Revisiting the Slovenly UOJ Essay from the Michigan District - 2013

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2013/06/that-slovenly-uoj-essay-from-michigan.html

First of all, the endless Keller UOJ essay suffered from far too many format tricks, especially the use of bold, reminding me of those websites that sell miracle cures or warn of the pending apocalypse if I do not invest in property in New Zealand.

Second, Keller showed no grasp of Biblical theology or basic Lutheran doctrine. For instance, he constantly merged the atonement of Christ with justification by faith while trying to claim this hybrid of liberal Protestantism was identical to Lutheran orthodoxy. For 51 pages he dragged us through his constant discoveries of allies for his argument, sounding as excited and uninformed as Larry Olson finding a new Church Growth Principle.

Third, he is another bad example of the WELS cult educational system. Although Keller can spell, he has no sense of critical thinking and cannot develop a coherent thesis.

This line of thinking was prominent at Halle University, center of Pietism,
where Walther's syphilitic mentor and bishop, Martin Stephan, studied.

A key strategy in a good argument is the ability to treat the other side fairly, to avoid such logical fallacies as special pleading (only one side of the case) and the straw man (setting up a false picture of the opposite viw and heroically knocking it down).

Keller seems to be debating Pastor Paul Rydecki, whose justification by faith essay is equally long but a model of research, clarity, and fairness. But he did not mention DP Jon Buchholz extending the Left Foot of Fellowship to Pastor Rydecki while telling the congregation that they would all continue to study the issue.

Why discuss the facts about this incident, that has so many riled up? A cult pretends it never happened, just the way Wayne Mueller pretends there is no Church Growth Movement in WELS.

Keller may be thinking of my publications, too, but he never mentions any or quotes any. This tactic is used among the UOJ troops to pretend they are the sole guardians of Lutheran orthodoxy, which we might forget if they did not mention it so often.

Keller only argued UOJ and revealed his thin research--if it can be called research--by making his case with the SynCons while ignoring anything contrary to his absurd claims. He cited Robert Preus but ignored that blasphemous quote that began the essay, the Edward Preus pratfall that gives away the essence of UOJ. I have posted it below.

Paul McCain loves this essay, too.
World absolution unites all the apostates.

Keller also ignored Preus' last book and the many quotations against UOJ in that book - Justification and Rome. In fact, Preus quoted the very men who have been falsely used to promote UOJ, and showed how their thought was not remotely connected with the fundamental error of :Pietism - universal forgiveness and salvation.

The vast majority of quotations are from the SynCons, who got it from Walther and Pietism. The rest reveal a misunderstanding of atonement and justification by faith. Keller merges the two and cannot even see this when he quotes a perfectly good passage about atonement and justification.

The Bible only uses justification in the sense of justification by faith. There is no forgiveness and no salvation without faith.

Is this an important book?
The Book of Concord recommends it for studying
justification by faith.

Luther made the same point hundreds of times.

Lenski, who is also abused by Keller (even though WELS hates Lenski), also said that justification in the Bible is always connected with faith.

WELS pastors always put down Lenski as "not good on justification," so why did Keller decide to use the ALC professor as his expert?

As I told several people today, WELS is scared that people will begin reading and comparing, connecting the decades of abuse with the lack of the Gospel in the denomination.

If Keller wanted to avoid embarrassment, he made a mistake in quoting Wayne Mueller, one of the architects of the Church Growth surrender in WELS. One does not simply quote Wayne and claim that the sect is confessional!

Or Deutschlander. He was a good German professor, but he should retract assertions like this one:

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "That Slovenly UOJ Essay from Michigan District WEL...":

When I tried to start reading the Keller essay, I got an immediate case of cognitive dissonance. The same thing happened to me when a used car salesman started pressuring me to close the deal after I expressed my doubts to do so. I thought that the structure of the essay seemed rather jumpy. It looks like the UOJ proponents are making an alleged academic attempt to support their position. It is a key point to expose the fact that cults typically avoid that which makes them uncomfortable. By the time that they are ready to face it, they are still unprepared. The character attacks against those who repudiate UOJ have already happened. The next step for the UOJ proponents has been the the feeble argument.

