Theological

“Christ our Savior and all his apostles preached justification by faith, even as did the prophets of the Old Testament. Justification is the central doctrine of all the Scriptures, the heart and soul of the entire Christian religion. All believers are justified, all the saints in heaven now have been made what they are by justification, and at the last day the righteous at Christ’s right hand will be there because they have continued in justification to the end.” — R.C.H. Lenski

22 Jun 2022

“The need of a more adequate exegetical-homiletical treatment of the ancient gospel and epistle selections has long been felt. The manager of the Lutheran Book Concern has commissioned the writer of these lines to meet this need.” — R.C.H. Lenski

15 Jun 2022

“Since Tischendorf lied so many times about Codex Sinaiticus, what does that suggest about his earlier work with Codex Ephraim Rescriptus - and his later work embracing Codex Vaticanus?” “How does anyone explain Sinaiticus having white, supple pages after resting unknown for 15 centuries?” — From Questions to be asked while reading this book.

31 May 2022

Martin Luther’s House Postils are Christ-centered devotional sermons which Luther delivered to his family and students. This newly typeset edition contains the complete collection, originally published by Matthias Loy in three volumes.

25 May 2022

This short and widely used catechism is evidence that Missouri Synod Lutherans not long ago clearly taught and believed in justification by faith. Who receives this forgiveness? Although it has been procured for all men, and is offered by the Gospel to all that hear it, yet only those who believe the Gospel and thus accept the forgiveness of sins actually become partakers of such forgiveness. What, then, do we, together with our Church, confess regarding the forgiveness of sins, or justification? That we receive forgiveness of sins and are justified before God, not by our works, but by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith. Why must we ever firmly maintain this Article especially? Because it is the chief article of Christian doctrine, by which the Christian Church distinguishes itself from all false religions, and which gives all the glory to God alone, and affords enduring comfort to poor sinners. “Heinrich Christian Schwan was the Missouri Synod president for 20 years (1878-1899), but that lengthy service and his pastoral and missionary activities have been effaced from the LCMS histories. Schwan’s presidency was sandwiched between the presidencies of CFW Walther and Walther’s hand-picked successor in teaching, Franz Pieper. Walther and Pieper were advocates of Objective Justification.”

18 May 2022

“This weightiest chapter ever penned by Inspiration yields up its lessons best when literally understood, and when explained by the laws of common sense. “The secret of recent assaults upon the Bible is the restiveness of the modern spirit… so eager is the desire for anything new, that even the destruction of all that is precious and venerable is hailed on account of the morbid excitement thereby aroused. …these extremists are so irrational in their hate of the old that they would rather that the edifice of Revelation should be crumbled to the earth, and that the immortal hopes of mankind should be reduced to wreck, than that they should be immutably fixed upon the pillar and ground of the past.” — J. B. Remensnyder

11 May 2022

“This book possesses distinction as one of very few systematic theologies written from the viewpoint of Scandinavian-American Lutheran pietism, a movement which combined the Norwegian/Haugean and the Swedish/Rosenian traditions. It has been observed that, in general, the four major earmarks of pietism are experiential Christianity, Biblical focus, holy living, and opposition to formalism.

21 Apr 2022

“The mistake of those who direct all their efforts toward making men better and improving human society by teaching and enforcing the law… is of serious consequence to the souls of men… It can neither save their souls nor make them good… The only help for us is in Christ, without whom we can do nothing; and that help consists first of all in the forgiveness of our sins, which separate us from God and all that is good, and deprive us of all true peace and joy. Therefore the Christian life depends on faith in the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

14 Apr 2022

“In these godless and worldly times we must earnestly and diligently preach conversion. We must insist on its necessity. We must reason, exhort, convince, beseech, and plead; ‘Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die?’”

9 Mar 2022

“Only one, true Christian Church exists, and that Church is made up of all those who sincerely believe in Christ as their Savior. The true Church, then, is invisible, including members of all denominations, even those without a denomination or formal affiliation. Only God can judge the heart, so one cannot judge whether a person has saving faith from his membership in one denomination or another.” — Gregory L Jackson

22 Feb 2022