THE LUTHERAN
ALTERNATIVE
A Truly Biblical Theology
By Gary Ray Branscome
In his book, “THE DEFENSE NEVER
RESTS,” author, and former Campus Crusade for Christ missionary, Craig
A. Parton, explains what he found lacking
in the theology of
American Evangelicalism, and how he came to embrace Lutheran Theology.
In his forward to that book, Dr. John
Warwick Montgomery writes, “Parton
recognizes its
[Evangelicalism’s] strength: an active, dynamic presentation of the
“simple
gospel” of salvation through Christ’s shed blood. That message saved
the
author—and, in remarkable parallel fashion, the writer of this
forward.… But,
like Parton, I was not too long in
discovering the
lack of depth in Evangelicalism. I, too, found my way to Lutheranism—by
comparing the doctrinal positions of Lutheranism, Calvinism, Arminianism, and Roman Catholicism against the
teachings of
the Greek New Testament. Lutheranism came out ahead at every point.… Parton rightly shows the Evangelical the way to
a Theology
far more powerful than anything the television evangelists have ever
offered.
And he helps them to see that the theological options are not limited
(as
virtually all Evangelicals believe) to Calvinism. Arminian
Methodism, and Dispensationalism.”
(Pages 5 and 6).
Concerning what he found lacking in
Evangelicalism, the author [Craig A. Parton]
says,
"After many years as a zealous Evangelical and full-time missionary, I
realized how little actual preaching of the pure Gospel I was engaging
in and
how little confidence I had in the power of God’s Word to crush human
pride and
to create saving faith… Not until I came to the Lutheran Reformation
some 20
years later, did I understand that my Christian life had come to center
around
my life, my obedience, my yielding, my Bible verse memorization, my
prayers, my
zeal, my witnessing, and my sermon application… The “evangel” in
Evangelicalism
was missing. My Evangelical training had me on a treadmill of merit.” (Pages 9, 10 and 18). (“THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS”, Published by
Concordia
Publishing House,
What Sets Lutherans Apart?
The papal bull of 1521 which
excommunicated Luther from the official church applied the name
“Lutheran” to
Luther’s adherents to stigmatize them as heretics. Luther protested
against the
use of his name in that way, and during his lifetime (and for years
afterwards)
those who embraced the gospel which Luther championed were known as
Evangelicals. It was not until after the end of the Thirty Years War
(over a
century later) that the name Lutheran was in general use. So what
distinguishes
Lutheran theology from other theologies that claim to be evangelical? I
believe
that the answer to that question lies in doctrine of the clarity of
Scripture. In
saying this I realize that those who hold to other theologies may claim
to
believe in the clarity of Scripture. However, in making that claim they
do not
mean the same thing.
For example: Because Lutherans believe
in the clarity of Scripture, when the Bible says that Christ, “is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins
of the whole world.” Lutherans conclude
that God wants us to believe and teach that Christ, “is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world,” (1John
2:2).
In
contrast, Calvinists who claim to believe in the clarity of Scripture,
will,
when explaining 1John 2:2, explain away the words, “the
whole world”. They may come up with lengthy arguments to
justify explaining those words away, but that only proves that they do
not
share the Lutheran understanding of the clarity of Scripture.
A Truly Biblical Theology
In 1536 Martin Luther prepared a statement of
faith
known today as the “Smalcald Articles”. In
the first
article of that statement we read:
The first and chief article is this, that
Jesus
Christ, our God and Lord, “was put to death for our trespasses and
raised again
for our justification” (Rom.
Inasmuch
as this must be believed and cannot be obtained or apprehended by any
work,
law, or merit, it is clear and certain that such faith alone justifies
us, as
St. Paul says in Romans 3, “For we hold that a man is justified by
faith apart
from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28), and again, “that he [God] himself
is
righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).
Nothing
in this article can be given up or compromised, even if heaven and
earth and
things temporal should be destroyed. For as St. Peter says, “There is
no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts
On this
article rests all that we teach and practice… The Mass in the papacy
must be
regarded as the greatest and most horrible abomination because it runs
into direct
and violent conflict with this fundamental article. (“The Book of Concord”, Tappert
edition, pages 292- 293.)
As you read the preceding paragraphs I
hope you noticed the fact that each doctrinal truth set forth by Luther
was
quoted from Scripture. In Lutheran theology the doctrine to be taught
is what
the Bible says, not what theologians think.
Or as John
Theodore Mueller put it, “| The Christian Church accepts and believes
only such
doctrines as are unmistakably taught in Holy Scripture… The question is
not: Is
this or that doctrine clearly stated in the Confessions? But: Is this
or that
doctrine set forth in God’s Word? If it is set forth in Holy Writ, it
is for
this reason a church dogma, even though not a word is said about it in
the
Confessions of the church. The reason for this is not difficult to
perceive.
The Christian Church is not the lord of God’s doctrine, but only its
servant.
