Pop American Christianity

An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller

In this series we will discuss the characteristics and view of Scripture of Pop
American Christianity with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller (who was once an Evangelical but
is now an LCMS pastor).

Session 1: Characteristics of Pop American Christianity

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/2106080116
3.mp3
Four Theological Underpinnings of Pop American Christianity
American Christianity has four theological underpinnings that define it.
1.
2.
3.
4.

It is revivalistic. Its all about me.

It is pietistic. It emphasizes my life of good works.
It is mystical. It pushes towards an experience of the presence of God.
It is enthusiastic. It emphasizes the importance of the heart to Christian life. It
emphasizes the importance of the inside rather than the objective outside.

The Good Things about Pop American Christianity

We will be pretty critical of Pop American Christianity in this series, but there are
things that are very good too. What are some of those things?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

They
They
They
They
They

read their Bibles.

pray.
seek to raise their children and live a life that honors God.
have a high view of the Scriptures.
have a profound sense that God is involved in their lives.

These are all good things and these people are wonderful people. So to any of these
people who might be listening, the last thing we want to do is demolish people and
crush souls. We want to show that the theology is not biblical and in fact it destroys
the comfort that Christians have. So our critique is motivated by our love for the
Scriptures and our love for the people. We have something better, which is biblical,
and we want to offer it to you.
A Desire to Reach the Lost
Another one of the positives is a genuine desire to reach the lost. That is one of the
reasons it is sometimes called Evangelicalism they have a zeal to spread the
Gospel. But the question is, When we find the unchurched and bring them to
church, what are we bringing them to? What doctrine? What teaching? What
person? Jesus brought people to himself, not a more successful life or a higher
morality. We want to bring people to Christ and his mercy.

Pop American Christianity

An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller

The Fruit of Theology

It is important to always evaluate doctrine and practice together. These two things
inform each other and play off of each other. When you see how someone worships,
prays, reads Scripture, deals with their family and the world, you see an outgrowth
of their theology. It may not be always be consistent but it is a reflection of their
theology. A fruit tree is known by its fruit, so you can see the healthiness or the
danger of a theology by its fruit. Is the fruit the comfort of Gospel and life lived for
God and neighbor or is the fruit something different like pride or despair? The fruit
of American Christianity is a pendulum that swings between pride and despair,
where we are proud of ourselves and believe God is happy with us because we are
obedient or we are in despair because we cant live up to Gods expectations and
therefore he will condemned us to hell.

Hallmark 1: Revivalism [Whipped up emotion to make a decision

to accept Christ]
As we said, there are four hallmarks of American Christianity. The first one is
revivalism. What does that mean? This goes back to Charles Finney. His fingerprints
are on everything in American Christianity. He said baptism was good back in the
days of the apostles, but we need New Measures today to bring people into the
Church. So he would try and work people up emotionally so that they would respond
to the altar call and accept Christ and invite him into their hearts. Revivalism is a
renewed religious vigor.
You see a revivalistic imprint all over American Christianity. You see it everywhere.
Billy Graham called his magazine Decision Magazine. He had these crusades that
were revivalistic crusades. The Gideons Bible has The Time for Decision on the back
page of every one of their Bibles. Campus Crusades has four spiritual laws and to
get to the end where you get saved, you have to make a decision for Christ. What
this says is this: My Christian life begins with me and it begins with my decision,
with my act.
Before we were talking about doctrine and practice. Revivalism is the doctrine, but
it expresses itself in all kinds of practices. One of those practices is the sinners
prayer, which is a formal declaration of ones decision for Christ. And you see this all
over the place, but it is a practice that is not in the Bible. In fact the Scriptures
speak expressly against it. Paul says, the mind of the flesh cannot accept the things
of the Spirit of God. Any kind of work, decision, acceptance, receiving, or
commitment that is accomplished by the sinner is absolutely impossible according
to the Scriptures. Conversion is not our work. Conversion is Gods work.

Pop American Christianity

An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller

Hallmark 2: Pietism (Christian Life is Chiefly Marked by Growth in

Good Works)
Pietism says that the chief aim of the Christian life is for the Christian to grow in
good works. There is nothing wrong with good works. But problems with good works
occur when the emphasis is put in the wrong place. This can be very subtle. When
the emphasis in Christian life is on me getting better and better every day, then
something is wrong. My own thinking, my own praying, my own living is all about
me and what I am doing. And what happens is I begin to think that God views me
and judges me based on my good works.
Pr. Wolfmueller used to be a Pietist. And in those days what was most important to
him was his own resolve every morning. He would wake up and resolve to do better
that day to overcome sin and please God. But because he was a sinner, the day
would always end in despair. And so the next day he would come back with new
resolve. This was a daily pattern and cycle. It was like being on a treadmill that
never stopped. At any given moment he was sure of one of two things. Either God
was incredibly upset with him or God was incredibly proud of him all because of his
obedience or disobedience to Gods commandments. How dangerous this is to
believe that for me to stay a Christian was completely dependent upon my own
efforts and works.
This may be the chief mark of American Christianity, that the Christian life is all
about me and my works. So you will see two parts to a pop American church
service. There will be two different audiences to which the preaching is aimed: the
unbeliever and believer. For the unbeliever the preaching may be about Christ and
the cross. But for the Christian, the preaching will not have a word about Jesus. The
preaching to them is all Moses, all Law, all instruction on how to live to please God.
That is very dangerous. We become Christians through the repentance that God
works in us and we stay Christians by the repentance Christ works in us. The
Christian life is a life of repentance. The Christian life begins and continues with
repentance, that is, in knowing our sin and in knowing the promise of the
forgiveness of sin. Our life is in Christ and his mercy, not in our works. Pietism takes
this life away from the Christian.
Robs of Comfort or Provides False Comfort
A kind of overarching theme in our discussion of Evangelicalism is that it either robs
of comfort or provides false comfort. Whereas revivalism provides a false comfort
based on ones initial decision to surrender to or give your heart to Jesus, pietism
provides a false comfort in your continued resolve to live for Jesus. That is why the
pietist has to rededicate their lives to Christ multiple times, respond to many altar
calls, get baptized several times. An Evangelical seeks to stay a Christian and
please God through their efforts.

Pop American Christianity

An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller

Hallmark 3: Mysticism [Encounter God through an internal

experiences and feelings.]
For an Evangelical, spiritual activity occurs inside a person, in a persons heart.
Mysticism pushes people to experience the unmediated, internal presence of the
divine nature. Mysticism is a theological parasite. There is more than just Christian
mysticism. There is Jewish mysticism, Islamic mysticism, Hindu mysticism, etc.
Mysticism is a broad religious movement. Mysticism is like a parasite that latches on
to many different religions. It pushes people to experience God. For Christians then,
most of the time you see this will be in the worship service. At these types of
churches, the worship service, and especially the music, will be designed to bring
you into the presence of God.
Years ago Pr. Wolfmueller interviewed a famous Christian artist. He asked him what
the role of the praise leader was? He said it was to bring people into the presence of
God. So then he asked him, How do you know when you are in the presence of God?
He said you just know it, you feel it. So the energy that undergirds my resolve to do
good works comes from the mystical experience of worship. So the goal of
mysticism is to produce in you this experience that you can take with you into your
life. Its like charging up the spiritual batteries. So it is akin to the Roman Catholic
idea that you are infused with grace so you have the strength to do good works and
please God. But this is dangerous because if you can live the experience, you can
die by the experience. Once the feeling is gone, how do you know that God is there?
When the feeling is gone, its almost like a drug addict going through withdrawal
symptoms. People feel like theyve come down from the mountain are now in a
deep dark valley. The people get desperate and resort to all kinds of things to try
and get back up the mountain to get that comfort back. To these people we just
want to say, Jesus wants you to know he loves you, thats why he has given you his
Word and Baptism and the Lords Supper. He doesnt want you to be lost and
wandering in this desert.
There are other characteristics we could over besides these four, for instance,
moralism and legalism. This includes not only, I didnt do enough, but also I
didnt feel enough or I need to do something to feel closer to God. The devil
loves to create uncertainty. So when he can lead you away from the certainty of
Gods Word and promises he will do so. There is nothing certain about our feelings
or our emotional experiences or religious experiences or our works. They fluctuate
all the time. You cannot rely on them. The devil pushes us away from the certainty
of Gods Word toward the uncertainty our thoughts, feelings, experiences, and
works.
In all of these things we try and judge what God thinks of me or how he feels about
me based on my thoughts, my feelings, my experiences, my works. This is a
rejection of the Gospel. [We can know for certain how God feels about us by the

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An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
Gospel. He gave his only begotten Son for us to die in our place. This is what God
tells us in his Word.]

Hallmark 4: Enthusiasm [God is in you and speaks directly to you.]

The fourth hallmark is enthusiasm. We use the word enthusiasm in a different way
than what we usually do. In this case it is not being excited about something.
Enthusiasm is seeking revelation from God, primarily within ones self, someplace
else other than Scripture. It is a promotion of the internal testimony of God over the
external testimony of Scripture. They call it the theatre of the heart. Luther has a
brilliant line where he says, Every error is enthusiasm. Adam and Eve were
enthusiasts. Instead of trusting Gods Word, Do not eat the fruit of the tree because
if you do you will die, they trusted their own evaluation of the fruit of the tree Look
how good for food it is and how it will make you wise. Luther called the Pope an
enthusiast because his doctrine comes [not from Gods Word] but rather from the
shrine of his own heart. Mohammad was an enthusiast because he claimed to have
private revelation from his god.
Every theological mistake comes from looking for the Word of God on the inside
rather than in the Scriptures. This is also true in Evangelicalism. It is there in a gross
way, where people are literally listening for God to literally tell them what to do or
say or think. This is very dangerous for the soul. It is also there in subtle ways. They
think that it is not enough to have Gods Word but it also has to be confirmed by the
work of the Spirit. So you hear the preacher preach that Jesus died for you for the
forgiveness of your sins but it doesnt matter until you feel the Holy Spirit tugging
on your heart to accept Christ. In what greater way can we discredit the truth of the
Scriptures than by saying that it doesnt count unless you feel the Holy Spirit
moving in your heart!? No! These words of Scripture are true no matter how you
feel about them or think about them.
Now the Evangelical believes the Scriptures are true, inspired, inerrant, and
infallible. And we rejoice with them in that. But we say to them, But you dont go far
enough. Because it is through the Holy Scriptures that the Holy Spirit comes to do
his work. It is more than information, it is the power of Gods Word and that is how
he makes us Christians. That is where our comfort comes from. So its not that
Evangelicals dont believe Gods Word is true and powerful, it is that they dont
believe its true and powerful enough. Holy Scripture is the means that the Holy
Spirit uses. The Holy Scriptures are the tool, not of the preacher, but of the Holy
Spirit. He uses them to make us Christians and to keep us Christians and to bring us
to everlasting life.

