Enabled by God to live
One thing I need to look into–and sooner rather than later–is this idea that I hear among some Lutherans that Christians don’t do good works, it is only Christ working in the believer. I’ve written before that I consider this the modern antinomianism, and what I want to do is find out the source of this teaching in our Synod. (If anybody has any clues, please share them with me.) I was thinking about this again while looking at the collect for this coming Sunday, Trinity 8:
Grant to us, Lord, the Spirit to think and do always such things as are right, that we, who cannot do anything that is good without You, may be enabled by You to live according to Your will; through jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
By ourselves, we can do no good thing; but the new man in Christ is not just a puppet – he is enabled by God to live according to His will. That means that the new man himself is actually doing the living, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Following regeneration, we are synergists.
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Amen
Amen
Here is a link to an article that appeared in “For the Life of the World,” a number of years ago.
http://www.lifeoftheworld.com/lotw/article.php?m_vol=2&m_num=3&a_num=2
-ERF
I agree with 95% of that article. DPS is always thought-provoking.
Pr. E, please let me know what you find out on the source and origin of this thinking. I’ve been tracking this now for some years and am baffled whence it comes in our circles. The best I’ve been able to piece together is that it is an over-reaction coming from people responding to converts from “Evangelicalism” who heard little “Evangel” and a lot of other -isms: moralism, legalism, etc.
I was reading a sermon of Walther’s on the “mind of a Christian” recently and it was the most anti-antinomian preaching I have come across. While leaning on the pillar of justification, it went beyond extolling virtuousness; the sermon practically mandated it. Nevertheless it was clear Walther did not believe that works of righteousness were a condition for salvation–Walther’s theology assumed Pr. Esget’s notion that though men are given strength to do God’s will through His grace, men are creatures of volition (mirroring God’s image), not “puppets”, and must actively decide to engage in good works. Hence the encouragement in Walther’s sermon to be righteous.
I suspect that the problem has more to do with the diseased and distorted sinful nature of the human being, always seeking to justify or excuse sin at every turn, rather than a “movement” or a conscious decision toward anti-nomianism within our ghetto. In fact, I think the problem has been with the Christian for some time. Why else do we have Romans 6?
I think the real challenge before us in an exploration of the ramifications of our union with Christ and the language of maturity in faith….
+Mason
Have you read Law Life and the Living God by Scott R. Murray? (its CPH, 2002)
He at least starts out placing it on the German Lutheran fascination more with Luther’s writings than with the Confessions, causing them to abandon the Formula of Concord because Luther never specifically refers to a 3rd Use of the Law (although he preaches and writes it all the time, with or without the actual term) and so they subsequently reject that the Law can instruct…that it ONLY condemns.
American theologians were in dialogue with German theologians at the Bad Boll conference in Swabia and later, and this impacted the works of Werner Elert and others. Murray traces this through various theologians (and through Seminex) throughout the 20th century. The only problem I really have with the book is that at times it is difficult to tell whether the author stating the theologian’s opinion or stating his own in argument against the theologian. He goes back and forth. But a brighter mind than mine might not struggle with that as much.
He also makes a good point that modern antinomians take Law and Gospel and rather than using it as a means to understand Scripture, they make it a hermeneutic unto itself. Scripture can only be understood through this eye, and if it seems like the Bible is commanding something, it isn’t. It can only be understood by understanding that it really is only pointing to something that Jesus has done.
Jesus and the apostles aren’t really ever telling us that we need to make an effort to be righteous. They are only pointing to what Christ has already done. I’ve had someone specifically tell me this before I ever read this in Murray.
Basically what this does, though, is it makes Scripture unavailable to the average Christian, because there is no way that the average Christian can open up the Bible and figure out that when Paul seems to be talking about trying to live according to God’s law now that we are saved, he really isn’t. He is really only pointing out what Christ did.
On a personal note, what I’ve noticed about the few that I have encountered is that they really seem to be racked by guilt. They never seem to measure up to their own standards in their home life, work life, ministry, etc. so it is as if this is a defense mechanism. The Law can’t instruct because they can’t handle one more expectation, least of all from God. How can they even imagine living up to that when there is a hyper-awareness that they don’t live up to their own expectations or those around them. It really breaks my heart. I heard one friend state that the banner in their church says “Now Go and Serve” and she feels burdened not forgiven and refreshed before she even walks out into the narthex. There seems to be no understanding that even if we attempt to serve God imperfectly, which we will, that we are forgiven for that as well, and it is still accounted to us as righteousness and still God pleasing. It is all or nothing. Perfectionism that paralyzes.
As Pastor McCain pointed out about responding to Evangelism…generally if discussions go toward taking about good works, they react to the discussion as if they are having a debate against Calvin himself.
Have you read Law Life and the Living God by Scott R. Murray? (its CPH, 2002)
He at least starts out placing it on the German Lutheran fascination more with Luther’s writings than with the Confessions, causing them to abandon the Formula of Concord because Luther never specifically refers to a 3rd Use of the Law (although he preaches and writes it all the time, with or without the actual term) and so they subsequently reject that the Law can instruct…that it ONLY condemns.
American theologians were in dialogue with German theologians at the Bad Boll conference in Swabia and later, and this impacted the works of Werner Elert and others. Murray traces this through various theologians (and through Seminex) throughout the 20th century. The only problem I really have with the book is that at times it is difficult to tell whether the author stating the theologian’s opinion or stating his own in argument against the theologian. He goes back and forth. But a brighter mind than mine might not struggle with that as much.
He also makes a good point that modern antinomians take Law and Gospel and rather than using it as a means to understand Scripture, they make it a hermeneutic unto itself. Scripture can only be understood through this eye, and if it seems like the Bible is commanding something, it isn’t. It can only be understood by understanding that it really is only pointing to something that Jesus has done.
Jesus and the apostles aren’t really ever telling us that we need to make an effort to be righteous. They are only pointing to what Christ has already done. I’ve had someone specifically tell me this before I ever read this in Murray.
Basically what this does, though, is it makes Scripture unavailable to the average Christian, because there is no way that the average Christian can open up the Bible and figure out that when Paul seems to be talking about trying to live according to God’s law now that we are saved, he really isn’t. He is really only pointing out what Christ did.
On a personal note, what I’ve noticed about the few that I have encountered is that they really seem to be racked by guilt. They never seem to measure up to their own standards in their home life, work life, ministry, etc. so it is as if this is a defense mechanism. The Law can’t instruct because they can’t handle one more expectation, least of all from God. How can they even imagine living up to that when there is a hyper-awareness that they don’t live up to their own expectations or those around them. It really breaks my heart. I heard one friend state that the banner in their church says “Now Go and Serve” and she feels burdened not forgiven and refreshed before she even walks out into the narthex. There seems to be no understanding that even if we attempt to serve God imperfectly, which we will, that we are forgiven for that as well, and it is still accounted to us as righteousness and still God pleasing. It is all or nothing. Perfectionism that paralyzes.
As Pastor McCain pointed out about responding to Evangelism…generally if discussions go toward taking about good works, they react to the discussion as if they are having a debate against Calvin himself.