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| Don't tell Missouri's secret - it started with Bishop Stephan, STD, and spread to Walther, who imposed Objective Justification on many of his associates, but not all of them. |
LCMS Brief Statement, 1932, when Missouri began its meltdown:
Missouri would like to have an election accepted that stands in no relation to the whole order of salvation, except so far as this is a means of executing the decree. With its teachers election is the last ground of salvation. Even the redemption, according to their interpretation of the Formula of Concord, must belong, as the first of the eight points, to the execution of the election already effected. But the whole theory stands in conflict with the Confession's mention of the mercy of God and the merits of Christ as the causes of election. Such mention of causes is inconsistent with the opinion, that God arbitrarily saves just whom He pleases; and that all questions as to the why and wherefore are wicked. He does save whom He pleases, but He pleases to save them that believe in Jesus. That is exactly what the Missourians would like to have excluded, and that is exactly what our theologians for centuries have been contending for in their defense of election intuitu fidei against the Calvinists.
From "The Necessity Of Faith To Salvation" in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
