Q.tnutnr~ttt
IDl1rnlngitul ilnut1Jly
Continuing
LEHRE UND VVEHRE
MAGAZIN FUER Ev.~LuTH. HOMILETIK
THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY ~ THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY
Vol. IX April, 1938 No.4
CONTENTS
Page
A Course in Lutheran Theology. Th. Engelder------------- --... -- _ .. ___ . __ ..... _ 241
Professional Growth in the Study of the Confessions
J. Theodore Mueller_ ... _ .... __ ............. _ .... _._ ... _ .... 257
Kleine Danielstudien. L. Fuerbrlnger_. __ .. _ .. _._ .. _ ...... _. ________ .__ .____ "_"'_' __ "_ 268
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1:3-9. Th. Laetsch_ ....... __ ..... ___ .___ _ __ ._ .... _ ... _ .... _ 279
Miscellanea __ ..... _ .. _ ... ____ _ ... _ ...... _ ............... _ ... _ ... __ ............. _ .. ____ _____ ..... ___ .. _ 291
Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches ... .. _. ___ ._. __ . 296
Book Review. - Literatur ................ _ ..___ ............. _ .... _ .... ______ ..... __ .. _ ......... ___ 313
E1n Predlger muas ntcht alleln Ulei-
den, also daM er die Schafe unter-
weise, wie ale rechte CbrIaten BOllen
"In. BOndern auch daneben den WoeI-
fen Ulehren, dus sie die Schafe nteht
angrelfen und mit fal8cher Lehre ver-
fuehren und Irrtum eInfuehren.
Luther
Es 1st keln Ding. daa die Leute
mehr bel der Kirehe behae1t denn
die gute Prediet. - Apolog!e, Art. 24.
If the trumpet live an uncertain
BOund who shall prepare h1mM1f to
the battle? -1 CM. 14, I.
Published for the
BY. Lath. Synod of MJssoarl, Ohio, and Other States
CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. Louis, ••
~
BCHIVE
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 3-9 279
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 3-9
Eisenach Epistle for the First Sunday after Easter, Quasimodogeniti
In the opening greeting of his epistle Peter had reminded his
readers of the eternal foreknowledge and predetermination of God
the Father according to which they had been elected, chosen, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Obedience
here signifies the obedience of faith, 1 Pet. 1: 22; Rom. 10: 16;
2 Cor. 10:5, that obedience which gladly receives the Word of
God, Acts 2: 41. Through such faith the believers are sprinkled
with the blood of Jesus, all the blessings procured for man are
appropriated to them. For such obedience and sprinkling they
were elected, not by an absolute decree of God but "through sanc-
tification of the Spirit." As the decree of election is based on the
grace of God and the merits of Christ, so it has for its purpose, as
its object, the sanctification of the elect and is carried out in time
through, fN, within the sphere of, this work of the Holy Spirit, in
this manner, that the Holy Spirit in time calls, regenerates, pre-
serves, and finally brings them to eternal salvation through faith
in Christ Jesus.
Having called the attention of his readers to the hidden well-
springs of their salvation, the eternal decree of election, he now
points out the realization of this decree in their own lives and
the glorious goal toward which God has decreed to lead them.
He does this in the form of a most beautiful eulogy of the Author
and Finisher of their salvation.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, v. 3.
"Blessed be God." Cpo 2 Cor. 1: 3; Eph. 1: 3. This phrase, so
often met with in the Old Testament and in rabbinical writings, is
not intended by the apostle as an exhortation to bestow upon God
a gift, a blessing. God is not in need of man's gifts. He is ever
blessed, 1 Tim. 1: 11; 2 Tim. 6: 15. Nor is there anything in the gift
of man that could enrich God. Man can only stand before the
throne of the ever blissful God and sing the praises of His holy
name and magnify His mighty deeds. That is exactly what the
Greek term for blessed here denotes. EUAoyrr.6~ means well spoken
of, praised, lauded. In the New Testament the word is used ex-
clusively of God, though in the LXX it is applied to men also, while
the New Testament writers use IlUAOYT)J.tE'VO~.
Peter now continues: Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. God is to be praised not only because He
is God, the Creator of the universe, to whom all creatures owe
their life and existence and therefore never-ceasing praises; He
280 Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 3-9
is here called the God and Father of Christ. Peter knows of no
other God than Him who is at the same time the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God of Christ, the God who
took Him out of the womb, Ps. 22: 9; in whom He trusted, Ps. 22: 9,
10; to whom He prayed, Heb. 5: 7; Luke 6: 12; 9: 28, etc.; to whom
He addressed that agonized cry, "My God, My God," Ps. 22: 1;
who raised Him from the dead, Acts 2: 32; Eph.l: 20; who re-
mained His God even in the state of exaltation, John 20:19; Eph.
1: 20-22. This God is at the same time the Father of our Lord, and
His Father not merely in the sense in which He is the Father of all
mankind, Mal. 2: 10, or of the Christians, 1 John 3: 1. Such a Father
He became in time. He is the Father of our Lord from eternity,
Ps. 2: 7; the Father of that Jesus whom Peter calls the Son of the
living God, Matt. 16:16; John 6:69; the Prince of Life, Acts 3:15;
the Lord of all, Acts 10:36; the Judge of the living and the dead,
Acts 10: 42; whom time and again He calls Lord, the term being
on his lips merely as a synonym of God, the Lord, Jehovah,
Jer. 23: 6. All the blessings that have been decreed for us in
eternity and that are coming down upon us from the throne of
God are ours only because God is the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that Lord whom we confess as our God and Lord, John
20: 28; that Lord and God through whom God, the everlasting
I Am, has become our God and Lord, our Father. For this our
Lord is Jesus, the Savior, Matt. 1: 21. He is the Christ, the Anointed
One, sent by God to be our Redeemer, to make us children of
God. This mission for which the Son was sent was not in vain.
Its purpose to gain children for God was accomplished. Peter
blesses the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
begotten us again, avuYE'V'V~o"CI.<;. The word is peculiar to Peter,
found only here and 1: 23. Like avo: in avCI.~6.ro, live again, Rom.
14: 9; in aVCl.1jIuzOJ, refresh, 2 Tim. 1: 16, the avCI. here means again,
the English prefix re, hence reborn, born again. This rebirth is
the regeneration, nUALYYEVEO"L