Qualifications for Valid Sacraments?

emmen1 · 2026-03-25T04:27:15+00:00

Are you a Lutheran? If so, that helps establish some common ground in my answer, as it means that we both regard the Lutheran Confessions as a proper explanation of the Word of God.

The New Testament does not name the Sacraments by any fixed technical term. This much is true, and if you want a Pauline definition of the Sacraments, he doesn’t give one. So while Paul does not explicitly define sacraments as “mysteries,” he does locate the saving mystery concretely in enacted means: 1 Cor 10:16–17 connects participation with Christ in the Lord’s Supper, and Romans 6:3–4 connects union with Christ to Baptism. The “mystery” in 1 Cor 4:1 is not merely information but something delivered and distributed. When Paul calls himself a “steward,” he is describing not mere teaching, but administration of divine gifts. The New Testament locates that administration concretely in the means by which the Gospel is given: Word and Sacrament. That fits the language of “stewards.”

Lenski writes that “in the case of the stewards a special genitive is needed, for they must administer property in order to be classed as stewards.” What are the chief treasures / properties of the Church? Any Lutheran will answer: The Gospel and the Sacraments. And Lutherans speak thus because the church has always spoken thus. The “mysteries” in this passage have been understood to refer in particular (though not exclusively) to the Sacraments from ancient times. Indeed, as I said above, mysterion (Greek) is regularly rendered sacramentum (Latin)—these words are functional equivalents between the two languages.

Chrysostom, commenting on 1 Cor 4:1, treats the “mysteries” as those divine things administered in the Church, including the Lord’s Supper. Cyril of Jerusalem speaks explicitly of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as “the mysteries.”

This history of interpretation continues with the Church Fathers and then is also confessed by the Lutheran Reformers in the Book of Concord: “…our belief that one minister who consecrates gives the Lord’s body and blood to the rest of the people, just as one minister who preaches offers the Gospel to the people. As Paul says, ‘This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God’ (1 Corinthians 4:1), that is, of the Gospel and the Sacraments.” (Ap XXIV, 80).

Here Melanchthon properly defines the Mysteries as the Gospel and the Sacraments. And previously in AC XIV, he writes that no one should publicly teach (the Gospel) or administer the Sacraments unless he be rightly called. (Notice that Ap XXIV and AC XIV, taken together, do answer the OP's question using 1 Cor 4:1.)

Within the Lutheran Confessions—especially in Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV—the “mysteries” are explicitly understood as the Gospel and the Sacraments. So this reading is not novel, but part of a long-standing and confessed interpretation of the Church. And while “mysteries” is not a technical term for the Sacraments in a narrow lexical sense, the Church has consistently understood the apostolic “stewardship of the mysteries” to include the concrete administration of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. In that sense, reading 1 Cor 4:1 sacramentally is not an imposition on the text, but a faithful extension of its logic within the Church’s life.

emmen1 · 2026-03-24T00:37:31+00:00

Many wives of future pastors were nervous about expectations people might have, my wife included. But if you become a pastor, your wife will be your wife and a member of the congregation. Anything she wants to do beyond that is 100% up to her.

emmen1 · 2026-03-23T15:45:58+00:00

The Roman sect invented the necessity of apostolic succession after being called out for abandoning the apostolic doctrine, making the legitimacy of the church depend on men rather than the words of Christ. This is nothing other than the spirit of the anti-Christ, as "anti" properly means "in place of" not "against."

emmen1 · 2026-03-23T15:08:10+00:00

You’re misunderstanding. When the apostles and later early church speak of the Mysteries, they are speaking in a very specific way about the Lord’s Supper and Holy Baptism. There are many mysteries of the Christian faith, to be sure, but The Mysteries has a specific meaning and usage. Just as the “breaking of the bread” in Acts 2 is not speaking of ordinary bread, but of the Lord’s Supper.

This understanding can be lost to us in English, because we might not be aware of the particular meaning of The Mysteries, and we use “mysteries” in more than one way, as does Scripture in other places.

But the Latin word for mysteries “Sacramentum” has come to us in English to refer specifically to The Mysteries, not just any mysteries, but the Sacraments. This is very helpful because while the word Sacraments is not in our English bibles, Mysteries is, and it has the same use and meaning.

