Comments on: Why Luther Is Not Quite Protestant

By: David

David — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:59:41 +0000

Absurd, Alfred. Doubt is not humility, it’s sin.

By: Alfred Metzger

Alfred Metzger — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:45:49 +0000

There is no way we can know 100% for sure we can be saved. If we say we absolutely are saved, then we are guilty of the sin of presumption. Only God will determine in the end who goes to heaven or hell

By: Dawn K

Dawn K — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:10:30 +0000

By some strange coincidence, more thoughts on the same article:

http://pastoralmeanderings.blogspot.com/2010/07/catching-up-on-my-reading.html

By: Dawn K

Dawn K — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:47:29 +0000

Hi Dave,

The author of the paper is basically making the case that which promises in Scripture are seen as central determine how one looks at faith. For Luther, faith is trust in a sacramental promise (“I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, “This is My body, given for you”, “I forgive you all your sins” etc). It is a matter of simply believing Christ’s words to me. For Calvin et al faith is trust in the promise, “Whoever believes in Christ is saved.” But to know if you are saved, you must know if you meet the condition of “believing in Christ” – you must know/believe that you believe, if you will.

So with Luther, one is saved by an ongoing trust in the promises of Christ to them. In that sense salvation is not complete until the end of one’s life. Whereas in Calvin et al one is saved when one truly believes in Christ – and when one truly believes in Christ one is finally saved. If one knows that they truly believe then they can know they are one of the elect. The upside to Luther’s system is that I don’t have to worry whether I really believe or not, but the downside is that I can’t know with 100% certainty whether I will finally be saved in the end. The upside to Calvin’s system is that I don’t have to worry whether I will finally be saved in the end, but the downside is that I can’t know with 100% certainty that I really believe in Christ.

Did this answer your question? Have you read the whole paper yet?

By: David

David — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:36:09 +0000

So what is being said in this article is that while Protestants equate salvation with regeneration and justification, salvation in Luther’s view is more in terms of all four things (regeneration, justification, sanctification, glorification) at the same time?