Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Gospel as Law
An anonymous poster commented on a previous blog concerning the forgiveness of sins not being in the Second Article of the Apostles Creed which speaks of the atoning sacrifice of Christ; His propitiatory satisfaction for the sins of the world. But that the forgiveness of sins is the work of the Holy Ghost given through faith."I believe you may be on to something, highlighting the location of "the forgiveness of sins" in the Creed.
It does not read, "...was crucified, died, forgiving the sins of the world whether they believe it or not, and was buried."
It does not read, "On the third day he rose again from the dead, distributing forgiveness to the entire world."
The Gausewitz catechism did not speak of a blanket forgiveness of the world, apart from the Means of Grace.
"263. To whom does God forgive sins? To me and all believers.
264. Where are sins forgiven? In the Christian Church on earth."
There was a noticeable change in the Kuske catechism's treatment of the forgiveness of sins. Strangely, the word "forgiveness" is not even used in the following questions/answers from the "Forgiveness of Sins" section!
"253. How many people did God declare righteous? God declared all people righteous (Objective justification).
255. Why is it important, then, that the Holy Ghost work faith in me? It is important that the Holy Ghost work faith in me so that I do not trust in my own works but only in the righteousness God gives me by grace in Christ (Subjective justification).""
And yet God proclaims in Proverbs 17:15 "Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent — the LORD detests them both." In Isaiah 5:23 "who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent." And this from Exodus 23:6 "...for I will not acquit the guilty."
This from Martin Chemnitz 'Loci Theologici' II, 251 states: "Luther correctly said, God remits no sin unless justification has been rendered for it to the Law. . . .And so because God does not justify out of fickleness or carelessness or mistakenness or injustice and because nothing can be found in man by which he can be justified by God - and yet the righteousness of the Law must be fulfilled in the one to be justified (Rom. 8:24) - it is necessary that a foreign righteousness intervene. This foreign righteousness is such that the payment of guilt and the complete obedience of the Law satisfied divine wrath. And the result is that there can be a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. To this righteousness the sinner, terrified and condemned by the voice of the Law, flees with true faith." (emphasis mine)
Our perfect God who was, is, and forever will be has never changed. All men are guilty before God prior to faith, repentance and the remission of sins. The extreme false teaching of Objective Justification proclaims that the ungodly who are still outside of faith (hence not in Christ) are forgiven. As the Children of Israel in the Old Testament looked to the brazen serpent in faith to be saved, in like manner all believers of all time look to Christ in faith for salvation. Extreme OJ falls flat on its face when one tries to reconcile it with OT believers as well as unbelievers. How could a condemned dead unbeliever's sins be forgiven before Christ paid for them? They weren't...he would have needed to hear the Word and the promise of the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ all worked by the Holy Ghost.
The problem with this extreme false teaching of OJ is that it has done away with the Law. Since all are already forgiven, the preaching of repentance can go out the window. The very issue (Antinomianism) that OJ is trying to avoid (even exacerbates) still remains...you just have to believe it. The message of all times in scripture is repentance and the remission of sins. But OJ makes it all about forgiveness and then there are all kinds of schisms wrought with a warped sense of responsibility to forgive someone whether they are repentant or not. How responsible is that to the offending party? (Much worse an unbeliever who comes to church and hears the message of OJ and figures...'hey I'm golden, what do I need to come here for?'...but that is another issue)
About three years before I met my wife, she was in a physically abusive relationship (to her and her boys and dogs); malicious abandonment of vows; and embroiled in counseling with a WELS pastor who ranted uncontrollably (when she refused to forgive) that even though her husband did not admit what he did, nor was he sorry for what he did, she was still obligated to forgive him...and if she didn't, it was her fault for the broken marriage. Where does this come from other than OJ; that Christ has forgiven all sinners and therefore we are required to do the same...without contrition from the offender? The accusation from pastor was 'what did you do to make your husband so angry that he had to hit you...and I've gotten rough with my wife before and she never called the cops on me'. She ended up leaving that congregation after that same pastor bashed her in the tooth so hard (she thought it was broken) with the common cup during communion that it splashed down her clothes.
I have heard of similar situations where a woman has had to endure years of her husband viewing porn (adultery) all the while being counseled by the pastor and being told she has to forgive...even though it goes on. Or the woman who is verbally and physically abused (malicious abandonment of vows) who is seeking a scriptural divorce and is told she must forgive and not file for divorce. If she does not forgive and continues towards divorce, she will be excommunicated.
Even God forsook His people after a time when they broke His covenant with them.
Another problem is the preaching that says since Christ has forgiven you, now you have to do this for Him. (Guilt - Gospel as Law) We have sermons that have the pastor sounding more like a life coach instead of a servant of the Word. We are told to live our lives sacrificially and that includes forgiving other people whether they are sorry or not. Not that good works are bad but it reeks of a self righteousness and is just plain upside down theology.
Worship and church life to a Lutheran is a sacramental life. We can't do anything on our own that is why we look to Christ (in Word and Sacrament) because He has already done it all for us. It lets us off the hook so to speak. It is enough to have faith...and we know He will give us good works to do. It's a package deal that comes with the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
