One way? Once saved?

"The first and foremost article is this, that Jesus Christ, our God and our Lord, 'was put to death for our trespasses and raised again for our justification.'  He alone is 'the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'"
Smalcald Articles, Part II, Article I. (emphasis added)

"The content of the Gospel is this, that the Son of God, Christ our Lord, himself assumed and bore the curse of the law and expiated and paid for all our sins, that through him alone we re-enter the good graces of God, obtain forgiveness of sins through faith, are freed from death and all the punishments of sin, and are saved eternally."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article V, "Law and Gospel"

"In the third place, a disputation has arisen whether good works preserve salvation or are necessary to preserve faith, righteousness and salvation.  This, of course, is a serious and important question since only he who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13) and 'We share in Christ only if we hold our first confidence firm to the end.' (Hebrews 3:14) . . .  
Therefore, we must begin by earnestly criticizing and rejecting the false Epicurean delusion which some dream up that it is impossible to lose faith and the gift of righteousness and salvation, once it has been received, through any sin, even a wanton and deliberate one, or througth wicked works, and that even though a Christian follows his evil lusts without fear and shame, resists the Holy Spirit, and deliberately proceeds to sin against his conscience, he can nevertheless retain faith, the grace of God, righteousness, and salvation."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article IV "Good Works"

I take up two matters this week because it seems to me they are related.  The first is whether faith can be lost.  Can someone have saving faith, but then lose it?  The second is "the exclusivity and universality of the Christ event" (which I assumed below in discussion, but did not provide the reference) and the question of whether a Christian can lose his or her faith. 

This week's Lectionary Bible Lessons includes as a pericope the portion of Peter's first letter in which he wrote, "Baptism which now saves you...."  This phrase ripped out of all context and joined with the false idea that "once saved, always saved" is a major factor, I believe, in the tendency we have to "get the baby done."  At baptism we receive our ticket to heaven, which we get validated at confirmation.  So we're good to go.  Now no pastor would ever say that this is true.  It is clearly not.  But we might like to believe that we have someone in the baptismal fold they are eternally safe. 
NO NO NO.
Faith can be lost.  Luther in "Freedom of a Christian" used the metaphor of a plant that is allowed to die.  The plant was a gift and was received and maybe even cared for in the short term, but if it is not continually cared for, it dies.  Faith is like that.  Faith can die.  (Luther wrote the same in his letter to the Anabaptists.)

I understand that Luther strove mightily for a system in which we have assurance of our salvation because God did everything.  But as I pointed out earlier, in the second and third parts of "Freedom of a Christian" Luther also pointed out that God's saving action requires a response.  Luther's explanation to each of the Ten Commandments begins, "We should fear and love God...."
YES.  We should fear and love God.  One of the responses to God's love in our love to God, is obedience, not out of duty, but out of love.

The two key passages of the Bible are listed in the quotes from The Book of Concord above. 

But here's the thing.  One of the ways people lose faith is to look for another way.  One of the ways we fail in our evangelism is to allow for another way.  Remember, one motivation for sharing The Good News of God in Jesus Christ is that Hell is real.  Eternal life matters eternally.  Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but by me."  John 14: 6.
The Apostles were willing to die to share the truth that Jesus is THE way and THE truth and THE life.  Here's why that matters.  Conversion to Islam is NOT OK, anymore than conversion to Jehovah's Witness or Mormonism.  We are NOT worshiping the same God.  Jesus IS eternal God.  (Franklin Graham took a big hit in the media for saying publicly what is "certainly true."  We are not worshiping the same God.)  We are called and sent by Jesus, God the Son to proclaim "the exclusivity and the universality of the Christ event."  (Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven; but Jesus is THE way available for everyone.)
(Have you noticed that in every nation founded upon Christian principles that Islam is legal, and in every nation founded upon Muslim principles Christianity - which includes the duty to share one's faith - is illegal? This is not coincidence.)

Let me be clear in conclusion.  This is a free country.  People need to be free to choose whatever religious or spiritual path they choose to follow.  But in a free country we are also allowed to share the truth of Scripture, however unpopular it may be, that Jesus is the only way.  No hate.  No fear.  Grace and Truth.

Don't just sit there. DO something.

