LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 200

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200 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

2. Affirm: That prayer is a response to God’s grace and may be
used to express our desires regarding spiritual gifts and bless-
ings (1 Corinthians 14:1, Luke 11:9-13).

Reject: That prayer or the charismata are means of grace.

3. Affirm: The Holy Spirit equips the church with spiritual gifts
to accomplish His gracious purposes among the people He calls
to be His own.

, Reject: That God has promised to give every spiritual gift
at all times, at all places, and to all congregations of Chris-
tians.

4. Affirm: The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts according to His
good pleasure and design (1 Cor. 12:11, 18). God’s people
should be eager and desirous to receive the gifts that God
chooses to bestow upon them (1 Cor. 12:31; 14:1).

Reject: That God’s people should unconditionally seek spe-
cific gifts of their own choosing or demand to be blessed with
a specific manifestation of the Spirit.

5. Affirm: The conclusion that someone today has received a par-
ticular spiritual gift is a human judgment and therefore subject to
error.

Reject: That God makes known to us in Scripture who today
has received a particular spiritual gift; that God’s people have
assurance from God apart from Scripture that their judgment
about the presence or possession of a spiritual gift is correct
and accurate; and that God gives us an infallible test to guar-
antee the authenticity of someone’s claim to possess a spiri-
tual gift.

6. Affirm: The Holy Spirit leads Christians to express their unity
in Christ in doctrinal agreement and in love.

Reject: That the basis of doctrinal unity in the church in-
volves only a common confession of articles of faith con-
cerning the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

7. Affirm: The Bible teaches everything necessary for the knowl- ©

edge of salvation and for leading a Christian life (the sufficiency
of Scripture) and Scripture alone is the source and norm of spiritual
knowledge and teaching for the church today (sola scriptura).
Reject: That the Holy Spirit has neglected to teach in Scrip-
ture any doctrine necessary for the salvation or sanctification
of any soul and that something other than Scripture should
be considered the source and norm of spiritual knowledge
and teaching in the church.
8. Affirm: The New Testament speaks of a gift of prophecy that
God used on occasions such as those mentioned in Acts 11:27

and Acts 21:10, when He chose to supply practical guidance and _

helpful information regarding temporal matters to his covenant
people. The New Testament also warns about false prophets
(Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:11 & 24, 2 Peter 2:1) and exhorts
His people to test critically that which purports to come from the
Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:16—22, 1 John 4:1-6).
Reject: That a prophecy from God will ever contradict that
which is already revealed in Scripture (Deuteronomy 13:1-4;
cf. Luther, AE, vol. 24, p. 369) or fail to be accurate in an-
nouncing something concerning the future. (Deuteronomy
18:21-22); and
WHEREAS, The 1998 synodical convention directed the “Presi-
dent of the Synod [to] report to the next convention of the Synod
regarding the results of these continuing discussions and bring a
recommendation so that a God-pleasing conclusion may be brought
to this matter;” and
WHEREAS, The President of the Synod has asked the CTCR to
review the final report of the participants of these discussions and
prepare a recommendation for consideration by the convention; and
WHEREAS, The CTCR has reviewed this report and the “Con-
cluding Affirmations and Rejections” cited above, and finds these
affirmations and rejections to be in accordance with Scripture, the
Lutheran Confessions, and the position of the Synod; therefore be it

Resolved, That we give thanks to God for the agreement
reached in the most recent round of discussions, as expressed in
these “Concluding Affirmations and Rejections;” and be it further

Resolved, That we encourage RIM representatives to use their
influence to make their unqualified acceptance of the Synod’s po-
sition as presented in the resolutions of the Synod widely known
to all those both inside and outside of the Synod who hold posi-
tions at variance with this position; and be it further

Resolved, That we encourage those in the Synod who continue
to hold views contrary to the Synod’s understanding of what the
Scriptures and Confessions teach about spiritual gifts to make use
of the procedures for dissent established by the Synod (Bylaw
2.39c); and be it finally

Resolved, That all those who have responsibility for doctrinal
discipline in the Synod continue to carry out their oversight in mat-
ters in this area on the basis of the Scriptures and Lutheran Con-

. fessions as presented in the doctrinal resolutions of the Synod.

Commission on Theology and Church Relations

3-105
To Affirm Theological Position of LCMS re Lodges

WHEREAS, Ordained and commissioned ministers in the Synod
have committed themselves “to witness publicly and privately to
the one and only Gospel set forth in the Holy Scriptures, specifi-
cally as they carry out their responsibilities relating to membership
in societies, lodges, cults, or any organizations of an unchristian or
antichristian character to which the Synod has declared itself firmly
opposed”; and

WHEREAS, The 1854 Constitution of the Synod required “super-
vision of how the care of souls is managed by the members” in-
cluding “whether perhaps separatistic tendencies, conventicles, and
membership in secret societies (lodges) occur in the congregations,
and in general about their spiritual-moral condition”; and

WHEREAS, In the 1926 convention, the Synod declared itself op-
posed to lodges, saying, “Resolved, That Synod go on record as
being as firmly as ever opposed to lodgery because of its unchris-
tian and antichristian character”; and

WHEREAS, The same 1926 convention “Resolved, That we hold
it to be the solemn, sacred, and God-given duty of every pastor
properly to instruct his people on the sinfulness of lodgery in deny-
ing the Holy Trinity, the deity of Christ, the vicarious atonement,
and other Scriptural doctrines, and to induce his congregation or
congregations to take action against all members who after thor-
ough instruction refuse to leave the lodge”; and

WHEREAS, The Brief Statement of 1932, warns against the
unchristian influence of the lodges, saying, “we warn against Uni-
tarianism, which in our country has to a great extent impenetrated
the sects and is being spread particularly also through the influence
of the lodges’’; and

WHEREAS, In 1977 the Synod in convention declared that the
lodges had not made any changes that would remove the theologi-
cal objections of the Synod regarding the Holy Trinity, the deity of
Christ, the vicarious atonement, etc.; and

WHEREAS, The lodges continue to teach falsely with regard to
the article on justification, the chief article of the Christian faith,
that the lodge member is saved by his own meritorious works
within the lodge, not by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone;
and

WHEREAS, A common witness against lodges and other
anti-Christian societies is vital to maintain the unity of faith and

life within the synodical fellowship; and

' Wuerzeas, Congregations that disregard these Bylaws of the

Synod:

« present a false witness to the world and to their own members

e undermine and weaken the witness of others that seek this posi-
tion out of a sincere concern for the spiritual life and welfare of
VJod’s people