Do Not Stand So Close to the Excavation

 We knew Jaroslav Pelikan at Yale. Soon after, I met his father and brother in Cleveland.

Questions come in from people who are being swindled by the UOJ hoaxers. The situation reminds me of Pastor Pelikan, father of the Luther scholar, who was doing the commital at the grave site. Just as he was finishing, he felt the earth give way. He deftly jumped across and landed on solid ground.

At the next funeral, the family asked him, "Pastor Pelikan, will you do the graveside ceremony of leaping over the grave for us?"

Professor Pelikan said, "That is how quickly traditions get established."

The UOJ hoaxers try to pull the innocent into their traps by quoting Luther selectively. One must always remember - Spinning a new doctrine from a brief quotation is bound to be deceptive and wrong.

An example of this can be found in the 50 page bloviation of Jay Webber, trying to make Luther an advocate of Halle's Objective Justification - Universal Forgiveness without Faith.

 The improvement gang and correction guys want to take us as far away from the Gospel as they are. They do not trust the efficacy of the Word.

"Jesus Is All Forgiveness" and "You Are Already Forgiven"
Naturally we should start with the Gospel of John, the Epistles of Paul, Genesis 15, or anywhere in the Bible.

But they pull out these Luther quips to build their case, like the time I stacked book boxes on empty cardboard boxes to keep the books dry. The basement floor became wet and the foundation crumbled, tumbling the book boxes into the water. Thus Webber and his coven of ignorant, false teachers tumble into the swamp they have constructed for everyone else.

So let us start with Luther since they want to lead with their weakest hand. What was Luther arguing against? Answer - the Roman Catholic dogma of faith requiring works to satisfy God, not that all the works in the world are enough. 

Opposing the papal portrayal of Jesus as an angry, vengeful Judge, Luther repeated the Johannine portrait of Jesus - He has died for all our sins, so trust that He is all forgiveness.

What is sin in the Teaching of Jesus? The Spirit will convict the world of sin - "because they believe not on Me."

Basic Luther
Since everyone claims a quia subscription to the Book of Concord, let's give the Quia Marias a lesson from the Confessions. The Formula of Concord commended Luther's Galatians Lectures for further study of Justification by Faith. Webber mentioned the work but clearly has never read it, and certain has not understood it if he did.

Basic Paul
If St. Paul teaches Justification without Faith, parallel with Justification by Faith, he contradicts himself and Genesis 15.

 This Luther refuted Objective Justification before OJ was belched forth from Huber the Calvinist Lutheran or the Halle Pietists (Lutheran style/Calvinist substance).

Really Basic Biblical Doctrine
What we call Lutheran doctrine is simply what the Scriptures teach. The Holy Spirit works through the Word and only through the Word, so there is no magical poof where everyone in the world is forgiven and saved without faith. When they define their magical poof, they contradict each other, reminding us of how the UOJists hate each other and scrap like junkyard dogs fighting over a wounded rat. Poof! - when Jesus died? when Jesus rose? when the angels announced His birth?

Applying filters for "understanding" the Word - that comes from the Pope and his legion of followers, from Calvin and his confused disciples.

No wonder the graduates of the Concordia Seminaries either run to Rome and the others align with Fuller Seminary. It depends on which dogmatic foundation seems most appealing to the poor, misguided UOJists.

A Word about the UOJ "Diamond" in the Large Catechism - This Is a Good One

Zwingli's diamond was his verse in John 6:63 that the flesh  profits nothing. That was the way he saw it - typical of sectarians, who find a verse and build a systematic theology upon it, a house built on sand.

Book of Concord, Large Catechism, Lord's Prayer

88] Therefore there is here again great need to call upon God and to pray: Dear Father, forgive us our trespasses. Not as though He did not forgive sin without and even before our prayer (for He has given us the Gospel, in which is pure forgiveness before we prayed or ever thought about it). But this is to the intent that we may recognize and accept such forgiveness.

***

GJ - This is the point where the pinheads dance around, grinning like the cat who found the cream, and say, "Here is proof that Luther taught Objective Justification - forgiveness without faith. Here is the the Book of Concord teaching OJ. You are dastardly heretics for denying this great truth!"

