Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

“How Believers Live in the World” – Luther

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Pastor McCain has provided a dose of Martin Luther, which is always beneficial.

Faith can use all things for its purpose, whether good or bad, except unbelief and its fruits. For these are directly contrary to faith and do not permit faith to remain; those things that do permit faith to remain are themselves rendered harmless by faith, are made pure, holy, useful, and salutary, so that the believer may live with them and keep them without danger. If this were not so, no Christian could live, for he is forced to live among evil and non-Christian people. But if he does not follow them but puts them to good use, he may live with or among them to the end that they may gain piety and become Christians.

To a Christian, therefore, the entire world is holiness, purity, utility, and piety. Contrariwise, to a non-Christian the whole world is unholiness, impurity, uselessness, and destruction—even God with all His goodness, as Ps. 18:26–27 says to God: “With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure; and with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself perverse.” Why is this? Because the pure, that is, the believers, can use all things in a holy and blessed way to sanctify and purify themselves. But the unholy and the unbelievers sin, profane, and pollute themselves incessantly in all things. For they cannot use anything in a right, godly, and blessed way, so that it might serve their own salvation.

Luther’s Works, Vol. 28, on 1 Cor. 7:14

Source: Cyberbrethren.

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Doctrine or Experience = Religion?

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The entire battle of contemporary vs. traditional (Divine) when it comes to worship has been going on for quite some time.  Some interesting thoughts from Pastor Peters on the topic.

Rich Mullins is a big name in the contemporary Christian music scene and I had not heard him say that contemporary Christian music is good entertainment but terrible worship. I concur and it gives me pause to think that one who has contributed so much to the standard literature of the CCM experience knows where is belongs and where it does not belong..

Leroy Huizenga suggests that among the reasons for the Lutheran (or other liturgical church’s) foray into contemporary worship and contemporary Christian music:

I suspect it involved a shift in the philosophy of religion (itself a subset of other cultural and intellectual currents) that came about in the 1960s and 1970s. Painting with a broad brush, before that time, religion concerned doctrine. After that shift, religion concerned experience. It’s easiest to see, I think, in evangelicalism, but the pattern holds for mainline Protestant and Catholic churches too. In any event, Christian worship became all too captive to culture and undergirded by a reflexive pragmatism.

No matter what side one is on, Pastor Peters makes a great point at the end.

The one thing that gets lost in all of this is that there is no relationship and there is no experience of Jesus apart from the means of grace.  Larry Peters did not say it and neither did Luther or the Church before Him.  The rock on which Jesus builds His Church is really Himself, the means of grace which impart Christ and His gifts to us, and the faith created by the Spirit that responds with “Amen.”

Read the rest: Pastoral Meanderings: Religion = doctrine or experience?.

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The View of Christ Depends On the View of Man?

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Thought-provoking …

Think about the implication of this. What happens to the person of Christ when we have a ‘high’ view of mankind? What happens to the person of Christ when we have a ‘low’ view of mankind?

A High View Of Man Leads To A Low View of Christ:

When we fail to clearly see or underestimate the depravity of mankind, the person of Christ suffers. What kind of savior is needed if mankind is only hindered or struggling? If mankind is viewed as basically good with some bad habits then Jesus becomes a helper or better yet… a life coach. Jesus is reduced to our Christian mascot who cheers us on as we attempt to overcome our inefficiencies

A Low View Of Man Leads To A High View Of Christ:

When we assess mankind in light of the scriptures we will come to see that mankind’s nature is always much darker than we usually believe it to be. True, mankind is created in the image of God! However, the fall of mankind in Genesis 3 marred the image making man not “mostly dead” in sin but “dead-dead” in sin. A mere life coach or helper are not sufficient with this view of man. Rather an all-power, all-knowing, sufficient savior is needed to deliver mankind from their sin and their body of death.

As you ponder this, read Pastor Richard’s entire article: Steadfast Lutherans » Contrary To What You Think, Legalists Do Not Have A High View Of The Law.