tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18631784.post8130783497482999596..comments2023-12-05T19:10:42.635-05:00Comments on Lutherans and Procreation: Be Fruitful and Multiply: Command or Blessing?Erich Heidenreich, DDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819223688598369327noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18631784.post-84245124985441162682008-03-13T09:18:00.000-04:002008-03-13T09:18:00.000-04:00Even what might be considered by some our "best" g...Even what might be considered by some our "best" good works are in need of forgiveness. It is the Christian life to do our best to live by God's commandments, but we never live up to any of them. Sin infects everything we do, think, and say.<BR/><BR/>Specifically with regard to the command to be fruitful and multiply, although my wife and I do not utilize any overt methods of contraception we are still - more often than not - sinfully contraceptive at heart. We love all our children and welcome each of these precious, unmerited blessings into this world with joy and thanks, but there is always hesitancy on our part when considering the consequences of leaving family planning entirely up to God. Do we really trust God with our whole hearts and minds? Certainly not, try though we may.<BR/><BR/>Readers of this blog should NEVER get the impression that we are being holier-than-thou in our defense of the historic Christian position against contraception. We are simply defending God's Word on the issue. We are all poor miserable sinners in perpetual need of forgiveness.<BR/><BR/>Lord have mercy!Erich Heidenreich, DDShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12819223688598369327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18631784.post-36911433849519162252008-03-13T08:53:00.000-04:002008-03-13T08:53:00.000-04:00Good post Erich.Also, it is important for people t...Good post Erich.<BR/><BR/>Also, it is important for people to remember, we do not merit blessings or fulfill any of God's commands but we only receive his gifts by faith.Christopher Amenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04941831321863980651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18631784.post-68973701084610727462008-03-11T20:12:00.000-04:002008-03-11T20:12:00.000-04:00Thank you for this much needed clarification!Thank you for this much needed clarification!Matt Makelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18118078737185126093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18631784.post-13271300775882344962008-03-11T11:52:00.000-04:002008-03-11T11:52:00.000-04:00Amen. And even were it treated as only a blessing...Amen. And even were it treated as only a blessing, what other blessing can you think of which we would not readily embrace and, indeed, covet. Were God to bless us with a large retirement account or a mansion, how many who use contraception would say, "Thanks, but no, I'll pass." Fruitfulness is a blessing indeed and when we contracept (absent some truly exigent circumstance -- not merely a feigned one) we are, in the words of Chrysostom, "contemning the gift of God." Were are expressing our distrust in Him and asserting that we know better than He what would bless us. It is a serious sin indeed.<BR/><BR/>GLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com