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B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #150

Mary Koenig — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:32:37 +0000

B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER # 150

I Cor. 16:9 ‘For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’

August 12, 2009

A passage explained – Mt. 24:40-41

“Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left.” Some refer to this as the ‘rapture.’ They place it other than at the end of the world when the Lord comes for judgment. The next verse though points to the coming of the Lord. v. 42 Verse 44 also gives the context of this as “the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” There is no such rapture before our Lord’s second coming. The clear passages of Scripture speak with a distinctness that is God-given. In 1 Thess. 4:13-17 we have a definitive statement of the Lord’s second coming. When he comes we who are alive shall not precede those who are asleep and rise from the dead. Then we who are alive proceed up to the Lord in the air. This is when one is taken, the believer, and the other, unbeliever, is left to then be taken to the left for judgment. The one who is left does not continue on this earth, for it is the last day, the day of judgment. He is left only in the sense that one is taken and then he will be also.

For those caught up to the Lord to the right, Paul clearly says as we meet the Lord in the air, “and so we shall always be with the Lord.” We do not come back. As for the unbelievers they are gathered to the left as we are gathered to the right on judgment day. Mt. 25:31f. All appear before His judgment seat.

A passage explained – Mt. 2:23

“And He went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” This is a composite quote by Matthew. You will not find one passage which states this. Notice that Matthew says what might be fulfilled by the “prophets.” It was not one prophet but many that the Spirit puts together here.

In Is. 11:1, Jer. 23:5, 33:15 and elsewhere Jesus is called the “branch” or in Hebrew it is ‘netzer.’ So there is a similarity between Nazareth and netzer.
Nazareth was evidently a despised place as evidenced by Nathanael’s comment wondering if any good thing could come out of Nazareth. Jn. 1:46 And we know that Jesus was despised and rejected. Ps. 22:6-8, 69:8, 2021, Is. 49:7, 53:2-3,8

So we see Jesus as the despised one who was the promised branch to grow up as our substitute. The point to note in particular is that Matthew does not name one specific prophet, but “prophets”.Another example of a Matthew composite is in Mt. 27:8-9 where he quotes from Jeremiah 32:6-9 on the buying of the field and includes reference to Zech. 11:12-13 on the thirty pieces of silver. He only names Jeremiah because the point is on the buying of the field as prophesied by Jeremiah, though the thirty pieces of silver are also included secondarily.

Questions and Answers That Clarify

In His Grace… God Declares… The innocent…Jesus…As Guilty

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

In His Grace… God Declares… The guilty…….Man……As Innocent

Questions and Answers That Clarify

Question: Our world is divided by hatreds and hurts over past wrongs committed against one another. How does understanding the Bible teaching of justification help us deal with these wrongs?

Answer: God does not expect us to call past or present injustices right. Christ strongly condemned evil in all its forms (Matt. 23). Though we have wronged God by our sins (Ps. 51:4), in Christ God has put them out of His sight (Ps. 103:10-12). Therefore, we too can leave past wrongs forever behind us, because God’s mercy empowers us to forgive others (Mark 11: 25, Eph. 4: 32),

Question: There has been much recent publicity suggesting that Protestants and Roman Catholics are now drawing closer to each other. Does this mean that Roman Catholicism now strictly accepts justification by grace through faith alone, as revealed in the Bible and as taught by the Reformers?

Answer: No! While Rome always stressed the “primacy” of grace and the importance of faith, Rome’s understanding of the terms “grace” and “faith” is different from that explained by St. Paul and emphasized by the Reformers. Rome continues to refuse to say that salvation is by grace or faith “alone.” Along with the Scriptures and the Reformers, we must continue to stress that we receive perfect reconciliation with God through faith alone and in Jesus Christ alone.

Question: Why does the Lutheran Church stress the doctrine of justification as the one upon which the church “stands or falls”? Isn’t it enough simply to “believe in Jesus”?

