Preaching Truth

You never measure a man’s ministry by earthly measurements. 

Carey, in India for thirty-five years; and only then did he see a convert. Would anyone question the virtue of his life? Let God be the judge. Let’s bow together in prayer.

 Anybody can preach a whittled-down gospel. 

Anybody can preach some kind of a deal where you take a little dab of biblical truth and slap it together with human wisdom, and contaminate it with your own cleverness and your own views. 

But if you do that, you are a hawker and a huckster.

 Any man is adequate for that.

 But the man who preaches unmixed, divine truth, pure and clean, can only do that in power that is given from on high.”

So Paul found his way out of the gloom – didn’t he? –
 out of the gloom of a broken heart, and he found his way back 

to thanksgiving,

began to focus on God, 

and realized that he had to go back to the privileges 
and not to the problems

What a privilege

the privilege of being associated with the King of kings, and have Him as a leader; 

the privilege of a promised triumph, all through his life He’s victorious;

 the privilege of influencing men and women for eternity; 

the privilege of being pleasing to God; the privilege, the great privilege of having power in proclaiming the truth.

Rivers of Joy Baptist Church, Minford, Ohio

We begin our 13th year at  Rivers of Joy Baptist Church in Minford Ohio.  Started in July 2008,

From man's point of view, I would say it has been a failure.  I know in the end God will be the final judge of the ministry of this church and how I have been the pastor.  

What I can say is that I have to give an account of my preaching and actions to the Lord.  

Charity has been a strong supporter of me since we came to ROJBC.  She has confirmed that she has been blessed by the teaching of the Word of God.  And not necessary all of the actions that I have tried to do as pastor.

Why do I stay?  I am not real sure.  If I leave that building will be closed for good.  I don't believe there will be another church group there.  If it were possible I would love to see it happen.

I love to preach and teach the Word, and as long as I can I will do it.  

People in this area of Minford, have found the church one that they do not want to attend.  There are some really good churches in the area that are doing great.

Over the last several years we have had a number of members to die and that their family would not attend.  

I do not push our few to push others to come.  Those few who come like my teaching of the Word of God.  And those who have moved and watch on Facebook enjoy the teaching of the Word and when in town they attend the services.

Personally we like teaching and meeting with our few each week.  It is a joy.

We invite people to come, but that has not happen much.

Alan and Angie Harris

Just out of Seminary Alan came to First Baptist Church in Altoona, Kansas 1982

 

 

 

Alan has preached for us in every church we have passed

 

 

Three great boys

 

Rivers of Joy Baptist Church

 

 

Alan and Angie are a great team

 

 

Evangelist, Missionary, Gospel Singer and Friend



First Peter 2:24

live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The meaning of the cross First Peter 2:24

Read John 10:10-29 Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher
 

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The meaning of the cross First Peter 2:24

Read John 10:10-29 Charles e Whisnant Pastor/Teacher

 

 

WHO HIS OWN SELF BARE ^{399 OR}

AND HE HIMSELF BORE _{OUR SINS}:

Exodus 28:38; And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.
 

Psalms 38:4; Isaiah 53:4-22 Matthew 8:17; John 1:29, 36; Hebrew 9:28)
 

He Himself - MacArthur comments that this phrase "is an emphatic personalization and stresses that the Son of God voluntarily and without coercion (John 10:15-18) died as the only sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe
 

John 1:10-29; 3:16; 10" 1Timothy 2:5, 6; 4:10; Hebrews 2:9 and 17.
 

The very name Jesus indicated that He would "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
 

They shall therefore keep My charge, so that they may not bear sin because of it, and die thereby because they profane it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Peter presents the ultimate illustration of unjust suffering in the Cross of Christ.

Jesus shall Bare or bore (399)( literally means to carry, bring or bear up and so to cause to move from a lower position to a higher position. It serves as a technical term for offering sacrifices, offer up to an altar

Figuratively (as used here by Peter) means to take up and bear sins by imputation (act of laying the responsibility or blame for) as typified by the ancient sacrifices.

