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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 198

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

198

Theology and Church Relations

Christ accepted the Book of Jonah as a factual account of
something which actually happened. The question of the historicity of Jonah should be settled forever by the words of Christ.7
The Old Testament predicts a definite personal Messiah, Jesus Christ.8
Law and Gospel
Law and Gospel are the two great doctrines of the Bible.
The Gospel is that doctrine of the Bible in which God tells us
the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Law shows us our sin and the wrath of God; the Gospel
shows us our Savior and the grace of God.
The Law must be preached to all men, but especially to impenitent sinners; the Gospel must be preached to sinners who
are troubled in their minds because of their sins.
There is Law and Gospel in both the Old and the New Testaments.9
THE BIBLE IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY
FOR FAITH AND LIFE
HONOR AND RESPECT FOR GOD
God demands that we do not use his name in vain. Christians
should not use coarse talk, or “four letter” words.10
MURDER AND ABORTION
God forbids us to take the life of a fellow man or our own
life. He forbids us to hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, that
is, to do or say anything which may destroy, shorten, or embitter his life. He forbids us to bear anger and hatred in our hearts
against our neighbor.11
The Bible condemns abortion, except in those extremely rare
cases where the life of the mother is in danger, as sinful killing. Unborn children are real persons and entitled to the care
and preservation which God’s command provides for all mankind.12 Churches which allow for the killing of unborn children
are false churches with which faithful Christians should not be
in fellowship.13
The Bible allows for capital punishment, the right of the
government to put murderers to death. Governments may engage in a just war.14
ADULTERY
The Bible condemns adultery and allows for divorce only in
the case of adultery and desertion. It is a sin to “live together”
before marriage.15 A pastor who divorces his wife for no scriptural reason should be removed from the ministry.16
God requires married people to love and honor each other,
the husband his wife as his God-given helpmate and the wife her
husband as her God-given head.17
Marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman
unto one flesh. Marriage was instituted by God and is entered
into by rightful betrothal, or engagement.18
God requires us to lead a chaste and decent life in thoughts,
desires, words, and deeds. We should avoid every opportunity
for impurity and unchasteness, such as pornography, and fight
to overcome all impure thoughts and desires with God’s Word
and prayer, work and temperance.19
The Bible condemns both homosexual orientation and practice as sin. There is no room in heaven for unrepentant adulterers, homosexuals, etc. Churches which allow homosexuals and
2013 Convention Workbook

lesbians to serve as pastors are false churches with which faithful Christians should not fellowship.20
SLANDER, LIBEL, AND FALSE DEALING
God forbids us to belie our neighbor; that is to lie about him,
lie to him, or withhold the truth from him to harm him. Christians tell the truth and recognize that it is a sin to lie about any
person, people, or nation. It is a sin to reveal a person’s private
sin without first speaking to the person. If a matter is public,
such as when a theologian writes some antiscriptural views in a
book or teaches them in public, it is not a sin to expose the error.
Personal contact may first be made in the case of public sin, but
is not mandatory according to Scripture.21
RESPECT FOR PROPERTY OF OTHERS
The Church has both the right and duty to condemn Communism as a moral evil, which violates both natural and revealed
law. The efforts of the Communists are in conflict with many of
God’s Ten Commandments.22
WOMEN AND THE HOLY MINISTY
According to God’s Word, the Christian congregation chooses and calls men as ministers, who in the name of Christ and in
the name of the congregation publicly perform the function of
the pastoral office, a divine office.23
The Bible teaches that a woman should not serve as the pastor of a Christian congregation, or lead a public worship service
(Isaiah 3:4–12). Faithful Christians should not be members of
denominations that ordain women to the Holy Ministry.24 When
the Apostle Paul declared that women were not to lead public
worship services, he was not making some statement merely relevant for his day. He based his argument upon the unchanging
order of creation.21
There is no difference between male or female with regard to
the order of redemption. Christians are all one in Christ Jesus.25
FAITH
We reject the idea that salvation by grace through faith alone
is an “easy religion.” To the contrary, “faith without the works
is dead.”26 A faith that has any contempt for God’s Word, Sacraments, Church, and Ministry, or a faith with impenitent, unchallenged pride, greed, hatred, lust, and general indifference to the
will of Christ and the welfare of others, is not faith at all, but
hypocrisy and delusion. “Whosoever doth not bear his cross,
and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.”27
Christian faith, being itself a gift of God, is a living, active,
powerful thing. Faith produces love, humility, self-sacrifice, purity and all other good works.28 “Take a sane view of yourselves,
everyone according to the measure of faith God gave you,” Romans 12:3b.
B. THE HOLY TRINITY
The Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
We confess with the ancient Christian Church the Athanasian Creed without reservation: “Whosoever will be saved,
before all things, it is necessary that he hold the catholic (i.e.,
universal, Christian) faith. Which faith except everyone do keep
whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity
and Trinity in Unity.”
The Bible makes it clear that the one true God consists of
three distinct persons. While the Trinity is not as clearly revealed
in the Old Testament as in the New Testament, there are definite