Volume 3

Foreword.

In this third volume of the Dogmatics, the doctrines of the Christian life, of the means of grace, of the Church, of eternal election and of the last things are presented. In editing this volume, too, I...

The Christian life

Open this section of Christian Dogmatics.

Sanctification and good works.

That the Christian life with all its inner and outer activities is a sure consequence, but also only a consequence, of faith in the reconciliation effected by Christ, has already been stated in the summary...

1. The concept of sanctification.

The word sanctification is used in both a broader and a narrower sense in Scripture and in the language of the Church. Taken in a broader sense, it refers to the whole work of the Holy Spirit whereby people...

2. The nature of sanctification in the strict sense as distinguished from justification.

We repeat what has often had to be said in another binding: justification is an act of God on man (circa hominem), by which God declares a man to be justified who is not just in himself but unjust (ασεβές). It...

3. The relationship between justification and sanctification in the strict sense.

What the Scriptures and the Church, abiding by the Scriptures, teach about the relationship of justification or faith to sanctification and good works can be summarized in the following two main points: 1....

4. The effecting cause of sanctification.

God works, as faith, so also sanctification with his infinite power,47) but in such a way that the Christian according to the new man is active or cooperates in it (cooperatur). Whereas in the origin of faith...

5. The internal processes (motus interni) under which sanctification takes place.

Through faith in Christ, that is, in the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake, without works of the law, a new man (καινός άνϑρωπος, Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; ό εσωϑεν άνϑρωπος [“the inward man,”], 2 Cor. 4:16)...

6. The means by which sanctification is wrought.

The means of sanctification, precisely speaking, is only that by which the old man is put to death and the new man is strengthened, that is, the gospel (the means of grace), not the law. It has already been...

7. The necessity (necessitas) of sanctification and good works.

The necessity of sanctification and good works has caused much discussion. Partly there were word disputes because the words "necessary" and "free" are ambiguous. This is also indicated by the Formula of...

8. The imperfection of sanctification.

While justification has no degrees, but, where it is, is always perfect,99) so with regard to sanctification there is a minus and plus. Hence the exhortations of Scripture to increase in all matters,100) in...

9. Good works according to quality and quantity.

Under this section the following points are dealt with: 1. The right quality of works includes that they are done a. according to the norm of the divine law or will, d. from a willing spirit. 2. Examination of...

The standard of good works.

Because man is not autonomous, but according to his whole being and acting under God, it belongs to the right quality of his works that he also lets God alone tell him which works he should do.139) Neither his...

Good works are done from a willing spirit.

Furthermore, the essence of good works is that they are done out of a willing spirit or — which is the same thing — out of love for God. To emphasize this properly, ancient doctrines make use of this paradox:...

The good works of the heathen.

In the foregoing, the question of what to think of the good works of the heathen has already been answered. The question has caused much disputation. By the good works of the heathen or of unbelievers in...

The quality of the good works of Christians.

If we call the good works of the heathen in the spiritual sphere, or the sphere of the church, sin, the question again arises as to how the good works of Christians stand, because an examination of them...

The quantity of good works.

It should not really be necessary to discuss the quantity of good works to be striven for. If it stands firm that Christ has bought Christians not only half, but completely with his blood, then it is also...

10. The reward of good works.

Scripture does not merely speak of a reward (μισϑός),222) but also of a great reward (μισϑός πολύς)223) of the good works of Christians. Therefore, one must not be forbidden to use the word "reward" because of...

11. The great value of good works.

Good works have no value in obtaining forgiveness of sins and salvation, because they are completely disregarded in the attainment of these goods.250) When this truth, which is the characteristic of Christian...

12. Tthe Papacy and good works.

As is well known, the papacy presents itself before the church and the world265) as the great protector of sanctification and good works.266) The Roman polemic against the Reformation always comes to the point...

