Walther on Reformation Doctrine and Liturgical Practice

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Excerpt from a Reformation sermon delivered by C. F. W. Walther in 1858. 


It is true that of all the church bodies which have left the papacy, it is precisely the Lutheran Church which is accused of retaining many papal abuses and of having been the least successful in cleansing itself.  It is pointed out, for example, that in our church priestly clothing, church ornamentation, pictures, altar, crucifixes, candles, confession, the sign of the cross, and the like are still apparent.


But, my friends, whoever regards these innocent things as vestiges of the papacy knows neither what the papacy is, nor what the Bible teaches.  The very fact that the Lutheran Reformation was not aimed at indifferent adiaphora, but retained those things which were in harmony with God's Word, shows that it was not a disorderly revolution, but a Biblical reformation; for whatever did not agree with God's Word was unrelentingly cleansed from the church by the Lutheran Reformation even though it seemed to glow with angelic holiness.


The Lutheran Reformation, however, was complete not only in the destruction and tearing down of all the idols which had been erected in the church, but also in bringing forth its treasures and in setting up its truly sacred possessions.  Luther followed not only the principle, "truth and nothing but the truth," but also the principle, "and the whole truth."  Therefore, through his efforts, not only this and that truth, not just half the truth, but the whole truth of Holy Scripture was opened for the church, was used, and made the Christians' common possession.  Not only did the Lutheran Reformation get all its doctrines out of the marble quarry of the written Word of God, but there is no doctrine of the Word of God which it did not place on the candlesticks of the church like a heavenly light in its purity.  This includes the doctrine concerning God as well as the doctrine concerning man; the doctrine concerning the foundation of salvation as well as those concerning the means of salvation and the order of salvation; the doctrine concerning faith as well as those concerning love and hope.  The whole counsel of God for man’s salvation was clearly and purely brought to the light of day out of the gold mine of Scripture, beginning with the doctrine of justification; namely, that a man is righteous before God and can be saved only by grace through faith in Christ without the merits of works.  This laid the foundation on which the whole Christian doctrinal edifice rises like a holy diamond temple.  In its holy of holies the New Testament mercy seat of the holy sacraments and the absolution is enthroned.

(Excerpt of C. F. W. Walther's 1858 Reformation sermon published in "The Word of His Grace: Sermon Selections, C. F. W. Walther", Lake Mills, Iowa:  Graphic Publishing, 1978, pp. 50-53.)

Trinity 15, 2026

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The most important detail in the parable is in the summary: he laid up treasure for himself. And that is the heart of anxiety: we are looking to the self for stability, we seek a place of rest for and within the self.

What’s beneath that? We have forgotten we are creatures. Creatures have a Creator. Man is in the passive position in that equation. He depends upon Another. …

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The Marriage of Rey Ramos & Ruth Tesfai

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Modern theories of relationships rest on ideas like compatibility. But this is the compatibility that matters: a common god, a common worship.

Personality quirks, thermostat preferences, the degree of melanin in the skin, no difference matters if you confess together the Nicene Creed, believe in the forgiveness of sins, and agree to submit to your husband and love your wife as Christ loved the church….

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Matins to Begin the First Day of School 2026

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This man, the Lord Jesus, is the center of all human history. You can learn every fact about Alexander the Great, about Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire, about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and the founding of our great nation - but without Jesus at the center, you won’t really understand any of it.

Because human history isn’t the story of empires and generals, wars and constitutions, musicians and poets. Human history is the story of man who lost his way, and the God who entered our history, became Himself a man, and descended into our darkness.

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Trinity 13, 2026

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When God made man, He outlined man’s purpose: Get married, have babies, cultivate the world into an ordered and beautiful garden, essentially expanding Eden.

That purpose doesn’t go away. But it becomes horribly hindered. Our desires are corrupted, and death like a weed is choking all life east of Eden.

That catastrophic fall is embedded in the parable….

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Trinity 10, 2026

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In many ways, the controversy surrounding the forgiveness of sins in the sixteenth century was driven by money. Pope Leo needed money to pay off the loan he had with the Fuggers, a prominent banking family. The indulgences he put up for sale were to help with that loan, along with completing the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome. Charles V was getting a cut of the indulgence money to fund war with the Turks. When Luther preaches that you cannot buy forgiveness, the flow of German money to Italy dries up. Money has a tendency to corrupt theology.

I hadn’t been a pastor for very long before a woman asked me a question that flabbergasted me. She’d just had a baby, and we were scheduling the baptism. “How much does it cost?” she asks. “What do you mean?” “What’s the fee for the Baptism?” “Fee? There is no fee.” In the church she grew up in, there was a fee. I had no idea. It’s not for sale….

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2026 LCMS Convention Sermon

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This month we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This formational political document invokes “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Political independence for the founders never meant independence from God. And He has put our Synod here for this moment. The Creed we confess is a Declaration of Dependence….

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Trinity VI 2026

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“First be reconciled to your brother.” First. Wouldn’t you rather it be last? When someone is angry with you, do you want to go to the person and get it resolved right away?

It’s easier to tell someone else. To complain. To spin the narrative such that the other person looks bad. “It’s not my fault. It’s never my fault. Everybody else around here is terrible.”

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