Sunday, March 17, 2024

Click Link for Today's Communion Service

https://youtu.be/WEHowTOktXY

Judica - The Fifth Sunday of Lent - 2024. The Sin of Unbelief

Bethany Lutheran Church

Sunday worship, 10 AM

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

The Zoom Link Is Here->https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86211445686?pwd=E3CAJIbElaWYb8I2pvR0Ky4qox2wXH.1

The YouTube link appears after the service.

The Hymn #12 This Day at Thy Creating Word

The Absolution

The Introit

Judge me, O God: and plead my cause against an ungodly nation.

Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man: for Thou art the God of my strength.

Psalm. Oh, send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation p. 19

The Collect

We beseech Thee, Almighty God,

mercifully to look upon Thy people,

that by Thy great goodness

they may be governed and preserved

evermore both in body and soul;

through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual

The Gospel

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #67 The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us - Loy Translation

The Sin of Unbelief

The Communion Hymn #307 Draw Nigh

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #410 Jesus Lead Thou On

Prayers and Announcements

Randy Anderson is home; Sarah Buck; Lorie Howell, Dr. Kermit Way, Pastor and Mrs. Jim Shrader.
Mid-Week Vespers, 7 PM
Palm Sunday Holy Communion, 10 AM
Holy Week - Maundy Thursday, Holy Communion 7 PM.
Good Friday 7 PM.
Easter Sunday Holy Communion, 10 AM.

KJV Hebrews 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

KJV John 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. 48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. 50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

The Sin of Unbelief

KJV John 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

The situation was building up between the religious leaders and Jesus. The more He taught by words and miracles, the more these people objected. This is the Son of God teaching the truth and making His opponents increasingly hostile. The problem continues to this day - those who read and hear the truth of the Scriptures become more hostile. It takes a crowd of unbelievers to support one another in opposition to faith.

John's Gospel is often called the Faith Gospel because of the use of "believe" and "faith." The professor/minister said in class. "If you remember the verb and noun - believe/faith - in the Fourth Gospel, you have half of the Gospel translated." (He was exaggerating.) The opposition continues to this day, people angrily deny what Jesus teaches in this Gospel. The modern opponents do not credit Jesus in John's Gospel because they do not believe in Him. Unbelief is the foundational sin against the Holy Spirit, the battering ram against hardened hearts.

KJV John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Luther:

1. This Gospel teaches how hardened persons become the more furious, the more one teaches them and lovingly stirs them to do their duty. For Christ asks them here in a very loving way for a reason why they still disbelieve, since they can find fault neither with his life nor with his teaching.

48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. 50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

The very nature of unbelief stirs up people to doubt, and those reactions are often quite hurtful in many ways - mocking the believing speaker, name-calling, obvious hatred, rejection, and various forms of guilt by association. However, that is where the battle begins, and it can be quite powerful.

The Holy Spirit works through the Word, and the Spirit is God, not something to ignore or dismiss. If people believe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they have a counselor (spokesman) who argues the case, which goes back to Creation. Nevertheless, people find escapes and fallacies that permit them - so they think - to oppose faith in the Savior, His Word, and His miracles.

51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

The moderns like to modify Jesus because of their unbelief. But Jesus declared the truth to His opponents because that was His mission, and it meant they had reason to convict Him. Jesus was and is the dual threat, not just a threat. He endangered the Jewish state of that time, which could cause Rome to march in and subdue the land, destroying whatever they wished. Jesus made it possible to engage the Roman rulers to go along with this opposition against Him.

John 11:48 - If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

The people who live luxuriously have reason to be afraid of losing their power, prestige, and cushy lifestyle. And they did - 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus, the Roman army arrived and leveled the Temple and city, taking away the people as slaves.

The unbelievers think they can stand behind Abraham as the father of faith, getting themselves into a quandary with Jesus, who claims He is before Abraham and all of them, and yet was seen and glorified by Abraham. That was impossible for them, to have Jesus in the past and Abraham glorified this future Redeemer.

54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

This is a dialogue where only One is truly present. The scribes and Pharisees have a view of Jesus which is completely human while He is also divine, Two Natures in One, just as He is today with us - human/divine - walking ahead to lead us, bringing us to green pastures and fighting off the wolves.

