I used to wonder why some people would say, in an angry and correcting voice, "We are justified BY GRACE through faith." They raised their voices for BY GRACE.
Justification by faith is the only meaning for justification in the Bible and in the Book of Concord.
The angry, corrective tone and the wording are clues that the person believes the entire world is absolved from sin, without faith. Everyone is already saved.
That is not quite Universalism. It is crypto-Universalism. The crypto-Calvinists did not say they were Calvinists. They taught on Lutheran faculties and ran Lutheran bookstores. But what they taught was a cloaked form of Calvinism.
Even Calvin was a crypto-Calvinist. He signed the Augsburg Confession, proving that subscribing to a Confession means nothing if one's teaching is contrary to it.
Joachim Westphal exposed the anti-Lutheran views of Calvin. If the WELS UOJ fanatics would read their own publications from NPH, they would learn that crypto-Calvinism is no longer crypto. That comment is found in the History of Pietism, published by NPH, in the introduction.
The crypto-Universalists do not call themselves Universalists. They deny the label but not the teaching. They teach Universalism when they say the entire world is absolved, forgiven of all sins, forgiven before birth, and saved - without the Word, without the Means of Grace, without faith. The crypto means they tack on "But you gotta believe this is true." Walther was their double-talking model.
Now that UOJ has been exposed for what it is, the crypto-Universalists want to claim justification by faith for their novel opinion and odious dogma. But their version of justification by faith is an act of the will, a decision, what the Arminians taught in reaction to Calvinism.
Thus they are caught in the vortex of Calvinism, merging the atonement with justification, while calling the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace "Calvinism." Their response in WELS, crafted by J. P. Meyer, is decision theology.
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| This could be called crypto-Universalism, but it is also Decision Theology, Arminius' answer to Calvin. This is on page 95 of the new edition. |
Labels do not mean much. That is why I prefer Church of the Augsburg Confession to the many labels of today. Luther called himself a Theologian of the Augsburg Confession, and so did the editors and authors of the Formula of Concord.
The UOJ Enthusiasts back away from "forgiven before birth," which the early Robert Preus quoted with approval, from Eduard Preuss, who became a Roman Catholic. Born forgiven should be familiar to all WELS members and pastors, because J. P. Meyer endorsed that as well.
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| In the new version from NPH, this is on page 101. |
The language of J. P. Meyer is close to Babtist expressions. They "make decisions" and "accept forgiveness." WELS Church and Changers feel right at home with Stetzer (Babtist), Andy Stanley (Babtist), and Rick Warren (Babtist). Missouri and WELS both invited Stetzer to lecture them, but the WELS COP finally got it called off. I believe Missouri backed away, too. Nevertheless, Church and Change denied they ever hired Stetzer, even though Stetzer blogged about it and published it on his schedule on the Net.
Apart from the bizarre claim of everyone in the world forgiven before birth, how far from synergism is Meyer? His scheme runs along the same lines:
- God has done all this.
- Now what will you do?
My favorite version of this came from a dinosaur book for children, written by Arminians and presented at a WELS Creation seminar:
"Now that you know the truth about dinosaurs, it is time to make a decision for Christ."
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AC V has left a new comment on your post "Decoding the Language: The Bible Does Not Say "Jus...":
Re: "I used to wonder why some people would say, in an angry and correcting voice, "We are justified BY GRACE through faith." They raised their voices for BY GRACE."
This is something I've noticed in regard to Holy Communion. Jesus tells us to receive his Supper because it is "for you, for the forgiveness of sins" (cf. Matthew 26:28). Martin Luther asks and answers in the Small Catechism:
Q: "What blessings do we receive through this eating and drinking?" A: That is shown us by these words, "Given and poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins." Through these words we receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation in this sacrament. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.
And yet, in spite of clear Scripture testimony and the Lutheran Confessions of faith, WELS says we receive the "pledge of your forgiveness" (Christian Worship, p.36). You won't often hear WELS pastors talk in terms of the Lord's Supper actually delivering the forgiveness of sins. You'll hear about how it brings Christ's real presence to us or grace to us, but not explicit "forgiveness of sins." Why? Because that would undermine UOJ.
