QnA: Is sin God's will? Does Lutheranism cause people to sin more? Do Lutherans do evangelism?

[@SolSkinn]

I was an abused child. So much, my father was handed an 18 year prison sentence for what he did to me. This was not God's will. I struggled with the 5th commandment because it's dangerous to my body and soul to have a relationship with him. I can't honor him. But God said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. So I honor him by praying for his salvation, and I'm a daughter of the God of mercy. So I don't harbor hatred or anger for my earthly father. I just can't have a relationship with him. Still, Lord have mercy on his soul.

[@kgebhardt1187]

God bless you and keep you in the palm of His almighty hand ❤

[@shanekahrs4776]

I'm sorry that happened to you. Your prayers for your earthly father are inspirational. We need more people like you with that attitude in the church

[@jgeph2.4]

The Lord bless you sister and I’m so sorry you have to endure this .

[@marciamazuryk3918]

Terrific podcast. FYI - I am a Catholic who joined the Lutheran Church, thanks in large part to you, Pastor W. PEACE!!!

[@mistertracey1]

Do you mind if I ask what is the appeal of the Lutheran church for you?

[@br.m]

@@mistertracey1 Lutherans are right about things.

[@mistertracey1]

​@@br.mI have since researched and I'm afraid I disagree with you

[@br.m]

@@mistertracey1 Oh so you figured it all out on your own.. That was easy it's only been 5 months. So when are you going to get up on the soap box and teach the world the truth according to your research?

[@mistertracey1]

​@br.m it's really not hard to recognize a false gospel. We are not saved by works.

[@debhalld9794]

Evangelizing in a world, country that has soooo many people who haven't grown up in church is imperative. Reaching the never churched. Many have never heard The Word let alone read it. Telling of and showing God's love, Christ's sacrifice, the Holy Spirit in us, salvation. Jesus is Lord, Alleluia!

[@barefootinroann]

You said something about evangelicals who convert to Catholicism, that they approach Catholicism with that evangelical, protestant mindset. I see the same thing in you and your approach and instruction about Lutheranism. I’ve known LCMS Lutherans all my life and I have never met one who can explain their faith in detail, and with clarity the way you can. I very much appreciate your ministry, the ministry of Pastor Packer, and your insights to Faith.

[@BrandonReid-j6u]

Divine determinism really hurt my faith, please pray for me ❤

[@mikvan9849]

@12:20 As a Reformed Christian, I'm always surprised how Lutherans characterize our view of suffering as though we are "trying to discern God's will in it". I don't have to, I just have to trust that my loving God know what is best. "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord". "What you [Joseph's brothers] intended for evil, God intended for good so many lives would be saved." Christ's suffering on the cross was also a an example of allowing evil to be perpetrated for the infinite good of the believer. I love Lutherans on so many different subjects (The supper, for example) but they always seem to get befuddled on how God's Sovereignty is used in the Reformed world for comfort. Election and Sovereignty are THE MOST comforting doctrines the Bible provides, when I suffer I rest in the finished and certain work of Jesus. I've been reformed for at least five years (and Calvinistic for about a decade) and I've never heard a Reformed pastor or congregant "try to discern" the reason for their suffering. It's not for us to know the secret things of God, just to trust that our Loving and Infinitely Powerful Father will take care of us just like He cares for the Sparrows.

[@solosaloon1959]

Such interesting talk! Loving God with our minds!

[@sierragrey7910]

As I Reformed believer I very much appreciated the very pastoral answer as to the problem of evil and God’s sovereignty. Often people new to Reformed teaching can have an unbalanced view of sovereignty. What should bring comfort ends up presenting God’s sovereignty without the Cross.

[@Dilley_G45]

That's because of calvinism. Pastor Wolfmueller is confessional Lutheran which avoids the problem. Lutheranism does not teach the calvinist("reformed") error of double predestination.

[@Samy-sx6kn]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@Dilley_G45 Double predestination is not biblical. It came after Calvin. Gods sovereignty and predestination and election is in the Bible.

[@rockyrock2286]

Before martin luther whole world is in darkness 😅😅😅 what aa theology 😄😄😄

[@Dilley_G45]

@@rockyrock2286 no Lutheran has that theology. But if the catholic Church hadn't allowed so many things (many they have changed now) there would have been no reformation

[@jmh7977]

I enjoy all your Q&As, but this one is my favorite so far. Very edifying!

[@zanereese4796]

Thank you Pastors.

[@joshupole4149]

Hi Pastor Wolfmueller. I am a college student and I often find myself being responsible for explaining Christianity to people for the first time, and answering their questions. A difficult question that I got recently was why are there no miracles in today’s day and age? I usually respond that I witness a miracle every Sunday at communion but that isn’t a good enough answer for them most of the time. I know Catholics claim a lot of interesting miracles, such as the miracle of fatima in Portugal, I’m wondering what the Lutheran position on these Catholic miracles is and what our theology says about them, as well as miracles at large. Watching your videos from OHIO!

[@DALhsm]

God be Praised for these caring pastors answering interesting questions.

[@srice6231]

In high school at an Armenian theology believing youth group, we were told that if we didn't tell someone the Gospel they might never hear and it would be our fault they went to Hell! What a horrible weight of guilt I had all the time. Thankfully God taught me His Truth through His Word and I became Reformed and then Lutheran.

[@mattscarpelli8183]

Pastor Wolfmuller and The Other Paul would make the best video

[@run4cmt]

Job asks why to God and God answers him in the book of Job. God's answer is very interesting. He basically asks where was Job when the foundations of the earth were laid. God has wisdom and reason we may not understand. What we can understand is God's love for us.

[@caa793]

Thank u. This was a very good one

[@nathankrueger9959]

great work

[@kgebhardt1187]

The Word of the Lord endures forever!

[@jeromegernander1073]

Best episode so far!

[@FosterDuncan1]

Good stuff

[@jabeilke11]

Pastor Packer, could you share the name of the Catholic commentaries that you've read that talk about the doctrine of Justification by Faith? Thanks for the podcast! God bless you both!

[@janetdinkelman2348]

As a Lutheran I may not stand on the street corner to tell others about Jesus, but I do listen to people's thoughts on God, and I tell them what I believe from God's word. I know that my Pastor can't be everywhere so it's my job to care for and speak to people I meet, whether it's talking to someone who doesn't know Jesus or even those who do know Jesus but who might be feeling confused about their faith.

[@janetdinkelman2348]

I think as a Lutheran the freedom from sin, death and the devil that the Good News of salvation in Jesus gives, makes me so thankful, because I am thankful for what Jesus did, I want to live what is called thanksliving, which means living in a way to give God glory and thanks with all I do and say. So freedom in Christ does not lead to more sin, it does lead to recognition of our daily battle with sin and repentance, but we love him because he first loved us.

[@jeremyfoster8758]

The idea that God has two (potentially conflicting) wills, the perfect and the permissive, seems biblically rediculous to me. I've heard it preached quite a bit, but the only attempt to prove it from Scripture that I remember was the assertion that if God has a "good, and acceptable, and perfect will" (Rom. 12:2) then He must also have another will that is not good, acceptable, and perfect-an assertion that is both logically fallacious and inconsistent with the character of God as taught in Scripture.

[@Nothing2CHere4U]

Because it's heretical nonsense rooted in the ideas of the unified duality of Adam as man and woman. They are masonic in nature. As above, so below nonsense. Fortunately, they expose the separation inherent in the OT & NT versions that have been sold to us as a continuous story. Any Bible printed after Scofield is worthless.

[@Amy-xn6ll]

Pastor I was raised lutheran I listened to Catholic bashing all my life. We should all avoid bashing others beliefs . Luther was not infallible! Your words hurt my heart

[@br.m]

Did you read 1 Timothy 4? Thoughts? It looks like Paul is warning Christians about the Roman Catholic and eastern orthodox church. Do you agree? That Paul is undoubtedly pointing out such churches? Even as plain as priests forbidden to marry, and restrictions on food. Now that there is no doubt about it. After this exposure, in verse 6 we can see that we should call out such wickedness. If your heart hurts. Do you really think it is Christian to worship idols, pray to Mary. It's a sad truth that Roman Catholicism is it's own thing. Yet they falsely advertise their organization as being Christian. If they stopped pretending to be Christian, then what excuse would we have to keep exposing them? They do it to themselves. They bash themselves. I am just the tool they use to do it.

[@bigniftydude]

Critiques aren't bashing.

[@basher20]

On Evangelism - I think the assumption of many older Lutherans (a group that seems to have claimed me) is that if my neighbors don't go to church, they at least have a church to which they don't go.

[@srice6231]

God saved me very young but I cannot say exactly when for as far as I can remember, I believed but my baptism in eighth grade is a point in time I can point to if anyone (including me) questions my faith.