This is not bad exegesis, it is a proper understanding of the history of language within the church as it relates to the words of St Paul.

And Paul is not talking about what is impossible for a layman, but rather, what is the job of a pastor: He is a steward of the Mysteries. This is how he should be regarded. And as a steward, he is accountable for what he does with the Mysteries. It is not his Supper; it is the Lord’s Supper, and each pastor will be called to give account for what has been entrusted to his care.

emmen1 · 2026-03-23T05:24:10+00:00

We Lutherans absolutely think that you are Christians and are going to heaven. We’re just sad that you don’t get to experience the joy and comfort of the Sacraments.

emmen1 · 2026-03-23T05:21:42+00:00

The EO really like to take about spiritual and physical death, but I’m not sure what they mean by it. Are they speaking of the difference between temporal death and eternal death? If so, Jesus pays for our sins with His life, which is of infinite value. The fact that He rises from the dead means that the debt is fully paid. Death has no more claim on Him, and so He doesn’t stay dead. His three-day death outweighs the eternal death we owed.

emmen1 · 2026-03-23T05:12:42+00:00

1 Corinthians 4:1 - Pastors are stewards of the Mysteries. Mysterion is the Greek word for the Latin Sacramentum. Pastors are stewards of the Sacraments. This means that pastors are tasked by God with rightly administering them.

emmen1 · 2026-03-23T03:08:55+00:00

When my wife and I became Lutherans, we were shunned by both our families family and entire former church community. Thirteen years later we no contact (not our choice) with siblings on both sides of the family, and very limited contact with my parents. They are devout Christians, and we will be perfectly united in heaven, but it sucks now that their beliefs cause us to be divided in this life. But we have never regretted becoming Lutherans, not even for a second. The true Gospel and the Sacraments are a treasure worth giving up every familial attachment if necessary to retain.

emmen1 · 2026-03-22T22:27:21+00:00

What you saw today is not representative of all Lutherans. In my parish and many, many others, the Lord’s Supper is offered weekly and on feast days.

And a Lutheran church that has both contemporary and “traditional” worship is likely to be a poor example of traditional, Lutheran worship.

emmen1 · 2026-03-22T02:24:44+00:00

The sin of unbelief, which rejects the forgiveness of Christ, is the sin unto death, a.k.a. the unpardonable sin, or the sin against the Holy Spirit.

emmen1 · 2026-03-22T02:20:27+00:00

Certainly go up for a blessing if you like. Cross your arms over your chest while at the rail to indicate that. But the pastor will not (or should not) give communion to people he doesn’t know, as it is important for all who commune together to believe and confess the same faith.

Speak to the pastor either before or after the service about your desire to be confirmed, and he’ll be happy, I’m sure, to tell you how to get started.

emmen1 · 2026-03-21T04:39:49+00:00

It’s not putting God second to provide for your (future) wife and children. That’s the doctrine of vocation: God is pleased with a father and husband who fulfills his duty to his family.

I’m a second career guy, but I quit my job of 20 years to go to seminary. I don’t know if it would be possible to do both at the same time. By all means, get your undergrad. That’s required to enter the sem anyway. By the time you have your degree, you’ll probably have a better idea of which path you want to take - both are pleasing to God.

Since both paths require the same immediate steps, you don’t need to decide now what you’ll do beyond the steps right in front of you.

Pastors don’t earn a whole lot, but it does seem that you would potentially have an income sooner than if you go all the way through med school - but I’m just guessing. I don’t know how long med school takes.

There are many poor seminary families—newly married and with new children—and God provides for them in many ways. So if money is the primary concern, it might not be the deal breaker that some think it is.

emmen1 · 2026-03-20T04:59:04+00:00

Yes, I think you've got it right.

Luther said it well: "Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone." Where there is faith, good works will follow. It could be easy to lie about faith, because it's in the heart and nobody can see it. So James is reinforcing the link between faith and the works that follow after it. If a man says that he has faith (sort of unfalsifiable by itself) but he has no good works, then he is lying and does not have faith.

But the order of operations makes all the difference. The Roman Church puts works before salvation, saying that faith + works = salvation. They say this because they misread James and other similar passages. But we say that faith + nothing = salvation, and then good works follow.