Jesus aggravated the religious leaders because that was - and is - His mission, to awaken people with the Gospel of Faith in Him. The foundation of the early church was Judaism. They had the Scriptures as the Old Testament alone (for a time), where the historical epochs were described - with the Psalms and prophets. The apostolic age brought out the written New Testament as documents were being compiled. The wolves were present and active. John was perhaps the greatest of the disciples, certainly the longest living one, and yet he was plagued by Cerinthus who opposed him.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.

This is an impossible statement, unless it comes from God. Only God could say this, and no one can really say or imagine it, Before Abraham - thousands of years ago - I am, or I was. The I AM is the Name of God, in Exodus 3. Moses saw the Burning Bush, which was to be a symbol of the Two Natures of Christ. God is know as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob - foreshadowing the Trinity. But what is the Name of God? Tell me, Moses says, so I can give your Name. The voice says - I AM. Tell them I AM sent you.

59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

They picked up stones because Jesus was saying, "I spoke from the Burning Bush, just as earlier, Abraham saw My future of millions of people becoming believers and enjoying life eternal."

The stone throwing shows His time had not yet come. Everything was to be revealed in its time. His Two Natures are also implied because He was the center of focus and yet passed through them, just as He entered the locked room (emphasized twice) where the disciples were after His resurrection.

This was very early in the ministry of Jesus, and it shows us how region was filled with anxieties and hopes about the Messiah. Just as those times, we wonder and try to predict, but cannot know the exact future.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Corinthians And Other Triggers in the Big Five's Search for Objective Justification

The Augsburg Confession did not reveal Objective Justification.
Later, people found OJ with Pietism and Halle University.

Part Three

Corinthians And Other Triggers in the Big Five's Search

For Their Faithless Objective Justification

The problem comes from people forcing their false agenda on Biblical expressions, with help from the Bad Bible salesmen who impose Dynamic Equivalence paraphrases from Nida and the Bible societies. One example is the Atonement, Christ dying on the cross for our sins, which they turn into the absolution of the entire world. That is a good reason for ELCA to agree. The experts in the largest failing synod - ELCA - argue that there is nothing but grace. That was articulated in anger back in the LCA when a lecturer said, "The Evangelicals have no grace!" which meant that faith matters in the divine equation, anathema to the apostates. No one should wonder today that the Big Five all work together through Thrivent - they agree in dogma and where that is going.

KJV 2 Corinthians 5 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing [counting] their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Those forever stuck in the rationalistic Pietism of Halle University ignore and scorn the simple relationship between faith and grace. We have a section in Romans focused on Abraham as the Father of Faith, concluding he is the father of all that believe (Romans 4:11).

Faith in Jesus Christ gives us access to grace -

KJV Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

They need to be unstuck by the simple formula - the bright (very clear) passages of the Bible shine a light on the more difficult passages. The more difficult sections give us problems at first, like the Canaanite woman being rebuffed by Jesus, so we see by study and prayer how clear the Word is. Nevertheless, the devotees of their individual sects use their prized passages against the clearest ones, revealing hardened hearts and blindness to the Gospel.

One LCMS-ELS-LCMS pastor was always saying - to enforce Faithless Objective Justification - John 1:29 "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" That means the entire world was counted righteous, even before the cross.

Because the Big Five do not teach or even understand the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace, the pastors do not connect the power of the Holy Spirit always at work in the Word - and never without the Word. Reconciliation is what Paul preached, in other words, the Gospel.

In contrast, Pastor Wayne Mueller (WELS) told a convention of youth, "Evangelism is easy. Just go around saying You are already forgiven." That has not worked well for WELS or the rest of the Big Five. They are so blinded by their shopworn synodical statements that they cannot do anything except condemn and expel the faithful pastors.

Victims of the Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) should realize that they are being taught Fuller Seminary management programs, not the Gospel. Notice how comfortable the managers are with unLutheran, antiLutheran, and just plain destructive plans. They have no grace because they have no faith in the genuine Scriptures and Gospel established for all ages.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Lent 5 Epistle - "Christ sacrificed not goats nor calves nor birds; not bread; not blood nor flesh, as did Aaron and his posterity: he offered his own body and blood, and the manner of the sacrifice was spiritual; for it took place through the Holy Spirit, as here stated."