Session 2: Original Sin and the For You of Salvation

The guest pastor is Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller.

Pop American Christianity

An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/21150812162.mp3

Introduction of Todays Topics

Reciprocal Relationship Between Acknowledgment of Our Sin and Gods
Grace
How are the two topics for todays program, original sin and salvation for you
related? There is a reciprocal relationship between the two, between how we
understand our own humanity and the grace of God. When our own strength, our
own will, our own goodness is amplified, then the goodness of Jesus is diminished.
On the other hand, when we see the great depth of our own sinfulness, our own
weakness, our own failures, the stench that our life has in the nostrils of the Holy
God, then we are able to see the height of Gods grace and his love for us.
Jesus said to the woman known for her sinfulness, as she is weeping and cleaning
Jesus feet with her tears and hair, Whoever is forgiven much loves much. So when
we see the depth of our sinfulness we can then see the height of Gods love. So
Luther identifies that the great errors of the Gospel begin with errors in
understanding original sin.
Salvation For You
There are large numbers of Christians around the world that cannot say, This
salvation is for you. This is especially true for Calvinists. They are stuck with the
terrible doctrine of limited atonement. They agree with us on the depth of our
sinfulness but they have a different understanding of the redemption Christ won on
the cross. So for them the Gospel is not for the world but only for the elect. The
Calvinists are the closest to Lutherans theologically, but this doctrine causes a great
gulf between us. It affects a persons understanding of the Gospel, God, theology,
and truth.

The Depth of Mans Fall into Sin

The Fall Brought Death
Where do we begin when talking about mans sinful and fallen condition? The
Scriptures start talking about it right at the beginning of Genesis. Adam and Eve
cave in to temptation and eat the forbidden fruit. In that one act of disobedience to
Gods Word, death is introduced to the entire universe. And from that point on,
everything is downhill. Before this there was no death. When God threatened death
if they ate of the fruit, since they had never seen or experienced death before, they
had to believe and trust Gods Word that it was true. But after they ate the fruit,
death was everywhere. The whole history of the Scriptures is a history of death. One
thing that trips us up when reading Scripture is genealogies. We should pay closer
attention to these because that teaches us that all of humanity is defined by death.

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An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
And the sad thing is that there is nothing we can do about death; we cant stop it or
overcome it.
Sick in Sin or Dead in Sin?
American Christianity softens this stark view. When teaching an adult confirmation
class, Pr. Wolfmueller pulled up the teachings of the Baptists, the Jews, the Muslims,
and the Catholics. It is amazing that they all have the same teaching of sin. They all
teach that sin is a sickness or a weakness or an inclination. To them original sin
means we are limping along; we are sick but not dead. This is the natural view of
our own sinfulness. [As fallen, imperfect people this is how we see ourselves.]
Everyone recognizes that there is something wrong with us. But they understand
that wrongness as a weakness and not as death. They see sin as an obstacle to
overcome and not as a complete and devastating condition.
This is also the view of American Christianity. If we see ourselves as sick in sin
rather than dead in sin, we look at salvation in a completely different way. Instead of
needing to be resurrected by the Word of Jesus, they strive to get better, stronger,
healed like they would with a sickness. [The problem is that a dead person cannot
get better or stronger or be healed. Its impossible.]
Sinful Because of Sinful Act or Sinful Nature?
There is another twist that American Christianity brings to this discussion of original
sin. They might acknowledge that we are not born perfect but they will say we are
not accountable to God until we reach a certain age. Or some might teach that we
are not born sinful, but that eventually everyone ends up sinful after about the age
of 10. For instance in Tim LeHayes book, Left Behind, any child under a certain age
got raptured. This illustrates this idea of the age of accountability. This is not
biblical. It teaches that you may be a sinner but you are not held accountable for it
until you reach an age of decision.
This goes back to a very important theological question or riddle: Are we sinners
because we sin or do we sin because we are sinners? Which comes first, the sinful
act or the sinful nature? Most American Christians think that we become guilty
before God not because of our sinful nature but because of our sinful acts. So for
them even if you are by nature a sinner, you are not held accountable until you act
upon your sinful inclinations, until you activate your will. This means the will is of
central importance. We already talked about the Evangelicals belief in the
importance of the will in making a decision for Christ. Here the will is taking a
central role in the other direction when the will makes a decision to sin. But the
Bible says we are conceived in sin and that we are guilty from the moment of
conception before we commit a sin, before our will is active. We are guilty because
we are sinners, because we have a sinful nature.

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An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
So how you answer the question, What is our essential problem?, is going to shape
your answer to the question about the solution, How does God save us? If you
believe that our essential problem is not that we are conceived and born in sin, that
we were not born with a completely sinful nature, and that because of it we rightly
deserve Gods wrath (like Paul says that we are by nature children of wrath), but
that we are by choice a child of wrath then it is also going to be by choice that we
become children of Gods grace. To them we become Christians by our choice to
overcome sin.
This is a bad understanding of original sin. First of all it is not biblical. Second, it
diminishes the Gospel. Now it is not a matter of me receiving a new nature or a new
heart from God, but rather its me making a choice or decision or commitment to
overcome and to fight against sin and thats what makes me a Christian. [It takes
Gods work and makes it my work.]
Its Not Fair
Someone is going to say, Thats just not fair. If I was born this way and havent
committed any sins why should I deserve Gods wrath? The answer God gives in
the Scriptures is, Who are you O man to fight against the One who has made you?
[see Rom. 9:20]. The real thing that is not fair is that the Lord took all of your sin,
your guilt, your punishment, and Gods wrath that we deserve and put it on his own
Son instead of us. That was not fair to Jesus. [He had committed no sin.] This is
God giving us pure grace and mercy. If we start fussing about the unfairness or
injustice of our sinfulness, then we dont have any place to rejoice in the unfairness
of the Gospel. It is not fair that God has had mercy on us who should be
condemned.
But God Made Me That Way
Another objection to original sin is: God made me this way. If I was this way from
conception and birth, then the person I can blame is God. But does God really make
us sinful? This is where it is important to know that sin is always a corruption of the
acts of God. God does not create sin. He is not the author of sin or evil. And sin is
not its own independent creation either. It is a corruption of the thing that is good.
And we are utterly corrupt. Now, we are not sin, but sin clings to us and corrupts us
so deeply that sin has affected every part of us. Its like a body that was healthy but
became diseased with cancer and cancer has spread throughout the entire body.
Everything has been utterly corrupted by it.
The Essence of Man is Not Sin
So its not sinful to be a human being and sin is not essential to our human nature?
No. Lutheran theologians use an ingenious paradigm to test that question. It goes
like this:

Pop American Christianity

An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
God created man but he did not create sin.
Jesus became man but he did not become sin.
Jesus redeems man but he does not redeem sin.
And in the resurrection, we will be fully human at last and we will not have sin.
So the essence of man is not sin. In actuality, sin is a de-humanizing thing. It pulls
us away from the glory, holiness, and righteousness that God originally created us
with in our humanity. So sin is not only the enemy of God, but it along with the devil
is the enemy of humanity.
Blind and Numb to Our Own Corruption
We are so corrupt that we are blind to our corruption. So we must be shown by God
how corrupt we are. A picture to illustrate this is a person with leprosy. It will not
only destroy you and kill you, but it also deadens you and numbs you so that you
cant feel the sickness. So it doesnt hurt and you cant feel the terrible effects of
the disease. So you are not aware of how bad the disease really is. Thats how we
are with our sinfulness. We dont know how bad we are. [You hear it all the time.
People talk about how man is essentially good, when in reality man is rotten to the
core.]
Pr. Wolfmueller told a short story about someone who hopped on a friends
motorcycle and road it down the road but quickly crashed it into a tree. When they
ran to see if he was ok, he said, I dont know; I cant feel my legs. He had a broken
his back. His injury was so profound that he could not feel the pain. That is kind of a
picture of our original sin. We have fallen so badly that we often times do not feel
the pain of our sin. So God must say to us in the Bible how bad we are, so that we
know it. He tells us, You are wretched. You are unholy. You deserve my wrath. When
we ask the question, How could God send people to hell?, it indicates that we do not
know how bad we are. In some ways we could praise God that we dont fully
understand the depths of our sin because I dont know if we could have human
society if we did. On the other hand, when we dont realize the depths of our
sinfulness, then the devil tempts us to think we deserve something from God. But in
the Scriptures God tells us that there is nothing good in us. Good comes from
outside of ourselves, from outside of our own earning or doing. Salvation comes to
us only by the grace and mercy of God.

The For You-ness of Our Salvation

Jesus is Strong Enough to Save You
Pr. Wolfmueller told a story in his book about a person named Linda who he visited
while she was on her deathbed. She expressed a strong anxiety about her faith not
being strong enough to save her. His response was Youre probably right. What
was he saying? She was dying and afraid. She was afraid her faith wasnt strong

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An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
enough. He was saying to her (and to us), Your faith isnt strong enough to save
you, but your Jesus is strong enough to save you. And Jesus said, Even if your faith
is as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains. Jesus is not worried about
how strong your faith is because he knows that he is strong enough to save you.
And she said, You got me there pastor, he is strong enough. It is not the strength of
our faith that matters. It is the strength of what we have faith in that matters. Christ
is strong enough to overcome sin, death, and the devil. And that is where our
confidence is in life and death. So no matter how weak our faith is, Jesus, who we
put our faith in, is strong enough.
The Words For You are Very Comforting Words
Martin Luther, the sixteenth century reformer, made a lot of the words for you.
Why? Especially when he talked about the Sacrament [the Lords Supper], he said
the words for you really matter. The words given and shed for you are words of
great comfort.
Let me give you an example. There is a big difference if I say, There is a million
dollars in the bank and there is a million dollars in the bank for you. These are
two incredibly different things. The words for you make the difference. So is Jesus
for me? That is the fundamental question of life. And we dont have to wonder what
the answer is because he tells us: I came for sinners; I came to die and redeem
sinners; I came for you. In the Supper Jesus says, This is my body given for you,
This is my blood shed for you. And when we hear those words for you we
rejoice! The answer to the question, is God for me or against me?, is crystal clear. In
Christ God is for me.
Did Jesus Die For You?
Not all Christians can say, for you. Those who believe in a limited atonement do
not believe Christ died for the sins of the whole world, but only for the sins of the
elect. So can someone who believes in limited atonement say to themselves, I know
that Jesus died for my sins? They might have some way that they can eventually get
to it. What this speaks to is certainty. That is the biggest problem of American
Christianity. It takes away the certainty of the external word and that is exactly what
we have in Baptism, the Lords Supper, and Absolution. Pastors who believe in
limited atonement cannot speak the words of absolution I forgive you all your
sins. They always have to qualify those words He has only forgiven all of the sins
of the elect.
How is the election of God made manifest? For Lutherans (and Paul in Rom. 8-9) it
made manifest in the external preaching of the Gospel. For Calvinists, it has to be
made manifest in some other way. And most often it is in their own piety, in their
growth in good works. So this makes the confirmation of election based upon me
and what I do and there can never be certainty in that. So the closest a Calvinist
can get to have certainty about salvation is to see the work of the Holy Spirit in their