[@wijim1948]

The Gospel will not be abused if the Gospel is properly taught and understood. The fact is that there is no Justification without Sanctification and the end of Justification and Sanctification is Glorification. When we come to faith in Jesus we come to Him as Lord and Savior. Read the Large Catechism on Baptism. "Lastly, we must also know what Baptism signifies, and why God has ordained just such external sign and ceremony for the Sacrament by which we are first received into the Christian Church. But the act or ceremony is this, that we are sunk under the water, which passes over us, and afterwards are drawn out again. These two parts, to be sunk under the water and drawn out again, signify the power and operation of Baptism, which is nothing else than putting to death the old Adam, and after that the resurrection of the new man, both of which must take place in us all our lives, so that a truly Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism, once begun and ever to be continued. For this must be practised without ceasing, that we ever keep purging away whatever is of the old Adam, and that that which belongs to the new man come forth. But what is the old man? It is that which is born in us from Adam, angry, hateful, envious, unchaste, stingy, lazy, haughty, yea, unbelieving, infected with all vices, and having by nature nothing good in it. Now, when we are come into the kingdom of Christ, these things must daily decrease, that the longer we live we become more gentle, more patient more meek, and ever withdraw more and more from unbelief, avarice, hatred, envy, haughtiness." Luther had it right. Baptism is daily dying to sin (and our own righteousness) and being raised daily to newness of life in Christ. If we are not daily dying and rising in Christ we have abandoned Christ.

[@villarrealmarta6103]

So what do you disagree with here?

[@Redwire007]

God chooses to permit humanity to live in Sin because he desires us to have free will, yet there has been stamped in time a day that all will be held to account. God has ultimate control over all of creation, ultimately permitting us to disobey is still within his will and one day all of creation will be fully redeemed. This is what might be meant by God's permissible will?

[@philiphahn1804]

Moses was a deliverer and didn't sin, win Pr. Packer :)

[@johnhouchins3156]

No. Mans' sin is never God's Will.

[@j.mendez2492]

As a former Reformed espousing the so called "Doctrines of Grace," let me say categorically there is no comfort in the exhaustive, eternal, divine determinism of Calvinism. Nothing more than warmed over manichean philosophy filtered through Augustinian nonsense.

[@thegracecast40]

Ok so question: if a person is having doubts should they fight those doubts consciously? Because you said our will isn’t involved?

[@janettelewis6681]

My brother, Frank Magnuson, was murdered execution-style in Denver at his home the night before he was to testify at a trial. Another of his friends was shot and killed that night, his roommate survived two gunshots to the head by playing dead. I believe God was in control of circumstances that night. There was obviously sin that violated the law of God, but I also believe that God knew the number of my brother’s days. Was it God’s will that my brother die that night? No? Yes? So the Lutheran answer is no/yes but reformed is yes/no? Both better than the open theism of the church that I was attending at the time it happened. “God draws straight with crooked lines”. I like that.

[@janettelewis6681]

After being in a church that taught that God wasn’t in control over human choices and history: basically He is good, but not all powerful, I was greatly comforted when I read a more reformed perspective by John Piper, in a chapter titled “Are There Two Wills in God”. I’ll have to read some Lutheran theology now. The Concordia was available as an audiobook, so I picked that up, but could use some suggestions . . .

[@kgebhardt1187]

I’m so sorry this happened. Sorry for your profound loss. I hope that in your grief you find peace, comfort, and strength in God. The Lord is merciful and gracious, may He draw you nearer every day ❤✝

[@markuspoyry7402]

Great content once again! I learn a lot listening to these! One comment, though: You say that rebirth is accomplished also apart from Baptism since James 1:18 and 1 Peter 1:23 speak about being born again mentioning only word and not Baptism. However, I don’t think that argument is solid. John 1:13 and 1.Peter 1:3 speak about regeneration without mentioning either Baptism or word and from that we cannot make the conclusion that being born again can be accomplished also apart from the word since the word is not mentioned. I’d suggest we take the words of Jesus in John 3 at face value and confess that there is no regeneration apart from Baptism “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” and since the word in the water is the one which regenerates man, it is used as a synecdoche in James 1 and 1 Peter 1, which passages thus presuppose Baptism. I’d think that the person who came to faith one year before he was baptized was conceived by the word of God and stayed in the womb for one year. Life was there in the womb but when the water came, there was a new birth.