Beware the Magisterial Use of Reason, Which Grasps the Wrong End of the Torch

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Kilcrease Uses Classic Romanism To Promote UOJ":

Any arguments that are not Scripture-based are bound to engage in the magisterial use of reason. Amateur philosophers and rationalists like to be masters of the conversation stopping cliche. They like to have their "gotcha moment" where you are caught off guard.

***

GJ - Luther--remember him from last year's Reformation service?--was well trained in the law and Medieval philosophy. He could use philosophical arguments, and he did so when countering Medieval philosophy. However, he always relied on the Word of God as judge of all books and all human reason.

When the leaders of this generation grabbed the torch from the previous one, they tried to prove true Lutheranism was passed to them. But they grabbed the wrong end. Biblical, Means of Grace doctrine was present in the Synodical Conference, but the radicals chose to avoid that for UOJ. They took the worst from their precious Brief Statement of 1932, because it served their purposes. Lutheran doctrine got in the way of unionism, social activism, and Enthusiasm - all isms, in fact.

Holy Spirit or Catholic Philosophy?
I have been astounded by the number of times one post has been used in the last few months. It is already the second most popular in the last two years, with 6715 page-views..

Rev. A. Nony Mouse Hates These Sayings. But Loves ... Oct 3, 2007	9593
The Holy Spirit Teaches Man Better Than Books May 23, 2012	6715

"The Holy Spirit teaches man better than all the books; He teaches him to understand the Scriptures better than he can understand them from the teaching of any other; and of his own accord he does everything God wills he should, so the Law dare make no demands upon him."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 280. Pentecost Sunday John 14:23-31.   

Therefore, Luther was opposed to letting Aristotle control the categories of discussion about the Christian faith.

One can substitute the "Word of God" for the "Holy Spirit" in the above quotation, because the Spirit and the Word always work together. The Word is clear, easy to understand, and powerful in its effect, always accomplishing God's purpose and always prospering in that effect.

The SynCons are rattled and angry because many people are using the Word of God to defeat their obnoxious teaching and junkyard behavior. The UOJ Enthusiasts want to draw the debate back into their invented categories, dazzling everyone with their ability to prance around their own contradictions. They imagine sarcasm is wit, that verbal abuse is exegesis. 

Magisterial versus Ministerial Use of Reason

No one is inherently superior in any discussion, because the Word of God is the ruling norm.

As Dr. Lito Cruz observed, from his experience in philosophy, logic, and Roman Catholicism, anyone can use philosophy to claim anything. Randall Schultz pointed out, above, that the philosophical gambit is a clear sign that the writer has abandoned the Word of God as the norm.

The ministerial use of reason places man's ability to understand and argue in the service of the Word, rather than judging the Word. Reason is not the master (magister) but the servant (minister) of the Scriptures.

UOJ Enthusiasts say, "We teach justification by faith better, because the Gospel rests upon justification without faith. You must use our newly invented categories to be one with us."

Does Paul McCain Read CPH Books? Especially Those with His Name on Them?

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Bedfellows of Apostasy - Paul McCain, FB Friends w...":

Paul Rydecki comments on Facebook, referring to McCain:

I'm trying to figure out at what point it became anathema in the Lutheran Church to teach justification according to Augsburg Confession, Art. IV. I'll even quote from the McCain translation:

"Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5])."

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. 2005 (P. T. McCain, Ed.) (33). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

Justified when? "When they believe..." Received into favor when? Present tense. Sins are forgiven why? For Christ's sake. Sins are forgiven when? Present tense. Christ made satisfaction when? On the cross (past tense).

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GJ -

UOJ was not the ruling norm on justification until after the Brief Confession of 1932. That could not have been with the German catechism and the Luther materials used before that time. But WWI made the German language something to be shunned.

