[T]o know God's essence
means to know 'the most profound depths of his fatherly heart, and his
sheer, unutterable love' (Large Catechism II, 64). To know God's love
means to receive his gracious love. However, the love of God the Creator,
Redeemer, and Sanctifier is not given through the demands of the law but
through the gift of the Gospel. The triune God therefore is known only in
the distinction of the law and Gospel, that is, by faith in the Gospel.
2
We exclude
any doctrine of the Trinity which is not governed by the distinction
between law and gospel, which is the Word of the cross.
The
Cross: Where we begin
In
Luther's phrasing, "The cross alone is our theology" (cf 1 Cor
2:2). That is, through the death of his Son on the cross, the Triune God
established his own righteousness. What does this mean? Looking at the
problem of sin and death, the Lord dealt with it his own way-on the cross,
he did this alone-without us, and it is finished. Jesus' resurrection
guarantees that his death on the cross is not defeat, but victory. It is the
cross that reveals our need of the Savior and the Savior we need. The
proclamation of the cross is the gospel.
Thus
the gospel is "the power of God for salvation" (Rom 1:16). Through
this Word alone we are saved. But what is this Word alone? First, the Word
alone is Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). Second, the Word alone is the
proclamation of the Word of the cross effecting salvation and creating faith
(Rom 10:17; 1 Cor 1:18, 21). Third, the Holy Scripture inspired by God is
the Word alone witnessing to Jesus Christ and testifying to the Word of the
cross. The scriptural witness is the sole norm for all formulations of the
gospel. A careful distinction must be drawn, however,
between faith itself as trust in God's promises, and those aspects of the
faith of the Church which are responses to the divine promise through canon,
creed, confession, teaching, and doctrinal formulations.
The gospel (the promise of
God) does indeed have a specifiable 'knowledge' content.
3 But the authority of this content,
Lutherans believe, is established by its power to convict of sin and
convince of grace through the work of the Holy Spirit.
4
The gospel, so to speak,
establishes its own transcendence. Its truth becomes known and its
authority acknowledged only upon being heard through the Word, received in
the sacraments, and believed through the power of the Spirit.
5
We exclude
any teaching which diminishes the offense and folly of the cross (1 Cor
1:23) by the use of human reason or by appealing to tradition or
experience.
Sin
and Death: Our Problem
We
are in bondage to sin (John 8:34) and death (Rom 6:23; 1 Cor 15:26, 56) and
cannot free ourselves. From birth on we are in rebellion against God. We
will not let God be God. "[We] cannot by our own understanding or
effort believe in Jesus Christ [our] Lord or come to him . . ." (SC
2/3, §6). Only because of what God has done through the cross do we know
the seriousness of sin and, because he alone established his righteousness
through the cross, do we know our helplessness before sin.
6 We are not free not to sin.
We
exclude:
-
the
belief that sin is part of our very being so that we are excused from
any responsibility.
-
the
belief that we are able to comprehend the depth and the seriousness of
sin through our own experience.
-
the
belief that there is something in us which naturally points or leads
us to the truth of the gospel (a divine spark). 7
The
Word of the Cross: God's Answer
The
Word of the cross is: we
are elected to eternal life solely for the sake of Christ's death and
resurrection, apart from any merit or worthiness in us (Rom 10:17; 1 Cor
1:18, 21). Through this Word alone God puts us to death and raises us to new
life (Rom 6:4), that is, he creates faith. Thus faith is not a work of our
own doing. It is always God's work, for the Holy Spirit is the one who
"calls [us] through the gospel, enlightens [us] with his gifts, and
sanctifies and keeps [us] in true faith" (SC 2/3, §6). In faith we
trust in the Word of the cross, not in our own faith, even though
it is
we
who have faith.
The
Word of the cross comes to us through means (SA 3/4); God does his saving
work in all of them. The Word of the cross is in the mouth of the preacher,
driving the sinner to repentance and announcing the forgiveness of sin. In
baptism, by water and the Word, the sinner is drowned and raised by God's
grace and given new birth. Infant baptism is an especially dramatic example
of how God works. By water and the Word alone he creates and sustains faith
in the infant. 8 The Lord's
Supper, Christ's Last Will and Testament, is his true Body and Blood in,
with, and under the bread and the wine, sustaining us in faith and life
eternal according to his Word and Institution. In confession and absolution his Word of pardon sets the
sinner free from the past and opens up a future that not even death can
destroy. In the mutual conversation and consolation of the faithful, the
Word of the cross raises up a community in which sinners are reconciled to
God and to each other, a foretaste of his kingdom.
The
Word is always both law and gospel. On this side of death we are always
completely caught by sin and fully forgiven through the gospel.
