Word of God – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

Happy birthday, Lutheran Church!

Encore Post: Most people think of October 31st, 1517 as the date of the Lutheran Church. However, Martin Luther and most Lutheran historians disagree. On the day that Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses, he was very much a Catholic. In fact, Luther on this day was upset that people did not have to suffer enough for their sins, and were being let off the hook way too easily. You could say he was more Catholic than the Pope. Considering the nature of Pope Leo X, he was.

On the first Reformation day, the Reformation was just beginning. We only first begin to recognize Luther’s complete theology in his writings in 1520. And it really wasn’t until 1529 that the reformers and their princes thought of the Lutheran tradition as a separate faith.

Emperor Charles V had many problems in 1529. The Turkish Empire of Suleiman the Great had invaded Austria and laid siege to Vienna. France and the Pope were constantly challenging his authority in southern Europe. He badly wanted to unify his German territories under Roman Catholic control. So he called all the territories together at Augsburg for a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire.

Elector John of Saxony, Luther’s Prince, commissioned Luther and his friends to create a unified statement of the disputes between the Pope and the Lutheran territories. The result was a document called the Augsburg confession. All the Lutheran princes who attended the diet of Augsburg sign the document as their own faith.

On June 25th 1530, the Augsburg confession was presented to Charles V by the Lutheran princes. To this day, June 25th is known as the birthday of the Lutheran Church.

As Time passed, the Augsburg Confession gained acceptance by Lutheran territories and theologians. It became the standard for what we believe and confess and remained so. Today, every Lutheran Pastor pledges to teach according to the Augsburg Confession and the other documents in the Book of Concord of 1580.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #6: Location, Location, Location

Encore Post: For sale: Three Bedroom home, Two Bathrooms, Ranch, $78,000 — or is that $150,000 — or is that $250,000? What is the difference? One is in Fort Wayne, Indiana, another in St. Louis, Missouri and the third in Peekskill, New York. In Real Estate, the price of a home is mostly set by location, location, location.

In literature, the meaning of a word or phrase depends upon the words around it, what kind of writing it is found in, and many other factors. To know what the author means depends very much on what else he or she has to say.

The same rule applies to understanding a verse in the Bible. For example, someone about to eat too much food might claim: “God said, “eat and drink.” (1 Corinthians 15:32)” But when we know the passage ends, “for tomorrow we die,” the passage doesn’t seem so positive about overeating! Obviously this Bible passage doesn’t intend to recommend eating everything you can. It is quoting a pagan philosopher.

And there is even more to the passage. It begins: “If the dead are not raised…” Since even that is written in 1 Corinthians 15, when Paul argues that the dead are indeed raised. In its context, then, the passage means the opposite of what it seems to say. The rule about context means that you should read more than just one verse. It will tell you what the words actually mean.

Reading more than just a passage quoted to you often bears rich rewards, even when it doesn’t change what you thought the words mean. For example, Lutherans like Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” But try verse 10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Not only does God give us salvation as a gift of his grace, but he views us as his masterpiece and sets things up in our lives so that we will do good works!

So, when you want to know what a Bible passage means, read more than just a quote. Read the words around it as well.

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Rev. Robert E. Smith

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #7: Respect the Original Languages

Encore Post: The Bible, it’s stories, phrases, poetry and images are so woven into our culture we don’t even notice it. Even more so, it is a part of our worship, prayers and teaching that it is a natural part of our faith. So it is easy to forget that God’s word was not originally spoken and written in English, but in two or three eras of the Hebrew language, Aramaic, and the everyday Greek of the Roman empire. The King James Version was so well done that it had a staying power of nearly 500 years and influences all of our modern translations. Yet even it loses some of the meaning moving across languages, culture and time period. That is why Lutheran pastors have been traditionally taught to read the Hebrew and Greek of the original texts.

