A Reader from Out East Comments on LutherQuest (sic). He Outshines the Lutheran Seminary Faculties

 The UOJ Stormtroopers read very little, and do not comprehend what they have read.

From a Reader Out East:

If I might take a moment to comment on the goings-on at Luther Quest.

I find their posts against you and the Lutheran doctrine of “justification by faith alone” to be unseemly, especially coming from members of the clergy and from laymen who present themselves as stalwart Lutherans. As you've noted, the Missouri and Wisconsin synods adopted the peculiar doctrine of “universal justification without regard to faith” and elevated it to a status where it supersedes the Bible and the Lutheran symbolic documents. The Luther Quest posters declare “Let him be anathema” to anyone who doesn't subscribe to their position. It appears that they don't see the irony of a group of Lutherans pronouncing an “anathema” (the action taken by the Council of Trent against Martin Luther) against other Lutherans who don't accept their non-scriptural doctrine.

Their behavior reminds me of discussions I've had with Roman Catholics concerning beliefs they hold that are not based in the Bible. For example, when I would note that “purgatory” is not found in the Bible, a Roman Catholic would refer me to a Bible verse that vaguely mentions judgment or fire. When I reply that the verse doesn't say what he claims it says and furthermore he is taking the verse out of context, the Roman Catholic falls back and tells me that I first must read the collected works of St John of the Cross, and then I will see that the vague, out of context verse really does confirm the existence of purgatory.

Those who profess “universal justification without regard to faith” work the same way. One may point out that the Bible teaches “justification by faith alone”. They respond by presenting Bible verses they claim support their position. When one points out that the verses don't say what they claim they say, or they took the verses out of context, or mis-translated them, they fall back and say that one must first read the collected works of Franz Pieper and C.F.W. Walther, and then one will understand that the verses really do confirm “universal justification without regard to faith”.

  

I don't accept this method of scriptural interpretation. Men inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible in clear, straight-forward prose. The Bible is its own dictionary, any unclear (to our understanding) passages should be interpreted in light of clear passages. We should not subject the Bible to private interpretation. We should not create theories out of whole cloth regarding what we think the Bible says, or what we think it ought to say.

  

It has been claimed that Martin Luther believed ''universal justification without regard to faith”. As far as this use of Luther is concerned, I find it objectionable that people would resort to twisting Luther's words to support their doctrine. Dr Luther was straight-forward in his communications. If he believed that all people were “justified without regard to faith”, then he certainly would have said so, in just so many words.

Thanks for all you do.

Did the LCMS Even Look at These Passages When Promoting Bishop Stephan's Objective Justification as Luther's?

Bishop Stephan learned Objective Justification at Halle University, teaching it to the Walther circle of pastors and teachers, who were also Pietists.
Contrast the Biblical passages below with the recent
deposit of unfaith by the Missouri Synod.

Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 3:22 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:

Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the Word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Romans 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him [Abraham] for righteousness.

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.

Romans 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.

Hebrews 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Paul Defeats UOJ in the Introduction to Romans

 By Norma A. Boeckler

Romans 1 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. KJV

16 ου γαρ επαισχυνομαι το ευαγγελιον του χριστου δυναμις γαρ θεου εστιν εις σωτηριαν παντι τω πιστευοντι ιουδαιω τε πρωτον και ελληνι

17 δικαιοσυνη γαρ θεου εν αυτω αποκαλυπτεται εκ πιστεως εις πιστιν καθως γεγραπται ο δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως ζησεται

Last night we worked on Romans 1 in Greek.

One point I made was that the Christian Church does - or should not - declare doctrine based on a few words, or a partial verse, or even a favorite verse by itself.

The Bible teaches one doctrine, not many doctrines, so there are no bargaining chips. The Scriptures are the Book of Holy Spirit, one Truth revealed by God.

One of the old rules is often stated in seminary class but seldom observed - Scripture interprets Scripture. If we have trouble with the meaning of a passage, the "bright" passages illuminate the "dark" ones. The Word is quite plain, but given our era, our inclinations, our traditions, some passage may seem dark to us until compared to one more helpful. 

I am convinced that many passages called "hard sayings" are especially clear and easy to teach once they are explained properly from the Word of God.

Universal Objective Justification - or just plain Objective Justification - is taught as "God declaring the entire world forgiven and saved" - based on Paul's teaching. Romans 1 is a good example of that dogma being exploded in advance, as the Gospel of John does many times over.

Do the sleeping sheep wonder why the "conservative" Lutherans celebrated the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation without saying Justification by Faith Alone? Instead, they slighted Luther as much as possible while selling Luther trinkets and gee-gaws.

Paul clearly teaches that the Gospel of Christ is the efficacious power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

If we look at word order in the original text, which is often an indication of emphasis -

• Gospel of Christ
• Power of God
• For salvation
• Everyone who believes.

  By Norma A. Boeckler

That is why the current crop of crypto-Calvinists - neo-rationalists all - fuss around with if/then statements and all their little slogans that fill their little minds. They have completely given up the efficacy of the Word and no longer trust the Gospel to do the work of the Holy Spirit, so they turn to gimmicks, cheesy music, and the latest trends sold by the Fulleroids (a Fuller student who is a pain).

Paul teaches that the Gospel belongs to Christ and is the unique power of God that grants salvation to those who believe, Jew and Greek alike.

  By Norma A. Boeckler

Verse 17 is somewhat mysterious to those who lack a KJV or the Greek text of Romans. We are justified by the faith of Jesus. 

Romans 3 22 δικαιοσυνη δε θεου δια πιστεως ιησου χριστου εις παντας και επι παντας τους πιστευοντας ου γαρ εστιν διαστολη - Stephanus edition

But the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all and upon all those believe, for there is no difference - Jackson Literal

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: KJV

Did Jesus not have faith? We should not overlook His human nature. We say He grew thirsty, hungry, angry, and amused - that He suffered and died. Did He not have faith in God the Father, that what was commanded and taught by the Father must be carried out and taught by Jesus?

The moderns are influenced by the spirit of Calvin, so they make up a grammatical rule and say, "According to our rule, that must be faith IN Jesus." A genitive (of Jesus) is a genitive. There is no way to determine if Paul meant an objective or subjective genitive, a category we apply after the fact. I did not know - until being at Mordor in Mequon - that defining a genitive could answer a doctrinal question. 

So I think this verse is best answered by saying the righteousness of God is first revealed in the faith of Jesus and then creates faith in us (the Faith of Jesus Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes).

The entire Bible is about faith, not unfaith. If we want to discover salvation without faith, we have to start with Calvin's election without faith, which sounds strangely like Walther's election without faith. 

And holy moly (a Greek herb, by the way) - Samuel Huber, a Calvinist in Lutheran clothing, taught Objective Justification at Wittenberg until Polycarp (fruitful) Leyser and Hunnius crushed him like a bug.

 Someone can kidnap three people, steal land and gold and books after organizing a riot, and still be called The Great...? Only in the LCMS.