“[Just] as the preaching of repentance, so also the Gospel is ??????????? (universal)”

- St. Martin Chemnitz et al., Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord (XI.29)

O Jesus, perfect Conqueror, you who died for me, I ask: grant that I would always die to sin. Today you rise from the grave; make me rise from the tomb of my wicked deeds. You are our Paschal Lamb.

—Balthasar Meisner (1587-1626)
studiumjournal.com/translation/se…

In this world it often seems that the Lord has forgotten about us. So now we need faith to believe otherwise. People say, "Seeing is believing," but that's a contradiction. Luther said, "We should not believe that God answers prayer because we see so many prayers being answered. When it seems that God doesn't answer prayer, that's the time to believe. When it seems as though your sins are not forgiven, that's the time to cling to God's Word. Just believe it inspite of the fact that it seems to you that it isn't so." When we see everything in heaven, then there will be no more room for faith.

—Seigbert Becker, Lectures on Romans

it is important to remember that Christ has redeemed us from sin, not for sin. Some perversely imagine that since Christ’s work of redemption is complete and that since Christ has paid for the sins of the whole world, it now no longer matters what we do; we can sin as much as we want, as long as we just believe or as long as we get around to repenting some time later. Such people know nothing of faith or repentance. Such people remain spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God. Such people have turned Christ’s incomparable love and his enormous sacrifice for them into a license to sin. St. Paul sternly warns against the notion that the work of redemption was accomplished so that we could wallow in the sin from which Christ has redeemed us at so great a price. He solemnly declares, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). He pleads with us, “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).

—Daniel Deutschlander, Grace Abounds: The Splendor of Christian Doctrine

"...the work of the church is not the work of establishing a visible kingdom of God on earth ruled over by the pope or dictated to by Protestant self-appointed clergy-guardians of society. The work of the church is the work of Christ’s prophetic office. It is the work of proclaiming the law as Jesus did, so that people will see from it how serious God is about sin and therefore how desperately they need the Savior. It is the work of proclaiming the gospel with the goal of forgiving the sins of the repentant. It is the work of pronouncing God’s judgment on those who do not repent (John 3:16-18). It is the work of showing believers those works which please God and those which call down his wrath (e.g., Romans 12; Galatians 5,6; Ephesians 4,6). In sum, it is the work of bringing the gospel to the lost and strengthening those who already believe it, so that their lives may more and more reflect their faith. "

—Daniel Deutschlander, Grace Abounds: The Splendor of Christian Doctrine

"The bread and the wine are not a symbol of the body and blood of Christ—God forbid!—but the actual deified body of the Lord, since the Lord himself said: ‘This is my body,’ not a symbol of my body, and ‘This is my blood,’ not a symbol of my blood" - John Damascene, De Fide Orth.

Orthodoxy is not Dead: The Life and Works of Erdmann Neumeister as a Rebuttal to the Charge of "Dead Orthodoxy"

we should detest and shun these vicious words which the Epicureans bandy about: “If this is how it must happen, let it happen.” For God did not come down from heaven to make you uncertain about predestination, to teach you to despise the sacraments, absolution, and the rest of the divine ordinances. Indeed, He instituted them to make you completely certain and to remove the disease of doubt from your heart, in order that you might not only believe with the heart but also see with your physical eyes and touch with your hands. Why, then, do you reject these and complain that you do not know whether you have been predestined? You have the Gospel; you have been baptized; you have absolution; you are a Christian.

—Martin Luther On Genesis 26:9

"I was in the McDonald's… and I was there to rent a movie at the RedBox and I was standing there in line. And this older lady looks up at me and she says, 'What do you do?' I wasn't wearing my collar or anything. I was undercover just trying to get a movie. And I told her, 'I'm a Lutheran pastor.' And she said, 'Oh, I'm a Southern Baptist. What's the difference between a Lutheran and a Southern Baptist?'

And I said, 'Well, here's one thing you might notice: I bet you at your service you have a time of decision at the end.' And she said, 'Yes, that's right.' And I said, 'And that's the time where you have an altar call and the preacher will tell people to come up and they can pray and they can dedicate their life to Christ or rededicate their life, they can hand things over to Him, they can make a decision, pray the 'Sinners Prayer', et cetera, et cetera. And that's one of the highlights of your church service.' And she said, 'Yeah, it surely is.'

' Have Well, we Lutherans ask a different question: The question we ask is not: Have you made a decision for Jesus? But rather, Has Jesus made a decision for you? The question is not, Have you accepted Jesus into your heart? But rather, Has Jesus accepted you into His heart? The question is not, Have you given your whole life for God? But rather, Has God given His whole life for you?'

And this was an incredible thing… because here is this woman and I, standing in the lobby of the McDonald's, and she was crying. Tears were rolling off of her cheeks. And she says to me, 'I've never heard anything so wonderful in my whole life.'

Now, why? Because the Gospel for her had always been a condition, it had always been something she had to do, it had always been up to her.

And it never had had the absolute, 100% assurance of knowing that it was Jesus who's done it all. It's Jesus who won her salvation. It's Jesus who's made the way open to heaven for her. And to know that and to know the answer is, Yes! Even though my faith wavers, even though I have doubts, and I have questions. Yes, Jesus has given Himself to me. Yes, He has prayed for me. Yes, He has poured out His life and His blood so that I would be His and my sins would be forgiven. And there's no question, there's no doubt, there's no room for wondering there. It's just this absolutely, wonderful, forgiving, confident-building assurance that I am the child of God, the friend of Jesus."

On Handling Depression - That Emotional Hammerlock