[@jasonlowther5700]

Holy order of catholic trolls😂

[@jamesbarksdale978]

No, God does not will sin. That's why I'm not a Calvinist. But Lutheranism finds itself in a quandary because, it too, understands God's sovereignty as in some sense deterministic. Luther attempts to mitigate this in The Bondage of the Will when he says, "there is no such thing as free will," but then tries to argue that we have no free will in regards to salvation, but do in regards to other matters. Really? Why? Why must it be this way? Luther's mistake is that he sees grace and free will in "all or nothing" categories. If a person freely believes the gospel and places their trust in Christ it cannot be by grace. And if not by grace it must be works. So, a person must not be free to believe. They must be dead in their sins, totally unable to choose Christ apart from God's regenerating grace, that also gives faith to an individual. But if a person, apart from God's grace, is unable to choose Christ, but only sin, how can they be held accountable for their actions? As slaves to sin they cannot do otherwise. Yet God has determined it to be so! This is the dilemma Lutheranism has to contend with because it understands God's sovereignty deterministically. But rather than make the effort to address how he is sovereignly deterministic, and yet not responsible for sin, Lutheranism ( just as you do in this video) chooses to punt, chalking it up to mystery. We don't have an answer so, instead, we're just going to point people to the cross. As a Lutheran myself, I find this very unsatisfactory. Maybe Lutheranism needs to take another look at grace and free will. Maybe it needs to see them as cooperative rather than competitive. Maybe God in his sovereignty chooses to work synergistically with humanity for our salvation, rather than monergistically. Maybe, as Ezek 18 reminds us, we (not God, or any other person) are accountable for our own actions. It makes perfect sense, then, why Jesus would call people to "repent and believe the good news" (Mk 1:15), because we are free do do so.

[@wijim1948]

Bryan you have a total misapprehension of how the Gospel is preached in evangelical circles. The truth is that evangelicals believe that it is God, through the Word and by the office of the Holy Spirit calls individuals who are listening to preaching to surrender themselves to Himself. It is the Lord Who is at work, not the preacher and not the evangelist. You're perspective on this matter is very offensive to me. I have been a Lutheran all of my life (74 years) but God called through the preaching of His Word when I was 21. He drew me to Himself and at the urging and provocation of His Holy Spirit I surrendered my will to Him. Nobody tried to "talk me into it". The only goal of those involved was to provide an opportunity for the Word to be preached and for the Holy Spirit to move.

[@txgsu43]

I am really happy the evangelicals in your community are living a good, Christian life. There is much written on this topic based on data collected, and your experiences are not the norm. I wish it was the norm.

[@bookwormsofconcord]

I disagree. I didn't grow up Lutheran but evangelical. How he characterised evangelicalism is exactly what I grew up with to a T.

[@Samy-sx6kn]

@@bookwormsofconcord Oh my gosh. There are not just one type of evangelicals

[@dedragalyon6879]

@@txgsu43 Rev. Wolfmueller WAS an evangelical before he was Lutheran...He knows whereof he speaks.

[@letthecreativityout7521]

Pastor Wolfmueller was spot on in this analysis. Anything In evangelicalism that differs from what he just said is an anomaly, and if it differs I would argue that that church is leaning towards Lutheran theology, which is the doctrine. I used to be in evangelicalism and mega churches for years and years, and it was all learning sales pitches to convince people, and a youth pastor literally told our youth group one time to make a list of 10 names, and if we don’t tell those people about Jesus and they died in a car accident as a nonbeliever that it would be on us if they go to hell.

[@Samy-sx6kn]

No John 3 is not about baptism. I disagree. It’s interesting how you guys are maneuvering to defend the unbiblical doctrine of infant baptism. On Catholicism it’s easier the just say your born again by baptism.

[@andrewpacker2592]

Jesus said you must be born of water and the Spirit. Peter says “Baptism now saves you…” The whole Bible teaches that Jesus saves through baptism - including children.

[@joncollins7129]

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. - John 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, - Titus 3:5 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. - Romans 6:3-4 Born again Regeneration (aka, rebirth) Newness of life Always been about baptism bud.

[@Samy-sx6kn]

@@joncollins7129 I’ve read the Bible. Not everywhere water is mentioned the meaning is baptism

[@joncollins7129]

@@Samy-sx6kn indeed. But it is in those passages. Nobody for 1500 years thought otherwise.

[@Samy-sx6kn]

@@joncollins7129 That’s not correct. Neither that John 3,5 is about baptism nor that everybody in 1500 years thought it is.

[@rockyrock2286]

Before martin luther whole world is in darkness 😅😅😅 what aa theology 😄😄😄

[@andrewpacker2592]

Lutherans don’t and have never believed that. If you look at our Confessions we have a whole section dedicated to quotations from the Church Fathers. The Augsburg Confession says we confess what they confessed as well. Chemnitz and Gerhard knew the Fathers better than any theologians of their times.