Concord Matters from KFUO Radio

Walther said it best: “The doctrinal contents of all Holy Scripture, both of the Old and the New Testament, consist of two doctrines that differ fundamentally from each other.  These two doctrines are LAW & GOSPEL.” The Law is God’s will. We need the Law as He show us our sins and calls us to repentance. The Gospel is God’s work of salvation through His life, death, and resurrection. These doctrin...

Good works are the fruit of the Spirit, not of the disciplined life. Good works are an overflow from our union in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Although we are to discipline the body, righteousness produces good works. A summary statement of good works might be this: “Good works are free acts of justified persons, performed through the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, according to the...

Good works are necessary for the Christian and follow true faith just as fruit grows on a good tree. Yet good works are completely separate from salvation and justification before God. Christians look to God’s Law to understand a good work (primarily in the 10 commandments), to see not only where we fail, but how, by the work of the Holy Spirit, we are able to live a good and holy life to His glor...

Christ alone is our righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30). Theologians attempted, and still do, to make additional explanations of how one becomes righteous. However, to add anything to our salvation besides Christ is nothing but vanity and a chasing after wind. A common mistake of the Old Adam is to believe that God does the first step, and the person completes justification through works of love. T...

We believe “by grace you have been saved through faith”. However, is faith in Christ the cause of our righteousness or the instrument by which we receive Christ’s righteousness? Is there a distinction between Christ’s divine and human nature when it comes to our righteousness? The Concordians were bold to teach the Truth that it is Christ alone who is our Righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30). While...

There are only two causes for a person’s conversion: The Holy Spirit God’s Word as the instrument of the Holy Spirit.  Scripture assures us that we are purely passive in our conversion. Although our natural instincts desire to have some kind of part in our conversion (after all, we have to work for everything else in life), we cling to the promises of God’s grace revealed to us by God’s Word.  “Lo...

Since the fall of Adam and Eve, humankind is completely blind in spiritual matters and an enemy of God (1 Corinthians 2:14 & Genesis 8:21). Our only hope is for the Holy Spirit to make us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). In the 16th century, just like today, the Concordians battled against man’s inherent desire to have some credit for his salvation. Conversion occurs by means, the Word...

Original sin is not a minor blemish. We don’t possess even a spark of good. Even when sin is not public, the corruption of our nature remains. Like a terminal disease, original sin cannot be removed by human effort. We must carefully distinguish human nature from original sin without separating them. Original sin corrupts our nature, but it is not the essence of humanity; otherwise, God would be m...

Jesus is NOT sin incarnate. God creates; Satan corrupts. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. When Christ took on our nature, He did so without sin. Although we are new creations in Christ, our corruption is not minor. Our corruption is so deep we need a perfect Savior with perfect blood to die an innocent death. This understanding is difficult to grasp according to reason, but it is a comfort...

Original sin is the deep and thorough corruption of our human nature which requires God Himself to overcome for our salvation.  The Concordians were careful to teach that original sin was not the essence of a person; if that were the case, God would be the creator of sin. According to Scripture, we are God’s creation but inherit this corruption from Adam’s fall. This corruption is real, but even m...

The sole source of doctrine and hope for the Church is Scripture—and Scripture alone. Yet the Church has also received written symbols, not equal to Scripture, but given for faithful confession: to reject heresy and to present a clear proclamation of the orthodox, universal Christian faith. The Formula of Concord continues to preserve us in Christ, keeping the Church steadfast in pure doctrine and...

The theological controversies leading up to the signing of the Formula were not solved at one congregational meeting. Some of the controversies (e.g. The Antinomian Controversy) lasted almost 30 years. The LORD used these conflicts to help the Church gain clarity in the important doctrines of Holy Scripture (adiaphora, good works, synergism, and original sin). We learn from the Concordians how to...

The road to Concord was neither straight nor smooth. Although the Peace of Augsburg granted legal status to the faith confessed in the Augsburg Confession, doctrinal differences among the Reformers soon came to light. Many controversies took decades to resolve through patient study of the Word and faithful care by theologians such as Jakob Andrea, Martin Chemnitz, and David Chytraeus. Their work p...

