Transcript: Episode 0004
This transcript:
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WEBVTT 00:00:37.476 --> 00:00:39.476Welcome to the Stone Choir Podcast. 00:00:39.636 --> 00:00:40.536 I am Corey J. 00:00:40.556 --> 00:00:40.956 Mahler. 00:00:41.516 --> 00:00:42.296 And I'm Woe. 00:00:44.056 --> 00:00:49.276 As a sort of warning to the listener, today's episode does run a little long. 00:00:49.796 --> 00:00:58.756 Undoubtedly, your podcast app has already notified you of the length of the episode, so I don't need to repeat it, not least of all because I do not yet know the exact length. 00:00:59.576 --> 00:01:00.716 It is over two hours. 00:01:01.296 --> 00:01:12.036 Really it is a two-part episode, but we do ask that you listen to the entire episode, preferably in one sitting and preferably with minimal distractions. 00:01:12.776 --> 00:01:17.156 This is an important topic and the entire thing hangs together. 00:01:17.836 --> 00:01:28.496 It is important to listen to the entirety of the episode to get the proper doctrine and theology and the proper context because all of it is connected. 00:01:29.296 --> 00:01:45.216 We try to aim for roughly an hour with episodes, but some things simply require more time because they are important and we want to make sure that we cover them adequately and correctly. 00:01:48.096 --> 00:01:54.616 Welcome to the delayed election episode when we originally decided we wanted to tackle election next. 00:01:54.616 --> 00:02:05.016 The timing was that it was going to be the day after the midterm election, so I was going to make a stupid joke about that, but you've been spared by that by multiple hardware malfunctions. 00:02:05.756 --> 00:02:16.656 My very expensive microphone died, and it died in such a way that it took me about 40 hours of debugging and buying several hundred dollars more equipment to isolate that it was, in fact, the microphone. 00:02:16.716 --> 00:02:20.536 So I apologize for the two weeks that we were down. 00:02:22.076 --> 00:02:29.796 I love listening to podcasts, too, and I always count on showing up on time and our goal is absolutely to make sure that we always deliver every episode on time. 00:02:29.816 --> 00:02:31.956 So that will be the case in the future, I think. 00:02:32.776 --> 00:02:41.776 Now that we're back up and running, we will try to get a couple episodes in the can so that we'll be able to deliver even in the event that calamity befalls us. 00:02:42.936 --> 00:02:46.116 On that note, I would like to ask for something of our listeners. 00:02:46.356 --> 00:02:51.556 First, thank you to everyone who's been sharing the podcast with friends and online and elsewhere. 00:02:51.576 --> 00:02:59.416 It means a lot because this is obviously an incredibly niche sort of thing that will also never have any marketing budget. 00:02:59.436 --> 00:03:04.916 So the only way anyone's going to hear it is if someone shares it with someone and says, hey, we think this is worth your time. 00:03:05.476 --> 00:03:08.636 So we appreciate each and every share that you provide. 00:03:10.956 --> 00:03:26.136 When Corey and I set out to do this, when we finally decided to pull the trigger on a project we've been talking about pretty much since we were introduced, within about 24 hours of us deciding to do this, all hell broke loose. 00:03:26.636 --> 00:03:39.136 We started having equipment malfunctions, software malfunctions, not just related to the stuff we were using for the podcasting, but just in general in life, a whole lot of stuff went wrong. 00:03:39.156 --> 00:03:42.956 And some of it went wrong in ways that are literally impossible. 00:03:42.996 --> 00:03:53.176 Like some of the malfunctions that my microphone in recording stuff exhibited, it was the technological equivalent of water flowing uphill. 00:03:53.196 --> 00:04:01.536 There was no rational explanation for what was going on, which is part of why it took me so long to figure out that it was in fact the mic that needed to be replaced. 00:04:03.356 --> 00:04:20.936 So my request to the audience, if you would consider saying a prayer for us once in a while to keep Cory and I faithful and steadfast to God's Word and to give us the strength to persevere through the slings and arrows that Satan is throwing at us. 00:04:21.396 --> 00:04:29.876 You know, audio hardware is kind of a possessed all by itself without any special intervention by the devil. 