Article V

Concerning the Preaching Office

To obtain such faith, God has instituted the preaching office, giving the Gospel and
Sacraments, because He, as through means, gives the Holy Spirit, Who works faith where and
when He wills, in those who hear the Gospel, which teaches that we have a gracious God
through Christ's merit, not through our merit, when we so believe.

And the Anabaptists and others are damned who teach that we attain the Holy Spirit
without the physical Word of the Gospel through our own preparation, thoughts, and works.

The connection in which this article stands with the previous article is here shown in the
first words: "To obtain such faith." After having taught in the fourth article that we are justified
by faith, it is now taught in the fifth how we come to such faith. This is how the superscription
could also read: "On obtaining the faith." - God has "instituted the Preaching Office" in order
that we obtain faith. The word "Preaching office" is misconceived by many Lutherans, in that it
refers only to the publicly called servant of the Word, the preacher, and his particular office,
i.e., exclusively to the parish pastorate. This is dealt with in particular in the fourteenth article.
Concerning the Preaching Office is dealt with here in the fifth article quite apart from the
people that are in it. The explanation of the word "Preaching office" as used here is in the word
that immediately follow: "Gospel and Sacraments". Through the Preaching Office, that is,
through Word and Sacrament, faith is obtained. Certainly, to this end, Gospel and Sacrament
must be intended, and this is done through people; but this by no means gives them the same
power, but rather Gospel and Sacrament have their own power in their own right. Through
Gospel and Sacrament, "as through means, " God gives the Holy Spirit. Since God imparts to us
His grace through these means, they are also summarily referred to as means of grace. So here
in this article is the discussion of the acquisition of faith through the Means of Grace, i.e. what
is dealt with here:

1. The power of the Means of Grace to work faith, and the order in which they work it.

2. The condemnation of those who teach falsely in this matter.

1.a. The power of the Means of Grace. From the Holy Spirit, which God gives through
the Means of Grace, that is, "which works faith." Word and Sacrament also have the power to
work faith, on which is our salvation. The witness of the words of Romans 1:16: "I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; because it is the power of God that works salvation to
everyone who believes." The Gospel is here explicitly identified as the power of God that works
salvation. But since no one can be saved without faith, so the Word must be the one that works
faith, as Romans 10:17 says directly to us: "So faith now comes through preaching, preaching
through the Word of God."
 1.b. Concerning the order of the working of the Means of Grace, it is said here:
"because He, as through means, gives the Holy Spirit, Who works faith where and when He
wills, in those who hear the Gospel." God must also begin, "lay the first stone", when we shall
be saved. He must give the Gospel to all of us, the Word, "which teaches that we have a
gracious God through Christ's merit, not through our merit". Without the Word of God there is
no faith or salvation. Therefore it is the greatest grace of God that He has given us His Word of
the Gospel, however, to recognize God's punishment for the worst if He withholds a place for
his pure Word or takes it away. This is an infinitely greater misfortune than famine, pestilence
and war in which faith and salvation can still exist if the Word is there. "In every place where I
record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you" says God the Lord in Exodus 20:24.
Where God's Word is, there and only there, is to have a true, genuine blessing.

But the Word of God also may have those who need to hear it. This is for the second
part in the order, in which the Means of Grace work. Whomever will come to faith should not
absent themselves from the Word, nor clog his ears to it. It is said in Romans 10:17: "So faith
now comes through preaching", this also includes that one would hear the Word, which is why
Luther so often cited this saying: "Faith comes from hearing", and Romans 10:14 says: "How
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" Whomever will not hear his God and
heavenly Father, Who offers life and salvation, is a vile and cursed man. Even he is a shameful
man who turns his back on his earthly father, if he will talk to him.

