The
Lutheran Confessions and the Gospel
The Lutheran Confessions
were not written in a vacuum or out of any party spirit. The Lutheran Reformation
was not a "revolt," as Roman Catholic historians used to call it, much less
a heresy. What motivated the Reformation and the Confessions, which were its
most significant fruits and its permanent legacy to us who wish to be called
Lutherans today? What was the central backdrop for our Confessions, the context
for these different documents which were finally incorporated in the Book of
Concord? A reading of our Confessions will reveal that they all sprang from
an urgent need to give articulation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to teach
and give witness to this Gospel. And what is this Gospel which incited the most
blessed and significant spiritual awakening since the days of the apostles?
In our Confessions (FC
SD, V, 20) we read:
The Gospel, however, is that doctrine
which teaches what a man should believe in order to obtain the forgiveness
of sins from God, since man has failed to keep the law of God and has transgressed
it, his corrupted nature, thoughts, words, and deeds war against the law,
and he is therefore subject to the wrath of God, to death, to temporal miseries,
and to the punishment of hell-fire. The content of the Gospel is this, that
the Son of God, Christ our Lord, himself assumed and bore the curse of the
law and expiated and paid for all our sins, that through him alone we reenter
the good graces of God, obtain forgiveness of sins through faith, are freed
from death and all the punishments of sin, and are saved eternally.
This statement may well
be considered one of the most important and formative statements in our Lutheran
Confessions. Why? Because it is the most complete and beautiful definition of
the Gospel to be found in them. And that is what our Confessions are all about-the
Gospel! Our great Lutheran Confessions were written for the sake of the Gospel.
The Augsburg Confession, Luther's catechisms, the Formula of Concord were not
written just to blast or correct abuses in the Roman Church, or to defend Lutheran
theology against the attacks of papists, or to perpetuate party spirit. These
Confessions were all prompted by a faith in the Gospel, a love for it, and a
determination to teach and confess it according to the Scriptures.
In this respect our
Confessions resemble the New Testament itself. Paul and the other apostles preach,
admonish, and say everything for the sake of the Gospel (1 Cor. 2:2; 9:16; John
20:31; 1 Peter 5:12; 1 John 5:13). That was their commission from Christ (Matt.
28:18-20; Mark 16:15).
It is remarkable how
consistently our Confessions emphasize this central theme of the Gospel, how
all their discussions support and lead to this theme of salvation by free grace
through faith in Christ. Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession clusters all
the articles of faith around the redemptive work of Christ and justification
through faith in Him. When the writers of our Formula of Concord at a later
date try to settle certain controversies over original sin, the spiritual powers
of man's will before conversion, the third use of the Law (as a pattern to regulate
our lives), or even church usages, they make it crystal clear that their concern
for the right doctrine on these matters is to enhance the Gospel and its comfort
to poor sinners. When Melanchthon speaks out so strongly and at such length
against the legalism and work-righteousness of the Roman Church of his day,
it is only because "the Gospel (that is, the promise that sins are forgiven
freely for Christ's sake) must be retained in the church" (Ap, IV, 120). And
when he insists so vehemently that a sinner is justified by faith in Christ,
it is because to deny or undermine this great fact "completely destroys the
Gospel" (ibid.).
Martin Luther in the
Smalcald Articles structures all of Christian doctrine around the simple doctrine
of the Gospel, the doctrine of Christ and faith in Him. Here is what he says
(SA, II, i):
The first and chief article is
this, that Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, "was put to death for our trespasses
and raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). He alone is "the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).... Inasmuch as this
must be believed and cannot be obtained or apprehended by any work, law, or
merit, it is clear and certain that such faith alone justifies us, as St.
Paul says in Romans 3, "For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart
from works of law" (Rom. 3:28), and again, "that he [God] himself is righteous
and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). Nothing in
this article can be given up or compromised, even if heaven and earth and
things temporal should be destroyed.... On this article rests all that we
teach and practice against the pope, the devil, and the world. Therefore we
must be quite certain and have no doubts about it....
This is the spirit of
Luther and the Lutheran Confessions. This is why our Confessions, like Scripture
itself, are always contemporary and useful. If we share this Gospel spirit,
we will see how helpful and exciting our Confessions are and we will read them
with eagerness and profit.
From:
Getting into The
Theology of Concord by Robert D. Preus
(St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1977), pgs.7-10.
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