00:04:30.196 --> 00:04:42.496 But the volume and the nature of the things that have gone wrong are such that I personally think there's no argument that Satan really doesn't want us to be doing this thing, which we knew going into it. 00:04:42.516 --> 00:04:44.076 That's precisely why we're doing it. 00:04:44.116 --> 00:04:51.796 Despite not really wanting to undertake this, we knew that we had to because of the challenges that were being faced in the world. 00:04:51.796 --> 00:04:57.816 So if you would just say a prayer for our protection and faithfulness, it would be greatly appreciated. 00:05:00.136 --> 00:05:09.336 Just the sheer unlikeliness of both of us having a mic die because I also had a mic that bricked itself, and it happened within the same week. 00:05:10.236 --> 00:05:16.436 Totally different mics, different manufacturers purchased at different times, died within a week of each other. 00:05:16.816 --> 00:05:17.676 Very unlikely. 00:05:18.736 --> 00:05:18.996 Yeah. 00:05:19.356 --> 00:05:23.936 I mean, a microphone is basically a solid state device. 00:05:23.956 --> 00:05:26.576 There's one moving part and it barely moves. 00:05:26.976 --> 00:05:28.556 It's not something you would expect to fail. 00:05:29.076 --> 00:05:29.956 Yeah, mine's a digital. 00:05:29.976 --> 00:05:32.176 Anyway, yeah. 00:05:32.716 --> 00:05:42.776 It's just the things that we're talking about and the people that we're addressing and the problems that we're addressing are, we believe, vital. 00:05:43.096 --> 00:05:44.476 And that's why we're here. 00:05:44.656 --> 00:05:49.556 So we thank you for listening and we hope that you'll consider keeping us in your prayers once in a while. 00:05:51.116 --> 00:05:57.436 The reason that we're talking about election today, it was not a, it wasn't just a gimmicky choice based on the timing. 00:05:58.176 --> 00:06:09.436 But election, other words for it are predestination or having your name written eternally in the Book of Life and Heaven from before eternity. 00:06:10.356 --> 00:06:14.836 These are all ways that the doctrine of election are described in scripture. 00:06:15.916 --> 00:06:29.016 The reason that we wanted to talk about it next is that it flows naturally from episodes, episode two's discussion of genealogy and episode three's discussion of nationality. 00:06:30.096 --> 00:06:51.756 When you look at how election plays out, both as it is described in scripture and then what happens in the world and time and space, it is clear that it is also a manifestation of God's will through lineal inheritance, which is not to say that it is only inherited. 00:06:51.856 --> 00:06:55.916 We'll get into that, but it does flow naturally from our previous discussions. 00:06:56.376 --> 00:07:06.936 And all of these are laying the groundwork for additional future episodes that are going to get into some of the most controversial issues that are, frankly, they're going to split the church in some really ugly ways. 00:07:07.576 --> 00:07:13.276 And our fear is that there will be good men on the wrong side of those splits because they have not thought these things through. 00:07:13.296 --> 00:07:14.976 So that's why we're talking about them now. 00:07:15.996 --> 00:07:23.256 The three things that I hope the audience today will keep in mind as we're talking about this particular doctrine. 00:07:23.996 --> 00:07:26.396 First, this is not going to be a Systematics podcast. 00:07:26.416 --> 00:07:30.536 We're not going to be doing deep dives on doctrines as a matter of course. 00:07:30.976 --> 00:07:37.636 The reason that we are tackling election in particular is that it touches directly on things that we're facing today. 00:07:37.736 --> 00:07:40.276 In the second half of the episode, we'll be making that case. 00:07:40.896 --> 00:07:43.976 But election is a doctrine that is found everywhere in scripture. 00:07:44.776 --> 00:07:52.436 Once you realize the different terms that are being used for it by God, you basically can't turn from justice to revelation. 00:07:52.456 --> 00:07:54.416 You're going to find it smacking you in the face continuously. 00:07:55.396 --> 00:08:01.316 So it's a doctrine that is universal. 00:08:01.336 --> 00:08:02.856 It's not Lutheran doctrine. 00:08:02.876 --> 00:08:04.136 It's not Protestant doctrine. 