The Walther claque slowly took over via Francis Pieper and Stoeckhardt. The bad yeast slowly permeated the Synodical Conference. Finally it became acceptable to drive someone out in the name of UOJ, as the Preus brothers did with Walther A. Maier, denying him the presidency of the practical seminary. Robert Preus was the beneficiary of that controversy.

WELS had its show-trial with Kokomo, driving two families out in the name of universal forgiveness without faith.

The literature shows that both sects were teaching justification by faith in their own catechisms, but that is now so buried that McCain can rave against justification by faith while selling a catechism that is only justification by faith.

The Robert Preus Fan Club cannot bring themselves to address the obvious repudiation of UOJ in Justification and Rome.

DP Jon Buchholz wrote to me, four years ago, 8-27-2008:

You mentioned the concern that confessional guys get nailed and ousted, while enthusiasts don’t. I share that concern, but there’s also a reason why that happens: Enthusiasts don’t confess. Pinning them down is like trying to nail Jell-o to a wall. Their sins are sins of glaring omission in matters of doctrinal truth, not often glaring sins of commission that can easily be identified, confronted and disciplined. They often say one thing (in lip-service) but do another. When their outrageous, aberrant statements are challenged, they reply, “Well, what I meant was . . . “ and then recouch their view in orthodox Lutheran terminology. And since we’re operating in a legalistic environment of literalistic Biblicism where “only chapter and verse matter,” the problem is doubly compounded. Believe me, it’s a very challenging and vexing problem.

Go back again and read Bente’s history of the crypto-Calvinist controversy, and you’ll see similar challenges that were very difficult to confront in that day. In fact, had not the cryptos slipped up and tipped their hand as to their real agenda, I sometimes wonder whether the gnesio-Lutherans would have prevailed as they did. (I’m talking here specifically about enthusiast pastors who are difficult to discipline in congregations, not published authors who have flagrantly revealed their doctrine and haven’t been disciplined. That’s a different, albeit related, problem).

[end of Buchie quote]

Buchholz was wrong in claiming that Enthusiasts don't confess. They never stop yakking. He is a prime example, extolling his personal version of UOJ at every stop. He admitted in his email that he is "not apt to teach" and unqualified to be a pastor. Neither is he discerning. I doubt that he ever read Thy Strong Word, although he is the one who wanted to discuss justification with me. I have an entire chapter on Zwingli and Calvin, quoting Bente of all people. But how would he know, even though Brett Meyer gave him a free copy to study.

I found it quite amusing that he told me to study Bente on the crypto-Calvinists. An NPH book book noted that in WELS the Calvinists were no longer crypto. Once again, Buchholz is the prime example of that, marketing his UOJ paper as the last word in Lutheran Orthodoxy when he does not even grasp justification and cannot be called a Lutheran - not even a mild Lutheran.

The previous inept DP out in the West was Jahnke, who was famous for yanking pastors from the ministry, although that man was less savage, heavy-handed, and overbearing than Buchholz. One Lutheran observer said Buchie was already trying on his jackboots as a tutor, insisting that he be called Tutor Buchholz at all times. The Changers in WELS (Lawrenz, Olson) are very fussy about their names.

SP Mark Schroeder and DP Jon Buchholz have both shown their willingness to come down hard on the side of false doctrine and practice, as public absolvers of immoral church workers and private opponents of the truth.

Has any Church and Changer be disciplined in WELS? Ever?
Image courtesy of Joe Krohn.

WELS DP Jon Buchholz Does Not Know His Catechism, or Luther, or the Book of Concord

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/04/luthers-sermons-matthew-91-8-nineteenth.html

Luther - Trinity 19, Second Sermon:
12. For this reason the greatest skill and intelligence is needed to grasp and understand this righteousness, and in our hearts and before God rightly to distinguish it from the above mentioned outward righteousness. For this is, as has been said, the skill and the wisdom of the Christian, but it is so high and great that even all the beloved Apostles could not speak enough of it; and yet it meets the painful misfortune that no art is mastered as soon as this.

There is no greater theme for a preacher than the grace of God and the forgiveness of sin, yet we are such wicked people, that, when we have once heard or read it, we think we know it, are immediately masters and doctors, keep looking for something greater, as though we had done everything, and thus we made new factions and division.

