{"id":144,"date":"2009-12-07T10:39:42","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T17:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=144"},"modified":"2010-01-02T19:13:50","modified_gmt":"2010-01-03T02:13:50","slug":"pure-church-no-%e2%80%94-pure-gospel-yes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=144","title":{"rendered":"Pure Church, No \u2014 Pure Gospel, Yes."},"content":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey you who are leaving the ELCA, do<\/strong> you think you\u2019re better<\/strong>? Do you think you \t\t\t\tcan build a pure church? So some Lutherans say\u2026.<\/p>\n

There is no pure church. Lutherans in LCMC are not trying<\/em> to build a pure church \u2013 just as Paul and \t\t\t\tLuther were not trying to build a pure church. Yet both Paul and Luther separated from fellow Christians for the sake \t\t\t\tof the truth of the gospel. Consider the following:<\/p>\n

A.<\/strong> St. Paul: \u201cEven if we or an angel from heaven preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached \t\t\t\tto you, let him be cursed\u201d (Gal 1:6-9).<\/p>\n

B.<\/strong> Luther: \u201cPaul curses Peter, Barnabas, and the others in no uncertain terms of failing to \t\t\t\twalk in the truth of the gospel<\/strong>, that is, of having swerved from the truth of the gospel<\/strong>. \t\t\t\tIt was a serious matter for Peter to be accused by Paul of falling and swerving from the truth of the gospel<\/strong>. \t\t\t\tThere could be no graver reproach. Yet he bears it patiently and undoubtedly accepted it with real gratitude. I warned \t\t\t\tearlier that many have the gospel but not the truth of the gospel<\/strong>\u201d (Luther\u2019s Works<\/em> 26:115).<\/p>\n

C.<\/strong> Augsburg Confession 7: The church is \u201cthe assembly of all believers among whom the gospel \t\t\t\tis purely preached<\/strong> and the sacraments administered according to the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

But today some Lutherans say that, because we live in a post-denominational age, preachers and professors should not \t\t\t\tbe judged by the doctrinal errors of the ELCA. There\u2019s no pure church, and all doctrine is relative anyway\u2026.<\/p>\n

But the gospel has necessary consequences<\/strong> for the church. As Paul writes: \u201cFaith comes from \t\t\t\twhat is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ\u201d (Rom 10:17). To preach purely is to preach his \t\t\t\tcross as all-sufficient. To preach purely is to preach against adding requirements \u2013 a priestly hierarchy, good \t\t\t\tworks, etc. Because churches can undermine the pure gospel by requiring more, church affiliation does matter.<\/p>\n

When the ELCA changed its constitution (\u00b610.81.01) in 1999 to require<\/strong> the Episcopal episcopate, \t\t\t\tit compromised the pure gospel. It has become a gospel-plus church.<\/strong> Now the only way to preach the gospel \t\t\t\tpurely within the ELCA is to preach against its required hierarchy and refuse to go along. Who dares do that?<\/p>\n

The pure gospel alone gives certainty and freedom. Why separate? Because distorted, compromised gospels cannot deliver \t\t\t\tus from sin and death. Only the pure gospel \u2013 the all-sufficient cross \u2013 gives the certainty and freedom \t\t\t\tfor which Christ died.<\/p>\n

Luther says that Peter was really grateful that Paul corrected him when he swerved from the truth of the gospel. Caveat \t\t\t\t\temptor<\/em>: Don\u2019t be surprised if today those who are entrenched in gospel-plus churches are not so gracious. \t\t\t\t\tBut don\u2019t withdraw from speaking the truth in love. The certainty of salvation is at stake<\/strong> for \t\t\t\t\tone and all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF Hey you who are leaving the ELCA, do you think you\u2019re better? Do you think you can build a pure church? So some Lutherans say\u2026. There is no pure church. Lutherans in LCMC are not trying to build a pure church \u2013 just as Paul and Luther were not trying to build a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-144","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions\/385"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}