Don Matzat, a Lutheran pastor of fifty years, tells the following story of teaching a new church the doctrine of justification by faith apart from works:
In one parish I served, after installation, I called every active member, inviting them to come to a Sunday morning Bible Class. I got a decent response so that my Sunday morning class had over one hundred members. I began by studying the Book of Romans.
After teaching the truth of Romans 3:21, explaining that God had now provided a new way of being righteous before Him, by faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, one woman in the class was becoming visibly upset. She raised her hand and stood up.
“Why are you teaching us differently?” she asked, somewhat angrily.
“What do you mean?”
“All our pastors taught us we go to heaven by obeying the Ten Commandments,” she explained.
“No, they didn’t!” I responded adamantly.
“O yes they did!” she responded with equal assurance.
“If your former pastors had taught you that you go to heaven by obeying the Ten Commandments,” I responded slowly and firmly. “Every one of them would be a heretic and, if their teaching became public, they would have been kicked out of the church. Now, I don’t know from where you got the idea that you go to heaven by obeying the Ten Commandments, but your former pastors most certainly did not teach you that.”
“Well, you weren’t here,” she concluded and sat down (The Righteousness of God, pp. 18-19).
There is something about preaching salvation by faith that makes it very hard for people to hear what you’re saying. You can be taught it for year after year, decade after decade, and never have it register. For this woman, it finally registered. But did she believe it? We don’t know.
Matzat suggests this lesson:
When it comes to knowing the Gospel, clear teaching and repetition is necessary until eyes are opened and truth is received (The Righteousness of God, p. 18).
Remember, it may take repeating the saving message a hundred times before someone hears it for the first time.
Brady
Absolutely!!!! Evangelism is REAL work, HARD work and only few will be saved, Matt. 7:13-14.
JJ
I believe that we do go to Heaven by obeying the Ten Commandments. And obeying those Ten Commandments perfectly. And by obeying, not just those ten (see Sermon on the Mount) all the laws that God sets down for us to live in righteousness. However, most of us have failed those requirements. Most of us have fallen short of His righteous and good commands. Most of us except for one. And that is why Jesus Christ fulfills the law and the righteousness of God.
Chester Davis
Thanks Shawn.
I am in full agreement in Matzat at least in the repetition of clear gospel is often the needed.
In my own experience (not necessarily indicative of valid argument) my personal failures pushed me to believe a Grace gospel a practical requirement and was sharing it with friends it a few years before I understood that it was also Biblical sound. I think this is one of the reasons why the admonition to consider carefully how to build up p[people in the faith resonates in my soul as a call to be constantly re-affirming Jesus as a sufficient foundation for life today and life in eternity.
Alvin
Don Matzat, another confused person. He believes in infant baptism. And if your in a nursing home dying he’s going to get a bucket of water and pour it over your head.
The Gospel of John is completely foreign to him. He believes what’s called “Law and Gospel.” Repentance-Saving faith-Baptism. He emphasizes forgiveness of sins.
We know in John’s Gospel forgiveness of sins is only mentioned once (John 20:23), and it’s not free gift language. But, the gift of eternal life is mentioned over and over. And Jesus offers it as a gift you can take freely (John 4:10,13-14).
He has so much confusion in his preaching that I wonder how any of those people could have understood a free gift you can take freely. So, to say he believed in justification by faith alone, apart from works is stretching it. He talks about easy believism, he wouldn’t agree with Jesus giving living water freely. It has to be a “saving faith.” That is you must know your being saved from something for it to be “saving faith.” With Jesus it was all about the giving and receiving of a gift~! Just as He had asked her for a drink, which she would do all the work. He offered her a drink in which He would do all the work. She would simply drink (believe).
https://messiahnetwork.org/sermon/solas-what-really-matters-faith-alone/
Alvin
I don’t like sending anyone to read this garbage. But, if you just listen to his one message “Three Steps To Heaven” you’ll see he means there are three steps to get into heaven. He is asked how do I know I’m going to heaven? Matzat explained that there is no silverbullit, and he talks a little on easy believism. But then he goes to the three steps, repent, believe, baptized. And he gives an example of a woman in a nursing home dying. He gets a bowl and baptized her. You don’t do that unless you believe it must be done. Of course he believes in infant baptism, and tries to prove that from Scripture.
I’ve noticed other Free Grace pastors looking at this stuff, the one it’s one of his favorite sites.
https://gentlereformation.com//2018/10/24/the-handle-of-their-infant-baptism/
Alvin
Matzat quote:After teaching the truth of Romans 3:21, explaining that God had now provided a new way of being righteous before Him, by faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
This shows that Matzat didn’t understand the Book Of Romans. The righteousness is the believers faith, that is the believers faith has been imputed with righteousness. It’s based upon Jesus work on the cross.
Romans Commentary Page 96 footnote JHN
The Romans would have had a terrible time reading Paul if he switched the meaning of PISTIS so violently from chapter to chapter. It is more likely, therefore that the term in both 3:21-31 and 4:1-25 refers to the faith of believers. -JHN
4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Then Abraham believed God, and IT was IMPUTED to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
4:5 But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH is counted as RIGHTEOUSNESS.
God has given righteousness to the believers faith. This is consistent with God’s own righteousness.
The woman at this church was confused, and no wonder she was hearing confusion week in and week out:-(