But avast, one little thing is overlooked. This is Luther's explanation of prayer, and only those who believe in Christ pray the Lord's Prayer, The Perfect Prayer, as recently published by the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry.

To see this in context, we also need to look at the Small Catechism, which Luther called one of his two books that needed to be kept - the rest could be thrown away. The Lutheran leaders have obeyed Luther too well and thrown them all away, keeping only this sentence in red. (The other book was his Galatians Lectures, but try to find a Lutheran pastor who has read it! The great team of Buchholz and Webber, the Laurel and Hardy of Justification, mentioned Luther' Galatians and ignored its content.)

I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?--Answer.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

GJ - So WELS, for example, sells a gigantic meadow muffin against Justification by Faith and entombs a perfectly wonderful Small Catechism in exactly the opposite teaching. That is the Kuske Catechism, a book by a moron designed for zombies. And yet, this useless trash prepared the way for the New NIV with its invention of UOJ (in a feeble, conflicted way) in Romans 3.

Thus Luther clearly taught forgiveness through faith in Christ, and never even suggested forgiveness or salvation without faith. The person praying "forgive us our sins" is acknowledging the Atonement, not OJ, UOJ, General Justification, or any other manufactured dogma of Calvinism and Pietism. The Atonement means Jesus has not only died for minor sins and those sins we think we can conquer, but also for great and terrible sins.

Laurel and Hardy,
or Abbott and Costello?

Discussions on UOJ - A Long History

Brett Meyer supplied this list of UOJ discussions.

January 2008 Luther Quest UOJ discussion (5 parts)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Luther%20Quest%20UOJ1.pdf

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Luther%20Quest%20UOJ2.pdf

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Luther%20Quest%20UOJ3.pdf

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Luther%20Quest%20UOJ4.pdf

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Luther%20Quest%20UOJ5.pdf

February 2009 Extra Nos – Did Jesus Die For Unbelief

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Extra%20Nos%20-%20Did%20Jesus%20die%20for%20unbelief.pdf

June 2009 - Bailing Water UOJ discussion

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Bailing%20Water%20UOJ%20June%2009.doc

November 2009 Extra Nos – Luther and Calvin

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Extra%20Nos%20-%20Luther%20and%20Calvin.pdf

November 2009 Extra Nos – Faith is Justification

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Extra%20Nos%20-%20Faith%20is%20Justification.pdf

February 2010 Extra Nos - Imputations

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Extra%20Nos%20-%20Imputations.pdf

February 2010 Intrepid Lutherans UOJ discussion

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Intrepid%20Lutheran%20UOJ%20discussion%20Prange%20Boisclair%20Rydecki%20Krohn.docx

March 2010 Extra Nos – Grinding My Axe

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Extra%20Nos%20-%20Grinding%20my%20axe.pdf

April 2010 Extra Nos – Why Faith Gets A Bum Rap

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/Extra%20Nos%20-%20Why%20faith%20gets%20a%20bum%20rap.pdf

February 2012  Brother’s of John the Steadfast UOJ discussion

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/UOJ%20BJS%20Discussion%20Feb%202012.docx

November 2013 Luther Quest UOJ discussion

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99338714/UOJ%20LutherQuest%20November%202013.docx

UOJ and Church Growth work claw-in-claw with each other,
but the "conservative" Lutherans see no evil.
A few are waking up at last.

Report on Ichabod Views - Sad for WELS - Good for the Gospel

This blows apart Jay Webber's UOJ claims,
but he never reads Luther.
Neither does his catechumen, Jon-Boy Buchholz.

A three-day total of page-views for this blog was almost 18,000.

The running 30-day total views is 105,000.

The October total was the highest ever--104,000--even higher than when Schroeder and Englelbrecht arranged the fake-firing of Ski, followed by Glende and staff taking a member to court for attending a parish meeting and speaking the truth.

Glende was practically laughed out of court for attempting a restraining order on his own member while whimpering about a blog in Arkansas. Mine? ROTFL.

And yet people ask, "Where do you get all the funny stuff for your blog?"

I just follow the Fox Valley Circuit of WELS.

The Sin of LCMS District Presidents. UOJ Denies Faith and Bears No Fruit

http://priestlyrant.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/deliberate-choices/#more-900

Now so far this may all sound like esoteric nonsense, but I think it does begin to explain why so many of our men are simply left naked along the road of CRM, and why Synod is reluctant and/or unwilling to help: moral decisions have no spiritual/moral consequences for the man who makes them. A District President for example, can completely ignore a man under his supervision for years-as happens frequently-and still be considered a “man of the Church.” He can justify his ignorance of the man-or have it justified for him, as also frequently happens-thus nullifying any question of moral conduct, by saying “We are all sinners,” or perhaps even more asinine, “I’ve repented.” It seems to me, that the more I deal with the issue of CRM, the more I hear one of those two phrases, so in essence an acquiescence of sin and the cheapening of grace become the “moral” ground for the deliberate choice to ignore a man and his family on CRM.

But how can this be? How can one remain a “man of the Church” or even “confessional” if the ultimate purpose of his life is not to live for the praise of God’s glory? How can a man logically be a “bishop” (as a District President pointed out to me that he was) if his deliberate actions refuse to “reflect the splendor of that [God’s] glory”? I think we need to be clear: mercy is a deliberate act and it is a choice that we make. On a very simple level, if mercy is deliberate, it seems to me that negligence is also deliberate. I’m trying to find a moral or an ethical reason for negligence within a Church to be deliberate, and there doesn’t seem to be one.

As I said above, “sin” has become the default position of the institution of the LCMS whenever it fails miserably, as it has in the case of our wounded. “Repentance” has become little more than a whore whose sole purpose is to make sin more palatable, and both of these positions make an utter and complete mockery out of the scriptural concepts of sin, repentance and grace; the very words in the LSB’s Rite of Individual Confession and Absolution (pp. 292-93) conclude with these words on the part of the penitent: “I am sorry for all of this and ask for grace. I want to do better.” Repentance, if you believe the Parable of the Prodigal Son, by its very nature, implies a complete reversal of course, and so it is never enough to simply say “I’ve repented,” and yet left an action or a situation unresolved. It’s nothing to do with “perfection”; rather it is simply the scriptural outcome of the act of repenting-that is if you believe St. Matthew.

If in fact a tree is known by its fruit, what can be said of the spiritual condition of a man who is in a position to help yet does not? And bear in mind we’re not talking about protecting the “hem of the bride’s garment,” as a Circuit Counselor recently told me, from the profane touch of some man who is on restricted status, status is not even part of this discussion; rather, basic humanity is, the humanity of Genesis 1.26-27,Genesis 4.9, Galatians 5.14, and perhaps Paul’s own warning in 15. You can’t magically separate the realm of District or Synod President, from the realm of mercy; neither do moral considerations simply stop when one assumes office. It seems to me then to be impossible to live for the praise of God’s glory and deliberately allow men and their families to remain on CRM for years. And how could it possibly not be deliberate?

I’m convinced that negligence doesn’t even describe what is going on, and I’m willing to bet that the average District President has no idea the level of grief in the lives of these men and their families that he has deliberately chosen to ignore. I think the best word to describe it is inhumanity. There is not now, nor does it seem it will ever be “time” for these men or their families, and so I’m forced to deliberately work around the very institution that promised its priests that it would be there for them.

***

GJ - Dear CRM Pastors. You do not need the synod - the synod needs you. Simply jump ship, thumb your nose at these criminals, and start your own mission.

Use your home (if allowed) or rent a room. Gather some good hymnals, an altar and font, plus communion ware. A pulpit/lectern is good to have.

Start a Bible study, a worship service, or both. The Word will create a community. Broadcast on Ustream and start a blog. Both will help and provide world-wide broadcasting of the Word, which is clearly described in Mark 4/Matthew 13.

God will provide. Read the Luther sermon for this coming Sunday. 

Luther and John 1:29 - Commentary - Galatians 3:13

Crown of Thorns, by Norma Boeckler
http://www.normaboecklerart.com

KJV Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Galatians Commentary, Kregel edition, p. 163f.

