Pastor Rolf Preus demanded that Joe Krohn define Objective Justification
Joe replied:
Pastor Preus...I will capitulate to the late Pastor Vernon Harley who laid it out in his 1986 essay much more eloquently than I could. He stated:
"That which took place prior to and apart from faith is the Vicarious Satisfaction of Christ, the Redemption. Justification, according to Scriptures and our Confessions, is by grace through faith. Truly Objective Justification is the forensic activity of God by which He through the Gospel creates faith in Christ’s redemptive work, clothes the sinner in Christ’s righteousness and so makes the sinner righteous in His sight and in His forum accounts this righteousness of Christ to faith as He did with Abraham. God
declares His believers to be what He Himself has made them to be in His sight -- righteous and holy for Christ’s sake. These are the ones He has given “the status of saints.” Justification belongs where our Lutheran Catechism has it in the Third Article of the Creed." Vernon Harley, LCMS Pastor
GJ - I met with the Kokomo families and also with Pastor Harley and his wife. They lived not far from New Ulm. Pastor Harley pointed out that his essays had circulated and no one had found fault with his explanations or exegesis. He is just one indication of the widespread rejection of UOJ in the LCMS.
Franz Linden responded to Joe Krohn thus:
This is not at all the objective justification of Holy Scripture. It is the lie of Osiander. It turns the judicial and forensic declaration of God into a medical and physical act by Him "making" the sinner righteous through faith rather than declaring the sinner to be righteous for Christ's sake. It causes the sinner to look inwardly for assurance of his justification rather than looking outwardly to the objective declaration of God in His Word and Sacraments.
I re-read the E. Fredrich essay on Osiander at the WELS Holy of Holies, the Essay Files, a gathering of atheists, Enthuiasts, and one Lutheran (E. Fredrich).
 |
| Andreas Osiander |
http://www.wlsessays.net/files/FredrichOsiander.pdf
There is no connection between Osiander and the Harley quotation. Osiander, a brilliant man, criticized Luther on justification and held more of a Roman attitude.
Linden's name-calling is a typical red herring: cite an obscure name and invent a fanciful connection, without giving any source or warrant for the comparison.
The UOJ specialists also reject Luther on justification by faith. One indication is the response to Joe's question about whether the original Sodomites were righteous.
Linden replied:
Yes. Those who perished in Sodom were declared righteous for Christ's sake by God. More than that, everyone who will end up in hell for all eternity have been declared righteous by God for Christ's sake. This is the Bible's clear teaching.
David, son of Rolf, son of Robert, son of Jake the Governor, thinks Joe is confused! And we supposed to sit and gape in awe at their words.
Those who to study logical fallacies and flimsy argumentation should spend a day at LutherQuest(sic). One ELS member said he read it for laughs. That is why I call it LaughQuest.
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Eric Phillips correctly told Franz Linden:
Franz,
Osiander taught that the righteousness of faith is the essential righteousness of God indwelling believers, rather than the personal righteousness of the God-Man being reckoned as their own. There isn't even a whiff of that position in anything Joe's said here.
