1. 1; .: 'i. CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Volume 53, Numbers 1-2 JANUARY-APRIL 1989 An Ascension Hymn. ............................. 1 The Validity of the Churchly Acts of Ordained Women. ............. ..David P. Scaer 3 Charismatic Renewal in the Lutheran Church. ............... .Walter A. Maier 21 Admission to the Lutheran Altar: Reflections on Open Versus Close Communion. ............. .John Stephenson 39 Spiritual Wellsprings for the Professional Church Worker. ............... .Donald L. Deffner 53 Faculty Overtures. ................................ 75 - Theological Observer. .... ................... 87 Book Reviews. .................................. .lo5 Indices to Volume 52 (1988). ....................... .I45 Charismatic Renewal in the Lutheran Church: "Renewal in Missouri" Walter A. Maier I. Historical Notes During the past two-and-a-half decades an increasing number of Lutheran pastors and people have become involved in the neo-Pentecostal or charismatic movement, which began within mainline Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1960s. By mid-1960 neo-Pentecostal practices, such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healing, were reported also by some pastors and congregations of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Thereafter, the movement continued to spread within our church body. Tensions and even divisions over Pentecostal practices appeared in various areas of the Synod. At the direction of the 1969 synodical convention in Denver, the Commission on Theology and Church Relations undertook a comprehensive study of the charismatic movement "with special emphasis on its exeget- ical aspects and theological implication^."^ The results of this study were set forth in a January 1972 Report of the Commis- sion, titled "The Charismatic Movement and Lutheran Theology,"' which included a presentation of characteristic theological views of Lutheran charismatics; an analysis of relevant biblical data with particular reference to the nature and purpose of spiritual gifts; and an evaluation of charismatic tenets and practices from the perspective of Lutheran theology. Another CTCR document, titled "The Lutheran Church and the Charismatic Movement,"3 was issued in 1977; it restated the Synod's doctrinal stance with respect to the charismatic movement and offered guidelines "for ministering to the spiritual needs of those who are affected by the current tensions," as the preface put it. Both these reports continue to serve as excellent Bible-based commentaries on the teachings of the Lutheran charismatic movement, or the Lutheran Renewal movement, as present-day Lutheran charismatics have chosen to have it denominated. 22 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY At its 1977 convention in Dallas the Synod clarified its position regarding charismatic teaching in Resolution 3-10A4 and identified, and warned the church's congregations against, "certain doctrines held and taught by some individ- uals and groups in the charismatic movement" which "are mere human opinion not clearly taught in Holy Scripture and therefore contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and therefore dangerous to the salvation of men to teach." The doctrines listed in the resolution were these: 1. That God desires every Christian, following Baptism, to have a 'second experience' such as the 'baptism with the Spirit.' 2. That the so-called 'gifts of the Spirit' are external signs by which we can assure ourselves that we have faith, are living in God's grace, or have the Spirit of God. 3. That God promises every Christian such gifts as speaking in tongues, healing, discerning of spirits, and prophecy and that God has given such a promise as a part of the 'full' or 'complete Gospel.' 4. That a 'conversion experience,' 'baptism with the Spirit,' or other inner religious experience is necessary for, or should be urged upon, Christians in order that they may be certain either of having faith and salvation or of the indwelling of God's Spirit. 5. That a Christian who has not had such an experience either has an incomplete faith, is unconverted and is still living under the rule of sin, or has only accepted Christ as his Savior but not as his Lord. 6. That the sanctification of a Christian is incomplete unless he possesses the gift of speaking in tongues. 7. That God promises healing and health to every Christian in this life and that, if such healing does not occur, it is due to a lack of faith. 8. That God gives guidance and leadership to the church today through visions and dreams of direct prophecy. The same resolution urged pastors to discuss with their congregations in a positive way what the Scriptures teach Renewal in Missouri 23 concerning the Holy Spirit, as well as to study the CTCR reports on the charismatic movement. Since that convention, pastors, educators, and officials of the Synod have spent much time counseling congregations, pastors, and lay persons. LC-MS pastors associated with the charismatic movement have expressed their desire to remain faithful to Lutheran doctrine, and during the years 1984-1986 several from their group met three times with synodical representatives to discuss the Synod's concerns and their own, and to review the church's position on the charismatic movement-The outcome of these meetings was