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An Issues Etc. Series with Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller
own life and then conclude, Because I see this, then that means I am one of the
elect and the death and resurrection of Christ must be for me.
But in reality Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Therefore the preaching of
the Gospel is for everyone. He died for me and you and therefore the preaching of
the Gospel is for me and you. So any kind of qualifiers or limitations put on the
Gospel destroys the certainty that Jesus died for you.
Is the Focus on Christ or the Christian?
Much of American Christianity shifts the focus from the certainty in Christ to the
Christian. This happens when we dont recognize the effectiveness and power of the
Word of God. When you dont understand that God the Holy Spirit works through the
instrument of Gods Word to convert and save people, you will then have to go
somewhere else to find certainty. And often that somewhere else is the Christian
life, Christian living, Christian experience. This diminishes the life and work of Christ
and raises above it the life and work of Christians.
We see this a lot in the preaching of American Christianity. Their preaching is not
about the life, death, resurrection of Jesus. Instead the focus is on the Christian, on
their overcoming, on their growth, on their good works. Dont misunderstand. Its
good to preach good works. We could probably use a better strategy on how to live
a better life. But if that is the main focus of preaching, then the focus is off of Christ
and his grace and is instead on us. And there is nothing good in me that can give
me hope. In me I will only find darkness and despair, sin and death. If I want life and
hope and salvation, then I need to look at Christ.
What are You Looking For in the Scriptures?
American Christianity doesnt ask the right question. When it comes to the
Scriptures they typically ask themselves, What does this teach me to do today? This
is Law based. When you read the Scriptures, a lot of what I find has to do with the
questions I am asking. It has to do with the things Im looking for. So if you are
looking for what I should do today then I am going to see Law and see the Lords
instruction. Now, that is a valid question. But if that is the only question, then I will
miss the promises the Lord makes. I will miss the kindness, mercy, and grace of
God. I will miss the Gospel. Some teach that the Bible is the Basic Instructions
Before Leaving Earth. That is really terrible way to describe the Bible. The
Scriptures are a revelation of the Lords will, which is both Law and Gospel. It is a
book about Jesus. It is a book of grace and light and life. It is a book that raises us
from the dead. It not only exposes the blackness and depths of our own sin and the
horror of our hearts, but it also exposes the heart of God, which is love and joy and
peace. It is Christ dead and raised for us. So the important question to ask is, Where
is the forgiveness of my sins? Where is my comfort to be found? What are Gods
promises? If we dont ask these questions, then the Bible becomes only an

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instruction book, a Law book and we miss the very reason why God had the apostles
and prophets write the book.
What Does God Think About Me?
Weve talked about the preaching of the Gospel several times today. Why is it vital
to the for you of the Gospel? If each one asks the question, What does God think
about me? The answer to this question determines how we live and how we die.
Where do I go to answer this question? Should I look at the circumstances of my
life? Should I read the Ten Commandments? When we see the death of Jesus on the
cross, which is what the Bible is all about, that we see the answer to the question,
What does God think about me? In Jesus the answer is an unwavering Yes, God
loves you. Yes, the Lord is for you. Yes, your sins are forgiven. When we see Jesus on
the cross for us then we know the answer to the question. This is being done for
you and because of Jesus God delights in me and calls me his child. The Scriptures
constantly point us to the cross for this very reason. We are tempted to look in other
places, but the Scriptures are the only place to look. It is in the cross that you know
that God is for you, that Jesus is for you. That is the confidence the Lord wants us to
have when we hear the Gospel preached to us. It is the confidence the Lord wants
us to have when we die. We have confidence because we know he died for us. He
rose for us. He ascended for us. He does it all for us and for our salvation. That is
our confidence.

Session 3: Justification and the Sacraments

The guest pastor is Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller.
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/21160815163.mp3

Justification
What is Justification
In everyday life when we use the term justify, we use it when we give a reason for
doing something. We look to justify our actions. In theology justify means that
God considers us sinners as people who are just as righteous as the sinless Son of
God, Jesus.
Justification was very important in the sixteenth century Reformation and it is still
important to Lutherans (and many other Christians) today. Lutherans see
justification as the heart of the Scriptures. It all begins with the Gospel. The Gospel
is the promise of the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christs death on the cross.
If you dont have that, you dont have anything. In justification the Good News of
what Jesus did for us is brought to us personally in the preaching of Gods Word. So

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Luther makes the statement that Jesus could die for us a thousand times over and it
wouldnt do us any good unless the gift is brought to us and given to us through the
preached Word and the Sacraments. The doctrine of justification then is the
righteousness of Christ being delivered to us.
The Importance of Justification During the Reformation
Why was this so important during the Reformation? To get at this we need to look at
the overall picture of salvation. At the time of the Reformation the Roman Catholic
Church looked at salvation as a bank. Inside the bank is a big vault, a treasury.
Inside the vault are good works, righteousness, obedience to the Law and the Pope
has the key to it. Each of us has a little bank, but we are born in debt. And when we
are baptized our balance is set to zero. After that when you do a good work you
make a deposit and when we die if we dont have a full bank account but are not in
debt we go to purgatory to make up the difference. Indulgences were a way of
getting the merits from heaven transferred to your account.
So for the Catholics it was a big banking system. But when the Lutherans read the
Bible they see that the way it talks about salvation is not like a banking system but
like a court. We stand before the Judge and on one side is the devil accusing us of
all of our sins and other side Jesus acts as our Advocate and he pleads his death and
resurrection on our behalf and the Judge declares us to be not guilty, as innocent, as
righteous. This is justification talk and this is right in the center of how the
Scriptures teach us to understand the Gospel. So this is the comfort we have
because of Christs death on the cross. Based on this, the reformers said that the
doctrine of justification is the doctrine upon which the Church stands or falls.
Justification Or Relationship
Because the Church stands or falls on justification, because a persons salvation is
dependent upon justification, that is why it is still of the highest importance today.
The result of doctrine of justification is comfort [and assurance]. Any confusion of
this doctrine takes away the comfort of the Gospel.
Now looking at the American Church today, we see the major metaphor used is the
relationship. So everything is looked at in terms of getting closer to God or farther
away from God, feeling the presence of God, talking to God, deepening the
relationship with God. The language of do you have a personal relationship with
Jesus is everywhere in America. And it shapes the way we look at salvation. Its like
Jesus has invited you on a date and you have to decide if you are going to say yes.
Robbed of Comfort
So in comparison, the language of the court room, the language of being declared
righteous and holy, is objective [it is completely outside of ourselves and does not

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depend upon us at all] and it delivers profound comfort. On the other hand, the
image of the bank and the image of the relationship steal comfort from us.
Why does the relationship metaphor rob us of comfort? This is one of the major
themes developed by Pr. Wolfmueller in his book. John says that even if our hearts
condemn us, we have One who is greater than our heart. If my salvation is bound
up with how close or far I feel to Jesus then there is no certainty. Its always back
and forth; its always unsure. But if my salvation is completely dependent upon
Jesus word and Jesus work, then we can have confidence and certainty and
assurance. So when we know that Jesus has ascended and sits at the Fathers right
hand and that he has carried his blood into the heavenly Holy of Holies and that the
Father has received that evidence and has declared us to be righteous and that that
declaration has been made known to us in the preaching of the Gospel and in
Baptism and the Lords Supper, then we can rest at last and have confidence that
the Lord loves us even if we dont feel loved. I can have confidence that the Lord
has forgiven my sins, not because I feel forgiven, but because the Lord says, I
forgive you all your sins. Because it is objective and outside of us we have great
assurance.
The Great Exchange
Lets go back to a term that was used during the Reformation. It is a term rooted in
the NT. The term is the great exchange. Luther was asked the question, Did you
add anything to your salvation? And his answer was, All that I added was my sin and
my death. That is all that we have to offer to Jesus. And in exchange Jesus offers us
everything. He takes what is ours, sin and death, and he gives us what is his, life
and salvation and righteousness and the forgiveness of sins. The best text in
Scripture for this is 2 Cor. 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no
sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. All of sin, all of our
guilt, all of our failings are give to Jesus and he suffers and dies for it in our place.
Then all of the perfection of Christ, his active obedience, his perfect keeping of the
Law, his passive obedience, his suffering all of the attacks of the world and the
devil, his being smote by God without opening his mouth, all of this is given to us.
So in justification there is this great exchange. Our sin is borne by Christ and his
righteousness is imputed to us. It is stunning that he who knew no sin became sin
for us and that because of it God struck him down. When we talk about
substitutionary atonement, this is what we are talking about. He stood in our place
to suffer the wrath of God for us.

The Sacraments
How Forgiveness is Delivered and Distributed
You have observed that someone who watched the crucifixion of Jesus would not
necessarily have received the forgiveness of sins. What do you mean by that?

