Christ died so that He might kill off sin in us.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis, p. 58
This terrible scene (of the final judgment) can happen today, even this very hour, and it should prompt us to rise immediately and to flee into the wounds of Jesus Christ. Let us remain there.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, pp. 28, 29.
I always thought Gerhard was a pit of a Pietist. Christ did not die to kill off sin in us. We will remain sinners to the end of our days here on earth. Christ took away the sin of the world; that is very different from killing it off in us. Peace and Joy! George A. Marquart
Thank you, Will. First, in my posting I made a typo: should be "bit of a Pietist", not pit. Secondly, I believe your quote is a parallelism, in which "forgive" and "cleanse" are meant to have the same meaning. But thirdly, even if you do take the "cleanse" literally, something I would not argue against, the cleansing is not by killing sin in us, but by the gracious and merciful declaration of our righteousness, because of the life, suffering and death of our Lord. Finally, you could say that we are cleansed from unrighteousness in Baptism, because the old creature is drowned, and a new, righteous one emerges. However, here the entire person is killed, not just sin. In any event, whether "kill" or not is not that important. I think the importance here is in Gerhard's way of thinking, that, in my opinion, is not always in accord with the pure Gospel. Peace and Joy! George
I always thought Gerhard was a pit of a Pietist. Christ did not die to kill off sin in us. We will remain sinners to the end of our days here on earth. Christ took away the sin of the world; that is very different from killing it off in us.
ReplyDeletePeace and Joy!
George A. Marquart
He is faithful and just *to forgive our sin AND to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.*
ReplyDeleteThank you, Will. First, in my posting I made a typo: should be "bit of a Pietist", not pit.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I believe your quote is a parallelism, in which "forgive" and "cleanse" are meant to have the same meaning. But thirdly, even if you do take the "cleanse" literally, something I would not argue against, the cleansing is not by killing sin in us, but by the gracious and merciful declaration of our righteousness, because of the life, suffering and death of our Lord. Finally, you could say that we are cleansed from unrighteousness in Baptism, because the old creature is drowned, and a new, righteous one emerges. However, here the entire person is killed, not just sin.
In any event, whether "kill" or not is not that important. I think the importance here is in Gerhard's way of thinking, that, in my opinion, is not always in accord with the pure Gospel.
Peace and Joy!
George