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Luther and the Presence of God in the Genesis Commentary: By Rev. Jack Cascione
Continued from "Did Luther Change from Congregational Supremacy to Pastoral Hierarchy?" How is God Present In The Worship Service? This is the third in a series of articles examining the "late" (1535-1545) Luther's teaching on what we would call "Church and Ministry" as found in his 8 volume set on Genesis. We now address the question as to whether the "late" Luther changed his views on the presence of God in the means of grace and the pastoral office. The first President of the LCMS, C. F. W. Walther, is often accused of relying on quotations from the "early" Luther concerning the presence of God, particularly in the pastoral office. Critics of Walther and LCMS polity, claim the "late" Luther changed his views from congregational authority to the importance of the sacrament of ordination for the pastor. There is no question that in the middle and end of his career Luther had to defend the means of grace and the pastoral office against the Anabaptists and Sacramentarians. Did Luther change or did he simply expand and further explain on his earlier teaching? To address, this issue we will only offer quotations from the "late" Luther in his Genesis Commentary. After reading through 3200 pages this writer anticipated there would be some unexpected directions and conclusions in Luther's writings. Yes, there were some surprises. However, while looking for changes in Luther, I actually found more changes in twenty-first century Lutherans who were no longer following Luther's teaching. Indeed, there are Lutheran churches today that could not tolerate Luther's preaching and would show him the door. While expecting Luther to speak repeatedly about the means of grace, he also spoke adamantly about the visible presence of God in a true worship service. He compares the means of grace to Israel seeing the pillar of fire at night and the cloud in the day. Today we speak about the means of grace being the "marks of church" according to the Augsburg Confession. Luther also spoke about the means of grace as the marks of God. Rarely today do we hear of Lutheran Churches proclaiming that they alone have the true God present in their worship services, just as God was only present in the Temple at Jerusalem. It all sounds a little too much like boasting and prejudice for twenty-first century tastes. Rather, today's Americans are much more comfortable with a "democratic" God who is present with all sincere worshipers of every race, creed, and color. For this they quote the U. S. Constitution instead of the Bible. The following two quotations are offered in order to set the tone for the many examples in Luther's writing on this subject: "We can state with certainty that where the Eucharist, Baptism, and the Word are, there are Christ, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Contrariwise, where these signs of grace are not present, or where they are despised by men, there is not only no grace, but execrable errors follow, and men set up for themselves other forms of worship and other signs." LW1:249 "Thus in the Old Testament faces of the Lord were the pillar of fire, the cloud, and the mercy seat; in the New Testament, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, the ministry of the Word, and the like. By means of these God shows us, as by a visible sign, that He is with us, takes care of us, and is favorably inclined toward us." LW1:309 Luther's Thought and Speech Patterns on the Means of Grace How many times does Luther employ similar references to the means of grace while he also explains the visible presence of God? We now offer 40 examples in the following list where Luther enumerates the means of grace in the context of God's presence in the true church in his Genesis lectures: 1. Eucharist, Baptism, and the Word LW1:249 Actually, the above citations are only representative of all the possible examples. Often times Luther would speak for a number of pages on each of the above. The following is a remarkable list of 48 citations where Luther uses 25 different terms to explain his understanding of God's visible presence through the means of grace (listed above) in a true worship service. Luther defines the presence of God in the above means of Grace as follows: 1. signs of grace, (LW 1:249, 3:108) If anything, Luther was never short on vivid expression, while speaking to his students in his lectures on Genesis. How Did Luther Link The Means of Grace To Genesis? There are too many examples above to explain how Luther applied them to Genesis. They make a fascinating study of Genesis, the presence of God, and the means of grace. The following are three of Luther's applications of the presence of God in the means of grace to the Genesis text. Example 1. Genesis 4:3 states: "And it happened at the end of days that Cain brought an offering of fruit of the earth to the Lord." From this text, Luther draws the conclusion that God commanded these sacrifices and that preaching took place at the sacrifice. He taught that God is not worshiped by speechless human work. Therefore, preaching the Word must have always accompanied an outward sign of God's grace, such as an Old Testament sacrifice. Before the flood, God showed His presence by these sacrifices. After the flood, God gave circumcision as a sign of grace to Abraham. Later God also gave more signs of grace in sacrifices, burning incense, the cloud, manna, the brazen serpent, the tabernacle of Moses, the temple of Solomon and the