Not that the law is evil, for the law, circumcision, and such-like, are not therefore condemned because they justify not; but Paul taketh from them the office of justification because the false apostles contended that by them, without faith, only in the work wrought, men are justified and saved.
This was not to be suffered of Paul, for without faith all things are deadly--the law, circumcision, the adoption, the temple, worship of God, the promises, all without faith profiteth nothing.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but the faith of Jesus Christ.
Martin Luther, Kregel, Galatians 2:15-16, p. 65.
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UOJists revile the Scriptural teaching that the Gospel is a promise. Holding human reason high they believe that faith cannot be created in or by a promise. The source of their error is the belief that faith is a work of man. Proof is provided when enraged they scream that if man is justified - forgiven of all sin - by faith alone, then faith is synergistic. Funny that they have no problem with the faith they teach being required for eternal salvation but not the forgiveness of sins. It points back to the fact that the faith they have is the faith of demons and devils which is not the faith of the Holy Ghost worked in those men who have faith in Christ instead of UOJ's faith in the declaration of already being declared by God's divine verdict of not guilty, justified and righteous in Christ before they believe and in fact while they never truly believe.
No one teaches this heresy more clearly than (W)ELS Siegbert W. Becker:
But universal and objective justification is one doctrine whose place in the victorious Christian life is clear. Wherever men teach that faith comes first as a condition that must be fulfilled or a work that must be done or even as a fact that must be recognized before forgiven is bestowed or becomes real, men will be trained to look into their own hearts for assurance rather than to the words and promises of God. If my sins are forgiven only if I first have faith then I have no solid foundation on which to rest my hope for eternal life. I must then know that I have faith before I can know that my sins are forgiven.
But there are times when a Christian does not know that he has faith. And many people who think they have faith do not have it, and many that think they are not believers are believing children of God. In regard to our own faith we may be in error or filled with doubt. But there is nothing uncertain in the truth that is proclaimed in the Gospel. Your sin is taken away, wiped out, forgiven, cancelled, swallowed up in the empty grave in Joseph’s garden. To that we must cling. To that we can cling. On that we can build a solid hope that will not make us ashamed.
In times of temptation when I am no longer aware of my faith, when my heart tells me that I am an unbeliever, I have no place to turn for assurance if faith must come before forgiveness.
But if forgiveness comes first, if it is always there, if it is true whether I believe it or not, I do not need to know whether I have faith or not before I can cling to God’s promise. I know that my sins are forgiven whether I feel forgiven or unforgiven. I know that my iniquity is pardoned whether I believe it or not. And when I know that, then I know also that I am a believer. John teaches us that when he writes, “Brethren, if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” Take away objective and universal justification and you have gone a long way toward cutting the heart out of the Gospel message. Page 13
http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BeckerJustification.PDF
This is the comfort that the UOJists gloat about – the belief that when they no longer believe in Christ they are still assured of being forgiven and if they cling to being forgiven then they are saved.
For UOJists FAITH is a 5 letter four letter word.
