04 - Fourth Section

God be praised for having given us such a glorious Confession, which resembles a castle well-fortified on all sides!

O ye dear faithful children of God within our beloved Evangelical Lutheran church! Do then in the first place indeed adhere steadfastly in opposition to all Calvinistic errors to the doctrine, that God is willing to grant faith, perseverance in faith, and finally everlasting salvation to all men; that through the word He offers all this earnestly, strongly, and efficaciously, and that, consequently, it is not the fault of predestination, but of man himself, namely of his obstinate resistance, if so great a number either do not obtain faith, or do not persevere in faith unto the end, and thus are lost eternally. But adhere also firmly to this: That ye believe and persevere in faith, of this not ye yourselves are the cause; it is not the consequence of your having been better than others and therefor [sic.or all times treasured up for all Lutherans, as in their ark of the covenant, and by God’s gracious dispensation has been handed down to us also. O then let us prove also by our conduct that we did not act the hypocrite in celebrating this jubilee; for in the year of this very jubilee of our Confession God has permitted assaults to be made out of our own camp upon an important doctrine of our Confession, in order to put us to the test whether we would prove faithful wardens of the treasure which in our Confession He entrusted to us. O do let us prove faithful! As in other doctrines let us also in the doo not perish, because God, as Calvin in contradiction of the plain word of God does impiously teach, assigned them to eternal damnation (for God "will have all men to be saved"), but through their own fault; not because God excluded them, but because they excluded themselves; not because God with His grace passed them by, but because they passed by God’s grace which desired to save them. Those, however, that are saved, do not owe it to themselves, but only to God’s mercy in Christ; for God Himself in the prophecy of Hosea comprises these two truths in the following few words: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help." (Hosea 13:9) Whoever, therefore, tries to make you believe that we teach that horrible Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, grossly transgresses the eighth commandment, in bearing false witness against his neighbor and slandering us; and God will judge it hereafter; for with heart and soul we condemn Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, so help us God!

Now then, ye Lutheran readers, remember: Last year all of us celebrated a jubilee, because 300 years ago God bestowed upon our Church her glorious last public Confession, namely the Formula of Concord, in which the doctrine of the Reformation, the pure doctrine of Luther, purified from all corruptions that had crept in after Luther’s death, has been for all times treasured up for all Lutherans, as in their ark of the covenant, and by God’s gracious dispensation has been handed down to us also. O then let us prove also by our conduct that we did not act the hypocrite in celebrating this jubilee; for in the year of this very jubilee of our Confession God has permitted assaults to be made out of our own camp upon an important doctrine of our Confession, in order to put us to the test whether we would prove faithful wardens of the treasure which in our Confession He entrusted to us. O do let us prove faithful! As in other doctrines let us also in the doctrine concerning predestination return to our Confession which in this point has been departed from so soon. For we need but two short sentences of our dear Formula of Concord which, if firmly adhered to, are fully sufficient to keep us from all corruption of this doctrine. These two sentences which on pp. 7 and 9 [in the original (ed.)] we have caused to be printed in large type, shine like stars in our Confession, that no Lutheran may allow the pure doctrine of his church to be perverted or explained away by any sophistry, subtlety, or the plea: "The fathers! The fathers!" These two sentences, therefore, every Lutheran ought to commit to memory now, in order to have them always at hand, and along with the word of God to use them as his good, bright, Lutheran sword and his good, impenetrable, Lutheran shield. In the above, dear Lutheran readers, we have offered you our plain advice, if you would like to know whose doctrine in the present controversy concerning predestination is Lutheran, and whose is not. We can assure you from experience that this advice has stood the test already in many cases. Examine it, therefore, and if you find it good, follow it! But if someone offers you another advice as a better one, I beseech you: Examine it also and inquire with care, whether that advice really is a better one! For not every advice is a better one, which is recommended as a better one. When, for instance, in Luther’s days a controversy had arisen concerning the meaning of Christ’s words: "This is my body," the fanatic Schwenkfeld desired also to offer a better advice than all the rest, for adjusting the controversy. But what was his advice? If any one advises you not to be so very particular about the words of our Confession, and endeavors to prove by all kinds of crafty devices that the words of the Confession mean something else than they read, then think of Schwenkfeld!

Perhaps you will say now: "But what after all is the true biblical-Lubrethren! If any one advises you not to be so very particular about the words of our Confession, and endeavors to prove by all kinds of crafty devices that the words of the Confession mean something else than they read, then think of Schwenkfeld!

Perhaps you will say now: "But what after all is the true biblical-Lutheran doctrine concerning predestination? For shall I be anything the better for being able to confute all erroneous doctrines concerning this article, if I do not know what doctrine is the true one?" There you are quite right. We therefore intend, with the help of God, to issue soon a second tract on the doctrine concerning predestination and to expound the pure Lutheran doctrine concerning predestination in the most simple manner. For this purpose we ask you for your faithful prayer in the name of Jesus.