Saturday, August 20, 2011
Survey Says!
1. Did Jesus’ death cover the sins of the entire world? I think the key is Christ’s righteousness and how it is received. Focusing on the cross especially from our perspective – post Calvary- discombobulates things. This way we can talk of all believers of all time in the same way. However there is still this problem with sin. God promised that Christ would deal with it and He certainly did by atoning for them in mans place.
2. Were the sins of the entire world taken from men and laid upon Jesus? Again, too much focus on the cross. They were atoned for. As John the Baptist says…the Lamb of God who takes (present tense – ongoing) away the sins of the world…Jesus forgives through faith.
3. Does the righteousness of Christ now stand as the universal substitute before God for the wickedness of mankind? The righteousness of Christ only benefits those who have faith in Christ; this is as it was from the Garden of Eden until now.
4. Does man’s unbelief and wickedness undo the completed sacrifice on the cross?
No. 5. What is added to Jesus’ work to complete the work of salvation? Nothing. Jesus said ‘It is Finished’. [GJ - This question is slanted, like several others, and may tickle the ears of those who equate atonement, justification, and salvation, as DP Buchholz did while pretending to critique the Kokomo debacle.]
6. Is faith a cause of salvation? No. Or does faith merely appropriate salvation? We are saved by grace for Christ’s sake through faith.
7. Is faith man’s contribution to salvation? No. This is synergism.
8. Is it man’s responsibility to produce repentance? He can’t…it is the work of the Holy Ghost worked through the Means of Grace. [GJ - The Holy Spirit works through the Law to foster repentance, and the chief sin, the foundational sin, John 16:8, is unbelief. That said, the "Means of Grace" is man's term for the work of the Gospel in the Word.]
9. Is it man’s responsibility to produce faith? Same as #8. I can't belabor the point enough that Christ's work of the cross (REDEMPTION) is not the forgiveness of all men's sins. It is the PAYMENT for them and it is objectively true and for (non-imputed) the benefit of all men of all time. In Luther's explanation of the Second Article of the Apostle's Creed there is no forgiveness; only redemption.
Remember...the Apostle's Creed is a CONFESSION OF FAITH and the "I, we's and me's' are the believers and NOT all men. "The Second Article. Of Redemption. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. What does this mean?
--Answer. I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won [delivered] me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, in order that I may be [wholly] His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true."
The Resurrection and the Forgiveness of Sins are Third Article of the Apostle's Creed and our true Christian confession of faith. As believers we are totally reliant on God and specifically the Holy Ghost regarding our salvation. We are 100% passive.
He does the work from atoning for our sins and working faith, forgiveness, justification and righteousness. It is outside of us...Christ's righteousness is outside of us and it is only through faith worked by the Holy Spirit that we receive this righteousness; otherwise we die in our sins. (John 8:24)
This was most certainly true for the believers of the Old Testament as well as all of those living in the New Testament. Here is Luther's explanation to the Third Article: The Third Article. Of Sanctification.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean?
--Answer. I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
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GJ -Joe Krohn is willing to deal with public false doctrine out in the open.
VP Patterson and Ex-SP Gurgle are being underhanded, secretive, and popish - standard WELS clergy behavior. Patterson and his Facebook friend, Tim Glende, are both hotter than Georgia asphalt for UOJ and Church Shrinkage false doctrine.
Gurgle was the finger-puppet for UOJ/CG when he was SP, but he was the dream candidate of "conservatives" when he descended to that office. Mark Schroeder became the new dream candidate of "conservatives" to trick them again. Some pastors do not learn.
This excommunication is another test of whether Lutherans can base their discussions on the two foundational truths of the Scriptures and Confessions:
- The efficacy of the Word alone.
- The work of the Gospel through the Means of Grace alone.
The questions above came from a WELS pastor. The Syn Conference pastors are not used to working from the two foundational truths, because their history rests upon a false view of Walther, his toxic amalgamation of Pietistic Enthusiasm and Lutheran doctrine.
Their precious double-justification scheme is identical to Knapp, Schleiermacher, and the Second Day Adventists.
Knapp was a Halle Pietist, very influential, and still in print today.
Schleiermacher was a Halle liberal, the pivotal figure in modern theology, foundational for Karl Barth, the official (adulterous, Marxist) theologian of Fuller Seminary.
Gurgle and Patterson, with their Mequon counterparts, agree completely with the precise wording of the Seventh Day Adventists on justification:
According to the 1888 Message Study Committee ("1888 MSC"), the 1888 message reveals many "fresh, beautiful truths . . . that are not usually understood today."[1] One such "truth" is the concept that Christ's death at the cross accomplished a legal or objective justification which is universally and unconditionally applied to all men.[2] This doctrine is said to derive from the observations that Christ has borne the sins of "all men" and has died the second death for "every man." It is viewed as the basis for the present life enjoyed by all men. This legal justification, also referred to as a corporate justification, is distinguished by its proponents from justification by faith, or "experiential" justification, and should not be taken to imply universal salvation wherein all men would be saved, some even against their will. The especial merit of such universal legal justification, as seen by the spokesmen for the 1888 MSC, is that it provides foundational proof and an earnest of the loving initiative taken by God to bring about man's salvation. When the full import of God's initiative on man's behalf is recognized, it is believed to be pivotal in galvanizing the sinner's complete devotion to, and saving faith in, Christ.
When there is precise agreement with the Seventh Day Adventists on justification, down to the explanation about how justification by faith "works," people should take notice. The Adventists are not Christian.
