Full Text for Metanoia (Text)

II COl\ri ~ '" LCIIRE U"D 'W'l.. I 1.1...'.GAzlN FUER Ev.-LuTH. L .. OMILETIK . n:nLCGICAL QUARTERLY·! HEOLOGICAL 1 : ONTHLY . 01 ..... .10. r p .... €'to.VuLct. r".· ~" r r: 'i.." ... '::I.Illll4O.Y Uild tit" Church. ... Am ..... II'T .e c ... ) __ 57" ~ ..81 9" J" 1r: ... :l, n "' c.t • ..., t .. T .. "1 t,.. m"'lr b, J- 1ft I .... t r ",.. ..... dl "11'.t';f, - pologle, ... u ~~ ... a ..,i.- .. ~ 'L..Je ...... ~ . uunJ. "Lo .;.Lill lU ~ ..... ~ bh.... ...... to !.utile!' .he 1>", .... 1-1 COl • ..... " •• ~Ul.i..l. S)"v of Missow 1, W" IU.d ' er States CO. 'CORDL'.. r'UBLISIID,G IIO'CSr 5 .. Louis, Mo. 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