Next in the order of the working of the Means of Grace is, that through the heard Word
the Holy Spirit is given, which works faith, i.e., "where and when He wills". This excludes all our
cooperation, as only for this purpose the Fathers have added these words. That God works faith
when and where He wills, Christ teaches in John 3:8: "The wind blows where it wills...so is
everyone who is born of the Spirit", experience shows that this is so. A man may well hear the
Word of God for many years from a richly talented pastor without coming to saving faith, while
he perhaps attains the right saving knowledge through the preaching of a less gifted pastor. We
should remember that it is God alone who can and will help us, so that we always speak from
the heart: "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your
mercy and truth."1 But in no way here shall the false doctrine of the Calvinists be confirmed,
that God would not have all people saved, but has appointed the vast majority to
condemnation. Against this gruesome doctrine Ezekiel 33:11, e.g., says: "As surely as I live, says
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked repent from
his way and live." It is not said in our article: if He wants, but: "where and when He wills". Time
and place of His gracious visitation God will certainly, freely have with each individual person.
Therein now lies the mightiest invitation for mankind, yes, indeed, no preaching of the Divine
Word without urgent need, and therefore, at the same time, to miss the highest divine blessing.
Faith is not to be understood as merely historical faith. It is "such faith", namely, "that we have
a gracious God through Christ's merit, not through our merit". Everyone must believe this for
himself. Anyone who doesn't is condemned. "But he who does not believe will be
condemned."2
1
Psalm 115:1.
2
Mark 16:16.
 2. The rejection of the adversaries. All are, per se, generally called, "who teach that we
attain the Holy Spirit without the physical Word of the Gospel through our own preparation,
thoughts, and works." The Anabaptists are here specifically mentioned. "All others" are the
Papists, Protestants, Carlstadt, the Schwenkfelder Church, Quakers, Methodists, United
Brethren, and all other sects. The Papists say, among other things, one receives the Holy Spirit
through a merit "de congruo", i.e., through such a meritorious preparation that makes it
reasonable that God gives His Holy Spirit. The Reformed also do not want the Spirit through
faith and the Word, but at most from time to time to receive the hearing of the Spirit. The
Enthusiasts hold our doctrine contrary to the words of 2 Corinthians 3:6: "The letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life." These words are true, but precisely a testimony for us, for the "letter"
here, as the context clearly shows, is the "Law", and "Spirit" to understand the Gospel. It is far
off course to say that the Word of God would be a mere letter. Even the Law is so lively and
powerful that it kills, while here it is clearly testified that the Gospel gives life. Christ says so in
John 6:63: "The words that I speak are spirit and are life." Whomever shall receive the Holy
Spirit and life must receive both through Christ's Word, i.e., the precious Gospel.

The Lutheran Church rightly teaches as a church communion in regard to this article
alone that the Word of God has the power to work faith. The local falsely called Lutheran
General Synod is just, as is known, not Lutheran and also teaches in this part, as usual, good
Methodism, and the Iowans and Ohioans, with their comrades, who teach that the final
decision concerning conversion is on the part of the people, are even in this part, as well as in
others, not faithful Lutherans. The latter is also of Grabau and his comrades in America and
elsewhere. They want to make the effect of the means of grace dependent on ordination.
Similar to the Papists, they dream of a priestly class, as the priests and Levites in the Old
Testament period were a special class. The ordained preacher should be, as it were, a kind of
mediator between God and man. Whomever should come to God may, in their opinion, come
only through an ordained preacher. In particular, the Holy Sacraments only receive their nature
and their power when they are administered by ordained preachers, although they allow, in
contradiction to this doctrine, that children are baptized in an emergency by a layman. Their
false doctrine, compared to that of the 14th Article when examined closely, the Smalcald
Articles say that the Gospel offers advice and assistance against sin per mutuum colloquium et
consolatione fratrum, i.e., through mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren, and
invoke this to the words of Matthew 18:20: "Where two or three are gathered in my Name,
there am I in the midst of them", which the Lord intended to be understood not only by the
public servants of the Word, but also by all Christians in general. This should encourage us to
talk often about God's Word with each other. As surely as we do this with a believing heart,
then certainly the Lord Christ every time is always present with his grace.