the recognition on the part of all participants that substantial differences in understanding as to what the Scriptures teach concerning charismatic gifts, their presence and use in the church, obtained between the two groups involved in the discussions. In the spring of this year (1988) 24 persons6 of charismatic inclination, most of them LC-MS pastors, decided to go on a spiritual offensive, founded an organization they named "Renewal in Missouri" (abbreviated RIM) to begin a "ministry in the Missouri Synod," and published the first (spring) issue of a newsletter by the name Renewal in Missouri, which was widely distributed in LC-MS circles. The newsletter featured articles stating the beliefs and purposes of RIM and announc- ing that members were "committed to biblical, confessional, and evangelical renewal in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synodw-a renewal which "will bring about dynamic worship, vibrant faith, and bold witness" in the church. The proposed renewal was to come about through encouragement of LC-MS members, along with having continual recourse to Word and sacrament, to experience and use all the Holy Spirit's gifts He once made available to the early Christian church, which, according to charismatic claim, He also makes available to Christians today. Referring to these developments in his message "From the President" on a back page of the June 1988 Lutheran Witness, Dr. Ralph Bohlmann wrote as follows, under the subtitle "The Charismatic Movement": In recent months. . .a number of charismatic pastors have organized an aggressive effort to reach larger 24 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY sections of the Synod with their message of "Renewal in Missouri." This effort has included a newsletter to all pastors and a national mid-May conference in suburban Chicago (which was attended by an official observer from my office). In my contacts to date with its leadership, I have emphasized that the LC-MS does not desire an escalation of the charismatic movement in our midst, nor do we need an independently organized effort that may tend to become a "little church" within the church. I have expressed my concern that current efforts, however well- intended, to revitalize congregational life and worship may easily become divisive and counterproductive. At the same time, I am convinced that all of our leaders, pastors and congregations need to find better ways, working within our existing structures, to provide an ever stronger emphasis on the central and indispensable place of the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments in our life and work together. For us to enjoy the renewal of the Holy Spirit, we must give preeminence to Word and Sacra- ments in all we do, for these are the very instruments or means by which God gives His life-giving Spirit and power. In his July 1988 "Letter to Pastors" Dr. Bohlmann also stated: It's easy to understand the strong desire of many within the Synod to revitalize congregational life and worship. We all yearn for that. But I question whether we need an independent movement for that purpose, particularly one that has been associated with a number of positions and practices condemned by our Synod as contrary to the Word of God. . . .What we do need, in my opinion, is a lot more personal ministry to charismatics and a great deal of emphasis from all of us on the use of the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments in our life and work together. That's the way God gives His Spirit and revitalizes the church! The Summer and Fall 1988 issue of Renewal in Missouri carried this response, in part, of editor and RIM director, the Reverend Delbert Rossin, to the synodical president's Witness article: Renewal in Missouri 25 We commend Dr. Bohlmann for his pastoral report, "The charismatic Movement," in the June 1988 Lutheran Witness. Although I cannot speak for him, surely he must be referring to the false teachings and practices referred to in Dallas Resolution 3-10A when he states: ". . .the LC- MS does not desire an escalation of the charismatic movement in our midst." RIM doesn't want to see that either, and in that respect one could say that RIM is not part of the "charismatic movement." As Lutherans who do give preeminence to Word and Sacraments, RIM desires an increase in dynamic worship, vibrant faith and bold witness in our midst. It is our unique contribution to help us all see where and how the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit relate to that goal. So in a way we are stuck with the label "charismatic."7 11. Commen ts on Certain of RIM'S Distinctive Theological Brma tion s The same, second issue of Renewal in Missouri contains an article by Theodore Jungkuntz, one of RIM'S founding pastors titled, "RIM Agrees with LC-MS Position on Charismatic Teaching. (Dallas Resolution 3-10A Revisited)."8 After expressing in the positive the appreciation of Lutheran charismatics for this resolution, Jungkuntz further observes in his opening remarks: Negatively, the resolution has said more regarding what Lutheran/charismatic renewal cannot be, than it has offered specific help in saying what it can be according to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. The frustration thereby experienced by LC-MS charismatics has been one of the catalysts leading to the formation