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Concordia
Theological Monthly
Vol. XIV AUGUST, 1943 No.8
The Greek word J.tE"tUVOLU, metanoia, occurs in the New Testa-
ment some 24 times, and is rendered in our English version with
"repentance." The verb J.tE"te!1L'V afJ.uQ-rLw'V, Luke 24: 47.
The Law and the Gospel are the means to bring about a change
of mind in man; however, they are not dead instruments. Because
they are the Word of God, the power of God operates through
both of them. Therefore says Christ: "The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," John 6: 63. And Heb.
4: 12 we read: "The Word of God is quick and powerful." This
power to touch and turn the heart is not a natural one, such as
inheres also in words spoken by men; but since it is God's Word,
and since the Holy Ghost is inseparably connected therewith, there
is inherent in this Word at all times and under all conditions a
supernatural power and divine efficacy.
Internal means and method. - As the conversion of man takes
place in the soul, the powers or functions with which God has
equipped the soul are engaged and set into motion by the Word
of God. The Word of God does not work in a magical way, so that
a mere external contact therewith is able to produce a true fJ.e-rU'VOLU
in man. Such superstitious ideas do not lie dead and buried in the
Dark Ages of the past, but we find a type of them in those people
545
who believe that, because they are externally affiliated with a
church and have physically exposed themselves to a few sermons,
they are fairly good Christians. l.Aa. God revealed His Law and
His Gospel in terms intelligible to human beings, it follows that i
He would deal with man as with a rational creature, which, having
intellectual, emotional, and volitional abilities, can ~ taught in
his mind, touched in his heart, and turned in his ~ "Er ist kein
Stein oder Block, insofern der Mensch auch nach dem Fall noch
eine vernuenftige Kreatur ist, die Verstand und Willen hat und
in seinem Verstand und Willen Gottes Wirkung erfaehrt." Pieper,
Christliche Dogmatik, Vol. II, p. 548. llB bringing about a change
of mind in man, God does not simply ignore and pass by these
psychic abilities, with which He Himself has endowed man, but
He makes use of ther;!;.J He teaches man to know the Law and the
Gospel; by this knowledge He impresses and moves the heart and
turns the will. While, therefore, the Law and the Gospel may be"
regarded as the external means through which God works on
man from without, these mental faculties are the internal means
He employs within. To make this point clear, we might think
of the fact that God in nourishing our bodies uses food as the
external means, but he also f!mploys the functions of the various
alimentary organs of our bodies in order that the food may
accomplish its purpose. In a similar manner God works on man
from without through His Law and His Gospel, but within man
He employs the functions of his soul to bring about a change
of mind.
\.!Jod will not nourish us unless it is eaten and assimilated;
even so the Word of God remains powerless and ineffective if it
is not learne In the first place, it must be remembered