Unity of the Faith
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Ephesians 4:11–13
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Unity of the Faith
The Lutheran Confessions say that in order that we may obtain this faith (being freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith), the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. God knows that we cannot minister to ourselves. He knows that we need to hear his Law to show us our sin and then to be rescued by the preaching of the cross of Christ and his resurrection. It is only by the blood of Jesus that we are saved. There is no other name. So he sends servants into your life. He could have devised a different plan that might have included angels or other heavenly avenues of grace, but instead he picked apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors. He picked sinful men to bring the sweet medicine of immortality to sinners. The medicine is still for sinners. The cure is still Jesus' suffering and death. The reason is still because he loves you. He wants to build you up in the faith. He wants to strengthen the body of Christ. He desires you to be filled with Jesus.
Ephesians 4:11–13
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Unity of the Faith
The Lutheran Confessions say that in order that we may obtain this faith (being freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith), the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. God knows that we cannot minister to ourselves. He knows that we need to hear his Law to show us our sin and then to be rescued by the preaching of the cross of Christ and his resurrection. It is only by the blood of Jesus that we are saved. There is no other name. So he sends servants into your life. He could have devised a different plan that might have included angels or other heavenly avenues of grace, but instead he picked apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors. He picked sinful men to bring the sweet medicine of immortality to sinners. The medicine is still for sinners. The cure is still Jesus' suffering and death. The reason is still because he loves you. He wants to build you up in the faith. He wants to strengthen the body of Christ. He desires you to be filled with Jesus.
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March
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