Only one word is cited this week—yes, literally one word. Proof texting at its finest.

Matthew 4:12-23

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
— Matthew 4:17

Verse 17 is cited twice in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article 12: Repentance quite close together (AP 12.122, 132) because it is part of the same argument. Melanchthon is calling out the Confutation for how they cite scripture, including this verse (actually just the word “repent”) and twist what it means to talk about having to make satisfaction for our sin. Melanchthon just calls them on it:

And when Christ says, “Repent,” he is certainly speaking about the total repentance, about the entire new life and its fruits, not about those hypocritical satisfactions that the scholastics imagine avail as a compensation for the punishments of purgatory or for other punishments with performed by those who are in mortal sin.
—Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article 12: Repentance, Line 132

TheoThru

This is a helpful reminder that proof texting the Bible is not a new thing. Quoting just enough scripture, usually out of context, to prove your point has been around for a long time, and its just as wrong today as it was then. The Confutation did cite more passages, but the idea that referencing literally one word Jesus said proves anything is just ridiculous.

A quick example: Jesus said, “No,” (Matthew 8:10) and, “be afraid,” (Matthew 14:27). Therefore we know that God’s holy and righteous answer to our prayers is, “No.” This is a ridiculous because it assumes you won’t go and look at what the references are or their context and that you don’t know that Jesus himself in the Gospel of Matthew told us that God would hear us (Matthew 6:6), taught his disciples to pray (Matthew 6:7ff), and promised that our prayers would be answered (Matthew 21:22). Let us repent from trying to prove ourselves right.