148 LSQ 43:2 & 3
Can and Ought a Christian be Certain of his Salvation?
by Ulrik V. Koren
Introduction: “Can I be sure I am going to heaven?” This basic
question has lurked in the heart of every believer. In the midst of the
great election controversy in the Norwegian Synod, Rev. U.V. Koren
penned the following essay, “Can and Ought a Christian Be Certain
of His Salvation?” This paper was delivered in 1881, the same year
in which Dr. C.F.W Walther published his work on the controversy
concerning predestination. We see how Koren vividly understands
the purpose of all theology: the comfort of sinners with the grace of
God in Christ. He heavily leans upon Luther and Article XI of the
Formula of Concord, in addition to quoting many comforting verses
from the great treasury of Lutheran hymn writers. It is clear that
for Koren the Lutheran Symbols were not merely historical writings
of what Lutherans once believed, but the very breath of the living
church today.
It might seem strange to ask this question and it might seem
unnecessary to use many words in answering it. It might seem enough
to refer to our Confession of Faith where, in the Third Article, we say
that we believe in “the life everlasting”; and to the explanation of this
Article in our Small Catechism, where we say: “I believe . . . that the
Holy Ghost shall give to me and all believers everlasting life”; or to
one of the many passages in Holy Writ, where God promises to save
those who believe in Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, when I undertake to
treat the question more fully, I have several reasons for it, both general
and more specifi c. Partly, there are many who think they are certain
of their salvation, but who deceive themselves, and therefore need to
be admonished; partly, there are many who would very much like to
be certain of their salvation, but dare not be, and therefore need to be
encouraged; fi nally, the question has recently become the object of
controversy among us—a controversy very closely allied to, or rather
a part of, the controversy concerning the doctrine of election.
If one wishes to avoid misunderstanding in treating this matter
and be kept from error both on the right hand and on the left, then
LSQ 43:2 & 3 149
there are certain truths which must be noted in advance, be strictly
adhered to, and never lost sight of.
1. First of all, we must maintain that when this question of
our final salvation is being considered, there can be no talk of any
so-called absolute certainty, provided the word “absolute” is used in
its proper sense. But here, alas! In common usage the word “absolute”
is wrongly construed to mean “altogether and wholly,” “completely,”
and so forth. We do not use the word in this sense here; for, as we
shall see, a believer can and ought to be altogether and wholly certain
of his salvation. In itself, certainty is a superlative concept, denoting
the highest degree. If the certainty is not a perfect certainty, it is not
certainty, but only a more or less well-formed supposition. “Absolute”
here means independent, free, not determined by anything else. Thus
a person can be absolutely certain that he exists, of what he perceives
with his senses, sees with his eyes, and so forth; or, of what he can
demonstrate, such as the mathematical truth that one and one are
two, and so forth.
Thus an absolute certainty is a certainty which we have in
itself, and which is not dependent upon or attached to anything
else. The expression “I know” generally designates this. A believer
cannot have such an unbounded or disengaged certainty, or absolute
certainty, regarding his salvation in this sense. Only God can have
it. The certainty of which we speak is, first of all, a certainty of faith,
which can only be where faith is. We arrive at such a certainty through
another means, another power, than the one through which we arrive
at certainty concerning those things which we are accustomed to say
that we know. Further, the certainty of faith is not absolute, because
it is bound to the Word of God and to the order and way which God
has ordained unto salvation. But, as we have already said, it does
not follow from all this that the certainty of faith is weaker than
absolute certainty. Faith is certainty, and the Holy Scriptures often
use the expression. We know about that which we believe or hope,
for example, 1 John 3:3; 5:13; 2 Corinthians 4:14; 5:1, etc.
2. Furthermore, we must maintain that as certainty of
salvation is a certainty of faith, only he who is truly a believer can
have it. No unconverted person, no hypocrite, no nominal Christian,
no one who has merely an “historic” faith, can possess it. True, many
150 LSQ 43:2 & 3
imagine that they are certain of salvation (Matthew 7:21-22); it often
seems as though they believe that to be saved nothing else is needed
than to belong to a congregation, live somewhat decently, and then
die. But like their faith, their certainty is only imagination, for their
faith does not have the marks which the New Testament places upon
faith. Those who do not seek salvation have no promise of finding it;
nor do those who seek it in other ways than the one God has shown
us; for where there is no promise, neither can there be any true faith,
and where faith is dead, certainty of faith can only be sinful security.
For the same reason, neither can those who have another foundation
for their faith than Christ and the promises of God because of Him
have any certainty of faith regarding salvation. As their faith has no
foundation, neither can their certainty have any, except in their own
imagination.
3. Thirdly, we must maintain that a certainty is not here spoken
of which all believers necessarily must have in the same degree, or
which all believers necessarily must feel within themselves, with
the result that if they do not do so, they must conclude that they do
not have the right faith. When it is asked whether we can and ought
to have certainty of faith regarding a matter, we do not really ask
about the degree or strength of faith. The strength of faith, we know,
can be different, without the essence of faith being changed thereby.
Accordingly, the question is really whether we can and ought to
have faith in this particular. If we acknowledge this, it follows of
itself that we can and ought to have certainty, for faith, in its nature
and essence, is a fi rm conviction. It can be this even if it is so weak
that it is not felt as certainty—if it be true and sincere. If faith is not
a fi rm conviction, it is not faith, but only a vague notion. Thus the
expression “to believe” is often used in everyday conversation about
things concerning which one has only an opinion or a presumption.
Thus we, in fact, occasionally hear someone say, “I believe so, but
it may be that I am mistaken.” This is not faith in the Biblical sense
of the word. “I would wish,” Luther says, “that the word faith either
were not so common, or that it were allowed to retain its right meaning
and use, so that it were called faith when one is altogether certain
and without doubt in the matter. . . .Therefore, the Scriptures, also
designate faith with the Hebrew word emuna, and St. Paul calls it
LSQ 43:2 & 3 151
pleroforia, that is, that the heart is altogether certain and has no doubt
as to the word. But for this the Holy Spirit is essential, who prepares
the hearts, as the Psalmist confesses (Psalm 51:10): ‘Create in me a
clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’ Oh! he says,
I would gladly have a spirit which does not doubt or waver, but freely
says: I know nothing of which I am certain except Thy Word alone.
Here he plainly confesses that faith is not a notion or a something
that grows of itself within our hearts, for he says: ‘Create in me,’ etc
. . . . My beloved, it is not a matter such as one masters after a single
attempt. I am now an old doctor, have preached, written and learned
much thereabout, but nevertheless do not as yet know it. I can get
nowhere with it. If I have today mastered a considerable part of it,
it will only be, no doubt, that I have forgotten it again tomorrow.
Our fl esh and blood bring this about—which cannot enter so deeply
into the Word, and hide itself, that it will perish because of it, as
should indeed be the case, however, and verily must be.” (Luther’s
Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch edition, volume XII, 1614)
Hence, if certainty belongs to the essence of faith, it is so far from
being audacity to possess or to seek it, that it is much more a sin not
to possess it; for it is a sin to be infirm and weak in faith.
4. Furthermore, we must bear in mind that faith and hope,
in the Biblical meaning, are not different in such a way that faith is
stronger and hope weaker. The word “hope” is often used in such
a way as intentionally to express thereby that something is inferior
to, or weaker than faith. Many a person thus, for instance, when he
is asked, “Do you believe that you will be saved?” will not readily
venture to say, “Yes, I believe it,” but will perhaps not hesitate to
say, “I hope so.” as if something less were said thereby. This usage
of language has no foundation in the Holy Scriptures. Christian faith
and Christian hope are altogether coordinate there. The difference is,
partly, that hope especially has future blessings as its objective, while
the objective of faith is things past as well as things present and to
come. There is also this difference that while faith is the assent of the
heart to the Word, and appropriation of the promise it contains, hope
is the firm expectation of the blessings which are promised in the
Word. Faith and hope are therefore inseparable. While faith believes
the Word, hope expects the good which the Word promises. They go
152 LSQ 43:2 & 3
hand in hand; and how intimately they are conjoined is seen among
other things from the explanation given of faith in Hebrews 11:1, that
it “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen,” just as the Christians “are called in one hope of their calling”
(Ephesians 4:4), and as we confess that we are “in hope of eternal
life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”
(Titus 1:2) He, therefore, who through Christ has access by faith into
grace, also rejoices in hope of the glory of God; and hope maketh not
ashamed. (See Romans 5:1-5)
5. Further, we must maintain that there is no difference
between being certain of one’s salvation and being certain of one’s
election. It may well be that a believer has not heard anything about
election, or has not understood any of this doctrine; but this does not
alter the case, however, for these two concepts, to be saved and to
have been elected, nevertheless amount to the same thing in effect.
Every single soul of the elect will be saved, and none except the elect.
(Matthew 24:24; Romans 8:30-33) To be one of the elect and to be
saved are, accordingly, the same, and if one believes that he will be
saved, it is the same as to believe that he is one of the elect.
