Answering Some Objectionable OJ Claims - Bethany Research Team

Howling Oh Jay!

Brethren: UOJers claim that there is great comfort in the doctrine of UOJ.  What I see in the doctrine is the abuse of "You've AREADY been forgiven!" which I believe totally undermines "Subjective Justification."
Why repent?  Why confess one's sins?  Why desire Absolution?  "You've ALREADY been forgiven!"  What else matters?  And, WHERE is the motive for the seeking of Sanctification, as the Bible teaches me to seek?


On the other hand, the doctrine of the Atonement comforts me with the knowledge that Christ died for the sins of the world, and therefore for MY sins as well.  The forgiveness of sins gained for me by Christ's atoning death is received by me in the Means of Grace, through which the Holy Spirit conveys the Gospel to me, bringing me to faith in Christ as my Savior and keeping me in that saving faith as I continue throughout my life to partake of those Means of Grace.  And through those same Means of Grace which brought me my Justification, the Holy Spirit conveys to me the power to continue to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," (2 Peter 3:18) in my Sanctification, never complete in this life, but in the life to come.


Pastor Jackson, am I correctly understanding this?

GJ -

Hi everyone. The Atonement is the Gospel that creates and sustains faith by the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word. There are many words for the Atonement, such as propitiation, redemption (two different Greek words with two somewhat different meanings), ransom, etc.

Justification has few synonyms, maybe only one - forgiveness. Their confusion is that Justification is always by faith and always God's declaration. The UOJists merge the Atonement with Justification and say

voilà!

 - We have OJ, God has declared the world forgiven.

All the forms of OJ have God declaring universal forgiveness and salvation. There is no record, no Word where this is taught. So I guess we have to take that "on faith" - my joke. General Justification, UOJ, OJ, and Justification of the World (Brenner) have the exact same message. 

These yahoos have read Walther and Pieper but not modern theology, which uses the same explanations. God is all grace and all forgiveness. To require faith is to negate grace completely. Grace does not allow for contingencies, they declare repeatedly. They do not say, "We do not believe," only that "Requiring faith means removing grace. Grace does not allow for if someone believes."

For a long time the UOJists howled, "Raised for our justification. UOJ! Romans 4:25!" So I kept reminding them of Romans 4:24 - "If we believe in the One..." That is the dreaded contingency - if we believe. Didn't Paul know better? 

And yet they go on with the same blabbering. One thing is true - they never say "Justified by Faith." John Sparky Brenner thinks the opposite of Objective Justification is "the individual appropriation of forgiveness." As Paul began Romans 5 - Since we have individually appropriated forgiveness...

That lacks the grand simplicity of the original, no?

 Our sect approves, because we took over our sect.
Aren't we clever?

Time To Start Studying Luther's Doctrine

Mirthless Mark Schroeder loathes one of these and loves the other. Has Holy Father stepped into congregational matters for you?

The Mark Schroeder legacy - public absolution for felony child trafficking, previously known, excommunication and foreclosure for Justification by Faith.

Eric Metaxas' Martin Luther: The Man Who Discovered God and Changed the World  should be carefully and slowly read by everyone, especially the laity.

Lutherdom has re-captured the Medieval Church, and this came to fruition - this rotten, corrupt fruit - in the last few decades.

Luther was unusual in his devotion to Biblical teaching versus the established authority of Aristotle, Aquinas, and the papacy. Luther's supervisor Staupitz welcomed and encouraged this, so Staupitz was an enabler of the Reformation, though he never left Holy Mother Rome.

Whether ELCA, WELS, LCMS, ELS, CLC (sic) or ELDONUT-land, the leaders reject the efficacy and authority of the Scriptures and assert their own, infallible, and not-to-be disputed power.

Anyone who has a thought must first check in with the Thought Police and see if that idea has been banished forever. This works very well for the few. Someone known for dissent is going to face a rough time before learning that shunning has been initiated and the Left Foot of Fellowship has been extended.

ELCA polished this approach with decades of experience in associating with hard Left activist groups. Even the bishops who eventually left (but only after retirement) went along with all the strategies, crafts, and assaults - until 2009 was one mincing step too far. But the WELS leaders are not innocent babes, with an abusive history going back to Protest'ant days in the 1920s. The ELS gladly beat up their own when told to do so by the Receptionists.  Missouri is legendary in leaking defamatory letters to the entire synod (Jack Preus) while hailing the dogma of a seminary professor who became a leader of Roman Catholics (Bob Preus for Edward Preuss).

This corruption will continue and worsen as long as the clergy and laity accept the dictatorship of Holy Mother Sect and reject the clarity, efficacy, and authority of the Scriptures.

Meanwhile, check out the group blogs:

1. LutherQueasy
2. Dead Last Lutherans
3. ALPB Online Cloaca

They specialize in trivia and avoiding the real issues.