ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY EDUCATION NETWORK CUENET LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS 2-24 DR. ROBERT KOLB CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY: CAPTION FIRST, INC. P.O. BOX 1024 LOMBARD, IL 60148 800-825-5234 *** THIS TEXT IS BEING PROVIDED IN A ROUGH DRAFT FORMAT. COMMUNICATION ACCESS REALTIME TRANSLATION (CART) IS PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY AND MAY NOT BE A TOTALLY VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS. *** LC2-24 >> OKAY. I KIND OF UNDERSTAND. BUT LET ME ASK ANOTHER QUESTION. HOW DOES THE SPIRIT WORK IN MY LIFE? DO I PLAY A ROLE IN SANCTIFICATION OR AM I JUST PASSIVE? >>DR. ROBERT KOLB: THAT'S A QUESTION THAT LUTHER ANSWERED IN MUCH GREATER DETAIL THAN HE DOES IN THE SMALL CATECHISM ABOUT FOUR YEARS EARLIER IN HIS GREAT WORK ON THE "BONDAGE OF THE WILL". IT'S ONE OF LUTHER'S MOST FAMOUS WORKS. YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF IT IN A NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS, JOSH. IT HAS A GOOD DEAL OF INTERESTING MATERIAL ON LUTHER'S PRINCIPLES FOR BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. BUT AS THE TITLE SUGGESTS, IT'S REALLY ABOUT THE HUMAN WILL AND IT'S ABILITY TO CHOOSE GOD. AND LUTHER'S ARGUMENT AGAINST THE GREAT HUMANIST REFORMER RASMIS (PHONETIC) OF ROTTERDAM IS THAT IN SIN BUT ALSO BY VIRTUE OF OUR VERY CREATURELINESS, WE ARE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD. WE ARE TOTALLY DEPENDENT TO ESTABLISH THAT IDENTITY THAT WE HAVE AS CHILDREN OF GOD. THAT'S WHAT LUTHER WAS GETTING AT WHEN HE WRITES "I BELIEVE BY MY OWN UNDERSTANDING OF STRENGTH I CANNOT BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST MY LORD OR COME TO HIM." AND THEN YOU GET THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, JOSH. "THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS CALLED ME THROUGH THE GOSPEL, ENLIGHTENED ME WITH HIS GIFTS, MADE ME HOLY AND KEPT ME IN THE TRUE FAITH." AS WE LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT A BROAD VARIETY OF TEXTS WRITTEN BY LUTHER, BUT PARTICULARLY OF THE "BONDAGE OF THE WILL" WE SEE THAT LUTHER'S ARGUMENT IS A LITTLE MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN HE LETS ON HERE. IT IS INDEED TRUE THAT HE CONSISTENTLY AND ALWAYS BELIEVES AND TEACHES THAT BY OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING OR STRENGTH, WE CANNOT BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. IN OUR SINFULNESS, WE ARE TURNED AWAY FROM GOD. AND THERE'S SIMPLY NO WAY THAT WE CAN BEGIN TO TRUST IN HIM WITHOUT THE RECREATIVE POWER OF HIS WORD. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, ALREADY IN THE TEXT OF THE "BONDAGE OF THE WILL" FOUR YEARS EARLIER, LUTHER HAD NOT ONLY TALKED ABOUT GOD'S TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR SALVATION AND FOR OUR VERY EXISTENCE, OF COURSE. BUT HE ALSO SAID HEAVEN WASN'T MADE FOR GEESE. AND BY THAT HE MEANT THAT HE WAS CONCERNED THAT WE PRESERVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTEGRITY OF A HUMAN BEING. AND SO HE TALKS ABOUT, AS WE SAID EARLIER, THE TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY OF GOD. BUT ALSO THE TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY YOU AND I HAVE. AND THERE'S SIMPLY NO WAY TO BRING THOSE TOGETHER. THERE'S NO WAY TO RECONCILE THAT INTO A HARMONIOUS EXPLANATION OF CONVERSION OR OF HOW WE LIVE AS HUMAN CREATURES OR AS CHILDREN OF GOD. THERE ARE MANY CHRISTIAN ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION OF WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FINALLY. AND LUTHER AND MELANCTHON HOLD INTENTION, GOD'S TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND OUR OWN TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY. AND SO LUTHER REALLY MEANS WHAT HE SAYS WHEN HE SAYS BY OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING OR STRENGTH WE CAN'T BELIEVE IN CHRIST. WE ARE DEPENDENT ON GOD'S ACTION. BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT OURSELVES, WE ALSO SEE THAT AS HE HAS MADE US AS CREATURES OF HIS CREATIVE WORD AND HIS CREATIVE HAND, WE ARE TO BELIEVE. WE ARE TO HAVE THE THOUGHTS THAT THE BIBLE GIVES US AS WE STUDY IT EITHER DIRECTLY OR IN OTHER FORMS THAT DELIVER US THE BIBLICAL MESSAGE OF WHO WE ARE TO EXPERIENCE A CHANGE IN OUR WILLS. THE PROBLEM WITH TOO MANY CHRISTIANS IS THAT THEY THINK THAT THAT CHANGE IN THEIR WILLS HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY THEIR OWN DECISION MAKING. AND LUTHER IS QUITE CLEAR THAT IT IS BY GOD'S GRACE ALONE. IT IS BY THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND NOT SOME MAGICAL ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. BUT THROUGH HIS WORD. TO PROPERLY UNDERSTAND THIS PHRASE, "I CANNOT BELIEVE IN CHRIST OR COME TO HIM ON MY OWN BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS CALLED ME THROUGH THE GOSPEL," TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT LUTHER'S DOCTRINE OF THE WORD OF GOD. HE FOUNDED HIS DOCTRINE, FIRST OF ALL, IN WHAT GENESIS 1 TELLS US ABOUT OUR GOD. WE HEAR GOD IN THE DARKNESS BEFORE WE SEE ANYTHING HE DOES, ANYTHING HE HAS MADE. GOD SPOKE AND THE WHOLE WORLD CAME INTO BEING. AND SO LUTHER WAS CONVINCED THAT THERE'S A PARALLEL TO THAT IN HIS RECREATIVE WORK, IN THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO RECREATES US OUT OF SINNERS INTO CHILDREN OF GOD ONCE AGAIN. THE WORD OF GOD, THE GOSPEL AS LUTHER USES THE TERM HERE, IS WHAT GOD USES TO COME INTO CONVERSATION WITH US. SOME PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE AGES USED THE WORD OF GOD KIND OF MAGICALLY. IF YOU WOULD SAY SOMETHING IN A SPECIAL WAY, IF YOU WOULD USE A BIBLE VERSE, LET'S SAY WRITE IT OVER THE DOOR OF YOUR PIG PEN, THEN THERE WOULD BE SOME MAGICAL EFFECT THAT WOULD PROTECT THE PIGS FROM DISEASE AND ANY OTHER ATTACK OF SATAN. THAT'S NOT LUTHER'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD OF GOD AT ALL. THE WORD OF GOD IS POWERFUL. IT DOES THINGS. IT'S PERFORMATIVE SPEECH. IT'S CREATIVE AND RECREATIVE SPEECH WHEN GOD TALKS. BUT IT IS A WORD THAT DRAWS US INTO CONVERSATION WITH THE CREATOR WHO DESIGNED US TO BE IN CONVERSATION WITH HIM. SO LUTHER UNDERSTANDS THAT IT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO TURNS OUR HEARTS AND MINDS WHEN HE CONVERTS US AS ADULTS. WE DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW HE WORKS IN THE INFANT WHEN THE INFANT IS BAPTIZED. BUT HE KNOWS HE WORKS. HE ESTABLISHES THE RELATIONSHIP THAT THEN WILL COME TO FRUITION IN THE FAITH THAT TRUSTS IN GOD WITH MIND AND HEART AND ALL OUR BEING. SO LUTHER SAYS THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS CALLED US THROUGH THE GOSPEL. HE HAS ENLIGHTENED US WITH HIS GIFTS. HE HAS SHOWN US THE TRUE DIMENSIONS OF HIS REALITY AS HE GIVES THE FOREMOST OF HIS GIFTS NEW LIFE THROUGH HIS WORD IN ALL FORM, IN WRITTEN FORM, IN SACRAMENTAL FORM. AND THROUGH THAT HE HAS MADE US HOLY. HE HAS MADE US HOLY, FIRST OF ALL, IN THE VERTICAL DIMENSION IN OUR LIVES BY GIVING US FAITH THAT TRUSTS IN GOD. AND HE'S ALSO CONTINUALLY INVOLVED IN MAKING US HOLY IN OUR DAILY LIVES AS WE SHOW GOD'S LOVE TO ONE ANOTHER. AND IN THE MIDST OF THE STRUGGLE FOR REPENTANCE THAT WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, GOD IS AT WORK, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AT WORK TO PRESERVE THAT FAITH THAT GIVES US OUR IDENTITY AS CHILDREN OF GOD AND THAT ENABLES US TO DO THE GOOD WORKS THAT PLEASE HIM AND CARRY OUT HIS WILL IN THE WORLD. *** THIS TEXT IS BEING PROVIDED IN A ROUGH DRAFT FORMAT. COMMUNICATION ACCESS REALTIME TRANSLATION (CART) IS PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY AND MAY NOT BE A TOTALLY VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS. ***