Tag Archives: Divine Call

Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 5 (Excursus on Divine Call)

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Class #5 :  The divine call (see podcast parts 3 and 4) places a man into the office of the ministry.  The Lutheran Confessions refer to the office of the ministry in Augsburg Confession, Article 5.  Article 5 is not a generic functional view of the Gospel and the sacraments, but a concrete reference to the Pastoral Office.  Later on article 14 clearly teaches that only those with a regular call should publicly exercise the duties of the office of the ministry.

Those who license men (lay ministers or licensed lay deacons) to perform the duties of the office have a different theology from the Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.  Just as St. Paul magnifies his office, so today’s pastors and people need the assurance that God has called a man into the office of the ministry and intends to use him to create and strengthen faith in Jesus Christ.

Overheads: Galatians Overheads for class 5
Includes web address for video(1:13 to 6:15) I showed to the class.
Augsburg Confession Quotes

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Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 4 (Excursus on Divine Call)

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Class #4:  A call is not determined to be divine because of some inner emotional experience or heartfelt desire of the person.  The call is divine because it comes from God–either directly (immediately from God as it did in the case of prophets and apostles, including St. Paul), or indirectly (mediately from God, by means of the congregation, Acts 20:28, to whom God has given the command to place a man into the pastoral office, 2 Tim. 2:2).  For New Testament churches, the divine call (1) comes from the congregation (2) for Word and Sacrament and (3) is not time limited (not licensed).

In Galatians 1:1, St. Paul explains that he did not have a non-divine call (humanly determined), nor did he have a divine call which was mediately given through a congregation, as do today’s pastors.  St. Paul was an apostle through an immediate divine call from God!

Handout:  Galatians Overheads class 3

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Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 3 (Excursus on Divine Call)

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Class #3:  In Galatians 1:1, St. Paul is holding up his divine apostolic call, saying, “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father…).”  In order to better understand the reason that St. Paul would magnify his call, we are taking an excursus through the Scriptural doctrine of the Divine Call, this week and next week.  All Christians (as members of the priesthood of believers) have a general call to proclaim the Gospel (Rom 10:9) and speak the Word of God in their vocation(Col 3:16).  Nevertheless, in order to perform the public ministry of Word and Sacrament in the church, a divine call into the Office of the ministry is required(Rom 10:15, Heb 5:4).  In this lesson, we begin to define and illustrate the divine call into the Office of the Ministry.

Handout: Galatians Overheads class 3

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Galatians Bible Study, Pt. 2

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Class #2:  St. Paul’s greeting to the Galatians begins with (1) an abrupt defense of his divine apostolic call, followed by (2) a bare bones reference to the recipients, and (3) an extended blessing.  The origin of St. Paul’s apostleship is not from (apo) men, meaning that the source of his call is human and not divine.  Furthermore, St. Paul’s apostleship is not a mediate divine call by means (dia) of a Christian congregation, but is an immediate divine call directly from God (Acts 9).  St. Paul was called by (dia) the risen Christ and the source of his Gospel is God Himself.

Handout:  Galatians Bible Study class 1  and Galatians Overhead Class 2

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