6. Finally, we must be convinced that certainty of salvation
cannot be attained by brooding over or wanting to “investigate the
secret, concealed abyss of divine predestination.” Whoever makes
this his beginning will fall into either arrogance or despair and will
not attain to any certainty of salvation. Whoever, on the other hand, in
conformity with the advice of Luther and the guidance of The Book of
Concord, follows Paul in his explanation of God’s eternal counsel, as
this is presented to us in the Epistle to the Romans, will, by the grace
of God through the Gospel, learn to form the same conclusion as Paul
does, when in Romans 8:31 he exclaims: “What shall we say then to
these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’’ And in the
immediate presence of the inscrutable mystery of God’s counsel, he
will also repeat the words of the apostle: ‘’O the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out! For who hath known
the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? or who hath
fi rst given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”
(Romans 11:33-35)
LSQ 43:2 & 3 153
For “we must carefully distinguish between what God has
expressly revealed in His Word and what He has not revealed.’’ (The
Book of Concord, Tappert edition, page 625, 52) God has in Christ
revealed to us all that we need in order to be certain of our salvation,
but much of His secret counsel He has kept hidden. We are not to
brood over this—and this admonition is needful in the highest degree.
“In our presumption we take much greater delight in concerning
ourselves with matters which we cannot harmonize—in fact, we have
no command to do so—than with those aspects of the question which
God has revealed to us in His Word.’’ (ibid, page 625, 53)
I.
With these introductory remarks, we will now account for
whether a believing Christian can and ought to be certain of his
salvation. As stated before, we find the first clear confession regarding
it in our Third Article of Faith, where we say: “I believe . . . the life
everlasting.”
In each of these parts in all the Articles of Faith it is true that
our faith is a true Christian faith only when we truly add the words
“for me,” and thus in a living way, make our own that in which we
confess our belief. This is true also of this part; yes, concerning this
part which states the final objective of our faith, we must say that it is
obviously much more important that we make whatever lies therein
our own, inasmuch as all the other parts are of no use if this one is
not added; for all the others indeed aim at and are given precisely
on account of this part. “Therefore, those who believe in Christ are
to be certain of eternal glory and together with all creatures sigh and
pray that God will hasten to come with a blessed day when our hope
shall be fulfilled; and for this very reason God has commanded us
to pray in our Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy Kingdom come’; for we are not
baptized for the present life, nor do we hear the Gospel just for it, but
everything has eternal life in view.” (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften,
St. Louis-Walch edition, volume XII, 735)
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men
most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) But how can a Christian have
154 LSQ 43:2 & 3
certainty regarding his salvation, or, in other words, that he shall be
kept in the true and living faith unto the end? He is to believe it. “The
entire life which a truly believing Christian leads after Baptism is
nothing else than an expectation of the revelation of the bliss which
he already has. He certainly has it entire, but nevertheless hid in
faith.” (Luther, ibid, 137)
He is to believe, that is, humbly and in a child-like manner
rely upon the promises which God has given him precisely concerning
this. These promises are more firm than heaven and earth and are
given just for this purpose, that we are to believe them, have a fi rm
conviction that He will fulfill them in spite of the devil, the world
and our flesh.
Of ourselves we are powerless, impotent. We can neither
believe God nor do anything else well-pleasing in His sight. “It is
God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”
(Philippians 2:13), and “makes us perfect in every good work to
do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.” (Hebrews
13:21)
What then has our heavenly Father promised to do for us
and work in us? He has promised us who “wait for the revelation of
our Lord Jesus Christ,” that He will “confirm us unto the end, that
we may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ;” and to
assure us further He reminds us that He “is faithful, by whom we
were called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:7-9)
He has assured us that He, because He “is faithful, will not
suffer us to be tempted above that we are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it.”
(1 Corinthians 10:13) He has said that because He “is faithful, he will
establish us and keep us from evil.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3) He wants
us to “be confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians1:
6) “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans
11:29), and He has “called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus,
after that we have suffered a while.” (1 Peter 5:10)
Our Lord Jesus does not desire that our hearts be troubled,
LSQ 43:2 & 3 155
but that we believe in God and believe also in Him. He has therefore
said: “In my Father’s house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also.” (John 14:1-3) He has promised us another Comforter, the Holy
Spirit “that he may abide with us forever” (John 14:16), and has said:
“because I live, ye shall live also.” (verse 19) In His High-Priestly
Prayer, He prays that God will “keep us from the evil,” and says:
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
me.” (John 17:24) He has promised to be with us always, even unto
the end of the world, and has at the same time reminded us that “all
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18-
20) He can therefore also promise us, and has promised us, that His
sheep, that is, those who hear His voice, “shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of his hand.” (John 10:28)
It is therefore God’s will that we “hold fast the profession of
our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised.” (Hebrews
10:23) If we are troubled with the thought of how easily we can
fall, and with what difficulty “our whole spirit and soul and body
are preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
we are to pray and with Paul believe and say: “Faithful is he that
called us, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) He must
do it; otherwise, it will not be done: “for we are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time.” (1 Peter 1:5) But we are also to rely fi rmly upon this power
of God, for He has promised and said: “I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5), and therefore He wants us to “cast
all our care upon him.” (1 Peter 5:7) We do this when we think and
believe as follows: “What is to become of my soul? Well, He must
see and give heed to that, who has so truly cared for my soul as to
give His own life to redeem it. Let Him be praised eternally, the only
right and true Shepherd and bishop of all souls that believe on Him!
And, surely—He will not fi rst because of me begin to teach me how
He preserves and defends the saved, who hear and keep His Word,
against the power of the devil and the evil and the tyranny of the
world. He says: ‘They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
156 LSQ 43:2 & 3
them out of my hand.’ (John 10:28) I will let the matter rest here. I
therefore no longer wish to care for my soul myself, or have power
and authority over it; for then it would truly be ill cared for because
the devil could soon, yea, any moment snatch it away from me and
devour it. There, in Jesus’ hand, it shall continue to be safe and well
preserved, according to His Word.” (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften,
St. Louis-Walch edition, volume IX, 1830)
For what do we need in order to be kept in the faith to the end?
Is there anything of all that we need which God should not be willing
to give us? “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
(Romans 8:32) Therefore, St. Paul, with much frankness, can promise
believers: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye
also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4) Therefore he can teach
us that “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus
Christ.” (Titus 2:12-13; cf. Philippians 3:20-21) Therefore he himself
can comfort us, saying: “For we know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1),
and we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2), a “hope
that maketh not ashamed” (verse 5), because we have not given it to
ourselves nor invented it, but it is “the hope set before us,” which we
should therefore “lay hold upon” and “have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast.” (Hebrews 6:17-19) Therefore St. John can
testify so directly and surely: “We know that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him.” (1 John 3:2) Yes, and Paul in his glorious song
of victory in Romans 8 can challenge all principalities and powers,
all enemies and dangers, both those present and those to come, and
be certain that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yes, indeed, God would have us believe that it is unalterably
certain that we shall sometime be saved. For He has given us all these
glorious words and promises that we should believe them. Surely, He
has not given them to us that we should doubt them. “For the Son of
God . . . was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises
LSQ 43:2 & 3 157
of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
(2 Corinthians 1:19-20) He, therefore, who believes these promises
believes that it is unfailingly certain that he shall once be saved. “He
that believeth not God hath made him a liar.” (1 John 5:10)
Now, we are not to forget, and, if we are believers, neither
will we forget, that left to ourselves we could easily fall from faith,
and certainly would fall at once. But as a help against this, the Lord
Jesus has taught us to pray to our heavenly Father: “Lead us not into
temptation.” And when we then in this prayer pray “that God would
guard and keep us, that the devil, the world and our fl esh may not
deceive us, nor lead us into misbelief, despair and other shameful
sin and vice; and, though we be thus tempted, that we may still in
the end overcome, and retain the victory,” are we not to believe and
regard it as altogether certain that God will do this? And when we
pray in the Third Petition “that God would break and hinder every
evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow God’s name nor
let His Kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world and
our own flesh”; and when we further pray “that God, in place of our
will, lets His good and gracious will be done, and strengthens and
keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto the end”—are we
then not to believe and regard as altogether certain that He will do it?
Or when we pray in the Seventh Petition that God “would deliver us
from all manner of evil. . . .and at last, when the hour of death shall
come, grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale
of tears to Himself in heaven,” are we then to regard it as uncertain
whether we shall receive what we pray for? Are we not, as Luther
says, to make the “Amen” which our Lord has taught us, right strong,
and thus believe that it is unswervingly certain that we shall receive
it? “Amen, Amen, that is, yes, yes, it shall be so.”
