God Does Not Need Our Good Works but Our Neighbor Does. -Martin Luther This is one of my favorite quotes from Luther. It helps us guard against the unhealthy appetite of the old Adam (and much of American preaching) to earn salvation. Extra Nos Academy is vehemently committed to proclaiming the sweet reality that salvation comes extra nos, outside of us. God Himself delivers His saving grace to us in Word and Sacrament. We can now rest in the completed work of Jesus! Selah.
Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!” 8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” 2 kings 5:4-15 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins.31Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel."32With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [1] of seed.33He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."34"Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time.35The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.36At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.37Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."38Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.39When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!" 1 kings 18:30-39
Man, I can’t tell you how much these men mean to me. The peace of the Lord came upon my broken heart this morning through Pastor’s words this morning. I love you guys. God bless you.
"No one can come unto me unless the Father draws him" John 6:44 ..... So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" Romans 9:16 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God John 1:13... just some things to think on. Peace!
Heal me, and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved; repent me, and I shall repent. But He has to see our power is gone to will--then He repents himself-- De. 32:36.
Luther said, "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance." We cannot do this on our own. The continual posture of repentance can only be achieved when the Father's arms are wrapped around us and the Holy Spirit turns our heads and hearts towards Christ and His work for us. "We are beggars! This is true."
God is all wise to know just when to give repentance unto salvation. That "when" is when we are finished with our sin life.@@theonecounttheonecount8477
@@theonecounttheonecount8477 Nope, again, that's synergism. You can also call it Arminianism. We do not cooperate for salvation. We could never be saved if God only did 1/2 the work.
The statement that resonated most with me is loving God without fear. That's profound because most churches put unhealthy fear of God out there, which keeps us from loving God deeply. Thank you for sharing and this conversation.
I just met with my new Lutheran pastor. Had a great lunch at Chili's... I brought up that I had an email drafted up to send to my former Presbyterian church. He was pleased that I even thought of doing that as he said he is always disturbed about people just disappearing without word. I actually read it to him and thought it was great. Not only was I leaving for theological reasons, I was leaving because I will be honest, I just ended up not liking my pastor on a personal level. My email was gracious and thankful for my last two years of being a member there and I just didn't feel like getting into specifics or saying anything negative. I just do not feel going into details would be fruitful and I didn't want to be remembered as a complainer. I haven't been at my old church for 3 weeks as I been going to my new LCMS Divine service and new member class. I haven't heard from anyone from my old PCA church which I am actually surprised as I never miss Sunday school or worship on Sundays there and the church isn't that big. I was going to wait till I got a text or email from someone to send my email. If I don't hear from them by this Sunday afternoon, I am going to send it anyway. I need to get it off my chest as my conscience is wanting me to do it and move on. I appreciate this channel as well as Dr. Jordan Cooper, Bryan Wolfmueller and other Lutheran channels that through God's Word, helped me to see that I need to "come home" to the Lutheran Church. God be praised!
