"The forgiveness acquired by Jesus for all at the cross gives us confessional Lutherans, among all the church bodies of the world, the highest motivation to share our Savior. In contrast to the “Jesus Saves” churches, we don’t preach a salvation that is incomplete and just waiting for the sinner to do something to complete the transaction. We proclaim boldly, “Jesus Saved,” past tense, finished, certain."
Jon Buchholz, WELS Convention Essay, 2005.
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GJ - The problem with this statement is its crypto-universalism, claiming that the whole world has been absolved/forgiven and that everyone is saved.
8 comments:
"that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them" - 2 Corinthians 5:19
"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men." - Romans 5:18
A man does not subjectively receive justification without faith. But God still justified the whole world of sinners. What if some do not believe? Let God be true and every man a liar! Those who reject Christ are rejected by Christ to His Father. This does not mean that God did not reconcile the world to Himself in Christ. To try and figure out why some do not believe and some do is trying to get into the mind of the Spirit who breaths where He wills, as Jesus says in John 3. Only by His Word are we brought into His fold and actually receive that Justification which Christ won for all men. If you do not believe, then you are a liar for posing God as a liar. God brings justification to all men. Joe Shmoe doesn't believe. It appears that God is a liar because after all, "I thought God brought Justification to all men! I guess He didn't!" No! Though it may appear that God is a liar, it is man who is the liar. So through Christ's obedience, righteousness came to all, yet we only receive it through faith, and faith only comes by His Word (Romans 10:17)? How is it that justification came to all, yet we are justified by faith alone through the good news of Jesus Christ alone? We cannot separate God's Work (UOJ) from His Word. In the same way, we cannot separate God's predestination from His Word. Your allegation that Buchholz expresses a "crypto-universalism" in his statement only shows your refusal to believe what God's Word clearly says. Why put the worst construction on this man and all other confessional Lutherans? Those who believe receive what Christ won for all. Those who do not believe are liars (Romans 3:3-4ff).
Big OJ fan, eh? This is yours:
http://forensicjustification.blogspot.com/
Read the Augsburg Confession, without wearing your Knapp-sack.
FC SD, III, 57: "But, since it is the obedience as above mentioned [not only of one nature, but] of the entire person, it is a complete satisfaction and expiation for the human race, by which the eternal, immutable righteousness of God, revealed in the Law, has been satisfied, and is thus our righteousness, which avails before God and is revealed in the Gospel, and upon which faith relies before God, which God imputes to faith, as it is written, Rom. 5:19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous; and 1 John 1:7: The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin. Likewise: The just shall live by his faith, Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17."
Doesn't this explain and rightly relate and contrast the objective sense of God's atonement for all people and His imputation of this righteousness only to those who believe? Saying that someone has his Knapp-sack on because he confesses UOJ would be to say that someone is a papist if he confesses the real presence, or that he is Reformed if he rejects the papacy! Luther taught UOJ. He called Jesus the solus peccator in his 1535 Galatians lectures. So did Jesus not take away the sins of the world? Did He not become sin? Did God not reconcile the world to Himself? God doesn't merely make it available for your sins not to be counted against you. Rather, Paul tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their tresspasses against them.
I agree with Robert Preus, Justification and Rome, Luther, and of course - St. Paul.
Apparently, the comment is from one of the Preus clan: Andrew Jacob Preus. Here is his blog: http://propterchristum.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-is-objective-justification-so.html
The Norwegian Pietists were keen on justification without faith, but Dr. Robert Preus repudiated it in his final book, worth reading.
Kermit, you use of Romans5:18 to contend that God Justified - forgave the whole world outside of the Means of Grace working contrition and faith in Christ teaches the same Universalism as Buchholz.
"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men." - Romans 5:18
If outside the Word God gives all that is Christ's (righteousness for the forgiveness of sins) "leads to justification" then you also teach universalism because the same passage states, "leads to...life for all men." Life is salvation and thus you teach Universalism.
The Confessional Lutheran teaching concerning Romans 5:18 is that all righteousness is in Christ and never apart from him. Therefore by faith in Christ, worked graciously by the Holy Ghost through the Means of Grace (Word and Baptism), He is in us and we are in Him. We have his righteousness for the forgiveness of all of our sins through faith. Through faith we die to sin and are raised to Life in Christ to no longer live under the Law but under Grace. This is all through faith - that very righteousness of Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
So indeed the Gospel, the promise of the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ, comes to all men but they do not partake of it and neither does God declare them justified or righteous outside of faith in Him.
The Confessions faithfully declare that God does not consider anyone just outside of faith in Christ.
In Christ,
Brett Meyer
Propter Christum said:
"So did Jesus not take away the sins of the world? Did He not become sin? Did God not reconcile the world to Himself? God doesn't merely make it available for your sins not to be counted against you. Rather, Paul tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their tresspasses against them."
It seems to me that this is a non-sequitir. Just because Christ paid for the sins of the entire world and reconciled the same unto Himself, it does not logically follow that all men are de facto forgiven. If this is the case, of what use is the Church and the ministry of the Keys!?
Christ clearly says: "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained" (John 20:23). He does not say "You can assure men that their sins were remitted when I died on the cross."
More than this, of what use are the blessed Sacraments!? Were our baptisms not for the remission of sin? Does repentance not continue the same? Is the Sacrament of the Altar not a participation in the body and blood of Christ given for the forgiveness of sins?
Yes, all of this is always and only possible because of the objective fact of Christ's substitutionary and atoning work on Calvary; certainly, our faith should be placed in that truth rather than "having faith in faith," as some put it.
However, to suggest that forgiveness is applied to all people everywhere before they were born and regardless of time is not only illogical, but it negates the point and purpose of the Sacraments and ministry of the Church. Moreover, it gives way to the very thing it purports to prevent - an undue emphasis on our ability to "believe" - "Christ did everything; He even forgave your sins before you were born! All you have to do now is believe it!"
God is the Saviour of all men, according to St. Paul. I wish Lutherans were more universalistic.
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