"It is also taught among us that good works should and must be done, not that we are to rely on them to earn grace, but that we may do God's will and glorify him.  It is always faith alone that apprehends grace and forgiveness of sin.  When through faith the Holy Spirit is given, the heart is moved to do good works."  The Augsburg Confession, Article XX, "Faith and Good Works.

"Good works follow such faith, renewal and forgiveness....  To this we must add that if good works do not follow, our faith is false and not true."
Smalcald Articles: Part III: Article XIII "How Man is Justified before God, and His Good Works."

"When, however, the question is asked, how a Christian can identify, either in his own case or in the case of others, a true living faith and distinguish it from a simulated and dead faith (since many lazy and secure Christians delude themselves into thinking that they have faith when they do not have true faith), the Apology gives the following answer: 'James calls that faith dead where all kinds of good works and the fruits of the Spirit do not follow.'"
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article III, "Righteousness"

This is a bigger deal than may appear at first.  For hundreds of years the Lutheran Church has been quoting Ephesians 2: 8-9 to demonstrate that we are saved by grace through faith, not by what we do.  And rightly so.  But Luther and the writers of The Lutheran Confessions did not stop there, and we cannot either.  Ephesians 2: 10: "For we are His creation - created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them."  (Holman Christian Standard Bible)  (emphasis added). 

My favorite work on this subject is Martin Luther's "Freedom of a Christian" (which is not a part of The Lutheran Confessions).  Luther wrote it in three parts.  First he laid the foundation of salvation by grace through faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9).  But then in the second part he went on to say that while God's Love for us is unconditional, we respond to that love with love for God, including devotion and worship.  In part three he continued that we serve The Lord by serving those whom He loves - everyone.  Obedience is a response of love for the love that God showed us.

I love the King James translation of logiken (logos) in Romans 12: 1. Most translations these days translate it "spiritual".  But King James uses "reasonable" (logical - which is the literal word).  In light of all that Jesus has done for us in the love of God, it just makes sense that we would offer ourselves to Him in love and service.

An observation I have been making for awhile now is that for hundreds of years we as Lutherans have focused so much on "saved by faith through grace apart from works" and on sharing the Good News that "God loves you" that we missed an important piece.  We have spent so much time answering the question whether God loves us, that we have failed to ask, "But do you love God?"  And following, "If you did, what would that look like?"  For a long time Lutheran churches tended to have pews with people sitting around being loved by God.  But then most of them "did the math" and realized that since "nothing you can do can make God love you more, and nothing you can do can make God love you less" that they could sit around at home (or wherever) "being loved by God" and instead our churches tended to have mostly just pews.  I believe a big reason for that was that no one asked them, "But do you love God?"  I have been studying Scripture for almost 40 years now, and I remain convinced that God's promises are NOT for those whom God loves.  God loves everyone.  Scripture is clear that God's promises ARE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE GOD.  We needed long ago to move on to the next question.

In 2000 the ELCA made an excellent attempt to address this "oversight" in the Discipleship Materials "Living Faith Practices."  They put out excellent study materials showing that this is what a  living faith actually looks like: pray, worship, study the Bible, invite others, encourage the generations behind us, serve and give.  VERBS!

So, in conclusion, I am sick to death that any suggestion that we might actually do something with our faith in response to God's love, is met with responses like: "That's works righteousness!"  "That's fundamentalist legalism!"  "That's not Lutheran."  NO.  It IS VERY LUTHERAN to use verbs in a sermon and to suggest an actual response to The Good News that looks something like "Go in peace and serve The Lord."  Such a response in obedience and love just makes sense.

Martin Luther in "Freedom of a Christian" called our response to God's love in devotion, obedience and service "Faith active in Love."  Yea.  That.

Angels and Demons

“We must also explain that we are not talking here about the faith possessed by the devil and the ungodly, who also believe the story that Christ suffered and was raised from the dead. But we are talking about true faith, which believes that we obtain grace and forgiveness of sin through Christ.

