From a Friend of a Lutheran Layman Who Reads - Do the Majority Really Believe Justification without Faith? Ha!

 Joint graduation for Concordia St. Louis, Concordia Ft Wayne, Mordor in Mequon, The Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie, and The Black Hole of Eau Claire.
The graduates of last three cemeteries named are the three guys up front.

A friend who saw the post about the CTCR Bible studies on Justification (without Faith) mentioned something to me that I would like to pass along.

 Sixth Commandment? No wonder the Church Growth epidemic has created so many symptoms of adultery, like the Grand Master's - Barth.

UOJ proponents present themselves as the 'real Lutherans'. They claim that the majority of Lutherans believe  UOJ, and that those who believe in JBFA are a fringe group. The Leader's Guide tells a different story. The fact that the LCMS  feels it necessary to warn persons who try to teach  UOJ to laity that laity will push back implies that they know that rank-and-file Lutherans don't believe  UOJ. And the talking points in the Leader's Guide intended to prove that  UOJ is real Lutheran doctrine sound like those Karl Barth double-talk quotes you've published in the past. 

Concordia St. Louis Seminary President John Johnson spoke of his great admiration for Karl Barth, until he recognized my reaction. For most seminary professors today, especially the Church Shrinkers, Karl Barth is THE theologian, their theologian.

From a Lutheran Layman Who Reads. Hiding the Elephant in the Room - UOJ

 WELS flew Jay Webber in to lecture one (1) person on his favorite topic, his only topic.

Regarding your post about the UOJ documents on the CTCR website. I suspect the LCMS synodical leaders who claim they don't read your blog (but who really do) are right now working to delete the page with the documents or modify the documents to remove the portions that state that they expect laity to object to UOJ. The fact that the Leader's Guide assumes that laity will push back on UOJ is a tacit admission, in my mind, that synodical leaders know that UOJ contradicts Lutheran teachings, and therefore they must 'talk people into accepting it' by using vague, opaque terminology wholly lacking reference to any Lutheran principles.

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When I was in a Bible study and the leader brought up UOJ, I responded by reading the following portions of Martin Luther's explanation of the third article of the Apostles Creed to show that we don't 'make a decision' to accept forgiveness, but rather we are justified by faith alone, which is a gift of God:

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.

On the Last Day, He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ”.

  

The leader responded by saying “OK, let's move on to the next topic”. The leader either didn't believe in UOJ or, if he did believe, he was savvy enough not to press the issue for fear of provoking a Kokomo situation.

  

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I would like to thank you for the work you do in promoting the Lutheran principle of Justification by Faith Alone. In my estimation, the majority of the laity in conservative Lutheran denominations believe JBFA. Laity come to your blog and your weekly service for your teachings and for the reassurance that they are not alone in their beliefs. And I suspect that a goodly number of Lutheran ministers believe JBFA too.