Luther Against the Pietists:
Justification by Faith versus Universal Absolution
Gregory L. Jackson, PhD
Epiphany, 2010
Justification By Faith
KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
“That absolution, however, is not received except by faith can be proved from Paul, who teaches, Romans 4:16, that the promise cannot be received except by faith. But absolution is the promise of the remission of sins [nothing else than the Gospel, the divine promise of God’s grace and favor]. Therefore, it necessarily requires faith. Neither do we see how he who does not assent to it may be said to receive absolution.”
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XII. #61-62. Of Repentance. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 269. Romans 4:16. Tappert, p. 190. Heiser, p. 83.
Universal Objective Justification
Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 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, accept, and rely on, the fact that for Christ's sake their sins are forgiven. LCMS Brief Statement, 1932 –
Introduction
We are declared righteous through faith, because of the Means of Grace, as Luther and the Book of Concord taught. Or, the world has been declared forgiven of all its sin, without faith, as the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod teaches – in harmony with the Wisconsin Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the micro-synods. The old, Biblical doctrine is called justification by faith. The new, Pietistic doctrine is called Universal Objective Justification (UOJ). The two cannot be reconciled because people do not receive grace without the Means of Grace, nor do they obtain two kinds of forgiveness – one without faith and another with faith. The Holy Spirit works exclusively with the Word and never apart from the Word, so the Spirit cannot justify apart from the Word .
Luther Against the Pietists will show that the arguments for UOJ are derived from Pietism - alien to Biblical exegesis and the Confessions. Pietism is not known as a confession of faith, separate from the Lutheran Confessions. Lutheranism Pietism is an alloy, comprised of Lutheran Orthodoxy and Calvinistic Enthusiasm. Although Calvinism tried to mask itself during the first part of the Reformation, the effort did not succeed, due to Swiss polemics against the efficacy of the Word and the Sacraments. However, through Pietism, Calvinistic thinking influenced the Lutherans, and this weakened the clear confessional distinctions of the past. Jacob Spener, the first union theologian, awakened the Lutheran Church with Reformed methods borrowed from the Roman Catholic Church – chiefly the conventicle or cell group.
Virtually all the American Lutheran synods formed as expressions of Lutheran Pietism. The Pennsylvania Ministerium, which grew into the General Synod, was based upon the initial leadership of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, from Halle University, and the later leadership of S. S. Schmucker, another Pietist. The Midwestern Lutheran groups were largely Pietistic in outlook – the Scandinavians as well as the Germans. Although C. F. W. Walther is often portrayed as the epitome of Lutheran orthodoxy, he was converted by a Pietistic and associated with Pietistic circles before he came over with the Saxon migration, Perry County.
This filter of Pietism, so persistent in modern Lutheran history, makes it difficult to see the aberration of Universal Objective Justification. There are two primary causes for this false doctrine being advanced and defended among the former partners of the old Synodical Conference. One is the false doctrine of Pietism. The other is a false exegesis of Biblical passages necessitated by this filter of Pietism.
Lutherans, especially in the Synodical Conference, have been weak in teaching the Biblical doctrine of the efficacy of the Word. They have also neglected the related doctrine of the Means of Grace. Once an individual understands these matters, Universal Objective Justification emerges as the stepchild of Enthusiasm, fathered by Calvinism.
Luther Against the Pietists will have two main divisions. The first is the development of the essential doctrines supporting justification by faith. The second is a historical treatment of Pietism and its corrupting influence upon justification. Once these areas of false doctrine have been corrected, the clear Biblical witness of justification by faith becomes clear to anyone previously bewildered by the contradictions and anti-Christian errors of Universal Objective Justification.
What Is Disputed
The dispute is not whether Christ died for the sins of the world, as though the opposite of UOJ is the Limited Atonement of John Calvin.
The entire matter rests on whether God declared the entire world absolved of its sin, without the Word, without the Means of Grace, without faith. And where exactly is this eternal truth recorded?
