Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.
The confessors at Augsburg remind us that every generation of Christians is called to bear witness to the gospel amid the challenges and pressures of its own age. As they confessed Christ before emperors and kingdoms, so the Church continues to confess Him before the world today.
When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.

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I wish I was better at seeing the bigger picture. Or maybe, I wish I was simply better at seeing the larger scope of its beauty.
Only true doctrine teaches people how to love God and others. Love is the best test for our theology, for true love and true doctrine go together.
Rather than validate our selfish, self-serving choices, he justifies us by giving us new life and baptizing us into his death and resurrection.
We would expect Jesus to be delighted people have responded to the master’s invitation. Instead, Jesus asks these people to reconsider whether they should be following Him or not.
When disagreements break out we unfriend, unfollow, and unburden our minds by surrounding ourselves with only the right sorts of people.
The distinction between Christ-for-you and Christ-in-you can present a misleading dichotomy.
As we do in daily life, so we have done in our reading of the Bible: we have placed ourselves at the center, and Christ at the periphery.
God is the only one who decides what we receive, when, and how it’s given to us.
God isn’t fooled by our fake piety. He would rather have us venting honestly than faking it.
Jesus and the New Testament—good. Yahweh and the Old Testament—not really so good. So goes the popular, but largely whispered, dichotomy.
We must be careful in how we are answering this question. So often we fall into the trap of basing on our assurance on what we are currently doing or not doing.
The focus of 1 Peter on baptism is one that has puzzled many people.