Hebrew 7:27 Read Isaiah 53 Read John 1:29

THIS CROSS (3586)is literally wood and refers to anything made of wood, including a tree or other wooden article or substance.

QUOTATIONS ON THE CROSS There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below. - C H Spurgeon We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross. - Vance Havner

The race of Adam is under the death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear, or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him, and then raising him again to newness of life.

A little bit about the CROSS - tree

The suffering entailed in crucifixion naturally made the cross a symbol of pain, distress and burden-bearing. Thus Jesus used it Himself (Matthew 10:38; 16:24). In Paulinic literature the cross stands for the preaching of the doctrine of the Atonement (1Cor 1:18; Gal 6:14; Phil 3:18; Col 1:20). It shows the bond of unity between the Jew and the Gentile (Ephesians 2:16), and between the believer and Christ, and also symbolizes sanctification (Gal 5:24). The cross is the center and circumference of the preaching of the apostles and of the life of the New Testament church.

So why did Jesus have to go to the Cross

He came into the sinner’s world. — Himself sinless, he took our nature. Accustomed to the pure atmosphere of His own bright home, He allowed His ears and eyes to be set on by sounds and sight below. His blessed feet tread among the dust of death, the mounds of graves, and the traps that men laid to catch Him. And all for love of us.

THAT WE BEING DEAD TO SIN OR DIE TO SIN:

1Peter 4:1,2; Ro 6:2,7,11; 7:6; Col 2:20; 3:3; 2Cor 6:17; Heb 7:26)

Might die (581) means to be afar off, to be away from, to be removed from, to depart. It means to cease existing and implies a complete and abrupt change.

TO SIN (266)(hamartia) literally expresses the sense of missing the mark as when hunting with a bow and arrow (in Homer some hundred times of a warrior hurling his spear but missing his foe). Later came to mean missing or falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose.

True conversion is not just intellectual assent to the truth of the gospel. Saving faith always involves an exchange of masters, from self to Jesus Christ. While we spend a lifetime growing in our submission to Christ, if we are not seeking to live under His Lordship, our claim to faith is suspect.

BUT LIVE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS: (Matthew 5:20; Luke 1:74,75; Acts 10:35; Romans 6:11,16,22; Ephesians 5:9; Php 1:11; 1 John 2:29; 3:7)

Live (2198) refers to natural physical life but figuratively (as used here)is reference to how one conducts oneself. Ultimately Christ has opened the door for believers to enjoy life in its fullest, richest sense, as God intended it to be lived. And in context such a life is one that conforms to God's holy character (which equates with righteousness), for He is the essence of righteousness. When one lives to righteousness they will manifest rightness of character before God and rightness of actions before men. Both of these qualities are based on truth, which is conformity to the Word and will of God.

Righteousness (1343) Definition: Righteousness is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven.However, the Bible clearly states that human beings cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts: "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Romans 3:20.

MINISTER TO THE PEOPLE'S NEEDS

MINISTER TO THE PEOPLE'S NEEDS

 Luke 10:9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'


And heal those in it who are sick - 

Notice this verse begins with and (kai) linking it to the previous thought. In other words those who receive Jesus' men is where healing of the sick can take place. Easterners are often more impressed by what people do than by what hey say, thus religious men are thus expected to have extraordinary powers. .

Luke describes the ministry of our Lord“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)

Heal (2323)(therapeuo from therapon =

• \ an attendant, servant) means primarily to care for, to wait upon, minister to.

•  It has two main senses in the NT, one speaking of rendering service (Acts 17:25) and the more common use describing medical aspects such as to take care of the sick, to heal, to cure (Matt. 4:24; 12:10; Mark 1:34; Luke 6:7; 10:9),

 to recover health, to restore.

•  to heal miraculously in Matt. 4:23, 24; 10:1, 8; Acts 4:14. Providing care to improve a situation. is a command in the present imperative. 

