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http://www.intrepidlutherans.com/2013/02/chemnitz-on-judicial-or-forensic.html#comment-form
3 COMMENTS:
- Brett Meyer said...
- Pastor Rydecki states, “To assert that God did or declared something is a big deal, and one had better be able to support such a claim with clear passages of Scripture.”
To be fair, in his keynote 2005 WELS Convention essay, Justification Expounded By Scripture, District President Pastor Jon Buchholz did make the effort following three doctrinal declarations to clarify that Scripture, in fact, didn’t teach what he was teaching:
"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This statement is absolutely true! This is the heart of the gospel, and it must be preached and taught as the foundation of our faith. But here’s where the caveat comes in: In Scripture, the word "forgive" is used almost exclusively in a personal, not a universal sense. The Bible doesn’t make the statement, "God has forgiven the world."
"God has forgiven all sins, but the unbeliever rejects God’s forgiveness." Again, this statement is true—and Luther employed similar terminology to press the point of Christ’s completed work of salvation.16 But we must also recognize that Scripture doesn’t speak this way."
"God has declared the entire world righteous." This statement is true, as we understand it to mean that God has rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward the entire world. It is also true—and must be taught—that the righteousness of Christ now stands in place of the world’s sin; this is the whole point of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. However, once again we’re wresting a term out of its usual context. In Scripture the term "righteous" usually refers to believers. "
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http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BuchholzJustification1.pdf - Anonymous said...
- Some say this controversy is "just" about semantics. Okay. Semantics are important. The way we form word relationships communicates truth.
I am still processing all this information. But I can imagine the danger of telling an unbelieving visitor in the congregation that he is forgiven and saved before the Holy Spirit has created any faith. The unbeliever is lulled into a false sense of security. He feels comforted, but in reality he is still blind and lost. This danger is particularly highlighted when one considers the trend for churches to minimize the means of grace in order to attract the unbeliever in the first place.If the sermon is mostly law, and the praise songs are pale reflections of God's Word, while the gospel rich liturgy is mostly missing, how can the Holy Spirit create the faith that justifies?
Shelley Ledford - WELS church lady said...
- Well stated Shelley, especially your last two sentences. I hope very COP member, MLC professor, and "others" take note of your comment. God's blessings.
Rebecca Quam
