Consider the horror that will be experienced by millions of people who long described themselves as Christians but suddenly realize that they were not included in the Rapture, people who realize that they never actually received for themselves the free gift of forgiveness and salvation offered by Jesus Christ.
Consider, too, the terror felt by atheists and agnostics and people of other religions when they see their country and their world imploding and realize that their family members and friends who had been followers of Jesus Christ were right, and thus are gone, but that they themselves were left to face the wrath to come.
Absolutely, and they should. If they do, the Bible teaches that their sins will be instantly forgiven and their souls saved forever.
They can know without the shadow of a doubt that they are going to heaven when they die and will spend eternity with Christ Jesus, not in the lake of fire with no way of escape. But as wonderful and real and true as all that redemption will be, such people who receive Christ as their Savior and Lord after the Rapture will also be struck by the daunting realization that they and their remaining family members and friends and neighbors will have to endure previously unimaginable suffering in a country that will neither be nor seem like anything they have ever known, a country that has neither the strength nor the will to oppose the Antichrist or the persecution that is coming.
Imagine, too, the economic implications of the Rapture. If you think U. What will happen when millions of business owners are suddenly no longer around to pay their bills? Or pay their employees? Or continue delivering vital goods and services? What will happen to the federal government when millions of taxpayers are no longer providing Washington much-needed revenues?
What will happen to state governments? What will happen when nonprofit agencies and medical clinics and hospitals that care for the poor and needy here in the United States and are run by and funded by believers suddenly stop operating? What will happen when humanitarian relief organizations and adoption agencies and other charitable organizations that are run by and funded by believers in Jesus Christ stand empty? Those who sneer at Christianity and mock the do-gooders and the missionaries will suddenly realize how much of a blessing believers actually have been in the U.
Whenever we sin, we know as John says that "if we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive our sins" for the sake of Jesus our Savior 1 John If repentance becomes a "game" with God, if we don't really want or intend to stop committing a certain sin say stealing , and if we go on stealing and living always in that sin of stealing, then we place ourselves in grave spiritual danger.
We need to ask that God the Holy Spirit give us the power to stop committing that sin and trust Him to help us fight against it. Sad to say, the desire to sin may come back at times, for which we will have to repent again. That's not the same as living in sin. We all commit all kinds of sins daily, for which we have to daily repent. As long as we are sorry for our sins and believe that God forgives our sins for Christ's sake, we will be forgiven and have eternal life.
Worldly sorrow is the kind of sorrow Judas Iscariot had, which caused him to commit suicide. It was a self-centered remorse and despair that wrongly concluded that all was lost in this life, that there was no hope, that there was nothing God could do.
Second Corinthians says that this kind of sorrow brings death. But godly sorrow is true sorrow over sin accompanied by trust in Jesus for forgiveness. This is the kind of sorrow Peter had after he denied Jesus, and it is the sorrow King David had after he committed adultery and murder Psalm Godly sorrow leads to life and salvation because it includes faith in Jesus Christ.
Could a person commit this sin and not know about it? Is concern about this sin evidence that one has not committed it? It should be noted that Jesus does not say that the Pharisees had actually themselves committed this sin, but that they were in danger of doing so. The sin against the Holy Spirit is the conscious, persistent, stubborn, unyielding refusal of someone who was at one time a believer to acknowledge his or her sin, be sorry for it, and desire God's forgiveness in Christ.
It is impossible, therefore, for a confessing Christian to fall into this state unknowingly or unwillingly, and any confessing Christian who is sincerely concerned about the possibility of having committed this "sin" clearly has not committed it, because one of the necessary signs of being in this state of non-repentance and unbelief is having no real concern or remorse about being in this condition.
What happens to such people? Concordia Publishing House , , LCMS theologian Otto Sohn raises the question, "What stand does our church take regarding the heathen who have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and what is the individual's responsibility toward these people? Christ, the Savior of the world, answered the first question in this way: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" Mark The apostle Peter put it another way: "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" Acts The same truth is expressed in John and ; Rom.
Though such people have not heard the Gospel, they are without excuse Rom. God has not left Himself without witness Acts , but He has revealed His existence by the works of nature and wants men to seek Him, if "haply they might feel after Him and find Him" Acts The Bible also reveals that people who knowingly and willfully reject the Gospel of Jesus will be more severely punished than those who never heard it Luke , Because of the horrible doom awaiting all those who do not believe in Jesus, we should seek to reach as many as possible with our own fearless witness and ardently support the missionary endeavors of our church on behalf of those whom we cannot reach with our own voice.
