LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 93

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ESSAY AND BIBLE STUDY 93

“In Jesus, of course,” announced Fridfeldt, raising his
voice. “I mean—I mean that I have given Him my heart.”
The old man’s face became suddenly as solemn as the
rave.
8 “Do you consider that something to give Him?”

By this time, Fridfeldt was almost in tears.

“But sir, if you do not give your heart to Jesus, you
cannot be saved.”

“You are night, my boy. And it is just as true that, if you
think you are saved because you give Jesus your heart, you
will not be saved. You see, my boy,” he continued
reassuringly, as he continued to look at the young pastor’s
face, in which uncertainty and resentment were shown ina
struggle for the upper hand, “it is one thing to choose Jesus
as one’s Lord and Savior, to give Him one’s heart and
commit oneself to Him, and that He now accepts one into
His little flock; it is a very different thing to believe on Him
as a Redeemer of sinners, of whom one is chief. One does not
choose a Redeemer for oneself you understand, nor give
one’s heart to Him. The heart is a rusty old can on a junk
heap. A fine birthday gift, indeed! But a wonderful Lord
passes by, and has mercy on the wretched tin can, sticks His
walking cane through it and rescues it from the junk pile
and takes it home with Him. That is how it is.”

Friedfeldt said nothing. Though it seemed sacrilegious
to speak about the Savior in connection with such an
ungodly thing as a walking stick, he saw that the old man’s
intention was certainly not sacrilegious. He felt this by the
tone of his voice. When the old man continued, his voice was
gentler still.

“And now you must understand that these two ways of
believing are like two different religions, they have nothing
whatever to do with each other.”

“And yet,” he added thoughtfully, “one might say that
there is a path that leads from the lesser to the greater. First
one believes in repentance, and then in grace. And I believe
you are on that path.” (Giertz, The Hammer of God, pp. 146-
148)

There is nothing which we can do which can make us
right with God. Not even our act of believing is a work
which merits forgiveness. We are declared right with
God and all our sins are washed away, not because we
have given our hearts to Jesus, not because we have
made a decision for Christ, not because we have
committed our lives to His service, not because we have
followed certain prescribed steps or laws, not because we
have searched for and found God, not because we may
have had certain special religious experiences—but
solely because “the Son of God, Christ our Lord, Himself
assumed and bore the curse of the Law and expiated and
paid for all our sins” (FC SD V, 20). It is through Him
alone that we reenter the good graces of God, obtain the
forgiveness of sins, are freed from death and all the
punishment of sin, and are saved eternally.

Even the very faith by which we lay hold of and
appropriate the blessings of the Gospel is dependent on
the power the Holy Spirit, as we confess in Luther’s
explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed:
“T believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot
believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the
Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlighten-
ed me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved mein
the true faith” (LC, p. 345). Just as the Law can only
prepare for but never produce faith, so good works only
follow after but never precede faith. The Law is impotent
to produce good works. The Law brings the knowledge of
Sin, and the Gospel produces faith.

But faith does manifest itself in good works. Let no
one conclude, since our works play no role in saving us,
that they are therefore altogether unnecessary or that

they are perhaps even detrimental to salvation. Just as
good trees produce good fruits, so “faith does not ask if
good works are to be done, but before one can ask, faith
has already done them” (FC SD IV, 11). Forgiven
sinners, insofar as they are born anew, willingly and
gratefully follow the voice of their Savior as they hear it
in the Scriptures.

In the first part of his epistle, Peter presents a classic
model of the relationship which exists between faith and
works, justification and sanctification. First he states
what God has done for us. He has

—“chosen [us] according to the foreknowledge of God
the Father (1:2);

—“redeemed [us]... with precious blood as of a lamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ”
(1:18-19);

—“called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light” (2:9);

—“caused [us]... to be born again to a living hope”
(1:3);

—“protected [us] by the power of God through faith
for (a) salvation”’ (1:5).

There can be no misunderstanding as to where respon-
sibility lies for our salvation. There is nothing here of
which we can boast and for which we can take credit.
God has done it all, and He gives it to all freely.

But having so powerfully proclaimed the Gospel
promises in all their unconditional beauty, Peter shows
no hesitancy to proceed with exhortations to good
works. He says, “Therefore . . .

—“gird your minds for action” (1:13);

—“keep sober in spirit” (1:13);

—“as obedient children, do not be conformed to

former lusts” (1:14);

—“be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1:15)

—“conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your
stay upon earth” (1:17);

—“fervently love one another from the heart” (1:22);

—“like newborn infants, yearn for the pure milk of
the Word” (2:2)

Pure Doctrine and False Doctrine

It is in this context that we want to say a word about
concern for pure doctrine and false doctrine. St. Peter
urges us in 1 Peter 2:2 to yearn for the pure milk of the
Word, just like newborn infants, so That We May Grow
unto salvation. Luther’s comments on this verse are
instructive:

Here he (Peter) institutes a comparison, and would say,—ye

are like those new-born babes who suck nothing but the

milk, so be ye also eager for the word ... It must be... sincere

(or unfalsified), not as the custom is, to sell false wares; since

there is truly strong obligation, and great necessity, that to

the newborn and young Christian, the milk should be given
pure, and not corrupted. But this is nothing but the Gospel

... whatever is appended to it is human doctrine, whereby the

word of God is falsified; therefore the Holy Spirit would

have it so that every Christian shall see to it, what he sucks
for milk, and shall himself learn to decide in regard to all
doctrines (Luther, The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude,

trans. E. H. Gillett, pp. 82-83).

In these words Luther alerts us to an important
distinction which must be kept in mind while we are
considering pure doctrine and false doctrine. It is the
distinction about which we have been speaking the past