Thus, because God has promised it, we are to believe it, and
consider it to be unfailingly true that we shall be saved. Because
“from such words and promises of God, which of pure grace and
mercy, without our deserving, are spoken to us, springs the hope that
I certainly expect that which is promised to me, . . . and do not allow
anything to frighten me away from them, be it sin, death, the devil,
or hell, the world or our own flesh. Just as now faith looks only to the
promises of God, so does hope look only to the pure and undeserved
158 LSQ 43:2 & 3
mercy of God, that is, to that which is spoken in His Word and profuse
of grace, as the psalmist says: ‘For thy loving-kindness is before mine
eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.’ (Psalm 26:3)
“The work and fruit of faith is a good conscience, a tranquil
heart, and a cheerful trust in God. Hope is tranquil and expects what
God has promised, let fall what may: and it is especially established
in tribulation. St. Paul sums this up so beautifully in Romans 5:1-5,
where he says: ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access
by faith into the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:
knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience;
and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which
is given unto us.’” (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch
edition, volume XI, 1940)
We were baptized to share in the death and resurrection of
Christ, and have promise upon promise from the mouth of God, and
should we not want to believe it! Do we not have enough with which
to struggle and contend, the miserable and shameful unbelief because
of our old Adam without in addition thinking that we did right and
that it was piety on our part to doubt what God has promised?
II.
Is there a doctrine in the Word of God to which men have
not objected? I know of none. This doctrine has also been objected
to, that a believer can and ought to be certain of his salvation. And,
alas! These objections are now in our own midst, and from trusted
teachers among us. I cannot but cherish the hope, however, that by
the Word of God they can be set aright, so there can once more be
the unity among us, which by the grace of God there has been for so
many years.
The objections which are raised appear in a double form.
Partly it is alleged that we cannot have such a certainty, partly that
we are not to have it. It is really but one objection, however. For it is
true, that if we could not have this certainty, neither should we have
LSQ 43:2 & 3 159
it; and again, if it is God’s will that we are to have it, we are also able
to, by the grace of God.
In the Scripture passages previously cited I have shown
from the Word of God both that we can and should be certain of our
salvation, and I will now look more closely at the objections made
to it.
In the first place, the objectors say: from the Scripture passages
which have been cited, it is clear that God is able to do all that is
necessary for our salvation; but I cannot know whether I shall receive
His grace in the future, whether I shall permit Him to keep me in faith.
I do not know whether I, like so many others, shall fail to keep from
falling away. And how can I be certain that I shall once be saved?
Where is it written that perchance I shall not fall and be lost?
First, let me reply to this: If this objection were valid, a
Christian would have to spend his days on earth in uncertainty as to
his eternal salvation. It would then be Christian and correct to say:
“Now I am a Christian; but whether I remain one is more than I can
know. I can have no firm belief regarding it. I am to watch and pray
and use the means of grace; and I am to work out my salvation with
fear and trembling—1 know this, but what the end will be, I do not
know: whether I come to Jesus or to the devil, to heaven or to hell—I
can have no certain or dependable belief concerning this.”
Is this Christian faith? Is this the faith the apostles had?
Paul—who testified: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at
that day” (2 Timothy 4:8)—and John, who says, that “when he shall
appear, we shall be like him?” (1 John 3:2) Is this the faith which called
forth in the apostles’ disciples the joy of which Peter speaks (1 Peter 1:
8). . . .” ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”? The reason
for this joy, indeed, lay in the words of Peter, in which he “blessed
God for his manifold spiritual graces,” for instance, “Blessed be God
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice,” etc. (1 Peter
160 LSQ 43:2 & 3
1:3-6) Do you suppose that in the midst of their unspeakable joy,
and as they joined the apostle in blessing the “God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,” that nevertheless they did and should have
thought within themselves: “But whether we shall ever enter heaven
and receive any inheritance, is more than we can tell; we dare have
no firm assurance about it”?
Is this the burden of the faith we confessed in Holy Baptism
regarding life everlasting? Does this agree with what we say in our
Catechism: I believe that the Holy Spirit shall grant me, together with
all those who believe, eternal life?
If the objection were true, it would be presumptuous to believe
God’s promises. It would be audacious to sing at the grave of a dear
one:
Then shall I see Thy count’nance clear,
Lord, Throne of my salvation,
When Thou in glory dost appear,
With trump and angel-vision;
or when we sing with Brorson:1
O, I am a sinful man,
That is all my titled glory;
Better it can never be,
If God’s Law scroll I but scan.
But—Thou becamest Jesus,
And my mis’ry ‘pon Thee took;
Therefore is my name most precious,
And Thou wrot’st it in Thy Book.
At Judgment I shall rise
To enter heaven with joy,
To reign there with my Lord,
And wear the beauteous crown.
Branches of palm, and raiment white,
Angelic drink, abundant life—
These I enjoy,
LSQ 43:2 & 3 161
For Jesus’ sake, and by His blood.
or when we confess with the same hymn writer:
My walk is heavenward all the way,
Await my soul, the morrow,
When thou shalt fi nd release for aye
From all thy sin and sorrow;
All worldly pomp, begone.
To heaven I now press on;
For all the world I would not stay,
My walk is heavenward all the way.
We would not then dare to sing with Kingo:2
From first day of my life,
Whatever I have met
Of grievous pain and strife,
I shall indeed forget,
When in triumphant Church
Mid all the heavenly host,
With angel tongue and voice,
God’s honor I will boast.
Then shall I in my hand
The palm of triumph wave,
For great the victory
By which Christ came to save,
Who by His blood and death
Has won the victory—
Thus it shall be my joy
To bear the emblem high.
Neither ought we sing with Paul Gerhard night after night:
Behold, the day is vanished.
162 LSQ 43:2 & 3
And hosts of stars have risen
In heaven’s deepest blue:
Thus I shall be attired,
When life and cares are ended,
And I depart to be with You.
We have then no right to pray with Palladius and Landstad:3
Grant us a steadfast faith,
So we may never doubt
That peace and rest in heaven
We shall by Thee obtain!
or to confess:
His Spirit is to me a pledge,
My faith shall fi nally obtain
A sweet and blessed end.
But no, God be praised! Let the papal church keep its old lie that a
Christian is to be uncertain of his salvation. We will continue in our
churches and in our homes humbly and joyfully to pray, praise and
give thanks, saying:
Until we join the hosts that cry,
‘Holy are Thou, O Lord most high!’
And ’mid the light of that blessed place
Shall gaze upon Thee face to face.
Now let us examine more closely what lies in that objection
that “God can and will do His part, but I do not know, surely, whether
I shall let Him do so, and thus I cannot be certain of my salvation.’’ In
it lies the assertion that the promises of God cannot be sufficient for a
troubled heart. For, it is said, even though our Savior has promised: “I
will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there
ye may be also’’ (John 14:3), I surely cannot know whether I will
always let Him receive me unto Himself, whether it won’t happen
LSQ 43:2 & 3 163
that I leave Him, and so I cannot depend on it with full certainty that
I shall once arrive there where He is. Thus the promises of God are
not sufficient for one to build an unfailing certainty of salvation on
them.
Well now, if God’s promises are not enough, what more then
do we want? Something more from God? No, God indeed has already
promised us everything. It must therefore be something of our own.
Good deeds? No, for we surely know that they do not avail; for we
are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, not by the works of the Law.
(Galatians 2:16) Is it faith then which is meant? “Yes,’’ they answer,
“if I knew that I would continue in faith unto the end, I could be
certain of my final salvation.’’ If we meet this objection by reminding
them that we indeed have the unfailing promise of God that He will
keep us in faith unto the end, and that according to the Scriptures we
‘’are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready
to be revealed in the last time,” and that according to Scripture it is
by God’s power that we are preserved in faith to eternal salvation,
they again answer with the same objection: ‘’Yes, but I don’t know
whether I will be willing to receive this help from God unto the end.
I can, of course, fall.’’
Thus the Word and promise of God are considered insufficient.
God has promised to do everything; but that, however, is not enough.
In addition, one must have something of his own, otherwise he cannot
be certain of his salvation. Men want to build on their own acceptance
of the Word in addition to God’s Word. They want to make their own
faith, or willingness to believe, or their own non-resistance, a basis
for their confidence; and if they cannot do this, they do not want to
have any confidence. But surely, thereby, faith has been mortally
wounded. For whoever wants to build on something of his own in
addition to the promise of God, does not have the true Christian faith
which the Holy Ghost works. Because “it is the essence and nature
of faith to tolerate nothing alongside it in which man might trust
except the Word of God alone, or the divine promise. To him who
uses faith as a weapon in the strife, the things which are contrary to
God’s Word will suggest themselves immediately. But faith lets go
of all creatures and visible things in the world, also itself, and holds
fast to the Word of God. Faith does not seek a footing somewhere, or
164 LSQ 43:2 & 3
reach for something, to obtain certainty, and thus be preserved. This
is what Christ means when He also says (John 8:51): ‘Verily, verily,
I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.’