Answer: A house may have many rooms but only one foundation. For the church Jesus Christ is the one Foundation (I Cor. 3:11, Eph. 2:20). The doctrine of justification keeps us straight on this. Many cults claim to “believe in Jesus.” Thus, the question is “who is this Jesus in whom we believe?” Some churches wrongly teach that He is a second Moses who came primarily to show us what we must do to improve ourselves enough to eventually be good enough to become justified. This is contrary to God’s Word (John 1:17). Jesus’ main role is that of exclusive Mediator and Redeemer of people, all of whom are spiritually helpless sinners (John 1:17; Rom. 5:6-8).

Question: Some people make a great distinction between the expressions “through faith” and “on account of faith” when speaking about how a person is “justified” before God. Why is this distinction necessary?

Answer: Justification is not some kind of business transaction in which God contracts to supply forgiveness to those who agree to pay with faith (John 15:16). “Through faith” stresses that justification is God’s work alone (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 5:4; Rom. 3:28). But to say “on account of” faith would wrongly suggest that because of our feeble act of “having faith,” we earned the blessing. Faith is simply like a beggar’s open hand that receives God’s spiritual nourishment (I Cor. 4:7; Rev.22:17).

Question: Why do pastors talk about justification as ‘objective” and “subjective”?

Answer: This distinction emphasizes Christ’s glory and the unqualified comfort He gives us sinners. “Objective” means we have before us something already accomplished. It is “outside of us” (Eph. 1: 3-7). Its existence, reality, and truthfulness have nothing to do with us or our feelings. To say the world is “objectively” justified avoids the erroneous belief that God loves only the predestined, or that any one of us has contributed something to our being saved.

On the other hand, the term “subjective” stresses that the precious gift of salvation Christ earned for us is meant to be accepted and enjoyed by us “subjects,” the individuals for whom it is intended. When we speak of “subjective” justification, we also sadly acknowledge that there are individuals who refuse the amazing gift of divine forgiveness wrapped in Jesus Christ, the world’s only Savior.

—Richard Shuta

Pastor Koenig

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B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #148

Mary Koenig — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:30:29 +0000

B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER # 148

I Cor. 16:9 ‘For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’

July 15, 2009

CLC Mission Helpers to India

The CLC Mission Helpers arrived safely in India yesterday. They will be working with both the BELC and the CLCI for the next two weeks. They are

Peter Evensen
Dorena Wiechmann
Katie Wiechmann

Pastor Frank Gantt
Stephen Eichstadt
Mike Naumann
Josh Ohlmann

Jackie Schwersinske
Johanna Reim
Carly Meyer

Pastor Todd Ohlmann leads the group.

Missionary Matthew Ude is also with the group.

We pray that they will have a joyful experience telling the people about our Lord Jesus.

Distinctly Lutheran (5)

We are distinctly Lutheran as set off from other Christian denominations. In this study we have briefly considered the ways in which we are truly ‘Lutheran’. Above all we should remember that we are Evangelical Lutheran. First and foremost we are evangelical in the true meaning of that word – Gospel Preaching. This means we are Christian. We then distinguish ourselves further from other Christians by calling ourselves ‘Lutheran’ due to the Lutheran Reformation out of which our church was born. Then we further distinguish ourselves from other Lutherans by calling ourselves the CLC or by any other of the names of our sister churches.

Always we have to guard against the danger that we will take pride in being Lutheran. Our pride is in the Christ and His Gospel. Rom. 1:16 We say that every Bible teaching is a Lutheran teaching, and every Lutheran teaching is a Bible teaching. As we teach the Word of God in its truth and purity, satan has set a variety of traps for us. Some of these we look at briefly.

· Meanspiritedness or Haughtiness – Because we teach the Word without addition or deletion, due to our proud sinful flesh we can easily look down our noses at other Christians. Jesus taught against this hypocrisy when He attacked Phariseeism. Haughtiness is incompatible with the humility of Christ.

· Negativism – Spending so much time pointing out the errors we have to combat we can easily become very negative. And this can be conveyed to others as they hear us. We must state clearly what we stand for above all, and then point up where we differ from other Christians.

