One cannot be a Lutheran and an Enthusiast.
People should read a few UOJ sermons to see how absurd they are.
Here is one from Atonement in Plano, Texas.
Pastor Gabb says everyone is forgiven. The statement of beliefs repeats this notion. The inept analogy in the sermon is having money put in the bank account of every single person in the world. S'funny how he misses a good analogy from the Book of Concord and Luther - treasure distributed by the Means of Grace. This congregation is teaching Universalism.
For example, if I told you that I put $25,000 into your bank account, I wouldn’t say, "If you believe I put $25,000 into your bank account, then it’s there. But if you don’t believe it, then it’s not there." Whether the money is in your bank or not is not based on whether you choose to believe it or not. I’ve complet-ed the transaction without your cooperation.
And so Jesus completed the work of salvation without our co-operation. Jesus said to more than one person whom we read about in the Bible, "Your sins are forgiven" (Mt 9.2). He didn’t say to those people, "If you believe that I paid for your sins then I paid for your sins." Justification is complete. You don’t have do anything to complete what Jesus started or cooperate with Jesus in some way to be forgiven.
On the other hand, it’s also true that we are "justified by faith," that is, the forgiveness is yours through faith in Jesus but does not benefit someone who does not believe in Jesus.
The name on the church says Atonement, but the pastor does not understand the Atonement. Texas is like that. Patterson's church is named Holy Word but he is smitten by Enthusiasm.
Here is Pastor Gabb on faith. Like most UOJ advocates, he contradicts his "everyone forgiven" sermon by repeating that people are sinful. Valleskey does the same thing in his wretched Church Growth textbook. Somehow Gabb talked about "Taking Care of Your Faith" without ever mentioning the Means of Grace. That is like talking about getting to the other side of the Mississippi without ever giving directions to the bridge across it.
(V 21-24). The word ‘justify’ means to declare someone inno-cent, not guilty. You are justified, not guilty of sin (Rom 8.33; 2 Cor 5.19). WE ARE JUSTIFIED means there is no charge of sin against us. When someone is accused of a crime and the judge declares that person to be justified, the accused is free to leave the judge’s courtroom, free to walk out the door and the judge will not stop that person and say, "I’m not done with you yet; your trial isn’t over yet." No, the judge is done; the trial is over; there is no crime, no offense. And so it is with God. There is no trial awaiting us because there is no sin that can or should condemn us. We are justified, free to walk out of this life through the door into eternal life in heaven.
Pastor Gabb worked faith into the sermon, but in the context of his UOJ pronouncements, that really meant little. The words in blue, above, are the typical UOJ court language. Everyone in the world was pronounced innocent, the moment Christ died on the cross, or the moment He rose from the dead. Perhaps the next WELS convention will vote on the Moment of Justification. Recently someone wrote me that Jesus declared everyone in the world forgiven the moment He left the tomb. I have not found that anywhere on my Bible software (BibleWorks) and I have the NIV.Faith is an appendage to Kokomo Justification, because they spend all their time on Universal Justification and cannot reconcile that with the Biblical doctrine. However, they try to weld the two together with disastrous results.
In my experience in reading such material, UOJ has always been accompanied by silence on the efficacy of the Word and almost total neglect of the Means of Grace. The troubles of WELS and the Lutheran Church in general can be attributed to their neglect of this excellent summary statement:
"The doctrine of the means of grace is a peculiar glory of Lutheran theology. To this central teaching it owes its sanity and strong appeal, its freedom from sectarian tendencies and morbid fanaticism, its coherence and practicalness, and its adaptation to men of every race and every degree of culture. The Lutheran Confessions bring out with great clearness the thought of the Reformers upon this subject."
"Grace, Means of," The Concordia Cyclopedia, L. Fuerbringer, Th. Engelder, P. E. Kretzmann, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1927, J-101 p. 299.
5 comments:
Gabb's first paragraph has its weaknesses in trying to explain the WELS position on objective justification. (Everyone gets his bank statement, but not everyone gets the Word.)
His second paragraph is kelmed from Lyle Lange's "God So Loved the World," page 343.
His third paragraph is commonly found in WELS and other Christian literature.
This said, I am not quite sure what those who deny UOJ are trying to say. Are we saved by what Jesus did on the cross (objective) or are we saved by the faith the Spirit gives (subjective) or are we saved by both (objective and subjective)? I was taught that there is but one justification which can be viewed objectively and subjectively as two sides of one coin. Are those who oppose UOJ saying that Jesus, as the Lamb of God, did not take away the sins of the world (on the cross), but only enabled people to someday have their sins taken away (when the Spirit gives faith)? Did God not reconcile the world to himself by not counting men's sins against them, or did he only reconcile those who would believe someday, but not the world? When Paul says "all have sinned and are justified" he is suggesting that "all" are two different sets of people, one set for being included in sin and another set being included in being justified? I am having a difficult time understanding how faith saves if it does not anchor on to a universal, objective (as opposed to a limited, incomplete) sacrifice for sin which forgave sin at the time of Jesus' death, not only at a future moment of the Spirit giving faith. Please explain your position on that point to help me understand what I am missing. It seems to me that you are saying the hope of being justified rests solely on the working of the Spirit (Third Article of the Apostles' Creed) and not on the work of Christ *The Second Article of the Apostles' Creed." I don't think you are meaning to say that, but that I what I am perceiving in your arguments.
Is that the same William Gabb who used to be the Watertown Northwestern Prep dean of students?
Matt 9:2, "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."
Pastor Gabb failed to quote Christ correctly. Jesus seeing their faith said...thy sins be forgiven thee.
Anonymous at 9:43PM, You've asked many questions, here are answers that address most.
The Objective and Subjective distinction that is used by Lutheran denominations today is false. That is, Subjective Justification is just as Objective (happens soley on the part of God) as Objective Justification is - Note here I give no credence to the UOJ definition of OJ. Since it is God who has predestinated, called, justified and glorifed Romans 8:30, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." and the Holy Ghost works repentance and faith without our involvement Eph 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Since OJ and SJ are equally void of human participation we can dispense with the terms since even the UOJ enthusiasts confess they define only one justification and not two.
Confessional OJ by the way is the atonement, the sins of the whole world were laid on Christ, by His death as the sinless Son of God he paid the penalty for all sins. Atonement is not synonymous with justification or forgiveness of sins. Scripture and the Confessions confirm that justification and forgiveness only come through the Holy Spirit's faith worked in men through the Means of Grace, Word and Sacrament alone.
Christ died and paid for the sins of the whole world. God would have all men to be saved (1 Tim 2:4). No one is reconciled with God unless they through faith obtain Christ as mediator through faith. Hebrews 9:15, "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Ties in nicely with Romans 8:30 above and John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Note here that God's wrath abides, remains, on unbelievers. Contrary to UOJ God is not wrathful and at peace with an individual at the same time (such wickedness is taught by UOJ). Believer = God loves and is at peace with through Christ having been given through faith by grace a spiritual mind, having died to sin. Unbeliever = God loves but his wrath rests on him over sin while he remains carnaly minded and alive to sin, rejecting the Gospel promise.
Romans 3:22-30, "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith."
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Paul doesn't say "all have sinned an are justified".
You state, "I am having a difficult time understanding how faith saves if it does not anchor on to a universal, objective (as opposed to a limited, incomplete) sacrifice for sin which forgave sin at the time of Jesus' death". Faith anchors on the atonement. Christ paid for the worlds sin, I'm part of the world, through faith, worked by grace, I apprehend Christ as my redeemer and obtain His righteousness which avails against sin, death and God's wrath over sin. Only through Justification by faith alone, rejecting the false gospel of UOJ, is the doctrine of Election preserved, is the Holy Spirit's faith preserved and what it truly means to be justified in Christ is preserved. UOJ makes God a liar and Christ an incomplete sacrifice. UOJ rejects justification by faith alone in favor of manipulating it's own way to be justified without faith and without the work of the Holy Ghost. I believe this is part of the appeal UOJ has because some are so afraid of synergism that they removed justification from faith entirely.
The hope of being justified rests solely on the working of the Holy Ghost creating faith in those who are called, through Word and Sacrament, which clings to the Gospel promise that believing in Christ's payment for sins we shall be saved. All Christian doctrines are upheld by the true Gospel and central article of Scripture.
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