If you cling to the Word of God and close your eyes, you will be
preserved. From whence does it come? Indeed, from here: the Word
of God is a living Word; death cannot devour it. If the Word remains,
you also remain.” (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch
edition, volume XI, 2191)
At this point the opposition will no doubt seek another
expedient, saying: We subscribe to all this with all our heart, that a
man is not to believe in his faith, and that faith has only the Word
of God to rely upon; you could just as well have spared yourself the
trouble of telling us, because we already knew it. When we say we
want nothing to do with this faith that is unfailingly certain that we
will once be saved, it is precisely because we neither can nor ought to
have such a faith: “It is not commanded by God to know beforehand
with divine certainty of faith that we shall indeed be constant, but
rather with daily fear and trembling see that we become so by a true
and diligent use of the means of grace.”
I reply to this: Fear and trembling form no contrast to faith
and do not hinder it, but further it. I shall make this plain later. But
the subterfuge that we are not to have certainty of faith regarding
our salvation, and that God has not commanded it, is really nothing
else than a new way of stating the previous objection, or, that God
will do His part, but I cannot be sure that I shall do mine; and thus,
neither can I be certain of my salvation. Indeed, men may say that
they subscribe to those words about not believing in one’s faith, or in
one’s acceptance of grace, but only in the Word and promise of God;
however, they cannot dismiss this matter with such utterances. There
is the best opportunity right here to show whether they really mean
this and acknowledge the significance of it. I have cited a long list
of promises of God to the effect that He will make us finally blessed.
Why will the opposition not believe them, that is, be assured of their
fulfillment? Christ says to us: “I will come again and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3) If
a person really accepts this truth, that the Word of God is sufficient
for faith and that faith does not want anything else to rely upon, he
LSQ 43:2 & 3 165
must admit that we are to believe this promise of God, that is, be
unswervingly certain that it will be fulfilled. Or is it not given to be
believed? Is it not the will of God (that is to say, commanded us), that
with divine certainty of faith we are to know beforehand that what
God has promised will take place?
The answer is, yes, God wills it, to be sure, but we cannot
know if we shall will it. This is but a repetition of the previous
objection and shows where the damaging thing lodges.
The mistake is that they do not fully and completely surrender
every thought of contributing anything whatsoever in any particular
or in any manner to their salvation. If we do not do this, neither do
we believe God’s promise before we are assured that we ourselves
will do our part, be it little or much.
The objection is raised: Indeed, you forget that we can resist
the grace of God. Manifestly, this is our power, and who can vouch
for it that we do not resist?
I reply: God must vouch for it; and—praised be His
unfathomable grace! —He will vouch for it. And this is, indeed,
the very thing we are to believe, and if we do not believe it we do
not give God all the glory for our salvation. For who can overcome
our resistance? Can we do it ourselves? No, no power in the world
can overcome the opposition of our evil and vain hearts—save God
alone. And hasn’t God promised to do this? Hasn’t He promised that
He will not leave us? Hasn’t He promised us eternal bliss? Did He,
then, perhaps not take into consideration that this also required that
He deliver us from our most dangerous enemies, our own flesh and
blood? Has He forgotten this? Is He not, according to Scripture, “the
finisher of our faith,” just as He is its “author”?—No, the case is this:
one does not want to give himself up wholly and entirely and cling
to the Word alone.4
“A person must despair of himself, let go with both hands
and feet, confess before God that he is incompetent, and implore His
divine grace, in which he may firmly trust. Anyone who teaches or
seeks another way to begin than this errs and deceives both himself
and others as, then, those do who say: ‘Look here, you have a free
will: do what is in your power; God will do His part,’ and who are
of the opinion that a person should not teach people to despair. It is
true enough one is not to teach people to despair; but we must first
166 LSQ 43:2 & 3
explain this despair rightly. No one is to despair of the grace of God,
but, despite the entire world and all sin, firmly rely on God’s help;
of himself, however, one is altogether to despair and in no way rely
on his free will to perform even the smallest little deed. . . .It is not
possible that God can deny a person His grace who thus with his whole
heart acknowledges his inability and plainly despairs of himself. . .
.This despair and searching after grace is not to last for an hour or for
a time and then cease, but all our deeds, words, thoughts, as long as
we live, are to have as their aim that we always despair of ourselves
and continue in the grace of God with an eager desire and longing
for him.’’ (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch edition,
volume Xl, 2310)
Despite all these glorious promises, men still make the
pitiable assertion that God does not want us to have certainty of
faith concerning our constancy unto the end. On what do they base
this assertion? Among other things, on a rational deduction which
unbelief makes along these lines: As it is possible for me to fall away,
and since I, according to God’s will, am always to acknowledge and
bear in mind that it is possible for me to fall away—it follows that I
neither can nor ought to be certain that I will not fall away.
But this rational deduction does not hold good, because there
is no contradiction in one’s recognizing as possibilities two opposite
things: salvation and damnation—while at the same time, according
to a divine promise, one has the certainty of faith that the fi rst of
these possibilities (salvation) will become reality. If anyone cannot
understand this,5 he can, however, learn it from St. Paul, who says
that by faith he is immovably sure that he shall be saved, but that the
possibility that he may be condemned is not thereby annulled. By
faith he is certain that this possibility, by the grace of God, shall not
become a reality, and still he admits the possibility, as shall be pointed
out later. (Romans 8:38; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Corinthians 9:27)
Or, it is said: I cannot be certain of my salvation because
I know that I may fall away, and nowhere in the Bible does it say
that I will remain constant. The meaning is: If it were stated in the
Scriptures, with the mention of my name, that I am to endure unto
the end; or, if I could look into the Book of Life and find my name
there, then I could be certain of my salvation. In other words, this
LSQ 43:2 & 3 167
is precisely what Christ so often and severely chastises: that people
will not believe, but want to see. “Blessed are they,” He says, “that
have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
“But as long as we are on earth, we must live in hope. For
although we are sure that we have all the blessings of God through
faith—for faith is surely accompanied for you by the new birth, the
fi lial relationship, and the inheritance—we do not yet see this. It is
still something to be hoped for and still somewhat remote. We cannot
see it with our eyes. St. Peter calls this the hope of life. . . .We speak
of a living hope, that is, a hope in which we may hope with certainty
and be sure of eternal life. But this is still concealed. It is still covered
with a cloth. One does not see it. At present it can be grasped only with
the heart and through faith, as St. John says in 1 John 3:2.” (Luther’s
Works, American Edition, volume 30, page 11)
Another objection by which men would save themselves
from difficulty is that they say all of God’s promises of salvation are
conditioned (as many of our church fathers have expressed it); for God
has not promised us salvation unconditionally, but, as St. Paul says
(Romans 11:22), “if thou continue in his goodness”; nor has Christ
unconditionally promised that we shall be where He is, for we must
infer a condition from other passages, as “if ye abide in me” (John
15:7); “if a man keep my saying.” (John 8:51)
I reply to this: Yes, if it were true that God’s promises are
conditioned on something in us, which we must therefore first bring
about in order to obtain the promises, our opponents would then,
indeed, be correct, and we could never be sure of our salvation;
but—God be praised!—it is not so. This objection is, then, nothing
else than the old confusion and lack of understanding which we know
from the Absolution Controversy, and of which every pastor with a
little experience has had enough instances in his own care of souls.
It comes from a confusion of the nature of the divine promises with
the effect of the divine promises. The promises of God in themselves
are not conditioned upon anything except the mercy of God and the
ground on which they are given, Jesus Christ. They are and must be
unconditional, otherwise they would not be promises of grace, and
this is then the essence of the promises. It is a different matter with
the effect. This is conditioned upon our faith; for if we do not believe,
168 LSQ 43:2 & 3
the promises profit us nothing. And it is for this reason, indeed, that
I write these lines—to exhort us that we do by all means believe
these glorious promises. The effect of the promises is, accordingly,
conditioned on our belief in them. But we are to note, in connection
with this, that God Himself has promised to fulfill this condition, for
we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Christ. And the
means by which God effects this condition is precisely the free and
unconditioned promise itself.
Wherever in the Gospel it seems as though God demands
something of us, so that our salvation is made to depend upon it,
Scripture shows that God Himself will fulfill the condition for us; for
otherwise it would not be fulfilled, our salvation would not be of God,
and the Gospel would not be Gospel. Here the Augustinian saying
applies: “Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis”—that is, ‘’Give me what
Thou commandest me, and command what Thou wilt.’’ According
to their nature, the promises of God are unconditional, and precisely
for that reason they create within us the condition which is demanded
for their blessed use—namely, faith. All that we can do by our own
strength is to despise the promises of God or doubt them. Alas, it is
quite easy for us to do this!
Another objection of long standing is that such a frank
assurance of salvation does not agree with the many admonitions of
God to us to “watch and pray”; that “he that thinketh he standeth,
take heed lest he fall”; that we are to “work out our salvation with
fear and trembling,” and the like.
This has always been the claim of the Roman Catholic Church
and later of a part of the Reformed Church.