Its paramount purpose is not to create new doctrines but to preach the
doctrines
which its Lord has revealed… The dogmatician
who
draws his teachings from any other source than Holy Scriptures
perpetrates an
inexcusable fraud upon the Church and deserves excommunication from the
Church
as a false prophet, Rom. 16,17; 2 John 10, 11; 1 Tim. 4, 16. God’s
earnest and
persistent demand is: “If any man speak,
let him speak
as the oracles of God,” 1 Pet. 4, 11. This applies to all ministers and
teachers who have been called to instruct the Christian people in
general.
Christian ministers, teachers, and missionaries must proclaim to their
hearers
God’s Word, not their own, so that the whole Christian Church, in its
schools
and colleges, in its churches and homes, not one doctrine is taught
that is not
in agreement with Holy Scripture. |” (Christian
Dogmatics, pages 59, 62 and 63.)
The Lutheran emphasis on the clarity
of Scripture also determines how they deal with those passages that
some find
difficult to reconcile. For example:
In Romans 8:38-39 we read, “I am convinced,
that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things
present, nor things to come, Nor height,
nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, that
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In contrast 1Corinthians
Read those two statements carefully, because
on the
surface they appear to contradict each other. Because of that seeming
contradiction those who lack the Lutheran understanding of the clarity
of
Scripture will affirm one while explaining away the other.
Those who claim that once a person is saved
he can
live in sin and still be saved emphasize Romans 8:38-39, while
explaining away 1Corinthians
Those who claim
that once a person is saved he must keep himself saved by keeping the
law emphasize
1Corinthians
In contrast, Lutheran theology holds that
since both
statements are the Word of God both must be accepted as true. For that
reason,
instead of affirming one while explaining away the other, Lutherans
realize
that 1Corinthians
In Lutheran theology, baptism is God's promise of forgiveness to all who trust in Christ, and the Lord's Supper is Christ's promise of forgiveness to all who believe that His body was given for them on the cross, and that His blood was shed for them on the cross for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 22:19-20, Galatians 3:22).
Lutheran theology also emphasizes the fact that the forgiveness we have in Christ not only saves us, but also cleanses us of all sin making us innocent, righteous and, therefore, obedient in the sight of God (1John 1:7, Romans 10:4). (1John 1:7, Romans 10:4).
Lutheran Worship
Modern Evangelicals tend to regard the
formal Lutheran worship service as a holdover from Roman Catholicism.
What they
fail to understand is that formal worship services go back to the
early-church
and beyond. The first Christians were Jews who accepted Christ as the
messiah, the
Jews who threw palms in His path on Palm Sunday, the Jews who were
baptized by
the thousands following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost, the Jews to whom the epistle of James was addressed, and
many more
(Acts 17:10-11). And, their worship services were formal and
traditional,
consisting of group prayers (some of which were sung or chanted) Bible
readings, and the Jewish creed known as the Shema
(the section of Scripture beginning with the words, “Hear O Israel”
Deut. 6:4).
That creed was replaced in Christian worship by the Apostles Creed, and
little
by little changes were made to the liturgy. Instead of rejecting that
liturgy
because of unscriptural changes made by the Church of Rome, Lutherans
simply removed
the unscriptural elements and continued in the tradition of the
Apostles.
Far from being an invention of the
Catholic Church, the box (commonly called “the altar”) in the front of
Lutheran
churches was in the earliest Christian churches, and before that in the
synagogues where it represented the Ark of the Covenant. Just as the
Ten
Commandments were kept in the original Ark of the Covenant, in Jewish
worship
that box held the scrolls.
The Lutheran Hermeneutic
The only meaning that Lutheran
Theology allows to be placed on the words of Scripture, is the same
meaning
that you are placing on my words as you read this, the plain
grammatical
meaning of the words (2Corinthians 1:13). Lutheran Theology does not
allow men
to invent “hermeneutics” at will as a way of getting around what the
Bible
plainly says. Nor does it let them invent figures of speech that are
not an
established part of Greek or Hebrew grammar. “The interpretation of
Scripture
must be grammatical (no one has the right to twist its grammar in
setting forth
its meaning). (“Lutheran
Cyclopedia”,
Erwin L. Lueker editor, page 463.)
Conclusion
As much as I love the Biblical
Theology that I have just described, much of present day Lutheranism is
in shambles,
and in need of a major reformation.
Because the Bible is clear Lutherans are
expected to
learn what it says, “since it is their duty to supervise the ministry
of their
teachers (Col. 4:17), to avoid all false prophets (Rom.
Because of worldly influence the
anti-Christian
secular culture is making deeper and deeper inroads into the church. As
a
result, many who call themselves Lutheran are Lutheran in name only,
and many
“Lutheran” seminaries allow professors to teach the atheist doctrines
of human
nature, the Bible’s origin, and the origin of the universe. To all such
teachers, Jesus says. “O fools, and slow of heart to believe everything
the
prophets have said” (Luke 24:25). Return unto me, and I will return
unto you,
says the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:7).
[Note: In quoting J. T. Mueller I used this
punctuation “| |” to set my
quotation
marks apart from his. This was done as a way to keep from changing his
quotation marks to single quotes.]