Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Luther's Theology of the Cross in Preaching And as Spiritual Warfare

Toso, Perry.  "Luther's Theology of the Cross in Preaching And as Spiritual Warfare."   A Reader in Pastoral Theology. Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 2002.  77-87.

One of the primary elements of Luther's theology which is recognized as foundational in sound exposition is what Luther referred to as the "theology of the cross."  Toso looks at several elements of the theology of the cross.  I'll try to address them briefly in order.

1) God is present.  "The Scriptures are about Christ alone and him crucified" (p. 77).  All Scripture, Old and New Testament, is about Jesus.

2) Man is created, questioned, and either a recipient of blessing or curse.  There is no middle ground.  We cannot escape God and his holiness.

3) The devil is real and seeks to deceive people.  He seeks to deceive the apathetic by giving them the Gospel.  He seeks to deceive the penitent by giving them the Law.  Observe that this will further enervate the apathetic and will condemn the penitent.

4) What makes a human human is the fact that we have a conscience.  All our belief is mediated through a conscience. Our greatest need in life is to have a clear conscience before God, which requires God to remove the guilt from our conscience.

After a summary of these four principles, Toso quotes and discusses various passages from Luther's writing in which he deals with Luther's view of all these concepts.  In summary, Luther's desire in all his theology was to articulate the way the Law and Gospel are to be proclaimed in their purity.  The theology of the cross leaves us dependent on God for all we have.  It shows us that we are not able to accomplish an part of our salvation.  It all must come from our Lord. 

This theology of the cross is of great comfort to believers, as it shows us that Jesus has indeed accomplished our salvation.  He began salvation.  He brings it to its fulfillment.  It is all of him, all the time.  Armed with this understanding we are able to combat all the spiritual attacks we may endure.  We see that the battle is not ours.  It is in the hands of the mighty God who loved us while we were still offensive to him.  This is most certainly a true and living hope.

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