The story from 1546 until 1580 is one of courage and cowardice, weakness and strength. The LORD used that season to clarify how we as God’s people confess the Truth of the Word. What would end up being 12 articles of Truth addressing the doctrinal issues of the day has a backstory of politics, war, personalities, and false doctrine.  “Help us, dear Heavenly Father to be faithful to Your Word and l...

“When I urge you to go to Confession, I am doing nothing else than urging you to be Christian.” Individual confession and absolution shows us the depth of our sin and provides healing medicine through the Gospel. We ask that all who confess Christ confess their sins so that with all boldness and confidence we trust that we come to Him and receive the priceless, full forgiveness of sins. We will no...

We are called to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). This is not only done publicly, but confidentially, assuring that confidence of the sins will only be between the LORD and the confessor. Confession is not a payment for sins, but God’s work through the shed blood of Christ. We are beggars. The gift of forgiveness is real and ready for all to receive in faith.   Rev....

Lutherans promote and even exhort every Christian to make use of private confession and absolution. The Concordians opposed mandatory confession but urged every Christian, pastors and laity alike, to use their freedom in Christ to receive Christ’s free forgiveness. There are two kinds of confession common among Christians: confession to the Lord and confession to the neighbor, as expressed in the...

The Book of Concord gives us the guidelines for playing in the playground of God’s kingdom! What does the Bible tell me about sin? About God? How to pray? How does God come to me? How am I to live as a Christian? How am I to respond to sin? Where is our final hope? All these questions were answered, clarified, proclaimed, and confessed over 50 years in the 16th century and still are today! Rev. Da...

Studying the Lutheran Confessions means listening, learning, and living God’s grace in Christ.  We are not only taught how to confess, but we are grounded in our identity in Christ to live as new creations. The Concordians were determined that faithful doctrine would bring salvation to those who heard the Word, enabling them to fully know the Truth of God, including original sin, salvation, the sa...

What does it mean to confess the faith? Put simply, it means that God speaks and we speak back what He says! To confess the faith is to speak the Truth of the whole Bible, fight against anything counter to that Truth, and by so doing, become a source of comfort for fellow believers (Heb. 10:23). Lutherans around the world walk together with a common confession because it is in accordance with Scri...

The Treatise confesses that the Church has been instituted by Christ. This confession gives us a basic understanding of how the Church will operate: not according to our own interests, but according to the LORD’s desires as revealed in His Word. We believe, teach, and confess that Christ is the head of the Church, not a man. Each pastor is given the divine right to preach the Gospel, administer th...

The subscribers of the Treatise publicly confessed that the Lord had given the Church to call, elect, and ordain qualified ministers for the office of the Ministry.  The subscribers affirmed that the Pope had no divine right to universal supremacy over the Church as Christ and Christ alone is head. Thanks be to God that the confession of the subscribers of the 16th century is still our confession...

The Office of the Keys, the power to forgive and retain sins, has been given to the Church. This is why the Church has the right to elect and ordain qualified ministers. When one decides that the Church no longer has this authority, no matter their position, they are outside of the Lord’s calling and are not to be followed. The Reformers began to elect and ordain their own ministers to assure that...

The authority of ministers consists in preaching the Gospel, forgiving sins, administering the sacraments, and excommunicating persons guilty of public sins. The Church, as she possesses the office of the keys, has the right to call and ordain qualified pastors. Bishops have traditionally overseen the ordination of ministers, but they cannot deprive congregations a pastor due to unbiblical additio...

Your public confession matters. Melancthon warns that the public confession in the Roman Catholic Church is filled with abuses of the papacy, indulgences, invocation of saints, and celibacy of the priests. He explains that these abuses hide Christ’s glory and rob consciences of firm consolation. As the Church battles through the questions of the day, she calls out sin and lack of faith as the LORD...