Luther's Sermons - Hebrews 9:11-15.
Judica. Fifth Sunday in Lent. Passion Sunday

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

TEXT:

HEBREWS 9:11-15. 11 But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

CHRIST OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST.

1. An understanding of practically all of the Epistle to the Hebrews is necessary before we can hope to make this text clear to ourselves. Briefly, the epistle treats of a two-fold priesthood. The former priesthood was a material one, with material adornment, tabernacle, sacrifices and with pardon couched in ritual; material were all its appointments. The new order is a spiritual priesthood, with spiritual adornments, spiritual tabernacle and sacrifices — spiritual in all that pertains to it. Christ, in the exercise of his priestly office, in the sacrifice on the cross, was not adorned with silk and gold and precious stones, but with divine love, wisdom, patience, obedience and all virtues. His adornment was apparent to none but God and possessors of the Spirit, for it was spiritual.

2. Christ sacrificed not goats nor calves nor birds; not bread; not blood nor flesh, as did Aaron and his posterity: he offered his own body and blood, and the manner of the sacrifice was spiritual; for it took place through the Holy Spirit, as here stated. Though the body and blood of Christ were visible the same as any other material object, the fact that he offered them as a sacrifice was not apparent. It was not a visible sacrifice, as in the case of offerings at the hands of Aaron. Then the goat or calf, the flesh and blood, were material sacrifices visibly offered, and recognized as sacrifices.

But Christ offered himself in the heart before God. His sacrifice was perceptible to no mortal. Therefore, his bodily flesh and blood becomes a spiritual sacrifice. Similarly, we Christians, the posterity of Christ our Aaron, offer up our own bodies. Romans 12:1. And our offering is likewise a spiritual sacrifice, or, as Paul has it, a “reasonable service”; for we make it in spirit, and it is beheld of God alone.

3. Again, in the new order, the tabernacle or house is spiritual; for it is heaven, or the presence of God. Christ hung upon a cross; he was not offered in a temple. He was offered before the eyes of God, and there he still abides. The cross is an altar in a spiritual sense. The material cross was indeed visible, but none knew it as Christ’s altar. Again, his prayer, his sprinkled blood, his burnt incense, were all spiritual, for it was all wrought through his spirit.

4. Accordingly, the fruit and blessing of his office and sacrifice, the forgiveness of our sins and our justification, are likewise spiritual. In the Old Covenant, the priest with his sacrifices and sprinklings of blood effected merely as it were an external absolution, or pardon, corresponding to the childhood stage of the people. The recipient was permitted to move publicly among the people: he was externally holy and as one restored from excommunication. He who failed to obtain absolution from the priest was unholy, being denied membership in the congregation and enjoyment of its privileges; in all respects he was separated like those in the ban today.

5. But such absolution rendered no one inwardly holy and just before God.

Something beyond that was necessary to secure true forgiveness. It was the same principle which governs church discipline today. He who has received no more than the remission, or absolution, of the ecclesiastical judge will surely remain forever out of heaven. On the other hand, he who is in the ban of the Church is hellward bound only when the sentence is confirmed at a higher tribunal. I can make no better comparison than to say that it was the same in the old Jewish priesthood as now in the Papal priesthood, which, with its loosing and binding, can prohibit or permit only external communion among Christians. It is true, God required such measures in the time of the Jewish dispensation, that he might restrain by fear; just as now he sanctions church discipline when rightly employed, in order to punish and restrain the evil-doer, though it has no power in itself to raise people to holiness or to push them into wickedness.

6. But with the priesthood of Christ is true spiritual remission, sanctification and absolution.

Friday, March 15, 2024

An Honest Catechism for Objective Faithless Justification -
By Gregory L. Jackson, STM (Yale) and PhD (Notre Dame)

An Honest Catechism for Objective Faithless Justification -

By Gregory L. Jackson, STM (Yale) and PhD (Notre Dame)

I am not going to repeat the methods of those who oppose Justification by Faith, the Chief Article of the Christian Faith - which is not simply the Chief Article of Lutherdom. This is a battle against all the denominational errors - the Church of Rome, Calvinism, Pietism, and the Baptists. I have not heard anyone from the OJ side define Justification by Faith, so I will have to balance the topic for everyone by showing what they teach, even if they are terribly lax with the facts.