cloud. Luther explains: "In the same way the very Word, Baptism, and Eucharist are our light bearers today, toward which we look as dependable tokens of the sun of grace. We can state with certainty that where the Eucharist, Baptism, and the Word are, there are Christ, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Contrariwise, where these signs of grace are not present, or where they are despised by men, there is not only no grace, but execrable errors follow, and men set up for themselves other forms of worship and other signs." (LW1:247-249) Example 2. Genesis 28:17: "And he was afraid, and said; 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'" In comparison to Jacob's ladder Luther then states about the means of grace: "Then the church is defined here, what it is and where it is. For where God dwells, there the church is, and nowhere else; for the church is God's house and the gate of heaven where the entrance to eternal life and the departure from the earthly to the heavenly life are open. But where God has not spoken or dwelt, there the church has never been either. (LW5:245) . . . "Do not seek a new and foolish entrance. But look in faith at the place where the Word and the sacraments are. Direct your step to the place where the Word resounds and the sacraments are administered, and there write the title THE GATE OF GOD. Let this be done either in the church and in the public assemblies or in bedchambers, when we console and buoy up the sick or when we absolve him who sits with us at table. There the gate of heaven is, as Christ says (Matt. 18:20): 'Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them.' Throughout the world the house of God and the gate of heaven is wherever there is the pure teaching of the Word together with the sacraments." LW5:247 Example 3. Genesis 49:11-12: "Binding His foal to the vine and His ass's colt to the choice vine, He washes His garments in wine and His vesture in blood of grapes; His eyes shall be red with wine, and His teeth white with milk." This is Jacob's deathbed blessing for his fourth son Judah. Luther speaks on these verses for 27 pages. In the following quotation he applies these verses to all of the means of grace as visible signs of Christ's blood in the worship service. "It is all the beautiful red blood of Christ, so that everything we have through the Holy Spirit in the Word, Baptism, the Lords Supper, absolution, consolation, and whatever pertains to the remission of sins and eternal life is understood as having been gained through the power of the blood of Christ. All this is the blessed blood of the Son of God. . . . For the Gospel, the Lord's Supper, and Baptism must not be separated from the blood of Christ; for this embraces everything." LW8:258 The Presence of God In the Pastoral Office Luther doesn't write in clearly defined categories. Rather he relates one thing to another. Hence, at the same time, he speaks about the presence of God in the means of grace and in the office of the ministry. The ministry is God's office; therefore God must be present in His office. Luther's conclusions on this subject were not what this writer was expecting to find. Luther maintains the distinction between the office of the ministry and the holiness of the man who holds the office, a distinction that had been totally lost in the Catholic Church. They made the priest a living sacrament and a transubstantiated Jesus in the flesh. In maintaining this distinction Luther writes: "Judas, for his person, did not belong to the church; yet he was in the ministry of the church, and those who were baptized by him were rightly baptized." (LW4:32) Luther taught that Christ actually is the one who baptizes through all ministers as well as through Judas, while Judas himself was eternally damned. Luther shows no restraint in explaining that God Himself appears to us through the office of the ministry. However, the office holder receives no special grace or sacrament at ordination, but rather through the office of the ministry, God shows Himself to us in the means of grace, including the words that proceed from the minister's mouth. Luther writes about the presence of God through the minister in the following examples and quotations:
Why does God do this? Luther explains that the purpose of the pastoral office or "eternal ministry" is because God wants human beings to share in his workings. (LW3:288) It is the way God wants to operate. As adamant as Luther is in explaining that God presents himself through the office of the ministry, the office doesn't have a monopoly on God's presence in the congregation. Luther also believed that God presents Himself through the priesthood of all believers. Luther writes, "For if we have been absolved through the mouth of a brother or a minister, we must not look at the human being who is speaking." (LW5:130) That is quite a leap. Notice Luther says from a "brother," that is, another Christian, in addition to the office of the ministry. And again, Luther makes the astounding statement that God presents himself through women and children: "For is it not a great gift and great glory that in case of necessity even a woman can baptize and say: 'I deliver you from death, the devil, sin, and all evils, and I give you the gift of eternal life; I make a son of God out of a son of the devil'? But by daily use, that abundance of the Spirit has become commonplace. Yet it is true that a minister of the Gospel who teaches and baptizes is a greater prophet than Jacob or Moses." (LW8: 309) And again he writes: "For today even a child or a