Cliffnotes for UOJ Enthusiasts.

Luther wrote this section against the papalists who denied that Christ was made a curse for us (p. 163).

All the weight of the argument falls on the phrase "for us" (p. 164). If this is denied, that He was made a curse for us, then comfort is taken from the message of the cross.

Luther:
"But we must wrap  Christ, and know Him to be wrapped in our sins, in our malediction, in our death, and in all our evils, as He is wrapped in our flesh and blood.

But some man will say, it is absurd and slanderous to call the Son of God a cursed sinner. I answer, if thou wilt deny Him to be a sinner and accursed, deny also that He was crucified and dead. For it is no less less absurd to say that the Son of God (as our faith confesseth and believeth) was crucified and suffered the pains of sin and death, than to say that He is a sinner and accursed." (p. 165)

St. John called Him "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." John 1:29 (p. 165f)

This verse Luther connects with Isaiah 53:6


KJV Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the
LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The Holy Spirit speaks in the person of Christ in Psalm 40.

KJV Psalm 40:12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon
me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

Luther:
"For this testimony is not the voice of an innocent, but of a suffering Christ, who took upon Him to bear the person of all sinners, and therefore was made guilty of the sins of the whole world." (p. 166)

"And this is a singular consolation for all Christians, so to clothe Christ with our sins, and to wrap Him in my sins, thy sins, and the sins of the whole world, and so to behold Him bearing all our iniquities." (p. 166f.)

At this point Luther expounded on the real meaning of John 1:29, not the absolution of the world of unbelievers.

Luther:
"Now sin being vanquished and death abolished by this one Man, God would see nothing else in the whole world, if it did believe it, but a mere cleansing and righteousness. And if any remnants of sin should remain, yet for the great glory that is in Christ, God would not see them." (p. 168)

The importance of this argument can be seen in the next section.

Luther:
"But now let us see by what means these two things, so contrary and repugnant, may be reconciled in this one person Christ. Not only my sins and thine, but the sins of the whole world, past, present, or to come, take hold upon Him, go about to condemn Him, and do indeed condemn Him. But because in the self-same person, who is the highest, the greatest, and the only sinner, there is also an invincible and everlasting righteousness; therefore these two do encounter together, the highest, the greatest, and the only sin, and the highest, the greatest, and the only righteousness." (p. 168f.)

Luther often portrayed Jesus as the Hero, the great Hercules who battled Satan and won in a ferocious battle, showing that this was indeed the conflict of the ages, throwing all the punishment of sin for all time against the Son of God.

Luther:
"Forasmuch then as Christ reigneth by His grace in the hearts of the faithful, there is no sin, no death, no curse; but where Christ is not known, there all these things do still remain. Therefore all they who believe not, do lack this inestimable benefit and glorious victory. For (as St. John saith), "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4." (p. 170)

Luther is arguing against the papal doctrine of works added to faith, fides formata, faith formed by love. This applies with the same force against Universal Objective Justification, because the UOJ Enthusiasts are the greatest, windiest, most burdensome salesmen of works the world has even seen.

They are always bragging about their great accomplishments--which are few, meager, and subsidized by others. They constantly motivate their foolish disciples with the whip of the Law, telling them that thousands are going to Hell because they have not done enough. And they foam at the mouth against justification by faith, because it robs them of their self-glory, self-esteem, and self-centeredness.

Luther:
"Let us receive this most sweet doctrine, so full of comfort, with thanksgiving, and with an assured faith, which teacheth that Christ being made a curse for us, (that is a sinner under the wrath of God), did put upon Himself our person, and laid our sins upon His own shoulders, saying, "I have committed the sins which all men have committed." Therefore He was made a curse indeed according to the law, not for Himself, but, as Paul saith, for us." (p. 171)

What does this say about Walther, Pieper, and the Synodical Conference? They are blatantly anti-Luther, anti-Gospel, and false teachers.

