To Rob People of the False Comfort of a False Gospel

Biblical faith discussed here.

The arguments for Universal Objective Justification are shallow and contradictory, but they need to be outlined for those who have to listen to them. Lutherans should know that the SynConference leaders are united against justification by faith alone, but the pastors are not convinced. One estimate is that 40% of the LCMS and 20% of the WELS ministers still teach Biblical doctrine rather than Halle Pietism.

Misuse of the Scriptures
Simply quoting the Bible is not adequate to support dogma. UOJ advocates are like children using that arcade machine where they spot a toy they want and use a claw to drop it down the chute. Most of the time they drop the toy because their grip on it is weak.

• The Word of God is not the primary authority for UOJ. Like Mormons, they wave it around bit but really have other norms. Holy Mother Synod is their ruling norm - just like Rome.
• They simply use part of a sentence (Romans 4:25) instead of Romans 4:1 - 5:2, which destroys their entire argument.
• They ignore the plain meaning of the Word and act as if only a special elite group philosophers can explain their dogma.
• They are blind to all the contradictions they create as they exhibit their prolixity without offering any clarity. If the whole world is absolved of sin on Good Friday, why is it absolved again on Easter? By arguing for both days, they display an obstinate ignorance of the truth.

Misuse of Authorities
Second to the Scriptures should be the Book of Concord, which is the Book of Harmony, not another claw machine for childish minds. The Book of Concord is great because it deals with all the basic doctrinal issues with a unified, coherent, and harmonious understanding of the Word. The Formula of Concord is just as compelling on justification by faith as the Augsburg Confession and Apology are. Both assume and quote the insights of Luther and commend the Galatians Commentary as additional explanation for those who need it.

• UOJ Enthusiasts overlook the obvious fact of their Enthusiasm, clearly defined in the Smalcald Articles. They separate the Holy Spirit from the Word, arguing that the entire world is forgiven and saved without the Word, assuming grace without the Means of Grace.
• The UOJ Hive has four areas where they could concentrate, but those areas are toxic to their dogma, so they are silent on the eloquent sections of the Augsburg Confession and Apology, the Large Catechism, the Smalcald Articles, and the Formula of Concord. The Book of Concord commends Luther's Galatians Commentary for study, so they studiously ignore that masterpiece on justification.
• The Formula of Concord, as the last of the doctrinal confessions, makes it clear that the only true righteousness is the righteousness of faith, but the Hive pretends that was never written down or believed.

False Authorities
When people argue a case, they give their agenda away with the authorities they consider definitive. The footnotes and references are more revealing than their dishonest claims about Biblical inerrancy and Confessional subscription.

• When angry, which is most of the time, Holy Mother Synod is the final authority for UOJ Stormtroopers. Their dogma is true because their sect says so. To question Holy Mother Synod is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
• Walther and his circle can  be quoted, venerated, and enshrined without hesitation, but better Lutheran writers are by-passed for failing to teach the favorite, the only article of unfaith - universal salvation.
• Robert Preus is an authority on the topic in the 1980s, which he was promoting UOJ and Church Growth, but not in his final book, Justification and Rome, when he was leery of Romanism, false forgiveness, and Fullerism. In effect, he excommunicated himself as an authority on justification.
• Poorly educated hatchet-men like Paul McCain, Jay Webber, Tim Glende, Rolf Preus, and Jack Cascione create their own bromance and work together because UOJ gives them a unity and purpose.

All Analogies Limp
An analogy is a rhetorical device, to make a point clearer with a comparison. But there is a difference between a Biblical analogy and man-made one. The UOJ tribe repeats their favorite analogies as if they are citing the revelation of God. An ancient saying in the Church is good - "All analogies limp." No man-made analogy can be used to set aside the clear teaching of the Word of God, the witness of the Confessions.

• "Objective Justification and Subjective Justification are two sides of the same coin." This is a contradiction, because justification is one - justification by faith. But these ignorant professors want to teach people that  the real Gospel is justification without faith and then rescue it by saying it is the other (better) part of justification through faith.
• "I like Luther's analogy about inheriting an estate. Forgiveness is ours even if we do not know about it or accept it." One should not play with guns or analogies. The estate analogy works well for the atoning sacrifice of Christ, but these blind guides merge Christ's payment with justification by faith. The misuse of Luther's comparison leads people to thinking they are born forgiven, which contradicts original sin and calls infant baptism into question. A question arises - why do they love, love, love the estate analogy (not in the Book of Concord) but ignore the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, and the Formula of Concord?

Awful! No wonder his son is a Church and Changer
and another UOJ Stormtrooper.

False Claims about UOJ
The Enthusiasts have a number of false claims about UOJ and against justification by faith. These responses are as predictable as the memorized speeches of government tour guides at national monuments. Press the button out it comes, even when not pressing the button.

• "UOJ protects the Gospel." Unfortunately, Hoeecke wrote this in the Dogmatics, but that does not rescue the motto from the dustbin. God's Word stands on its own and needs no protection. The Word is a shield and weapon against heresy, so no extra-biblical notions can or will protect something that belongs to God alone.
• "Justification by faith is Calvinism." No one could study Calvin and say something so ridiculous. Calvin separated the Holy Spirit from the Word, just as Zwingli did. Calvin was the original crypto-Calvinist, subscribing to the Augsburg Confession without meaning it.
• "Justification by faith is synergism." Since synergism is cooperation with God in salvation, that hardly reflects well on the speaker who seems to be calling Luther a synergist.
• "Your faith is in faith." That is so Scaer-y. Biblical faith is faith in Christ. Luther's exegesis of John 16:8ff makes it clear that unbelief is the foundation of all sin, not of world absolution.
• "Luther taught Objective Justification." The Reformer only taught justification by faith, the only justification in the Scriptures, the Book of Concord, Luther, Melanchthon, Chytraeus, Chemnitz, Gerhard, and others - except for Samuel Huber, who taught UOJ (and was repudiated and expelled for it).
• "Objective Justification is at the heart of the Reformation." I would love to see some scholarly support for that unwarranted assertion. Robert Preus wrote that in an old essay that was a mix of UOJ and justification by faith, using quotations he later repeated in Justification and Rome.
• "Objective Justification is the Chief Article of the Faith." The humor of this claim, from Church Growther Wayne Mueller is just too choice to go unremarked. He argued that the Confessions encouraged people to change doctrine later, so the First VP of WELS, a former seminary professor, used a bizarre statement about the Confessions to teach against the Confessions, the Chief Article of the Christian Faith is now world absolution without faith.