Nor must we forget our responsibility toward fellow Christians who are on the verge of erring from the truth, whether by word or deed Gal. And lest we should preach to others, but ourselves become castaways, we should be earnestly concerned about our own salvation Matt. While these are fiction books, they discuss the "end times" within a biblical context. What is the LCMS position on these books and their portrayal of the end times?
ANSWER: The conceptual framework for the Left Behind series is the so-called "rapture," which is a central aspect of dispensational pre-millennial views of the end times.
Such views conflict with the Lutheran position on what the Scriptures and the Lutheran confessional writings teach concerning the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Included in this report is a discussion of current views of "the rapture" and helpful charts summarizing them. It was also suggested that hell is not eternal. Are there scriptural references to support these points? Regarding heaven and "degrees of glory" the Commission says: "Eternal life is pictured in the Scriptures as a state of never-ending "blessedness.
At the same time, they will experience the unending joy of being with God in the new heavens and new earth e. Forever eliminated is the possibility of falling away from God. This blessedness will bring with it the joy of being in eternal communion with fellow believers, whom we have reason to believe we shall recognize cf. And, there will be no limitations or degrees attached to the enjoyment of the happiness to be experienced, though there will be degrees of glory corresponding to differences of work and fidelity here on earth, producing praise to God but no envy see 2 Cor.
Lutherans certainly believe what Paul teaches in this passage, namely, that those who are still living on earth when Christ returns visibly on the last day "will be caught up" "raptured" together with "the dead in Christ" to "meet the Lord in the air. Some Christians teach, however, that the "rapture" will take place not on the last day but in connection with an "invisible" coming of Christ occurring before a seven-year period of "tribulation" on earth, allowing Christians to "escape" this tribulation and then later return to earth for a literal "1, year reign of Christ.
Lutherans do not believe that these teachings are based on a proper understanding of Scripture. Scripture teaches that all Christians will endure varying degrees of "tribulation" until the last day, that Christ will return only once visibly to "catch up" "rapture" all believers, living and dead, into heaven, and that all believers will reign forever with him in heaven.
Lutherans understand the "1, years" of Rev. My first thought is that one cannot. But then I wonder if God takes away our free will when we get to heaven? I can't imagine why we would want to sin in heaven — we'll be perfect and the place we are will be perfect. But then I think of Adam and Eve before the fall — they were perfect, made in God's image, and they lived in a perfect place. Yet they had free will and sinned.
There is no sin in heaven, because it is the place where the sinless God dwells. Those who have been cleansed in the blood of the Lamb have been cleansed forever.
There is no more death in heaven, the result of sin. We die once and then the judgment. Our death ends sin, the Scripture says. Just as the good angels are fixed in their sinless state now, so also we shall be. We will serve God forever willingly, but it will be impossible for us to will to sin as did our first parents. In heaven it will not be like in the beginning of our human history. Old things have passed away, the new has come Rev. There will be only life, eternal life, and where there is eternal life there is eternal sinlessness.
Are we judged immediately, and is our soul sent to heaven or hell or what? The departed souls remain in heaven or hell until the Day of Judgment, when they shall be reunited with their own bodies Matt. Therefore, "The Last Judgment is the grand finale of this present world, in which the sentence pronounced in death over the individual will be publicly confirmed and extended to the body, which till then has returned to the dust, from whence it came.
He who continues in the faith unto the end has nothing to fear for his soul after death or for his body and soul on the Day of Judgment Rev. Louis: Concordia, While I truly believe that Jesus died for our sins, those who accept Him as their personal Savior, I have been troubled as to where my sister and father are now. Are they asleep until the end of the world? Are their bodies asleep, but their souls with God? Or, are they in Heaven with God now?
In the moment of death the souls of the believers enter the joy of heaven. Jesus said to the malefactor: "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" Luke Stephen said in the hour of death: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" Acts Whoever dies in the Lord is blessed "from henceforth" Rev.
Paul desires "to be with Christ," and adds that this is "far better" for him than to continue in the flesh Phil. For this reason we pray that finally, when our last hour has come, God would grant us a blessed end and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven.
On the day of the final judgment, the redeemed souls in heaven will be reunited with their own now glorified bodies and will begin to enjoy the bliss of heaven in both body and soul John ; Phil.
The Lutheran church has always rejected as unscriptural the idea that the soul "sleeps" between death and Judgment Day in such a way that it is not conscious of heavenly bliss. I know the Word and the promises of the Gospel are our rock, but how do we distinguish between real faith and mere intellectual assent?
