The Lord be with you
Something from Philip Melanchthon.
Therefore, the authority of the crowd must not be appealed to against the Word of God, but it is necessary that one return to the rule: “If anyone shall preach another Gospel, let him be anathema” [1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:8]. Thereafter that church which agrees with that Word is to be considered authoritative as Christ says [John 10:27]: “My sheep hear my voice.” As Augustine said: “The question is: ‘Where is the church?’“ What, therefore, shall we do? Shall we seek it in our words, or in the words of the church’s Head, our Lord Jesus Christ? I think that we should seek it in the words of the One who is the truth, and best knows his own body.
Philip Melanchthon was Martin Luther’s good friend and a scholar of the first rank. Two of his works, the Augsburg Confession and the Apology [defense] of the Augsburg Confession, are part of the Book of Concord, the book, published in 1580 that contains the Lutheran Confessions. He was also a professor at the University of Wittenberg where he taught, among other subjects, the book of Romans. Over time, many sought to publish Melanchthon’s lectures, but the man himself was never satisfied with these efforts. He published his own commentary in 1532, but again wasn’t quite satisfied. He revised his Commentary on Romans and the revision was published in 1540. The 1540 commentary was translated by Fred Kramer and published by Concordia Publishing House in 1992. The above quote is from the Kramer translation, page 246.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor