Tradition must give way to the clear statements of the Scripture

For, all that you cannot do by the works of the law , you can do easily and at once through faith .” Thus t he promises of God give what the law demands , and fulfil what the law requires , so that all may be of God alone , the command and also the fulfilment. Hence the promises are the New Testament and belong to the New Testament. Martin Luther and Albert T. W. Steinhaeuser, Luther Primer: A Little Book of Goodly Excerpts from the Writings of Martin Luther (Columbia, SC: Survey Publishing Company, 1917), 43. O LORD, may you ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us. Isa. 26:12 (Isa. 26:3, 64:8)    Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith Paul's desire to be found in him probably has an eschatological aspect. He wants the divine scrutiny he will undergo at Christ's return to reveal unqu...

  I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.  But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any  so-called brother  if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person , or an idolater, or is verbally abusive , or habitually drunk, or a swindler —not even to eat with such a person. For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges.  1 Cor. 5:9–13 NASB.2020 cf. (Rom. 13:3, 4) The punishments that the church applies in this connection are purely spiritual. They do not and may not consist in fines, corporal punishment, branding, torture, imprisonment, deprivation of honor, banishment, the death penalty, and so forth, as Rome claims; nor in the dissolution of family, c...

Apostles’ Council Apostles’ Council The main topic of the Apostles’ Council was whether circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses were necessary for believers. Meanwhile at Jerusalem some years passed away before the barrier of Judaism was assailed. The Apostles still observed the Mosaic ritual ; they still confined their preaching to Jews by birth , or Jews by adoption, the proselytes of the covenant. At length a breach was made, and the assailants as might be expected were Hellenists. Appointment of Hellenist Officers The first step towards the creation of an organized ministry was also the first step towards the emancipation of the Church.  The Jews of Judea, ‘Hebrews of the Hebrews,’ had ever regarded their Hellenist brethren with suspicion and distrust; and this estrangement reproduced itself in the Christian Church. The interests of the Hellenist widows had been neglected in the daily distribution of alms. Hence ‘arose a murmuring of the H...