of RIM. What follows is hopefully a contribution to the end of provoking a brotherly discussion of these matters with our fellow members of Synod. The author then indicates that he will review the resolution's eight points cited as being "mere human opinion, not clearly taught in Holy Scripture." Be says: The very first thing we have to say to this assertion is that we heartily agree. The eight points as condemned in the resolution are not phrased in a manner which clearly 26 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY and fully expresses the teaching of Holy Scripture and the doctrinal concerns of the Lutheran Confessions. There- fore we are offering a counterproposal to each of the eight points and solicit your prayerful and studied response. Jungkuntz thereafter proceeds in numerical sequence to quote the eight points of the resolution: in each case he precedes the quotation of a resolution-point with the words in capital letters, "WE DO NOT WISH TO TEACH7'; intersperses commentary of his own; then writes in capital letters, "THEREFORE WE TEACH INSTEAD"; and provides a suggested revised reading of the point in question, with his own additional explanatory words following. What are the distinctive components of RIM charismatic theology, as presented in brother Jungkuntz' paper,g the theology which its advocates seek to have widely accepted in Missouri? The present writer will endeavor to offer a brief summary and then an evaluation, in what folIows. A question that arises at once upon first cursory reading of Dr. Jungkuntz' article is this: if the eight points of Dallas Resolution 3-10A do list "certain doctrines held and taught by some individuals and groups in the charismatic movement" which "are mere human opinion not clearly taught in Holy Scripture and therefore contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and therefore dangerous to the salvation of men to teach," as Brother Jungkuntz and his associates agree, why does he write before each of these points "We do not wish to teach" and not simply "We (also) reject"? And why also, it may be asked, does the author, in treating these points, again and again take back what he has granted? This procedure is clearly seen, for example, in his dealing with point 8 in the Dallas resolution. He writes: WE DO NOT WISH TO TEACH: that God gives guidance and leadership to the church today through visions and dreams or direct prophecy .... THEREFORE WE TEACH INSTEAD: that God has chosen to grant His Spirit through the operation of the external means of grace .... God's Word is a covenant word tied to us at Holy Baptism, a sacrament which granted us the Holy Spirit. That Spirit now is free Renewal in Missouri 27 to direct believers comprising the church in such a way as to give it guidance and leadership, even through visions and dreams, when that is His desire. We question the lordship of Christ when we deny this. Instead of denying this possibility or neglecting it we ought to 'rekindle the gift of God that is within (us) through the laying on of hands' (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6).1° The impression gained is that Jungkuntz is not ready to turn his back upon some of the human opinions the Dallas resolution condemns. That impression is confirmed by a closer consideration of what he says. The following information may be gleaned from his article. Essentially, Dr. Jungkuntz and his associates hold, on the basis of their interpretation of certain Bible passages, to the following beliefs: 1. All the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit-those referred to in the New Testament in the technical Pauline sense as charismata (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4,31) or pneumatika (1 Cor. 12:l; 14:l)-are still promised and available to believers and are operative in parts of the Christian Church today. This specifically includes the Spirit's extraordinary gifts such as speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, gifts of healing, and the working of miracles, which were granted certain Christians in the days of the apostles. (In the present paper, the latter gifts will hereafter be referred to by the distinguishing designation "extraor- dinary gifts.") 2. The extraordinary gifts in particular should be sought by all of God's people through prayer. 3. These gifts are to be especially valued, because the believer's possession and use of them represent the fulfillment of the promises of God's Word (regarding the bestowal of these gifts) on which the believer's faith has relied, bring him a personal experience of God's gracious presence, and all of this, in turn, confirms his faith. 