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Consider the Roman soldiers. They were on duty and they had the blood of Jesus
covering them, but were they forgiven? No. Even though Jesus won forgiveness for
their sins, forgiveness is not distributed that way. The Lord in his wisdom has
created a means by which he distributes the forgiveness won by Jesus. This is a
great distinction that Lutherans have made. Jesus wins forgiveness on the cross but
he delivers forgiveness in the Word. There is a distinction between the winning and
delivering of forgiveness. And it is in the Word, which is bound up in the water of
Baptism and bound up to body and blood of Jesus in the Supper [and preached and
proclaimed in the sermon and announced in the Absolution], that forgiveness is
distributed to the world.
What is Repentance?
Related to this is repentance. Repentance is not what many Christians think it is.
Most people define repentance as a change of mind or a change in direction, like a
U-turn. This definition emphasizes our works. Or sometimes people make
repentance an act of the will where you turn yourself around and you get right with
God. But the biblical idea of repentance is passive. The first part of repentance is
contrition. This happens when the Holy Spirit brings the Law to us and shows us our
sinfulness and says, You really deserve Gods wrath. The second part of repentance
is faith. Here the Holy Spirit brings the Gospel to us, the promises associated with
the death of Jesus. In faith we receive the comfort of the Gospel that Jesus died for
our sin. So repentance is what happens to us when the Holy Spirit brings the Law
and Gospel to bear on us, on our lives, on our consciences, and in our hearts.
Repentance is the Work of the Holy Spirit
The emphasis here is that it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Why is that important?
First of all, that is what the Bible does. In the book of Acts it constantly talks about
those whom God has granted repentance. Ps. 80 says, Turn us Lord and we will be
turned. Repentance is something the Lord grants and gives and works. The Gospel
excludes all boasting. Paul says it is by grace you are saved through faith and this is
not from yourselves. It is a gift of God, so no one can boast. So Paul points out that
faith is a work of the Holy Spirit and therefore no one can boast that they have faith
because it is a gift from God. If it was an act of our will then we would be able to
boast.
Some might grant that repentance is a work of the Holy Spirit, but will say that the
actual justification, the actual faith has to involve our will. In some ways it does, but
we have to be very careful as we try and parse this. Jesus doesnt believe for us; we
believe; it is our faith. And yet this believing is the work of the Holy Spirit as he
works through Gods Word. Paul says, So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God. Faith is not an act of our will but is something that is given to us. The
Lutheran fathers would say it like this: He makes the unwilling willing. Part of faith is

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that we desire to hear Gods Word and trust and cling to his promises. That is all a
gift of the Holy Spirit created out of nothing.
Conversion of the Will by the Holy Spirit and the Word
It is not the will that is active in conversion; rather it is the will that is converted.
The will is not the instrument of conversion but the object of conversion. So it is not
our will that makes us converted, it is our will that is being converted by the Holy
Spirit and the Word of God. In American Christianity today the Word is taken out of
conversion. The efficacy of the Word is denied. American Christianity says that
conversion is a matter of the Spirit and the will. So at the revivals, there is the Holy
Spirit tugging at your heart to be a believer and you will causes you to raise your
hand and go down the aisle and make a decision for Christ. American Christianity
makes the will the instrument of conversion, where the Bible understands the will
and the heart as the objects of Gods converting work.
The Holy Spirit Uses the Word to Do His Work
Lets go back to where justification, forgiveness of sins, and salvation are delivered.
There are particular means by which God converts people, by which he delivers
repentance and faith. It is no coincidence that just before Jesus ascended into
heaven he gives all kinds of instructions to his disciples. He said,
Go and preach to all nations;
baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached to all;
he who believes and is baptized shall be saved;
he breathed on his disciples and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, whoever sins
you forgive they are forgiven.
In saying these things, Jesus is establishing the means that he will use to build his
kingdom, to convert sinners, and to give out his righteousness. So when we talk
about the office of the ministry, the Word preached and heard, Baptism, and the
Lords Supper, we talk about them all in this context. As Jesus sits at the Fathers
right hand, he uses these things to call, gather, enlighten, sanctify, and keep his
Church. And the Holy Spirit is sent to do all this work. Jesus had promised to send
the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit and the Word always go together. And through
them the Church is established and maintained. These are the means of the Holy
Spirit, [the way he goes about his business.] And actually we could say that the
Word is the only instrument of the Spirit. Baptism and the Lords Supper become
part of the Spirits means because the physical elements of water, bread, and wine
are bound to Gods Word of promise.
Jesus Has All Authority and He Uses It to Baptize and Teach
Matt. 28 talks about making disciples by baptizing. Jesus gives these instructions
just before he ascended into heaven. Jesus has gathered his disciples on the Mount
of Olives and he said, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Now

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when the disciples heard this they had to wonder, What is Jesus going to do with all
of this authority? Is he going to throw off the Romans and establish his kingdom? Is
he going to end all wars and violence? Is he going to end death? He has all authority
in heaven and earth, what is he going to do? So Jesus tells them, You go and make
disciples, baptizing in my name and teaching what I commanded. You just imagine
the disciples thinking, Really Jesus, thats all you are going to do with all of this
authority? Baptize and teach? Jesus has all authority over sin, death, and the devil
and he is going to baptize and he is going to teach.
Now when we see baptism we dont see much, but in reality it is Jesus exercising all
authority in heaven and on earth and making disciples. When he baptizes he put his
name on us and baptizes us into his kingdom. You will notice that wherever baptism
is mentioned in the Scriptures, it is connected to the kingdom of God and to his
saving work. It is connected to forgiveness, to new life, to being bound up to Christ
and his death and resurrection. Baptism is talked about as putting on Christ, as
being saved, as new birth. Everywhere that the Scriptures talk about baptism, it
extols it as a beautiful and wonderful gift. And it is. It is usually the first way that
Christ applies his death and resurrection to us.
Absolution Authorized by Jesus and of Great Comfort
In John 20 Jesus appeared to his disciples on Easter eve. [This is where Jesus
authorizes those who serve in his name (pastors) to forgive sins.] The doctrine of
Absolution is based on this text. And this is one area that Evangelicals have an
extremely hard time with. They wonder how a man can stand before them and say,
I forgive you all your sins. Who does he think he is? The best thing you can do in
this situation is to point the Evangelical to John 20 where Jesus said, Whoever sins
you forgive they are forgiven and whoever sins you bind, they are bound.
Evangelicals think in terms of a relationship; - Its just me and God. They dont think
in terms or a third party or a community. But these were Jesus words. And if you
think about, they bring supreme comfort. The devil wants to come in and accuse
your conscience. Some sins are stubborn and stay on our consciences even though
weve been forgiven. When the pastor says, as Jesus representative, Your sins are
forgiven; Jesus died for all your sins, even the ones you cant shake, it clears the
conscience so the devil has nothing to hold on to. It is a supreme gift to the Church.
The Lords Supper Its True, Jesus Died for Me
With just a minute left what are your thoughts about Jesus giving himself to his
disciples in his Supper as he was about to go to the cross. Many different
denominations have many different teachings about the Lords Supper, but
Lutherans go straight to Jesus words. Jesus said, This my body; this is my blood.
And Lutherans simply say, Amen! In their simplicity, we believe them to be clear
and true. Its quite simple and its quite wonderful. When we wonder if we really are
a Christian, where do I go? American Christianity runs to the strength of their

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conviction, resolve, and growth in good works. Jesus directs us to his Supper where
the answer to the question of, Did you eat my body and drink my blood to receive
the forgiveness of sins as I promised? is, yes. This is all true. This is what all
Christians do. They trust Jesus, do what he says, and receive what he offers. It is all
true no matter what my feelings are. It all stands true outside of me. It is a
testimony to me that Jesus died and rose again for me.

Session 4: Good Works, Prayer, and the End Times

The guest pastor is Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller.
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/21250826161.mp3

Good Works
Replacing Christs Good Works with Our Good Works
What is at the root of pop American Christianitys near obsession with the Christian
life? There are a number of ways to come at that question, but whenever we see
anything fighting against God and his Word, we know that the world, our flesh, and
the devil are behind it. All three of them want to put the emphasis on our works.
They want to replace Christ with our works. There was a classic scene in the Indiana
Jones movie where he goes into a cave and needs to get a gold monkey head. He
weighs out some sand to be the same weight as the monkey head and uses it to
replace the gold monkey head. He was attempting to replace something of great
value with something that was worthless. So in a similar way, all three seek to
replace the eternally valuable work of Christ with our worthless works. We think that
God will be favorably disposed towards us if we do good works.
Using Good Works to Fill the Certainty Void
Someone will say, but look at the epistles of St. Paul. Look at how much emphasis
he puts on the Christian life and good works. Sure, the Bible does have a lot to say
about how we as Christians should live. It even goes into what we should think and
feel. Every part of our lives comes under the jurisdiction of Gods commandments.
The problem is not that we do good works. The problem is that we trust good works.
This goes back to that certainty void that exists in American Christianity. God
gave certain things to provide certainty, namely, the external Word, Baptism, the
Lords Supper, and Absolution. And since American Christianity does not have them,
it creates a certainty void. And so they try and fill that void. They use two main
things to try and fill that void. One is good works and the other is the worship
experience. So works in American Christianity are used in a way that God does not
intend for them to be used. God wants us to do good works to serve our neighbor.

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But American Christianity wants us to do good works so that we can be sure of our
salvation.
Faith Precedes and Does Good Works
American Christianity is confused on the how, the what, and the why of our
good works. Lets go through each of these. How are they confused about the how
of good works? Apart from faith it is impossible to do a good work. Faith must come
first. So we must first believe in God, that he exists, that he created the world, and
that he is good to us in Christ. We must first recognize Gods love for us as
demonstrated by his Sons death on the cross. Faith also recognizes that we are
sinners that were in need of Christs death on the cross. Works then come as the
fruit of repentance. So before can have any fruit, you must have the tree. Our good
works of love and service to our neighbor begin with repentance, with a knowledge
of our own sin and a trust in the promises of the Gospel and the mercy the Lord has
toward us in Christ.
Good Works Are to Be Done For Our Neighbor
What about the confusion of the what good works are? The confusion here is on
what good works are and who they are for. We dont do good works to please God.
God doesnt need our good works. God illustrates this in a funny way in Ps. 50. God
has everything, but our neighbor doesnt. So love your neighbor, serve your
neighbor, care for your neighbor they need it. So the what of good works is that
it is a selfless service done freely by faith to help our neighbor. And the Ten
Commandments show us what these good works are. We are always tempted to
think that Ive done the Ten Commandments what more can I do? But what I need to
do is look at neighbor, see who they are, and see what they need. For instance if
your neighbor is your wife, you do things to help your wife. If your neighbor is your
children, you do what you need to do to help your children. Or neighbor could be
someone who lives by you or a person at church or a co-worker. In each case you do
what you can to help that person based on what is happening in their life.
A Callous Conscience Feels No Guilt When Doing Wrong
There are different kinds of consciences. What is a callous conscience? The
conscience either excuses or accuses. The conscience is that part of us that stands
alongside our activities and makes judgments on whether they are right or wrong,
good or bad. A callous conscience is one that has lost the sensation of guilt. This
usually occurs through repetitive sin. Someone is trapped in the pattern of sin of
harming themselves and their neighbor and they simply dont feel guilty for it. The
answer the Lord has for a callous conscience is the preaching of the Law. The Law
comes in like a hammer to break up the hardness of heart that we have.
An Evil Conscience Falsely Accuses Us