This objection is also closely related to the lack of trust in
God’s Word and promises already mentioned—as though these were
not sufficient unto salvation—and is founded on a misconception
of the nature of faith. So far from it being the case that the fear and
trembling to which God exhorts us militate against the certainty of
faith, much rather do these further that certainty. In fact, if we do not
work out our salvation with fear and trembling; if we do not bear in
mind that we may fall; if we do not watch and pray, and if we do not
“strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24); in short, if our life is
not a daily conversion, we cannot be kept in faith. Therefore St. Paul
LSQ 43:2 & 3 169
says, Romans 11:20: “Thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded,
but fear!” An interchange of effect is to be noted here: the only way
to be kept in faith is to fight the good fight of faith, and that which is
to give us strength to fight the good fight is again, faith, the certain
hope of eternal life.
God has not promised to save His elect, as it were, without
any further ado, without their knowing it. He does not force us, but He
reproves, rebukes, exhorts, guides and comforts us. He bears us up; He
draws us, and likewise gives the strength to follow His guiding hand.
He has shown us the way by which He will save us—not the sinful
way of security, but the narrow way. Jesus is the way for us and there
is none other. The promise is joined to this way. If we would go any
other, we have no promise; and if we have no promise, we can have
no divine certainty of faith, but merely a vain illusion. Therefore the
certainty of faith can and is always to be controlled and proved. Even
though it is, as to its essence, a frank, unshaken, divine and unfailing
certainty, it is indeed at the same time no absolute certainty, but a
certainty of faith; and precisely because it is a certainty of faith, it is
bound to the Word of God on which it rests. Therefore, many of our
old teachers called it a certitudo ordinata, that is, one joined to and
determined by a certain order (the order of salvation), so that if the
order of salvation is abandoned, the certainty of faith ceases.
As God has promised that He will save us, we are to believe
this with all our heart; but if we are God’s children, we not only
believe this one utterance, that it is certain that we shall be saved,
but we also believe all the utterances in which God shows us how He
saves us. Every word from the mouth of God is precious to us, and
each day we have use for the admonitions and warnings of God, as
well as for His comfortings. For we are not merely spirit; our faith
is, for the greater part, very weak and frail, while flesh and blood
in us are strong; but if we “live after the flesh, we shall surely die.”
If we relapse into sensual security, we lose our faith, and where is
our certainty then? We, therefore, also need the Word of God which
reminds us that there is the possibility that we may fall away and be
condemned, in order that this truth may drive us to faith in God’s
promises, in which our salvation lies. Faith in God’s promises cannot
be preserved unless we shun all sin and live in daily repentance, so
170 LSQ 43:2 & 3
we must also precisely hold to faith and preserve a good conscience;
for he who puts away from himself a good conscience will suffer
shipwreck to his faith. (1 Timothy 1:19) “Because faith in God, and
prayer, are delicate matters, and there may easily be a slight wound in
the conscience which drives faith and prayer away, as every Christian
often experiences. Therefore, St. Paul places these words together, as
in 1 Timothy 1:5, 9; 3:9.” (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-
Walch edition, volume X, 1706-1707)
Paul shows this in his own case. He had unfailing certainty
of faith regarding his election and salvation, but he also knew that
God would save him through combat with the flesh, and that he could
be preserved in faith only through such combat and thus obtain the
incorruptible crown; therefore he says: “I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) He
had the proper weapon for this combat in faith, which he calls the
shield, with which we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked. (Ephesians 6:16) Therefore, Peter admonishes that we show
diligence in good works, that by their testimony that we are on the
right road of faith, we may be established in our calling and election,
and that through this fi rm faith we again may receive strength, so
that we do not become inactive or unfruitful in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but that the virtues which issue from faith may be
found to abound in us. (2 Peter 1:8-10) Therefore John says in the
same breath, as he has said that he is certain that he shall be saved:
“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as
he is pure.” (1 John 3:3)
If we consider what we are and what we have deserved, that
we have never been and never could be worthy of even the least of
the gifts of God; if we consider what we are in the sight of God, who
thoroughly knows our miserable hearts; and if we then have become
convinced from the Word of God that He loves us and would have
us be among His own, that the Father loves us as that father in the
Gospel loved the prodigal son, that the dear Lord Jesus has had mercy
on us as on Peter, that the Holy Ghost has not become weary of us
and will still be our Instructor and Guide—is it then possible that we
can do otherwise than love Him in return, and that with fi lial fear we
LSQ 43:2 & 3 171
will live in daily conversion and take heed lest we do anything against
God? Will it not be our daily shame and sorrow that we do not do
better? Should we want to add this sin also to all other sins, that we
will not believe what God promises us? No, we will believe it, and
we will be certain of it, not in sinful security, but in filial fear. We will
“serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” (Psalm 2:11)
We will acknowledge our weakness of faith with shame; we will not
imagine that we have “already attained, either were already perfect”;
we will pray God that He will not leave us nor forsake us, but that He
will strengthen our faith and help us to humility and to watchfulness
against our most cherished sins we will strive to give up all hope of
helping ourselves, and will seek our hope and our strength and our
encouragement for all this in the glorious promises of God. We will
believe them, even though we must cry out and say with tears: “Lord,
I believe, help Thou mine unbelief!’’ Thus shall faith keep us in fi lial
fear and filial fear drive us to faith.
Alas, we have also another fear in us—namely, the slavish
fear of the old Adam. It is the fear belonging to doubt, servitude
and an evil conscience. This fear does not give God the glory. It is
damnable, and we are to strive against it; for it is not of God, but of
the evil, natural, unbelieving heart, which will not believe God, nor
can it (Romans 8:7), but wants to believe in itself, or else will not
believe, but wants to see. It is this fear, which belongs to doubt and
unbelief, of which St. John speaks when he says that “There is no
fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.” But St. Paul speaks
of fi lial fear when he admonishes us to “work out our salvation with
fear and trembling.”6
We need to be reminded of this in order to be kept from sinful
security. Hence we sing:
I walk in danger all the way,
The thought shall never leave me,
That Satan, who has marked his prey,
Is plotting to deceive me.
This foe with hidden snares
May seize me unawares,
If e’er I fail to watch and pray,
172 LSQ 43:2 & 3
I walk in danger all the way.
And we sing, “I pass through trials all the way,” and, “Death doth
pursue me all the way.” But why remind ourselves of this? Is it,
perhaps, so that we will become terrified and begin to doubt and say:
“I know I walk in danger, and what the end will be, and where I shall
go, that I do not know?” No! So that the remembrance of danger may
drive us to God, so that we may strengthen ourselves with His promise
and by faith be given the power to be on our guard and overcome our
foes, so that we may therefore continue, let us say instead:
I walk with angels all the way,
They shield me and defend me;
and:
I walk with Jesus all the way,
His guidance never fails me.
Within His wounds I find a stay,
When Satan’s power assails me;
and therefore:
My walk is heavenward all the way,
Await, my soul, the morrow,
When thou shalt find release for aye,
From all thy sins and sorrow.
“For,” as Luther says, “having been bought with the precious
blood of Christ, been born again in Holy Baptism because of His
glorious resurrection from the dead, called by the Gospel unto a lively
hope, ‘to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for us,’ as St. Peter says—we are also,
with rejoicing and in full trust, to be looking for ‘that blessed hope,’
our soul’s final salvation.”
“This truly Christian attitude, with its heavenly lines of
demarcation, the Apostle Paul designates to us in Titus 2:13, and
admonishes us to note well the difference between this present
LSQ 43:2 & 3 173
perishable life and the future imperishable life, and to turn our backs
to this present life as the life that perishes and which we finally must
leave, and constantly have the future life in view and firmly and
assuredly hope for it as the life that continues forever and in which we
belong. We should do good deeds, in chastity, righteousness and godly
fear look for that blessed hope, he says, that is, we should prepare
for a better life than this life on earth. On that we should build more
firmly, and with greater certainty hope for it, though we do not yet
see it and feel it, than we build on and hope in this present life which
we see and feel. This is a right doctrine, but it is not soon learned;
a right sermon, but it is not soon believed; a beautiful exhortation,
but it is not easily followed; it is well said, but not well done. For
there are exceedingly few persons on earth who look for the blessed
hope, the future imperishable inheritance and kingdom, and await
it so assuredly, as it really ought to be, so that they do not possess
the present life more assuredly. . . .Nor are we baptized to remain
here on earth and make a paradise and a heavenly home here, . . .but
that heaven may be opened for us, and that we may be saved unto
eternal life . . . . For this eternal life we are baptized; for it Christ has
redeemed us with His death and blood, and for it we have received
the Gospel. . . .Here one must believe, hope, await, but in the beyond
it shall be revealed. He who does not await the blessed hope will not
come to the revelation; but he who firmly and without doubt awaits
it, need not worry about the revelation. Such distinction (between
hope and revelation) St. Paul also makes in Colossians 3:3: ‘Your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory.’ St. John also makes this
distinction (1 John 3:2): ‘Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him. . . .’
