Ted asks about the effect that a pastor with a good bedside manner can have on a sinner. Rod talks about how pastors who aren’t trained to have a good bedside manner have to fall back to their fathers, and about his experience being his father’s son and being trained in Springfield Seminary.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what it means when Scripture seems to sometimes imply that sinners should be able to satisfy the law for their own salvation. Rod talks about what we’re told about the depth of our sin, why we need someone to rescue us and advocate for us, and what imputed righteousness means. He also talks about how being baptized into Christ comes into play.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks why some theologians have become interested in subjectivizing the truth of the Gospel. Rod talks about our postmodern age, and uses his background in science to make a comparison to the theological realm, identifying our biases and how that can effect our position in relation to Jesus on the cross.

SHOW NOTES: Gene Veith - https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00J1K87CI

Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks if Jesus died for a Chief of Sinners like me. Rod talks about the condition of some people who are crushed by the law, the danger to our faith of adverbs and adjectives, and where sinners can look for the confirmation of the truth of the faith and to receive assurance.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks what Good News should a Christian be able to bring to someone on their deathbed who is afraid and in dire need of comfort and assurance. Rod talks about how we can know the claims in the New Testament are true and factual, and how the claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be offered to anyone, believer or unbeliever, at such a dark time to bring them assurance.

SHOW NOTES: https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3

Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what Luther means about the unique religion of grace versus all the others. Rod talks about the unique Christian claims about Christ. Also discussed are how sinful believers can malign the name of Jesus Christ and what that means.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the difference between the idea of God working with matter versus the gnostic anti-matter ideas. Rod talks about Jesus becoming a man, body and soul, in order to save sinners who were beset with Adam’s sin, body and soul.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks why the consistently delivered word and sacrament, Jesus Christ died-and-risen for your sins, doesn’t have outsiders storming Lutheran doors to receive it. Rod talks about the Lutheran church, some of the LCMS history, the nature of German Lutherans and communication skills, and the history of Lutherans’ tendency to be insular.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks how the Gospel is received by someone struggling with particular sins, and how that good news contends with it for the sake of that sinner. Rod talks about what it means to be like St. Paul—a believer in Christ who still lives in his sinful flesh, the two natures in tension against each other, and what the believer in Jesus can expect his life of faith to look like.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about a perceived trend of Christianity gaining ground in non-Western countries where Christians are often persecuted. Rod talks about the effect of losing the Gospel, the Christian message, in church, and the message of morality and improved behavior that takes its place in its absence.

SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate