WELS Pastors

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WELS Pastors Retreat

• Heartwood Conference Center Resort
• September 11-13, 2011

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The Lutheran Confessions
Cross-focused
Christ-centered
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What are some issues that confront confessional
Lutherans today?
D 1,2

• Pluralism
• Relativism
• Secularism/Materialism
• Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism
• Neo-paganism

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We teach all subjects in the light of Gods
Word.

• How would you evaluate this often seen phrase?
• We demolish arguments and every pretension that
  sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and
  we take captive every thought to make it obedient
  to Christ (2 Cor 105).
• My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart
  and united in love, so that they may have the
  full riches of complete understanding, in order
  that they may know the mystery of God, namely,
  Christ (Col. 22).
• Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
  perfecter of our faith (Heb 122).

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Confessing Christ

• All of Scripture everywhere deals only with
  Christ. Martin Luther (WA 46414)

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Scripture and Confession
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• Creed (credo) I believe
• Confess come together in agreement
• Symbol mark of identification between the two
  partners in a contract
• We are Lutherans because we are Christians.
• The Confessions are Christ-centered.

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What is the difference between Scripture and
Confession?

• Scripture is the word of God given through holy
  prophets and apostles as they were inspired by
  the Holy Spirit. Through the external word they
  became vehicles of the Spirits revelation .
• Confessions are faithful reflections of Bible
  teaching. Scripture determines what the
  Confessions teach, and their teaching is
  determined by Scriptures teaching.

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Why Confessions in addition to Scripture?

1. They enable the church to give a correct and
   concise testimony of its teaching.
2. They serve to safeguard the church from erroneous
   teaching.
3. They furnish the church with a standard or rule
   by which to weigh truth against error.
4. They stand as the tried and tested symbol or mark
   of identification for what the church believes,
   teaches, and confesses.

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Why unconditional allegiance to the Confessions
by the churchs ministers?

• Because all Christian denominations claim
  Scripture as the only source of their teaching.
• Because the church must be sure that its teachers
  have a sound grasp of Scripture and will carry
  out their ministry accordingly.
• To avoid being distracted by controversies which
  have been settled.

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Warning

• The church that prides itself in being creedless
  is highly vulnerable to constantly shifting winds
  of thought.
• Conditional allegiance to Confessions emerged
  where faith and Scripture were subverted by
  reason and emotionalism.
• A conditional allegiance to Confessions is no
  allegiance at all.
• Note Allegiance pertains to Bible teaching, not
  to things of human knowledge or scholarship or
  history in the Confessions.

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Which is proper?

• A quia (because) subscription to the creeds and
  confessions
• A quatenus (insofar as) subscription to the
  creeds and confessions

quia ?
quatenus ?
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APOSTLES CREED
Christ-centered, Cross-focused
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• The Apostles' Creed is a brief statement of
  gospel truths taught by the apostles. It was not
  formulated by theologians, but out of the needs
  of the Christian church. Christians used it to
  tell others what they believed and also to
  confess their faith with one another as they met
  for worship.

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• I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of
  heaven and earth.
• I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
  Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born
  of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
  Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He
  descended into hell. The third day he rose again
  from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is
  seated at the right hand of God the Father
  almighty. From there he will come to judge the
  living and the dead.
• I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian
  Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness
  of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the
  life everlasting. Amen.

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On the Origin of the Creed

• Traditional name legend of authorship
• Creedal expressions in the New Testament

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1 Corinthians 86

• yet for us there is but one God, the Father,
  from whom all things came and for whom we live
  and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through
  whom all things came and through whom we live.

• I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of
  heaven and earth.
• I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

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1 Timothy 316

• who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the
  virgin Mary,
• He ascended into heaven and is seated at the
  right hand of God the Father almighty.

• Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness
  is great He appeared in a body, was vindicated
  by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached
  among the nations, was believed on in the world,
  was taken up in glory.

