Christian Life and Witness. Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf

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      * [Count Zinzendorf wrote this note himself. He thought this point needed clarification.] At least human souls can already be cleansed here in time, but the remaining elements of human persons are not cleansed prior to the grave. Then, when souls that were in the body with sin leave their tents, a pure soul without sin journeys to the Savior, and when the body which sent forth the sinless soul lies there in the grave, then it is still a sinful little body and will not be designated “totally clean” until its concentrated little kernel is transfigured.

      ** [Zinzendorf again added this note himself to the published edition of the speeches.] In The Smalcald Articles it says, “The Savior does not allow sin to hold sway and win the upper hand, so that sin is committed, but rather wards it off and restrains it, so that it [sin] is not able to do whatever it will; but if [sin] does do what it wants, then the Holy Spirit and faith are not present. For as St. John says: ‘Whoever is born of God does not sin and cannot sin.’ And yet it is also surely the truth (as the same St. John writes) ‘Therefore if we say we have no sin, we lie, and God’s truth is not in us.’” Vid. Libr. Conc. Edit. Reinecc. p. 511. [[Translator’s note: The Smalcald Articles were penned by Martin Luther as a theological testament; cf. William Russell, Luther’s Theological Testament. Zinzendorf may be quoting from memory here because he actually misquotes Luther.

It is not even necessary for a believer to listen to sin, much less get mixed up in a fight with it, rather since the solemn divorce of the absolved and purified soul from its old husband has taken place through the corpse of Christ, [the believer] must renounce [sin]; therefore now one can serve the true Husband in peace and fruit can be brought to him unto eternal life; one is neither willing, nor inclined, nor compelled to sin anymore.3

      This freedom is given to us as a blessedness and a privilege. But no one is to seek it prior to grace, much less is it to be placed above grace, but rather grace must be there first, and in the quality of a godless person one must have obtained the forgiveness of sins, after that follows the privilege that one is no longer compelled to sin and may be godly. One acquires forgiveness through faith in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Without this there is no life, no grace, no forgiveness. Our faith must stand fast on the merit of the Savior, who died for us that he might deliver us from all unrighteousness and purify a people for himself to be his own possession, that they might be industrious workers of good.

      Luther wrote that the Holy Spirit does not permit sin to rule, whereas Zinzendorf says it is the Savior, i.e. Jesus, who does not permit it. Cf., the Book of Concord, 310. But of course the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. Moreover, classical Christian teaching has it that what one Person of the holy Trinity does the other two participate in. Thus, the triune God is always fully and completely present and active even if speech refers only to one or another of the eternal “Persons”.]]

      It will be necessary in all future speeches and presentations that these four questions are laid, so to speak, deep in the self.

      The First: What is the sense of the word? What is meant? What is to be understood by it? Therefore, one has to say the meaning of the thing simply, bluntly and without beating around the bush, so that each person might be able to grasp and perceive the main point.

      The Second: Does the meaning have a foundation: is it in agreement with Scripture? Since one must neither speak nor think of spiritual things apart from the Holy Scriptures. One knows that the truth is grounded, which brings us to the Third Question: Am I like this? Have I experienced and known this? And finally the Fourth: How do I come to be, experience, or know this?

      One has to follow these rules with the teaching of Christ, too. It must be understood, tested, sought, and found.

      What does it mean in the present to believe in the Lord Jesus? Godly people know and hold to be true that once about seventeen hundred years ago there was a particular man on earth, who was called “Jesus,” and that it is just as certain that this person was God before [his incarnation], as it is that he became the Son of a human being afterwards; that he died for us human beings, on the cross of course, in the presence of many people, both Jews and Gentiles, that he did it partly to atone by his act for our sins and for the sins of each one, and partly that he might reconcile God, [and] partly in order to break the power and structure of sin on the cross, and negate its authority on earth, so that it might no longer be allowed to rule, but rather be trampled underfoot.

      The shortest way to faith is to receive Christ (John 1:12). “To as many as received him, he gave the power to be God’s children, that is, to become people who believe in his name.” In his day many of his own people did not receive him. He counted for little with his lowly, poor demeanor: “We esteemed him not,” says Isaiah 53. But his word and Gospel were effective among some people, so that he once had gathered together more than five hundred brothers who adored him.

      We do not see the Savior in a physical way, (which does not help anyway, as we perceive with the people of his own day) therefore we also cannot receive him in a physical manner, as the disciples of his time received his physical and visible presence in the world; but the word of Christ is just as near to us, and makes the secret of the cross just as clear as if the Lord hung before our very eyes. We must believe this word and testimony about him, and both reflect on and preserve it with the very same simplicity and sincerity as the ancients, as soon as we become aware of it intensively, so that the word is spoken in the Spirit, and the power of God comes upon the heart, overcoming us like a fire and desiring to inflame us. If the Lord did not work upon souls in this actual manner, he neither could nor would blame anyone for their unbelief.

      But we are still concerned with the words and actions of the Savior, and to be sure in the sight of precisely the same Spirit, through whom so many thousand people were converted at the time of the apostles. If we believe him simply and directly, then we will come to know the power of the truth that Jesus is near to our souls in a special way, that he is the Deliverer and Husband of us all. That word “believe” is an obligation, and the only law upon which salvation depends. We must trust in his primary name, “Jesus,” a Redeemer, Savior, Bringer of salvation, since he must save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). We must believe: 1) That he is a Savior of sinners, who died for the sins of the whole world; 2) That he hung on the cross as an evildoer in the form of sinful flesh, between two murderers, and therefore was despised, rejected, wounded, and broken out of love for souls; 3) That he bought, reconciled, and saved us, and loved us so much that he gave up his life for us, so that he should have first claim on us, because he regarded our souls as so important and paid such a heavy price for them.

      It is in this glorious name of the Redeemer that we must believe. To reason this is a matter too significant, solemn, and difficult, and [reason] may indeed still call faith, to which all children are directed according to their feeling and condition: “The Lord’s nuisance.” There are several occurrences of this designation in the old sayings of Scripture. Therefore, so many people do not want to have anything to do with [faith], and if they try it, they deal with it superficially and turn back again, because they neither can nor wish to believe. That is the only reason so many souls are lost, not because they have sinned, but rather on account of unbelief; since without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

      It is true sinning must cease as well. For whoever allows sin to rule, or is compelled to let sin reign, has no faith in Christ; faith does not allow us to sin (Romans 6:2). Joyfulness in sin drives the pleasure-bound spirit. But it is likewise true, that transgressing is not the cause of rejection according to the New Testament. It is on account of unbelief that one cannot enter into rest (Hebrews 4:6). Therefore, faith is a special blessing of grace and gift of God, so that whoever has it in simplicity and naiveté can neither think of nor worship God enough.

      One point, which is so difficult СКАЧАТЬ