woman can say to me: 'Have confidence, my son. I announce to you the remission of sins. I absolve you, etc.'" (LW8:310) Is Ordination a Human Rite Or a Sacrament? Those who understand the office of the ministry having exclusive use of the means of grace won't find consolation in the three quotations above. What about ordination? Is it a sacrament or a rite? The answer is that Luther views ordination, like marriage, to be a divinely instituted human rite and not a sacrament. The pastor's mouth and hands are instruments of the means of grace, but the minister himself does not possess the sacrament of ordination. Luther believed only one person has the office of the ministry in the congregation, the called and ordained pastor. "But when sermons are delivered there, when the sacraments are administered and ministers are ordained to teach, then say: 'Here is the house of God and the gate of heaven; for God is speaking, as 1 Peter 4:11 states: 'Whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies.'" (LW5:248) Ordinarily and for the sake of order, only the pastor preaches, teaches, and administers the sacraments because these are the duties of the office. Just like the rite of marriage, Luther believed that God is responsible for ordination, though marriage for Luther was a more important human rite than ordination. "It is not for nothing, therefore, that special rites are employed in the church to unite men and women in matrimony, likewise for ordaining ministers of the Word. For we bless the bridegroom and the bride; we recite the words of the divine ordinance; we call upon God to be pleased to protect this estate. We lay hands on the ministers and at the same time pour forth prayers to God, for the sole reason that we may testify that there is a divine ordinance both in these and in all other estates of the church, of the state, and of the household." (LW7:146-147) "Thus the imposition of hands is not a tradition of men, but God makes and ordains ministers. Nor is it the pastor who absolves you, but the mouth and hand of the minister is the mouth and hand of God." (LW5:249) Just as in marriage God says, "What I have joined together" so through the minister God says, "I forgive you." Luther places the ministry of the word in the hands of the congregation when he says: ". . . Baptism the Keys or the ministry of the Word-for these must not be separated-which in itself is also a visible sign of grace bound to the Word of the Gospel in accordance with Christ's institution (Matt. 18:18): 'Whatever you [the two or three of congregation] loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'" (LW3:124) The following quotations from Luther's Commentary on Genesis are used to support the above conclusions. We can state with certainty that where the Eucharist, Baptism, and the Word are, there are Christ, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Contrariwise, where these signs of grace are not present, or where they are despised by men, there is not only no grace, but execrable errors follow, and men set up for themselves other forms of worship and other signs. LW1:249 Thus in the Old Testament faces of the Lord were the pillar of fire, the cloud, and the mercy seat; in the New Testament, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, the ministry of the Word, and the like. By means of these God shows us, as by a visible sign, that He is with us, takes care of us, and is favorably inclined toward us. LW1:309 The Jews likewise had their own images by which God showed Himself to them: the mercy seat, the ark, the tabernacle, the pillars of cloud and fire, etc. In Exodus (33:20) He says: "Man shall not see Me and live." Therefore He puts before us an image of Himself, because He shows Himself to us in such a manner that we can grasp Him. In the New Testament we have Baptism, the Lord 's Supper, absolution, and the ministry of the Word. LW2:46 He merely wanted to indicate it by means of some coverings: Baptism, the Word, the Sacrament of the Altar. These are the divine images and "the will of the sign." LW2:47 Something similar has happened among us; for we make more of the basilica of Peter in Rome than of all other places where the Word, the sacraments, and the: valid use of the keys have been, although it is an established fact that where these are, there God is present and gracious. LW2:286 Therefore in Matt. 24:23 Christ earnestly exhorts us to avoid such snares
when He says: "If anyone says to you: 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There
He is!' do not believe it." We shall be safe from these dangers if we follow that visible form or those signs which God Himself has set before us. In the New Testament we have as a visible form the Son of God on the lap of His mother Mary. He suffered and died for us, as the Creed teaches. Besides, we have other visible forms: Baptism, the Eucharist, and the spoken Word itself. Therefore we cannot complain of having been forsaken. LW3:108-109 Since the coming of Christ we have holy Baptism, the Eucharist, and the Keys; by these signs God reveals Himself and saves those who make use of them in faith. LW3:111 Accordingly, just as Abraham had circumcision and the glorious words "I shall be God to you and your descendants after you" added to circumcision, so we have several visible signs. In the first place, we have Baptism itself, which is adorned with the most important and pleasing promise that we shall be saved if we believe. But because in this weakness of ours it is very easy for us to fall, there have been added to Baptism the Keys or