4. With faith confirmed in this way, he is enabled to triumph increasingly over sin and empowered to serve 28 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY God and his brethren in renewed dedication, Through the believer's own spiritual growth and that fostered in his brethren, the needed renewal in the church occurs. The use of the extraordinary gifts is both an expression of the believer's sanctification and that which is particularly promotive of his sanctification. In response to these views, a number of the usual comments "non-charismatic" LC-MS theologians have offered with reference to ideas like these may be rehearsed (and here in a summary manner). If passages like Mark 16:16-20; Acts 2:14- 18 (Joel 2:28-32); 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31; 14:l; and Hebrews 2:3-4 are adduced to prove that all of the charismata including the extraordinary gifts which were granted certain Christians in the early church are assuredly promised and available to believers today-and Jungkuntz cites these verses for this purpose-it must be pointed out that the promises in these passages were fulfilled in the apostolic age. They describe blessings the Spirit granted early Christians, gifts concerning which He gave them instruction through the apostle Paul, for one, and which He led the apostles to recognize and authenticate. But the verses do not clearly promise or indicate that God will bestow all these charismata upon Christians in every New Testament generation, includ- ing our own. Mark 16:17-18 reads (in the RSV): These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. Assuming that verses 9-16 belong to the authentic text of Mark 16, if these words are taken to mean that a display of the miracles mentioned will accompany believers in all ages of Christendom, then it would have to be concluded that Jesus' prophetic promise was unfulfilled, since such miracles have not always accompanied believers. (Parenthetically, it may be noted that the text says, "They will pick up serpents." Is this promised sign, one of those that "will accompany those who believe," being fulfilled in the congregations of RIM propo- nents? And where is an advocacy or discussion of this procedure in Lutheran charismatic literature?) Renewal in Missouri 29 This is not to say that God the Holy Spirit could not bestow all or some of His charismata upon Christians in our own or any generation. The Spirit can do whatever He wills and whenever he wishes to do it. The fact of the matter is simply that we do not see all, especially the extraordinary, charismata operative in the Christian church today; and we do not have available to us the means of authenticating the presence and use of extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. The apostles served as such authenticators in the early church. Judgments of "non-charismatic" theologians in the history of the LC-MS as to the existence cif any or all the charismata in the nineteenth and twentieth century Christian church, have ranged from a denial of the existence of all the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12-the position of Dr. Douglas Judisch in An Evaluation of Claims to the Charismatic Gifts"--to the position of Dr. C.F.W. Walther, who held that certain charismata mentioned there were non-extraordinary and so were found to some extent in the church of his day. In a sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:l-11, Synod's first president stated in regard to the gifts of the Spirit: However, we must make a twofold distinction concerning the gifts of apostolic times which the apostle names in our text. He mentions nine gifts. Four of them have now disappeared completely from the Christian Church; the other five are still found among believers, though to a lesser degree. Completely gone are the gifts of healing without the use of medicine, the gift of performing miracles, the gift of speaking foreign languages without previous study and practice, and finally the gift of interpreting those languages which one never learned. That is not the case with the other five gifts mentioned by the apostle, with the gift of speaking by the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, with the gift of prophesying, that is, explaining Scripture, with the gift of a particularly great, strong, and heroic faith, and finally with the gift of discerning spirits. As we stated, these last gifts the Christians of apostolic times had in a greater degree than the Christians of today; however, these and similar gifts are found even now to a certain degree in the Church.12 30 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY As to the matter of being able to know of the existence of and identifying extraordinary charismata in the church today, how could this be accomplished? If a Christian comes to me and says, for example, that he has the grft of speaking in tongues, how really does he, or how do I, know that the experience he calls tonguespeaking is a genuine charisma? Neither of us has a way of demonstrating that to be a fact, since neither one can understand what is said. We have no objective criterion of evaluation, as we do in the case of one who claims to have a prophetic utterance and to speak the Word of God: his speaking can be cognitively understood and compared with the teaching of the Scriptures; whether what he speaks is the Word of God or not can be determined on the basis of its agreement or disagreement with the Bible. What might be classified as tongue-speaking is not an exclusively Christian phenomenon. Writing in the Christian Herald magazine in an article titled "Tongues Have Been Here Before,"13 historian Paul Maier mentions that glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, was a prominent feature in pagan religions-Greco-Roman mystery cults, for example-and discusses the practice of tongue-speaking on the part of the mid-century A.D. charis- matic leader Montanus and his followers, whose widespread movement was later judged heretical by the church. Maier himself