Justification by Faith Essay - Introduction

Norma Boeckler design

Essay -
Justification by Faith:
Luther’s Doctrine versus the Universal Objective Justification of Pietism

By

Gregory L. Jackson, STM, MA, PhD
Bethany Lutheran Church
Bella Vista, Arkansas
Easter, 2010
Introduction – Justification by Faith: Luther’s Doctrine versus the Universal Objective Justification of Pietism

· The efficacy of the Word.
· Enthusiasm.
· Zwingli and Calvin.
· Pietism.
· Walther's Pietistic Easter absolution of the world.
· Justification by faith.

The current state of the Lutheran Church in North America constitutes proof that the visible expressions of the church have done more than lose their doctrinal heritage – they have consciously and persistently rejected it in favor of Enthusiasm, the source of all false doctrine.

This rejection has been the work of Lutheran Pietism, a curious amalgamation of Calvinistic doctrine and Lutheran identity, with Lutheran doctrine on the scaffold and Calvinism on the throne – and in the hangman’s role.

Some visible proofs of the victory of Pietism over Lutheran doctrine are:
Hatred of the Confessions.
Repudiation of Luther’s work.
Rejection of the historic liturgy and the Creeds.
Sermons replaced by coaching talks.
Cell groups.
Predominance of the Law, but chiefly man-made law, such as “You must be growing.”
Antinomianism, as if God’s Law is obsolete.
Silence about the efficacy of the Word.
Avoidance of the Means of Grace, or weak-kneed lip-service to this Biblical concept.
Receptionism in Holy Communion.
Tawdry gimmicks used in place of evangelism through the Word.
Obvious persecution of faithful pastors and shunning of faithful laity.
Promoting, defending, and rewarding false teachers.
Seminaries and colleges providing a tawdry Calvinistic education, with no one objecting.
District and synod officials in cahoots with the false teachers.
Feminist dogma leading to de facto women’s ordination.
Unionism with every possible sect.
Division, tension, hostility, polarization.
The silence of the shepherds and the slaughter of the lambs.

Luther identified justification by faith as the chief article of the Christian Church. This famous passage is often quoted just before the advocates of Universal Objective Justification (UOJ) launch an attack on Luther’s work and the Scripture itself. Not content with eviscerating their own heritage, they look into every possible place in the Book of Concord where they can conjure UOJ in place of the Word and against the Word.

Briefly stated, Universal Objective Justification is the claim—from Pietism—that God absolved the entire world of sin at the time of the crucifixion or, in one of their many contradictions, at the time of Christ’s resurrection. The UOJ advocates insist that every single person in the world enjoys the status of guilt-free saints, even if they never come to faith and suffer in the depths of Hell itself. This claim is palpable nonsense, and its animosity toward sound doctrine has grown with the years.

The American Lutheran expression of UOJ was copied from Pietism by C. F. W. Walther and promoted by his disciples. His efforts to dominate the 19th century Midwest resulted in the spread of this Enthusiasm. Students of church history will note that the Church Growth Movement is a tacky version of Calvinism, with dollops of mutual love exchanged between Church Growth and Pietism.

Some of the milestones of UOJ in the Lutheran Midwest are:
1. C. F. W. Walther’s work.
2. Franz Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics.
3. The Missouri Synod’s Brief Statement, seconded by WELS, the ELS, and the micro-mini sects.
4. J. P. Meyer’s Ministers of Christ.
5. The WELS Kokomo Statements, based on J. P. Meyer.
6. Sig Becker’s advocacy of the Kokomo Statements.
7. Herman Otten and Jack Cascione.
8. Robert Preus, when he was promoting Church Growth at Concordia, Ft. Wayne.
9. The LCMS statements on justification, dishonoring the Reformation, 1987.
10. Jon Buchholz reiterating the Easter absolution nonsense of Walther, at a WELS convention.

Opposition to UOJ has been expressed by:
1. LCMS Pastor Vernon Hartley.
2. Walter Maier II, LCMS seminary professor at Ft. Wayne.
3. Robert Preus’ last book Justification and Rome.
4. Thy Strong Word, 2000.
5. Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, second edition.
6. Brett Meyer and several anonymous laity who encouraged me to pursue this topic, the third rail of Midwestern Lutheranism.

God willing, I will address the major points of UOJ in time for the WELS Texas Enthusiasm Conference, April 19-20, this year. Not surprisingly, the same district is a hotbed for the worst of Church Growth excesses.

The initial essay should be long enough to appear as a booklet on Lulu.com, to be downloaded for free as a PDF, also as a file to download from http://www.gjlackson.com.
The essay should grow into a book with the same basic outline, but it is impossible to tell when it will be finished.