Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Lito Cruz, PhD - On the Bizarre Argumentation of Andy One Note Preus

 I study Robert Preus' book Justification and Rome 
because his family clearly does not.

Lito Cruz, on Facebook:
I just saw the post on Ichabod about Andy One Note's [Andrew Preus'] explanation of OJ/SJ. 

I remember when we were in discussion with the theologian from ELS, that it was the same teaching, we have to believe in OJ - i.e that we are already forgiven, to really be forgiven, for if not, we are not forgiven at all.

This is like Word of Faith, believe you are healed and so you are already, believe you are not and so you are not. Ergo, whatever you believe is what you are. The parameter of truth is *whatever* you believe and not the truth in the object of your belief. Notice too that in that Andy One Note defense that the object of faith is not Christ but the declaration you are already forgiven, saved - subtle universalism says Google Latin.

GJ - 
Yes, that is a good explanation, so OJ is not the Atonement, but some declaration not found in the Bible, Luther, the Book of Concord, or any bumper stickers. SJ is not faith but believing in this unrecorded universal declaration of absolution and salvation.

The Universal Objective Justification Stormtroopers should remember - and perhaps they do - that Preus distinguished their precious Objective Justification from the Atonement in his short essay.

Robert Preus, 1987:
The doctrine of objective justification is a lovely teaching drawn from Scripture which tells us that God who has loved us so much that He gave His only to be our Savior has for the sake of Christ’s substitutionary atonement declared the entire world of sinners for whom Christ died to be righteous (Romans 5:17-19).


Objective justification which is God’s verdict of acquittal over the whole world is not identical with the atonement, it is not another way of expressing the fact that Christ has redeemed the world. Rather it is based upon the substitutionary work of Christ, or better, it is a part of the atonement itself. It is God’s response to all that Christ died to save us, God’s verdict that Christ’s work is finished, that He has been indeed reconciled, propitiated; His anger has been stilled and He is at peace with the world, and therefore He has declared the entire world in Christ to be righteous.

GJ - 

Romans 5:17-19King James Version (KJV)

17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

The genius of UOJ is having people imagine that Objective Justification is the Atonement, when it is not. 
OJ is entirely invented and stems from the toxic influence of Calvinism and Romanism. The rationalistic Pietists were not concerned with the Means of Grace, so I imagine the concept of universal grace (apart from the Means of Grace) was transformed to make the entire world forgiven and saved.
If one has the time and eye-strength, read the earlier materials on predestination, Calvinism, Augustine, and the Jansenites. It is not a big step to move from universal grace to UOJ. However, man has done this against the clear testimony of the Scriptures. Give theologians a few centuries to ruminate and they can cites volumes and libraries of books on the subject of grace.
 Bishop Martin Stephan, STD, taught this to Walther,
and Walther insisted on it throughout his career as pope.
This peculiar dogma comes from Halle University, not the Bible
or Luther or the Book of Concord.

A second move of genius - or perversity - is letting people dream that Subjective Justification is Christian faith, when it is not - but simply faith in the notion of  their universal forgiveness and salvation.
Nothing gives away the falsity of UOJ more than their ferocious need to defend their OJ/SJ categories, borrowed from the Calvinist translator of the Pietist Knapp.
WELS has made a point of saying UNIVERSAL Objective Justification, which is the equivalent of saying someone is "amazing, amazing, just amazing."
 An illiterate, verbose false teacher, a Fuller alumnus,
can become president of the Sausage Factory.