They constantly cite Romans 4:25 for UOJ (but never Romans 4:24). They chant John 1:29 to teach the opposite of the Evangelist's message. They call justification by faith "Calvinism," while they are enrolling themselves at Fuller Seminary, Gordon Conwell, Trinity Divinity, and the gay activist Drive Conferences.

Is that Paul Calvin Kelm driving the hay wagon?
Why yes it is.
WELS has really beaten him savagely for his published false doctrine
and public embrace of false teachers.
Synod President Mark Schroeder has kept Kelm employed at one synodical job after another.
"We're getting more Confessional."
More to confess, but not more Confessional.

---

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Luther and John 1:29 - Commentary - Galatians 3:13...":

Ichabod -

I quote Luther from your blog posting:

>>>>> Luther:
"Forasmuch then as Christ reigneth by His grace in the hearts of the faithful, there is no sin, no death, no curse; but where Christ is not known, there all these things do still remain. Therefore all they who believe not, do lack this inestimable benefit and glorious victory. For (as St. John saith), "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4." (p. 170) <<<<<<

I see the LCMS and the WELS wrapping their denominations in their ragged security blanket foundation of the inferior translation and understanding of John 1:29. I just heard that erroneous understanding manifested yesterday when taking my grandson home from Bethel Lutheran School. He sang a song he learned at school with the wording that Jesus "takes my sins away," - not the song wording rendering the correct translation which says that Christ bare the sins of the whole world.

Then, just recently, I saw an online comment from an adult individual which stated:

"I am perfect on the level of Christ himself through imputed righteousness (Rom 4)" [His words]

To that, I responded:

"You sound like an acquaintance of mine who expresses what you do by saying he has "sovereign immunity." And, then, he goes as far to conclude that he "can't sin" since he is so imbedded in the imputed righteousness of Christ. So, goes his understanding......." [My words]

I've stated before here on Ichabod and in one of my most recent topical messages how the youth are indoctrinated in universal objective justification. Lutheran schools lack Scripture's teaching of justification by faith alone. This (aforementioned) adult (I presume) is (sadly and pathetically) just another Universalist product of the same schooling.

I leave this comment with a three informational links, to support aforementioned comment thoughts:

"Pastor Nathan Bickel on UOJ in WELS. Aaron Frey Still Preaching in WELS. How Far Will He Go?”
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/pastor-nathan-bickel-on-uoj-in-wels.html

Part 1: The false teaching which molests the faith of Christians
http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/09/part-1-false-teaching-which-molests.html

Part 2: How does the false teaching of universal objective justification molest Christians’ faith?
http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/09/part-2-how-does-false-teaching-of.html

Pastor emeritus Nathan M. Bickel
Bay City, MI - Bethel Lutheran / WELS

www.thechrisianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org

Daryl Meyer Runs Up the Price of Used Luther Galatians Commentaries With This Endorsement. How Many SynCon Leaders Will Do the Same?

You are not allowed to question the District Pope
or Holy Mother Synod
or Fuller Seminary
or Groeschel plagiarists.

Daryl Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Luther's Galatians Commentary Catching On":

Unfortunately, it'll never catch on in the WEL(sic)S. No pictures. My Kregel hardcover arrived on Friday, and two boxes of pencils later, I'm going to have to find another one just to be able to read it again. Words like "treasure chest" and "powerhouse" come to mind but are hopelessly inadequate. I paid a little more than the 97 cents (!) you forked over for your Romans commentary, but, it was in absolutely pristine condition until I started marking it up. The pages were crisp, the binding tight, it could not possibly have been opened once in all its 30 years. Must have looked out of place on some DiP's shelf amongst the coloring and comic books. While a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse will find a pdf of Graebner's edition freely available, there's still something to be said for holding the actual book in one hand and a good, sharp, no. 2 pencil in the other.

***

GJ - The Graebner version is shorter, but full of great insights.

I have 50 graphics from the Kregel edition and I am only in Chapter Three.

Jeff Gunn - Church and Changer - welcomed by DP Jon Buchholz, after four years of so-called study.
Paul Rydecki - suspended by DP Buchholz, after four months of non-study.