13. I have now been teaching and studying this subject with all diligence for many years (more than any one of those who imagine they know it all), in preaching, writing and reading, yet I cannot boast of having mastered it and am glad that I still remain a pupil with those who are just beginning to learn. For this reason I must admonish and warn all such as want to be Christians, both teachers and pupils, that they guard themselves against such shameful delusion and surfeit, and understand that this subject is most difficult and the greatest art that can be found upon earth; so that even Paul had to confess and say ( 2 Corinthians 9:15) that it is an unspeakable gift, that is, one which cannot be described among men with words so that they may regard it as highly and dearly as it really is in itself.

14. The reason for this is, that man’s understanding cannot get beyond this external piety of works, and cannot comprehend the righteousness of faith; but, the greater and more skillful this understanding is, the more it confines itself to works and rests upon them. It is not possible for man in times of temptation and distress, when his conscience smites him, to cease from groping around for works on which to stand and rest. 

***

GJ - DP Jon Buchholz contacted me in Phoenix and wanted to have lunch with me. That was four years ago. He wanted to talk to me about his version of justification. He obviously considered himself quite an expert, because he interrupted me when I started to object to the errors of WELS. He used that "I know better than you" attitude so common and so inappropriate in WELS. By that I mean - they are trained to be full of themselves and talk down to everyone. The less they know, the more boastful they are.

Since Buchholz actually mentioned the Means of Grace, I told him he was getting there. He went back to his office and wrote to Brett Meyer that I agreed with him, Buchholz, and disagreed with Brett. Brett had found my blog earlier, based on my writings against Church Growth and UOJ. Not only were Brett and I in complete agreement, but he has been a constant source of additional learning for me. Brett forwarded the Buchholz email to me.

I was not impressed with Buchholz' tactics. We met either three or four times. Pastor Steve Spencer asked me to give SP Mark Schroeder and DP Jon Buchholz a chance, so I did. One thing I tried to do, since I loathe the Church Growth Movement as a prostitution of the Gospel, was bear down on the Jeff Gunn situation.

Buchholz response to Gunn was, "I am concerned about hundreds of souls." He had to move slowly. Very slowly. In fact, he had two studies going at the same time. Buchholz was supposedly against the sheep-stealing, Rick Warren copying operation of Gunn. At one point local Phoenix funding for Gunn was cut way back and Gunn went looking for work at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

I was told that SP Schroeder asked WLC not to hire Gunn as a second chaplain. They hired Paul Calvin Kelm instead! Gunn was voted onto the WLC board, which listed three people from his congregation on the board of the college. At that point the congregation was not approved as a member of WELS, but three (3) members were from CrossWalk. The three were the new president, Jeff Gunn, and another board member. I could see that Jon Buchholz was really gung-ho against Church Growth! Schroeder, too! After four years of study, DP Buchholz welcomed Gunn's congregation into WELS. Various observers told me it was a real love-fest. They were disgusted. The fix was in, from the start. 

The report was typical Diaprax - process. Let everyone bellyache about Gunn and list all their concerns, and then vote the heretics in, while criticizing the critics. That is what Buchholz did. He responded to the Gunn critics, which he had once pretended to be - "He has repented. Have you?" Haha. Barrel of laughs, that DP.

Meanwhile, Gunn was also a speaker for Mark Jeske's youth shindig, and Buchholz promoted it in his own congregation.

Besides, Buchholz was critical of Rick Johnson and other Church and Changers. He said the problem was with the Boomer DPs. That was the great drama set forth by Schroeder and Buchholz - they were going to battle against the Church and Changers and purify the sect. Schroeder even claimed in his report that WELS was getting "more confessional." The only thing I have seen since the neo-Reformers have assumed office is a massive promotion and protection of the Changers and their false doctrine.

It is difficult to judge one situation over a short time, but when all of the actions point toward support of blatant false doctrine and funding of false doctrine, no criticism is too harsh or too hasty.

