So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
golter's mussings june 2019
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Constant Battle
June 7, 2019
Oh, that Miserly Old Adam.
God by His grace called you to faith in His Son. Rejoice!
But for some reason He has kept the old, sinful flesh inside of you.
Oh, is it a rebellious, recalcitrant donkey!
Especially in giving.
I’m reading a great article by Dr. Francis Piper (1852-1931) entitled “On Christian Stewardship: The Gifts of the Christians.”
He writes: “The Christians are not wholly spiritual, but still have their evil flesh. And according to the flesh, they are miserly and always seek to withhold from Christ what He needs for His kingdom…The spirit needs to be strengthened continually through the Gospel…And the old man needs to be bridled outwardly by means of threats and punishments, so that the works of the Spirit may not be hindered overmuch.”
God’s people are generous and stingy at the same time. It’s a daily fight against the sinful flesh. Oh, that we were in heaven now, that all of this would be over!
But the Lord has us here to work with Him to gain more Christians.
His desire is ours.
This is an absolute joy.
Pastor Golter is the Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran
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The Bible and a salt shaker
June 13, 2019
One of the most memorable classes I had was a summer extension class in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1988. Dr. Robert Preus led the class on the Doctrine of God’s Word. Dr. Preus was a premier scholar on Holy Scripture.
His logic was simple: Jesus used the Word, the Apostles used the Word. Therefore, their use of the Word shows an explicit trust in the absolute truth and power of the Word. If Jesus cited the Book of Deuteronomy three times in fighting the devil in the desert (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10), well, that speaks volumes.
Jesus trusted the Word, assumed its divine authority and, He puts Himself under the Word. So did all the Apostles. “Well, My dear Church, do the same.”
Some argue the Scriptures contain the Word of God, but not every verse or word is Holy Spirit written and inspired.
The argument can be examined this way: If one has a salt shaker full of salt, one can accurately say there is salt. Every particle in that shaker is salt.
If pepper is added to the salt, however, one could say the salt shaker only contains salt, but not every particle is salt.
Applied to the Bible, some say the Scriptures only contain God’s Word in some form or fashion, but not every verse is God’s Word.
How terrible!
Then the Scriptures themselves are subject to the human mind and reason as to what is or is not God’s Word. Do we really want a sinful, human mind to be the judge over God’s Word? No.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16).
“All” is “all, as Jesus says to go into “all the world and proclaim the gospel,” (Mark 16:15).
The Bible is God’s Word, every particle, word, verse and book.
God did not give you a faulty salvation book.
For in and through Scriptures, God gives you His life and forgiveness.
Pastor Golter is the Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran
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What Would Jesus Do
June 21, 2019
Some time ago, a popular phrase among some Christians was WWJD: What would Jesus do?
How about this acronym: WDJD?
What Did Jesus Do?
Especially with His use of the Bible.
He believed in:
- The story of Jonah and the big fish (Matt. 12:40)
- The murder of Abel (Matt. 23:35)
- The miracles of Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:25 ff.)
- Noah and the ark (Luke 17:26)
- The power of the Old Testament Word, as He cited it three times to fight the Devil (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10)
And, He held a Bible study with the Emmaus disciples. He showed them how the Scriptures are all about Himself (Luke 24:27), as the Savior for sinners.
Even more so, the Old Testament Word and His own words own the same divine power. He says, “The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are life,” (John 6:63). Previously, He states this: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me,” (John 5:39).
The Bible owns divine power; so do the very words of Jesus. They are DIVINE words, the same Word.
The Holy Bible in any form—preached, read, memorized—is life-giving and devil defeating.
And, most importantly, it owns the power to save, to forgive sin.
WDJD
He explicitly trusted in the reliability and power of the Word.
So does the church.
Pastor Golter is the Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran
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highest loyalty
June 28, 2019
To the church?
No.
To the denomination to which the church belongs?
No.
To the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks through His Word.
Solely.
C.F.W. Walther, the Missouri Synod’s first Synodical and Seminary president, writes to the first Iowa District Convention at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Fort Dodge (Beginning August 20, 1878) this:
The true distinguishing mark of a sectarian group is that the pastor primarily tries to bind the people to himself or to the small communion of which he is a member, whereas he should join John the Baptist in saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30)…Any pastor who is only intent on fanaticizing his members for the Lutheran church, or for the Missouri Synod, or even worse, for the Iowa District, is not a true pastor. Such men are poor pastors. Pastors must direct people to Christ and say, “You see, we proclaim the pure Word of God, which contains the eternal Gospel. That is why you should cling to us, and that is why we maintain that the moment we no longer do that, you should leave us! For salvation is not in any way dependent on us, nor on the Missouri Synod. So, if it does not proclaim the pure Word of God, it is worthless, and you should leave it (p. 61).
By the way, the Missouri Synod elected Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison to his fourth term as President this week. Please keep him in your prayers, to be faithful and humble, as God would use him in these vexing times.
Highest Loyalty, well, to God, and to His Word solely, correctly interpreted, taught Word, “rightly handling the Word of truth,” (2 Tim. 2:15).
