In his lectures on Genesis, Luther marvelously describes the nature of faith and believing. Abraham was justified by faith (Rom. 4:1-6). He believed the extraordinary promises of the Lord and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). The same is true for you.
This Parable of the Ten Virgins basis for Philipp Nicolai’s great hymn, “Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying” (LSB 516). Known as the “King of Chorales,” this is the Hymn of the Day for the Last Sunday of the Church Year.
The Western Church, prior to the Lutheran Reformation, had been arguing about the church. Was its top instance of decision-making authority, for example, the Roman Curia or a (properly convened) council?
This one-session Bible study helps participants see the whole Reformation as a quest for pure Gospel (“Christ saves”) preaching. Download and distribute for Sunday morning Bible class or a home study!
The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations presents a monthly series of Reformation-themed Bible studies to encourage “in-depth examination and study of the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran Confessions.”
The Litany was in use during Luther's early years of reform, though he desired it to be sung in the Mass and the daily offices of the congregations.
The heart of the Scriptures, the heart of Luther’s preaching and teaching, and the heart of Lutheran theology, is the Gospel. This time we read Part III, Article 4 of the Smalcald Articles, which brings us back to this heart.
LCMS Worship suggests the following Advent devotions for use at home. Family members may take turns reading the prophecy for each day from Dec. 3 to Christmas Eve.
In his 1545 preface Luther noted how he once hated “the righteousness of God,” of which Paul spoke in Romans 1:17...
The hallmark of the Reformation is justification by faith alone. Luther emphasized this Reformation truth in his lectures on Genesis, particularly regarding the covenant of circumcision.
The precise motivation for Luther’s text is unclear, yet evidence exists that it spread quickly and gained notoriety in significant fashion. It was sung at the Diet of Augsburg (1555) and in all the churches of Saxony.
Today most modern societies would find it hard to imagine a time when the Holy Scriptures were not accessible to them in a language they could understand, but to the people at the time of the Reformation this was the accepted norm.
While we often think of repentance being poorly understood because of Papist emphasis on man’s efforts, the Reformers (and we still to this day) also recognized that many are burdened in conscience by the notion that Christians shouldn’t need to repent.
The Large and Small Catechisms of Dr. Luther were born of pastoral necessity. In 1528, Luther and his colleagues visited the congregations in Saxony to assess their spiritual health. Luther was horrified.
Luther says of the Genesis 12:1, “Therefore this passage is important as proof for the doctrine of grace over against the worth of merits and works, which reason extols so highly.