9
The one justified continues to be subject to sin: we are obedient to the
will of God, yet against our own will. In faith we return every day to our
baptism. The Word of the cross shows the brokenness of all our thoughts,
words, and deeds. We cannot look to anything in us, but depend entirely on
the promise of God's unconditional mercy through the cross of Jesus Christ.
10
The
power of the Word of the cross to convict of sin and convince of grace is
the article by which the church stands or falls, that is, because God
justifies the ungodly, forgiving sinners for Christ's sake, nothing else can
be trusted for salvation. All teaching and practice are to be tested by this
one criterion: whether they further the proclamation of this gospel.
We exclude:
- the attempt to make
grace into an abstract idea (gnosis), omitting the cross.
- the confusion of this
gospel with the various kinds of therapy promoted in our culture.
- the belief that God's
righteousness through the cross is not an adequate and complete
solution to the problem of evil.
Mission
and Church: God's Action in this World
The
Word of the cross comes to us earthly creatures through earthly means:
words, water, bread and wine. The gospel by its very nature turns us back
into the world, creating both church and mission. 11
The
New Testament does not prescribe any particular structure for mission and
church except for establishing that Jesus Christ continues to be the Lord of
his mission and the Lord of his Church, regardless of the shape of these
structures. Thus, while the true church is not invisible (i.e., it has
visible means ), it is always both hidden under the cross and revealed
through the cross (Ap 7-8:18). All structures and practices for church and
mission, like all our works, are broken. They are earthly and sinful. Jesus
Christ retains his Lordship.
Therefore
it is sufficient for the true unity of the Church that the gospel be
preached in conformity with a pure understanding of it and that the
sacraments be administered in accordance with this gospel (AC 7). No
particular structures may be prescribed. Their shape and use are determined
by whatever best serves the mission of preaching the truth of the gospel.
Just as we are all free in Christ (cf. Gal 5:1), so too we are free to use
whatever structures further the proclamation of the Word of the cross.
"Through
Word and sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given, and
the Holy Spirit produces faith, where and when it pleases God, in those who
hear the gospel" (AC 5; cf. Rom 10:17). All Christians receive the Holy
Spirit through baptism, and all Christians are called to proclaim the Word
of the cross in word and in deed (the priesthood of all believers).
For
the sake of good order (1 Cor 14:40) and mission a variety of public
structures for proclamation has developed (Ap 14:1), but already in the New
Testament the variety of such structures demonstrates that no particular
structure was normative. 12
The Lord is free to use many kinds of structures for his mission.
Through
the Word our brokenness is forgiven by Jesus Christ and we are free to live
in a broken world, trusting in the Word of the cross alone; we are not free
to surrender our freedom by establishing structures which are held to
safeguard the gospel from the brokenness of this world.
We
exclude:
-
the
attempt to use the doctrine of the unity of the church to determine the
truth of the gospel.
-
the
belief that anyone or anything (such as bishops in an historic
episcopate) except the Word of the cross "safeguards" the
gospel or establishes its "fidelity." 13
The gospel authenticates itself.
-
elevating
any structure or practice-except proclaiming the Word and administering
the sacraments-to the level of a requirement for mission and Church, so
that it is held to safeguard the gospel from the brokenness of this
world.
-
distinguishing
between the audible Word (i.e., the preached Word) and the visible Word
(i.e., the sacraments) in such a way that the visible Word is given
elevated status over the preached Word.
-
restricting
the administration of the Lord's Supper to the "ordained" in
such a way that implies ordained clergy have a special character or
power to make Christ present in the Sacrament.
-
establishing
any structure in the church which limits the freedom to proclaim the
Word of the cross even to the church, i.e., the church too, like every
Christian, is totally sinful, even in its structure, as well as totally
righteous. 14
The
Christian Life: God's Action in this World
Life
in Christ is always both law and gospel, which are to be distinguished but
not separated. Life in the gospel under the Word of the cross banishes the
use of reason and the law, yet the law always accuses us (Ap 4:167; SA 3/2:
4-5). Life under the law is life where common reason and common sense
determine what is necessary to restrain evil (SA 3/2:1-3).
Both
our Lord and the Apostle Paul sum up the law in terms of self-denying love
(Mt 22:34-40; Mk 12:18-27; Lk 10:27-40; Rom 13:10). As a consequence, we are
faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, because the Word of the cross has
already shown we are broken in all that we do ("All our righteous deeds
are filthy rags." Is 64:6), we do not grow in holiness, but begin every
day anew with our baptism, living by forgiveness, at the foot of the cross,
not even judging ourselves (1 Cor 4:3-4).
On
the other hand, our righteousness as Christians cannot grow at all because
it is the perfect righteousness of Christ, which we have received in faith.
