LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 95

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ESSAY AND BIBLE STUDY 95

pure doctrine was not simply for its own sake but forthe
eternal salvation of sinners for whom Christ died.

The same spirit of concern is to be found in the
writings of the Fathers of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod. Dr. Walther writes:

It is . . . easy to lose the narrow way of the pure doctrine,
which . . . is traveled by few people and leads through a
dense forest of erroneous teachings. You may land either in
the bog of fanaticism or the abyss of rationalism. This is
no jest. False doctrine is poison to the soul.” (Walther, Law
and Gospel, p. 20)

Just as impurities in the milk given to infants can
result in sickness and death, so false doctrine in the
church results in spiritual illness and eternal damna-
tion.

It is no secret that today the very term “doctrine” is
in ill-repute, to say nothing of concern for “pure
doctrine.” The apostolic injunction to long for the pure
milk of the Word has falled upon hard times. The very
notion of “pure doctrine” is denied by many, if not most
theologians today. This state of affairs is directly
related to the use of historical criticism, a metholology
which has been called (correctly, I believe) the greatest
challenge to authority in the church in 1900 years in the
study of Holy Scripture. The very concept of pure
doctrine is impossible apart from an understanding of
Scripture as “the pure, infallible, and unalterable Word
of God” (Preface to the Book of Concord, p. 8), a tenet
which is absolutely incompatible with historical-
critical methodology as it is generally understood and
employed in Biblical studies today. Thank God that He
has thus far preserved our church from succumbing to
this subversion of the Gospel.

Professor Hermann Sasse responds to the sugges-
tion which is sometimes heard that we should not be so
concerned about false doctrine but simply get on with
the simple preaching of the Gospel by reminding us:

If the orthodox leaders in the fourth cen tury had been more

concerned about evangelizing than about defining Scrip-

turally the nature of Christ, they might have done more
evangelizing, but they would have lost the Gospel, whose

heart and center is Christ, who is both God and man in one
person. (1959 Proceedings, p. 35)

We can say the same about concern for what the
Scriptures teach about its authority, inspiration, and
inerrancy. It is a delusion to think that the Gospel can
long be preserved apart from the Holy Scriptures.
Luther wrote already 450 years ago:
Holy Scripture is the book given by God the Holy Spirit to
His church. From this book the church learns what the
church is, what the church must do, what the church must
suffer, where the church should abide. Where this book

ob there the church ceases. (Erlangen ed., pp. 26, 100,
1

We have noted that the apostolic injunction to yearn
for the pure milk of the Word belongs to the Law and
not to the Gospel. The Lutheran Confessions tell us that
the Law always accuses, even as it instructs (FC SD VI,
21). Also in this area the Law indicts us. We must confess
that also in this area of life, as our recent history in The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod demonstrates, we
have not measured up to God’s expectations. We have
not followed Peter’s exhortation “to long for the pure

milk of the Word,” to be greedy for it, to study it, to feed
on it, and to guard it from all who would misrepresent
it. But the good news of the Gospel is that God forgives
also these sins for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God for the heroes in the faith who
have spent their lives, so that you and I might continue
to feed on the pure milk of the Word. In this year of the
400th anniversary of the Formula of Concord, let us
give Thanks to God for the Gospel heritage we share in
the Lutheran Church. May God the Holy Spirit work
also in us through the power of the Gospel to be equally
zealous for preserving the purity of the Word for those
who come after us. In the words of the General Prayer
in the Order of the Morning Service we pray:
We praise Thee especially that Thou hast preserved unto us
in their purity Thy saving Word and the sacred ordinances
of Thy house. And we beseech Thee, O Lord, to preserve
and extend Thy Kingdom of Grace and to grant unto Thy
holy Church throughout the world purity of doctrine and
faithful pastors, who shall preach Thy Word with power;

and help all who hear rightly to understand and truly to
believe it. Amen.

IV

During this week we have been discussing together
the two chief doctrines of the Holy Scriptures—Law and
Gospel. We have seen how critical the proper distinction
between Law and Gospel is in our lives as Christians. In
fact, we have noted that although theoretically easy, the
job of properly distinguishing the Law from the Gospel
is in actuality impossible apart from the work of the
Holy Spirit. As Dr. Walther has stated in his book Law
and Gospel: “Rightly distinguishing the Law and the
Gospel is the most difficult and the highest art of
Christians in general and of theologians in particular. It
is taught only by the Holy Spirit in the school of
experience” (Walther, Law and Gospel, p. 1).

Knowing when to apply the Law and when to apply
the Gospel belongs to the art of rightly dividing the Word
of God. It is instructive to review our Lord’s ministry. It
is characterized by the application of the promises of
grace and forgiveness, life and salvation to penitent
sinners—to the woman “who was a sinner” who “wet
His feet with her tears” (Luke 7:37 ff.), to Zacchaeus, who
confessed the sins of a career of cheating and stealing
(Luke 19:1 ff.), to the penitent thief on the cross (Luke
23:39 ff.). Not a word of rebuke (Law) does our Lord speak
to these conscience-stricken sinners. The Law had
already done its job, and it was time, as Luther put it, to
say, “Goodbye, Law!”

When sinners despair of pardon, as Judas did, and
reject the forgiveness which Christ’s death on the cross
has already won for them, then the Word of God is not
rightly divided. The failure to accept God’s forgiveness
because one feels his sins are too great is a result of
listening to the Law when the Gospel should be heard
and believed. To a sinner sorely troubled by a great sin,
Luther once wrote: “It is bad enough to know that you
made a mistake in this matter. Now do not let sin stick in
your mind, but get rid of it.” Luther urges him “to join
our company and associate with us who are real, great,
and hard-boiled sinners,” for Christ is “Savior and
Redeemer from real, great and damnable transgressions