“A Christian speaks as follows: God through His Son has
granted me eternal life; unto this life I am baptized, and unto it I
am called by the Gospel. I will therefore also confidently await it.
Besides, however, He has created me and placed me in office, so that
I am to be lord, mistress, servant, teacher, pastor, etc., and serve Him
in my calling; I will therefore also be zealous in good works, be a
pious servant, a diligent teacher, a faithful minister of the Word, and
174 LSQ 43:2 & 3
do what is pleasing to God.
“To him who knows this and conforms to it, life will not seem
burdensome or hard, and he will not murmur against God though
he at times fare ill. For being certain of eternal life, and waiting this
blessed hope, and the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, he readily
does and suffers what he needs must do and suffer . . . . But to him
who does not know this and does not conform to it, life necessarily
must be hard and cumbersome. For, not being certain of eternal life,
and not awaiting the blessed hope, he can neither be contented nor
have patience.” (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch
edition, volume IX, 932ff.)
The Gospel according to St. Matthew (14:24-31) contains a
narrative which, with a few touches, exemplifies and confirms the
proofs I have adduced in the foregoing of how groundless are the
objections that are raised against this doctrine.
One night the disciples were on the Sea of Gennesaret. It was
nearing daybreak. The weather was rough, the wind contrary, and they
were hard pressed by the waves. They saw someone walking on the
sea. It was Jesus; but they did not recognize Him. It was, in fact, not yet
light; they were tossed up and down by the waves, and—how would
a person be able to walk on the sea? “They were troubled, saying. It
is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake
unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid. And Peter
answered Him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee
on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he
saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he
cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth
his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?”
We have here a person who has set a goal for himself which
he cannot attain by his own strength. Peter cannot by his natural
strength take a single step forward on the water, much less, fully
come to Jesus. Just as little can a sinful being by his own strength and
effort take a single step toward God and salvation, to say nothing of
keeping himself in the way of salvation to the end.
But the Savior said to Peter, “Come.” Therein lies the promise.
LSQ 43:2 & 3 175
This word shows that Jesus both can and will help Peter come to Him;
for He well knew that Peter could not come of himself, and that if he
were to come, it must be by the power and will of Jesus. If Jesus had
not been able as well as willing to help him go forward, He would not
have said, “Come.” Therefore, Peter should have held to this Word.
By faith in this Word he should have been certain that he could and
would come to Jesus. He should not have consulted his reason and
considered that as the human body is heavier than water, there was
the likelihood that he would sink, for surely this was not unknown
to Jesus. Nor should he have allowed himself to be troubled by the
rough weather and the high waves. Jesus, who had said that he should
come, surely also knew what kind of weather it was. Nor should he
have consulted his own fl eshly thoughts, which would seduce him
to rely on his faith instead of on the Word of Jesus. In other words,
he should not have thought: Do I now have such a strong faith, that,
on the strength of it, I can walk on the sea? For then he either would
have doubted immediately or placed his trust in himself, as he once
did later, and in either instance he would have sunk. It was indeed
only that word of Jesus, “Come,” that gave him the right to hope
that he would reach his destination on the waves. Faith relies on the
power of the Word of Jesus, to hold fast, and not on its own strength.
If faith relies on itself, it has already forsaken the solid rock, which
is the promise of God.
Nor should he have thought thus: “It is true. Jesus has said,
“Come,” but I cannot know whether I will ever be able to get there,
because it is possible that I may sink; this possibility is not annulled.
I know, surely, that a human being is heavier than water. I know, too,
that only by faith can I stay on the water’s surface: but I cannot know
whether I shall retain my faith, and whether I may not be frightened
for a moment by this boisterous weather.”
This again would have been secret mistrust in the promise,
as though it were not enough that Jesus had said, “Come,” With this
word in his ear and in his heart, Peter should have said, as he did on
another occasion, “At Thy Word, Lord—yea, at Thy Word I will come,
in spite of myself and all the billows and storms in the world!”
But did Peter not have to observe anything in order to have this
certainty of faith about coming fully to Jesus? Is there in this incident
176 LSQ 43:2 & 3
no correlative to what we have said previously about the “fear and
trembling” that are to accompany faith? Yes, there is that too. For
when Jesus says “Come!” both the way and the goal are designated.
Had Peter wanted to walk about and go elsewhere, he would have
had no promise. His prayer had been: “Bid me come unto thee on the
water,” and Jesus had said. “Come!” He had not said: “Go wherever
thou wilt,” just as God has not promised us salvation without at the
same time designating the way we are to go, namely, “the narrow
way, which leads to life.”
But Peter let go of the promise; he conferred with reason; he
made calculations according to the weather, which was rough, and
therefore, he began to sink. Jesus said to him. “O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?” There we have the testimony of Jesus
Himself as to what Peter should have done and what we are to do
when we have a promise from the mouth of the Lord.
But what would be our estimate of Peter, if, after this reproval,
he had, in addition, by means of all sorts of objections and seemingly
sensible and rational arguments—perhaps even thinking this to be
right, humble and spiritual procedure—wanted to adorn his unbelief
and doubt of his being able to cross the angry waves and come to
Jesus?
II.
I have previously shown that it is in conformity with our
covenant of Baptism to have certainty of faith regarding our final
salvation, and that our Catechism points out that the prayer our Savior
taught us strengthens us in this certainty. I have also called attention
to this fact that our Church confesses it in its hymns. I will now show
the relationship of this doctrine to the true Lutheran doctrine of the
gracious election of God unto salvation.
As already shown, we cannot arrive at certainty regarding our
salvation by pondering or wanting to search out the secret, hidden
depths of divine predestination. Those who would begin here will
LSQ 43:2 & 3 177
not arrive at any certainty of faith as to their salvation, but will either
become arrogant or else despair. We cannot believe in something
that is hidden and of which we have not heard. (Romans 10:14) To
believe, it is essential to have something which has been revealed. If
the gracious election to salvation were altogether and solely a hidden
counsel of God, it is clear that our faith and hope concerning salvation
could have nothing to do with it. This, however, is not the case.
Therefore the Lutheran Church confesses that: “We are not
to view this eternal election or divine ordering to eternal life only in
the secret and inscrutable counsel of God, as though it comprised no
more and that nothing more is involved in it, or that nothing more is
to be considered in connection with it, than that God has foreseen who
and how many are to be saved, who and how many are to damned,
or that he merely held a sort of military muster: This one shall be
saved, that one shall be damned.” (The Book of Concord, Tappert
edition, page 617, 9)
“For from this many derive and adopt strange, dangerous and
pernicious thoughts and speak thus: If I am foreordained to salvation,
nothing can injure me with respect to it, regardless of what I do;
and if I am not foreordained, then no matter what I do will not help,
because I can neither hinder nor change the election of God.” (ibid.
page 618, 10)
“We must oppose such false imagining and thoughts,” our
Confessions say, “with the following clear, certain, and unfailing
foundation: All Scripture, inspired by God, should minister not to
security and impenitence but to ‘reproof, correction and improvement.’
(2 Timothy 3:16) Furthermore, everything in the Word of God is
written down for us, not for the purpose of thereby driving us to
despair but in order that ‘by steadfastness, by encouragement of the
Scripture we might have hope.’ (Romans 15:4) From this it is beyond
all doubt that the true understanding or the right use of the teaching of
God’s eternal foreknowledge will in no way cause or support either
impenitence or despair. So, too, Scripture presents this doctrine in
no other way than to direct us thereby to the Word (Ephesians 1:13,
14; 1 Corinthians 1:21, 30-31), to admonish us to repent (2 Timothy
3:16), to urge us to godliness (Ephesians l:l5ff.; John 15:16, 17:3,4,
10, 12), to strengthen our faith and to assure us of our salvation
178 LSQ 43:2 & 3
(Ephesians 1:9, 13, 14; John 10:27-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15).’’
(ibid, page 618, 12)
Therefore, as the Formula of Concord says, there is not one
thing regarding the election of grace which God has revealed, and
another thing which He has hidden from us, warning us not to ponder
over the latter, but instead to remain with that which He reveals, and
adding the words quoted earlier, that “this admonition is eminently
necessary. In our presumption we take much greater delight in
concerning ourselves with matters which we cannot harmonize—in
fact we have no command to do so—than with those aspects of the
question which God has revealed to us in His Word.’’ (ibid, page
625, 52-53)
What has been revealed to us concerning the gracious election
of God to salvation is first of all: what prompted God to it, namely,
His mercy and the most holy merit of Christ; and, secondly, in what
way it has been revealed and by what means God will bring the elect
to salvation, namely, through conversion and faith, which He will
work in them by the means of grace.