Some History, Pietism, Halle University, and Syphilis

The devotees of Objective Faithless Justification would like to start with the prolific writings of CFW Walther, but that would not be honest. The leader of the Saxon Migration was Pastor Martin Stephan, a Pietist pastor of a Pietist congregation, the land donated by a Pietist, Nicholas Zinzendorf. Stephan was trained at Halle University, which became known as the mothership of Pietism, which changed into rationalism.

Stephan was well known in the region for being a Pietist and later on for taking long walks at night with young, single women. CFW Walther group of Pietists had a very demanding leader who moved away and died. Looking for a replacement, they contacts Stephan and began associating with him, who became the leader for them. Walther was consumed by Pietistic vigor and almost ruined his health through various exercises in self-denial. Stephan's letter to him, concerning Justification brought great relief, and that sense of salvation stayed with him the rest of his life. That is documented in the festschrift for Dr. Robert Preus.

Pastor Stephan's popularity was so great that the non-members were greater in number than the parish members. This also created conflict over money and outside contributions. Various conflicts led to plans to leave Europe for America, which became real when Stephan was tried for his use of money and young women and found guilty in a house arrest. This was the trigger for the journey to America, with a large group of people eager to leave and many residents eager to see them go. Stephan was the overall leader and Walther led his circle, even though his older brother was part of that group.

Stephan did not take his wife and children along on the trip - only his eldest healthy son and his mistress. Symptoms of syphilis became troublesome on the trip and became more obvious - a truly horrible disease. He was already going to spas in Germany for treatment, taking his mistress with him and telling his wife she was not needed at the spa.

When they landed in New Orleans, Stephan told his clergy to designate him as their bishop, and they signed the document, including CFW Walther. The group started out toward St. Louis and eventually bought overpriced land in Perryville, Missouri, with some of them staying in St. Louis. The Stephanite migration was the source of outrage because the bishop's reputation preceded them through German newspapers.

CFW Walther organized a mob to get rid of Stephan, taking St. Louis people who agreed with him down to Perryville to have a well organized riot. They forced Stephan out of his house, took all of his gold, books, and personal possessions, even the special communion chalice given to their bishop. He was forced at gunpoint across the river (another felony) and became the first bishop in Illinois. Stephan served a church there and his long-time mistress moved in with him. The Stephanites refused to return anything to their former bishop through the courts.

Although the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has fashioned itself as congregational, it would be more honest to say they rejected the leadership of a bishop and accepted a pope, CFW Walther. Once the situation settled down to some extent, Walther took over every aspect of the growing denomination. The Stephanites had millions (in today's money) in gold stolen from Stephan, his purloined library, his confiscated 120 acres, and a location which funneled German migration to Missouri. Before the going away party, the Stephanites were almost bankrupt.

The Dogmatic Disaster

The Objective Justification of Missouri, WELS, the ELS, and CLC is not at all from Luther and the Book of Concord. but from Halle University Pietism. The term Orthodox is strangely applied to their groups, certainly a term so badly used that it should be dropped. Even worse is Confessional, which comes from people who deny the Confessions - the Book of Concord, where Objective Justification is completely absent and Justification by Faith is taught throughout. Dr. Lito Cruz has said, "How can they be Confessional when they disagree with the Confessions?"

Bishop Martin Stephan did not invent Objective Justification, but he certainly promoted it, based on his own education (Halle) and others who taught it. Rambach is pictured above with a glowing quote from Tom Hardt, another Objective Justification devotee.

Knapp's book in English is tedious, but it was a best seller for 90 years in American libraries. The note is from the Calvinist translator, and the terms Objective and Subjective. Pastoral papers have noted that Walther liked and used those terms, which apparently reached Germany as well.

Walther did not know the Biblical languages but felt comfortable in Latin and German. His description claims that all sins were forgiven when Jesus rose from the tomb.

