Concord Matters from KFUO Radio

Jesus is the only Mediator! Faith in Christ, the only Mediator, is the beginning of a clear conscience, and by the Holy Spirit, good works flow. Melancthon addresses the harmful results of the teaching: One is unable to keep the Law without Christ’s aid. By the mercy of Christ, the baptized Christian loves God and serves others without doubt. The conviction of the Concordians was to hold on to the...

Clarity is key. Clarity gives a clear conscience. We clearly confess that good works are necessary for the Christian, but good works do not merit salvation. The Christian has been reconciled to the Father by the blood of Christ. This promise is true, and as His love is given to us, it then flows through us to the neighbor. Our call is to follow the One who has given us all things, He merited our s...

The Law is fulfilled when a person does good works in faith. For the Christian, repentance and good works are never separated from faith in forgiveness won for them in Christ’s cross. Reason may tell people what good works are in society, but those works are not for the sake of salvation. Apart from Christ, nothing good comes from us (John 15:5), but with Him by His word and sacraments, we are com...

To understand good works is to understand vocation. The first call of the Christian is to receive the gifts of our Lord by the Holy Spirit we give gifts in love to others. The charge is to love others with a good conscience. A good conscience only comes through faith in full satisfaction of Christ’s cross and empty tomb. The Epistle James provides a faithful model of how to understand and teach go...

The adversaries had many prooftexts to attempt to disprove the Concordians understanding of faith and works. Melancthon patiently teaches that these passages (I Corinthians 13:2; Colossians 3:14; I Peter 4:8; and many more), are grounded in the understanding that the love of Christ is our hope and He pours that love into our hearts (Romans 5:5) so that we serve knowing that we are already saved (R...

If forgiveness of sins depends on our works, it is completely uncertain. If you get justification right, one will get works right. If you get justification wrong, one will get good works wrong. In faith, on account of Christ, our works are holy, divine works done for the sake of the neighbor and in thanksgiving for all the Lord gives. These works are not Justification + ____________, but knowing t...

In Luke 7, the sinful woman was forgiven by faith and her works flowed by His grace. It is clear that we are unable to fulfill the Law and all fall short of His glory. Our disposition is completely broken and as we receive a clear conscience through forgiveness by the blood of Christ, works of love naturally spring up by the Holy Spirit’s help (Galatians 5:22-23). We are reminded that a good tree...

Good works are not necessary for salvation, yet good works are necessary. Good works flow from faith in the good work of Christ’s cross and benefit our neighbors. The heartbeat of the Christian life is the forgiveness of sins, and by the Holy Spirit’s work, fruit is bore as they are connected to Christ the vine. When we speak of love in this article it is a synonym for good works. Love for others...

Justification by faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and Scripture alone was nothing new. This truth was proclaimed since the days of the Apostles, and the early Church fathers, like Ambrose & Augustine, agreed. “Let no one boast because of works as no one is justified by their deeds...faith, therefore is that which frees through the blood of Christ because he is blessed whose transgression is...

The Biblical understanding of Justification centers on Christ’s cross and empty tomb. For Christ’s sake, God declares the dead in sin to be alive, the unrighteous now righteous, the condemned are now not guilty, and the sinful are forgiven. Melancthon proves this Truth by pointing to the many passages in Scripture that clearly confess our hope in Christ. “My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jes...

The clear statement from the Augsburg Confession, “People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake (AC, IV), still bring questions such as: “What about repentance? How do we obtain this faith? How does faith justify?” The Concordians address these questions by pointing to the means...

Christ will come again to judge everyone, and there will be an account. Either one has belief in the promises of Christ and will enter the gates of heaven or a lack of faith in Christ which will take one away from the Lord. The clarity of justification grounds us in the righteousness of Christ, which comes from the free forgiveness of sins won for us by His blood by the means of grace. His righteo...

Our Lord Jesus Christ, both God and man, freely justifies sinners by faith that they are received into favor and forgiven for His sake. This gift is made known throughout the Scriptures, both Old and Testament, for the sake of a clear conscience. To understand this article we need to understand the distinction of Law & Promise. The Law is not abolished by Christ, but He has fulfilled it so that we...