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1 Corinthians 151-4

• Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel
  I preached to you, which you received and on
  which you have taken your stand. 2 By this
  gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the
  word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have
  believed in vain. 3 For what I received I
  passed on to you as of first importance that
  Christ died for our sins according to the
  Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was
  raised on the third day according to the
  Scriptures,

• was crucified, died, and was buried. The third
  day he rose again from the dead.

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Philippians 25-11

• 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of
  Christ Jesus 6 Who, being in very nature God,
  did not consider equality with God something to
  be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking
  the very nature of a servant, being made in
  human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance
  as a man, he humbled himself and became
  obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9
  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
  and gave him the name that is above every name,
  10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should
  bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
  11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
  is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
  died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
  The third day he rose again from the dead.
• and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
  almighty. From there he will come to judge the
  living and the dead.

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Lyon
Rome
Carthage
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Creedal usages in the early church

• Liturgical
• Catechetical
• Apologetic
• Creed

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Tertullian of Carthage (d. 220) Rule of Faith

• In refutation of Gnosis, to affirm
• Divine origin of matter
• Goodness of matter
• Reality of Christs birth
• Reality of Christs flesh
• Reality of Christs death
• Reality of Christs resurrection

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Transcription of the Creed

• Symbolum nemo scribit
• Old Roman Symbol
• the first text attesting to it is a letter to
  Pope Julius I in 340 or 341
• Letter of Abbot Pirminius,
• c. 750
• The creed as we have it today.

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The Old Roman Symbol

• I believe in God almighty and in Christ Jesus,
  his only son, our Lord, who was born of the Holy
  Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who was crucified
  under Pontius Pilate and was buried, and the
  third day rose from the dead, who ascended into
  heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the
  Father, whence he cometh to judge the living and
  the dead. And in the Holy Ghost, the holy
  church, the remission of sins, the resurrection
  of the flesh, and life everlasting.

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Rules Taught by Men??

• Matthew 159 They worship me in vain their
  teachings are but rules taught by men.
• On the basis of this passage, some Evangelicals
  today condemn Lutherans for subscribing to creeds
  and confessions.

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THE NICENE CREED
Christ-centered, Cross-focused
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Logos theology (Justin Martyr, d. ca. 165)

• logos may be translated word or reason or
  wisdom
• John 11-3 In the beginning was the logos, and
  the logos was with God, and the logos was God.
  He was with God in the beginning. Through him
  all things were made without him nothing was
  made that was made.

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Eternity Creation
History Timelessness
beginning of time
logos
GOD
LOGOS
GOD
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Adoptionist theology(Paul of Samosata, fl. ca.
275)
Birth Baptism This is my
beloved Son Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus of Nazareth son of Mary
Joseph adopted Son of God
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Modalist theology(Sabellius, fl. ca. 225
Praxeas, a.o.)

• mode guise or mask or appearance

GOD
mask of Holy Spirit
mask of Father
mask of Son
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Truth under fire in the Arian Controversy

• The issue
• Arius Sons begottenness implies non-eternal
  existence (creature)
• Athanasius Son must be God to be Savior of all

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Arianism
GOD
Father
created demi-god SON
HOLY SPIRIT Impersonal Energy Force
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Creed of Caesarea

• We believe in one God, Father Almighty, the Maker
  of all things whatsoever, that are seen and
  unseen
• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God,
  God of God, Light of Light, Life of Life,
  Only-begotten Son, Firstborn of every creature,
  begotten of the Father before all worlds, by whom
  all things were made, who for our salvation lived
  among men. He suffered and rose again the third
  day, and ascended to the Father, and he will come
  again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
  
• We also believe in one Holy Spirit.

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Creed of Nicea

• We believe in one God, Father Almighty, Maker of
  all things visible and invisible.
• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
  begotten of the Father only-begotten, that is,
  of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light
  of Light, very God of very God, begotten not
  made, being of one substance with the Father, by
  whom all things were made both in heaven and on
  earth who for us men and for our salvation came
  down from heaven, and was made flesh, and became
  man. He suffered and rose again the third day,
  ascended into heaven, and is coming to judge both
  living and dead.
• And we believe in the Holy Spirit.

