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| Courtesy, Alec Satin, Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry. |
1. What is the Chief Article of Christianity, the Master and Prince, the judge of all articles of faith?
2. What did Paul write about in his inspired letter to the Galatians?
3. What lectures were commended by the Book of Concord editors for additional study of the topic mentioned above?
4. What are the two chief doctrines of Christianity as listed by Dr. Walter A. Martin, PhD Harvard?
5. Why was Abraham forgiven of his sins in Genesis 15 and Romans 4? No peeking!
6. Under what circumstances are our sins forgiven, Romans 4?
7. Melanchthon wrote a superb essay on this topic in the Apology, which all Lutherans allegedly also confess, as did the theologians and princes of the time. Name it.
8. What phrase is used by the Augsburg Confession to describe the forgiveness of sin?
9. Who first proposed Objective Justification at Wittenberg University?
10. When and where did Objective Justification appear next?
11. Name two groups that have taught Objective Justification all along, three or more who adopted it.
ANSWERS
1. Justification by Faith.
2. Justification by Faith.
3. Luther's Galatians Lectures.
4. Justification by Faith, Inerrancy of the Scriptures.
5. Abraham was justified by faith. "Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
6. If we believe in the One who raised Jesus from the dead. "Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;"
7. Of Justification, Apology, Augsburg Confession.
8. Justification by Faith. "Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for 2] Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. 3] This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4."
9. Samuel Huber, a "former" Calvinist. He was kicked out.
10. The era of Pietism, at Halle University, where the founder of the LCMS - Bishop Martin Stephan - studied.
11. The Calvinists and Seventh Day Adventists have taught Objective Justification all along. Adopting it later:
- ELCA, but they taught Justification by faith in its earlier jurisdictions.
- WELS, but they taught Justification by faith when Gausewitz was alive.
- LCMS until recently, when Harrison and McCain published their odious Dogmatanic and their Babylonian Talmud Catechism.
6] This article concerning justification by faith (as the Apology says) is the chief article in the entire Christian doctrine, without which no poor conscience can have any firm consolation, or can truly know the riches of the grace of Christ, as Dr. Luther also has written: If this only article remains pure on the battlefield, the Christian Church also remains pure, and in goodly harmony and without any sects; but if it does not remain pure, it is not possible that any error or fanatical spirit can be resisted. (Tom. 5, Jena, p. 159.) Book of Concord, Formula of Concord, Solid Declation, #3, The Righteousness of Faith. You peeked!
Good News If You Failed This Test!
- You can teach at any Lutheran seminary (if it has students) in America!
- You can teach at any Lutheran college in America!
- You can be the LCMS Synod President!
- You can be the ELS Synod President!
- You can be the WELS Synod President!
- You can be the ELCA Presiding Bishop!
- You can be an expert on Objective Justification in the WELS!
- You can be an expert on Objective Justification in the ELS!
- You can be an expert on Objective Justification in the LCMS, but it really helps to have the surname of Preus and amnesia about Justification and Rome!
- You can join the Seventh Day Adventists and Teach Objective Justification!
- You can join a Calvinist sect and rant against Luther - without any extra effort or study!
- You can be in charge of Higher Things videos!
- You can be senior editor of Steadfast Lutherans!
- You can manage the skunkpatch known ironically as LutherQuest (sick)!
- You can oversee Northwestern Publishing House, Augsburg-Fortress Press, Concordia Publishing House, or the mimeograph room at the Little School on the Prairie.
Adventist Biblical Research
According to the 1888 Message Study Committee ("1888 MSC"), the 1888 message reveals many "fresh, beautiful truths . . . that are not usually understood today."[1] One such "truth" is the concept that Christ's death at the cross accomplished a legal or objective justification which is universally and unconditionally applied to all men.[2] This doctrine is said to derive from the observations that Christ has borne the sins of "all men" and has died the second death for "every man." It is viewed as the basis for the present life enjoyed by all men. This legal justification, also referred to as a corporate justification, is distinguished by its proponents from justification by faith, or "experiential" justification, and should not be taken to imply universal salvation wherein all men would be saved, some even against their will.
OLSTAD: UNIVERSAL LEGAL JUSTIFICATION
Adventist debate that has gained widespread attention is whether the atonement is more accurately understood by invoking a legal/forensic, objective justification that is universalized to all individuals. Though these proposals are at least two decades old, their adherents today cross international lines and seem to be numerous. Capitalizing on apparent universal NT expressions, proponents of ULJ argue that all humanity has achieved a justified status as a consequence of Christ’s atonement at the cross. Universalism is avoided by bifurcating justification into objective and subjective categories.
Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 23/1 (2012):96-119. Article copyright © 2012 by Joseph Olstad.