I do not recall Buchholz ordering Rick Johnson to recant for his promotion of Leonard Sweet. Instead, Pastor Rick got a sweet grant of WELS offering money to pursue his emergent church day-dreams. Likewise, Kelm never recanted to sponsorship of a Leonard Sweet retreat for WELS, and he was never out of work for more than five minutes.

Everywhere I look in Lutherdom, truth is on the scaffold, error on the throne. Yet Lutherans are supposed to spend millions to fund the excessive salaries of these apostate leaders and put their congregations in the prone position for the ministrations of Thrivent and its Planned Giving Counselors (insurance salesmen earning a commission).

Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended for Teaching Justification by Faith

Suspended WELS Pastor Paul Rydecki, former Circuit Pastor, above.
WELS Circuit Pastor Steve Spencer, below.
The photo is from the Intrepid Lutherans conference.

The Intrepid Lutherans wrote -
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/intrepid-lutherans-intrepid-to-last-rev.html

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012

Suspended from the WELS - Why? - By Pastor Paul Rydecki

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Intrepid Lutherans:

(The views expressed below are the views of the writer and not necessarily the views of the other editors or subscribers to Intrepid Lutherans.)

On June 2^nd, I presented a paper at our Intrepid Lutherans conference entitled, “Do We Want to Be Dresden Lutherans?”  In other words, are we thoroughly committed to the doctrine and practice confessed in the Book of Concord, published in Dresden in 1580?  This was the concluding paragraph of that paper:

I would like to know who is and who isn’t committed to walking in the same direction with me, and with whom I should walk, arm in arm with the Dresden Lutherans, not by force or for convenience’ sake, but by conviction and for the sake of the truth. I want it to be the WELS with whom I walk along that road.  Do we want to be Dresden Lutherans?  As for me, I am WELS for now; Dresden Lutheran forever. So help me God.

It turns out that “WELS for now” was a foreshadowing of what was to come exactly four months later on October 2^nd.  As of that date, due mainly to one paragraph in the Dresden Lutherans paper, I am “WELS no longer.”

The dreaded Dresden paragraph:

If we want to be Dresden Lutherans, then we will teach justification by faith alone as the chief article of the Christian faith.  The justification of the poor sinner before God is presented explicitly and quite exhaustively in the Lutheran Confessions (and by other 16th Century Lutheran theologians) as including four key components, without any of which the poor sinner is not, in any effective sense, justified before God: 1) the grace of God, 2) the merit of Christ, 3) the means of grace, and 4) faith in Christ. The Confessions do not speak of an effective  sense in which all sinners have already been justified before God whether they believe in Christ or not, nor do I believe the Scriptures to teach such a thing, yet such is commonly heralded among Lutherans today as the “central teaching of the Bible.”   I contend that our Dresden forefathers did not miss anything or take anything for granted in this chief article of the Christian faith. They correctly taught the universal atonement or satisfaction made by Christ for the sins of the whole world, whether a person ever comes to believe it or not. Thus, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation were, indeed, won for all people by Christ on the cross, through His merit alone. But no one is forgiven, justified, made alive or saved apart from the means of grace and apart from faith in Christ, which is graciously worked by the Holy Spirit.  Dresden Lutherans would never think of qualifying Luther’s battle cry, “Faith alone justifies!”, with “Yes, but, only in a subjective sense, since we know that all people are already justified without faith!”

What did I say there to be labeled as a false teacher? Why was I suspended?

There is no short and sweet answer to that question.  Well, there is, but it’s inadequate and bound to cause confusion.  The short answer will satisfy arrogant men who have shipwrecked their faith and are left without a conscience or a clue. “He denies objective justification!”  But men and women of good will and Christian conviction will understand that the short answer is both insufficient and inaccurate.  The short answer is no answer at all.