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Creed of Nicea (continued)

• The holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
  anathematizes all who say that there was a time
  when he was not, that before he was begotten he
  was not, that he came into being from
  what-is-not, or that he is of a different essence
  or of a different substance from the Father, or
  that he is susceptible of variation or change.

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Sequel in the Latin West

• Persistent Arianism in Spain
• German Visigoths rule Catholics
• Synod of Toledo, 589
• filioque added to Third Article

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Christ-centered, Cross-focused

• The Athanasian Creed
• Fully God Fully Man

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The Athanasian Creed (QUICUNQUE)

• Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else,
  hold to the true Christian faith. Whoever does
  not keep this faith pure in all points will
  certainly perish forever.
• Now this is the true Christian faith We worship
  one God in three persons and three persons in one
  God, without mixing the persons or dividing the
  divine being.
• For each person -- the Father, the Son, and the
  Holy Spirit -- is distinct, but the deity of
  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in
  glory and coeternal in majesty.
• What the Father is, so is the Son, and so is the
  Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the Son
  uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated the Father
  is infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit
  infinite the Father is eternal, the Son eternal,
  the Holy Spirit eternal yet they are not three
  who are eternal, but there is one who is eternal,
  just as they are not three who are uncreated, nor
  three who are infinite, but there is one who is
  uncreated and one who is infinite.

Unity
Part 1 Trinity
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• In the same way the Father is almighty, the Son
  is almighty, and the Holy Spirit is almighty yet
  they are not three who are almighty, but there is
  one who is almighty. So the Father is God, the
  Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God yet they are
  not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is
  Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord
  yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord.
• For just as Christian truth compels us to confess
  each person individually to be God and Lord, so
  the true Christian faith forbids us to speak of
  three Gods or three Lords.
• The Father is neither made nor created nor
  begotten of anyone. The Son is neither made nor
  created, but is begotten of the Father alone.
• The Holy Spirit is neither made nor created nor
  begotten, but proceeds from the Father and the
  Son.
• So there is one Father, not three Fathers one
  Son, not three Sons one Holy Spirit, not three
  Holy Spirits. And within this Trinity none comes
  before or after none is greater or inferior, but
  all three persons are coequal and

Plurality
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• coeternal, so that in every way, as stated
  before, all three persons are to be worshiped as
  one God and one God worshiped as three persons.
• Whoever wishes to be saved must have this
  conviction of the Trinity.
• It is furthermore necessary for eternal salvation
  truly to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ also
  took on human flesh.
• Now this is the true Christian faith We believe
  and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's
  Son, is both God and man. He is God, eternally
  begotten from the nature of the Father, and he is
  man, born in time from the nature of his mother,
  fully God, fully man, with rational soul and
  human flesh, equal to the Father as to his deity,
  less than the Father as to his humanity and
  though he is both God and Man, Christ is not two
  persons but one, one, not by changing the deity
  into flesh, but by taking the humanity into God
  one, indeed, not by mixture of the natures, but
  by unity in one person for just as the rational
  soul and flesh are one human being, so God and
  man are one Christ.

Part 2 Christ
Person
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Work

• He suffered for our salvation, descended into
  hell, rose the third day from the dead. He
  ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand
  of God the Father almighty, and from there he
  will come to judge the living and the dead.
• At his coming all people will rise with their own
  bodies to answer for their personal deeds. Those
  who have done good will enter eternal life, but
  those who have done evil will go into eternal
  fire.
• This is the true Christian faith.Whoever does
  not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be
  saved.

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The Christology of the Creed

• The mystery of Christ
• The Scriptural testimony fully divine and fully
  human in a single person
• Calvins objection The finite is not capable of
  the infinite.

