LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1965, Page 297

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MEMORIAL 331, PROPOSITIONS 1 AND 2 297

cord, Epitome, Rule and Norm, 7). And the Lutheran
Confessions claim to be the church’s norm under the
Holy Scripture. They say that they intend to bea

“. . . single, universally accepted, certain, and common
form of doctrine . . . from which and according to which,
because it is drawn from the Word of God, all other
writings are to be approved and accepted, judged and
regulated.”
(Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration,
Rule and Norm, 10)

4. In their true and correct exposition of Holy Scrip-
ture the Lutheran Confessions recognize the article of
justification by faith both as the chief article of the
Christian religion and as the perspective from which
all of Scripture is to be approached. This article, the
Confessions maintain, “is of special service for the clear,
correct understanding of the entire Holy Scriptures and
alone shows the way to the unspeakable treasure and
right knowledge of Christ, and alone opens the door
to the entire Bible” (Apology IV, 2 [German]).

5, Furthermore, in their emphasis on justification
and on the proper distinction of Law and Gospel (Apol-
ogy IV, 5; Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, V, 1)
the Confessions place the opening chapters of Genesis
into their proper theological context. The Formula of
Concord (Solid Declaration, XI, 12. 92-93) declares:

We must oppose . . . false imagining and thoughts
with the following clear, certain, and unfailing founda-
tion: All Scripture, inspired by God, should minister not
to security and impenitence but “to reproof, correction,
and improvement” (2 Tim. 3:16). Furthermore, every-
thing in the Word of God is written down for us, not for
the purpose of thereby driving us to despair but in
order that “by steadfastness, by the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). From this
it is beyond all doubt that the true understanding or the
right use of the teaching of God’s eternal foreknowledge
will in no way cause or support either impenitence or
despair. So, too, Scripture presents this doctrine in no
other way than to direct us thereby to the Word (Eph.
1:13, 14; 1 Cor. 1:21, 30, 31), to admonish us to repent
(2 Tim. 3:16), to urge us to godliness (Eph. 1:15 ff.;
John 15:16, 17, 3, 4, 10, 12), to strengthen our faith and
to assure us of our salvation (Eph. 1:9, 13, 14; John 10:
27-30; 2 Thess. 2:13-15) . . .

For the apostle testified that “whatever was written
in former days was written for our instruction, that by
steadfastness and by encouragement of the Scriptures we
might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). But it is certain that any
interpretation of the Scriptures which weakens or even
removes this comfort and hope is contrary to the Holy
Spirit’s will and intent. We shall abide by this simple,
direct, and useful exposition which is permanently and
well grounded in God’s revealed will; we shall avoid and
flee all abstruse and specious questions and disputations,
and we reject and condemn all those things which are
contrary to these true, simple, and useful expositions.

One should also compare the following passages from
the Confessions which speak specifically of Genesis:
Formula of Concord, SD, V, 23; Apology II, 46-50; XI,
53; Smalcald Articles III, i, 3.11 (see footnote).

6. Law and Gospel are factual realities. The wrath
of God is a reality in the history of mankind (Rom. 1: 18-
$2). The grace of God is a historical reality: the Gospel
is news of a real event (John 1:17; Gal. 3:23-25; Titus
2:11). The Scriptures which record and present Law
and Gospel are powerful and profitable (2 Tim. 3:15, 16)
just because they are the infallible vehicles of these
historical realities. The Lutheran emphasis on the ne-

cessity of understanding the Scriptures in their gram-
matical-historical sense is, in the last analysis, part and
parcel of the Lutheran Law-Gospel emphasis. To inter-
pret the Scriptures in terms of Law and Gospel, as the
Lutheran Confessions do, does not mean that the in-
terpreter is free to disregard any of the hard facts of the
Scriptures, whether these are the creation and the fall
or the cross and the resurrection. Rather, the inter-
preter is bound to face them squarely, to take them
seriously, to let them speak to him in that form in
which it has pleased God to present them. God is free
to choose the form in which the Scriptures are to ex-
press the factual realities of His Law and His Gospel.
The interpreter can determine what that form is only
by observing it in each case in its Biblical context as it
presents itself to him.

7. In order that the church may witness clearly and
vigorously to the whole counsel of God with reference
to the doctrines of creation, the fall, and redemption,
she must continue in the fear of God to study the Scrip-
tures according to sound principles of biblical interpre-
tation. The CTCR is therefore urgently recommending
a broadly-based and comprehensive study of these

principles.
FOOTNOTE

Since the beginning of the world these two proclamations
have continually been set forth side by side in the church
of God with the proper distinction. The descendants of the
holy patriarchs, like the patriarchs themselves, constantly
reminded themselves not only how man in the beginning
was created righteous and holy by God and through the
deceit of the serpent transgressed God’s laws, became a sin-
ner, corrupted himself and all his descendants, and plunged
them into death and eternal damnation, but also revived
their courage and comforted themselves with the proclama-
tion of the woman’s Seed, who would bruise the serpent’s
head; likewise, of the Seed of Abraham, by whom all nations
should be blessed; likewise, of David’s Son, who should re-
store the kingdom of Israel and be a light to the nations,
“who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for
our iniquities and with whose stripes we are healed.” (For-
mula of Concord, Solid Declaration, V, 23)

Although the scholastics minimize both sin and its pen-
alty when they teach that man can obey the commandments
of God by his own powers, Genesis describes another penalty
for original sin. There human nature is subjected not only
to death and other physical ills, but also to the rule of the
devil. For there this fearful sentence is pronounced, “I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her seed” (Gen.3:15). The deficiency and con-
cupiscence are sin as well as penalty; death, other physical
ills, and the tyranny of the devil are, in the precise sense,
penalties. Human nature is enslaved and held prisoner by
the devil, who deludes it with wicked opinions and errors
and incites it to all kinds of sins. Just as the devil cannot be
conquered without Christ’s help, so we cannot buy our way
out of the slavery by ourselves. World history itself shows
the great power of the devil’s rule. Blasphemy and wicked
doctrines fill the world, and by these bonds the devil has
enthralled those who are wise and righteous in the eyes
of the world. In. others, even grosser vices appear. Christ
was given to us to bear both sin and penalty and to destroy
the rule of the devil, sin, and death; so we cannot know
His blessings unless we recognize our evil. Therefore our
preamers have stressed this in their teaching. (Apology HI,

These are the two chief works of God in men, to terrify
and to justify and quicken the terrified. One or the other
of these works is spoken of throughout Scripture. One
part is the Gospel, that is, the promise of grace granted in
Christ. This promise is repeated continually throughout
Scripture; first it was given to Adam, later to the patriarchs,