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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Porterfield_Krauth |
Dear BJS readers:
I have moderated most of the comments away from this posting. I left the honest and civil discussion that begin this thread and showed some promise of actually resolving some of the differences in beliefs on Justification. When the conversation turned to speaking past one another, attacks on persons, and unsubstantiated claims, I and Editor Tim Rossow decided to do some editing. If you want to know the teachings on Justification, read Andrew Preus’ article again. Several commenters have been put on moderated status and I am closing down commenting on this post. In the future, I plan on introducing a more moderated venue for discussion of certain points of this centered on specific definitions of words (since folks here started to make it up as they went on, claiming silly things like universalism). One of these times maybe there might be civil and fruitful discussion on this important topic. Until then, go and read the Confessions on it (see the AC IV, Apology IV specifically).
When I read the comments by Pastor Scheer, about ending the discussion and deleting 85 comments, I thought of the Krauth quotation in Megatron, the legendary database.
Scheer was ambiguous and vague, but seemed to join UOJ Enthusiasts in claiming "the two sides are really saying the same thing." ELS Pastor Jay Webber likes to claim this, although he clearly does not believe it. No one is more active in search and destroy missions against justification by faith than Webber, the Torquemada of the Synodical Conference.
UOJ Enthusiasts employ both tricks that Krauth described in the Romanists. When someone uses the Biblical meaning and words justification by faith, they scream:
- You are teaching works.
- Your faith is in faith.
- Intuitu fidei - or among Mequonites - Inuitu Fidei.
- Calvinist!
When the Stormtroopers are done with their verbose explanations about every atheist, polytheist, and pygmy poacher being absolved, forgiven, and saved, they argue unctiously:
- We teach justification by faith because you have to decide to believe this.
- We are really talking about the same thing.
- We are showing you two sides of the same magical coin.
- We want to protect the Gospel with our language and exalt grace.
Someone asked me to design a medal for those banned by Steadfast Lutherans for being Lutheran, since I was banned without a notice first. I decided against any version of a medal, because I respect our military heroes and know quite a few from teaching. Instead, I borrowed a favorite from the past.
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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Tricks of the Romanists Cited by Krauth: Still Use...":
The recent Steadfast thread recently underwent another round of editing where they removed all of my comments except for the one where I recommend the Hunnius theses.
I still maintain the likely reason the thread was frozen was that Pastor Diers made a concise confession of what he believed Objective Justification meant and it was purely One Justification By Faith in Christ alone. UOJ is the pinhead upon which the Lutheran Synods teater - the black abyss of abject enthusiasm on all sides.
McCain could only hurl tirades against the Holy Spirit's faith and ad hominem attacks on those promoting One Justification solely by faith in Christ alone.
The Steadfast information managers quickly posted another attack against the Holy Ghost, Christ and God the Father on Friday. Their little treatise craftily titled "We are not declared righteous by Christ dwelling in our Hearts". [GJ - I am not sure, but I imagine they are trying to identify justification by faith with Osiandrianism, but those are the same clowns who think JBFA is Calvinism.]
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| Osiander is the new UOJ boogey-man, but who follows him? |
Really? And they use quotes from Paul McCain to substantiate the doctrine - a man who publicly stated he shares a common confession of Christ with RCC Pope worshipping Father Richard Neuhaus.
It's important to translate what it means for Christ to dwell in our hearts - Faith in Christ. Faith is the righteousness of Christ given by the Holy Spirit solely through the Means of Grace which trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins.
Ephesians 4:22-24, "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
The Steadfast group are anything but that. They are enemies of Christ's doctrine and therefore of His Church. The BOC clearly refutes their latest attempt to pervert the Righteousness of Christ: the Faith of the Holy Spirit. It is the persecution of the Antichrist in the last days.
9] Concerning the righteousness of faith before God we believe, teach, and confess unanimously, in accordance with the comprehensive summary of our faith and confession presented above, that poor sinful man is justified before God, that is, absolved and declared free and exempt from all his sins, and from the sentence of well-deserved condemnation, and adopted into sonship and heirship of eternal life, without any merit or worth of our own, also without any preceding, present, or any subsequent works, out of pure grace, because of the sole merit, complete obedience, bitter suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Christ alone, whose obedience is reckoned to us for righteousness. 10] These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php
Also, 71] "but we maintain this, that properly and truly, by faith itself, we are for Christ's sake accounted righteous, or are acceptable to God. And because "to be justified" means that out of unjust men just men are made, or born again, it means also that they are pronounced or accounted just. For Scripture speaks in both ways. [The term "to be justified" is used in two ways: to denote, being converted or regenerated; again, being accounted righteous. Accordingly we wish first to show this, that faith alone makes of an unjust, a just man, i.e., receives remission of sins". http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php
64] But since we speak of such faith as is not an idle thought, but of that which liberates from death and produces a new life in hearts [which is such a new light, life, and force in the heart as to renew our heart, mind, and spirit, makes new men of us and new creatures,] and is the work of the Holy Ghost; this does not coexist with mortal sin [for how can light and darkness coexist?]
http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php
8] Therefore, in order to explain this controversy in a Christian way by means of God's Word, and, by His grace, to settle it, our doctrine, faith, and confession are as follows: 9] Concerning the righteousness of faith before God we believe, teach, and confess unanimously, in accordance with the comprehensive summary of our faith and confession presented above, that poor sinful man is justified before God, that is, absolved and declared free and exempt from all his sins, and from the sentence of well-deserved condemnation, and adopted into sonship and heirship of eternal life, without any merit or worth of our own, also without any preceding, present, or any subsequent works, out of pure grace,because of the sole merit, complete obedience, bitter suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Christ alone, whose obedience is reckoned to us for righteousness. 10] These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. 11] This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the father, and are eternally saved. 12] Therefore it is considered and understood to be the same thing when Paul says that we are justified by faith, Rom. 3, 28, or that faith is counted to us for righteousness, Rom. 4, 5, and when he says that we are made righteous by the obedience of One, Rom. 5, 19, or that by the righteousness of One justification of faith came to all men, Rom. 5, 18. 13] For faith justifies, not for this cause and reason that it is so good a work and so fair a virtue, but because it lays hold of and accepts the merit of Christ in the promise of the holy Gospel; for this must be applied and appropriated to us by faith, if we are to be justified thereby. 14] Therefore the righteousness which is imputed to faith or to the believer out of pure grace is the obedience, suffering, and resurrection of Christ, since He has made satisfaction for us to the Law, and paid for [expiated] our sins. 15] For since Christ is not man alone, but God and man in one undivided person, He was as little subject to the Law, because He is the Lord of the Law, as He had to suffer and die as far as His person is concerned. For this reason, then, His obedience, not only in suffering and dying, but also in this, that He in our stead was voluntarily made under the Law, and fulfilled it by this obedience, is imputed to us for righteousness, so that, on account of this complete obedience, which He rendered His heavenly Father for us, by doing and suffering, in living and dying, God forgives our sins, regards us as godly and righteous, and eternally saves us. 16] This righteousness is offered us by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and is applied, appropriated, and received through faith, whence believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God sonship, and heirship of eternal life. 17] Accordingly, the word justify here means to declare righteous and free from sins, and to absolve one from eternal punishment for the sake of Christ's righteousness, which is imputed by God to faith, Phil. 3, 9. For this use and understanding of this word is common in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. Prov. 17, 15: He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. Is. 5, 23: Woe unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Rom. 8, 33: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, that is, absolves from sins and acquits.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php