00:08:04.176 --> 00:08:05.276 It's Christian doctrine. 00:08:05.856 --> 00:08:13.776 And it is the key way that God helps to explain our salvation and the gift of faith that is given to us. 00:08:14.216 --> 00:08:21.876 So the first thing I want everyone to keep in mind is that the doctrine of election is given for our comfort. 00:08:22.376 --> 00:08:31.256 When we're talking about election and predestination, it should never be thought of in the sense of the condemnation of those who are not believers. 00:08:31.616 --> 00:08:33.436 And we'll get into why that is. 00:08:34.396 --> 00:08:36.876 But election is given for comfort. 00:08:36.896 --> 00:08:39.936 It is not given for punishment or for doubt. 00:08:41.456 --> 00:08:51.956 The second thing that you need to keep in mind as you're listening to this episode is that this is one of the very short lists of doctrines in Scripture that is beyond reason. 00:08:53.216 --> 00:08:55.216 It's like the Trinity in that sense. 00:08:55.256 --> 00:09:06.756 When you look at everything in Scripture that describes the Trinity, and a great encapsulation of this if you haven't seen it before, not only the Apostle and Nicene creeds, but the Athanasian creed. 00:09:07.436 --> 00:09:11.256 It's something that in Lutheran churches is typically only read once a year. 00:09:11.656 --> 00:09:13.116 It is well worth studying. 00:09:13.296 --> 00:09:18.356 I actually memorized it in seventh grade for extra credit, and that was fun because it's a couple pages long. 00:09:19.316 --> 00:09:38.776 When you read the Athanasian creed, what you will find is a faithful confession of what Scripture says about God in such a way that there are no errors in the Athanasian creed because it agrees with Scripture, but when you look at it in totality, it's kind of confusing. 00:09:39.576 --> 00:09:45.156 It doesn't really make sense how there can be not three eternals, but one eternal. 00:09:45.416 --> 00:09:48.076 What's the difference between a person and the God? 00:09:48.096 --> 00:09:50.536 How can there be three persons, but one God? 00:09:51.416 --> 00:09:57.096 Our human reason fails when we're trying to introspect God, which shouldn't surprise us. 00:09:57.116 --> 00:09:58.216 We're creatures. 00:09:58.536 --> 00:10:07.936 We have a Creator who is infinite, so the idea that we can't fit our Creator inside our little tiny created meat minds shouldn't surprise or upset us. 00:10:09.356 --> 00:10:18.176 The essence of the Christian faith is believing that, which is taught, not making it subject to intellectual ascent. 00:10:18.696 --> 00:10:22.536 And that's a place where some denominations kind of go off the rails. 00:10:22.776 --> 00:10:33.816 They look at scripture faithfully and they say, okay, I'm going to believe this, but then they run into things where it seems like it doesn't add up and reason has made the master of their doctrine. 00:10:33.976 --> 00:10:36.836 And that is how you invent heresies. 00:10:36.996 --> 00:10:45.276 The reason that the creeds were originally written was to deal with the heresies that came from the very intelligent men who were looking at scripture and trying to make sense of the Trinity. 00:10:45.676 --> 00:10:57.436 And they made a mess because they made their reason the master when God must be the master and what he reveals must be binding upon us whether or not we understand it. 00:10:57.856 --> 00:11:09.536 When Christ talks about us having the faith of a child, that's what it means to receive teaching without requiring that it pass some smell test of our own reason. 00:11:10.056 --> 00:11:14.456 That's not to say that you should just blindly listen to whatever you hear. 00:11:14.476 --> 00:11:24.376 And this is the reason why faithful teachers, faithful pastors are so crucial because most people are not equipped to understand and reason these things out. 00:11:25.136 --> 00:11:29.416 We have thousands of years of faithful doctrine being developed and understood. 00:11:30.516 --> 00:11:31.756 Develop is a weak word. 00:11:32.036 --> 00:11:39.516 Being properly fleshed out in such a way that when you say everything that scripture says in a certain way, you can know that you're being faithful. 00:11:39.696 --> 00:11:44.856 And so there are a few doctrines like the Trinity, like the nature of Christ, the hypostatic union. 