13. Modern protestant theology and good works.

Thieme reports,301) , that the Lutheran dogma that good works are not necessary for salvation has been mostly abandoned by the newer theology, even by the so-called positive trend. Rather, "the idea of moral...

14. The Christian life and the cross.

The old Lutheran teachers, such as Quenstedt and Calov, also include a section on the cross (De cruce) in their description of the Christian life.306) This stands in harmony with the thoroughly practical...

15. The Christian life and prayer.

The nexus indivulsus between Christian life and prayer. After a man has become righteousness before God through faith and has entered into filial relationship with God, he begins to converse with God. This...

16. The Christian life, a life in expectation of the Last Day.

In his sermon on Christian hope412) , Luther describes the Christian life on earth as a life lived in view of the Last Day. This description is quite scriptural. Just as the believers of the Old Testament...

The perseverance to salvation.

The question of perseverance to salvation is very important.431) When Christ addresses the temptations and tribulations that will come upon believers, he adds: "He that persevereth unto the end shall be...

The Calvinist doctrine of perseverance.

Consistent Calvinism teaches the unloseability of faith. It asserts very firmly that faith, once it has come into being, is not lost even through peccata enormia. Not faith itself, but only the exercise of...

The synergistic persistence theory.

The synergists think they must teach that, as the origin of faith, so also the perseverance in faith depends not only on God's grace and effect, but also on man. What it is in man on which, apart from the...

Means of Grace.

As God reconciled the world to himself through Christ's vicarious satisfaction, without consulting men concerning this peculiar method of reconciliation, so also, without consulting men for counsel, he has...

The means of grace in general.

It has been correctly remarked, "The dogmatic understanding of the means of grace takes its starting point from the relation they have to the work of Christ." 488) But, unfortunately, little is said with the...

All means of grace have the same purpose and effect.

The scriptural concept of the means of grace includes that all means of grace have the same purpose and the same effect, namely the presentation of the forgiveness of sins and the thereby effected generation...

The number of sacraments.

There is no need to argue about the number of sacraments before there is agreement on the concept of sacrament. It is not only ungodly but also foolish for the Council of Trent to curse all who accept "either...

The erroneous doctrines of the means of grace.

We repeat first of all: The doctrines of the means of grace of church fellowships or individuals correspond each time to their doctrine of the atoning work of Christ. Any deduction that one allows oneself to...

The Means of Grace Doctrine of the Roman Church.

The Roman church teaches that Christ acquired grace for man. The doctrine that man becomes justified and saved "without divine grace through Christ" is expressly rejected.533) Calvinism, which limits the grace...

The Means of Grace Doctrine of the Calvinist Reformed.

Since, according to the doctrines of the Calvinist Reformed, saving grace in Christ is particular, there are no means of grace for the part of men to whom God's grace and Christ's merit do not extend. Rather,...

The Synergists' Means of Grace Doctrine.

We have seen that the biblical doctrine of the means of grace is dismissed by the Calvinist denial of gratia universalis. The same is done by the synergistic denial of sola gratia, according to which faith in...

The means-of-grace doctrine of all deniers of satisfactio vicaria.

According to the Scriptures, the Word of God and the sacraments are means of grace only in that they promise the forgiveness of sins present with God (in God's heart, in foro divino) through Christ's...

The means of grace and the enthusiasts.

The Christian doctrine of the means of grace is eliminated by all enthusiasts, that is, by all those who suppose a revealing and working activity of the Holy Spirit apart from and besides the means of grace...

The denial of the means of grace in the personal practice of Christians.

In order to remain in the right humility in the decisive rejection of all erroneous conceptions of the means of grace, it must be remembered that even those Christians who teach correctly about the means of...

The importance of the Christian doctrine of the Means of Grace.

Adolf Harnack allows himself the following criticism of Luther: "The Christian, as Luther himself knew best, does not live from the means of grace, he lives through the personal union with God which he...

Summary assessment of the Reformed doctrine of means of grace.