When Paul says we are “dead in our sins” (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1), what does that mean? Scripture teaches that we are not only fallen but that we have a strong tendency to sin without the fear of God, called concupiscence. To speak correctly of Christ is to have a correct understanding of our sinful nature. We are fallen, dead in sins, and have no fear, love, or trust in God, including adults,...

When the Augsburg Confession was presented, the political and theological world was in upheaval. The princes were not allowed to read the Catholic response, the Confutation, but they were asked to subscribe to it. The Concordians desired to prepare a defense to show that they did not create a new theology but were continuing the confession of the Christian Church from the beginning. Instead of the...

The Concordians needed to make a defense as controversies quickly arose after the presentation of the Augsburg Confession on June 25, 1530. Within months, Emperor Charles declared that the Lutherans had until April of the next year to concede to the Roman Catholic Church. Melancthon began a thorough defense the next fall while the Smalcaldic League was formed to unite the Reformers around the trut...

The Concordians were bold to present the theological issues of their day to unify the whole Church. It was not to be a rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church, but an ardent desire to bring the Church back to the Truth of the Gospel. The foundational issue centered around a “system of merit,” where the Catholic Church believes that one is saved by the work of Christ, BUT....there is still a ne...

By what authority do our pastors do their work? By what authority does the government do their work? The Church has full authority from the Lord to give a clear conscience to burdened sinners simply through the preaching the Gospel and administrating the sacraments. This authority does not mean that there is no need for good order or that Christians should not be involved in government, but we nee...

Melancthon spoke of monasticism in his days as “wicked.” Everything one sees from the outside it looks good and holy: chastity, obedience, service of the neighbor, poverty, etc. However, if one is looking for justification or perfection by the law they will never be satisfied (Galatians 5:14). We believe that there is Christian perfection, that is righteousness that only comes from the Triune God....

Choosing what to eat and not eat is entirely a matter of Christian freedom. Satisfaction is not what makes me satisfied but was required to be pleasing before the LORD. Satisfaction was made in full for your sins by Christ’s cross and empty tomb (Romans 3:21-26). Christians do not do away with good traditions or dissuade people from bodily discipline for the good, yet these disciplines are done wi...

Individual confession and absolution is retained in the Lutheran Church. The power of the keys (Matthew 16:19, John 20:19-23) is God’s voice sounding from heaven that, in faith, Christ has forgiven your sins. Instead of us making satisfaction by going to confession, Christ has made full satisfaction, so we simply receive the fruits of the cross by His called servants. Absolution is meant to bring...

What is the heart and soul of when God’s people gather around His gifts? The actions done or the faith in the works of Christ? The Roman Catholic Church was allowing various abuses of an unbloody sacrifice to make atonement for sins and to receive “filthy gain” from members for a personal Mass. The Mass was kept so that the focus would be on faith in Christ and to receive the forgiveness of sins b...

What is the heart and soul of when God’s people gather around His gifts? The actions done or the faith in the works of Christ? The Roman Catholic Church was allowing various abuses of an unbloody sacrifice to make atonement for sins and to receive “filthy gain” from members for a personal Mass. The Mass was kept so that the focus would be on faith in Christ and to receive the forgiveness of sins b...

We continually ask, “What is the final authority for the Church?” As God’s Word is the Truth, What does God’s Word say about receiving the Sacrament? When Jesus says, “Drink of it all of you”, Jesus means all (Matthew 26:27). What does God’s Word say about the marriage of priests? St. Peter had a mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), and Paul exhorts us that an overseer should be the husband of one wife (...

A saint is a “holy one” by faith in the Lord Jesus. We honor, remember, and imitate those who died in Christ that we may live faithfully in all our vocations. At the same time we do not want the focus to be taken away from the full sufficiency of Christ’s cross. As Rev. Bo Giertz says from the Hammer of God, "One ought not talk about oneself, it may hide Jesus from view." "For all the saints who f...