And let me add this admonition in passing: It is the nature and the result of sound doctrine that when it is taught and learned well, it unites the minds of men in supreme harmony. But where men neglect the faithful doctrine and embrace errors, that harmony of mind is disrupted. As soon as brethren or pupils are deceived by fanatical spirits and fall away from the doctrine of justification, they immediately begin to persecute the pious with bitter hatred, even though previously they loved them dearly. … Therefore I often wonder greatly how such a bitter and vicious hatred could have come so suddenly into the hearts of those who had embraced us with such love. For we did not offend them even in the slightest way; nor did we give them a reason for persecuting us with such hatred. In fact, they are obliged to admit that our principal aim was to illumine the blessing and the glory of Christ and to teach the truth of the Gospel purely, now that God has revealed it through us to an ungrateful world in these last days. Then why do they hate us so bitterly? There is no other reason than that they have been listening to new teachers. Infected by their poison, they are so inflamed against us that they fume and rage with an implacable hatred.
Martin Luther | Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1–4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 26 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 413–14.
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Tony Phelps
Tony grew up in Rhode Island. He was educated at BA (University of Rhode Island) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He worked in the insurance industry for ten years. He planted a PCA church in Wakefield, RI where he served for eleven years. In 2015–18 he pastored Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) in Colorado Springs. He is currently pastor of Living Hope (OPC). Tony is married to Donna and together they have three children.
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