I have not gone around “denying objective justification.”  Instead, realizing that the terms “objective and subjective justification” and “universal justification,” along with their relatives “general justification” and “general absolution” are terms neither found in the Scriptures or the Lutheran Confessions, I committed myself to a study of the Scriptures and the Confessions—as well as Luther, Chemnitz, Melanchthon, Leyser and Hunnius—in order to understand how the Holy Spirit has taught us to speak about the justification of the sinner, and how the Lutheran Reformers understood and confessed the Scriptural truth.  After specifically studying this issue for several years, I reached conclusions that are fully consistent with the Lutheran Confessions and with the Lutheran Fathers from the age of orthodoxy, but at odds with some of the doctrinal statements of the WELS.  Then I did the unthinkable:  I said it out loud.

Part of the problem hinges on definitions.  Since the term “objective justification” is a novelty in the Church and not defined by either of the norms of Lutheran doctrine (the Scriptures and the Book of Concord), various definitions and descriptions have arisen over the years with no arbiter to decide whose definition is “the” definition.  Here are some examples:

• At the time of the resurrection of Christ, God looked down in hell and declared Judas, the people destroyed in the flood, and all the ungodly, innocent, not guilty, and forgiven of all sin and gave unto them the status of saints. (Kokomo thesis #4, defended on and off by the WELS)
• Romans 3:23,24 and Romans 5:18,19 affirm that all are sinners and all are justified.  Through Adam all are condemned, and through Christ all are justified. The astonishing reality is that God has forgiven the sins of the whole world, whether people believe it or not. (WELS seminary professor Forrest Bivens)

• The Blessed Exchange (objective justification): That in the death of Jesus the sins of the whole world were charged to Christ’s account in order that His righteousness might be credited to the world. (Rev. Peter Bender, Lutheran Catechesis)
• Jesus died for all people and made atonement for the sins of all people.  (Common definition I’ve heard from numerous WELS and LCMS pastors and laymen.)

I agree with the last two definitions but disagree with the first two.  So, do I deny objective justification?  It’s an irrelevant question.  The real question is, do I teach the truth of Scripture regarding justification?

There are more variations of objective justification out there—more twists and turns and contortions than I care to address.  It seems to be a malleable concept that can adjust itself to a person’s sensibilities.  Some find it all over the Book of Concord.  Others admit that it’s nowhere to be found in the Book of Concord but arose only more recently as doctrine evolved in response to this or that error or controversy. 

But why is it necessary? Did the Holy Spirit miss something?  Did the Lutheran Reformers fail to define justification sufficiently for themselves and their posterity?  Was justification one of those doctrines that just got overlooked or taken for granted at the time of the Reformation?  Please.

I know the arguments of those who try to read their version of OJ/SJ/UJ back into the Scriptures and the Confessions—not much different than the Roman Catholics trying to read purgatory back into the Scriptures.  The only way to do it is by ignoring the context and fixating on a phrase here or a phrase there.  One thing is clear: synods have a deep-seated need to defend their own histories.

My (now former) district president boiled it all down to two litmus-test-type questions, approved and supported by Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and the WELS Conference of Presidents:

1)      “Did God forgive the sins of the world when Jesus died on the cross?”

2)      “Has God justified all sinners for the sake of Christ?”

My consistent answer: 

• Jesus paid for the sins of the world and made satisfaction for the sins of the world and earned righteousness and forgiveness of sins for all people at the cross. 
• God only forgives and justifies sinners by imputing the righteousness of Christ to them. 
• He only imputes the righteousness of Christ to faith. 
• Faith is only created by the Holy Spirit through the Means of Grace. 
• Therefore, I do not speak of God having already forgiven the sins of the world at the cross, because the Holy Spirit did not apply the merits of Christ to the world at the cross, nor did the world believe in Christ at the time of the cross.  We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—not without grace, not without Christ, and not without faith and the means of grace.

His answer:

I am deeply disappointed that you have turned away from the teaching you learned in your ministerial training and have instead denied the truth and fallen into error. After numerous conversations with you and repeated efforts to admonish and instruct you from God’s word, you have made it clear that you are not in agreement with the doctrine of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).

