tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post1196482318581881154..comments2023-09-02T11:38:09.518-04:00Comments on The Lamb on the Altar: Why Should We Attend Worship Services?Chuck Wiesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09008527429925493264noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-85330996487730212022010-04-19T05:11:32.364-04:002010-04-19T05:11:32.364-04:00Yes! All men have a duty to fulfill the whole law ...Yes! All men have a duty to fulfill the whole law including the worship of the Law. All men are sinful in their "worship of the Law." The sinful worship gifts presented by those have not been reconciled and born again are not acceptable to God. "For all outside of Christianity, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, although they believe in, and worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation." Large Catechism, Creed.<br /><br />The sinful worship gifts presented by the reconciled and born again are acceptable to God but only for the sake of Christ: "Nor is there a controversy as to how and why the good works of believers, although in this flesh they are impure and incomplete, are pleasing and acceptable to God, namely, for the sake of the Lord Christ, by faith, because the person is acceptable to God." FC, Good Works.Gerhardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-30383678753097479012010-04-18T20:33:16.830-04:002010-04-18T20:33:16.830-04:00Gerhard:
To say that if man is incapable of doing ...Gerhard:<br />To say that if man is incapable of doing something he cannot be held responsible for not doing it would be to make the same mistake as Erasmus. We are all born sinners that can do nothing but sin by nature and yet God can righteously hold us accountable for those sins.Chuck Wiesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09008527429925493264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-65075797778454214432010-04-18T00:43:58.160-04:002010-04-18T00:43:58.160-04:00The Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Art. III, ...The Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Art. III, para. 189, distinguishes between the reconciled and born again and those who are not: "Thus the worship and divine service of the Gospel is to receive from God gifts; on the contrary, the worship of the Law is to offer and present our gifts to God. We can, however, offer nothing to God unless we have first been reconciled and born again. This passage, too, brings the greatest consolation, as the chief worship of the Gospel is to wish to receive remission of sins, grace, and righteousness."<br /><br />The Apology also distinguishes between divine service and the worship of the Law. Although most Lutheran liturgies contain both, they take care not to mix the two.<br /><br />In divine service, God's gift of the gospel is presented to all men in attendance and is received by faith. To make attendance at divine service a duty, I think, would turn gospel into law.<br /><br />In the worship of the Law, only the reconciled and born again give gifts to God. Do those who have not been reconciled and born again have a duty to give gifts to God that they cannot give? Do they have a duty to attend worship service (not the divine service)?Gerhardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-86207990994527444712010-04-17T12:58:48.606-04:002010-04-17T12:58:48.606-04:00Gerhard:
Neither Reformed nor Lutheran catechisms ...Gerhard:<br />Neither Reformed nor Lutheran catechisms teach that worship is something we do to please God. However, in Reformed churches the emphasis seems to be placed on worship as duty rather than us receiving God's good gifts through faith. The Westminster Confession of Faith in chapter 21 speaks of worship only as duty.<br />The Lutheran churches have done a better job at emphasizing the idea of a "Divine Service" where God serves us rather than a "worship service" where we serve God. I intend to explore this in the liturgy in a future blog post especially as it relates the high points in each liturgy.<br /><br />I do think in some sense we could speak of men having a duty to attend a worship service but it seems strange to make that the main thing. If someone was giving out million dollar bills and you received to go pick them up I suppose you could say that you neglected your duty by not picking them up but you would never talk about how you fulfilled your duty by picking up the million dollar bills. Nobody is going to give you a gold star and talk about how great you are. They will spend their time talking about the guy with the million dollar bills and how great he is. If we are going to talk about duty I suppose it would apply to both regenerate and unregenerate. I get a little uneasy with the use of the regenerate/unregenerate terminology in cases like this. Paul didn't go around calling people unregenerate but seemed to address all baptized people as Christians.Chuck Wiesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09008527429925493264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-80739252081243626792010-04-17T07:49:39.914-04:002010-04-17T07:49:39.914-04:00I'm not too familiar with the Reform catechism...I'm not too familiar with the Reform catechisms. Do they teach that attendance at worship services is a work men must do to please God? <br /><br />I just read over the explanations to the Third Commandments in Luther's Small and Large Catechisms. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the Lutheran Catechisms teach that attendance at worship services is a work men must do to please God. Sinning against Third Commandment is despising preaching not failing to attend worship service.<br /><br />Do regenerate men have a duty to attend worship services? Does this duty also pertain to the unregenerate?Gerhardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-32712093930174264452010-04-09T23:02:22.907-04:002010-04-09T23:02:22.907-04:00That was explained very well Chuck! Love MomThat was explained very well Chuck! Love MomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com