a Spark of Genuine Longing for Grace,
There is Faith, for Faith is Nothing but Such Longing. Then a Person is Not Only “Awakened” (In the
Wrong Sense), but Converted.
D. Where Not Being Able to Believe is Confused with Not Being Permitted to Believe. This
is Contrary to:
1. Christ’s
complete Redemption (I Jn. 2:1-2; II Cor.