•  In the NT therapeuo never means “to serve” in a secular sense, and only once in Acts 17:25 does it denote worship. Paul's point here is that the true God has no cultic dwelling and does not need a cultic ministry, so that the therapeuÃein that is suitable for idols is inappropriate to him.

 A much more common use is for “healing,” not merely in the sense of medical treatment, but in the sense of the real healing that the Messiah brings. 

1. Jesus has power to heal the sick (Lk. 7:21ff.). 
2. This is no less a part of his ministry than preaching (Mk. 4:23).
3.  No sickness can resist him. He heals many (Mk. 3:10) or all (Mt. 12:15), whether they be ill, lame, blind, maimed, or deaf and dumb, and whenever the need arises even though it be on the sabbath (Mt. 12:10 etc.). 
4. Driving out demons is one form of healing. This is done by the word in what is sometimes a violent struggle (cf. Lk. 4:40-41; Mk. 3:10-11). 
5. The word also cures ailments or defects, though Jesus will often touch the sick (Mk. 1:41), take their hand (1:31), lay on hands (5:23), or perform acts like those of doctors (7:33; cf. Jms. 5:14).
6.  The sick may simply touch him or his garment (Mk. 3:10; 5:28; cf. Peter's shadow in Acts 5:15 and Paul's clothing in Acts 19:12). 
7. The healing is total as Jesus, initiating the age of salvation, takes away the sicknesses of the people (Mt. 8:17; cf. Is. 53:4). 
8. The actual processes may have parallels in Greek and Jewish records, but the important point is the demonstration that with Jesus God's kingdom has already broken into our suffering world.
9. The real miracle, then, is not the breaking of natural law but victory in the conflict for world mastery.
10. Following up this victory, Jesus commands his disciples to heal the sick. 
11. The command itself, received in faith, grants them the power (Mt. 10:1 etc.).
12. The risen Lord repeats the commission, and in Jesus' name the apostles heal the sick and demon-possessed (Acts 5:16; cf. Peter in Acts 3:1ff., Philip in Acts 8:7, Paul in Acts 28:8-9).

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The Kingdom of God - One must understand that there are two phases to the Kingdom of God.

1. The first phase is the invisible, internal Kingdom of God and which He later described as "in your midst” (Lk 17:21-note), the Kingdom in which the King reigns in the heart of the person who has accepted Jesus as Messiah
2. To proclaim the Kingdom of God is to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the good news of salvation, explaining how one can enter the Kingdom of God.
3.  When the King returns on "the day that the Son of Man is revealed," (Lk 17:30- the heart of every person will also be revealed as to whether they sought the kingdom of "self" or the kingdom of the Savior!
4.  The future phase of the Kingdom of God is known as the Messianic Age or the Millennial Kingdom.(See more detailed explanation of Jesus' meaning of the Kingdom of God in  Luke 17:20-21).
5. Jesus knew the Jews were looking for the future aspect of the Kingdom of God, but His preaching and that of His disciples was to explain how one could enter the invisible aspect of the Kingdom of God in the present and in that way they would be assured of experiencing the visible Kingdom of God in the future.
6. John MacArthur explains the kingdom of God has come near - The message the seventy proclaimed was that the kingdom of God had come near because the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, was present—the same message proclaimed by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus (Matt. 4:17, 23; 9:35; Luke 4:43), and the apostles (Matt. 10:7).
7. A kingdom is a realm, sphere, or territory ruled by an absolute monarch who functions with absolute authority. In the kingdom of God, 
8. He is the “blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). In a general sense, all creation is included under His sovereign rule in His universal kingdom (Ps. 103:19), but the kingdom of salvation is the theme of all gospel preaching.
9.  Those who enter that aspect of His kingdom through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ submit themselves completely to His authority and receive all the benefits of eternal life.
10. The rest of humanity is in the kingdom of the world (Rev. 11:15), under the rule of Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2); there are no free agents.
11. a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20–21.

