KJV John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Christian doctrine is taught by the Word of God, not by people who invent categories and parade their opinions as dwelling in the minds of the Concordists. The Deutschlander essay clearly reveals that the Synodical Conference uses its own opinions to judge the orthodoxy of the Concordists, who were insufficiently articulate in defining double-justification or in such agreement that they did not even need to mention it.
Even if the ELS, LCMS, and WELS had a joint convention and voted for UOJ, it would still be their opinion and not Christian doctrine. Nor will they ever convince those left untouched by the brainwashing of the synodical schools.
The Gospel of John is the unifying Gospel, the one which supplements and unites Matthew, Mark, and Luke by virtue of its harmony with the first three. Moreover, the apostolic authority of John is the strongest of the four, generously recording the very words of Christ.
I remember Robert Preus saying that Pentecostalism came from the unbalanced attention given to Christ, culminating in the Quest for the Historical Jesus. A. Schweitzer won the prize for writing the dullest book about Jesus with the best title in English. The original in German was "The History of Life-of-Jesus Research." See what I mean? People still buy Quest, but no one can read it. The good doctor was everyone's favorite crackpot for decades.
A denomination's teaching about the Holy Spirit can be more revealing than what it claims to teach about Jesus. Most people are discerning enough to know that false teachers are toying with the doctrine of Christ, so the Holy Spirit is sidelined.
The Era of the Holy Spirit
That is unfortunate, because the era of The Church is the exclusive work of the Holy Spirit. We have the Scriptures as God's own revelation through the work of the Holy Spirit. All preaching and teaching is the work of the Holy Spirit, although varying in its purity. All genuine faith comes from the Holy Spirit. The sacraments are effective because of the Holy Spirit working through the Word. Prayer is prompted and helped by the Holy Spirit.
Contrary to the pope, there is no Christian doctrine preserved and passed on by word of mouth through His Holiness and his bishops, the so-called Deposit of Faith. No doctrine can be assumed or extrapolated from the Scriptures, which clearly and plainly teach God's wisdom. No action of God can be attributed to Him apart from what is already revealed in His Word.
Any activity of the Holy Spirit divorced from the Word is called Enthusiasm in the Book of Concord. This word Enthusiasm is a convenient summary of what the Holy Spirit teaches in Isaiah 55:8-10:
1. God's Word always has the divine power of the Holy Spirit, so it never returns empty. (Double negative to emphasize the positive and eliminate any exceptions.)
2. It shall accomplish what God wills.
3. It shall be abundant in its effect.
John 16:8-9
Jesus taught what the Holy Spirit would do in one verse:
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove [convince, convict] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
What is sin?
John 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Sin is not believing in Christ. Before they believe in Christ, they are in sin (not "in Christ"). They are only in Christ when they believe in Him.
John 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
This verse used to puzzle me. Perhaps many people pass over it. John 16:10 is in perfect harmony with the actual meaning of Romans 4:25 -
After presenting Abraham as the father of faith, who was counted righteous because of his faith, Paul wrote -
KJV Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed [counted, reckoned] to him; 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; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
The empty tomb of Easter and the Ascension means faith in Christ as the Son of God, Savior, Redeemer, Lamb of God. Righteousness and faith go together because we are justified by faith. Jesus was raised from the dead, we would believe and be counted as righteous. Without the Gospel, there is no faith. Without faith, there is no righteousness imputed to individuals.
KJV Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
KJV 1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the
apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Deutschlander called attention to 1 Corinthians 15:2 in his nefarious essay. No wonder - it refutes his thesis that everyone receives grace and forgiveness without the Word, without faith. I selected ten verses because they close with God's grace being bestowed on him. Of course, Paul does not speak of grace without the Word. The risen Christ appeared before the Apostle and taught him the Word, bestowing His grace through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle John and the Apostle Paul agree with each other:
KJV John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Both taught and preached so people would believe and be justified by faith in Him.
There is not the slightest indication the Scriptures that anyone is forgiven apart from faith. Some expressions about justification are unfortunate, misleading, and wrong. Among them are the twisted statements of the UOJers, such as Walther and J. P. Meyer.
The Intrepids would rescue people from the slime-pits of Decision Theology, but their UOJ sends WELS, Little Sect, and Missouri pastors--giddy with Enthusiasm--to such Decision Theology mavens as Andy Stanley, Ed Stetzer, and Groeschel.
The Intrepids cannot find the spine to take on Church and Change, because the cornered rats fought them claw and fang. The Intrepids are eager to warn people away from justification by faith.
The Apostle John should have the last word on this...for now -
KJV John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