expresses agreement with those who understand modern tongue-speaking from a psychological viewpoint. Among others, he quotes W.D. Stacey and his commentary on the tongues phenomenon in Hastings Bible Dictionary. The quotation reads in part: It is well known that extreme excitement tends to inhibit the higher faculties and stimulate the lower ones. . . .A state of great animation may, therefore, subjugate thought and logical expression altogether and provoke meaningless, animal chatter, normally held in check. Foreign tongues will be used onIy if they are already hidden in the memory.14 A feature of the glossolalia in our day preventive of identifying it with that in apostolic times is that it does not consist in utterances in intelligible human languages as did the tonguespeaking on Pentecost (and the Acts 2 account of this phenomenon is the only definitive New Testament Renewal in Missouri 31 indication of the nature of the tongue-speaking that occurred in the early church). A conclusion (fi6) of the psychological and linguistic examination of glossolalia conducted some years ago by the Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn under the direction of John P. Kildahl, Ph.D., and Paul Q. Qualben, M.D., as listed in the CTCR report of 1972, is the following: Speaking in tongues "is not gibberish. The sounds appear to a non-linguist to have the rhythm and qualities of language." However, glossolalia as it is practiced today lacks the ordinary features that are characteristic of human speech and is not therefore to be classified among natural languages, either living or dead. l5 Nor can a person in our day who claims to have the extraordinary gift of interpretation of tongues be looked to as an authenticator of the presence and use of the genuine gift of tongue-speaking simply because he offers (what he calls) an interpretation of something a tongue-speaker has uttered. And surely it cannot be verified that what the interpreter renders in English is actually an interpretation of what the other speaker has voiced. Dr. Howard Tepker, professor emeritus of our Concordia Theological Seminary and one of the principal authors of the two CTCR reports on the Lutheran charismatic movement and its theology, used part of a sabbatical year meeting with Lutheran charismatic pastors and people of the Synod. He describes how on the occasion of one visit to a Lutheran charismatic gathering at which self-styled interpre- ters of tongues were present he asked for the privilege of following an experimental procedure: he requested that three of the interpreters present listen to a person who was engaged in tongue-speaking and then that these three go into separate rooms. Dr. Tepker made the rounds and asked the individuals sequentially, each not in the hearing of the other two, to interpret what the tongue-speaker had said. Tepker relates that he received three pious but entirely different "interpretations." Thus, it is not possible today to identify a possessor of the genuine charisma of interpretation either. Relative to the matter of charismatic expectation, indeed insistence on the existence, of the miraculous signs or spectacular manifestations of the Spirit, the extraordinary charismata, in our day, it will be well to keep in mind these observations of Synod's commission on theology: 32 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY God can choose to perform such mighty works in and through His church today. Lutherans affirm the super- natural and the possibility that God can and does intervene in the course of natural things. However, Scripture warns repeatedly against the type of miracle- mindedness which places undue emphasis on the perfor- mance of supernatural deeds rather than on the procla- mation of the Gospel: "Jesus therefore said to him, 'Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe"' (John 4:48). Jesus warns the church against being deceived by signs and wonders which will appear in the last days to lead Christians astray: "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matt. 24:24). Scripture warns the world against demand- ing miracles from the church to prove its faith: " 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah.' So he left them and departed" (Matt. 16:4). The Bible states that even such signs as casting out devils, prophesying, and other mighty works, though they be done in Jesus7 name, do not in themselves guarantee that they are God- pleasing: "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers'" (Matt. 7:21-23). Luke reports: "The seventy returned with joy saying, 'lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' And he said to them, '1 saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you author- ity to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Never- theless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven'" (Luke 10: 17-20).16 Especially disconcerting is the idea communicated in the Jungkuntz article that church members today ought to seek and pray for all the charismata God granted Christians in the Renewal in Missouri 33 earliest age of the church-particularly the extraordinary gifts-because the reception and use of these gifts bring the believer a personal experience of God's presence, and the confirmation and strengthening of his faith for the battle with sin and growth in sanctified living. This view elevates the charismata to the level of the means of grace, Word and sacraments, through which alone the believer's faith is strengthened, he is empowered to live the sanctified life, he is given the Holy Spirit and His gifts, and he also obtains the joyful sense of the presence of God. The 1977 CTCR document states: Through the means of grace the Holy Spirit bestows on the church all the blessings that are ours in Christ as well as every spiritual gift that is needed to carry out the mission of the church in a sinful world. (Cf. Matt. 28:19 [20]; Luke 16:29; Rom. 10:17; 1 Cor. 11:26; AC V, 4; Ap XIII, 13; XXIV, 70; LC XI, 52-59, 61-62.)17 Again the CTCR states: Lutherans are deeply concerned, therefore, when " bap- tism with the Holy Spirit" is considered to be a second experience beyond the sacrament of Baptism and when it is said to grant powers and blessings that are not given through the Word and sacraments. Such a view denies the full benefits of Baptism. Only Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the use of God's Word are external means. By these alone the Holy Spirit has chosen to work among us in grace. Prayer, for example, is not a means of grace but a proper response to God's grace as offered in the sacrament of Baptism. Our Lutheran Confessions state that Baptism grants to the believer "the grace, Spirit, and power to suppress the old man so that the new may come forth and grow strong." (LC IV, 76) Lutherans are also concerned when speaking in tongues is described as a spiritual gift which imparts to the one using it a keener realization of his sins, a deeper and more constant awareness of the Spirit's indwelling presence, a stronger faith, the ability to pray at a deeper level, an awakened interest and a deeper hunger to study the Bible, and a new freedom to witness to others what Jesus means 34 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY to him. Such a view raises the experience of speaking in tongues to the level of a means of grace and attributes to it functions which can be performed only by the Gospel and the sacraments. We are deeply concerned also when the experience of "baptism with the Holy Spirit" is treated as a means by which God equips the church for its mission in the world, particularly when the "baptism with the Spirit" is regarded (in practice, if not in theory) as a supplement to the means of grace. Beyond the Word and the sacraments nothing is needed to equip the church for its task, for through them the Spirit gives life, power, and growth to the church. Christians will therefore continue to seek power and renewal for the church in the Word and sacraments, not in special signs and miracles.18 LC-MS Lutherans holding to the clear doctrine of the Scriptures and its presentation in the Confessions will reject any RIM teaching which attributes to the charismata the functions of the means of grace. In the course of Dr. Jungkuntz' (unsuccessful) argument in behalf of the proposition that the Holy Spirit still gives guidance to the church through visions and dreams (this matter was referred to earlier, in another connection)-despite his awareness of a reference to "Luther's warning about 'enthusiasm' in the Smalcald Articles (111, VIII, 3-13-Tappert, pp. 312-313)"-he includes a significant statement and a citation from Luther's Large Catechism. The author of the RIM article writes: "We have almost forgotten what we Lutherans also believe about Baptism, for example: In Baptism, therefore, every Christian has enough to study and to practice all his life. He always has enough to do to believe firmly what Baptism promises and brings-victory over death and the devil, forgiveness of sin, God's grace, the entire Christ, and the Holy Spirit with His gifts. (LC IV, 41-Tappert, pp. 441-442.)"19 This doubtless is a correct assessment of the situation in much of Lutheranism today. A clear understanding on the part of many more of God's people and their application of what Luther says and implies in this quotation is really the key to Renewal in Missouri 35 true spiritual renewal in the Lutheran and the Christian Church. How so? In the sixth chapter of Romans the apostle Paul speaks of the believer's spiritual union, death, and resurrection with Christ which the Holy Spirit effects in baptism, and of the result of this, which is that in his innermost being or self the baptized believer is released from the dominion and rule of sin. This regeneration, the creation of the new man within, the apostle shows, provides the believer with new life and the power to overcome sin and do the will of the Lord. Faith in the fact of his regeneration also affords the child of God the ultimate motivation for the performance of the good works of heart and hand and voice which glorify God, Paul makes clear. He says in verses 11-14 (the writer's translation) that, just as Christ died and rose again, so these things follow: In this way also you must keep on accounting yourselves to be dead with reference to sin but continually living to God in union with Christ Jesus. Let not sin thereforereign in your mortal body, so that you obey its lusts, and do not furnish your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; on the contrary, present yourselves once-and-for- all to God, as persons alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness, to God; for sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under law but under grace. Because the believers are now "in," that is, "in union with" Christ, that Savior shares with them his own invincible sin- defeating might. Paul challenges every Christian to believe about himself that he has died and risen with Christ in baptism; to trust assuredly that as he draws upon the Savior's power, he can now do all things in the moral and spiritual sphere through Christ with whom he remains united and who strengthens him; to proceed then dauntlessly with "the putting to death of the deeds of the body," roughshodding over the sinful flesh and its desires, loving the Lord with ever increasing and ever more sustained ardor, and joyfully living the victorious, dedicated, fruitful life pleasing to God and promotive of His Kingdom's cause. Belief in and action upon the fundamental Gospel facts presented in Romans 6 which reveal the blessings that baptism bestows, is the most powerful spur to personal sanctification or spiritual renewal, and thus 36 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY to true renewal in the church. Let the magnificent verities of the Christ who gave Himself for us and who has come to live in us be heralded and inculcated in the church; let our people commune regularly and eagerly study the whole counsel of God in His Word-and abundant, Spirit-prompted, faith-filled, ever growing spiritual productivity will result in the Lutheran Church, in Christ's entire church on earth! Endnotes 1. Resolution 2-23, 1969 Convention Proceedings, p. 90. 2. Available at the Synod's International Center, St. Louis. 3. Available at the International Center. 4. 1977 Convention Proceedings, pp. 131-132. 5. A summary of the conversations of those meetings is available from the synodical president's office. 6. The names of the men are listed on p. 2 of Renewal in Missouri, Newsletter, I, 1-2, Summer and Fall 1988. 7. Ibid., p. 2. 8. Ibid., pp. 5-8. 9. Many matters treated by Jungkuntz are expanded upon in the 1987 Augsburg publication Welcome, Holy Spirit: A Study of Charismatic Renewal in the Church, edited by Larry Christen- son and recommended in Renewal in Missouri as " 'must' reading for all Christians." Bearing such an endorsement, the book must be presumed to set forth charismatic teaching accepted by RIM. The text of the Welcome volume, which is a compilation of papers authored and worked over by 40 pastoral leaders from nine countries in "The International Lutheran Charismatic Theological Consultation," also quotes with approval from two other Christenson books, Speaking in Tongues (Minneapolis: Dimension Books, c. 1968) and The Charismatic Renewal Among Lutherans (St. Paul: Interna- tional Lutheran Renewal Center, revised 1985). These volumes may be consulted to gain an understanding of the background convictions of the contemporary RIM leadership. The Reverend Larry Christenson of ELCA is director of The International Lutheran Renewal Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is described in a brochure as "a ministry" having as its purpose the fostering of charismatic renewal in the Lutheran church (Lutheranism in general). Renewal in Missouri 37 Renewal in Missouri, Summer and Fall 1988, p. 8. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978. From a sermon on this text for the tenth Sunday after Trinity according to the Standard Epistles series; translated from the German by the Reverend Donald E. Heck while living in Livermore, Iowa, and available in the library of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. October 1975, p. 16ff. Maier, p. 22. "The Charismatic Movement and Lutheran Theology," p. 8. "The Lutheran Church and the Charismatic Movement," pp. 7-8. Ibid., p. 5. Ibid., p. 6. Summer and Fall edition, p. 8. - It should be noted in regard to the designation "the Holy Spirit with his gifts" that the context indicates that Luther has in mind the Spirit's gifts of faith, forgiveness, life, salvation, and sanctification, and not the extraordinary spiritual gifts. In fact, the Lutheran Confessions throughout, wherever they speak of the church as possessing a variety of gifts from the Holy Spirit, refer chiefly to the Spirit's saving and sanctifying gifts and not to his extraordinary gifts. Refemng to the latter, Edmund Schlink states: "the charis- mata. . .receive no consideration in the Confessions. The Confessions do not enlarge upon the variety of the spiritual gifts" (Theology of the Lutheran Confessions, translated by Paul Koehneke and Herbert Bouman [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 19611, p. 307). Robert Preus observes: "But they [the Confessions] say rather little about the 'extraordinary' gifts which are stressed by the sects today, e-g., healing, casting out demons, speaking in tongues, etc. Why? Clearly because the two great works of the Spirit, to bring Christ to us and to work the Christian life in us, are of such palmary and overarching importance! The ministry of the Spirit is the ministry of the Gospel (AC, V). That is the important thing. After all, the Roman church claimed miracles, healings, exorcism; but with all the emphasis on salvation by good works it buried Christ and obscured the Gospel (AP, IV, 81, 110, 121)." (Getting into the Theology of Concord [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 19771, pp. 53-54.)