Luke 10:7

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Luke 10:6 "If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 

 LET THEIR PEACE DICTATE WHETHER YOU GO OR STAY

Man of peace (son of peace) - 

•  This was a Hebrew idiom meaning "a peaceful man." This describes a man whose character reveals that peace which he receives from God. Such a man would have been responsive to Christ's messengers.

•  In the Semitic sense of “one characterized by wholeness,” that is, “one who has been born of peace and is also destined for the peace of others” 

Rest on (1879)(epanapaúō from epí = upon + anapaúomai = to rest)

•  means to rely, rest, repose oneself upon, finding comfort or inner security (Ro. 2:17 = only other NT use; Sept.: Mic. 3:11);

•  to rest with the sense of remaining upon (Luke 10:6)

•  Used in the Septuagint of the Holy Spirit resting on men (Nu 11:25, 26) and spirit of Elijah resting on Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:15).

•  - basic meaning = rest on;

• 
  
  (1) continue, remain with (Lk 10.6);

(2) as finding comfort through confident dependence on something rely on, trust in

• Romans 2:17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God,
• Numbers 11:25 (and Nu 11:26) Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested  upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.
• Micah 3:11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on LORD saying, "Is not the LORD in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us."

return to you - Common verb anakamptō, to bend back, return.

 The peace in that    Jesus instructs these men on what to when they entered a home. 

•  
• They were to pronounce God's peace on that home. If that person was peaceful, he would enjoy the blessing of peace. If he was not, then God's peace would rest upon the disciples.
• Those who greeted these men had an opportunity to be a blessing or to reject that opportunity.
•  
•  If the people extended hospitality to these disciples, they were to eat whatever was set before them and be content. 
•  
• Some of those homes may have included non-Jewish families that did not observe the Levitical dietary laws. 
•  
• Jesus told them to willingly eat and drink what was before them and not be distracted by their meals. 
•  
• Jesus also told his disciples to accept hospitality graciously because their work entitled them to it. 
•  
• Preachers of the Gospel deserve to be supported, and it is believers' responsibility to make sure they have what they need.

 

Charles Town

Sport Compendium Room

The McDermott Pond Creek Division

A room 25'by 25' filled with Sports

Sports cards, Hot Wheels, NASCAR,

Starting Lineup, Magazines, M2 Machine Cars.

Three tables of Trains

C.E Whisnant, Owner,

 

CHARLES TOWN SPORTS COMPENDIUM R00M

4324 D  McDermott Pond Creek Division

 

DISPLAYING STEAM & DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES RAILWAY

1. Hot Wheels Cars      2. How Wheels "Character Cars.

3. Matchbox Cars       4. Wheaties Boxs

 

5. 1/64 M²Machine        6. 1/24 M2Machine Cars

 

7. 1/24 American Clasic, Fast & Fuprious, Bigtime Muscle, CC

8. 1/24 NASCAR cars        9. 1/64 NASCAR cars

 

10. Sports Cards: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Golf

11. Sport Magazines:
        11. Train Magazines

 

13. Starting Lineups Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey

 

14. Headliners Baseball, Football, Baskebetball, Hockey

 

 

15. 1/64 NASCAR Figures of drivers & cars

 

 

16. Open 1/64 cars      17. Train Posters

 

 

18. Trains Jigsaw Puzzles       19. Framed Pictures Trains

 

20. Pictures of Old Cars      21. Display of 1/18 G Trains

 

22. DVD and VHS's of Trains, Amtrak. model displays

The Wrath of God

THE WRATH OF GOD - John MacArthur

Now, sometimes when you talk about God being a God of wrath, certain people get disturbed. And they don't understand how God can be a God of anger and God can be a God of wrath and God can be a God of fury, a God of terror. But that's because they don't understand God.

 

 

Let's see if we can't help ourselves to a deeper understanding of His wrath in perspective with all of His other attributes.

 

God's attributes are balanced in His divine perfection. And they are perfectly balanced. If God did not have wrath and God did not have anger then He would not be God.