· Shallowness – In viewing our churches as we fellowship together we can become shortsighted and not see how God is working through all Christians.

· Lack of Mission Zeal – As we combat errors, it is easy to consume our time in this to the disadvantage of reaching out. We can also get so protective that we fail to see how we should be going to the unconverted.

· Conveying to Others Wrong Ideas – Some could think that we consider there is no salvation outside of our church. But the fact is there is no salvation outside the Christian church, and we are only part of it. As we work among ourselves, we can give the idea that other churches and denominations have nothing for us to learn. This is of course false. We can learn a great deal from others. God’s Spirit works through the Word wherever He wills.

· Failure to Expose and Correct our own Shortcomings – This so easily comes with pride. We are sinners saved by the grace of God and need the law to show us our sin as well as any.

· Rigidity in Practice or Rigorism – In not learning from others we can become rather bound by our own practices. But where Scripture does not speak the Lord gives us freedom to do according to our sanctified wisdom or common sense.

May God preserve us from the devil’s traps. Having gone through the several parts of this study on being Distincly Lutheran, may God grant us the wisdom to maintain our teachings and practices in accordance with His Word. And may our joy be made complete as we follow Him.

VARIOUS TEACHINGS ON JUSTIFICATION

CALVINISM

(Incorrect or Scripturally Unsupported Teaching)

Holds only to limited atonement. God’s action of reconciling sinners to Himself, through the merits of Christ,is offered only to the predestined: atonement effective only in the “Elect.”

(Correct, Scripturally Supposed Teaching)

According to Scripture, Christ died for all men (I John 2:2). God’s act of acquitting sinners is not like a lottery or contest in which only a very few can be winners. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, see also 2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:20, Hebr. 2:9).

EASTERN ORTHODOXY

(Incorrect or Scripturally Unsupported Teaching)

Bases many of its teachings on writings other than the Bible. Does not stress that the primary purpose of the work of Christ was to bring sinners acquittal of their guilt and pardon from all penalties. Stresses that the goal of Christ’s incarnation and redemption is human “deification.” Does not view sinners as totally depraved by sin (Rom. 3:23) or saved through faith alone.

(Correct, Scripturally Supported Teaching)

Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). The Bible teaches man is totally corrupt and without hope: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:8; see also Eph. 2:1). Scripture says sinners are justified by divine grace alone received through God’s gift of faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9).

POPULAR EVANGELICALISM (Now predominant non-denominational movement in the U.S., and missionizing in the former USSR)

(Incorrect or Scripturally Unsupported Teaching)

Has a tendency to emphasize justification as brought about “on account of” the presence of the faith God sees in the life of an individual or because a person is in a “living relationship to Christ.” This is a dangerous subjectivism that undermines the glory that belongs to Christ alone, as well as leads the struggling believer into spiritual uncertainty (Gal. 3:3: 5:1;

Rom. 4:20-21).

(Correct, Scripturally Supported Teaching)

Justification is a fact and not just a mere possibility. All that needs to be done for our salvation has been done by Christ (John 17:4). “It is finished” (John 19:30). God has pronounced all sinners justified because of Christ (2 Cor. 5:19). His imputed righteousness, rather than our faith, brought justification to us (Luke 18:13-14).

ROMAN CATHOLICISM

(Incorrect or Scripturally Unsupported Teaching)

Uses writings in addition to the Bible. Rejects the Biblical truth that justification is through faith alone. Denies that a person can be sure of being perfectly acquitted of all sins. Teaches that divine grace simply starts the sinner on a drawn out process toward salvation. Salvation may come at the end of that long road of “spiritual development.” God will lend the aid of His grace, but sinners must also contribute something.

(Correct, Scripturally Supported Teaching)

Our justification is already a perfectly accomplished reality that doesn’t need to be “sought for” or supplemented by our inadequate works or faith. Because Christ has lived the perfect life for us, and has “imputed” all His merits to our account, we are certain we have been saved (2 Tim. 1:9,12).