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An evil conscience is one that accuses us when weve done nothing wrong. This is
sometimes called false guilt. Sometimes when someone sins against you, you feel
guilty for thinking that somehow you caused it when it reality you didnt. For
instance there was once a man who was a serial adulterer who did not feel bad
about it [callous conscience] but he did feel guilty about driving an SUV [evil
conscience]. So he went out and got an electric car. He didnt feel guilty about what
he should have and he did feel guilty about something that he shouldnt have. It
was a misplaced guilt. Sometimes when a person has been sinned against they feel
shame. That is a result of an evil conscience. The Lord speaks to this in the
Absolution. In the Absolution not only are our sins forgiven but Jesus also died for
the sins that committed against us. His death and resurrection cleans up all sin.
A Counterfeit Conscience
A counterfeit conscience is a self-justified conscience. It is a conscience that tells
you you are ok not because of the Good News of the Gospel but through your own
attempts at self-justification. This self-justification is usually based on the good
works that people do. This type of conscience is like fools gold. It looks sparkly but it
is really of no value. If a conscience is good but it is not good based on the blood of
Christ and the Word of the Gospel, then it is not really good at all.
Love for Neighbor Determined by Vocation
Weve mentioned the neighbor, but where does the neighbor fit in to this whole
scenario of good works? Our good works serve our neighbor. That is why the second
table of the Ten Commandments has to do with our neighbors. My neighbors have
different relationships with me. So my love for my neighbors depends upon my
relationship with them. It depends upon their station in life. So my love for my
children looks much different than my love for my wife or my co-worker. So vocation
gives shape to love based on the Ten Commandments.
Good Works Do Not Provide Certainty
This then becomes a problem for American Christianity. They stress doing works for
God and inwardly sometimes works are done for ourselves. But God meant good
works to be done for our neighbor. This then goes back to a lack of certainty. When
we dont have the certainty that Absolution, Baptism, and the Lord Supper provide
then we try and use good works to fill that void. So if good works are done to make
me feel certain about my salvation then all my good works are done with some
amount of selfishness. My good works are just as much about me as they are about
helping by neighbor. Only when you have the certainty of knowing that Jesus has
baptized you, that Jesus has fed you his body and blood, that Jesus has forgiven
your sins, only then are you set free. Then you are free to serve and love your
neighbor.
Look for Certainty in the Source of Faith

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Recently Pr. Wilken was travelling and had the radio on a Christian station and the
teacher was explaining how you can be certain you are a Christian. And his answer
was to look at yourself and see if you are progressively sanctified, that is, growing in
good works. Everything else the teacher said about good works was true except
that they are a certain sign that a person is a Christian. Good works are a fruit of
faith, a fruit of repentance. The source of repentance is Gods Word and the
Sacraments. So if you want to find certainty, you either go toward the source of
faith or the result of faith. So the Church puts it like this. What is the Church? It is all
believers in Jesus. You cant see faith, so where do you find the Church? You dont go
to the fruit, you go back to the source. The Church is found where the Gospel is
rightly preached and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
Now we make the same distinction when we look for confidence that we are a
Christian. We dont look at the result of repentance. We look at the source of
repentance. We look to Lord and how he does his work. We look to Baptism and the
Lords Supper because in these things the promises of God have been applied to us.
The Lord Jesus has come to us and baptized us and made us his own. This is a sure
foundation. When we are built on Christ then good works naturally flow from it. If
you try and find certainty the other way, in our good works, then we will have
constant uncertainty. That is what American Christianity does and that is very
dangerous.
And as we said a little bit ago, it is then that our good works are being done as
much for me, to provide certainty, as they are for my neighbor. Think about it. Rick
Warren says that when you get to heaven there is going to be a test. God is going to
ask you, What have you done for me? He will then test your good works and how
well you do on that test will determine how good of a spot you get in heaven. If this
is what you think, then whenever you do a good work this is what you will be
thinking about. The Scriptures on the other hand teach that we are set free to serve.
When you are certain that God has called you and made you his own and has given
you faith, then you are free from any doubts, you are free to serve others. So where
the Lord intends for us to be certain of our salvation and free to serve, American
Christianity inserts question marks. Because they stress looking at yourself instead
of to the Lord, it takes away certainty, joy, and confidence. They have Christians
look for certainty in all the wrong places. If one looks for certainty in good works
then one spoils those good works. The proof of our salvation is not found in our
works but in Christs works for us.
Our Neighbors Needs and Our Vocation Determine Our Good Works
If good works are to be done for the benefit of our neighbor, then it is the neighbor
who determines what my good works are to be. Whatever our neighbors need
determines the good works we do. Also involved in this is vocation. We each have
many vocations. So if I have a vocation as a father, then I will be doing good works
that will benefit my children. They need a home and food. They need to be taught

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Gods Word. They need to be protected and cared for. If you have a vocation as a
pastor then you serve your congregation by giving to them the body and blood of
Christ, by preaching Christs Word to them, by placing his name on them in Baptism.
The pastor teaches, blesses, and speaks constantly of Gods grace. Most of the time
the need of neighbor is clear and pre-established in the vocations that the Lord has
given. So we are motivated to meet the needs that our neighbors have.
A Dating Relationship?
Pop American Christianity likes to stress us having a relationship with God. Is this
misplaced? Dont we have a relationship with our neighbor? Yes. All of us who are
baptized Christians have a vocation of being a Christian. And in this vocation God
comes to us and serves us. We also have many other vocations. And it is in these
vocations that God gives us neighbors to love and serve in many and various ways.
When American Christianity speaks of relationship, the one they use the most is the
boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, a dating relationship. Its not certain; they havent
made a marriage commitment. Its exciting but there are many questions. Its
worship and piety is all shaped in this way to deepen the relationship between us
and God.
When you talk about the big picture of salvation, the Roman Catholic Church uses
the picture of a big bank that has merits stored up that are doled out by the Pope.
And you can deposit good works into that bank. When the Reformation came along,
they said, This is the wrong picture. The Scriptures use the picture of a court. We
come before God as transgressors but standing next to us is Jesus who with his shed
blood argues our cases for us. And God judges us to be innocent for Christs sake.
American Christianity uses a picture of a dating relationship. In this picture the good
works I do are done either to convince God that I love him or to convince me that I
love God. Its all about the status of my affection and dedication and commitment
for God. This then colors all of life, including our prayer and our worship.

Prayer
Prayer Wrestling With God
So lets talk about prayer. Why is prayer a kind of wrestling with God? This is the
picture that the Scriptures use for prayer. This picture is used when Jacobs name
was changed by God to Israel. Israel means he wrestles with God. On the banks of
the Jabbok River Jacob wrestled with Jesus as he returned to the promised land. And
he wouldnt let Jesus go until Jesus blessed him. Its a strange story. You might think
that Jacob would built an altar and worship God or maybe the Lord would give him a
vision or dream. But instead Jacob wrestles with God the entire night. And Jacob
held on until God blessed him. And as day was breaking God did bless him. And this
is a picture of Christian life. We hold on to Gods promises until he blesses us. In the
NT there is the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman who asked Jesus to heal her

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daughter. When Jesus ignored her, she wouldnt let go. When Jesus called her a dog,
she begged that he give her the scraps that are fed to the dogs. Jesus recognized
the strength of her faith and healed her daughter. Jesus uses her as a picture of
what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is one who clings to the Lords Word.
This then is then becomes the picture of prayer for us. We cling to the Lords
promises until he blesses us. This picture of prayer is not a serene deepening of a
relationship with God. Prayer is an active wrestling with God. And in prayer we really
demand from God that he keep the promises that he has given to us.

End Times
Jesus Speaks About the End Times So That We Repent
Another obsession of Pop American Christianity is the End Time, the return of Christ.
Thats not necessarily a bad thing, but like many things in American Christianity it is
used in a way that God did not intend it to be used. We know from the Scriptures
that Jesus will return, that the dead will be raised, that there will be the great
judgment, and that there will be a new heaven and new earth, which will be beyond
the reach of death and tears. Jesus tells us about these things so that we will
repent, so that we will be sorrowful over our sin and so that we will ask for his mercy
and look for his grace. He tells us so that we will know that he is coming to rescue
us.
Proving the Truthfulness of Gods Word by Current Events?
American Christianity takes the second coming of Jesus and wraps it into this
strange hysteria, so that the result isnt repentance. Instead it causes Christians to
read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. They are always trying
to verify the certainty of Gods Word by the events that are happening, by so-called
prophecies being fulfilled.
So for instance, someone told Pr. Wolfmueller recently that if the reconstitution of
Israel as a nation is not a fulfillment of prophecy then we cant be sure that the
Lords Word is true. So for them the truthfulness and certainty of Gods Word is tied
to geopolitical events that are going on in the world today. That is extremely
dangerous.
The Twisting of the End Times
They are taking the great joyous promise of Jesus that he will return to raise the
dead and judge the living and dead and using it in such a way as to take our eyes
off of Jesus. It is like the devils theological form of Jujutsu. Jujutsu is when you take
your opponents strength and energy and use it against him. So for instance, he
takes Baptism, which is meant to give comfort, and he twists it around and makes it
the first act of obedience. He uses good works, which are meant to serve the
neighbor, and twists them around so that you use them to please God. And he takes

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the promise of the second coming and he twists it around so that instead of being of
great comfort and joy and peace, even while the world around us falls apart, he
works us up into a great frenzy. Their treatment of the End Times is just like their
treatment of many other things. It is what you would expect from this theology.
The devil takes the truth of Gods Word and twists it so that there is a remnant of
truth. You can hear the echo of Gods voice in these things, but they are twisted
around to the opposite effect that the Lord intends of them because of a confusion
of Law and Gospel. This is what American Christianity does and this is why it does
not deliver to people the comfort of the Gospel. Instead it directs them to the
uncertainty of their works and their experiences.
Dispensationalism Points to Israel Not Christ
So the main problem with their view of the End Times is that they see it in a way
that is not centered on Christ and his saving work. And this way of seeing things
filters into everything they do. This is especially true with their belief in
dispensationalism. There many different views of this, but the one we hear of the
most is the pre-tribulation rapture where Jesus will come and set up a throne in
Israel and reign for 1000 years. It prescribes a chronology of how things will evolve
at the end. But what is really bad about it is what underlies it. They make a
distinction between Israel and the Church. And so when they read through the Bible,
instead of hearing Christ, they hear Israel. [It would seem that to them the Bible is
more of a book about Israel than it is about Christ.]
So for instance, to a dispensationalist when the temple is mentioned in the NT, they
think of the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem but the Bible is speaking of Jesus [who is the
new temple, the place of Gods presence, grace, and mercy]. When you ask them
about the antichrist, they think of a ruler over the whole world. But what the
Scriptures are referring to is a false teacher in the Church who is teaching against
the incarnation and the Gospel. So everything in the Scriptures is filtered towards an
Israel understanding rather than an understanding of Christ.
Gods Glory is His Suffering and Death for Us
The dispensationalist believes that the whole purpose of history is not mans
salvation, but the glory of God. This splits apart Gods glory from mans salvation.
When in reality Gods salvation of man is his glory; his glory is his crucifixion. His
glory is not when he comes to judge the earth. His glory was when he was
condemned by the Father and wore the crown of thorns and suffered the wrath of
God. The glory of Jesus is his work for us. So the theology of dispensationalism
causes us to read the Scriptures in a different way. It causes us to miss Gods glory
in Jesus dying for sinners. And if you miss that, then you miss everything that the
Lord has for us in the Bible.
The Gospel is always a surprise

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Pr. Wolfmueller, you say the Gospel is always a surprise. How so? We naturally know
the Law. We naturally know that we sin. We might try and run away from it. We
might not know the depth of it. We know we should be judged by God. But when we
read the Scriptures we come to know something that we would never know on our
own and that is that God loves us, that Christ has died for us, that he was raised for
us, that he has overcome sin, that he has overcome death, that he has overcome
the devil, that Jesus has done all of this for us even though we dont deserve them.
What a surprise and delight that Gods grace comes to us every day! We see our sin
but God says, Ive got something for that. Here is Jesus and all that he has done for
you. And it is always a surprise. It is always a delight. It is always free.
And that is the purpose of us critiquing Pop American Christianity, that they might
once again be surprised by the Gospel. Jesus has something better for you. Every
false doctrine does the same thing. It obscures the grace of God in Christ. And we
want that un-obscured, shining as brightly as possible. And this is what the Bible
wants for you. It wants you to know that Jesus died and was raised for you and that
he forgives your sins. And you cannot out-sin his mercy.

Session 5, Part 1: Summary and Listener Questions

The guest pastor is Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller.
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/21310905161.mp3
[During this session the pastors basically went back over the topics of last four
sessions and went over the high points and summarized them.]

Whats Missing?
For Pop American Christianity there is this nagging sense that hangs over it that
something is missing. What is it that is often missing in American Christianity? Jesus
says, Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
This is what is missing rest. Jesus wants to give us rest, comfort, and certainty and
these are what are missing. When Pr. Wolfmueller was under the influence of the
Bible Churches and Non-Denominational Churches, and the Southern Baptist
Churches he said he felt like he was on a pendulum, swinging back and forth
between pride (God must be proud of my obedience) and despair (God must be
angry with me because of my failed obedience). This causes an unease, an unrest
that permeates the life, piety, teaching, doctrine, and theology of most American
Christians.
Salvation is Up to You
One of the major flaws of American Christianity is that it views salvation only as
potential salvation. The picture put forth is one of where I am on one side of canyon
and God is on the other side with a great chasm between. The cross forms a bridge

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to connect the two sides. And American Christianity says that salvation is possible
but I must walk across or make a decision for Christ. That makes the cross of Jesus
potential salvation but you cannot be saved unless you do something about it. You
must make a decision and accept Jesus into your heart.
Emphasis on Me and My Activity Steals Comfort
So American Christianity starts the Christian life with a decision and it keeps the
Christian life growing in good works and it provides comfort in the mystical activity
of worship. It teaches that our will is front and center in all areas of life. [Since the
focus is on us and our doing, and since we are sinful and imperfect] it steals away
the comfort that God provides through his Word and the works of Jesus.
Enthusiasm is the heart of the problem
The main problem is enthusiasm. Enthusiam is defined as looking for Gods Word
apart from the external Word (the Scriptures and the preaching of Scriptures). This
means we look for God on the inside of us rather than outside of us. For the
enthusiast, the theatre of religious activity is on the inside of me (in my heart)
rather than on the outside. So this means that God speaks to us not in his Word (the
Scriptures) but directly to us. And it means we experience God [not through us
being Baptized, hearing Gods Word, and receiving his body and blood, but] through
an internal worship experience. It moves people from rock solid objectivity to the
wishy-washy subjectivity of what is inside of us. Enthusiasm is being on a boat in
the ocean being tossed to and fro.

The Scriptures
The Scriptures Are Sufficient, Clear, and Powerful
Evangelicals believe that Gods Word is inspired, inerrant, infallible, and true. But
even the authority of Scripture is being eroded away for them. What they have a
hard time confessing are the sufficiency, clarity, and efficacy of the Scriptures. In
the Scriptures God has said all we need to know to be saved it is sufficient. The
Scriptures stand clear on their own. They dont need an authoritative teacher. And
the Scriptures have power that the Holy Spirit uses to create and sustain faith. So
the Holy Spirit works through Gods Word, but American Christianity many times
looks for the work of the Holy Spirit apart from the Word of God.
Not an Instruction Book, But a Promise Book
American Christianity uses the acronym B-I-B-L-E Basic Instruction Before Leaving
Earth. This is terrible. Who wants to read an instruction book? This turns a book
about the Good News of Jesus into a law book of a set of instructions for living life.
The Bible does have commands and instructions, but approaching it in this way,

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blinds us to the wonderful promises of God. It is written for our comfort and our
hope as it is found in Christ.

Original Sin
Why are We Sinners?
What do American Christians usually believe about mans fallen condition? For
them, sin is a possibility that does not become a reality until a person acts upon it.
Similar to their belief that salvation is dependent upon my will, they believe that
one does not sin until one willfully sins. They make my sinfulness dependent upon
me and my will.
The Bible teaches the opposite. It teaches that we are born with a sinful nature. It
teaches that the actual sins we commit are a fruit of a corrupt heart. Jesus said out
of the heart comes all kinds of corrupt things. The root problem is the heart.
We must ask ourselves this question: Are we sinners because we sin or do we
commit sins because we are sinners? The biblical answer is: We sin because we are
by nature sinners. The reason why this question is so important is because it has a
lot to do with our salvation. If we are sinners because we sin (as most American
Christians believe), then my holiness will come by me stopping my sinning. But if I
sin because I am a sinner, then my problem is my corrupt heart and that is
something I cant change. Only God can change my heart. So American Christianity
doesnt teach the depth of our fall, the complete corruption of our nature that we
inherit by birth.
An Anemic View of Sin Leads to an Anemic Gospel
So is it correct to say that a less than robust, biblical view of mans sinful condition
leads to an anemic Gospel and an anemic Jesus? Yes, absolutely! The depth of my
sin corresponds to the height of the love of God that is revealed in the Gospel. So if
my fall is small, the work of God to rescue me is small. But it took the Son of God
dying on the cross to win our salvation. Therefore the depth of mans sin is
enormous. Our sin is total depravity. In fact, we are my nature enemies of God.
Are We Sick or Dead in Sin?
This view of sin also affects conversion. Many American Christians believe that
conversion requires my cooperation. Most peoples image of their sinfulness is that
they are sick. They believe that you can take medicine do what is necessary to
recover. But the Scriptures will not allow this. It says we are dead in our trespasses
and sins. Since we are actually dead, it requires an act from God to raise us from
the dead, to give us faith. We cant do this at all on our own. So the view that we
are able to choose God is only allowable if you have a minimized view of original
sin.

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The Command Does Not Imply Ability
The same kind of debate was going on in Luthers time. Luther and Erasmus
debated on the freedom of the will. Erasmus told Luther if God demands it, it must
mean that we can do it. So Erasmus argued that the command implied the ability.
We hear that same argument over and over again from American Christians. They
say, The Scriptures say, Believe. Therefore we must be able to believe on your own.
Luthers response to Erasmus was, and our response should be the same, Have you
read the Bible? The Law was not given to show us our ability but rather to show us
our sin. Through the Law comes knowledge of sin, says St. Paul. Gods command
is what God requires, but God himself must carry it out. So when the Scriptures tell
us to repent and believe, they are very careful to tell us that repentance and faith
are Gods work as the Holy Spirit works through the Scriptures.

Preaching
The Purpose of Preaching
What is the purpose of preaching in Pop American Christianity as opposed to the
scriptural purpose of preaching? In Pop American Christianity there are two targets
for preaching: the unbeliever and believer. They preach to unbelievers in order to
get them to the point where they make a decision for Jesus. They preach to
believers in order that they might try harder to live a Christian life. In both cases the
preaching is used to manipulate. One manipulates them to
repentance/conversion/receive Christ and the other manipulates them to live a
better life. But the biblical purpose of preaching is contrition and faith, that we trust
in Christ and find rest in him.
So then the actual purpose of preaching is not to manipulate the will, but to convert
the will. The will is always the object of Gods conversion. Its not the thing or
instrument used to convert someone but the object of conversion. The Lords Word
converts the will by showing us our sin to make us contrite and sorrowful over our
sin and then showing us Christ, which shows us how much God loves us, so that we
will put our trust in him and have the comfort of the Good News.

For You
The For-You-ness of Salvation
This idea that the Gospel is for you is taken from the 16 th century reformer Martin
Luther and he takes it from Jesus words instituting the Lords Supper where he says
his body is given for you and his blood is shed for you. When you hear the words
for you they are a treasure; we cling to them; they are so wonderful for us to hear.
These two simple words completely change things. Its one thing to say that God
provides salvation. Its another thing to say that God provides salvation for you.

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These words take Jesus and all he has done and give them to you. This is the main
point of the Scriptures. They take Jesus and give him to you.
American Christianity reverses this. They say you must be for Christ. So the
preaching is not about Christ and what he has done for you, instead it is about you
and what you have done for Christ. [Its not us for Christ. Its Christ for us.]

Repentance
God Does the Turning
Repentance is not what we usually think it is, its better. The normal picture of
repentance is a u-turn, a turning from the way of sin to the way of obedience. When
looking at it this way, the emphasis is on me and what I am doing. The biblical view
of repentance is this. It is a turning but it is the Lord turning us back to himself, and
surprisingly, it is also God turning. God turns from his wrath and anger toward us to
his kindness and love toward us for Christs sake.
So repentance is defined in two parts. First there is contrition where God preaches
his Law to me so that I know the depth of my sinfulness. And the second part of
repentance is faith, where I trust the promise of God, where I trust that the death of
Jesus is for me and for my salvation.

The Conscience
We Have One Greater Than Our Feelings and Experiences
Lets talk about the role of the conscience in causing a restlessness and a lack of
comfort for those in American Christianity. Paul says in Romans that our conscience
either excuses us or accuses us. So the conscience judges us. It judges whether
weve done good or bad. And it judges whether the things done to us by others are
good or bad. It tells us how we stand in the world, especially in relationship to
others and most importantly to God.
So if the conscience makes these judgments based purely off of the Ten
Commandments (Gods Law), it is always going to accuse us and condemn us
[because we can never live up to Gods righteous requirements.] It is only when
Christ enters the picture and gives his testimony of his death and resurrection that
our conscience (and God) will look at us with grace and mercy. Only then can we
have a good conscience. Only when the Gospel is applied can the conscience be
good.
Many times our hearts (conscience) condemn us. We dont feel forgiven [even
though Jesus died on the cross for you]. But John tells us in 1 John that even if our
heart condemns us, we have One who is greater than our heart. God himself, in
Christ, tells us, Your sins are forgiven. When my mystical experience of worship

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dries up and I feel far from God, Jesus says, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Jesus words are always true no matter how we feel or what we experience. The
conscience should depend on the word of Christ rather than feelings and
experiences.
The biblical picture is that Christ is our Advocate in heaven and our conscience
should be a reflection of that heavenly reality. Just as Jesus stands before the Father
and declares us to be holy and forgiven, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit with the Word to
tell us [our consciences] the same thing. That is how our conscience is established
and made good.