The members of Missouri, WELS, ELS, and the CLC seem to be drilled in the concept of Jesus forgiving all sins the moment He rose from the tomb, although some seem to make the crucifixion the moment of world absolution.

The 1 Timothy 3:16 passage is used to produce the confusion.

KJV 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:

God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
received up into glory.

This should not be difficult for anyone, if they look at the concept of forensic, that is, from a judicial point of view. "Justified in the Spirit" does not mean that Jesus was finally declared innocent, which is absurd, since Jesus was without sin from conception. The very act of rising from the dead means He alone of all humans was innocent, not made innocent. If an individual is arrested and brought before an earthly judge, innocent of all charges, the judge declares him innocent, not made innocent.

This confusion comes from the merging of Pietism and rationalism, revealed when people simply rage against Justification by Faith, clearly taught throughout the Scriptures, the Book of Concord, and Martin Chemnitz' great works.

Robert Preus moved toward Justification by Faith, although his final book is somewhat mixed between clear and foggy statements, the outcome of late dogmatics compared to the Book of Concord, Chemnitz, and Gehrhard.

This is a very clear statement - my apologies to the OJ crowd.

This is a bit confused, the victim of dogmatics.

Try teaching that in confirmation class.

This is clearer, but I think the wording is more of a Latin dissertation.

Part Two - The Misinterpretation of Supposed OJ Passages

The most tattered declaration in Objective Justification is "You are making faith a work of man!" That is expressed with great force but without any Biblical support. The clearest answer is obvious.

KJV John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Those dedicated to Objective Justification have an astonishing reaction against faith in the Savior, but Jesus' response dismantles the warning. Faith in Him is primary - not treated as a sin. In fact, a parallel absurdity is offered an excuse against faith.

Robert Preus quoted this statement from Edward Preuss, who was a professor in the Missouri Synod when he wrote this, leaving to join the Church of Rome. The declaration is absurd and yet is held up as the clearest expression of Objective Justification - all Creation is justified, without faith.

David Scaer follows the logic of Eduard Preuss, but not the Scriptures. It is easy to see how the errors of Pietism pile up. Once this dogmatic statement is published as truth, error will follow. That explains how the most Objective Justification statements come from the LCMS, leading professors and seminarians to the Church of Rome - or Eastern Orthodoxy - as an outcome of their studies. The Wisconsin Synod has compiled over 760 papers in their Essay File link here, exalting the Objective Justification assertations. I know of one WELS pastor who joined Eastern Orthodoxy, but many follow the Enthusiasm of Fuller Seminary and its clones.

Scandalous Use of the Scriptures

The Greek word scandalon does not mean trap, but the trigger of the trap seizing the prey. Following are the passages used to support Objective Justification but fail in the attempts.

The Brief Statement of 1932 is so precious that the LCMS publishes it verbatim on the web. However, the justification section tries to promote the idea that the last verse of Romans 4 supports Objective Justification. This must be so, because Pastor Rolf Preus has repeated that many times over the years, but not lately.

KJV Romans 4:25 has this incomplete sentence "25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." That implies that the resurrection of Christ justified the world.

But the whole statement - in a chapter about Abraham and faith - says this:

KJV Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

This clear passage about the faith of Abraham is summarized the beginning of chapter 5. The chapter and verses came later in the publishing of the New Testament, but the structure is quite clear.

KJV Romans 5:5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

The entire Objective Justification enterprise is wrecked by Romans 4 and 5, and yet there is more mischief in their assertions, or rather - their follies.

The latest NIV, possibly the worst Bible ever paraphrased, gave the Walther synods a gift of magic in Romans 3.

KJV Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

This is a brilliant passage on Justification by Faith, so take note of the latest, always changing NIV -

NIV Romans 3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

"All are justified" (the text does not include "all") - this means that every single person in the world has already been declared righteous and free of sin, without the Word of the Gospel, without faith, without grace. The Scriptures clearly teach the this without any hesitation or magical wands - faith in Jesus Christ gives us access to God's grace. WELS and Missouri have embraced the NIV. That is based on bad "translation" and horrible text mutilation (thanks to the Vatican and Tischendorf).