Melanchthon wrote the Augsburg Confession and the Apology (Defense) of the Augsburg Confession. The Formula of Concord authors called themselves "theologians of the Augsburg Confession."
Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Calvin's Disciples Defend UOJ with Slogans, Not Sc...":
Anonymous at 7:20PM, so you reject the Lutheran Confessions when they state,
[86] "We, therefore, will add testimonies which clearly declare that faith is that very righteousness by which we are accounted righteous before God,"
http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php
1 Corinthians 1:30, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" Christ is made righteousness in those who are in Him and He in them through faith.
Faith is righteousness given graciously by the Holy Ghost. It is a gift of God.
Also, don't disregard what follows the BOC quote above, "We, therefore, will add testimonies which clearly declare that faith is that very righteousness by which we are accounted righteous before God, namely, not because it is a work that is in itself worthy, but because it receives the promise by which God has promised that for Christ's sake He wishes to be propitious to those believing in Him, or because He knows that Christ of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, 1 Cor. 1:30."
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GJ - This passage illustrates the value of engaging in doctrinal debate. The Reformers had no qualms about discussing these issues at length. If these issues trouble readers, they should read the appropriate passages in Scripture and use the Book of Concord as an exegetical guide.
The time has come to put away the threadbare slogans of the Synodical Conference and look at justification by faith without the filters of Pietism and synod-worship.
Here is some irony. ELCA compromised completely on justification in its Munich Pact with the Church of Rome. The Church of Rome conceded nothing, while the Lutheran Left-wing conceded everything. Therefore, conservative Lutherans are now supposed to use the ELCA version (Kolb/Wengert) of the Book of Concord. No, I have not seen it or opened it. I would not crack open a free copy of an ELCA book at gunpoint.
Kolb/Wengert did allow participation from a Missouri guy - Chuck Arand, who teaches at Our Lady of Sorrows Seminary, St. Louis. He is a translator. ELCA has fellowship principles, so they did not pick someone known for opposing ELCA on anything.
3 comments:
The classic Lutheran description of "faith" is 3-fold: knowledge, assent, and will.
I'm not comfortable saying "faith=righteousness", because righteousness exists outside of faith. God has righteousness, God is righteous -- whether we believe in him or not; it's part of his essential being.
I AM comfortable saying all of the following:
1) God imputes righteousness to us by faith
2) Faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ
3) God gives us his righteousness when, through the working of the Spirit, we believe in him.
I'll check both the German and Latin of the BOC on your quotes. I know what it sounds like in English... but even the passages Brett quoted from Romans, etc. spoke of the "righteousness OF faith" -- a genitive in Greek.
We cannot make righteousness something that comes into existence inside of us. That's what happens when you say "faith=righteousness." Righteousness belongs to God; it is "extra nos" (outside of us), that comes into us by faith.
In its most basic definition, faith is essentially trust -- trust in the promises God makes us in Christ.
Forensic justification is a declaration of God towards the sinner. As Preus explains (above) in the quote provided by Dr. Jackson:
"But the imputation of His righteousness to us takes place when we are brought to faith." "
"The classic Lutheran description of "faith" is 3-fold: knowledge, assent, and will." You mean knowledge, assent, and TRUST.
God imputes Christ's righteousness to us through faith, that is, He credits Christ's righteousness to us as if it were our own, though it is not. Christ's righteousness is an alien righteousness, from outside us. And yet, God's imputation of Christ's righteousness to the one who trusts what God has said is counted as the believers own righteousness.
Then consider what it is to be born again by water and the Spirit. The Spirit creates new life; a life that is again is the image of God who created it by the means of His grace. The old Adam is not changed but remains dead in transgressions and sins, hostile to God, hateful of God, and irrreconcilable enemy of God. That is the believers old self who in this time of grace lives right alongside the believers true self, who has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
When the old Adam is gone, at my death, only the new Adam remains, awaiting the blessed resurrection unto eternal life.
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