Extra Nos Outside of Us

Objective Certainty and Comfort
Why is extra nos, a Latin phrase that means outside of us, so important? The
work of God begins outside of us. Jesus was not crucified in my heart. He was not
buried and raised in my heart. Jesus was a real person, who bled real blood, who
had a real family, who was crucified just outside of Jerusalem. And it was outside of
us that he accomplished our salvation.
Knowing this, American Christianity tries to make a persons heart the place of
importance. But the reality is that God comes from outside of us to baptize us; he
speaks his Word to us from outside of us; he gives us his body and blood at the
altar. Because God works through these means that are outside of us, they are
objective, they are sure and certain. The Lord wants us to look outside of ourselves
for comfort and certainty.

Sacraments
Baptism
How does the unbiblical teaching that is so common in Pop American Christianity
that baptism is my first act of obedience for God rob Christians of comfort? This
theology changes baptism from Gods work to our work. In decision theology,
baptism becomes my testimony about my decision. But this does square up to the
biblical text. If you look up all the verses about baptism, if nothing else, you will see
that baptism has something to do with salvation. You are clothed with Christ; you
are buried with Christ; baptism now saves you; Jesus cleanses the Church through
the washing of water and the Word. These verses about baptism speak of Gods
grace and salvation together. Decision theology steals the work of God and tries to
make it our work instead. When we know that in baptism God is clothing us, raising
us, cleansing us, then we can have peace and joy and comfort. This is what Jesus
intends for baptism to deliver to us.

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Jesus said one must be born of the water and the Spirit in order to enter the
kingdom of heaven. Jesus is binding up the entrance into heaven with the Spirit and
the water of baptism. By the water and Word Jesus washes his Church. The Spirit,
water, and the Word all go together in baptism. Baptism is one of the instruments
Jesus uses to save us, claim us, adopt us, and make us his disciples.
The Lords Supper
What is the Lords Supper in Pop American Christianity? Jesus says it is him giving
us his body and blood to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sin. The language used
to describe the Supper in American Christianity is that it is a memorial meal. The
main actor in the Supper for them is us. For them its all about the experience of it.
They take Jesus words, Do this in remembrance of me and set them against the
words he spoke earlier, This is my body, this is by blood shed for you for the
forgiveness of sins. Usually you will not hear these latter words in the Supper. And
even if they are spoken, they are immediately explained away. American
Christianity will say they take the Bible seriously and literally. But when it comes to
the Lords Supper, they dont. There is nothing in the text that would cause us to
take Jesus words symbolically rather than literally.
It is the night before he was betrayed and he is giving them his last will and
testament. He is bequeathing to his church the treasures he wants them to have.
He says, Do this often. What are we to do often? Take and eat his body and take
and drink his blood. We cant understand it but we believe what Jesus says. [When it
is a choice between trusting our human reason or trusting Gods Word, we always
trust Gods Word.]
So in American Christianity, it is a memorial meal enactment in which we are the
main actors. It isnt Jesus doing or saying anything in and through this meal. Since
this meal for them is all about what I am doing, it has to be all Law and no Gospel.
And if there is no Gospel then there is no gift delivered; there is no forgiveness of
sins distributed. For them its about the experience and if its about our subjective
experience then there is no certainty. We lose the certainty of for you and the
certainty of that which comes to us outside of us. It becomes dependent upon me
and my experience.
It is an incredible thing that Jesus is doing in the Lords Supper. Jesus wants us to
know for certain that his death and his resurrection are for you. So he puts his
body and blood into the bread and wine for us to eat and drink and so that by it you
will know that your sins are forgiven. Jesus went through great pains to give this
wonderful gift to us and American Christianity says, No, thats not what it is at all.
Its my work; its my special moment.
Absolution

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Lets talk about Absolution, the pronouncement of the forgiveness of sins by the
pastor. Jesus gave this authority to his disciples in John 20. This does not register in
American Christianity. Pr. Wolfmueller remembered how this was probably the
biggest hang up for him when he first encountered Lutheran Christianity. He was
offended by it and it continues to offend American Christians. They say, Who does
he think he is? Only Jesus can forgive sins. When Pr. Wolfmueller questioned the
pastor about it, the pastor went over John 20 with him. After Easter, Jesus said to his
disciples, Receive the Holy Spirit, whoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven. And
whoever sins you bind, they are bound. He went back to his big box church and
went through their CD library to see what they said about this. Sometimes the
pastor read it and simply skipped over it and other times he said, This doesnt mean
people have the authority to forgive sin. Well if that is true, what does it mean? That
is exactly what Jesus says, Whoever sins you forgive they are forgiven. Jesus
wants us to know that he loves us and he forgives us of our sins. And Jesus has set
up all things in the Church, Baptism, the Lords Supper, the Absolution, and the
preaching of his Word so that we know for certain that he loves us and forgives us.
But American Christianity in all of these things snatches away from Christians the
comfort, peace, and joy that Jesus wants to give to us. If we dont have what Jesus
gives us, we dont have anything.

Session 5, Part 2: Summary and Listener Questions

The guest pastor is Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller.
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/21310905162.mp3
Listeners comment: The listener was exposed to Evangelicalism when younger in
a group called the Navigators. They had him memorize Bible passages and one of
them was Heb. 4:12. It says the Word of God is living and active. Ironically the
Navigators didnt believe that Gods Word was alive and active and effective. The
Evangelical view of Gods Word is that it is good for you. You need it every day. Its
like eating shredded wheat. But they believe that if you dont add something to it,
its just inert. But the Lutherans believe what the verse actually says. They believe
Jesus is in the Word and the Holy Spirit uses it to deliver his power into our lives. So
this verse made a big difference to the listener.
Yes, this is true. The Evangelical world treats the Scriptures as powerful only when
you act upon it. They will say, Here are the Scriptures, but its up to you to activate
them. Thats how they treat salvation too. Jesus died for you but its up to you to
receive it. Its the same way with Christian life too. You have the instructions for life,
now its up to you to put it into practice. For them the Scriptures are dead; the
strength lies in me, in my resolve and my will.
Contrast this to Gods Word. In Isaiah the Lord says his Word will not return to him
void. And in Genesis God speaks his Word and it creates what he says. Paul says,

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The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Paul also says faith comes from
hearing the Word of Christ. God uses the Word of God to give the gift of faith. God
works and serves us and gives us his gifts through his Word. God creates and
sustains through his Word. This is how he creates and sustains our faith. His Word is
not limp and empty, waiting for us to act upon it. [It acts upon us!] 6:30
A Listener Question: This listener is a millennial and a newcomer to Lutheran
Christianity. He recognizes as true what Pr. Wolfmueller has said in the series and in
his book. Namely, that Evangelicalism stresses me, myself, and I rather than Jesus
for you. He asked what is Pr. Wolfmuellers message to Christian millenials who are
seduced to the look, feel, and movement of Pop American Christianity?
American Christianity teaches that the will is only sick, that it is still alive and has
some strength. It also teaches that the will is open to manipulation. American
Christianity is built to manipulate. That means that it is going to be obsessed with
style. They are going to have great music. They are going to have great lighting.
Everything is geared to make you comfortable. But we must always remember that
the Holy Spirit works through humble means. No one would have ever been
impressed with the appearance and manner of Jesus. In fact it was just the opposite.
The Gospel is clothed in humility and often Gods Church is clothed in humility.
Whether it be the humbleness of the simple application of water in baptism or old
people struggling to come forward to take a small piece of bread and a sip of wine.
Through these simple things Jesus is opening heaven to us.

Covering Some Lose Ends

The Place of Good Works in Pop American Christianity
Lets talk about the difference between American Christianitys use of good works
and what the Scriptures teach about good works. In a previous session weve talked
about the comfort vacuum of American Christianity because it relies on good works
rather than the external Word Baptism, the Lords Supper, Absolution, and
.confidence in the promise of the Gospel. Because they dont find comfort in these
God-appointed means, they generally look for comfort in either their growth in good
works or in their worship experience. Good works were never intended by God to
provide comfort. They were intended to help other people. To use them to try and
provide the comfort that only the Gospel can bring is a failed prospect.
The devil is a master at taking things God has given us and twisting how and what
we use them for. In this case he gets them to use good works in the place of Christ
and the Gospel. For instance God gives us Baptism to show us that he loves us and
adopts us and he uses it to establish us in the faith. But the devil flips it around and
uses it as a testimony of my decision. It is a misuse of the Lords gifts. And the devil
does the same thing with the Lords Supper and the Scriptures and everything God

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has given us to deliver comfort. He wants us to use them for purposes they were
never intended for.
Then the opposite happens with the Law. It was given to help us know how to live
and love and serve our neighbor. But the devil tricks us into thinking that the Law
will tell us how we stand before God when we die. That is, if we do enough good
things to outweigh the bad then God will be pleased with us. But God doesnt judge
that way. When he sees that we by faith have Jesus perfect righteousness, only
then is he pleased with us. Our good works contribute nothing to our salvation.
Listener Question: Common evangelical phrases such as, I feel moved or touched
or led by God or the Spirit can sound similar to a Lutheran definition of a calling to a
vocation or to the ministry. How are they different? What is difference between
being led by the Spirit and being called to a Christian vocation?
It is ironic that the freedom of the Christian has been flipped on its head in
American Christianity. The biblical picture is this. Concerning the things of God
(believing in God, repenting, etc.), we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We cant
do anything in this realm unless the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith. Concerning
loving and serving our neighbor, Scriptures teaches we do have freedom. So we can
make choices on where we live and go to school and work.
American Christianity completely flips this around. They teach we do not have any
freedom in our every day lives. We have to pray and fast to determine Gods will in
our lives. Then on the other hand, things like becoming a Christian and trusting the
Scriptures are part of my freedom, as I am supposed to make a decision for Christ.
So this flipping causes us to look for a direct revelation from God to determine what
I should do with my life, while the Lord has apparently left it up to me to determine
my eternal life.
The Scriptures say that what I do with my life is to be guided by our wisdom
according to Gods Law. If the thing that you like to do and are good at doing is not
against the Ten Commandments, then go ahead and do it. You are free to pursue it.
But when it comes to our life as Christians (believing, repenting), that is where our
wills are bound and the Lord has to do his work.
So a true view of vocation is not me looking to be moved by the Spirit. Its simply
me looking around, seeing my neighbors needs, seeing what I have and what I can
do, and me helping my neighbor. Luther boiled it down to your station in life: where
are you, who are the people around you, go love and serve them. The question
Luther says you should ask yourself is: What is your station in life according to the
Ten Commandments? (This is like a key to life.) If I am a husband, I should love my
wife. If I am a father, I should love my children. If I am an employee, I should do my
job as best I can. This is how the Lord tells us what his will is. God doesnt have a
secret will that I need to somehow try and figure out or listen to him talking to my
heart. No, he makes it very clear and easy to determine in his Law.