the ministry of the Word-for these must not be separated-which in itself is also a visible sign of grace bound to the Word of the Gospel in accordance with Christ's institution (Matt. 18:18): "Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." When you take hold of this Word in faith, you will be restored to grace, and the life which was lost through sin is given back. LW3:124 Thus in the New Testament there are Baptism, the Keys, and the Eucharist. He who makes use of these in faith does not believe in vain and does not stray from God but surely hears and finds God.LW3:146 Furthermore, when we read such accounts, we should justly be ashamed that a like fervor of the spirit is not felt in our hearts, although, as I have also stated above, we are either on a par with Abraham or even above him so far as the gifts of God are concerned; for we, too, have God speaking to us in the Word, in Baptism, and in Communion. LW3:155 Then [Hebrew Word] also denotes a definite place in which the tabernacle of the covenant had been set up, where God had established a remembrance of Himself, that is, where He had commanded that His Word be taught and that He be worshiped. For remembrance of God is nothing else than preaching about God, and He wants men to be intent on this, as Christ says (Luke 22:19): "Do this in remembrance of Me." For where He Himself has His teachers who preach His name, there He wants to be found, to hear, and to bless. LW3:163 Thus God is present in Baptism, in the Lords Supper, and in the use of the Keys because His own Word is present there. Therefore even though we do not see or hear Him but see and hear the minister, God Himself is nevertheless truly present, baptizes, and absolves. And in the Lord's Supper He is present in such an extraordinary way that the Son of God Himself gives us HIS body with the bread and His blood with the wine. LW3:220 Therefore nobody will obtain salvation through so-called spiritual speculations, without external things. Attention must be paid to the Word, and Baptism must be sought. The Eucharist must be received, and absolution must be required. All these are indeed externals, but they are included in the Word. Hence the Holy Spirit works nothing without them. LW3:275 For this reason He has established the external ministry and has instituted the sacraments. He is able to forgive sins without Baptism, but He does not do so; for He wants us human beings to have a share in His workings. LW3:288 Why should we, too, not be satisfied with the same thing? Baptism is a
sufficiently manifest and clear appearance. So are the Eucharist, the Keys, the
ministry of the Word. They are equal to-yes, they even surpass-all the
appearances of all angels, in comparison with which Abraham had only droplets
and crumbs. God should be feared nowhere except in His Word, in accordance with the command which says: "You shall not worship strange gods, and you shall not make for yourself a graven image, whatever it may be" (cf. Ex. 20:3-4). Where God is revealed in his Word, there worship Him, there exercise your reverence; then you are fearing where you should fear and tremble.LW4:135 Through the Word and prayers we have done many difficult things. By means of
prayers we are still preserving peace and are thwarting the efforts and plots of
our adversaries. But the godly alone see these things. They have the Holy Spirit
and esteem highly those truly spiritual and wonderful works: On the contrary, God calls us back to the place where the memory of His name is, to our tabernacle, which is the ministry of the Word. Where the Word resounds and the sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution, this is the true tabernacle of God.LW4:179 If you ask the pope why he is the people of God, he answers: "Because I am sitting in the seat of the apostles Peter and Paul and am their successor. Furthermore, I have a reason in Scripture (Matt. 18:18): 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.'" Even a dog or a swine, however, can sit in the place of St. Peter; but to have the call-that is, the Word which you believe over and above that succession-that, of course, establishes the church and the children of God. This the pope does not have, but he persecutes it in a hostile manner. Therefore he is not a son of God but is God's enemy and an adversary of Christ. We, however, have no doubt whatever that we are the church; for we have the Gospel, Baptism, the Keys, and Holy Scripture, which teaches that mankind is lost and condemned in original sin and that it must be born again through Christ. LW4:348 We have an altogether similar example in the pope's church and in ours; for we have the same Baptism, the same Sacrament of the Altar, the same Keys, and the same Scripture and Word. Finally we have our origin from the same apostles and the same church, as though from one mother Rebecca. Why, then, do we disagree? We apprehend the Word in the Sacrament, follow the call, and discuss the Word in accordance with faith; but they do so in accordance with what is seen on the outside. We declare that when making use of the sacraments one must pay attention to the Word and accept it in faith; they make it a mere work that is performed. Therefore the true church is the one that holds fast to the Word and faith and does not rely on works but hears and follows God when He calls. But the call is the Word through which our nature, which has been corrupted by the devil and sin, is regenerated. LW4:349 Thus today the pope has the name "church." We do not have it. We know, however, that we really are the