These revealed truths, this grace of God in Christ, and this
way of salvation are they in “which He has made known to us the
mystery of His will and has brought it to light in Christ Jesus.’’ It is
these revealed truths alone which can give us the certainty of faith
concerning our salvation, or in other words, concerning our election,
and that, for this reason, these things concern not only some few,
but they concern all men: for election must be learned from the holy
Gospel concerning Christ, “which clearly testifi es that ‘God has
consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon
all’ (Romans 11:32), and that He does not want anyone to perish
(Ezekiel 33:11; 18:23), but that everyone should repent and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:6; 1 John 2:2).’’ (ibid, page
495, 10) Furthermore, the Scriptures teach us that Christ has borne
the sin of all the world (John 1:29), that His blood is the atonement
for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) Christ says: ‘’Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’’
(Matthew 11:28), and it is the Father’s will that whoever believes in
Christ shall have eternal life. (John 6:40)
This truth that the promises of the Gospel concern all men,
LSQ 43:2 & 3 179
“we must therefore always hold to rigidly and firmly.’’ Furthermore,
we must strongly hold fast the truth that God’s call is no delusion,
as if He called only some with an effective call, while others are
only apparently called. No, according to Scripture, God’s call is an
earnest and holy call, and “in those whom He thus calls He will be
efficaciously active through the Word so that they may be illuminated,
converted, and saved. For the Word through which we are called is
a ministry of the Spirit—‘which gives the Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 3:8)
and a ‘power of God’ to save. (Romans 1:16) And because the Holy
Spirit wills to be efficacious through the Word, to strengthen us, and
to give us power and ability, it is God’s will that we should accept
the Word, believe and obey it.’’ (ibid, page 621. 29)
If the promises were not universal; if we did not have the Word
of God for it that God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto
the knowledge of the truth’’ (1 Timothy 2:4): if we did not know that
the call of God is an earnest, effective and true call—then we would
have no foundation whatever on which to stand, and we could not
speak of any certainty of faith concerning our salvation. The thought
that there is an election of grace, and that many are called, but few
chosen, would then be a terrible doctrine which must lead either to
arrogance or despair; for what assurance would I then have that all
those promises concerned me? None at all. Now, however, since we
fi nd it taught so plainly and incontestably in the Word of God that
God does not desire the death of any sinner, but that He invites all
to come unto Him, that Christ will gather all under His wings; yea,
that God is angry when we do not come (Luke 14:21), while there is
joy in heaven over every sinner who repents, we have a foundation
which cannot be moved.
We could, of all men, least tolerate it that anyone deny the
universality of grace—we, who have acknowledged that we ourselves
can do nothing at all for our salvation, so that we can hope to be saved
only because our salvation is from the very fi rst to the very last an
altogether free and unmerited gift of God’s pure grace. Anyone who
thinks he can himself assist in the matter, even though ever so little,
by his acceptance of grace, or by his non-resistance and so forth—by
being in one way or another not quite as great a sinner as others, may
still suppose that he has some ground for hope, since he still has a little
180 LSQ 43:2 & 3
something of his own to hope in; but one who has acknowledged with
Paul (not just said) that he is the chief of sinners, must despair if the
radiant glory of the Gospel is not for everyone, does not drive away
the darkness and draw and call him onward on the way to God.
There is, therefore, no greater injustice than to maintain that
we violate the universality of grace. That would be to close the door
on ourselves; for there is no other reason than the universality of
grace for our daring to count ourselves among the children of God.
But God be praised, we now have a foundation which cannot be
moved. What proof do we have that it cannot be moved? That we
are completely helpless and that therefore we can only look to God
for salvation, and that we have His unfailing Word and promise as to
our salvation. This foundation cannot be moved; it is called Christ,
for us and in us and with us and over us, our alpha and omega, the
beginning and the end.
Again: if we ourselves could help a little, choose the good,
accommodate ourselves to God, and so forth, and, accordingly, to
that extent would have to see that we did our part, and therefore
hope that we did what was ours to do (while God did His), our hope
would indeed be according to the foundation on which it was built,
unstable, uncertain, wavering. No wonder, therefore, that anyone
who has not fully surrendered himself vacillates between hope and
fear as to his salvation, yea—and consequently maintains that it is
right to waver like that.
On the other hand, anyone who sees that he has no prospect
of helping himself (alas, a slow and difficult lesson for us to learn)—
anyone who finds all avenues closed, with no way open for him, asks:
What will God do with me? And then God gives him the answer in
the Gospel.
But when the creative and regenerative power of the Gospel
has overcome the resistance of our natural heart, and when the scales
have fallen from our eyes, so that by the light of the Gospel we
acknowledge God’s glory in the countenance of Christ Jesus; when
we then sigh amid the tribulations of this world and are worried about
ourselves; when we think with anxiety about how many of the called
have either despised the call or believed only for a time and then fallen
away: and when we acknowledge our own inability to keep ourselves
LSQ 43:2 & 3 181
in the faith unto the end, and think of the danger to which we are
therefore exposed—then it is that the comforting significance of a
gracious election comes to our rescue and is acknowledged by us.
As Luther says: “Be first of all concerned about Christ and
His Gospel, in order that you may acknowledge your sin and His
grace and thereafter strive against sin, as Paul teaches from the fi rst
to the eighth chapter in the Epistle to the Romans; thereafter, when
in the 8th chapter you become vexed under the cross and suffering,
the 9th, 10th and 11th chapters will teach you how comforting God’s
predestination is.” The Election of Grace does, indeed, teach us that
when someone is saved, it is not because he himself was so pious that
he wanted to come to God, but because God, of His grace, for Christ’s
sake, has determined to lead him through all the dangers unto eternal
joy. All that God does in time, He has determined to do from eternity;
for there is no change with God, nor shadow of turning, and there is
no past or present for God, but everything is eternally present.
Therefore, our Church confesses: “God’s eternal election,
however, not only foresees and foreknows the salvation of the elect,
but by God’s gracious will and pleasure in Christ Jesus it is also a
cause which creates, effects, helps, and furthers our salvation and
whatever pertains to it. Our salvation is based on it in such a way that
‘the gates of Hades’ are not able to do anything against it.’’ (Matthew
16:18) (The Book of Concord, Tappert edition, page 617, 8).
For when we—instead of wanting to brood over those things
in the election of grace which are hidden—are willing, as shown
above, to adhere to that which is revealed, namely, to the ground for
election and grace, on which He carries it out here in time, then “it
is indeed a useful, salutary, and comforting doctrine, for it mightily
substantiates the article that we are justified and saved without our
works and merit, purely by grace and solely for Christ’s sake. Before
the creation of time, ‘before the foundation of the world was laid’
(Ephesians 1:4), before we even existed, before we were able to have
done any good, God elected us to salvation ‘according to his purpose’
by grace in Christ. (Romans 9:11; 2 Timothy 1:9) This also completely
refutes all false opinions and erroneous doctrines about the powers of
our natural will, for in His counsel God has determined and decreed
before the world began that by the power of His Holy Spirit through
182 LSQ 43:2 & 3
the Word He would create and effect in us everything that belongs
to our conversion.” (ibid, page 623, 43, 44)
“This doctrine also affords the beautiful and glorious comfort
that God was so deeply concerned about every individual Christian’s
conversion, righteousness, and salvation and so faithfully minded
about it that ‘even before the foundation of the world was laid’ He
held counsel and ordained ‘according to His purpose’ how He would
bring me thereto and keep me therein. Furthermore, God wanted to
insure my salvation so firmly and certainly—for due to the weakness
and wickedness of our flesh it could easily slip from our fingers,
and through the deceit and power of the devil and the world it could
easily be snatched and taken from our hands—that He ordained my
salvation in His eternal purpose, which cannot fail or be overthrown,
and put it for safekeeping into the almighty hand of our Savior, Jesus
Christ, out of which no one can pluck us. (John 10:28) For this reason,
too, Paul asks, Since we are called according to the purpose of God,
‘who will separate us from the love of God in Christ?’” (Romans 8:
35) (ibid, page 624, 45-47)
Here the objection will be raised: I can understand that this
doctrine would be comforting if just one thing were added: whether
I am really one of those who are chosen. But where is that written?
How may I know whether I am one of the elect?
Answer: You are not to know or want to know in the ordinary
sense of the word. You are to believe it, and do so on the basis of the
promises God has given you. (It would be profitable to look more
closely at these promises, of which I have gathered a considerable
number in the fi rst part of this article.) If a man will not believe these
promises, nothing can help him. Isn’t it enough that God promises
a man everything that he needs? Whoever wants to have more must
find it himself.
According to the Word of God, as our confessional writings
also testify, the whole matter comes down to this: We ourselves can do
nothing toward our salvation. God says that He will do everything for
the elect. The Word of God also says that He wants to do everything
for everyone. It follows that all should believe that they are chosen.7
But the greater number will not. For that reason they are rejected. God
has not formed them vessels of wrath. They have done so themselves,
LSQ 43:2 & 3 183
because they put the Word of God away from themselves. If we are
not willing to believe that God will do everything for us, we cannot
be helped. But if we give God all the glory and believe that He will
do everything for us, we also believe that He has determined this
from eternity and has thus chosen us unto eternal life.8
In a very clear way, indeed, does the Formula of Concord
conclude from the call the certainty of election. From that, or from
the fact that we are called, it would have us conclude in faith that
we are chosen.