The latest example of this is in the April 2012 issue of Forward in Christ where Rev. Jon Zabell writes about Holy Communion - one in a series of articles on "sacramental living." The article is a fine testimony to the real presence of Christ's body and blood under the bread and wine. But he doesn't answer the question "Why should I care?" What does this have to do with "sacramental living"? He doesn't answer Luther's Small Catechism question that fights off Enthusiasm's worship practices and gives us what sacramental living really means: "What blessing do we receive through this eating and drinking?"
In a discussion of the Lord's Supper UOJ wants the emphasis to be on the Real Presence, not on the forgiveness of sins so that we don't receive the answer to the question "Why should I care"? Luther answers that question beautifully in "Against the Heavenly Prophets":
"If I now seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. Nor must I hold to the suffering of Christ as Dr. Karlstadt trifles, in knowledge or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the sacrament or the gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the cross" (AE 40:214).
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AC V has left a new comment on your post "Decoding the Language: The Bible Does Not Say "Jus...":
Add to my comments about Holy Communion delivering the forgiveness of sins, this confession from the Large Catechism:
"But here our wise spirits contort themselves with their great art and wisdom, crying out and bawling: How can bread and wine forgive sins or strengthen faith? Although they hear and know that we do not say this of bread and wine, because in itself bread is bread, but of such bread and wine as is the body and blood of Christ, and has the words attached to it. That, we say, is verily the treasure, and nothing else, through which such forgiveness is obtained. Now the only way in which it is conveyed and appropriated to us is in the words (Given and shed for you). For herein you have both truths, that it is the body and blood of Christ, and that it is yours as a treasure and gift" (The Sacrament of the Altar: 28-29).
AC V has left a new comment on your post "Decoding the Language: The Bible Does Not Say "Jus...":
Re: "I used to wonder why some people would say, in an angry and correcting voice, "We are justified BY GRACE through faith." They raised their voices for BY GRACE."
This is something I've noticed in regard to Holy Communion. Jesus tells us to receive his Supper because it is "for you, for the forgiveness of sins" (cf. Matthew 26:28). Martin Luther asks and answers in the Small Catechism:
Q: "What blessings do we receive through this eating and drinking?" A: That is shown us by these words, "Given and poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins." Through these words we receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation in this sacrament. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.
And yet, in spite of clear Scripture testimony and the Lutheran Confessions of faith, WELS says we receive the "pledge of your forgiveness" (Christian Worship, p.36). You won't often hear WELS pastors talk in terms of the Lord's Supper actually delivering the forgiveness of sins. You'll hear about how it brings Christ's real presence to us or grace to us, but not explicit "forgiveness of sins." Why? Because that would undermine UOJ.
The latest example of this is in the April 2012 issue of Forward in Christ where Rev. Jon Zabell writes about Holy Communion - one in a series of articles on "sacramental living." The article is a fine testimony to the real presence of Christ's body and blood under the bread and wine. But he doesn't answer the question "Why should I care?" What does this have to do with "sacramental living"? He doesn't answer Luther's Small Catechism question that fights off Enthusiasm's worship practices and gives us what sacramental living really means: "What blessing do we receive through this eating and drinking?"
In a discussion of the Lord's Supper UOJ wants the emphasis to be on the Real Presence, not on the forgiveness of sins so that we don't receive the answer to the question "Why should I care"? Luther answers that question beautifully in "Against the Heavenly Prophets":
"If I now seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. Nor must I hold to the suffering of Christ as Dr. Karlstadt trifles, in knowledge or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the sacrament or the gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the cross" (AE 40:214).
---
AC V has left a new comment on your post "Decoding the Language: The Bible Does Not Say "Jus...":
Add to my comments about Holy Communion delivering the forgiveness of sins, this confession from the Large Catechism:
"But here our wise spirits contort themselves with their great art and wisdom, crying out and bawling: How can bread and wine forgive sins or strengthen faith? Although they hear and know that we do not say this of bread and wine, because in itself bread is bread, but of such bread and wine as is the body and blood of Christ, and has the words attached to it. That, we say, is verily the treasure, and nothing else, through which such forgiveness is obtained. Now the only way in which it is conveyed and appropriated to us is in the words (Given and shed for you). For herein you have both truths, that it is the body and blood of Christ, and that it is yours as a treasure and gift" (The Sacrament of the Altar: 28-29).
