Northwoods Table Talk

T rinity XVI - Devotion in semi-Exile Malachi 3:6-4:6           Matthew 4:12-25 We are justified before God by faith in Christ (true God and true man) who is our righteousness.   III. The Righteousness of Faith Before God. Status Controversiae. The Principal Question In This Controversy. 1]  Since it is unanimously confessed in our churches, in accordance with God's Word and the sense of the Augsburg Confession, that we poor sinners are justified before God and saved alone by faith in Christ, and thus Christ alone is our Righteousness, who is true God and man, because in Him the divine and human natures are personally united with one another,  Jer. 23:6 ;  1 Cor. 1:30 ;  2 Cor. 5:21 , the question has arisen: According to which nature is Christ our Righteousness? and thus two contrary errors have arisen in some churches. 2]  For the one side has held that Christ according to His divinity alone is our Righteousness, if He dwell in us...

Saturday after Trinity XV - Devotion in semi-Exile Malachi 2:1-3:5           Matthew 4:1-11 I remember being interviewed for the TV news, channel 5 I believe, after the “baby Jesus” had been returned after having been stolen. I was asked, “Does this restore your faith in humanity?” I reply now, not remembering the exact words of my reply that day (they did not show my answer on TV, for it did not fit their agenda). “As if in himself, man, has any good thing he can do? No! I have no faith in humanity! But God can indeed do marvelous things, He uses sinners to accomplish His gracious works.”   This article from the Epitome of the ‘Formula of Concord’ gives a wonderful discussion on just that topic. Please remember that there are three parts: first, the question of the controversy; second, the faithful teachings on the topic; and finally, erroneous teachings on the topic.   II. Free Will. STATUS CONTROVERSIAE. The Principal Question in This Controversy. 1...

Friday after Trinity XV - Devotion in semi-Exile Malachi 1:1-14           Matthew 3:1-17 Today we dive into the 1 st Article of the ‘Epitome of the Formula of Concord.’ (Just so you know, Concord means: agreement, coming together. So this is a document of how we can agree and come together.) Notice that each article will begin with a title, then the “status controversiae” (the question that is at the heart of the controversy). After this, there will be “affirmative theses,” things that are good, right, salutary – the pure doctrine faithfully confessed on the issue. There will follow also “negative theses,” teachings that are false and must be most heartily rejected. Here we go with Article I. I. Original Sin. STATUS CONTROVERSIAE. The Principal Question in This Controversy. 1]  Whether original sin is properly and without any distinction man's corrupt nature, substance, and essence, or at any rate the principal and best part of his essence [substance]...

Thursday after Trinity XV - Devotion in semi-Exile Nehemiah 9:22-38           1 Timothy 6:3-21 On this day we continue our look at different documents from the Book of Concord , namely, we begin the ‘Epitome of the Formula of Concord.’ Earlier documents (Augsburg Confession, Apology to the Augsburg Confession, and the Smalkald Articles) were formulated to make clear the confession of those who were being called “Lutherans,” and where they were trying to reform the teachings of the ‘papists.’   The ‘Epitome of the Formula of Concord’ was written in response to some false teachings that had arisen since the beginning of the Reformation.   Here is the beginning of that document.   Epitome of the Formula of Concord Comprehensive Summary, Rule and Norm According to which all dogmas should be judged, and the erroneous teachings [controversies]that have occurred should be decided and explained in a Christian way.   1] 1. We believe, teach, and confe...

Wednesday after Trinity XV - Devotion in semi-Exile Nehemiah 9:1-21           1 Timothy 5:17-6:2 It has been asked, what is the point of these ‘Lutheran Confessions?’ Do we believe these or the Scriptures? What purpose do they serve? I could try and answer these questions, but a dear friend, the beloved former President of Concordia Theological Seminary, has already done that. It may be a longer read today, but I think well worth it. The Lutheran Confessions: What Are They? The Spirit in Which They Were Written We use the word "confession" in a variety of ways today. A young man confesses his love for his fiancee. A criminal confesses to a felony. Christians confess their sins to a fellow believer or at the appropriate time in the church service. The Lutheran Confessions are something quite different from all that. They are written, formal statements with which a group of Christians, or an individual, declare to the world their faith, their deepest and unda...

Tuesday after Trinity XV - Devotion in semi-Exile Nehemiah 7:1-4; 8:1-19           1 Timothy 5:1-16 As we continue reading ‘Part III’ of Luther’s Smalkald Articles, we find ourselves coming to the last three articles of this great confessional document. The three congregations I serve include this as part of the confessional documents which they acknowledge and accept.  Part III, Article XIII. How One is Justified before God, and of Good Works. 1] What I have hitherto and constantly taught concerning this I know not how to change in the least, namely, that by faith, as St. Peter says, we acquire a new and clean heart, and God will and does account us entirely righteous and holy for the sake of Christ, our Mediator. And although sin in the flesh has not yet been altogether removed or become dead, yet He will not punish or remember it.   2] And such faith, renewal, and forgiveness of sins is followed by good works. And what there is still sinful or ...