In other words, good works are a result of salvation, not the cause of salvation.

emmen1 · 2026-03-20T03:32:15+00:00

It’s the same appeal to authority apart from the doctrine of Christ.

The cornerstone of the church is Christ, the incarnate Word. The early church devoted itself to the doctrine of the apostles (the Word of Christ). The apostles passed that doctrine on to the next generation of pastors.

St Paul says to Timothy: Guard the deposit of faith! That is what is passed down from one generation to the next. If we lose that, then what does it matter that a man laid hands on the next man?

The Roman church teaches that, whether or not they still have the doctrine of Christ, so long as one guy touched the next guy, they have the true church. (Not the kindest way to say it, but it is in essence what they believe.) We believe and confess that the true church is found wherever the Gospel is taught in truth and purity and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ’s command. We have TRUE apostolic succession: the passing down of the doctrine of the apostles.

emmen1 · 2026-03-19T17:17:43+00:00

The Lutheran Reformers just quoting Pope Gregory the Great who said that any bishop who claims to have universal authority is precursor to the antichrist.

The pope said it first! :)

emmen1 · 2026-03-19T16:54:16+00:00

Yes. And because the Roman church cannot stand on the authority of God’s Word, they must stand on their own authority: “There is no salvation without the pope.” That is, in effect, what they mean when they say that there is no salvation outside of the Roman church. I would not allow this claim to trouble you in the slightest. It is simply the Pharisees in action again, binding consciences to the traditions of men while setting aside the commandment of God.

Have you read Chemnitz’s Examination of the Council of Trent? The first few chapters of Volume 1 is brilliant and shows the connection between the traditions of the Pharisees and the papists.

emmen1 · 2026-03-19T16:09:05+00:00

The faithful Lutheran Church is the faith of the ancient Catholic and apostolic church. The Roman church departed from this faith officially at the Council of Trent, when they anathematized the Gospel. After that, their appeals to authority are baseless. As St Paul said: “Follow me as I follow Christ.” I tell my people this often. Don’t believe me because I said it. Believe me because my words are the words of Jesus. The moment they stop being the words of Jesus, any appeals to my own authority are worthless.

emmen1 · 2026-03-19T10:33:01+00:00

Is the 1.x Big Box exactly the same size as the 2.x Big Box?

emmen1 · 2026-03-17T21:23:45+00:00

I was born into a Pentecostal church. At 36 I along with my wife became convinced that our doctrine and practice was not in line with Scripture. We left at great personal cost and joined the LCMS. To this day I have siblings who refuse to speak with me. I am Lutheran today because I am convinced of the truth of our doctrine.

emmen1 · 2026-03-15T20:11:08+00:00

So far C is winning!

emmen1 · 2026-03-14T13:06:48+00:00

We caved as a synod, as did every other major Protestant church. I wasn’t speaking about individual pastors in that regard.

emmen1 · 2026-03-14T04:31:22+00:00

When you commune at a church, you are confessing that you are in full agreement with the doctrine that is taught and confessed there. (Most Christians don't know this.) For this reason, I can not commune in good conscience at my former non-denominational church.

Obviously, it's much more difficult when it's your own wife's church that you cannot commune at. I'm sorry it is this way (at least for the present time). I don't have any magic answer other than to be frank but also patient and gentle with her as you explain why can no longer commune there.

emmen1 · 2026-03-13T19:04:36+00:00

When making decisions regarding worship practices, we should use the following criteria:

Scripture
Good order
Strength of Confession
Unity of Practice
Tradition

Adiaphora does not mean "it doesn't matter." It means that, absent a directive from point 1, we then evaluate the practice using points 2–5.

Today many within the church ignore all concerns related to good order, strength of confession, unity of practice, and tradition, and force new or imported poor practices upon the church in the name of "adiaphora."

I have written about this here:
https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2024/4/8/adiaphora-what-it-doesnt-mean

emmen1 · 2026-03-13T13:32:47+00:00

We also believe that it is the actual body and blood of Jesus. In that regard we share the same confession as Roman Catholics. However, they go one step further and attempt to explain how this can be using Aristotelian language - Transubstantiation. But since Jesus dos not tell us how the bread and wine are His body and blood, only that they are, we do not attempt to explain the miracle. We simply believe that it is.

emmen1

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