At the risk of being accused of unnecessary repetition and prolixity, we leave here, for several reasons, a summary assessment of the Reformed doctrine of the means of grace. — Zwingli's doctrine of a direct...

Luther's doctrine of the means of grace in its relationship to the medieval and Reformed doctrines of the means of grace.

One has also wanted to find medieval kinship in Luther's doctrine of the means of grace. We already recalled Adolf Harnack's judgment. "By singling out certain actions as 'means of grace,' he [Luther] stepped...

The means of grace in the form of absolution.

We still treat absolution under a special section, because this doctrine belongs to the doctrines at which Christian knowledge makes an examination. Under general addresses about "gospel" and "reconciliation...

Individual comments on the doctrine of the means of grace.

We would like to draw your attention to the following individual points. In the doctrine of the means of grace, especially in the "question" of whether absolution is to be pronounced conditionally or...

The Means of Grace in the Old Testament.

The gospel of Christ, that is, the divine message of the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ, was the means of grace for the entire Old Testament period. This is what the Scriptures themselves teach...

The Means of Grace and Prayer.

The Scriptural doctrine of prayer was presented in its main points in the doctrine of sanctification and good works.893) Here we still go into the question of whether prayer should be placed alongside Word and...

Law and Gospel.

Since the content of Scripture is divided into Law and Gospel, it cannot be otherwise than that a doctrinal exposition corresponding to Scripture deals throughout with Law and Gospel and their relationship to...

1. The concepts of law and gospel.

We distinguish law and gospel from each other when both are used in the proper sense. The law in the proper sense (lex proprie accepta) is the Word of God, in which God demands of men that they conform in...

2. Law and gospel in their juxtaposition, or what is common to law and gospel.

Law and Gospel are first of all both the Word of God. The words of the law: "Thou shalt love God thy Lord with all thy heart" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" together with the sentence of...

3. Law and gospel in their opposition or as opposites.

There is no need to apologize for Luther, much less to say that Luther spoke in a misleading way,928) when he describes law and gospel as complete opposites. Luther, however, speaks very decisively at this...

4. Law and gospel in their binding together.

Law and gospel are not only to be strictly separated, but also to be bound together in practice in the closest possible way. Luther expresses this as follows: "Although these two are very far apart...

5. The difficulty of properly distinguishing law and gospel.

The separation of law and gospel is difficult. Not in theory, because it is easy to say what is law and what is gospel. Not only shorter but also longer definitions of law and gospel are easy to memorize. The...

6. The importance of distinguishing the law from the gospel.

The importance of the distinction of law and gospel is evident from the fact that through it, as we have already seen, a man becomes a Christian and remains a Christian. In other words, without distinction...

7. The deniers of the distinction between the law and the gospel.

The distinction between the law and the gospel is canceled by: 1. The Romanists. The Tridentinum demands with great firmness that the Law be blended into the Gospel. It curses the doctrine "as if the Gospel...

Baptism.

Baptism is not merely a church order, but a divine order (institutio divina), which is valid until the Last Day and for all nations. It is not less divine order than the sermon of the Gospel and the doctrines...

2. The material of baptism.

The fact that the old theologians speak of a matter of baptism and understand by it water and the application of water is not a bad modus docendi.1030) However, water belongs to baptism, because the Scriptures...

3. What makes baptism baptism (forma baptismi).

Baptism includes water and the application of water, as we have seen. But what makes baptism Christ's baptism is the fact that Christ has given his word, the word of command and promise, to this application of...

4. The means of grace character of baptism.

Above all, it is necessary to clearly recognize and hold on to the grace-means character of Baptism. Baptism is nothing more and nothing less than a divinely ordained means by which God offers and appropriates...

5. The use of baptism.

Baptism, which is to be administered only once, is to be used by Christians throughout their lives. Nowhere do the apostles call for the repetition of baptism, but they diligently remind Christians of the...