All who know that in Christ they have a gracious God call upon him and are not, like the heathen, without God. For the devil and the ungodly do not believe this article about the forgiveness of sin. That is why they are enemies of God, cannot call upon him, and cannot hope for anything good from him. Moreover, as has now been indicated, Scripture talks about faith but does not label it knowledge such as the devil and the ungodly have. For Hebrews 11:1 teaches that faith is not only a matter of historical knowledge, but a matter of having confidence in God to receive his promise. Augustine also reminds us that we should understand the word “faith” in Scripture to mean confidence in God—that God is gracious to us—and not merely such knowledge of these stories as the devils also have.”

The Augsburg Confession: Article 20: Concerning Faith and Good Works.

“It is also taught that our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the Last Day to judge, to raise all the dead, to give eternal life and eternal joy to those who believe and are elect, but to condemn the ungodly and the devils to hell and eternal punishment.

Rejected, therefore, are the Anabaptists who teach that the devils and condemned human beings will not suffer eternal torture and torment.

Likewise rejected are some Jewish teachings, which have also appeared in the present, that before the resurrection of the dead saints and righteous people alone will possess a secular kingdom and will annihilate all the ungodly.”  The Augsburg Confession: Article 17: Concerning the Return of Christ to Judgment.

These quotes from the Augsburg Confession make an interesting bridge.  The second quote is from my last post on hell and judgment.  The first quote will be repeated in my next blog on faith and "works."  What I am talking about today is demons and angels.  As is often the case, my motivation to post on a particular topic came from a post in the ELCA Clergy Group on Facebook regarding the Mark Lectionary text of Jesus casting out the demon in the synagogue in Mark 1.  This raised the question, not surprisingly, of whether as clergy persons we believe in demons.  There were many posts about casting out the demons of bigotry or racism, etc.  But in Mark 1, Jesus did two things.  He taught.  But then he cast out a demon.  This is another subject which, I confess, baffles me in terms of those who do not believe in literal demons (or angels).   I share the quotes above from The Augsburg Confession to hopefully make clear that Melanchthon (and Luther) did no such "spiritualizing" or "allegorizing."  Luther talked about doing spiritual battle with Satan.  He believed.

Of course, with regard to Scripture, those who choose not to believe in literal demons or the devil are faced with a tough choice.  Did Jesus not really understand what He was doing when He was casting out demons (which He actually did with regularity)?  Did He think He was casting out demons but in actuality He was healing of something?  (The condition of choice seems to be epilepsy.)  Do epileptics tend to have "word of knowledge" to know what demons know but the people around Jesus did not know?  Another option is no better.  Was Jesus intentionally misleading His followers?  He knew He wasn't actually casting out demons, but they were so backward that He lied to them when He knew He was actually healing instead?  Or maybe He just never actually meant what He said when talking about Satan or demons?

The same problem comes up with angels.  If someone chooses not to believe in literal angels, then who told Mary she was going to give birth to the Son of God?  Oh wait!  That assumes that you believe in The Virgin Birth.  Let's get that out of the way quickly.

"And in Jesus Christ...born of the Virgin Mary...."  Apostles' Creed.  Article 2.

"And in one Lord, Jesus Christ... who was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary...."  Nicene Creed. Article    2.

                    

And who told the women "He is not here.  He is risen."?

It is possible that God passed these messages on directly.  (Have you noticed that often in the Bible the angel and THE LORD tend to flow in and out of each other?  C. S. Lewis wrote about it.)  But why does the Bible say twice that angels ministered to Jesus?

So I believe in literal angels and demons.  As I shared in the ELCA Clergy Group, having attended an exorcism (which I have) gives you a different perspective.  It no longer becomes just a theological, theoretical discussion point.  The late Keith Green, singer and songwriter wrote a song years ago, "No One Believes in Me Anymore."  Satan reveled in the work he could do among people so sure he does not exist.

I end with a reading list.  Frank Peretti wrote a two novel set about angels and demons called, "This Present Darkness" (from Ephesians 6) and "Piercing the Darkness."  I enjoyed them both.  Then, of course, there is the classic novel by C. S. Lewis, "The Screwtape Letters."  If you read it (and it is also available unabridged on audio-book), don't miss the epilogue "Screwtape Gives a Toast."  Prophetic.

Next blog post will be "Don't just sit there.  Do something!"  Do Lutherans teach about "doing"?

Blessings.  And may God's angels watch over you and protect you.