The devil’s basic doctrine
For some reason, I’m still receiving Christian News. I expected to receive it in the weeks leading up to the convention, but I figured that it would stop showing up shortly thereafter. I subscribed to CN for several years, but grew weary of it.
Theologically speaking, it’s quite good; however, it is a bit repetitive, sort of like a blunt force assault. Rev. Otten knows a few notes, and while many are quite good, he just plays them over and over and over and over and over. And when some of those notes are more political & less theological… well, it makes sifting through the wheat & chaff even more laborious a task.
Anyhoo, I’m still getting CN, and in the most recent (Oct 01, 2007) issue there was a book review that was really quite good. In particular, at least for the purposes of this posting, the review of Rev. Siegbert Becker’s Revelation — The Distant Triumph Song yielded this nugget:
“The basic doctrine of the devil is salvation by works.”
That quote just jumped out at me & made me think. And after thinking on it for a bit, I realized just how accurate it is.
Satan is far too wily & crafty to lead folks astray by boldface lies & statements that are clearly in opposition to Scriptural Truth. No, he is far more effective when he just twists the truth ever so slightly. By doing so in a way that appeals to our sinful, fallen intellect, he can lead us away from God’s Truth. Even as we might think that we are following that truth, we are instead following the idol of our own thinking & making.
We want nothing more than to think we can fulfill the Law. Man has always wanted to be complicit in his own salvation. Sin has corrupted us such that we would, however subtly, reject that which God has freely given us as the only source of salvation — Jesus on the cross.
This is why Martin Luther was correct in identifying Justification as the doctrine on which the Church stands or falls. If Justification by faith alone is not true, then the devi’s basic doctrine is correct and all is lost.
Thanks be to God that such is not the case!
-ghp
Mass musings
So, I had occasion to attend a Roman Mass this past weekend, having traveled to a downriver Detroit suburb for a wedding on my wife’s side of the family. I took it as a chance to engage in a little theological anthropology, if you will. Fortunately, my wonderful wife is nicely reformed (pun partially intended) from her lapsed Roman upbringing, and is solidly in line with my misgivings about taking our kids to such a Mass, and supported me fully in my attempts to educated our kids on the fact that we were attending a service that was not to be equated with attending a service at our home church — IOW, we were observing not participating. I tried to make the best of it by making it a “teachable moment”…
Interestingly, the Priest was really pretty good. He actually takes being a Roman Catholic seriously. And while I undoubtedly have some severe disagreements with him in terms of Justification, Christology, Sacramentology, & Mariology, I’ve got to give him his props for hewing to the Papal party line. He clearly stated that Communion was not open to non-Roman Catholics or Roman Catholics who were “not in a state of grace”. (Closed Communion — what a concept!), and very clearly called for a return to chastity and an end to abortion. So I’ve got to give him props for that, too!
Oh yeah, and he wasn’t American (at least by birth). He’s only been a priest for 6 years, and he has only been here in the States for part of that time. If I had to guess, I’d say that he was of either Caribbean or African birth. It’s too bad for Rome that they aren’t producing more solid American priests like Fr. Aloysious. Why, I bet he’d make a heck of a Lutheran! 
The usual, obvious, stuff that Rome has wrong showed itself during the Mass, e.g., marriage as a sacrament & making offerings of intercession & whatnot to Mary. The pernicious head of Vatican II also reared its ugly head, with laywomen reading the first two lessons, and (way odd to me) the mother of the groom assisting in the distribution of Communion. He took the sacrament seriously enough to close it, but not so seriously that he didn’t willingly let his priestly office be usurped. Odd…
The worst, though, came during the homily. It started strongly enough, likening the love in marriage to that of Christ. “Sacrificial” was ok, because husband & wife should lovingly sacrifice for each other, as Christ did for His bride. I’m now blanking on the second example (didn’t have my HipsterPDA with me!), but it was ok as well. The third example/analogy, however, was where the good father lost me — “Salvific”. The husband & wife were now responsible for ensuring the salvation of the other, as Christ did with the Church. Yikes! If’n I had known that I’d be on the hook for that, I might not have taken those vows 17.5 years ago! 
Seriously, though, that really showed to me in pretty clear relief the flawed theology that Rome has wrt Justification, Grace, & (to a lesser extent) the Sacraments.
At least it was a Christian service. There were some significant errors in theology, doctrine, & practice, to be sure, but at least it was still observably Christian.
But I’m glad that I’m Lutheran!
-ghp
A rest well deserved — A loss deeply felt
From the CTSFW News page:
Dear Friends:
I wish to inform you that on the morning of September 19 our distinguished colleague, beloved professor, and brother in Christ, Dr. Kurt Marquart, died. After suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, he died peacefully at home. Earlier in the evening he had baptized his new great-grandson, Evan.
As baptism joined Dr. Marquart and Evan to Christ’s death and resurrection, we confess that he now enjoys that full life that Christ gives to those who are joined to Him (John 10:10).
President Wenthe
The ‘net will be awash with remembrances of this great man — and justifiably so!
I only met him a few times, but I can say with confidence that nothing will be said that can do justice to the man and his years of faithful service to God, the Church, and the LCMS. I can honestly say that I have never met a man who was so brilliant (an intellectual giant!), yet so genuinely and winsomely pastoral.
We are all better off for the blessing of his faithful service, and I thank God for that blessing. I thank God that Dr. Marquart has been taken to his reward. I thank God for the saving grace that ensures that I will join Dr. Marquart in that same, Christ-earned, reward.
Amen!
-ghp
Wisdom from Ablog!
These quotes come from two recent posts by Rev. Beisel over at One Lutheran… Ablog!. These posts are quite good, and amazingly well-related (I’m not sure if Pr. Beisel intended the linkage, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did, ’cause he’s good…).
I think that the second quote is a source reason for the first. More simply put, Satan attempts to drive us from the foot of the cross by convincing us that our problems are not a matter of our sinfulness, and, thus, confession & absolution aren’t needed; rather, we need to turn the focus inward onto what we can do to heal ourselves.
That’s not to say that many problems (say, mental illness) aren’t physical/medical, mind you — to do that would be foolishly ignorant. It’s more accurate to state, however, that we are constantly tempted to deflect the source of the problem away from ourselves at the same time that we try to usurp the authority to fix the problem.
C&A works. It’s God’s gift to us, because He loves us. Satan cannot abide that, and must try to subvert it by keeping us from it. Unfortunately, he’s been all too successful, as proven by the dearth of individual C&A in our congregations, and the number of worship services that have jettisoned even the corporate C&A.
-ghp
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