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The Conscience
The Conscience Liberated
When people hear and understand this freedom concerning earthly things, they find
it very liberating. You dont have to worry about not picking up on Gods will and
making a wrong choice and then feeling guilty about it for years and years.
American Christians Seek Private Revelation
But for American Christianity, its like God has a treasure map for you and you are
supposed to follow every exact step in life. You are supposed to go this far in this
direction and then go so far in another direction and if you dont follow it perfectly
you miss out on the treasure. The treasure might be where you are supposed to live
or the person you are supposed to marry or the name you are supposed to name
your child. But it appears that God is hiding his will, hiding the treasure map from
you, and its up to you to try and discern Gods will for your life. But this is wrong. If
God loves you, then he loves you enough to tell you what you need to know. And he
has revealed his will in the Scriptures. What he has revealed to us is enough for us
to live by. We dont need a private revelation. In fact to look for a private revelation
from God is like telling God that he hasnt given you enough in the Bible.
The Law is Unkeepable and Accuses The Gospel is for Christians Too!
So someone says, Ok I see how this works. I will look at everyone in my life and I
will serve and love them. But there are so many things to do for people. I can never
do enough. When I lay down at night, I am troubled by all by failings. Well, they are
right! None of us are perfect! The only one who could say, It is finished! is Jesus. If
we have a law that is a keepable law, then we are right in there with the Pharisees.
God gave some laws but the Pharisees added a bunch more laws. But their main
problem was not all these laws. Their problem was that they made Gods Law a
keepable Law. The Pharisee would lay down at night and say to himself, I kept Gods
Law today. We can never keep the Law. The Law says, Love the Lord your God with
all your heart, soul, and strength. This is something we can never do.
Because of this, the Law always accuses us. A command to love will always show
that I am guilty. This means that our conscience can never find rest in the Law. And
God never intended for us to find rest in the Law. Our conscience only finds rest in
the promise of the Gospel. So Jesus comes to us and says, Thats right. You havent
kept my Law. You have not done good enough. But that is precisely why I died for
you. I came to rescue sinners. I came to seek and save the lost. This is Good News!
The Gospel is for the Christian too.
American Christianity wants to make the Gospel only for the unbeliever. But the
Gospel is for the Christian from the moment they are baptized to the moment they

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die. We need to hear throughout our lives that Gods love, mercy, and grace is for
us.

Prayer
In the one place where Jesus instructed his disciples about prayer, he told them to
pray the Lords Prayer. But the Lords Prayer is one prayer that is rarely prayed in
American Christian churches. Why?
One day Pr. Wolfmueller was talking to a person who went to one of these big box
churches. And one Sunday the pastor decided he was going to do something
different. He was going to have his church pray the Lords Prayer. But as the pastor
was leading the congregation, he forgot the words. Later he laughed about and said,
That shows us the danger of rote prayer. And this person was bragging how his
pastor didnt know the Lords Prayer and how that was a mark about how spiritual
he was because he wasnt into this rote, repetitious prayer. Instead his prayer was
always authentic and heart-felt.
American Christianity stresses spontaneity and a personal relationship with God.
They believe any repeated prayer is mindless repetition and is dangerous for our
spirituality. So they dont pray the Lords Prayer, even though Jesus said, When you
pray, say this. So the theology of American Christianity has led them away from the
clear words of Scripture and the clear gifts of God.
So the thought process for American Christianity is this. Since what is important is
what occurs in me and since the Lords Prayer did not originate spontaneously in my
heart, therefore my prayer is going to be better than Jesus prayer. Everything
external is diminished. Praying a prayer that is written down is tradition; its rote
and therefore it has to be bad. If it comes from the heart, it must be authentically
spiritual.

The End Times

Listener Question: Why are so many Evangelicals into the rapture?
The rapture is one of the key things for the Evangelical understanding of the end
times. Now one of the best ways of manipulating people is to put them into a state
of crisis and the Evangelical doctrine of the end times puts people into crisis.
The idea of the rapture is this. Normally they teach what is called the pre-tribulation
rapture of the church. So 7 years before the second coming, God will remove all of
the Christians from the earth. He will then go back to dealing with the nation of
Israel. There will be 3 years of peace and then there will be one world ruler who
will offer a sacrifice in Jerusalem. And there will be 3 years of murder for all the
newly converted Jewish Christians. And then Jesus will come back.

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This idea that Christians will be raptured and God will deal with the nation of Israel
foments crisis in the church. And that is my guess as to why Evangelicals are so
obsessed with the rapture. It allows them to read the Scripture with the newspaper
in the other hand, so that they can interpret Scripture in light of current events.
The true teaching of the rapture is that those Christians that have died will at the
return of Christ be raised up and return with him. And those who are alive when he
returns will be transformed and changed. The text for it are in 1 Thess. 4:13ff and 1
Cor. 15:51ff.
Pr. Wolfmueller relayed a conversation he had with some dispensationalists in a
Christian book store. He asked them, If you had only one choice and you had to
choose between being a Catholic or a Jew, what would you choose? One lady said,
Id be a Catholic because at least they believe in Jesus. The other three look at her
and said they would be Jewish because when the church is raptured then the Jews
will all come to believe in Jesus and become Christians. And she said, Oh yeah, put
me down as Jewish.
So this idea that there is going to be this earth shattering events 7 years before
Jesus returns leads to a kind of apathy. People decide to wait and see this great
event and if it happens they will have time to believe in Jesus. So it puts off any
need for daily repentance because they think they have a time buffer to wait and
see if these things are true. So this brings about a false comfort.
So what this does is cause an overt shift away from Jesus as the Hope and to some
end time scenario as the hope. An example of this is the time I ran across someone
who said, If the reconstitution of Israel in 1948 is not a fulfillment of biblical
prophecy, then I dont know if the Bible is true. So the truth of the Bible for them is
less about the death and resurrection of Jesus and more about this end times
prophetic scenario. The main problem with this is that the Scriptures say that all of
the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ. This means that there is no
promise and no prophecy yet to be fulfilled that we are waiting to see come to pass.
There is only one thing that has yet to come to pass and that will happen when
Jesus returns. So it too centers on Jesus.
If we have this prophetic checklist, such as the rebuilding of the temple and the
rising up of a pagan leader who offers a sacrifice on the altar and the church being
zipped out of the world if we are waiting on all these things to happen, then Jesus
cannot return. It destroys the immanence of the second coming.

More Listener Questions

Listener comment on the Lords Supper: The listener had a comment on the
Evangelical treatment of the Lords Supper. They are so busy trying to get an
emotional high that they miss the highest point of the Divine Service. This is the
moment where God, who became flesh, gives us his body and blood in the bread

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and wine. If there is any moment that should cause true joy and elation, it is the
Supper where God has truly promised to be with us.
The listener is right on the money. When Evangelicalism takes the Lords work from
the external Word of God and puts it into our heart, it is stealing away true joy, true
comfort, true rest, true consolation, true faith, the true grace of God and is replacing
it with a counterfeit religion. And that counterfeit is just not as good. What the Lord
offers us is always the best for us. When the Lord says, Take and eat, this is my
body and Take and drink, this is my blood, he could not be giving us a higher
treasure or more wonderful gift.
Listener question on End Times theology: Is one of the reasons Lutherans dont
get into an Israel-centric end times theology because of Luthers anti-Semitism?
That certainly is a criticism that has been leveled at Luther. Luther said some wrong
things about the Jews and we cannot excuse them. One of the worst things he wrote
about them was called On Jews and Their Lies. He was wrong to do this.
He was wrong but we need to dig a little bit to see what Luther was trying to get at.
It wasnt racism as some claim. Luther was making judgments theologically. The
Jews of Luthers day, as well as the Catholics and Muslims and Anabaptists of his
day, rejected the clear words of Christ and his love for them and so he railed against
all of them, using very strong language. His great love for the Gospel made him
angry at those who did not receive this Gospel. And that anger boiled over versus
the Jews and caused him to sin by saying some inappropriate things.
Listener question on personal experiences: How do we talk to friends, family,
and acquaintances about the personal experiences that they often point to that we
may identify as enthusiasm (looking for private revelation from God)? Stating it
another way, how do we point people to the external Word in love when they want
to talk about and rely on these internal experiences, which seem questionable to
us?
Yes, this is a hard one to figure out. The problem is that the faith of the enthusiast is
dependent upon these personal revelations from God. That is their spiritual life.
And then if we come along and contradict them and warn them about it goes right
to the heart of what they believe. To be able to tell them to take comfort in the
Scriptures rather than in their own personal experiences is hard to do without
devastating them. It is a false comfort for them and at some point these words
from God will contradict the true Word of God. When this happens we need to be
ready with the true comfort of the Gospel. So sometimes when we are friends with
these people we must try and position ourselves so that when this happens we can
present the certainty of the Gospel to them.
This is one of the reasons Pr. Wolfmueller wrote his book (Has American Christianity
Failed?). He wrote it primarily for non-Lutherans, although if Lutherans read it, it will

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help them have a better understanding. The book is something that we can give to
our Evangelical friends that address some of the troubles that they experience. So it
points out the false doctrine but then it immediately replaces it with the truth of the
Scriptures to give them comfort. So as soon as it tells them you cant rely on the
internal word of God, it gives them the true and sturdy, unwavering and
comforting external Word of God that they can rely on.
Listener question related to Christianity and culture: It used to be that
Christianity influenced culture, but now it seems like much of Christianity is chasing
culture. Why do you think this happened?
At some point American Christianity bought into the idea of relevance, that is, we
need to be culturally relevant to make ourselves more appealing. It wants to attract
people. But the only thing attractive about the church is its doctrine. And rather
than chasing after the culture and losing the doctrine, our only hope is to extol the
doctrine of the Scriptures because that is what saves. Being culturally relevant does
nothing for salvation. Salvation, comfort, and peace come only through his Word,
which says, Its finished. Your sins are forgiven.

A Comforting Alternative
So to wrap up, weve talked about the lack of comfort in American Christianity. But
there is an alternative, a comforting alternative. What is it? It is the preaching of
Law and Gospel. The Law not only tells me what God expects of me and demands of
me, but the Law also shows me my great sin so that I know my only hope is Christ.
And the Gospel brings me Christ, his death, his resurrection, his blood, his suffering,
his kindness, his promise. It brings it right to me and says, This is for you and your
salvation. Jesus comes to us and delivers to us his work and it is in his work that we
at last have rest and peace and comfort that all of our sins truly are forgiven.