God has called us with an holy calling to His eternal glory in
Christ Jesus. He is truthful and does not lie. He knows what is required
for us to follow this call, and He knows that we cannot follow it
ourselves. Since He would have us follow it, however, it is clear that
He will also give us the ability to follow it, and to remain in it unto
the end; for He “hath called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)
Furthermore, in Holy Baptism, God has sealed His call to
us and consecrated us unto participation in Christ and thereby to be
“heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’’ If it seems to us that it
is a long time since we were baptized, to God it is as though it had
occurred today, and we are to comfort ourselves each day with this
inviolable testimony of God’s will toward us.
And again: our Lord Jesus Christ has Himself come to us
personally and has imparted Himself to us in the most Holy Supper.
Is it possible that we could receive any greater and more glorious
assurance that He would have us believe that we are His, members
of His body, and are chosen unto eternal life?
And lastly, the promise of prayer;—is not heaven opened for
us by it, as Paul says, citing the words of the prophet Joel: “Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?’’ (Romans 10:13;
Joel 3:5) Commenting on this passage in Joel, Luther says, (after he
has shown how we obtain salvation through the free mercy of God,
who loved us while we were yet enemies): “As we learn, we have
our riches only in God’s Word. We do not have more from God until
we die; then we shall see Him face to face. We are to note especially
the unconditioned words: ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
184 LSQ 43:2 & 3
Lord’; because He excludes no one from salvation, which He readily
and freely promises those who call upon Him.
“It is well to know this, because of the dangerous thoughts
concerning election, which the heart imagines without the Word
of God, yes, contrary to the very Word; for, in the first place, the
Word and mercy of God are offered to everyone in general, in this
and similar passages. In the next place, the servants of the Word of
God have received the command to remit the sins of the individual.
We should be content with this divine ordinance and believe that
since God sends us His Word we are those who are elected. Lastly,
we should also, wholly in keeping with this promise, call upon the
Lord and be certain of our salvation, which He so plainly promises.”
(Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch edition, volume
VI, 1436)
Because it is God who calls us; because we are called in one
hope of our calling, namely, in hope of eternal life, which God, who
cannot lie, has promised from eternity, but now revealed in His Word
(Ephesians 4:4; Titus 1:2); therefore, we can and ought to have the
certainty of faith of our salvation and election. But it is also true, as
Dr. Rudelbach says, only those who have acknowledged that they are
called with an eternal, holy calling, only they can believe the Word of
revelation, that they are chosen from eternity, before the foundation
of the world was laid. (Ephesians 1:4) (Church Postil, 1,150)
God has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake
us—Christ has promised that no one shall pluck us from His hand,
and we should not want to believe! Christ wishes that we shall comfort
ourselves with this, that all the hairs of our head are numbered; how
much more does He desire that we shall comfort ourselves in the
certainty of faith, that He has determined to preserve our soul. Praised
be His Holy Name!
LSQ 43:2 & 3 185
Endnotes
1 Hans Adolf Brorson (1694-1764). Danish hymnwriter.
2 Thomas Kingo (1634-1703), Danish hymnwriter.
3 Peder Palladius (1503-1560), Danish hymnwriter; Magnus Bostrup
Landstad (1802-1879), Norwegian hymnwriter.
4 Dr. Koren’s note: This objection (like the others raised against this
doctrine), plainly militates against the First Commandment, which
demands that we should trust in God alone.
5 Dr. Koren’s note: It is, as stated above, my conviction that the
deduction is not even correct according to reason: fi rst of all, because
certainty of faith is not absolute; furthermore, because the Christian
is seen in two different aspects, as the new man and as the old Adam;
and, finally, because the realization of what faith anticipates takes
place in the future and does not therefore annul present possibilities.
However, it is of less importance whether or not one understands
this. What is important is that we do not make our reason governess
of the Word of God, and do not reject a doctrine which is plainly
taught in the Word of God because we cannot make rhyme nor
186 LSQ 43:2 & 3
reason out of it. We know that the Word of God does not contradict
itself, even if we cannot see the agreement. It may be well here to
call Luther’s words to mind:
“Why does Christ refer us in various ways to the Scriptures?
In order that we may keep our Christian faith. For all our articles
of faith are very difficult and lofty, so that no man can understand
them without the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit. I testify and speak
thereabout as one who has experienced not a little thereof; and if you
also want to experience a little of it, take an article of faith, whichever
you want—Christ’s incarnation, resurrection, and so forth, and you
will not retain one of them if you try to comprehend them with your
reason. I have fared thus: when I have let the Word of God go, I have
lost Christ, God and everything. . . .Thus the heathen have made
this bold deduction: What do you mean? God, who is immortal by
nature, became man and died? There is no sense to it!—Of course
there is no sense to it. Therefore men also lose it when they think
of it without the Word, for it is too lofty. It will not permit being
contained in my head, and still less in yours.’’ (Luther’s
Sämmtliche Schriften, St. Louis-Walch edition, volume XII, 1604-
5)
6 Dr. Koren’s note: It is important to call attention to the fact that the
opposite doctrine necessarily must work a lesser or a greater degree
of slavish fear. But slavish fear is a revelation of sin in us. It belongs
to the old Adam and is wrought in it by the Law. The fear which the
Law demands is filial fear, which goes hand in hand with love and
trust and is produced by the Gospel. This shows that the opposite
doctrine confuses Law and Gospel.
7 Dr. Koren’s note: For those who may find these statements too brief,
or who need a more detailed presentation, I will add the following:
God has opened a way for us to eternal life and salvation through
Christ Jesus. Those who make use of this way, or who follow the call
of God and repent and believe in Christ, and thus become the children
of God, know, both from the testimony of the Word of God and of their
conscience, that they are not better than others, and have not merited
the least good thing in preference to other sinners in the world. They
know that all the prerogatives they have are due solely and alone to
the incomprehensible and unmerited grace of God. Therefore, they
LSQ 43:2 & 3 187
ascribe to God alone the glory for their entire salvation and for every
part of it. They ascribe to God the glory for the beginning and for
the end of their conversion and faith, yes, for every good thought
that is in their heart. When they now see that God, because He was
gracious to them, thus began the good work in them, and likewise
understand that He promises them, in His inviolable Word, that He
will perfect the good work until the day of Jesus Christ, they believe
this Word of God in all humility and therefore believe that they shall
be saved. And when they then ask, Whence comes this, and where is
the source of this glory? They find no reason whatsoever in themselves
or in their own conduct of any kind, and must also here, as the Word
of God shows, conclude and say: It comes from the mercy of God
and the most holy merit of Christ alone; it comes from the good and
perfect will of God, from Him who does everything according to
the counsel of His will. He is so gracious, that He predestinated me
“unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will.” (Ephesians 1:5) Thus a Christian,
therefore, believes that he is one of the elect, and that God has done
and will still do everything for him. But now, God does indeed offer
to all men this very same grace which has been described here, and
that, not feignedly, but earnestly and truthfully. For God, in that He
would have Christ preached unto all men, thereby also promises
them everything that they need; as it is written: “He that spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) Therefore, God wants
to do everything for everybody. As those who are described above,
everyone should therefore believe that they are chosen. Now it is
true, that God knew from eternity that many will, alas, not accept
His gifts, or will accept them for a time and at
last cast them away. These are not chosen; but it is their own fault,
for God called them with an earnest and powerful call, showed them
that He really wanted to do everything for them, so that they would
have full opportunity to become the children of God and continue to
be so, and hence, to believe themselves saved and among the elect;
but they would not, and thus “many are called, but few are chosen.’’
(Matthew 22:14)
8 Dr. Koren’s note: Luther says, “From the Word of God, a Christian
188 LSQ 43:2 & 3
knows and acknowledges his own unworthiness and has a true fear of
God, but he also comforts himself with the grace of God and believes
that in Christ, the Son of God, he has the forgiveness of sins and
redemption, and that he is pleasing to God and chosen unto eternal
life; that in every need, where he finds weakness and temptations,
he can fi nd refuge in God, call upon Him, expect His help and he
certain that he will be heard.’’ (Luther’s Sämmtliche Schriften, St.
Louis-Walch edition, volume XI, 1860)
NOTE: LSQ stands for Lutheran Synod Quarterly, where this essay was published. Koren was a leading theologian of the old Norwegian Synod, which was in fellowship (for a while) with the Missouri Synod in the 19th century. Today, among many Evangelicals, the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverence of the saints (the P in TULIP), is popular. Lutherans reject the "once saved, always saved" teaching, while at the same time we teach that a Christian can and should be certain of his salvation. Koren's paper speaks to the issues of our day.