Lutheran Vocational Evangelism

(Giving An Answer - The Authority of the Word of God)

“We are a Bible Church” is the statement we often hear from a friend or family member who misunderstands the Lutheran Church and our confessional documents, the Book of Concord. Indeed, we too are a Bible Church and more so than any other Bible Church as we let God speak for Himself, not adding to nor taking away according to our own human logic especially when it comes to resolving the tension God leaves us in many teachings of His Word as we will see.

The Book of Concord, our confessional documents in no way supercede the Word of God, rather they are a proper explanation of that word, set out in a systematic way, very much like our Catechism, so that we might rightly understand what we believe according to the various teachings of the Bible. Since the Bible is written in narrative, in prose, in history and poetry, not simply in paragraphs about who God is, who Jesus is, what is the Trinity and the like, our confessional documents lay these teachings out for us in a systematic way. The writers looked up the Bible passages about Jesus and then wrote, this is what we believe about Jesus according to these Bible passages.

At the same time, what we read in our confessional documents is not any explanation using human logic (flawed because of sins) in order to remove any tension of God’s Word. In other words, if God’s  Word is not logical to us, such as the case with predestination and eternal election, rather than resolve the tension we have in God’s Word we simply let God speak. We say what He says, not adding to it and we say what He says, not taking anything away.

We heard it said, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” The problem with this statement is the “I” problem. As Lutherans we right say, “God said it. That settles it.” My belief does nothing to God’s Word. God’s Word is the final authority. As Luther and the Reformers pointed out, Popes and Councils have contradicted each other and have erred, but God’s Word is His Word and so it is the final authority.

34 of 52    © Rev. Dr. Ronald A. Bogs (2018)