One way to see that is to try to translate from English to English. Think of the word “Excellent.” What word would you use in its place if you could not use the word “Excellent?” Does the word you picked mean exactly “excellent?” Not really. Some shades of meaning are lost — like when you see a picture in black-and-white instead of color.

So, when you are trying to understand a passage, consider the original language. If you never learned them, there are tools you can use to get at the original. With the advice of your pastor, select two to four different translations for your study. Pick ones that are somewhat different in approach. When you study, read them together. If they say virtually the same thing, you know the original is not difficult to translate. If they are very different, check the notes of a study Bible or ask your pastor what is going on behind the translations.

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Rev. Robert E. Smith

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #4: Use the Bible to Understand the Bible

Encore Post: Many beloved passages in the Bible are as clear as mountain streams fed by melting snow. “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” (Genesis 1:1). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son (John 3:16). “God is Love.” (1 John 4:8) These and dozens like them are so clear, we teach them to small children. Yet others are not so clear. Some, like the detailed laws God gave to Israel we suspect that God no longer wants us to observe. Others don’t seem to make sense to us at all. How can we be sure what they mean for us?

The answer is actually a part of Rule #1: since the Bible is God’s word, we can use one passage to explain others. We can be sure of the interpretation we discover this way, because the words we are using are God’s own words.

Let’s look at a few passages to see how this works. We know that most of the national law God gave to the Kingdom of Israel does not bind us, because St. Paul tells us not to allow anyone to judge us on the basis of them. (Colossians 2:16-23) We know, however, that the Two Great Commandments do, because Jesus tells us to observe them. (Luke 10:26-28) In another place, when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, we wonder what he was thinking. The author of the Book of Hebrews tells us. Hebrews 11:17-19)

So, when you wonder if there’s more to a passage, look elsewhere in the Bible. God will often give you more insight when you do this.

Rule #1 | Rule #2| Rule #3 | Rule #5 | Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #3: Two Main Teachings of the Bible

Encore Post: When you read the Bible as a story, the main plot, salvation history, is all about Jesus (See Rule #2). Yet the Bible is not only a story, it is God’s message to his children. In it, he explains in great detail how he made the world, how it works and what he wants us to do, what happens when we do not do it and how he intends to restore it to its original condition. It gets kind of complicated. That is why God sums it up in two main teachings. Luther and Lutheran theologians call these teachings The Law and The Gospel.

These teachings help us organize all that the God teaches us in his word. The Law is about God’s will for our lives and how he wants us to live it, what happens when we disobey his commandments, what the likelihood is of us doing his will on our own, what the punishment is for rebelling against him and everything associated with the governing authorities he has appointed to keep at least some order in this life. (The Three Uses of the Law)

The Gospel is the good news that God, in his mercy, sent his Son, Jesus, to be born in the womb of the Virgin Mary, suffer, die, rise from the grave on the third day and ascend into heaven for our sakes. It tells us how the death of Christ has destroyed death, earned for us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation and all of this is given to us by grace alone, received by faith alone for Christ’s sake alone. It contains all the precious things which God promises us because of what Jesus did for us. (See It’s His Story)

The rule teaches us to keep these two teachings straight. When we say the law saves us, we encourage sinners to try to save themselves; we deny them the comfort of the gospel. When we say that forgiveness comes with conditions, we place barriers between Jesus, his Means of Grace and the grace that is his free gift. So, we do what Luther described as the most difficult art — we allow the law to be the law — requiring perfect obedience, condemning us for our inevitable violation of it and pointing us to the gospel. We allow the gospel to be all the precious promises of God’s free grace and encourage his people to rely on it.

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Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #2: The Bible is All About Jesus

Encore Post: When you see a good friend reading a book, so taken by it that they shut the whole world out, you ask them, “what’s it all about?” Your friend will sum it up in a few sentences. Of course, there is a lot more detail to the tale, but all of the words, images it creates set the mood and move the plot along. Yet no really good story holds our interest if there is not a single, central story that we care about.