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Traditional theological approaches to the
doctrine of Christ

• The tradition of Alexandria vs the Arian heresy
  Christ is God made flesh
• Emphasis In the single person of Christ, the
  divine and human properties are shared with each
  other.
• Caveat In stressing the single personhood, do
  not let the human nature be obliterated by the
  divine.

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Traditional theological approaches to the
doctrine of Christ

• The tradition at Antioch vs the Docetic heresy
  Christ did not have a merely human appearance but
  is a genuine human being.
• Emphasis He was born in a natural way and
  matured in a natural way he grew, learned, got
  tired, slept.
• Caveat In stressing the distinct reality of the
  divine and human, do not think of Christ as two
  separate persons functioning in perfect harmony
  with each other.

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The Christology of the Creed

• The mystery of Christ
• The Scriptural testimony fully divine and fully
  human in a single person
• Calvins objection The finite is not capable of
  the infinite.

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The tradition of Alexandria vs the Arian heresy
Christ is God made flesh

• Emphasis In the single person of Christ, the
  divine and human properties are shared with each
  other.
• Caveat In stressing the single personhood, do
  not let the human nature be obliterated by the
  divine.

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The tradition at Antioch vs the Docetic heresy
Christ did not have a merely human appearance but
is a genuine human being.

• Emphasis He was born in a natural way and
  matured in a natural way he grew, learned, got
  tired, slept.
• Caveat In stressing the distinct reality of the
  divine and human, do not think of Christ as two
  separate persons functioning in perfect harmony
  with each other.

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Nestorius (d. 451)

• (Product of Antioch and bishop of
  Constantinople in 428)
• Thesis
• One cannot apply the properties of a human being
  to God God is not born. Hence Mary was not a
  God-bearer (Theotokos). She bore only a human
  being to whom the divine was joined after birth.
• Refutation at Council of Ephesus, 431
• Mary is a Theotokos. Christ has two natures in a
  single person.

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infinite impassible
divine Christ joined
Result perfect God perfect man without personal
union
God
God
cooperate
CHRIST
is born has feelings subject to death
conceived human nature
Man
Man
Mary
gave birth to human nature
Problem Only a human being experienced the human
life. But If only a human being was born, lived,
suffered, and died, he would be a poor Savior,
and, in fact would need a Savior.
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Eutyches (d. 454)(product of Alexandria, abbot
at Constantinople)

• Thesis
• One cannot apply divine properties to a human
  being. When Christ was born, the divine
  obliterated the human so that Christ is not only
  one person but also only one nature
  (Monophysitism).
• Refutation
• By Leo, bishop of Rome 440-461, in his Tome
  Christ is one person in whom the divine and
  human are united, though unconfused. The Christ
  who genuinely wept at Lazarus tomb also raised
  Lazarus from death.

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active divine nature
Infinite omnipotent
Result one divine person and one divine nature
God
divine overwhelms human
at birth
CHRIST
CHRIST
passive human nature
Man
frail finite
Problem Christ was not a human substitute for
humanity. But What Christ did not become, he did
not redeem.
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How important is it to confess Christ?

• "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also
  acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But
  whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him
  before my Father in heaven (Mt 1032,33).
• That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is
  Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised
  him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans
  109).

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• No one who denies the Son has the Father
  whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also
  (1 John 223).
• If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of
  God, God lives in him and he in God (1 John
  415).

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Confessing Christ
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What shall we confess about Christ?

• Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son
  of the living God (Mt 1616).
• I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of
  God, who was to come into the world (Jn 1127).
  (Martha)
• Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God! (Jn
  2028).
• "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
  saved (Acts 1631).

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• For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what
  was lost (Luke 1910). (Zacchaeus)
• For even the Son of Man did not come to be
  served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
  ransom for many (Mark 1045). (James John)
• 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands
  of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day
  be raised again (Luke 247). (angels)
• I have come that they may have life, and have it
  to the full (John 1010).