church because we have the Word, the sacraments, and the Keys, which Christ left behind, not in order that they may be of use to our power and to the lusts of this life, but that they may prepare us for the coming of the Son of God. Therefore we are the true church. LW4:402 Thus the antinomians enjoy the advantages of the world in order to be happy in this life. They say that they want to be converted in good time. They despise their blessing, the church, Baptism, the Keys, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. They receive the grace of God in vain and disregard "the acceptable time" and "the day of salvation" (2Cor. 6:2). But at some future time they will seek the neglected opportunity in vain and too late, as the bride in the Song of Solomon (5:6) laments: "I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone." LW4:405 I answer: You have no reason to complain that you have been visited less than Abraham or Isaac. You, too, have appearances, and in a way they are stronger, clearer, and more numerous than those they had, provided that you open your eyes and heart and take hold of them. You have Baptism. You have the Sacrament of the Eucharist, where bread and wine are the species, figures, and forms in which and under which God in person speaks and works into your ears, eyes, and heart. Besides, you have the ministry of the Word and teachers through whom God speaks with you. You have the ministry of the Keys, through which He absolves and comforts you. "Fear not," He says, "I am with you." He appears to you in Baptism. He baptizes you Himself and addresses you Himself. He not only says: "I am with you," but: "I forgive you your sins. I offer you salvation from death, deliverance from all fear and from the power of the devil and hell. And not only I am with you, but all the angels with Me." What more will you desire? Everything is full of divine appearances and conversations. LW5:21 Thus we see God baptizing, absolving, comforting, and administering the Lord 's Supper. But who hears this or wonders at it? LW5:23 For if we have been absolved through the mouth of a brother or a minister, we must not look at the human being who is speaking. LW5:130 For I believe in Christ, whom I do not see. But I have His Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and consolation through the Word and Absolution. Yet I see nothing of what He promises. Indeed, I feel the opposite in my flesh. Here, then, one must struggle and do battle against unbelief and doubt. LW5:205 On the other hand, He descends to us through the Word and the sacraments by teaching and by exercising us in the knowledge of Him. The first union, then, is that of the Father and the Son in the divinity. The second is that of the divinity and the humanity in Christ. The third is that of the church and Christ. LW5:223 For it is God's Word which establishes the church. He is the Lord over all places. Wherever that Word is heard, where Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and absolution are administered, there you must determine and conclude with certainty: "This is surely God's house; here heaven has been opened." But just as the Word is not bound to any place, so the church is not bound to any place. One should not say: "The chief pontiff is at Rome. Therefore the church is there." But where God speaks, where Jacob's ladder is, where the angels ascend and descend, there the church is, there the kingdom of heaven is opened. LW5:244 Then the church is defined here, what it is and where it is. For where God dwells, there the church is, and nowhere else; for the church is God's house and the gate of heaven, where the entrance to eternal life and the departure from the earthly to the heavenly life are open. But where God has not spoken or dwelt, there the church has never been either. Today we are engaged in a great struggle with the completely corrupt papists concerning the church. They confidently arrogate its name and title to themselves and boast that the church is among them and indeed in their doctrines and ceremonies. But although we acknowledge that the church is among them-for they have Baptism, absolution, and the text of the Gospel, and there are many godly people among them-yet if they want the addition that the pope and their pomp is the true church, we will by no means concede this. We confront them with this text, that God's house and the church of God are the same, according to the statement in John 14:23: "If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." His commandments must be there, and it is necessary to love them. For God does not make His abode unless we have His commandments. If the church is to be the house of God, it is necessary for it to have the Word of God and for God alone to be the Head of the household in this house. LW5:245 Do not seek a new and foolish entrance. But look in faith at the place where the Word and the sacraments are. Direct your step to the place where the Word resounds and the sacraments are administered, and there write the title THE GATE OF GOD. Let this be done either in the church and in the public assemblies or in bedchambers, when we console and buoy up the sick or when we absolve him who sits with us at table. There the gate of heaven is, as Christ says (Matt. 18:20): "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Throughout the world the house of God and the gate of heaven is wherever there is the pure teaching of the Word together with the sacraments. LW5:247 When assemblies are not held there, it is not the temple of God unless this term is used