Links about Justification by Faith 

and Justification without Faith (UOJ)

Pastor Rydecki's blog

Luther's Galatians endorsed by reader

Luther's Galatians on Gnesio Lutherans

Roman Catholic adjunct Jack Kilcrease as Humpty Dumpty

Calov, quoted by Robert Preus, repudiated the UOJ position of WELS

Kilcrease, the McCain tutor, equivocates.

Buchholz is anti-Luther

Pastor Bickel on Tossing Rydecki Under the Bus

Church and Changer Jeff Gunn and His Mequon Class of Shrinkers

Paul McCain and Jon Buchholz - Bedfellows of Apostasy

Abraham Is the Common Theme in Justification - Justification by Faith

Pastor Rydecki's Account of His Suspension - October 9th

Intrepid Account October 6th- Pastor Rydecki Suspended

LutherQuest (sic) Opposes Justification by Faith

Warming Up the Tar and Feathers on LutherQuest (sic)

Pastor Bickel Answers Jon Buchholz

Kokomo Statements - WELS UOJ - JP Meyer

Jack Kilcrease Showing Signs of Stress

Dr. Lito Cruz and Brett Meyer Dispatch the UOJ Stormtroopers on Extra Nos

When People Read Half of a Sentence And Overturn the Confessions in the Name of the Gospel

Louis Benoit (Louis) Intermediate Member Username: Louis Post Number: 291 Registered: 12-2010

Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - 10:17 am:       “Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” This is how Romans 4:25 reads. Why was Jesus delivered up? Because of our offenses, that’s why. Why was Jesus raised? Because of our justification, that’s why. What does this mean? Our sins are the reason he died. His death did not cause our sins. Our sins caused his death. Just so, our justification is the reason he rose. His resurrection did not cause our justification. Our justification caused his resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is our absolution. It is God's public public announcement that when Jesus died because of our sins he took those sins away. Had he not taken those sins away we would not have been justified. Had we not been justified he would have stayed dead. But he was raised from the dead. Why? Because he succeeded in taking away our sins, that is, because we were justified. This is the clear meaning of Romans 4:25, Brett. The reason you and Christian Schulz and Daniel Baker reject objective justification is because you reject the Bible. You are Gospel-doubters because you are Bible-doubters and you are Bible-doubters because you are Gospel-doubters.

Brett Meyer (Brett_meyer) Member Username: Brett_meyer Post Number: 75 Registered: 1-2008

Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - 3:51 pm:       Louis I disagree. In fact, the Christian Book of Concord disagrees here: 10] These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. 11] This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the father, and are eternally saved. 12] Therefore it is considered and understood to be the same thing when Paul says that we are justified by faith, Rom. 3, 28, or that faith is counted to us for righteousness, Rom. 4, 5, and when he says that we are made righteous by the obedience of One, Rom. 5, 19, or that by the righteousness of One justification of faith came to all men, Rom. 5, 18. 13] For faith justifies, not for this cause and reason that it is so good a work and so fair a virtue, but because it lays hold of and accepts the merit of Christ in the promise of the holy Gospel; for this must be applied and appropriated to us by faith, if we are to be justified thereby. 14] Therefore the righteousness which is imputed to faith or to the believer out of pure grace is the obedience, suffering, and resurrection of Christ, since He has made satisfaction for us to the Law, and paid for [expiated] our sins. 15] For since Christ is not man alone, but God and man in one undivided person, He was as little subject to the Law, because He is the Lord of the Law, as He had to suffer and die as far as His person is concerned. For this reason, then, His obedience, not only in suffering and dying, but also in this, that He in our stead was voluntarily made under the Law, and fulfilled it by this obedience, is imputed to us for righteousness, so that, on account of this complete obedience, which He rendered His heavenly Father for us, by doing and suffering, in living and dying, God forgives our sins, regards us as godly and righteous, and eternally saves us. 16] This righteousness is offered us by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and is applied, appropriated, and received through faith, whence believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God sonship, and heirship of eternal life. 17] Accordingly, the word justify here means to declare righteous and free from sins, and to absolve one from eternal punishment for the sake of Christ's righteousness, which is imputed by God to faith, Phil. 3, 9. For this use and understanding of this word is common in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. Prov. 17, 15: He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. Is. 5, 23: Woe unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Rom. 8, 33: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, that is, absolves from sins and acquits. http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php The doctrine of Objective Justification makes a mockery of Christ's atonement when it teaches the whole world was declared righteous and absolved of all sin yet it is insufficient since most are condemned to Hell for eternity because they didn't believe they were absolved and declared righteous. Didn't Christ die to pay for the universal sin of unbelief also? And wasn't that sin absolved in everyone when the others were?

