Category: Law and Gospel

Walther’s Law and Gospel Theses Summarized


C.F.W. Walther was the first president of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. He also was the founder and president of the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Near the end of his life, Walther gave a series of Friday evening lectures from 1884-1885 at Concordia Seminary. The 29 evening lectures gave forth 25 theses on the proper distinction of Law and Gospel. These lectures are now compiled in a books known as Law and Gospel. These 25 theses on Law and Gospel are still instrumental in guiding Lutheran pastors in how to read and apply God’s Word, as Walther’s work is still used in the curriculum of the LC-MS seminaries (as well as undergrad Concordia Universities). The proper distinction of Law and Gospel is not just for called and ordained pastors however, it’s truly for every Christian, even if you’re not Lutheran.

Below is a video series in which I summarize these theses:

Theses 1-4 – https://youtu.be/tcW0_0y_Koo
Theses 5-9 – https://youtu.be/PqQxpaWDD4U
Theses 10-14 – https://youtu.be/mOw91ihnnEI
Theses 15-20 – https://youtu.be/69zfrXKozXY
Theses in Practice – https://youtu.be/MyYm8pKwpMI
Theses 21-25 – https://youtu.be/mrMJ49NWPqQ

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67. Francis Chan’s Crazy Love

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radical-enough

Andy takes another look at Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love.  Chan, like many Christians, desires to see Christians living godly lives that demonstrate a radical transformation, lives that should be drastically distinct from those of everyone else who is not Christian by demonstration of crazy generosity, crazy humanitarian aid, crazy devotion to the Lord and to all people, crazy abstinence from all forms of sinful desires, short Christians should love crazily, just as God has crazily loved us.  But how often and consistently do Christians truly and sincerely exhibit such crazy love?

If such love is the standard of being a Christian, then many of us are not saved, by Chan’s presentation of this crazy love mark of a Christian.  Where would David or Solomon fit with this standard?  Where would the chief of all sinners, Paul, who did not do the good he desired to do, but instead did the evil he hated, stand before an almighty God?  Would they be called friend?  Will they receive the praise, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”  Will any of us?

Judging our salvation by our adherence to the Law of God is devastating to one’s faith in Christ.  It takes our trust off of Jesus Christ crucified.  Instead of boasting in Christ, we are turned inwards towards our own deeds.  We must point to our works to demonstrate our crazy justifying love.  However, Scripture demonstrates that it’s from God’s love for humanity that he sent Christ who demonstrates that love for us by dying for all of our sins.  The penalty for all of our sins is paid in full.  That’s where our assurance of salvation comes, from an alien righteousness, a righteousness from outside ourselves that is imputed on us.  It is not an infused righteousness.

Show Links:

What is Law and Gospel?

Discerning Law and Gospel when Interpreting a Text

Reconnect Episode 27: Law and Gospel

Reconnect Episode 23: Law and Gospel on Facebook

Reconnect Episode 19: How do I Know I am a Christian?

You Shall Recognize Them by Their Fruits – Judging Other Christians

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66. Francis Chan’s Crazy Love – Chapter 4

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Andy listens to Chapter 4 of Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love.

Chan teaches that God’s crazy love for us demands a crazy response from us.  But… too many people who claim to be Christians are responding in lukewarm reciprocation to what the Lord of Hosts has given to us.

In Chapter 4 of Crazy Love, Chan details the profile of a lukewarm person.  The lukewarm person is not the good soil of Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower and Soils.”  The lukewarm person is not a lukewarm Christian, hence Chan is insistant on profiling lukewarm people instead of lukewarm Christians, because lukewarm Christians simply do not exist.  Lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron.

The kicker though is that we all have elements of lukewarmness in our lives, and even Chan admits this in his writing.  Wouldn’t this mean that none of us our saved if lukewarmness was a mark of not being a Christian?  How would we know if we have too much lukewarmness in our lives to be counted among God’s people if just a tinge of lukewarmness was acceptable to God?

The biggest problem with this chapter of Crazy Love is that Chan is pointing us towards ourselves for assurance of our justification and not to Christ and his saving work.  He is saying that fulfillment of the Law on our part is how we can know if we are really saved or not.

Crazy Love is an immensely popular book and Andy knows someone who doubted his salvation after reading it.  Whenever we are pointed to look at ourselves and not to Christ, we will inevitably doubt our salvation if we are are not deceiving ourselves concerning our sinfulness. This is why this episode of Reconnect is so critical.

someones-christmas
I received this image on Christmas Day of 2014.  The sender tweeted it to me, sharing that he got the books he requested for gifts!  My book was received among some popular, well known, always in Barnes and Noble authors – Chan and Idleman. 

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