Should Christians Be Certain of Their Salvation?
Article IV of the Augsburg Confession states:
Rewards for Good Works
Question: Is everyone equal in heaven? Are there rewards in heaven in addition to justification and eternal life? Does God reward people for good works? If you were to do a poll among Lutherans, many of them would say, “No. We are all equal in heaven. God does not reward us for our good…
Two Kinds of Sacrifice
Apology XXIV (XII) The Mass. Beginning at paragraph 19. Page 222 of Concordia, Readers Edition. Distinction between a Sacrament and a Sacrifice “A Sacrament is a ceremony or work in which God presents to us what the promise of the ceremony offers. Baptism is not a work that we offer to God. It is…
Justification and Rome
By Rev. Dr. Robert Preus Read by Rev. James Preus Part 1 Part 2 Justification and Rome: An Evaluation of Recent Dialogues by Robert Preus © 1997 Concordia Publishing House. Used with permission under license number 24:8-1. All rights reserved. This publication is availableas an eBook from CPH at www.cph.org. Permission was granted to publish…
Episode 25: Did the Early Church Teach the Real Presence?
Episode 25 of the Christ for Us Bible Study Podcast is a response to a CARM.org article, which claims that certain early church fathers denied the real presence and taught a symbolic interpretation of the Lord’s Supper. “Catholics routinely say that the all the Church Fathers agreed with the Roman Catholic view of the…
Does Is Mean Is?
I’ve subscribed on YouTube to a channel called, “Ready to Harvest,” by a man named Joshua, who is a professor, who gives good concise explanations of what different Christian denominations believe, including comparisons between different groups of the same family, like the LCMS, WELS, and ELCA. I recommend his videos for my congregation on…
Mortal and Venial Sins
Introduction The controversy between venial and mortal sin has led to great confusion, not only among Roman Catholics, but especially among Lutherans! The Roman Catholics erroneously define mortal and venial sins, so Lutherans laity have been led to believe that there is no such distinction between mortal and venial and many mistakenly assert that…
Women Pastors and Transgenderism
The title of this topic might seem to be needlessly provocative, but it addresses a real theological issue in the Church. When Christ instituted the pastoral office, He instituted it as an exclusively male office. A pastor is a male job, not a female job. For a woman to usurp the office of pastor…
Must Christians Abstain from Unclean Foods?
God is more concerned with worship from the heart than outward observances. The Old Testament declared certain foods unclean and forbid Israel from eating them. The Old Testament Ceremonial Law has been fulfilled in Christ. God no longer requires anyone to observe these ordinances. Seventh Day Adventists’ Arguments for keeping the Sabbath and Dietary…