6. The object of baptism.

The object of baptism is both adults and children. But both classes are described in more detail in the Scriptures. Only those adults are to be baptized who have previously come to faith in Christ. Of those...

7. The subject of baptism, or who should be baptized.

Like all spiritual goods, the means of grace, including baptism, belong directly, that is, not only through the mediation of a pastorate, to the believers, that is, to all Christians. That pastors administer...

8. The necessity of baptism.

Although baptism is not an adiaphoron, but a divine order, it must not be ascribed to itself an absolute necessity in the sense that no one has forgiveness of sins and can be saved who has not received...

9. The baptismal customs.

In the course of time, a number of customs have come into use in the administration of baptism, which have the purpose of explaining and illustrating the nature and effectiveness of baptism.1129) Gerhard...

10. The baptism of John.

Thomasius polemicizes against the older Lutheran theologians for "asserting the essential and complete identity of Johannine baptism with Christian baptism."1146) To the matter would be to say, 1146) Dogmatics...

The Lord's Supper.

Like the sermon of the Gospel and baptism, the Holy Communion is not merely a church, but divine order (institutio divina). Christ instituted the Lord's Supper and at the same time commanded that it be...

2. The relationship of the Lord's Supper to the other means of grace.

What the Lord's Supper has in common with the word of the gospel and with baptism is that it is a medium of justification (medium iustificationis sive remissionis peccatorum). The Lord's Supper, too, is...

3. The scriptural doctrine of the Lord's Supper.

Three different doctrines of the Lord's Supper are put forward within external Christianity: 1. the doctrine that only the body and blood of Christ are in the Lord's Supper, or, what is the same, that in the...

4. Overview of the relationship of the various communion doctrines to the text of the communion words.

It has become quite common custom to attribute the differences in the doctrine of the Lord's Supper to different "expositions" of the words of the Lord's Supper. This, however, is not quite accurate talk. We...

5. The differences in the wording of the communion reports.

The differences in the reports, even if they call them small, cause not small difficulties for modern theologians.1312). They feel called upon to determine which of the four reporters (Matthew, Mark, Luke,...

6. The material of the Lord's Supper.

Because, on the basis of Scripture, the presence of the bread is to be held against the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation, and the presence of the body of Christ against the Reformed doctrine of...

7. What makes the Lord's Supper the Lord's Supper.

We have already seen that the Lord's Supper is not meant as a one-time or temporary event, but that Christ wants it celebrated in the Church until the Last Day. Thus, the question now arises as to how the...

8. The purpose of holy communion.

(Finis cuius coenae sacrae) That the purpose of the Lord's Supper is the forgiveness of sins has already had to be explained repeatedly and in detail in another chapter, especially in the section: "All means...

9. Who is to be admitted to Holy Communion.

(Finis cui coenae sacrae.) Christian congregations, or their public ministers, are not lords of the sacrament, but only administrators of it. Therefore, in the administration of the sacrament, which is not...

10. The necessity of holy communion.

Holy Communion is not an indifferent thing, but divine order, which is to apply in the church until the Last Day. This has already been explained in detail.1436) It is part of God's will of grace that...

Christian Church.

After Christ reconciled the whole human world to God by His vicarious satisfaction and rose from the dead, He sat down at the right hand of God to gather a church on earth until the Last Day through the Word...

The Church as a whole.

To the question of what the Christian church is, the answer must be given on the basis of Scripture: The Christian church is all men — and only those men — who believe in Christ. But because in our time the...

2. The false doctrines of the Church.

It is in the nature of things that all former doctrinal sins reappear in the doctrine of the Church. Since membership in the Christian Church is only mediated through faith in Christ, the scriptural doctrine...

3. The characteristics of the Christian church.

1. The Church is invisible (ecclesia invisibilis est) because the constitutive factor of the church, faith in the heart, is invisible to men and known to God alone.1482) Therefore, when asked about the visible...