God is perfect in love, on the one hand, and He is equally perfect in hate, on the other hand.

 

Just as totally as He loves, so totally does He hate. As His love is unmixed, so is His hate unmixed.

 

Of Christ, it says in Hebrews 1:9, "Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity." And there is that perfect balance in the nature of God. One of the tragedies of Christianity in our time is a failure to preach the hatred of God, the judgment of God. We're so sweet We're so sentimental.

 

 We're so kind of mushy in our Christianity. When is the last time you heard a new song on the wrath of God? Heard one lately? I haven't.

Does God hate anyone?

by Matt Slick

The universalists repeatedly say things like, "God loves us all so much that He will save us all"; or "He hates the sin, but loves the sinner"; or "God is love, and will not send anyone to hell."

 

Universalists teach that God is so full of love, that He simply cannot send anyone to eternal hell fire. It is against His infinite love. They want God to forgive all, even those who openly reject Him and die cursing God.

 

I must admit, it is nice to think of God's love being so infinitely great that all will ultimately be saved. Hell is a terrible place and I don't want anyone to go there. But it does not matter what I think. It matters what the Bible says.

God is love (1 John 4:8), but God also punishes the sinner and hates all who do iniquity. God is not one sided. He is not simply an infinitely loving God. He is also infinitely just. He must deal with sin. He must punish the sinner.

 

In the truth of God's word, we find that the Lord has provided one way by which we may be saved. That single way is through Jesus' sacrifice. For all who trust in Him, salvation will come. But to those who turn away, God's wrath abides upon them: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him," (John 3:36).

Does God hate anyone?

Does God hate anyone? The answer is yes.

Psalm 5:5, "The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity,"

 

Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates."

 

Lev. 20:23, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them."

 

Prov. 6:16-19, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."

 

Hosea 9:15, "All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels."

 

Are these verses hard to read? Do they make you feel uncomfortable? They should. God hates sin. But, He does not punish sin. He punishes the sinner. Sin cannot be tied up and thrown into a fire. It cannot be put in a box or glued to a stick. It is rebellion. It is rebellion in the heart. It is breaking God's Law. Sin occurs inside the heart and mind of people.

 

Therefore, God must punish the sinner. Why? Because He is both Holy and Just and the person who sins offends God. God's Holy and Just character will not allow Him to ignore this offense. Why?....

The couplet ascribed to Luther is one of his best known
‘Love God and sin boldly’.
 
 For some, this is a call to a radical understanding of the Gospel. 

For others, it’s a symptom of the excessive language of grace that can lead to Antinomianism. This slogan has served as the central feature of Catholic criticism of Protestantism and of ev                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        angelical criticism of neo-Lutheranism. It’s an important quote to get right.
 
When did Luther say ‘Love God and Sin Boldly’?
 
When Luther wrote ‘love God and sin boldly’, it was 1521 and it had only been several months since he stood trial for his reformation.

 The quote occurs in a letter from Luther to Melanchthon, which Luther wrote in the Wartburg castle, hiding out to avoid execution. 

Obviously, he had not worked out every issue of the divide between the old faith and the Reformation. And if it was hard for Luther, it was doubly hard for his advocates back in Wittenberg without their leader.
 
The letter in question is actually only a fragment. There is no salutation or much context, and so it drops into a conversation midstream. Melanchthon is the formal cause of Luther’s comments, as he was agitated about the radicalized ideas of some in Wittenberg, who wanted to burn all traces of Catholicism out of the church. The majority of church activities before Luther were now being said, not only to be misguided and wrong, but sinful for all who had participated. Melanchthon was, by nature, a man of weaker constitution and this language gave him heartburn.
 
