Reformation Rebuttal of Rolf Preus' Here I Misunderstand Lectures in North Dakota

 ELDONA Bishop James Heiser said, "None of the Preus children are known for their theological acumen."

From WM:

Brethren: These Scriptural passages are presented by Pastor Rolf Preus in the first part of his conference essay [Here I Misunderstand, North Dakota Lectures] on Universal Objective Justification which he linked to a recent post in the LutherQuest forum.

Pastor Jackson has already commented on a few of these passages in Ichabod with specific reference to the Preus essay, but of course Pastor Jackson has already dealt with these passages many times before.

I wanted to try to respond to the use of these passages to teach UOJ, and I humbly request your feedback to determine if I am correctly understanding them.  This is no "exegetical study," just my personal response to how these passages are used to teach UOJ.

1. John 1:29: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world."

My response: There is no reference to OJ here, rather, a clear reference to the Universal Atonement of Christ.

2. Matt. 26:28: "For this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for remission of sins."

My response: Once again, there is no reference to OJ here, rather, a clear reference to the Universal Atonement of Christ.

3. Rom. 4:5: "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

My response: There is nothing but the teaching of Justification by Faith here.Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Means of Grace bring us to personal FAITH  in Christ, Who has provided justification for those who personally receive that justification by FAITH through the Gospel.

4. Rom. 4:24-25: "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our LORD from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."

My response: Again, I see nothing but the teaching of Justification by Faith here.  "IF WE BELIEVE..." settles that!

"Delivered for our sins" and "raised again for our justification" speak of the Universal Atonement and Justification by Faith, whether "for" is translated as "for" or as "because of."  Notice here, please, that the imputation of justification is LINKED TO FAITH IN CHRIST.  We shall meet with that word "impute" again in another passage.

5. Rom. 5:8-10: "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by His Blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

My response: Although the chapters and verses in Scripture were not in the original text, context remains an important tool in the correct understanding of Scripture, which can be abused by "proof-text" passages "untimely ripped" (to quote MACBETH, Act V, Scene 8) from both their immediate/specific as well as their general context.  Therefore, anything in this passage MUST be considered within both the immediate/specific as well as the general context of Rom. 5:1: "Therefore, being JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ," because 5:1 clearly begins this new section of Paul's Epistle in which 5:8-10 is located by God the Holy Spirit, through the Scripture's property of plenary verbal inspiration and inerrancy.

Therefore this passage MUST be understood in the LIGHT ("Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet, and a LIGHT unto my path," Ps. 119:105) of the clear teaching of Justification by Faith.

"But God commendeth His LOVE toward us"--cf. John 3:16--Justification by Faith.

"In that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"--the Universal Atonement.

"Much more then, being now justified by His Blood"--Context requires the understanding "Much more then, being now justified by [faith in Jesus Christ, who in His atoning death upon the Cross shed for all mankind] His Blood."

"We shall be saved from wrath through Him."--Through Justification by Faith the holy God's wrath against our sins is appeased, because the benefits of Christ's Universal Atonement are individually applied to us in the Gospel we have received by faith alone, and we become precious in the sight of God.

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son"--Context requires the understanding "For if, when were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" [the benefits of whose atoning sacrifice for all mankind we have individually received by faith in His Son.]


"Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."--The context requires the understanding "Much more, being reconciled [to God by faith in His Son Jesus Christ,] we shall be saved by His life" [being RECONCILED to God by faith in His Son, we are also SAVED by faith in God's Son, whose perfect LIFE of Active and Passive Righteousness for us preceded His atoning DEATH, as well as, after His RESURRECTION, His eternal Intercession for us before the throne of His Father in heaven.] (cf. Rom. 8:34: "Who is he that condemeth?  It is Christ that DIED, yea rather, that is RISEN AGAIN, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also MAKETH INTERCESSION for us.")

Cited and quoted in  Justification and Rome, by Robert Preus, a book curiously omitted by his son in his Here I Misunderstand lectures.

6. Rom. 5:18-19: "Therefore as by the offense of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous."

My response: First of all, we must check the contents to see if we have left the section which began with Rom. 5:1, which included the previous passage, vss. 8-10.

I would assert that we are still in the same section of the Epistle which began with 5:1 and the clear statement of Justification by Faith, and that the next section of the Epistle begins with 6:1, moving from a primarily doctrinal section to a section about the application of doctrine in the Christian life: Rom. 6:1: "What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"

Therefore I believe that the correct understanding of the current passage is determined by the context of the doctrinal statement at the beginning of this section of the Epistle, Rom. 5:1: "Therefore, being JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ," the clear teaching of Justification by Faith.

"Therefore as by the offense of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation"--Adam's (Original) sin brought condemnation upon the whole human race.

"Even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."--The context requires the understanding "Even so by the righteousness of One the free gift [of God's forgiveness of sins received by faith was made available by the Gospel so that it] came upon all men [through the Gospel which creates saving faith] unto justification of life [our life in Christ."] (cf. Col. 3:3-4: "For ye are dead, [to this world of sin and death] and YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD.  When Christ, WHO IS OUR LIFE, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.")  And don't forget: to be possessed and used, A "GIFT" MUST BE PERSONALLY RECEIVED!

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners"--Once again, Adam's (Original) sin brought condemnation upon the whole human race.

"So by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous."--The context requires the understanding "So by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous" [justified by faith in the obedient One, the Lord Jesus Christ.]

7. 2 Cor. 5:18-19: "And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

My response: This passage, of course, is the "sedes proof-text" for Objective Justification.  I'm not exactly sure why, as it doesn't mention "Justification" at all, but rather how the "Word of Reconciliation" (the Gospel) saves the lost and how those who have been reconciled to God are mandates to share that same "Word of Reconciliation" with others so that they also may be reconciled to God.

"And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;"--Again, let's check the context. Look at the previous verse, vs. 17: "Therefore IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." --With the "therefore" a new section begins which is clearly talking about God's relationship with those who are "in Christ," those who, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace, have been brought to faith in Jesus Christ by the Gospel.  Those who are "in Christ" have been reconciled by God by Christ through the Gospel, the "Word of reconciliation," and in turn they are given the mandate to share the same Gospel of reconciliation with the unsaved by which they themselves were reconciled to God through Christ, so that the unsaved can themselves be reconciled to God and be saved.

"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation."--

God "in Christ" has by Christ's Universal Atonement provided the basis for the world's ongoing, continuous reconciliation to Him through the "Word of reconciliation," the  Gospel of Christ by which we are brought to faith in Christ and therefore reconciled to God, and in turn we who have been brought to faith in Christ by the Gospel, and therefore reconciled to God, are in turn commissioned by God to use the same "Word of reconciliation," the same Gospel of Christ, to lead others to also be reconciled to God by faith in Christ through the Gospel.  Thereby we who are "in Christ"--who have been brought to personal faith in Christ by the Gospel and "reconciled" to God--carry the "Word of reconciliation" to others so that they also are able to be "in Christ," because the ONLY way to be "in Christ" is through the work of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel--the "Word of reconciliation"--to bring us to faith in Christ.

Remember how in Rom. 4:24-25 it was demonstrated that God's imputation of righteousness is LINKED TO FAITH IN CHRIST?  So here again, in 2 Cor. 5:19, when we read of God "not imputing their trespasses unto them," God's non-imputation of trespasses to sinners is LINKED to their being "in Christ" (vs. 17)--"IF any man be IN CHRIST"-- to their being brought to faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace in the Gospel of Christ. --Warren