But how can a Christian sacrifice himself? He does this when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he daily and even hourly kills everything evil that is in and of him, and lays at God's feet everything that is good. When he notices in himself the desires of the eyes, that is, anything earthly, covetousness, and avarice, he immediately seeks to be rid of them. When he senses in himself the desires of the flesh - lust, craving for pleasure, and love for a comfortable life - he strives to root them out. When he finds arrogance in himself, that is, desire for his own glory, pride, haughtiness, and self-satisfaction, he takes great pains to rip this weed out of his heart. In short, when he is daily intent upon becoming free of all his sins, sinful longings, emotions and thoughts, then and only then does he live before God as a spiritual priest who sacrifices to Him. - C. F. W. Walther
[Commercial: this quote is from the absolutely outstanding *God Grant It: Daily Devotions from C. F. W. Walther* published by CPH last year. My friend, Pastor Paul McCain has been recommending this book for sometime. Well, you know how wacky he is about Walther, so I thought: well, can it be that good? He kindly sent me a copy and let me tell you: this is the Walther you never knew. Having seen it and read only a little, I would heartily recommend it to anyone. You can order it here:
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"In short, when he is daily intent upon becoming free of all his sins, sinful longings, emotions and thoughts, then and only then does he live before God as a spiritual priest who sacrifices to Him."
ReplyDeleteNow it you consider that for the Orthodox, to be saved precisely means to "live before God as a spiritual priest who sacrifices to Him," you'll see exactly why we say "works", such as those Walther describes, are necessary for it.
It has nothing to do with "works salvation."
Anastasia
Anastasia, I understand, I think, what Orthodoxy teaches on this, and in this area, I suspect we just talk past each other. But please, if you've EVER seen a picture of the good C. F. W. you'd understand why Lutherans just couldn't go around kissing icons... ; )
ReplyDeleteCheck it out:
Walther
A godly old man, and a great man in so many ways, but well, not terribly kissable.
If clergy salary packages were what they should have been, the poor man could have afforded a good set of choppers.
ReplyDeletethe ziege-bart doesn't help much. Wonder what he sounded like.
ReplyDelete