in a relative sense. But when sermons are delivered there, when the sacraments are administered and ministers are ordained to teach, then say: "Here is the house of God and the gate of heaven; for God is speaking, as 1 Peter 4:11 states: 'Whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies.' " LW5:248 Thus the imposition of hands is not a tradition of men, but God makes and ordains ministers. Nor is it the pastor who absolves you, but the mouth and hand of the minister is the mouth and hand of God. LW5:249 The place of the church is in the temple, in the school, in the house, and in the bedchamber. Wherever two or three gather in the name of Christ, there God dwells (cf. Matt. 18:20). LW5:251 So it seems that God is completely forsaking us and casting us away, because He is hidden to us and we are hidden along with Him. But in faith, in the Word, and in the sacraments He is revealed and seen. LW6:148 So if you ask where the church is, it is nowhere in evidence. But you must not pay regard to external form but to the Word and to Baptism, and the church must be sought where the sacraments are purely administered, where there are hearers, teachers, and confessors of the Word. If the church is still not in evidence, you should remember that our blessings are hidden and that their magnitude cannot be perceived in this life. LW6:149 Thus in the New Testament the first type is doctrine; to this are added the sacraments as external ceremonies, and they could be called visions. Our Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Absolution are visions, so to say, because they are external ceremonies. LW6:330 If I had wanted you to be condemned in eternity, I would not have absolved you, baptized you, and called you into fellowship with My Son. But because you have the Sacrament and the Gospel, remember My words (Matt. 5:4): 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted' and likewise (Matt. 5:11-12): 'Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, etc.' " LW6:356 To us it is also said in Baptism, in Absolution, in Communion: "I am the Lord your God, do not be troubled! I will care for you! Cast your care on Me! You have a God who has promised that He will care for you." LW6:364 But it is very troublesome that my wisdom is only passive and that I am ordered to mortify and kill it. Indeed, on this account many have fallen horribly, since they could not bear this mortification. Thus the Sacramentarians teach God most prettily: "How could Christ's body be in the bread and wine when Christ has ascended into heaven?" For they think as follows: "Because I cannot comprehend the presence of the body and blood in the Lord's Supper, I shall prescribe to God some way in which He can be present." LW7:104 It is not for nothing, therefore, that special rites are employed in the church to unite men and women in matrimony, likewise for ordaining ministers of the Word. For we bless the bridegroom and the bride; we recite the words of the divine ordinance; we call upon God to be pleased to protect this estate. We lay hands on the ministers and at the same time pour forth prayers to God, for the sole reason that we may testify that there is a divine ordinance both in these and in all other estates of the church, of the state, and of the household. LW7:146-147 Thus no one of us has been satisfied with his baptism or with the temple where he had the Word of Christ and the sacraments, where he was called, baptized, and absolved; where he had, heard, and felt God speaking with him in His Word. But everywhere chapels and altars were erected. The Word and the sacraments were abandoned, just as the Jews preferred that valley to the temple in Jerusalem and flocked to it-king, queen, princes, priests, prophets, and people in great numbers. LW7:299 Peter strongly commends that zeal for and faith in the Word when he says: "And we have the prophetic Word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." (2 Peter 1:19.) He bids us fix our eyes and keenness of mind on the Word alone, on Baptism, on the Lord's Supper, and on absolution, and to regard everything else as darkness. LW8:33 Thus also in our Baptism. And what is primary in the Lords Supper is the means by which Christ gives me His body. Thus it is actually God, not the minister, who nourishes and feeds us. In Baptism the voice of the Trinity is heard, and the words of Baptism must not be understood or received in any other way. Therefore this adoration is necessary, if not with a bending of the body, at least with spiritual reverence. LW8:145 I have the kingdom of heaven, Baptism, the Word, and the Eucharist. LW8:166 It is all the beautiful red blood of Christ, so that everything we have through the Holy Spirit in the Word, Baptism, the Lords Supper, absolution, consolation, and whatever pertains to the remission of sins and eternal life is understood as having been gained through the power of the blood of Christ. All this is the blessed blood of the Son of God. LW8:258 For the Gospel, the Lords Supper, and Baptism must not be separated from the blood of Christ; for this embraces everything. LW8:258 For laws do not make Christians. No, the Word and the sacraments-the Eucharist, Baptism, etc.-establish and build the kingdom of Christ. LW8:264 Note: The reference "Luther's Works" and "LW" in all quotations and the body of this article refer (via volume and page number(s)) to the American Edition of Luther's Works, jointly published by Fortress Press and Concordia Publishing House. Continued in "Luther: On True Worship Before the Fall"
February 12, 2002 |