 |
| By Norma A. Boeckler |
16 ου γαρ επαισχυνομαι το ευαγγελιον του χριστου δυναμις γαρ θεου εστιν εις σωτηριαν παντι τω πιστευοντι ιουδαιω τε πρωτον και ελληνι
17 δικαιοσυνη γαρ θεου εν αυτω αποκαλυπτεται εκ πιστεως εις πιστιν καθως γεγραπται ο δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως ζησεται
Last night we worked on Romans 1 in Greek.
One point I made was that the Christian Church does - or should not - declare doctrine based on a few words, or a partial verse, or even a favorite verse by itself.
The Bible teaches one doctrine, not many doctrines, so there are no bargaining chips. The Scriptures are the Book of Holy Spirit, one Truth revealed by God.
One of the old rules is often stated in seminary class but seldom observed - Scripture interprets Scripture. If we have trouble with the meaning of a passage, the "bright" passages illuminate the "dark" ones. The Word is quite plain, but given our era, our inclinations, our traditions, some passage may seem dark to us until compared to one more helpful.
I am convinced that many passages called "hard sayings" are especially clear and easy to teach once they are explained properly from the Word of God.
Universal Objective Justification - or just plain Objective Justification - is taught as "God declaring the entire world forgiven and saved" - based on Paul's teaching. Romans 1 is a good example of that dogma being exploded in advance, as the Gospel of John does many times over.
Do the sleeping sheep wonder why the "conservative" Lutherans celebrated the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation without saying Justification by Faith Alone? Instead, they slighted Luther as much as possible while selling Luther trinkets and gee-gaws.
Paul clearly teaches that the Gospel of Christ is the efficacious power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
If we look at word order in the original text, which is often an indication of emphasis -
- Gospel of Christ
- Power of God
- For salvation
- Everyone who believes.
 |
| By Norma A. Boeckler |
That is why the current crop of crypto-Calvinists - neo-rationalists all - fuss around with if/then statements and all their little slogans that fill their little minds. They have completely given up the efficacy of the Word and no longer trust the Gospel to do the work of the Holy Spirit, so they turn to gimmicks, cheesy music, and the latest trends sold by the Fulleroids (a Fuller student who is a pain).
Paul teaches that the Gospel belongs to Christ and is the unique power of God that grants salvation to those who believe, Jew and Greek alike.
 |
| By Norma A. Boeckler |
Verse 17 is somewhat mysterious to those who lack a KJV or the Greek text of Romans. We are justified by the faith of Jesus.
Romans 3 22 δικαιοσυνη δε θεου δια πιστεως ιησου χριστου εις παντας και επι παντας τους πιστευοντας ου γαρ εστιν διαστολη - Stephanus edition
But the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all and upon all those believe, for there is no difference - Jackson Literal
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: KJV
Did Jesus not have faith? We should not overlook His human nature. We say He grew thirsty, hungry, angry, and amused - that He suffered and died. Did He not have faith in God the Father, that what was commanded and taught by the Father must be carried out and taught by Jesus?
The moderns are influenced by the spirit of Calvin, so they make up a grammatical rule and say, "According to our rule, that must be faith IN Jesus." A genitive (of Jesus) is a genitive. There is no way to determine if Paul meant an objective or subjective genitive, a category we apply after the fact. I did not know - until being at Mordor in Mequon - that defining a genitive could answer a doctrinal question.
So I think this verse is best answered by saying the righteousness of God is first revealed in the faith of Jesus and then creates faith in us (the Faith of Jesus Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes).
The entire Bible is about faith, not unfaith. If we want to discover salvation without faith, we have to start with Calvin's election without faith, which sounds strangely like Walther's election without faith.
And holy moly (a Greek herb, by the way) - Samuel Huber, a Calvinist in Lutheran clothing, taught Objective Justification at Wittenberg until Polycarp (fruitful) Leyser and Hunnius crushed him like a bug.
 |
| Someone can kidnap three people, steal land and gold and books after organizing a riot, and still be called The Great...? Only in the LCMS. |