4. The majesty and glory of the Christian Church.

The members of the Christian church, as a church, are subject only to Christ, but to no man, 1 Cor. 3:23: "Ye are Christ's," νμεϊς Χρίστον; Matt. 23:8: "One is your Master, Christ; but you are all brethren."...

5. The origin and preservation of the church.

Since faith, by which a man becomes a member of the Christian church, comes into being and exists solely through God's grace and power,1515) Scripture also emphasizes that the church is neither entirely nor...

Local Churches.

What has been said so far has served to describe the one universal church scattered throughout the world, which is expressly called "one" (μία ποίμνη), and which is guaranteed by divine promise to continue...

2. The local church is a divine order.

The question has been discussed whether the formation of local congregations, or the affiliation with already existing local congregations, is left to the option of the Christians, or is divine 1531) Col....

3. Orthodox and heterodox churches.

We must divide the actually existing local congregations and larger church fellowships into two classes according to the position they occupy in relation to Christian doctrine. It is God's will and command...

4. Even in heterodox churches there are children of God.

As certain as it is that all local churches are to be faithful, and all fellowships that are heterodox exist as such only under God's permission and against God's gracious will, the fact must be noted that...

5. Church fellowship with heterodox churches is against the divine order. (Unionism)

As is well known, the fact that there are children of God in irreligious churches is cited as a reason why it is right, indeed required by love, to make fellowship with heterodox churches. Scripture teaches...

6. Schism. (Separatism)

By the church term schism we mean a church separation that is not commanded by the Word of God, but is brought about according to one's own choosing, i.e. sinfully, e.g. because of differences in church...

7. Representation of the Christian church.

Christ did not appoint a single person (pope, secular princes, provincial presidents, etc.) nor a college of persons (bishops, pastors, consistories, parliaments, conferences, synods, councils, etc.) who...

The Public Ministry.

The word "ministry" is taken both in Scripture and in church usage in a general sense and in a special or narrower sense. Taken in the general sense, it denotes every way of preaching the gospel or...

2. The relationship of the public ministry to the spiritual priesthood of all Christians.

All Christians, that is, all men who have become faithful in Christ, have the spiritual priesthood and thus the calling to preach the Gospel. In the words of 1 Pet. 2:9: "You are the royal priesthood...

3. The public ministry is not a human order, but a divine one.

It is not merely human, but divine order that Christians carry out the works of the spiritual priesthood, that is, preach the gospel not only in their homes, but also in their intercourse with their brethren...

4. The necessity of the public ministry of preaching.

Although the public Ministry of preaching, which is transferred indirectly, by calling on the part of the congregation, is to be held as a divine order, yet an absolute necessity is not to be ascribed to it....

5. Calling (vocatio) to the public ministry.

The necessity of calling has already been addressed in the section "The Relationship of the Ministry to the Spiritual Priesthood of All Christians." Luther: "It is not befitting for one who wants to come forth...

6. Ordination.

The ordination of those called to church ministry with the laying on of hands and prayers is not a divine order, but a church order, because it is mentioned in Scripture, but not commanded.16l8) Ordination,...

7. The administrators of the public Ministry do not constitute a spiritual state distinct from the Christian state.

Luther also occasionally uses the expressions "spiritual state," "clergy," and "priests" of those who serve in church offices, in accommodation to existing usage.1625) commissionis et potestatis transitoriae,...

8. The power (potestas) of the ministry.

Since the Ministry is the office of teaching the Word of God, but the word of man is forbidden in the Christian Church, obedience is due to the Ministry as to God Himself, in so far as it proclaims the Word of...

9. The relationship of the servants of the Church to each other.

The basic truth that Christ is the sole ruler in the Church through his Word also regulates the relationship of the servants of the Church to each other. Just as the ministers of the Church have no dominion...

10. The Ministry is the highest office in the Church.

Luther often calls the public ministry the highest office in the church. In what sense, he takes it himself abundantly. In the church, everything should be done according to God's Word or, which is the same...

