UOJ Confusion

C. F. W. Walther dominated Synodical Conference thinking, especially since many decided to build a hedge around every syllable published by their mentor.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "UOJ Errorists Verbatim":

J-568

I think I actually agree with this quote above, because since you have been blogging about UOJ, I have found myself wondering if I am indeed forgiven. It has caused me confusion.

You are truly at you best when you teach the gospel. Since I cannot seem to grasp the difference of what you are saying: basically that Christ atoned for the sins of all the world, yet didn't forgive them, and then still quoting Walther with J-564 (about having to accept BY FAITH this atonement) and equating it with decision theology, is simply mind boggling. Knowing that even a child can profess true faith in Christ makes me wonder what this pithy discussion is really all about.

Walther's quote, to me is completely different than decision theology. You say it is "close" to it though. This is like saying that because you cannot comprehend how someone could be forgiven, yet not lay hold of that forgiveness, makes you a rationalist and on the very edge of being a Historical Criticism advocate. Followed to it's logical conclusion, does it not? Many things in scripture we do not understand, yet we trust in.

I am not sure about much, but I am sure that according to the Gospel of Mark...."He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe, stands condemned already."

You have much to write that is good, simple and accurate. You are at your best with the Gospel. I will read what is easily understood and eliminate the UOJ reading for someone with an IQ of 140 + who can actually explain it without obfuscation or confusion.

Thanks,
JLB

***

Here is the entire chapter on UOJ and Justification by Faith, from Thy Strong Word. The fake Ichabod erased the link from one comment, but I am only too happy to show what UOJ really teaches.

I created the J-numbers so I could keep track of my citations, and so the readers could find them again easily.

J-568
"The chief purpose, however, is to keep this article (general justification) before the people for its own sake. It cannot be presented and studied too often. Its vital relation to the subjective, personal justification by faith, cannot be stressed too strongly. It forms the basis of the justification by faith and keeps this article free from the leaven of Pelagianism. Unless the sinner knows that his justification is already an accomplished fact in the forum of God, he will imagine that it is his faith, his good conduct, which moves God to forgive him his sins. And unless he knows that God had him personally in mind in issuing the general pardon on Easter morning, he will have no assurance of his justification."
Theodore Engelder, Concordia Theological Monthly, July/August/September, 1933. Reissued by the seminary print-shop, Ft. Wayne, 1981. Cited by Pastor Vernon Harley, "Synergism—Its Logical Association with General Justification," 511 Tilden, Fairmont, Minnesota 56031, August, 1984, p. 1f.

The quotation cited does not seem wrong, as a stand-alone statement. But the next statement from the same article, clarifies what Engelder really meant:

J-569
"The entire Pauline doctrine of justification stands and falls with the special article of general justification. This establishes it beyond peradventure that justification is entirely independent of the conduct of man. And only in this way the individual can have the assurance of his justification. For it is the incontrovertible conclusion: Since God has already justified all men in Christ and forgiven them their sins, I, too, have a gracious God in Christ and forgiveness of all my sins."
Quoted with approval by Theodore Engelder, from George Stoeckhardt, Commentary on Romans, p. 264. Cited by Pastor Vernon Harley, "Synergism—Its Logical Association with General Justification," 511 Tilden, Fairmont, Minnesota 56031, August, 1984, p. 2.

In the Scriptures we have to look at what a word means in its context. Just as in English, some Biblical words are completely different in another context. I defy anyone to give one meaning for draw. For example, drawn butter may be a picture or something to put on lobster. I might say as a pun, when someone has a pencil sketch done of himself, "You look drawn."

However, the Bible, Luther, the Book of Concord, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, and others (Calov, according to R. Preus) use the term justification only in the sense of justification by faith.

The UOJ authors, who wrote subsequent to Burk and Knapp, and came from Pietistic circles, all used this peculiar term general justification to mean that every single person in the world has been declared forgiven, guilt-free. We say general, but the German word is allgemeine, which is all inclusive - Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Charles Manson, and Karl Marx. So universal is a good translation of the German word allgemeine. Allgemeine Wehrpflicht means compulsory military service, which we would call Universal Military Training.