CONFESSIONAL LUTHERAN THEOLOGY

(Correct)

Only due to the graciousness and mercy of His heart, God has accepted the merits of His Son for the justifying of the sinner. It comes to them as the gift of a new perfect status, “justified!” To them is credited Christ’s righteousness (2 Cor.5:21) and the release from sin’s debt, guilt, and corresponding penalties (Rom. 4:7-8). From God’s perspective all that needs to be done to open heaven to sinners has been done (2 Cor. 5:19). With such peace with God also comes to forgiven sinners the inner peace of the certainty of salvation. All sinners are invited into heaven’s open door through faith (2 Cor. 5:20; Rom. 5:1-2).

Pastor Koenig

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B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #146

Mary Koenig — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:19:46 +0000

B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER # 146

I Cor. 16:9 ‘For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’

June 13, 2009

Pastor Raju of the Himalayan Church of the Lutheran Confession – Nepal wrote:

“23 May, 2009 Saturday, there was a bomb explosion in a church in Lalitpur. It is about a kilometer far from us. Two believers died and four are in very serious condition. There is a fear among Christians in our city. Please pray for us.
We are safe. These Hindu extremists are persecuting Christians, they make phone calls and threaten Christian leaders and ask for money.”

THE CHURCH OF THE LUTHERAN CONFESSION IN EAST AFRICA

KAJIADO MAASAI DISTRICT IN KENYA.

“Dear brothers we greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. We are fine and doing well in our ministry. The aim of writing this letter is to inform you that the youth’s seminar will be held as usual in the end of this month. The last seminar was held at Olmapinu parish and the result was so pleasing. It challenged the youth a lot. From that time we came to realize that youths are willing to join the others.

There were more than 500 youths who attended the seminar and the organizers of the seminar were the Olmapinu parish members. The end of this month’s seminar will be held at Inkiito parish which will take 3 days. According to the chairman of the youth we are expecting more than 600 youth to attend the seminar. We are planning to do this after three months in the whole district to help the young not to commit themselves to evil things… After all the name of God be praised as He have done great things to us, thus I ask for your prayers…

In His service Pastor Paul Papani.”

This comes to us from the CLCEA and is a reminder that the future of the church is her youth. We must do what we can to instill in them the truth of His Word and the joy of following Him.

Distinctly Lutheran (3)

Clear Differences between Us and other Christian Churches

In connection with the sacraments we differ.

The Roman Catholic church taught that there were seven sacraments. They said that beside baptism and communion there was marriage. Of course God did set up marriage, though it is for all universally and does not bestow forgiveness. The RC also said that confirmation was a sacrament, though this was set up by men.
Reformed churches in the Reformation times searched the Scriptures just as we did but came up with no sacraments. They used reason to rule over Scripture or to interpret Scripture.
In the Lutheran Reformation the reformers dug back into the Word to find out what it is that we call a sacrament. They saw from the Bible that there were four qualifications or requirements that make something a sacrament: 1) It had to be set up or instituted by Christ – baptism, Mt. 28:19, communion, I Cor. 11:23-26, 2) The Word had to be used, 3) There were earthly elements used – water/ baptism, bread and wine/communion, 4) It assures us of forgiveness of sins. The decision that there are only two things that meet these qualifications was arrived at from the Word.

In connection with justification the Lutherans teach it correctly from the passages that say all men’s sins are forgiven and that this gift has to be accepted by faith. Some go to one extreme away from the clear Word and say that not all men’s sins have been forgiven. Others go to another extreme and say that it is not by faith that this comes to us.

Universal Justification is clearly taught in II Cor. 5:19 and I Jn. 2:2 among many other passages. All men have been forgiven in Christ. But this is of no value to them unless they believe it.
Individual Justification is clearly taught in Eph. 2:8-9 and in Rom. 5:1-2 among many other passages. It is by faith created by God Himself that we receive the forgiveness won by Christ on Calvary.

In connection with Law and Gospel there is much confusion among Christian churches. Some make of the Christian faith a new law to be obeyed. Others make of Christianity just another religion bypassing the Gospel altogether. Christianity is not just a new set of laws. In Rom. 6:23 we see clearly the law and the Gospel. Law – the wages of sin is death. Gospel – the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Some Christians try to obtain results by the law while it is the Gospel that is the power that transforms and impels. Some do not point up the sin of people so as not to offend them. But the people need to hear of their sin through the law that they might see the need of the Savior from sin in the Gospel. We Lutherans clearly differentiate between these two great teachings of the Word and how to use them.

In the church’s purpose we still maintain the Bible position, while so many have made of the church a mere social organization, or a community of people who have lost their last day and heaven direction. We do not preach the social gospel but the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is first of all spiritual that bears fruit. We bring the way to heaven to people, that is Jesus. So many churches have opted to make this a better earth and leave off about heaven, or downgrade this emphasis. But the Bible’s emphasis is Heaven.

Some churches have opted to get involved in politics. That is not the purpose of the church either. Individuals may well get involved, but not the church. We have to much work to do to get out the message of life eternal in Jesus to unbelievers and to bolster those who believe with the truth of the Word. Jesus gives us an overriding caution in His High Priestly prayer in Jn. 17:14-18 about being in the world but not of it. Paul encourages us not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Rom. 12:1-2

In our outreach we follow the simple message of Jesus to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching. For children we baptize and teach. For adults we teach and baptize .It is never one without the other. We are willing to use the gifts God has given us to communicate the Word. We do not compromise God’s truth though through the use of incorrect methods or means to reach people. Paul’s words are important as a compass. I Thess. 2:3-6, II Cor. 4:2-5

Pastor Koenig

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B.A.S.I.C. NEWLETTER #3

Dave Koenig — Tue, 14 Jan 2003 06:05:35 +0000

B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #3
January 14, 2003

Dear Brothers,
As you notice, this newsletter has no name or Bible passage designating it. I invite you to give me suggestions as to a name and a key Bible passage.

The CLC Mission Board can not do everything that it would like to do, as they depend on the offerings of our people in the USA and a budget. Also situations are different in different places. The Board tries to consider this also. Sometimes we set up a seminary or Bible Institute, while in other places we can’t. The Mission Board in the USA has to make these decisions on where and how we can help in the training of pastors. One vital part of our help is in this training of pastors overseas whether this is done in a seminary, institute, catechism examinations, correspondence courses and seminars. If there are faithful pastors/shepherds who can rightly handle God’s Word (II Tim. 2:15) then the sheep will be fed properly and the church will grow.

Prayer Alert
Pray for Pastor Denis’s congregation in Kinshasa, Congo that they will have the problem of having to move settled soon. They have to leave a place where they put up a roof. Pray for the BELC, India lead pastors in the four districts who are facing problems in legal matters in retaining buildings. Pray for the four CLC-USA volunteers who arrived in Kilimanjaro today to assist in the finishing of a building for a seminary.

Church Year – Pres. Schierenbeck wrote in his Christmas letter the importance of our celebration of Christmas and Epiphany. I am sending out to each of you by regular mail an explanation of the church year and what we see to preach during those seasons. This is familiar to some of you while new to others. Also being sent is a series of sermon texts that can be used in these seasons and for these festivals.

Singular Teachings – We as orthodox, evangelical Lutherans have a blessed situation in connection with our teachings. We stand squarely on Scripture. The teaching of Universal or Objective Justification is not taught by all Christian churches. Some teach that Jesus died for only those who eventually would be saved. Some teach that Jesus died only for those chosen in eternity. We teach that Jesus died for ALL as Scripture clearly teaches: I Tim. 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, Heb. 2:9 He tasted death for everyone, Heb. 10:10 one for all, II Cor. 5:15 He died for all. There are so many passages that teach this. Yet man will use his reason and overrule Scripture. We place our reason subject to Scripture. God has declared all men just, or righteous based upon the atoning work of Christ. Next we will consider Subjective or Individual Justification.

God bless you in your work for Him,
Pastor D. Koenig