I ask this because many evangelicals make me nervous when they say that if one has doubts about one's salvation, one is probably not saved because the Holy Spirit is supposed to provide inner assurance. I guess this ties in to the whole Pietist problem. But in the face of emotional ups and downs, moral failings, intellectual doubts, and confusion over doctrine, how can one know if one truly has faith in Christ? Therefore, assurance of salvation is to be sought by looking to God's Word and promises in Christ which create and strengthen the faith through which one is saved , not by looking inward at the strength or weakness of one's own faith which creates either pride and false assurance or doubt and lack of assurance.
Anxiety regarding doubts, strength of faith and certainty of salvation are signs of faith however weak it may be , not signs of unbelief, since the unbeliever has no concern or anxiety about doubts, faith or salvation. If you would like to study this issue further, I would recommend Martin Chemnitz's book on Justification, available from Concordia Publishing House , stock no. If God already predetermined who was saved, what is the point of witnessing? ANSWER: Let me first of all refer you to a couple of resources that set forth the position of the Synod on Election and objective or "universal" justification.
From the standpoint of human reason, the scriptural teachings that God has objectively justified objective justification the whole world through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and wants all people to be saved through faith in Him subjective justification , and that He elected by grace from eternity those who are saved, cannot be resolved.
We must say with Paul when he contemplates the mystery of our election, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! And yet, we can say this on the basis of God's Word. By faith we hold that it is precisely because we Christians are God's elect that we proclaim the good news of salvation. We see this in Ephesians, where Paul begins by praising God for His election the purest of Gospel and only meant for our comfort; Eph.
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ This same Apostle, who regarded himself as among God's elect, wrote to the Corinthians, "For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! We witness, therefore, because God commands us to make known His saving will to others and because we are in fact part of God's elective plan being carried out in history Eph.
How does this relate to being saved by grace? ANSWER: The statements of the Creed read as follows: "At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies and will give an account of their own works. And they that have done good will go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.
It is important to note that the Athanasian Creed does not here say that certain people will "enter eternal life" because they "have done good. On Judgment Day, God will point to our good works not as the cause of our salvation but as the evidence of the faith through which we have been saved and which enabled us to do that which was well-pleasing in his sight.
There are numerous Bible passages that make the same point and use the same language e. The confession of these sentences in the Athanasian Creed in our churches is, in fact, a helpful reminder of the relation of faith and good works as taught in the Bible.
In this connection you may wish to review the following comments on Rom. Rather, he is discussing the principle of judgment according to deeds. Judgment will be rendered according to one's deeds in the sense that the good works of the believer give evidence that he has faith. Good works, which are seen, give evidence of faith, which is unseen. However, in your Theses on Justification on this website it says plainly that believers have eternal assurance paragraph Which is it?
ANSWER: Lutherans believe both are true and Scriptural: It is possible for a believer to fall from faith and lose salvation, and it is possible for a believer to have complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
If this seems paradoxical to human reason, then Lutherans say this is only because the teaching of Scripture itself on this issue as on many other issues appears paradoxical to human reason. For Lutherans, this is essentially a matter of properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel: Warnings against falling from faith are the strongest form of God's Law, intended to warn against "carnal security" based on "good works" or against the attitude that "since I'm saved, I can do anything I want to do.
Assurances of God's constant and eternal love in Christ are the sweetest and purest form of Gospel, intended to comfort those who are plagued by their sins and by their failures to keep God's Law perfectly. QUESTION: I am having some trouble coming to understanding of faith alone based off of the Scripture that was cited on your website, and I was hoping for further explanation regarding the seemingly conflicting messages.
I think for me what is most problematic is actually Romans 2 — not listed as a reference but essential in understanding fully Romans 3 and 4. Romans 2 is based on the idea that to be truly Jewish is to be inwardly circumcised and not outwardly circumcised and inwardly something else. Then given Romans 3 and 4, is this necessarily an attack on good works as being a means for salvation or is this an attack on professing to be one thing and actually being another?
I was just wondering because of the obvious stark contrast to James As you no doubt are aware, the central and consistent teaching of Paul that we are justified by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ is nowhere more beautifully summarized than in Eph. By its very definition "grace" means that human works do not contribute in any way to a person's salvation or justification, as St. Paul says in Rom.
Or as the apostle had already said in , " Paul said this, of course, in the context of Jewish opinions regarding what was required for salvation. By making circumcision a necessary requirement for one to be saved See Acts ff. The faith of which Paul speaks, of course, is a living faith in Jesus Christ that produces, by God's Spirit, the good works that God wills be done in the Christian's life.
That is why, immediately after his beautiful summary of the Gospel in Eph. Of this living faith, Luther so eloquently said: "Oh faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, so that it is impossible for it not to be constantly doing what is good.
