Concerning the Mass – part 32

Scripture Text: Ecclesiastes 5:1

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Ecclesiastes 5:1

From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession

Concerning the Mass 

Casting aside the pharisaic opinion of the opus operatum, we understand that spiritual worship and a daily sacrifice of the heart are intended. In the New Testament, we ought to seek the substance of good things: in other words, the Holy Spirit who kills and makes alive. It is sufficiently evident therefore, that the analogy of the daily sacrifice does not testify against us, but rather for us, because we insist upon all the things symbolized by the daily sacrifice. Our opponents falsely imagine that it means the ceremony alone, without the preaching of the gospel, being put to death, and being made alive.

Pulling It Together

We should not go through the motions of religious ceremony, for this is vanity and hypocrisy. Ritualism without understanding is foolishness. The Word must attend all ceremony, for without the Word, faith is not possible. And to eat and drink without faith is sin (Rom 14:23), and to do so without discernment is condemnation (1 Cor 11:29).

Prayer: Give me a heart for your Word, O Lord. Amen.

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