The Missouri Synod and its clones have elevated the Brief Statement of 1932 above the Scriptures and the Book of Concord. Like the Romanists reaching for 2 Maccabees to support Purgatory, the UOJ fanatics place their confidence in a document with authority only in the Upper Midwest, a statement teaching us more about Midwest Pietism than anything else.
Controverted Passages – Used to Support UOJ
KJV John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
KJV Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
KJV Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
KJV 2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Supporting UOJ
Ph. D. Burk, Bengel’s co-worker and son-in-law
George Christian Knapp, Pietist, Halle University
C. F. W. Walther
Adolph Hoenecke, Dogmatics (quoting Burk)
Norwegian Synod
Eduard Preuss, Concordia St. Louis, converted to Roman Catholicism
Franz Pieper
LCMS Brief Statement, 1932
LCMS Theses on Justification, 1983
Robert Preus, 1987
J. P. Meyer, WELS, Ministers of Christ
Kokomo Statements, WELS, 1979
Sig Becker
Jon Buchholz
Justification By Faith
The Scriptures
Luther
Melanchthon
Chemnitz
Gerhard
Calov
Lenski
General Council Authors
1905 LCMS Catechism
Schmid’s Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
LCMS Pastor Vernon Hartley, 1984.
Robert Preus, Justification and Rome
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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Justification By Faith - Update":
In case WELS CA/NV DP Jon Buchholz' 2005 Synodical Conference paper is presented as UOJ defense material here are a few Buchholz quotes and a comparison to Christ's Words and the Confessions:
Buchholz: "Jesus then offered his innocent life as the payment (atonement) for the guilt of sinners. In this great transaction that took place on the cross, God removed the guilt of the world’s sin and replaced it with the righteousness of Christ."
Buchholz: "Here is the legal or juridical nature of justification, revealed at Calvary. The change does not take place in the sinner. The change takes place in the relationship or the status between a sinner and God.2 A verdict has been rendered, which declares man free of sin and guilt, righteous in God’s sight, and worthy of eternal life, for Jesus’ sake."
Christ: Romans 4:24, "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;"
Buchholz: "Since the term objective justification is found neither in Scripture nor in the Lutheran confessions, we can understand the term correctly as referring to the justification of the entire world."
Confessions: AAC That We Obtain The Remission of Sins By Faith Alone In Christ, "The wrath of God cannot be appeased if we set against it our own works, because Christ has been set forth as a Propitiator, so that, for His sake, the Father may become reconciled to us. But Christ is not apprehended as a Mediator except by faith. Therefore, by faith alone we obtain remission of sins when we comfort our hearts with confidence in the mercy promised for Christ's sake."
Buchholz: "Scripture teaches universal reconciliation: "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus is the universal peacemaker. His sacrifice on the cross has removed the barrier of guilt and sin that separated humanity from God. Where the barrier of hostility has been removed, there is peace. In Christ and through Christ the status between God and the human race has changed from one of hostility to peace."
Christ: 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."
Confessions: AAC That We Obtain The Remission of Sins By Faith Alone In Christ, "The wrath of God cannot be appeased if we set against it our own works, because Christ has been set forth as a Propitiator, so that, for His sake, the Father may become reconciled to us. But Christ is not apprehended as a Mediator except by faith. Therefore, by faith alone we obtain remission of sins when we comfort our hearts with confidence in the mercy promised for Christ's sake."
Buchholz: "God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This statement is absolutely true! This is the heart of the gospel, and it must be preached and taught as the foundation of our faith. But here’s where the caveat comes in: In Scripture, the word "forgive" is used almost exclusively in a personal, not a universal sense. The Bible doesn’t make the statement, "God has forgiven the world."
"God has forgiven all sins, but the unbeliever rejects God’s forgiveness." Again, this statement is true—and Luther employed similar terminology to press the point of Christ’s completed work of salvation.16 But we must also recognize that Scripture doesn’t speak this way."
"God has declared the entire world righteous." This statement is true, as we understand it to mean that God has rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward the entire world. It is also true—and must be taught—that the righteousness of Christ now stands in place of the world’s sin; this is the whole point of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. However, once again we’re wresting a term out of its usual context. In Scripture the term "righteous" usually refers to believers. "
