AG4a: 1876: Means of Grace, their Foundation, Validity

      This continues from Part AG3c (Table of Contents in Part AG1a) in a series presenting Walther's essays to the Western District that supported his theme "That Only Through the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church is All Glory Given to God Alone". — The bulk of this essay deals with the Doctrine of the Means of Grace, then follows that with the Doctrine of Conversion. On the Means of Grace, Walther covers four points:

1. Foundation (pp. 25-29)
2. Validity (pp. 29-42)
3. Power (pp. 42-56)
4. Immutability (pp. 56-63)

Conversion is covered on pp. 63-71. — Teaching on the Means of Grace is especially needed today with so many of the so-called "Evangelicals" in America who essentially teach Reformed doctrine. And Walther provides the perfect defense for Lutheran teaching. Who does not need a refresher on this doctrine? — This segment will focus on pp. 18-29: 

Notable Quotes: (on Means of Grace)

Introduction: [pp. 18-25]

20: "as long as a man still seeks his own honor, he does not yet have true religion" [Worldly psychotherapy counsels "self-love", as it did for me in my past. Therapist hated Christian counsel.]

20: "If I now know that the interpretation [of Scripture] honors God alone, then I have a summary proof that it is right"

21: "Methodists…place the glory and excellence of their religion above all in the fact that they are the holiest and most pious people there are in the world"

21-22: "Even if it [Reformed Church] uses the words "means of grace" [See this blog post on Dr. Albert Mohler, a Southern Baptist.], it understands something quite different from what God's Word and our church understand by it"

22: Reformed teach "a means to initiate the effects of the Holy Spirit in a person, whereas a means of grace is that which brings me the grace of God."

22: "If…we look for it [grace] somewhere else…by kneeling down in a corner and sighing… then we are going the way of enthusiasts …it is the voice of the devil or of his own flesh."

22: The Word as Means: "'You are now clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you.' John 15:3"

23: "there are also three witnesses of grace on earth, namely the Spirit (the Word of God), the water (Baptism) and the blood (Holy Communion)" [Cp. to 1 John 5:7]

23: "God gives no one his Spirit or grace without, through, and with the preceding outward Word"

23: Enthusiasts: "always teach: if you want grace, you must pray until you feel that it is within you"

24: Enthusiasts "makes for himself a means of grace that God has not made

25: "If the good God spoke to us from heaven, we would believe it; but if he speaks to us through the Bible, we do not believe it, because we do not seriously and truly regard it as the Word of God."

25: "our church does not speak merely of signs of grace, but of means of grace."

Foundation: [pp. 25-29]

25: Smalcald Art.: "The Word of God shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel" [Against Prof. Joel Biermann. and his "Scripture and Tradition".]

25-26: "the Papists introduce five other sacraments…: Confirmation, Penance, Matrimony, Ordination of Priests, and Extreme Unction"

26: "Methodists declare prayer to be such a means. But how can there be grace in something we do? Prayer is rather an effect, a fruit of the means of grace"

26: Methodists: "…also make their penitential bench, even their prayer meetings and camp meetings, into means of grace."

28: "Many false Lutherans also teach today that ordination is a sacramental act, especially the orthodox Romanist enthusiast [A. F. C.] Vilmar" [See here for more.]

28: "Among all the Reformed with their sects, the Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, the spirit of Zwingli still prevails today"

29: Zwingli: "But the Spirit needs no vehicle". [I.e. no "means of grace".]

28: Zwingli: "The sacraments are given as a public testimony of the grace that each one has beforehand"

      Along with Walther's thorough treatment of the Means of Grace, one can also read Franz Pieper's treatment of the same doctrine in his book The Foundation of the Christian Faith here. — In the next Part AG4b, the Validity and Power of the Means of Grace.