The Bible is the most important book in the world, because it is God telling the story. This story is more than an enjoyable yarn. It is the story about how God saved us and how he will make the creation new again. Theologians call that Salvation History. So, if someone asks, “What is the Bible all about?” The best answer is “It is all about Jesus.” Jesus himself tells us this. (John 5:39)

Knowing that the Bible is all about Jesus helps us to understand its message and the place of each verse in that message. On the surface, the Bible is a small library of sixty-six books with different messages. They can seem disconnected and at odds from time to time. By this rule, we come to see the Bible has one story with a beginning, middle, climax and end, all tied to what Jesus did and will do to save us. It helps us to see that we are actually a part of this story. Unlike good fiction, this story is real news, not fake news. It is actually has a two-part message for us — which we’ll take up in the next post.

So, by knowing that the Bible is all about Jesus, or said in more formal language, all theology is Christology, we can unlock the treasures of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is not all about how to live a happy life in this world, although it can help us with that. It is not about predicting the future, like some giant puzzle or math problem. It is not the key to success and riches, or even about what we should do to be good people. In fact, it is not so much about what we do, but what God has done: In Christ, he made the world, sorrowed over its sin, set out to save the world, was made man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life in our place, suffered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven and one day will return to raise us from the dead to live with God forever. As you read the Bible, then, ask yourself: what does this have to do with Jesus? You’ll be surprised how much it helps to hear what God is saying to you in his word.

Rule #1| Rule #3 | Rule #4 | Rule #5 | Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #1 for Reading the Bible

Encore Post: For most Christians, the first rule for understanding the Bible seems obvious. The Bible is God’s Word. Yet believing that God speaks to us in his own words and is the author of the Bible affects the way we look at the Scriptures, how we approach it, what we expect from it and the assumptions that we make about what it says.

Because the Bible is God’s message to us, we believe that it is not fiction, a myth made up by people to explain the world, or something that it just very well written words to inspire us or make us feel good — like a great movie, a catchy song, or an absorbing novel written by our favorite author. After they make us feel good and escape the world for awhile, nothing changes and life goes on. The Word of God, however, comes with the power of God to change our lives, brought to us by God’s own Holy Spirit. (see Romans 1:16-17, 2 Peter 1:16-21) It creates faith in hearts which do not believe and strengthens faith where it exists.

So, the clear teachings of the Bible are the final authority on everything it speaks about. When it says that all people are evil, not good, at heart, we believe that, even though our mind and culture tells us everyone is basically good. When it tells us God made the world in six days, we believe that, too, even if the world’s myth tells us the universe has always existed and developed over millions of years into what we now see. When the Bible tells us both that God decided to save us before he made the world, but if we reject him, we can loose our faith, we believe that too, even though it doesn’t make sense to us.

So, this rule is that we assume that what the Bible teaches is true and use those things which are perfectly clear in it to understand things that are not so clear.

Rule #2| Rule #3 | Rule #4 | Rule #5 | Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Who do you think you are?

Encore Post: “What are you going to be when you grow up?” American adults love to ask children. We teach our youth to dream. If you work hard enough, there is no limit to what you can do or be. You might even be president of the United States someday! We grow up trying to find ourselves. And when we get to age eighteen, we go off to “find ourselves” in the world or college. Yet in doing so, we miss some very important things we already have and a call, a vocation, every Christian has. It begins with knowing not who you are, but whose you are.

You see, you belong to God. When you were lost in the darkness of sin and death, Jesus came and sought you to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought you and for your life he died. Not with silver or gold were you bought back from sin, the devil and death, but with his precious blood and his suffering and death. He did this for a purpose — not that you would move along the path to the American Dream or self fulfillment, but that you would live with him in his kingdom forever.

It is in his kingdom that we have our most sacred call. We are called to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, set apart to be his favorite possession. (1 Peter 2) A priest is someone who stands between a god and his people. His role is to bring the god’s instructions and blessings to people and their prayers and their sacrifices to the god. Our role as the nation of the priests of the Holy Trinity is to bring the good news of salvation to the nations and to pray for them, calling on God to have mercy on them.