Readers Respond to Pastor Rydecki's Suspension for Teaching Justification by Faith

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

Martin Luther talked about these last days and the persecution of Christ's Church by those who war against the Triune God in his excellent Commentary on Galatians.

12. As before said, they regard faith of slight importance; for they do not understand that it is our sole justifier. To accept as true the record of Christ--this they call faith. The devils have the same sort of faith, but it does not make them godly. Such belief is not Christian faith; no, it is rather deception.

15. ...You see how they make faith of no value to themselves, and so must regard as heresy all doctrine based upon it. Thus they do away with the whole Gospel. These are they who deny the Christian faith and exterminate it from the world. Paul prophesied concerning them when he said (1 Tim 4, 1): "In later times some shall fall away from the faith." The voice of faith is now silenced all over the world. Indeed, faith is condemned and banished as the worst heresy, and all who teach and endorse it are condemned with it. The Pope, the bishops, charitable institutions, cloisters, high schools, unanimously opposed it for nearly four hundred years, and simply drove the world violently into hell. Their conduct is the real persecution by Antichrist, in the last times. 22. Now, the Cain-like saints have not, as they themselves confess, the Christian faith which would assure them of being the children of God.

http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/MLSermons/Galatians4_1_7.html

DP Pastor Jon Buchholz and those who teach, promote and defend the false gospel of Objective Justification while anathematizing one Justification solely By Faith Alone are spoken of in Matthew 24:
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Isa 19:2 Mark 13:8 Luke 21:10

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.


May the everlasting grace, peace and mercy of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve Pastor Rydecki and his family and the individuals who by God's will risk their lives for Christ's chief and central doctrine.

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Walther Is the Template for SynCons: Pietist, Enab...":

God's Word brings the cross, but also comfort. The comfort makes the cross more bearable. The Lutheran Hymnal has many fine hymns in that section. Luther was willing to face death rather than recant JBFA. Being a politician means that you are willing to trust in your own conniving and backstabbing to get ahead. It may also mean that your heart has been hardened to the point where you have no conscience.

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

Pastor Paul Rydecki has behaved and presented himself admirably. He has spoken with Scriptural clarity.

On the other hand, his betrayer is the confused. Those who confuse the grace of God upon the sinner and God the Holy Spirit’s activity of bringing the sinner to saving faith, would, and do eliminate the Holy Spirit, personal faith and belief. That, confusion DP Buchholz illustrates in his sweeping edict action against one of [now former] WELS most gifted pastors. Shame on Buchholz! He and other head cheese ecclesiastical higher-ups are the WELS blind leaders who molest Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Christus and Sola Scriptura!

It is very clear that certain WELS leaders are digging their own graves of unbelief. Those in this leadership, along with DP Buchholz, have acted foolishly against Pastor Rydecki. They are not worthy to be called Lutheran Christians. They have demonstrated by this one cowardly action that they deny the central teaching of Scripture and have eschewed the Lutheran Confessions. Luther would have nothing but invectives for them.

Ichabod:

Can't you secure another pic of Buchholz? You should replace that pic with one which shows him side by side with Judas Iscariot.

Pastor emeritus Nathan M. Bickel
Bay City, Michigan
Bethel Lutheran – WELS – and, ashamed of it……

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

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raklatt (http://raklatt.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

WELS Officialdom has now lost all credibility. It is clear publicly that WELS does not teach the Gospel and therefore is neither Evangelical nor Lutheran. Laymen who realize that, arise. Support the faithful pastors. Where there is false teaching it is time to return to Lutheran Doctrine. Make it happen. And vote NO for the new NIV.