LutherQuest Borrows the 1932 Brief Statement To Defend Its Conflicted Position

This post was posted on Ichabod:

What is the LutherQuest objection to the reformation teaching of "Justification by Faith"? If it is a dangerous or destructive teaching, can they clearly as if to a sixth grader explain why "Justification by Faith" is wrong?

It would be extremely helpful for the Confessional Lutherans in the audience to understand the problem with "Justification by Faith" without any reference to terms not found in the Book of Concord, which is the Confession we all profess to believe, as I understand it.

Please post this. I wasn't able to find any answer to the previous request for clarification. Please keep asking. And attacks on "Jackson", "Ohio Synod", "Intuitu Fidei", etc, are not an answer the underlying question:

Why is "Justification by Faith" as Lutherans have understood it an error?

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We most certainly do not understand the biblical doctrine of Justification by faith as articulated and defended in Romans 3-5 and 2 Cor. 5:18-20 as an error. Here is proof in paragraph 17 of our Brief Statement of 1932:

Holy Scripture sums up all its teachings regarding the love of God to the world of sinners, regarding the salvation wrought by Christ, and regarding faith in Christ as the only way to obtain salvation, in the article of justification. Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25; that therefore not for the sake of their good works, but without the works of the Law, by grace, for Christ's sake, He justifies, that is, accounts as righteous, all those who believe, accept, and rely on, the fact that for Christ's sake their sins are forgiven. Thus the Holy Ghost testifies through St. Paul: "There is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," Rom. 3:23, 24. And again: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law," Rom. 3:28.

The poster needs to distinguish the scriptural doctrine of Justification from the erring doctrine of Dr. Gregory Jackson along with his baseless accusations against us of Universalism, apostasy, justification without faith, and Enthusiasm.

Dr. Jackson has read our documents, so he knows better than to caricature our doctrine in the manner that he does on his ecclesiole website. The poster should take the time to READ the posts on this website to see the evidence of what I am posting here.

The hallmark of the doctrine of "justification by grace alone through faith alone" is the scriptural doctrine of the Gospel that our merciful God justifies us, acquits us of our sins in Christ and imputes His perfect righteousness to us when He brings us to faith. God supplies the perfect and complete gift of justification and forgiveness, which He delivers to people in the world through the means of grace (Gospel and sacraments), and He imparts this gift to the individual whom He brings to faith.

Justification by faith alone is the doctrine that not our own works but the works of another, Jesus Christ, are what saves us when God brings us to faith.

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GJ - This was not an answer, but it is a perfect example of the OJists trying to take both sides at once. One is the dreadful attack on Scriptures, Brief Statement 1932, confusing the Atonement with Justification by Faith. The blatant Scriptural falsehoods are given some nip and tuck plastic surgery, more like Bondo filler, to make it all sound Biblical. The last sentence omits faith.

No wonder so few listen to his hollow, rationalized view of Pietism, quite the opposite of Dr. Walter A. Maier preaching inerrancy and Justification by Faith.

Let Us Steal Some Wisdom from Martin Chemnitz, Founder of Martin Chemnitz Press

The graphic above includes one of the greatest statements in the Book of Concord, but I also like what Chemnitz said in Examination of the Council of Trent. In ancient days, the men discussing doctrinal issues put aside all confessions to return to the truth of the Scriptures alone. A muddy stream is purest at its origin, so they relied on the Scriptures alone and paraded the Gospels before the discussions to emphasize this method.

J-019  

"If anything is said without Scripture, the thinking of the hearers limps. But where the testimony proceeds from the divinely given Scripture, it confirms both the speech of the preacher and the soul of the hearer." [Chrysostom, commenting on Psalm 95] 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 156. 

J-020  

"Whatever is required for salvation is already completely fulfilled in the 
Scriptures." [Chrysostom, commenting on Matthew 22] 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 157. 

 J-021  

"There is a short way for pious minds both to dethrone error and to find and bring out the truth. For when we return to the source and origin of the divine tradition, human error ceases." [Cyprian, Ad Pompejum] 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 158. 

J-022  

"He speaks with us in this way, that we may understand his speech." [Ambrose, Book 3, Letter 5] 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 167. 

J-023  

"God wanted this same word to be complete and brief, and not obscure: brief, lest men should not have time to read it; clear, lest someone might say: I could not understand it." [Augustine] 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 167.   

J-024  

"In Contra Faustum, Book 13, chapter 5, we read that although the Manichaeans did not accept the Scripture, they maintained that they believed the report concerning Christ. Augustine replies: 'If you believe the report about Christ, see whether this is a proper witness; consider what disaster you are headed for. You reject the Scriptures which are confirmed and commended by such great authority; you perform no miracles, and if you performed any, we would shun even those in your case according to the Lord's instruction, Mt. 24:24.' He wanted absolutely nothing to be believed against the confirmed authority of the Scriptures, etc." 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 172. Matthew 24:24. 

J-025  

"However, it had slipped my mind that the faith of the papalists stands outside of and beyond the Scripture; therefore they are able to teach without a translation of Scripture into vernacular languages." 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 200. 

J-026  

"Beautiful is the statement of Cyprian, which Augustine declares to be the best without any doubt, showing what ought to be done when examples and customs are held up to us which do not have the authority of the canonical Scripture. 'If,' says he, 'we return to the head and origin of the divine tradition, human error will cease. For if the channel of water, which before flowed copiously and purely, either fails or brings muddy water, then certainly one goes to the source in order to find out whether there is something wrong in the veins or in the source, or whether something got in midway.' So also it is rightly, necessarily, and indeed safely done when things that happened in later times in matters of religion must be examined." 
~Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, III, p. 237. 

J-027  

"Don't let the world paint us into a corner of antiquarianism on subjects like a six-day creation or verbal inspiration."  
~Rev. Paul Calvin Kelm, WELS, "How to Make Sound Doctrine Sound Good to Mission Prospects," p. 13.

That is why I wrote The Path To Understanding Justification as a Scripture book. That is also why I am teaching the Gospel of John in Greek...again.

Unfortunately, Walther did not have much of an education. He came from a rationalistic parsonage and was good enough in repeating their ideas to be certified as a pastor by the rationalistic church structure of his region. His buddies in Pietism were denied ordination and had to serve as children's tutors.

Walther relied on dogmatic statements because of his weakness in the Biblical languages, the equivalent of Ft. Wayne today, where the Biblical languages were not required for entry and treated lightly for graduates.