Koinonia Project can only go so far... Every pastor knows, or should know, that there are cases when a discussion is impossible and the only answer to a question can be that ‘Be gone, Satan!’ which Jesus spoke not only to the devil (Matt 4:10) but also to his faithful confessor, Simon Peter (Matt 16:23). Not every question can be settled by means of a friendly discussion. It is necessary to remember that in an age which has a superstitious belief in dialogue as the infallible means of settling everything. There are questions raised by the devil to destroy the Church of Christ. To achieve this, he may use as his mouthpiece not only ambitious professors of theology, his favorite tools, but also simple, pious souls. Why women cannot be ordained is one of these questions. - Hermann Sasse – The Lonely Way: Volume 2 (1941-1976), “Ordination of Women? What Sasse says, surely cannot be disconnected from the Smalcald Articles: In a word, enthusiasm inheres in Adam and his children from the beginning [from the first fall] to the end of the world, [its poison] having been implanted and infused into them by the old dragon, and is the origin, power [life], and strength of all heresy, especially of that of the Papacy and Mohammed. 10] Therefore we ought and must constantly maintain this point, that God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. 11] It is the devil himself whatsoever is extolled as Spirit without the Word and Sacraments. [Smalcald Articles, Part III, Article VIII] FROM THE FORMULA OF CONCORD: For this reason, too, believers require the teaching of the law: so that they do not fall back on their own holiness and piety and under the appearance of God’s Spirit establish their own service to God on the basis of their own choice, without God’s Word or command. As it is written in Deuteronomy 12[:8,28,32], “You shall not actall of us according to our own desires,” but “listen to the commands and laws which I command you,” and “you shall not add to them nor take anything form them.” Furthermore believers also require the teaching of the law regarding their good works, for otherwise people can easily imagine that their works and life are completely pure and perfect [FC-SD VI, 20,21].
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 15:02:26 +0000
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