My numerous posts on UOJ have sought to show that Biblical doctrine distinguishes between Christ dying for the sins of the world, an objective truth, and the efficacious Gospel--the message of the Atonement--producing that faith which embraces this truth in each individual who believes, from the baptized baby to the person converted on his deathbed. The Word of the Gospel produces and sustains this faith.

The Atonement is not the "absolution of the entire world," even if the WELS Conference of Pussycats still think so. There are no "guilt-free saints in Hell," even if the author of that blasphemy continued to teach at Mequon until he was fossilized.

I am sympathetic about your confusion. It took me a long time to untangle UOJ and a few of us are still working on the riddle.

I suggest sticking with the clear teachings of the Scriptures and the exposition found in the Book of Concord, the finest (and most neglected) one-volume commentary on the Bible to be found. Here is my favorite clarification of the issue:

J-590

"For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which we could not attain ourselves."
The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #38, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 689. Tappert, p. 415. Heiser, p. 194.

UOJ Errorists Verbatim

The Shrinkers love UOJ, a form of Enthusiasm custom-made to eliminate doctrinal discernment and Confessional worship.

Thy Strong Word, Justification by Faith

J-564
"For God has already forgiven you your sins 1800 years ago when He in Christ absolved all men by raising Him after He first had gone into bitter death for them. Only one thing remains on your part so that you also possess the gift. This one thing is—faith. And this brings me to the second part of today's Easter message, in which I now would show you that every man who wants to be saved must accept by faith the general absolution, pronounced 1800 years ago, as an absolution spoken individually to him." [GJ - This is very close to Decision Theology, explaining why UOJ advocates feel comfortable with Babtist worship, conferences, and materials.]
C. F. W. Walther, The Word of His Grace, Sermon Selections, "Christ's Resurrection—The World's Absolution" Lake Mills: Graphic Publishing Company, 1978, p. 233. Mark 16:1-8.

J-568
"The chief purpose, however, is to keep this article (general justification) before the people for its own sake. It cannot be presented and studied too often. Its vital relation to the subjective, personal justification by faith, cannot be stressed too strongly. It forms the basis of the justification by faith and keeps this article free from the leaven of Pelagianism. Unless the sinner knows that his justification is already an accomplished fact in the forum of God, he will imagine that it is his faith, his good conduct, which moves God to forgive him his sins. And unless he knows that God had him personally in mind in issuing the general pardon on Easter morning, he will have no assurance of his justification." [GJ - General justification is the term first used by the Pietist Burk, Bengel's son-in-law. It means every single person on earth was declared free of sins without the Word, without faith, without the Means of Grace.]
Theodore Engelder, Concordia Theological Monthly, July/August/September, 1933. Reissued by the seminary print-shop, Ft. Wayne, 1981. Cited by Pastor Vernon Harley, "Synergism—Its Logical Association with General Justification," 511 Tilden, Fairmont, Minnesota 56031, August, 1984, p. 1f.

J-570
"The resurrection is God's public absolution of the entire world: 'Your sins are forgiven, all sins of all human beings; and there is no exception.' This is the meaning of the technical term 'objective justification.' The objective justification is central to the doctrine of salvation and derives logically from the facts that God's reconciliation, forgiveness, and declaration of 'not guilty' in no wise depend on the attitude or behaviour of human beings. If objective justification is denied, then it must follow that those who are declared righteous in some way have contributed to God's change of heart; justification is then no longer solely the result of God's grace." [GJ - Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Chytraeus, and Gerhard forgot to include this essential notion in their works. The Holy Spirit omitted it from the Scriptures, too.]
Theodore Mueller, Concordia Theological Quarterly, January, 1982, p. 29. Cited by Pastor Vernon Harley, "Synergism—Its Logical Association with General Justification," 511 Tilden, Fairmont, Minnesota 56031, August, 1984, p. 3.

J-572
"The teaching of the Wisconsin Synod [of the old Norwegian Synod] is this, that in and with the universal reconciliation, which has occurred in Christ for the whole world—even Judas; the whole world—even Judas—has been justified and has received the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, according to Luther's clear words ("for where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation"), the whole world (i.e. every person who is a part of the world—even Judas) has become a child of God and an heir of heaven." [GJ - Hitler, Stalin, and Mao are guilt-free saints, too, but those who deny the UOJ heresy are condemned and shunned. 'Tis better to have no faith among UOJ-birds than to have faith in the Gospel Promises.]
Gottfried Fritschel, "Zur Lehre von der Rechtfertigung," Theologische Monatshefte, volume 4, 1871, (1-24), p. 7.[29] Cited in Rick Nicholas Curia, The Significant History of the Doctrine of Objective or Universal Justification, Alpine, California: California Pastoral Conference, WELS. January 24-25, 1983. p. 2.

J-573
“Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Romans 4:25; that therefore not for the sake of their good works, but without the works of the Law, by grace, for Christ’s sake, he justifies, that is, accounts as righteous, all those who believe in Christ, that is, believe, accept, and rely on, the fact that for Christ’s sake their sins are forgiven.” [GJ - Some argue that UOJ must be true because Holy Mother Missouri has said so. But the same people also decry the miserable doctrinal chaos of Missouri, from sex-related evangelism billboards to papalist priests in sheep's clothing, crypto-Babtists and overt Romanists. Where does this Enthusiasm come from? Answer - From the Pietistic founding fathers and their confusion and silence over the efficacy of the Word.]
Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod, 1932, “Of Justification.”

J-578
"So, then, we are reconciled; however, not only we, but also Hindus, and Hottentots and Kafirs, yes, the world. 'Reconciled', says our translation; the Greek original says: 'placed in the right relation to God'. Because before the Fall we, together with the whole creation, were in the right relation to God, therefore Scripture teaches that Christ, through His death, restored all things to the former right relation to God." [GJ - UOJ Stormtroopers cite E. Preuss every so often - and swoon. They fail to mention this seminary professor saw a red sunset and joined the Church of Rome soon after. Preuss finished his career as a professor of another form of Enthusiasm - Roman Catholicism. He published books supporting the Antichrist's doctrinal opinions.]
F. R. Eduard Preuss, 1834-1904, Die Rechtfertigung der Suender vor Gott. Cited in Rick Nicholas Curia, The Significant History of the Doctrine of Objective or Universal Justification, Alpine, California: California Pastoral Conference, WELS. January 24-25, 1983. p. 24.

J-580 - WELS Kokomo Statements - Accept This Nonsense or Be Damned
I. "Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of saint."

II. "After Christ's intervention and through Christ's intervention God regards all sinners as guilt-free saints."

III. "When God reconciled the world to Himself through Christ, He individually pronounced forgiveness to each individual sinner whether that sinner ever comes to faith or not."

IV. "At the time of the resurrection of Christ, God looked down in hell and declared Judas, the people destroyed in the flood, and all the ungodly, innocent, not guilty, and forgiven of all sin and gave unto them the status of saints." [GJ - Before believing the official WELS line, or lie, about the Kokomo Statements, talk to the families as I did. The first three statements are from J. P. Meyer's Ministers of Christ, as S. Becker admitted. The families were expelled because they did not bow the knee to this Enthusiasm. The entire seminary faculty and Becker agreed with the defenestration.]

J-584
"The first three statements are taken verbatim from WELS sources."
Siegbert Becker, "Objective Justification," Chicago Pastoral Conference, WELS, Elgin, Illinois, November 9, 1982, Unpaginated. [GJ - Oops. Becker gave away the sources.]

J-585
Letters to the Hartman and Pohlman Families

“Faith Lutheran Church

3215 West Judson Road

Kokomo, Indiana 46901

August 30, 1979

Mr. and Mrs. David Hartman

R. R. #1, Box 90

Kokomo, Indiana 46901

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hartman,

In response to your letter of August 18, 1979, it is our understanding that your ‘no’ vote on June 20th against supporting the biblical doctrine of the WELS was based at least in part, on your failure to accept the following statement – included in your letter – all of which are in agreement with the teachings of the WELS, namely that:

1. ‘Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinners’ [sic] attitude toward Christs’ [sic] sacrafice [sic], purely on the basis of God’s verdict, every sinner, whether he knows it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of a saint.’
2. ‘After Christs’ [sic] intervention and through Christs’ [sic] intervention, God regards all sinners as guilt-free saints.’
3. ‘When God reconciled the world to Himself through Christ, He individually pronounced forgiveness to each individual sinner whether that sinner ever comes to faith or not.’
4. ‘At the time of the resurrection of Christ God looked down in hell and declared Judas, the people destroyed in the flood, and all the ungodly, innocent, not guilty, and forgiven of all sin and gave unto them the status of saints.’

I trust this is the information you desire.

Sincerely yours in Christian love,

Michael Liebner, Acting Secretary

Faith Lutheran Church Voters’ Assembly” [GJ - Given the boot for not accepting the statements from WELS sources, then publicly denounced for the very statements used to defenestrate them.]

J-589
"Here the panel feels itself compelled to distinguish between form and content. While the form of the Four Statements is inadequate, the doctrine of objective justification it grapples with is Scriptural. The Four Statements have served to show that there is a doctrinal difference between Faith Congregation and the appellants."
Report of the WELS Review Committee, Hartman, Pohlman Appeal, June 30, 1980. Cited in Rick Nicholas Curia, The Significant History of the Doctrine of Objective or Universal Justification, Alpine, California: California Pastoral Conference, WELS. January 24-25, 1983. p. 133. [GJ - The pastor admitted to the families that he never heard of UOJ before attending seminary at Mequon.]

J-581
“When Paul uses the word ‘reconciling’ here, [2 Corinthians 5:19] he clearly means that forgiveness of sins is really imputed to ‘the world.’
John Moldstad, Jr., - Pope John the Malefactor - “I have heard some Lutherans say they do not believe the Bible teaches objective justification. How can they assert this and still call themselves ‘Lutheran’?” Lutheran Sentinel, October, 1996, p. 11. [GJ - A layman asked Moldstad to discuss UOJ and got this public rebuke as an answer. Has Pope John given any Shrinker the Left Foot of Fellowship?]

J-586

I. "Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows about it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of a saint. What will be his reaction when he is informed about this turn of events? Will he accept, or will he decline?"
J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 103f. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

II. "Before Christ's intervention took place God regarded him as a guilt-laden, condemned culprit. After Christ's intervention and through Christ's intervention He regards him as a guilt-free saint."
J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 107. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

III. "This applies to the whole world, to every individual sinner, whether he was living in the days of Christ, or had died centuries before His coming, or had not yet been born, perhaps has not been born to this day. It applies to the world as such, regardless of whether a particular sinner ever comes to faith or not."
J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 109. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

J-587
“About 300 years earlier Johann Gerhard expressed the same truth in these words: ‘By raising Christ from the dead God absolved Him from our sins, which had been imputed to Him, and accordingly He absolved us also in Him.’ Gerhard was professor of theology in Jena. He did not write a Brief Statement, but he did write a book on Lutheran dogmatics consisting of 20 volumes. He died in 1637.”
J. P. Meyer, “The Holy Spirit Creator,” The Northwestern Lutheran, September 24, 1950, p. 310. [GJ - The Synodical Conference liked to paint the post-Reformation theologians with Enthusiasm, but that tactic has been refuted by the current translations and Robert Preus' last book, Justification and Rome.]

J-588
“The Judge in heaven examines this evidence. He declares His verdict. It is one of acquittal. Man’s debt of sin is no longer charged against him. Sinful man is free!”
WELS Conference of Presidents, “Every Sinner Declared Righteous,” 1954 tract.
[GJ - Does anyone wonder why the Conference of Pussycats has let the Shrinkers roam free in the synod? Kelm, Valleskey, Jim Huebner, and Olson have mocked Lutheran doctrine for decades, all under the cover of UOJ and Wauwatosa.]

The Brief Statement Canonized UOJ - But Before That - Missouri Did Not Mention UOJ in Their Catechism

J-579

"#305. Why do you say in this article: I believe in the Forgiveness of Sins? Because I hold with certainty that by my own powers or through my own works I cannot be justified before God, but that the forgiveness of sins is given me out of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also true justification. Psalm 130:3-4; Psalm 143:2; Isaiah 64:6; Job 25:4-6 (Q. 124)."
Kleiner Katechismus, trans. Pastor Vernon Harley, LCMS, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1901, p. 164ff.

"#306. What is justification? Justification is that activity (Handlung) of God by which He out of pure grace and mercy for the sake of Christ's merits forgives the sins of a poor sinner who truly believes in Jesus Christ and receives him to everlasting life."
Kleiner Katechismus, trans. Pastor Vernon Harley, LCMS, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1901, p. 164ff.