This Priesthood of All Believers, as Martin Luther called it, has received God’s call to forgive sins for Christ’s sake, to proclaim the good news to all the ends of the earth, to baptize and to teach them. Together we have done these things for 2000 years and counting. As God’s church, we primarily do this through men God has called to represent us — to be our pastors. Yet we do not sit back and watch. We are all his priests, his messengers, his witnesses to everyone. This is who you really are.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Thy Kingdom Come

Encore Post: When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we state our hope and belief that God’s Kingdom is different than the kingdoms of the world. As Jesus says to Pontius Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” But certainly it has entered into this world now and the world will see it in all its fullness when Jesus returns to judge both the living and the dead.

God’s Kingdom comes to us a couple of ways. God’s Kingdom comes to us through the Proclamation of the Word and Faith. Another way to say it is that God’s Kingdom comes to us when and where Jesus promises to be for the forgiveness of our sins in the divine service. Finally, what we see currently only by faith will be unveiled to the world, and God’s Kingdom will be fully known.

God’s Kingdom is not like the Kingdoms of the world. God’s Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and it must be distinguished from the civil realm. God works in terms of the Gospel, that in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross atones for the sins of the world. Currently God’s Kingdom looks quite humble. Even the King rides to his throne on a donkey, not some regal warhorse. His crown in this world was one of thorns. He governs not with an iron fist, but through his ministers who are called to preach His Gospel and administer his gifts- namely Baptism, Bread and Wine, His body and Blood- to his faithful.

The civil realm as we are all able to look around works in terms of fear and power, certainly not the Gospel but rather Law. Of course, as we pray this petition we also express the desire for the Lord to bless our civil kingdoms (government) with His mercy and grace that we might live in peace. And we should obey the laws of the government as long as obeying the laws does not cause us to sin. We also acknowledge rightly that God does not intend to use the Gospel to overthrow secular government and public order. We reject that before the resurrection of the dead, saints and righteous people will possess a secular kingdom.

So, we as Christians see ourselves in two kingdoms. And we continue to pray this petition as fervently as ever in anticipation when the Lord will return to usher and reveal His Kingdom fully.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Why Memorize the Catechism?

Encore Post: The Catechism contains the chief parts of the faith. At the heart of it are the big 3 pieces: the 10 Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, and Lord’s Prayer. Dr. Luther also attached Confession, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Altar. Luther wanted his students to know the catechism by heart.

The Catechism ought to be learned out loud for memory’s sake. It should be memorized by the hearers as it is used in the divine service. Four pieces of the catechism are mainstays within the liturgy (Apostles Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Confession, and Sacrament of the Altar). The Ten Commandments are effectively understood to be in play as they are considered when confessing our sins to God. Luther gives us that instruction in his explanation when asking the question, “What sins should we confess?” The Sacrament of Baptism still occurs within the confines of the Divine Service as well, but unfortunately baptisms appear to be fewer and farther between. However, we should not down play baptisms as in every moment of the Divine Service we are reminded of the gifts that gives to us through our Baptisms into Christ Jesus.

We memorize the catechism because the catechism is really nothing other than the Words of Christ. The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer are specifically taken right out of Scripture. The Creed is effectively the entire story of the bible distilled down to 3 articles of faith, the confession of Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification in and through the work of the blessed Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are granted faith as we hear the word of God revealed to us in the Catechism. The Catechism then is perhaps the greatest place to begin when teaching the faith to the littlest among us as well as the young in the faith.

The Word of God is important, and we ought be in the Word as often as possible. The Catechism ought to be memorized and used by the faithful so that it becomes embedded in our hearts. If it is not used in our daily devotional life the words of the catechism will quickly leave us. But if the words of the catechism are memorized or learned by heart, the vocabulary of the catechism informs our faith and entire life. It is after the words of our Lord for the instruction in the faith.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana