Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Apology, Augsburg Confesssion: Opposing Justificat...":
(W)ELS was thrust further into the false gospel of UOJ with the following
public teachings. The first three of the seven quotes below show the
contradictory heart and essence of General Justification as taught by the
WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC, ELCA and the New Age Religion.
"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. "
"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This
statement is absolutely true!" Also, "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."
"Faith is simply trust. Faith must have an object, something that it holds
onto. That object may or may not be real or true, but faith doesn't make it
real or true. Faith that holds onto something untrue is misplaced-no matter
how sincere it may be. Christian faith appropriates and holds onto the
reality of God's justification completed in Christ. It does not cause
justification or forgiveness to take place. It simply grasps God's
justification that is already a reality."
"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."
"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."
BM - All quotes are from (W)ELS District President, Pastor Jon Buchholz's
2005 Conference essay: http://www.wlsessays.net/node/390
To date Pastor Jon Buchholz has never retracted any of the false doctrine he
taught in the 2005 essay. It is this doctrines teachings, such as those
quoted above from DP Buchholz, which the Krohn family was recently
excommunicated from the (W)ELS for rejecting based on their faithfulness to
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
Brett Meyer