11. The Antichrist.

The Scriptures use the word "antichrist" in a general and in a specific sense. In the passage 1 John 2:18, all false teachers are called "anti-Christs" (αντίχριστοι πολλοί γεγόνασιν). The reason for this...

Eternal election.

The doctrine of eternal election, or Election of Grace, has been variously posed within dogmatics. Some have treated it already in the doctrine of God, especially in the doctrine of the decrees of God (de...

1. The concept of eternal election.

Quite apart from what the Scriptures teach about eternal election, we already know that Christians do not owe their entire Christian state according to beginning, middle, and end to any good condition, merit,...

2. The right consideration of eternal election.

As is well known, the doctrine of election is bound up with a great history of suffering. Luther confesses that for him there was a time when the thought of eternal election filled him not with comfort but...

3. Object of eternal election.

The object of election is not all men (doctrine of Samuel Huber, † 1624),1676) nor the saved and the believers for a time only (doctrine of later Tübingen theologians and more recent theologians),1677) but...

4. The recognizability of the eternal election.

That Christians can recognize their eternal election and be certain of it is so self-evident according to Scripture that Scripture addresses Christians as elect without further ado1682) and 1681) Joh. 3:18....

5. The relationship of faith to eternal election.

The fact that we are dealing with the relationship of faith to eternal election in a special section is justified by the fact that this point has been the subject of dispute from the end of the sixteenth...

6. The purpose of the doctrine of eternal election.

Scripture instructs us about the purpose of the doctrine of eternal election in great detail and in very certain terms. This doctrine is not intended to negate or limit the universalis gratia, as many before...

7. There is no election of wrath or predestination to damnation.

The Calvinist Reformed maintain very firmly that wrath election of wrath or predestination to damnation is the "necessary reverse" of election to salvation. Calvin titles the chapter in which he begins to...

8. The cause of the aberration in the doctrine of eternal election.

The cause of the aberration lies in the attempt to solve in this life a mystery whose solution can only be expected in eternal life. The same subject had already to be treated in the doctrines of universal...

Last Things.

Under this section is presented: 1. the temporal death, 2. the state of souls between death and resurrection, 3. the return of Christ, 4. the resurrection of the dead, 5. the final judgment, 6. the end of the...

1. The temporal death.

The essence of death. The essence of the temporal or bodily death1719) consists, according to the Scriptures, not in the annihilation of the man, but in the separation of the soul from the body.1720) The death...

2. The state of souls between death and resurrection.

The number of scriptural passages dealing with the state of souls before the Last Day is relatively small. The scriptures, when they address the Last Things, focus mainly on the Last Day and what follows it....

3. The Second Coming of Christ.

Scripture teaches that Christ will return to all men visibly,1758) and indeed to all men at once,1759) in divine glory and surrounded by the heavenly court of angels1760) for the general judgment of the...

4. The resurrection of the dead.

The fact of the resurrection of the dead is not only doubted by human reason, 1 Cor. 15:35, but also mocked, Acts 17:32. This happens in contradiction with the natural knowledge of God. Since human reason...

5. The final judgment.

The visible appearance of Christ and the raising of the dead are directly linked to the Last Judgment. The description of the glorious visible appearance of Christ in Matt. 25:31 is immediately followed by the...

6. The end of the World.

That heaven and earth, that is, the world created by God "in the beginning" (Gen. 1), will pass away or perish, the Scripture explicitly says. Luke 21:33: "Heaven and earth will pass away", ο ουρανός και η γη...

7. Eternal damnation.

That there is a damnation that comes upon men because of their sins after this life is also still recognized to some extent from the light of nature. This knowledge is from the area of the law, and the law...

8. Eternal salvation.

The fact of eternal salvation. That there is an eternal salvation, which consists in the beholding of God, and in which man is saved according to soul and body, is known only from God's revelation in the Word...