00:11:45.156 --> 00:11:47.836 How can he be both fully God and fully man? 00:11:48.496 --> 00:11:49.416 It doesn't make sense. 00:11:49.916 --> 00:11:53.716 And as Lutherans were comfortable saying that, we don't understand. 00:11:53.736 --> 00:11:54.436 It's a mystery. 00:11:54.716 --> 00:12:00.436 We can say what God says, but we can't make sense of it in such a way that it's going to add up in our minds. 00:12:01.276 --> 00:12:04.016 The same is true of communion, of the Eucharist. 00:12:04.536 --> 00:12:11.196 When God says, this is my body, this is my blood, he also says this is bread and this is wine. 00:12:11.896 --> 00:12:18.796 And the Reformed and the Catholics both agree that it can only be one or the other by reason. 00:12:18.816 --> 00:12:22.396 It can't possibly be blood if it's wine, and it can't be wine if it's blood. 00:12:23.196 --> 00:12:26.256 So each of them pick one and they go in opposite directions. 00:12:27.036 --> 00:12:36.436 Lutherans and to their credit, the Eastern Orthodox, say, look, we don't understand how it works, but God says it's bread, God says it's his flesh, so it is. 00:12:36.936 --> 00:12:39.816 This is the same God who spoke the universe into existence. 00:12:40.176 --> 00:12:44.716 He's the same God who spoke Lazarus back to life by saying, Lazarus, come out. 00:12:45.336 --> 00:12:47.696 That wasn't a descriptive thing, that was proscriptive. 00:12:47.696 --> 00:12:49.236 When God speaks, it is true. 00:12:49.736 --> 00:13:01.296 So when there are doctrines that are revealed in such a way that we can't make them subject to our reason, once we've exhausted all other possibilities as faithful Christians, we simply have a duty to believe them. 00:13:01.596 --> 00:13:05.516 And election predestination is one of those where it's challenging. 00:13:05.536 --> 00:13:17.056 So as you hear us talking about it today, please don't cherry-pick 30-second or two-minute segments of this and try to say, well, that's wrong, that's contrary to Scripture. 00:13:17.576 --> 00:13:20.336 Because in isolation, you're probably right. 00:13:21.296 --> 00:13:29.016 The doctrine of predestination, the doctrine of faith, the doctrine of salvation, it doesn't make sense. 00:13:29.336 --> 00:13:36.936 And you can say what God says, but if you try to apply reason to it rigorously, you're going to make a mess. 00:13:37.056 --> 00:13:45.736 And so I just encourage people to please listen to the whole thing as one piece and then take it as a coherent whole, because that's the only way it can be presented. 00:13:46.256 --> 00:13:48.276 This is not something that can fit on a bumper sticker. 00:13:49.196 --> 00:13:59.376 And the third point I just like to make before we launch into this is that election is not simply some hypothetical doctrine that doesn't have any applicability. 00:14:00.336 --> 00:14:10.496 It is a doctrine which is central to all of the most painful problems that the church and the world are facing today. 00:14:11.056 --> 00:14:14.156 And this is the case that we'll be making in the second half of the episode. 00:14:15.396 --> 00:14:27.476 Every major modern fight about racism, about colonialism, about cultural and racial supremacy, about patriarchy, all of these things are ultimately attacks on doctrine and on salvation. 00:14:28.236 --> 00:14:37.836 And we are doing this episode in order to make the case for the necessity of us returning to a faithful belief of election. 00:14:37.856 --> 00:14:49.436 Because frankly, while Lutherans certainly say that we subscribe to the doctrine of election, when push comes to shove, our churches are full of universalists. 00:14:49.456 --> 00:14:58.696 They're full of people who reject election, who try to be so quote unquote gospel focused that they end up contradicting scripture left and right. 00:14:59.036 --> 00:15:00.536 And they're doing it in the name of love. 00:15:00.736 --> 00:15:15.716 So we're going back to first principles here in order to try to get our feet under us so that when these discussions are had in future episodes and elsewhere, you will be equipped to understand what it is that you're facing. 00:15:15.796 --> 00:15:18.516 Because like you said, this is not just an academic thing. 00:15:18.536 --> 00:15:23.716 This is a live issue that is, it's shaping the world around you. 00:15:23.976 --> 00:15:27.176 And that is something, the doctrine of election is not novel. 00:15:27.196 --> 00:15:29.016 It's something that's been around forever. 00:15:29.316 --> 00:15:32.556 Everyone in Christianity and the faith has always known about it. 00:15:33.036 --> 00:15:38.676 But the modern implications are something that, personally, I haven't seen discussed elsewhere. 00:15:38.696 --> 00:15:46.636 And that's the reason we're doing this episode, is to make the connection between the doctrine of scripture and the events that we're seeing in the world today. 00:15:47.476 --> 00:15:51.196 So that, like the preamble out of the way, let's get into what election is. 00:15:53.396 --> 00:16:04.116 Just briefly before we get into election proper, I want to address at the outset an issue that some will have approaching the matter of election and related things. 00:16:04.476 --> 00:16:06.636 And that is, as you said, it's a mystery. 00:16:07.416 --> 00:16:12.876 Now the word mystery is going to raise the hackles of some people. 00:16:12.896 --> 00:16:18.056 Some people are trained so that they don't like the idea that some things are beyond our knowledge. 00:16:18.276 --> 00:16:20.956 And we'll get into that later in the episode. 00:16:21.436 --> 00:16:32.096 But I just want to point out the word for mystery, the word that is translated as mystery appears 35 times in scripture, 27 of which are in the New Testament. 00:16:32.116 --> 00:16:33.516 That is musterion in the Greek. 00:16:33.956 --> 00:16:36.836 This is not, as mentioned, something that appears in one place. 00:16:36.856 --> 00:16:38.716 This appears throughout the scriptures. 00:16:39.776 --> 00:16:42.256 And it is mystery or secret, a thing that is hidden. 00:16:42.736 --> 00:16:44.856 There are things that are beyond our understanding. 00:16:45.636 --> 00:16:46.896 And that just makes sense. 00:16:46.916 --> 00:16:49.336 We worship an infinite God who created the universe. 00:16:49.956 --> 00:16:53.736 There are going to be things in his council that we cannot understand fully. 00:16:53.756 --> 00:16:59.436 We can understand them to the extent that they are revealed to us, primarily in scripture. 00:17:00.556 --> 00:17:06.296 And so I just wanted to deal with that issue of the word mystery and the fact that it makes some people uncomfortable. 00:17:07.856 --> 00:17:22.956 And as a lifelong Lutheran, that's one of the things that I appreciate the most about our doctrine, is that we are content to run out of runway and say, you know what, we're not going to be able to understand this. 00:17:22.956 --> 00:17:26.396 We can say what God says, but we're not going to be able to make sense of this. 00:17:26.416 --> 00:17:31.896 And that's okay, because we acknowledge that we are creatures and that our God, our Creator is greater than us. 00:17:32.516 --> 00:17:35.776 And we say right back to Him what He says. 00:17:36.436 --> 00:17:38.956 And if we don't make sense of it, that's okay. 00:17:39.336 --> 00:17:40.856 We are children in the faith. 00:17:40.896 --> 00:17:42.856 We do not need to be the masters of these things. 00:17:44.256 --> 00:17:49.436 And in a very real sense, we do actually have these things revealed to us in Scripture. 00:17:49.456 --> 00:17:56.436 So they're a mystery in the sense of they are unknowable with regard to human reason, but they are knowable with regard to Revelation. 00:17:57.456 --> 00:18:03.516 Because we actually can understand election in a final sense. 00:18:03.536 --> 00:18:05.496 We understand what election is, what election does. 00:18:05.776 --> 00:18:12.676 We cannot necessarily get all of the steps leading up to election, explain the why and the how and all of these things. 00:18:13.656 --> 00:18:19.996 But the actual doctrine itself is revealed in Scripture in a way that it is knowable to those who have the Holy Spirit. 00:18:21.336 --> 00:18:22.236 And it's very simple. 00:18:23.056 --> 00:18:27.156 When we talk about it being a mystery, the mystery is that when you... 00:18:28.176 --> 00:18:35.656 Election in a nutshell is that God is the cause of our salvation solely, not us, only God. 00:18:36.116 --> 00:18:39.556 We are the cause of our damnation solely, not God. 00:18:40.236 --> 00:18:50.596 When you try to synthesize those two things, when you try to rationalize them and say, well, if X and not Y, then I'm going to infer a bunch of things, you can't, your inferences are going to be wrong. 00:18:50.616 --> 00:18:53.516 And so when we talk about reason failing, that's where it fails. 00:18:53.576 --> 00:19:04.196 It's the reasonable inferences that try to fill in the blanks between God chooses those whom he saves, but God did not choose those who are damned. 00:19:05.196 --> 00:19:06.236 That's where it doesn't make sense. 00:19:06.336 --> 00:19:15.456 And when people try to reconcile those two things beyond saying what God says, you're going to make some profound errors that will themselves have knock-on effects that are very harmful. 00:19:16.356 --> 00:19:17.596 It's the Crux Theologorum. 00:19:17.596 --> 00:19:33.136 It's the problem of attempting to resolve the statements in Scripture, God does not wish that any would perish, but that all would repent, turn, and be saved, and God chose those who are saved by giving them faith in time. 00:19:34.336 --> 00:19:48.556 Now, he chose them in eternity, and through faith in time is how he saves them, but attempting to reconcile those two things is beyond the capabilities at least of fallen human reason and possibly of human reason entirely. 00:19:50.036 --> 00:19:50.276 Yeah. 00:19:51.676 --> 00:19:57.776 So do you want to get into making the scriptural case for where this came from and why we speak the way we do? 00:19:58.956 --> 00:19:59.216 Sure. 00:20:00.296 --> 00:20:05.456 We could at some point, I guess, go through the eight points that the Book of Concord makes. 00:20:06.016 --> 00:20:07.076 We'll do that in a little bit. 00:20:07.096 --> 00:20:11.756 It's actually a very brief section there in one of the last articles in the Solid Declaration. 00:20:12.296 --> 00:20:18.656 But just as a summary of election, I think it's best to turn to Romans 8. 00:20:19.996 --> 00:20:25.156 And that is starting with verse 28, which I am obligated to mention as my confirmation verse every time I bring it up. 00:20:25.836 --> 00:20:40.936 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the first born among many brothers. 00:20:41.456 --> 00:20:44.076 And those whom he predestined, he also called. 00:20:44.456 --> 00:20:46.976 And those whom he called, he also justified. 00:20:47.276 --> 00:20:49.996 And those whom he justified, he also glorified. 00:20:51.176 --> 00:20:55.216 We have the entirety of the Christian life in these verses. 00:20:55.916 --> 00:21:01.816 And we have what it means to be a Christian, how you are made a Christian, why you are made a Christian in these verses. 00:21:03.076 --> 00:21:09.096 It is only those who are predestined to faith, who are ultimately saved. 00:21:09.936 --> 00:21:14.256 All of those who are predestined will ultimately be saved. 00:21:14.816 --> 00:21:16.036 Which is to say the elect. 00:21:16.116 --> 00:21:18.236 These terms are interchangeable. 00:21:19.116 --> 00:21:26.756 God in eternity chose those that he would save in time via faith. 00:21:27.236 --> 00:21:28.396 By grace through faith. 00:21:28.996 --> 00:21:29.936 That's how we're saved. 00:21:29.956 --> 00:21:34.376 He uses means in time to affect what he decided in eternity. 00:21:35.516 --> 00:21:37.396 And that's all that predestination is. 00:21:38.456 --> 00:21:47.836 Now, as mentioned in the opening, it is important to understand that to bring up the law-gospel distinction, predestination is gospel. 00:21:48.296 --> 00:21:49.676 Predestination is not law. 00:21:50.156 --> 00:22:00.376 Some take it as really not even law so much as just a depressing military muster, as it has been described in the literature from time to time. 00:22:01.396 --> 00:22:13.616 Because if you take election predestination to mean that God simply rolled dice or in eternity saw everyone and pointed left and right, a military muster, then that's depressing. 00:22:14.156 --> 00:22:25.856 And that leads to the problems of either security, because, well, if I'm elect, then I can do anything I want, and regardless of that, ultimately I will be safe because I am elect. 00:22:26.376 --> 00:22:36.736 Or it leads to despair, on the other hand, being, well, it doesn't matter what I do, because if I am not elect, anything I do doesn't matter because I am ultimately damned. 00:22:38.036 --> 00:22:41.016 And that is the wrong way of looking at the doctrine. 00:22:41.036 --> 00:22:43.316 Again, we can judge trees by their fruit. 