Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: 1 Timothy 5:17–18
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1 Timothy 5:17–18
From the Confessions: Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
We have spoken of ordination, which is the only thing, as Jerome says, distinguishing bishops from other elders. Therefore, there is need of no discussion about other duties of bishops. Nor is it necessary to speak of confirmation, nor of the consecration of bells, which are almost the only things they have kept for themselves. Yet, something must be said about jurisdiction.
Pulling It Together
Beware of bishops, pastors, and elders who busy themselves with duties that range often from the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Even in the overseer’s duty of ordination, this ministry of the office is celebrated—often in the best and highest manner. However, when it gets down to the office being “celebrated” by meetings and other human deliberations, the danger can be that the human is being lifted above the divine. But let those who oversee well, tending to the ministry of the gospel, be honored among us.
Prayer: Help me, God, to honor those who look to my care in Christ. Amen.
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The Spiritual Realms is a nine-session Bible Study series on Heaven and Hell and places beyond this world. Specifically, the study looks at the many “place names” that are found throughout Scripture, referring to spiritual realms of existence that underlie and comprise the universe God created. This Bible Study series is a challenging one, in that it explores realities of existence beyond what we know and experience everyday.
The study not only addresses matters of life, death, heaven and hell, it steadfastly affirms that Jesus Christ is at the center of all these things. Our ultimate faith and hope rest in Christ’s death and resurrection for our sake. We live in faith by the biblical promise that: “God raised the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power” (1 Cor 6:14).
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Author
Rev. Mark E. Ryman serves as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC. Previously, Pastor Ryman has served other congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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