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| Crown of Thorns, by Norma Boeckler http://www.normaboecklerart.com |
KJV Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Galatians Commentary, Kregel edition, p. 163f.
Cliffnotes for UOJ Enthusiasts.
Luther wrote this section against the papalists who denied that Christ was made a curse for us (p. 163).
All the weight of the argument falls on the phrase "for us" (p. 164). If this is denied, that He was made a curse for us, then comfort is taken from the message of the cross.
Luther:
"But we must wrap Christ, and know Him to be wrapped in our sins, in our malediction, in our death, and in all our evils, as He is wrapped in our flesh and blood.
But some man will say, it is absurd and slanderous to call the Son of God a cursed sinner. I answer, if thou wilt deny Him to be a sinner and accursed, deny also that He was crucified and dead. For it is no less less absurd to say that the Son of God (as our faith confesseth and believeth) was crucified and suffered the pains of sin and death, than to say that He is a sinner and accursed." (p. 165)
St. John called Him "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." John 1:29 (p. 165f)
This verse Luther connects with Isaiah 53:6
KJV Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the
LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The Holy Spirit speaks in the person of Christ in Psalm 40.
KJV Psalm 40:12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon
me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
Luther:
"For this testimony is not the voice of an innocent, but of a suffering Christ, who took upon Him to bear the person of all sinners, and therefore was made guilty of the sins of the whole world." (p. 166)
"And this is a singular consolation for all Christians, so to clothe Christ with our sins, and to wrap Him in my sins, thy sins, and the sins of the whole world, and so to behold Him bearing all our iniquities." (p. 166f.)
At this point Luther expounded on the real meaning of John 1:29, not the absolution of the world of unbelievers.
Luther:
"Now sin being vanquished and death abolished by this one Man, God would see nothing else in the whole world, if it did believe it, but a mere cleansing and righteousness. And if any remnants of sin should remain, yet for the great glory that is in Christ, God would not see them." (p. 168)
The importance of this argument can be seen in the next section.
Luther:
"But now let us see by what means these two things, so contrary and repugnant, may be reconciled in this one person Christ. Not only my sins and thine, but the sins of the whole world, past, present, or to come, take hold upon Him, go about to condemn Him, and do indeed condemn Him. But because in the self-same person, who is the highest, the greatest, and the only sinner, there is also an invincible and everlasting righteousness; therefore these two do encounter together, the highest, the greatest, and the only sin, and the highest, the greatest, and the only righteousness." (p. 168f.)
Luther often portrayed Jesus as the Hero, the great Hercules who battled Satan and won in a ferocious battle, showing that this was indeed the conflict of the ages, throwing all the punishment of sin for all time against the Son of God.
Luther:
"Forasmuch then as Christ reigneth by His grace in the hearts of the faithful, there is no sin, no death, no curse; but where Christ is not known, there all these things do still remain. Therefore all they who believe not, do lack this inestimable benefit and glorious victory. For (as St. John saith), "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4." (p. 170)
Luther is arguing against the papal doctrine of works added to faith, fides formata, faith formed by love. This applies with the same force against Universal Objective Justification, because the UOJ Enthusiasts are the greatest, windiest, most burdensome salesmen of works the world has even seen.
They are always bragging about their great accomplishments--which are few, meager, and subsidized by others. They constantly motivate their foolish disciples with the whip of the Law, telling them that thousands are going to Hell because they have not done enough. And they foam at the mouth against justification by faith, because it robs them of their self-glory, self-esteem, and self-centeredness.
Luther:
"Let us receive this most sweet doctrine, so full of comfort, with thanksgiving, and with an assured faith, which teacheth that Christ being made a curse for us, (that is a sinner under the wrath of God), did put upon Himself our person, and laid our sins upon His own shoulders, saying, "I have committed the sins which all men have committed." Therefore He was made a curse indeed according to the law, not for Himself, but, as Paul saith, for us." (p. 171)
What does this say about Walther, Pieper, and the Synodical Conference? They are blatantly anti-Luther, anti-Gospel, and false teachers.
They constantly cite Romans 4:25 for UOJ (but never Romans 4:24). They chant John 1:29 to teach the opposite of the Evangelist's message. They call justification by faith "Calvinism," while they are enrolling themselves at Fuller Seminary, Gordon Conwell, Trinity Divinity, and the gay activist Drive Conferences.
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| Is that Paul Calvin Kelm driving the hay wagon? Why yes it is. WELS has really beaten him savagely for his published false doctrine and public embrace of false teachers. Synod President Mark Schroeder has kept Kelm employed at one synodical job after another. "We're getting more Confessional." More to confess, but not more Confessional. |
Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Luther and John 1:29 - Commentary - Galatians 3:13...":
Ichabod -
I quote Luther from your blog posting:
>>>>> Luther:
"Forasmuch then as Christ reigneth by His grace in the hearts of the faithful, there is no sin, no death, no curse; but where Christ is not known, there all these things do still remain. Therefore all they who believe not, do lack this inestimable benefit and glorious victory. For (as St. John saith), "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4." (p. 170) <<<<<<
I see the LCMS and the WELS wrapping their denominations in their ragged security blanket foundation of the inferior translation and understanding of John 1:29. I just heard that erroneous understanding manifested yesterday when taking my grandson home from Bethel Lutheran School. He sang a song he learned at school with the wording that Jesus "takes my sins away," - not the song wording rendering the correct translation which says that Christ bare the sins of the whole world.
Then, just recently, I saw an online comment from an adult individual which stated:
"I am perfect on the level of Christ himself through imputed righteousness (Rom 4)" [His words]
To that, I responded:
"You sound like an acquaintance of mine who expresses what you do by saying he has "sovereign immunity." And, then, he goes as far to conclude that he "can't sin" since he is so imbedded in the imputed righteousness of Christ. So, goes his understanding......." [My words]
I've stated before here on Ichabod and in one of my most recent topical messages how the youth are indoctrinated in universal objective justification. Lutheran schools lack Scripture's teaching of justification by faith alone. This (aforementioned) adult (I presume) is (sadly and pathetically) just another Universalist product of the same schooling.
I leave this comment with a three informational links, to support aforementioned comment thoughts:
"Pastor Nathan Bickel on UOJ in WELS. Aaron Frey Still Preaching in WELS. How Far Will He Go?”
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/pastor-nathan-bickel-on-uoj-in-wels.html
Part 1: The false teaching which molests the faith of Christians
http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/09/part-1-false-teaching-which-molests.html
Part 2: How does the false teaching of universal objective justification molest Christians’ faith?
http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/09/part-2-how-does-false-teaching-of.html
Pastor emeritus Nathan M. Bickel
Bay City, MI - Bethel Lutheran / WELS
www.thechrisianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org