Our good works are nothing other than the fruits and visible signs of his
righteousness. We no longer regard anyone "from a human point of
view" (2 Cor 5:16), for this is "one for whom Christ has
died" (Rom 14:15; cf. 1 Cor 8:11). We are commanded to love one another
as Christ has loved us (John 13:34). This kind of extravagant love is such
that no one but Christ himself fulfills its demands (cf. 1 Cor 13:4-8a; Mt
5:48). Such a law only accuses us.
To
use Luther's remarkable words: "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of
all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all,
subject to all." 15
Always totally sinful and totally justified, we are called to use our common
reason in order to restrain evil and provide for the proclamation of the
Word of the cross. Therefore we have a commitment to protecting the family,
the child, the weak, and the impaired.
We
exclude:
-
the
belief that because we are forgiven we may sit on our hands (quietism)
or say that anything goes before God (relativism).
-
the
appeal to experience and feelings as guides superior to our common
reasoning, as if they were exempt from our common brokenness under the
cross.
-
the
belief that "saints" are more than forgiven sinners.
-
the
belief that "good works" do not spring solely from his
righteousness
1
Nicea: 325; Constantinople: 381; Ephesus: 431; Chalcedon: 451. Return
to text
2
The entire paragraph reads as follows:
The
Triune God is not yet known if he is presented without the distinction of
law and Gospel. In the Roman church the dreadful fact had become evident
that, in spite of the preservation of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity,
God was not known any more, since the Gospel had been lost. But to know
God's essence means to know 'the most profound depth of his fatherly heart,
and his sheer, unutterable love' (L.C. II, 64). To know God's love means to
receive his gracious love. However, the love of God the Creator, Redeemer,
and Sanctifier is not given through the demands of the law but through the
gift of the Gospel. The triune God, therefore, is known only in the
distinction of law and Gospel, that is, by faith in the Gospel. The train of
thought in this chapter has shown that the Creator is known only in the
Gospel. The same holds true of knowing God the Sanctifier, for the Holy
Spirit is given only through the Gospel. Of every knowledge of God the
statement applies: 'Thus the entire Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, directs all men to Christ as to the book of life' (S.D. XI,
66).
Edmund
Schlink, Theology of the Lutheran Confessions (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1961) 66. Emphasis in the text.
Return
to text
3
Cf. Gerhard Forde, "Infallibility Language and the Early Lutheran
Tradition," Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue 6 (Minneapolis:
Augsburg, 1978) especially the Appendix 135-37. Return
to text
4
L/RC 6:63. Return
to text
5
L/RC 6:62. Return
to text
6
LW 26:32-35. Return
to text
7
Also excluded are the Roman Catholic notions of habitus and synterisis,
which hold that every person has a natural bent or inclination toward God. Return
to text
8
"Water by itself is only water, but with the Word of God it is a
life-giving water which by grace gives the new birth through the Holy
Spirit," (Small Catechism 4:3; cf. Book of Concord, p.349). Return
to text
9
simul totus iustus et totus peccator Return
to text
10
We fall into the sin of presumption when we look to ourselves (securitas);
the certainty (certitudo) of our salvation depends entirely on the
Word of the cross. Return
to text
11
"Our churches also teach that one holy church is to continue forever.
The church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely
and the sacraments are administered rightly" (CA, VII, §1). Return
to text
12
In Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue 4 (New York: LWF, 1970) 100,
Jerome Quinn, writing for the Roman Catholics, acknowledges that in the New
Testament period "differences in structuring the Ministry existed
simultaneously in different churches (Jerusalem; Corinth; Ephesus; Rome,
etc.)." The Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogue II Report and
Recommendations (Cincinnati: Forward Movement, 1981) 40 notes that the
Lutheran/Catholic dialogue acknowledges the diversity of church order found
in the New Testament period. Return
to text
13
See CCM 5: "a ministry of pastoral oversight (episkope)...is
necessary...to safeguard the unity and apostolicity of the
church," and 12: "Both churches value a ministry of episkope as
one of the ways in which the apostolic succession of the church is visibly
expressed and personally symbolized in fidelity to the gospel
through the ages." Return
to text
14
AC 28:77: "It is not our intention that the bishops give up their power
to govern, but we ask for this one thing, that they allow the Gospel to be
taught purely." Cf. AC 7: " The church is the assembly of saints
in which the Gospel is taught purely...." The link between AC 7 and AC
28:77 is found in the word purely (Latin: pure). To proclaim the gospel
purely undermines the sacramental Historic Episcopate because to proclaim
the gospel purely overthrows all authorities that appeal to something else
besides faith alone in Christ alone. Return
to text
15 LW 31:344.
Return
to text