So Melanchthon wrote a letter, now lost, asking Luther to comment on the sinfulness of Catholic practices: things such as celibacy, fasting, communion in one kind. Melanchthon seems to wonder if these things, though misguided in Catholicism, were themselves sinful. Couldn’t these practices be done faithfully for the Gospel?
The letter fragment from Luther, then, drops right into these subjects. In other words, the subject is not fundamentally about 

Luther’s view of sanctification, but how the Gospel works its fingers into the traditional piety of former Catholics. Paragraph after paragraph deals with celibacy, monasticism, communion, and what Luther calls the ‘fictitious works’ of the pope. Luther also challenges the hardliners in Wittenberg for assuming they are achieving purity. So the message is not to ‘sin boldly’ in sanctification but to grasp the basic grammar of justification by faith: works contribute nothing to justification, so stop trying to add them.
 
Luther’s comment
 

• If you wish to read the letter fragment in an English translation, you can here. I will quote only the crucial paragraph in question:

•    If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners

• . Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong [or sin boldly], but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

A few things stand out in this paragraph. First, the slogan itself is placed in a wider reflection where Luther stressed to Melanchthon his sinfulness in order to grasp the cross. The statement is not: ‘Love God’ (justification) and ‘sin boldly’ (anti-sanctification). 

Rather it is the same point Luther defended at the trial at Worms: the Law shows us our inability to contribute anything to justification.
 
The rest of the paragraph drives to this same conclusion. Of course, the hyperbole towards the end about sin being covered in Christ ‘even if we were to kill or commit adultery’ is arresting. But it should also be said that Melanchthon was not a murderer or an adulterer. He was an older brother, not a prodigal son. Luther’s point is that, even in the most inconceivable example of ongoing sin, Christ’s atonement covers the sinner. This is hyperbole about the old man who hangs on and still tempts us, not about how justified sinners will actually commit adultery and murder each day.
Lastly, the last line of the paragraph is a real gem, and gives us the final clue as to Luther’s pastoral concern for brother Melanchthon: you’re a sinner, man, get used to it. And the more you get used to it, the more the cross will make sense as the ground of your entire life.
 
Conclusion
 
So should we repeat the slogan ‘Love God and sin boldly’? My instincts are to be extremely cautious about this phrase, as we are not saying this in the same situation as Luther. \

In my experience, I have never heard this slogan where the meaning isn’t pressing folks to ignore the Christian life. (Your experience with this slogan may be different, of course.) The times I’ve heard this idiom quoted, the intention always seems to drive towards a justification-only view of salvation—no union with Christ, no Holy Spirit renewal, but rather easing us into the lukewarm water of cheap grace.

It is helpful, too, to notice that Luther never speaks in this hyperbole to layfolks in his preaching. Nothing comes close, though he is always clear to stress the inability of sinners to save 
themselves.
 
When discussing the Christian life Luther never instructs someone to ‘sin boldly’, but instead tells them to focus on the cross and let the Spirit do the real work in us. He abhors those who think he is advocating active sin and rebukes Antinomianism. As a pastor, 

Luther would never tell anyone to ‘sin boldly’.

Now to a former Catholic, like Melanchthon, he will hammer on them to stop hanging on to the cycle of penance of his youth. Be a sinner! Own it. Understand that even those who are not struggling with serious sins are still covenant breakers in need of the cross.

• So the boldness of sin is the boldness that takes us to the cross. It’s the boldness to admit were really do need Jesus.

Ryan Reeve
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Let Your Sins Be Strong:
                     A Letter From Luther to Melanchthon
               Letter no. 99, 1 August 1521, From the Wartburg
_                        Dr, Johannes GeorgWalch,                                        

    Of course, you can only know and absolve those sins which have been     confessed to you; sins which have not been confessed to you, you      neither need to know nor can you absolve them. That is reaching too     high, dear gentlemen."

        You cannot convince me that the same is true for the vows made by     priests and monks.  For I am very concerned about the fact that the     order of priesthood was instituted by God as a free one. Not so that     of the monks who chose their position voluntarily, even though I have     almost come to the conclusion that those who have entered into that     state at an age prior to their manhood, or are currently at that     stage, may secede with a clear conscience. I am hesitant, however,     with a judgment about those who have been in this state for a long     time and have grown old in it.