Likewise, faith does not ask if good works are to be done, but before one can ask, faith has already done them and is constantly active" Formula of Concord, SD, IV, This is precisely what the entire book of James is all about. Genuine faith is a faith that shows itself in good works. Or as Luther again put it once, as an apple tree makes fruit and the fruit does not make an apple tree, so works do not make a Christian, but a Christian does good works.
Lueker, editor; Concordia Publishing House, contains the following helpful summary of the Lutheran understanding of what Scripture teaches regarding the freedom of the will:. The scriptural doctrine of the freedom of the human will is closely connected with the doctrine of original sin see Sin, Original. The doctrine of the freedom of the human will after the fall of man must be studied from the viewpoint of original sin.
Scripture emphatically declares that man, also after the fall, continues to be a responsible moral agent, who in earthly matters, to some extent, may exercise freedom of will; but it asserts that "natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, Accordingly, Scripture denies to man after the fall and before conversion freedom of will in spiritual matters, and Scripture asserts that conversion is accomplished entirely through the Holy Ghost by the Gospel.
God "hath saved us It is also taught among us that man possesses some measure of freedom of the will which enables him to live an outwardly honorable life and to make choices among the things that reason comprehends. But without the grace, help, and activity of the Holy Spirit man is not capable of making himself acceptable to God, of fearing God and believing in God with his whole heart, or of expelling inborn evil lusts from his heart. Additional Scripture passages which may be helpful as you study and discuss this issue are: John ; ; Rom.
The Bible does not say that there are those who are chosen and that there are those who are not. So, does that mean God chose everyone to be saved before the foundation of the world and therefore it is man's choice whether he will accept God's saving grace? However, one cannot come into God's grace by himself, but by the Holy Spirit "leading" him unto salvation. Is that the correct interpretation? I am confused by the fact that we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, yet the very action of choosing can mean there were those who were not chosen.
Theologians throughout history have referred to this question as the "crux theologorum" "the cross of the theologians" because of the difficulty and from the Lutheran perspective, the impossibility of giving an answer to this question which is satisfactory to our human reason. Some answer this question by pointing to man's "free will" — only those are saved who "choose" to be saved.
Lutherans reject this answer as unscriptural because according to the Bible even man's will is "dead" and powerless to "choose" God and his grace in Christ. We are saved not because we "choose" to be saved but because the Holy Spirit works faith in our heart through the Gospel even faith is a gift!
Others answer this question by pointing to God's sovereign will: God himself predestines from eternity some to be saved and others to be damned. Lutherans reject this answer as unscriptural because, according to the Bible, God sincerely desires all to be saved and has predestined no one to damnation.
So how do Lutherans answer this question? The answer is that Lutherans do not try to answer it because we believe the Bible itself does not provide an answer to this question that is comprehensible to human reason. Lutherans affirm, with Scripture, that whoever is saved is saved by God's grace alone, a grace so sure that it excludes all human "action" and "choice" but rather rests on the foundation of God's action in Christ and his "choice" predestination from before the beginning of time.
Lutherans also affirm, with Scripture, that those who are damned are damned not by God's "choice" but on account of their own human sin and rebellion and unbelief. From a human perspective, there is no "rational" or "logical" way to put these two truths together.
Lutherans believe and confess them not because they are "rational" and "logical," but because this is what we find taught in Scripture.
Given that he is saved by faith, does God see to it that he will do good works, and, if so, does God fix the number and character of these works? Can a person with faith feel assured he is doing enough good works and that God is indifferent to further ones? Can a person who is not saved do good works?
Is God indifferent to them? Or is He glad when an agnostic performs an act of Christ-like mercy? If a Christian knows he is saved by knowing that he has faith, should he bother with the question whether he is practicing Christ's teachings, given that faith alone is sufficient for salvation?
Or should he bother with it only because a large enough absence of good works would suggest his faith might be too weak for salvation? ANSWER: You may criticize your Christian brother for failing to do good works insofar as God's Word criticizes him faith without deeds is dead — James , but you must criticize yourself at the same time because no one is perfect, all have sinned.
We need to be merciful and forgiving to one another. Also encourage one another to do good works Heb. Consider this Word to be the answer to your next two questions: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Eph. The answer to the second part of this question is no, we cannot feel assured that we have done or are doing enough good works, since we do not know how many God has set for us to do.
We don't know what God's plans are. If God has prepared in advance the works we are to do, He cannot be indifferent to any of our good works. Again, we need to encourage one another to do good works.
The literal-minded belief in how Judgment Day will go down got a darkly funny spin during one of the opening sequences of another HBO offering, Six Feet Under , in which a woman witnesses a bunch of inflatable sex dolls escaping into the sky from the back of a delivery truck, mistakes them for angels floating up to heaven, and gets so excited about the Second Coming that she runs fatally into the middle of oncoming traffic.
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