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| Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz are missing from this graphic. Calvin, Knapp, and Hale (in descending order) dominate instead. |
Below is a typical tip-toe around Justification by Faith, equating Justification with Atonement in a sly or cowardly way. Prove me wrong. These Objective Justification fanatics will say justification but loath the Biblical and Book of Concord phrasing - Justification by Faith. Hale sells the butchered Beck Bible, so he is far gone on Biblical issues.
A Simple Explanation of the Articles of the June 13, 2022 CHRISTIAN NEWS www.ChristianNewsMo.com PAGE 5 Augsburg Confession Article 4: Justification
1] Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for 2] Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. 3] This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.
Justification is the heart of the Christian faith. Our salvation is not about our thoughts, deeds, or efforts. Christ, the Son of God, won for us salvation. He did it all in His holy, sinless body. How we receive that salvation is what divides Christian churches today. We believe that God sees us as righteous through faith, which is a gift He gives through the Spirit. This main article should be applied in all teaching and preaching. All divine teaching supports this comfort we have in the Gospel, and in turn we are made alive by the Spirit in this hope. Justification, that is, how the holy God sees us is not thought important by man. We always think that what happens on earth or in our lives matters most. But faith is trusting that God accepts us for what Jesus did. The righteousness of Christ is ours, so we are seen as holy as Christ is before the Father. To God we are righteous, and so we truly are. If we believed this without any doubt at all, we would fear nothing in the world. But even the weakest faith in the risen Jesus is counted as righteousness to us; no sin or guilt remains on those God has justified. Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). God’s declaration, crediting, or imputation is a legal accounting—but a true one we can live by. We are accounted as righteous, though we are nothing but sinners. This is the only teaching that can give comfort to the lost and broken. It must all be Christ’s doing, if we are to stand before the Father at the Last Day victorious. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4) But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
