George Stoeckhardt

In this brief excursus from his commentary on Ephesians, Georg Stöckhardt takes some time to explain the doctrine of election as God presents it in his Word.

Stöckhardt expertly guides the reader through Paul's Greek in Romans 11:33-36. After Paul's discussion of God's turning to the Gentiles and the Jews' rejection of Christ, the age-old question naturally arises: Why some and not others? Walking through Paul's answer to that question, Stöckhardt encourages us to let the mysteries of God remain as such.

Georg Stöckhardt delivered this powerful sermon on the Christmas Gospel in 1879. He thoroughly treats the blessings that God has given us through the birth of his Son. He concludes by considering the Christian's response to those blessings.

Normally one wouldn't expect John 3:16-21 to be a Pentecost sermon, since there is no direct mention of the Holy Spirit in the text. Dr. Stöckhardt freely admits this at the beginning of his sermon but goes on to show that really the entire work of our salvation pertains directly to the Holy Spirit.

Stöckhardt expertly guides the reader through Paul's Greek in Romans 6:3-11. Since Christians are baptized into Christ and also into his death, they have become partakers of his redemption--redemption certainly not only from the guilt, but also from the dominion of sin. And if they are freed from the dominion of sin, then the power of sin is broken in them.

Stöckhardt takes his listeners back to the days of Luther and the selling of indulgences. He praises Luther for cleansing the church of this blasphemy, while condemning the pope for leading countless people to hell on a religion of money and works. Stöckhardt warns us against falling into the greed of the papists, which led them to reject salvation by grace, and he comforts us with the true indulgence – that for Christ’s sake we are freely forgiven.