00:22:44.276 --> 00:22:48.376 Not to directly apply that here, but it can be used as a guide. 00:22:49.736 --> 00:23:02.916 Predestination, election, is gospel, because what it means is you were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and he will not lose you out of his hand. 00:23:04.256 --> 00:23:06.096 Your faith is not in your own hands. 00:23:06.116 --> 00:23:09.096 It is in his hands, and he will see you through to the end. 00:23:09.116 --> 00:23:11.256 He who began the good work will see it through. 00:23:12.436 --> 00:23:13.736 And that is why it is gospel. 00:23:13.756 --> 00:23:20.516 This is something that is meant to be preached to the sheep in the church, because it is for the comfort of consciences. 00:23:21.656 --> 00:23:28.316 It is to secure those who are feeling weak in the faith, who are weighed down by the troubles of the world. 00:23:28.796 --> 00:23:39.376 It is to let them know God knew them before anything had been created and chose them in his son to save them, and that he will see them through to the end. 00:23:39.956 --> 00:23:44.056 That is the right way of looking at election, of looking at predestination. 00:23:44.616 --> 00:23:47.056 Any other way of looking at it is incorrect. 00:23:48.976 --> 00:23:52.016 And this is why God has given us the sacraments. 00:23:52.036 --> 00:23:53.316 That's why we have baptism. 00:23:53.336 --> 00:23:54.456 That's why we have communion. 00:23:54.476 --> 00:24:01.216 Because in addition to the assurances and the reassurances and the word, God knows that we will doubt. 00:24:01.236 --> 00:24:07.676 He knows that we will need something more concrete than a promise because we're faithless, we're weak. 00:24:08.316 --> 00:24:19.116 And because of that, in baptism, God puts his name on us to seal us into himself, to say, I mark this child as an adopted son of myself. 00:24:19.576 --> 00:24:23.756 This child is now my son because I place my name on him in baptism. 00:24:25.476 --> 00:24:37.996 It connects the flesh and blood world, the physical reality of our lives to the eternal promise in such a way that it takes it out of our hands. 00:24:38.016 --> 00:25:04.316 And like you said, it's for comfort when it's the reason that Lutherans continuously point back to baptism as the touch point in the Christian life when, even if someone had faith before baptism by hearing the word, which happens very often, God promises that no matter what, he has given faith in baptism and that that is a comfort to those who need to hear it most. 00:25:05.756 --> 00:25:09.016 And this is one of the reasons that Lutherans tend to die well. 00:25:09.996 --> 00:25:14.036 Ask a pastor who has been bedside with a number of dying Lutherans. 00:25:14.796 --> 00:25:17.956 Lutherans don't die in fear and uncertainty and doubt. 00:25:17.976 --> 00:25:29.796 Lutherans die secure in the knowledge that they belong to Christ and that when they wake up on the other side of that door, they will be face to face with their Savior. 00:25:31.296 --> 00:25:35.116 That is true doctrine, comforts the sheep. 00:25:35.136 --> 00:25:36.536 It does not terrify the sheep. 00:25:36.556 --> 00:25:38.496 It does not make them doubt whether they are saved. 00:25:39.976 --> 00:25:50.336 If a doctrine brings those who are on their deathbed to the point of despair and doubt, that doctrine is false if that person, of course, is a sheep. 00:25:51.436 --> 00:25:54.936 Because the sheep are comforted by the words of the shepherd. 00:25:56.296 --> 00:26:04.176 And with regard to the sacraments, there are those who contend that God doesn't work with means at all. 00:26:05.316 --> 00:26:08.036 Largely, this would be the enthusiast Pentecostals. 00:26:09.216 --> 00:26:16.936 And there are those who contend that God uses only one means, which is to say scripture, although typically those who consider it one means wouldn't call it a means. 00:26:17.256 --> 00:26:22.776 But nonetheless, Lutherans look at it, and those who believe in the sacraments look at it rightly. 00:26:23.556 --> 00:26:30.856 God has multiple means of bringing his grace to us, of bringing forgiveness of sins to us. 00:26:31.276 --> 00:26:33.076 God is super abundant with his grace. 00:26:33.096 --> 00:26:34.056 He is not stingy. 00:26:34.556 --> 00:26:37.536 God does not give us no means or just one means. 00:26:37.876 --> 00:26:39.316