Patristic Quote of the Day

Our faith is the same as theirs [that is, of the OT saints], since they believed that this would be, while we believe that it has come to pass.—St. Augustine, Letter 190

Luther

This is finding the cross: to know your own self.—Sermons, 1527

Catechesis: Third Use of the Law

We believe, teach, and confess that the preaching of the Law is to be encouraged diligently. This applies not only for the unbelieving and impenitent, but also for true believers, who are truly converted, regenerate, and justified through faith.—FC Ep VI:3

Happy birthday to our dear Felicity!

Can she really be five already?!! I think of all our grandchildren, Felicity lives the most “in her own head” as it were. And she plays there with mermaids and unicorns!

Patristic Quote of the Day

Further, if any one ponders over the prophetic sayings with all the attention and reverence they deserve, it is certain that in the very act of reading and diligently studying them his mind and feelings will be touched by a divine breath. He will recognize that the words he is reading are not human utterances, but the language of God.—Origin, On First Principles

Luther

God’s wrath is never greater than when He is silent and does not speak to us, but leaves us to follow our own mind and will, and do as we please.—Table-Talk

Catechesis: Righteousness

We believe, teach, and confess that many weaknesses and defects cling to the true believers and truly regenerate, even up to the day they are buried. Still, they must not on that account doubt either their righteousness, which has been credited to them through faith, or the salvation of their souls. They must regard it as certain that for Christ’s sake, according to the promise and immoveable Word of the Holy Gospel, they have a gracious God…

Yet one is not to imagine a kind of faith that can exist and abide with, and alongside of, a wicked intention to sin and to act against the conscience.—FC Ep III:9, 11

Patristic Quote of the Day

It is not the Old Testament that is done away with in Christ but the concealing veil, so that it may be understood through Christ. That is, as it were, laid bare, which without Christ is hidden and obscure.—St. Augustine, The Usefulness of Belief 3.9

Luther

For God can work all things for good, however often we may stumble, only if we abide by the pure, true Word of God, which says: this is right and this wrong… Once faith is torn away, no man can of himself resist the devil. He inevitably falls into all kinds of vice.—Exposition of Genesis iii

Catechesis: Free Will

On the other hand, it is correctly said that in conversion God—through the drawing power of the Holy Spirit—makes willing people out of stubborn and unwilling ones. And after such conversion, in the daily exercise of repentance, the regenerate will of a person is not idle, but cooperates in all the works of the Holy Spirit, which He performs through us.—FC Ep II:17

Catechesis: Free Will

It is God’s will that His Word should be heard and that a person’s ears should not be closed. With this Word the Holy Spirit is present and opens hearts, so that people (like Lydia in Acts 16:14) pay attention to it and are converted only through the Holy Spirit’s grace and power, who alone does the work of converting a person.—FC Ep II:5

Luther

Therefore let go your own thoughts and feelings and esteem this book as the best and purest treasure, as a mine full of great wealth, which can never be exhausted or sufficiently excavated. Thus you will find the divine wisdom which God presents in the Bible in a manner so simple that it damps the pride of clever people and brings it to nought. In this book you find the swaddling clothes and the manger in which Christ lies, and to which the angel directs the shepherds. Those swaddling clothes are shabby and poor, yet precious is the treasure wrapped in them, for it is Christ.—Table-talk

Patristic Quote of the Day

Paul is saying that there is no need for us to cover ourselves as Moses did, for we are able to look at the glory with which we are encircled, even though it is far brighter than the other one.—St. John Chrysostom, 2 Cor. 3:13

Patristic Quote of the Day

Paul will not imitate the false apostles, who claim rewards for themselves. For corruption occurs when one sells for money what one ought to give freely.—St. John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Cor. 2:17. 

Luther

Therefore, lock up your reason, tread your wisdom under foot, and do not let them grope about, or feel, or think, in matters that concern your salvation, but simply and solely listen to what the Son of God says,  to what is His Word, and stop there.—Sermons on John vi-viii

Catechesis: Original Sin

Original sin is born in us because of the sinful seed and is a source of all other actual sins, such as wicked thoughts, words, and works, as it is written in Matthew 15:19 “out of the heart come evil thoughts.”—FC Ep I:21

Sexagesima Divine Service

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Go to Issuesetc.org to sign up! 2022 Making the Case Conference, June 24, 25 on the lovely campus of Concordia University Chicago (in suburban River Forest IL):

This little guy…

…helped me write today. Chancellor the old and Chancellor the young.

Patristic Quote of the Day

If anyone is lost, he has only himself to blame.—St. John Chrysostom Homily 5 on 2 Corinthians