Specifically, you have refused to acknowledge and confess that God forgave the sin of the world when Jesus died on the cross (John 1:29; John 19:30; 1 John 2:2; Romans 5:18; 2 Cor. 5:19; Apology IV, 103).

We expect you to acknowledge and confess the truth that God forgave the sin of the world when Jesus died on the cross, because this statement expresses the truth of God's Word and the historical teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in simple, clear, and unambiguous terms.

You have stated openly that you reject the portion of the article on justification in our WELS confession This We Believe that says, “We believe that God has justified all sinners, that is, he has declared them righteous for the sake of Christ” (Article IV, 1). You have publicly acknowledged your disagreement with WELS doctrine and have made it clear that you do not walk together with the WELS in your teaching.

I am suspending you from membership in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The suspension is effective as of the date of this letter. The vice presidents of the Arizona-California District, Pastor Steven C. Degner and Pastor David R. Clark, concur with your suspension.

Pastor Jon D. Buchholz, President

Arizona-California District—WELS

That's the official reason for my suspension, and some will remain interested only in the "short answer" that isn't really an answer. “He denies objective justification!” 

So be it.  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8:31-33)

For the sake of the elect and those who are interested in the “long answer” and in studying the Scriptures and Confessions, I will be answering the district president’s proof passages and elaborating on all of this over the coming weeks and months (and probably years) with details of what has happened and with Scriptural and Confessional testimonies that demonstrate the absurdity of the WELS position.  Some of this may take place at Intrepid Lutherans; some of it may take place in a different forum, to be announced.

Most of the laity in the WELS have never heard this doctrine that all people have been justified before God without faith in Christ.   There are many faithful Lutheran pastors, teachers and congregations left in the WELS who believe and teach the simple truth of John 3:16-18.  Some of them have stood by me openly.  Others, in secret.  Some are waking up from their synodical slumber and starting to study the Scriptures and Confessions without the lens imposed by suits and seminaries.  

The WELS spin on my suspension will be that they did not suspend me for teaching justification by faith alone, but for denying objective justification.  It’s kind of like the Roman Catholic spin on justification:  “We teach that sinners are justified by faith alone—understanding that works of love are included in the definition of faith.”  So the WELS spin says, “We teach that sinners are justified by faith alone—understanding that all sinners were actually justified once for all without faith, and then receive the benefits of that one-time justification by believing they were already justified without believing.” ???

Regardless of the spin, the truth remains: I have been condemned as a false teacher for teaching that “to the article of justification belong and are necessary only the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and faith, which receives this in the promise of the Gospel, whereby the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, whence we receive and have forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, sonship, and heirship of eternal life” (FC:SD:III:25).  I have been condemned for teaching that “men are freely justified for 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.  This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.” (AC:IV)  Kyrie Eleison!


Christ's unworthy servant,

+ Rev. Paul A. Rydecki

'via Blog this'

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

What a fine and fitting post!

I thoroughly enjoyed the argument. He was right, what does it matter about terms OJ and SJ or UOJ or what not, the issue is this -- is his teaching Scriptural.

However, we would note that R. Preus before, perhaps, when he saw the light, did fight for the use of the UOJ/OJ/SJ term. He made it the litmus test.

At that state R. Preus was wrong.

The sad thing is that we might be able to say --- R. Preus moved on from his position (obviously he is gone now too), but those who swallowed his paper before he died, still are at it, carrying UOJ/OJ/SJ terminology as a mandatory issue that must be subscribed by a "Lutheran" and if not, one is a heretic. A man's teaching can and does outlast a man's life.

LPC

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

"From your ministerial education" aka your brainwashing. Because we teach it, it is truth, no matter what the Catholic (Lutheran) Church has taught before.

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Relevant Links

LutherQuest (sic) Discussion -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/warming-up-tar-and-feathers-on.html

Martin Luther on the efficacy of the Word -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html

Robert Preus on Justification by Faith -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/05/robert-preus-justification-by-faith_7573.html

The Biblical View of Faith -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-biblical-view-of-faith-contradicts.html

Review of Rydecki Translation of Hunnius -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-of-theses-opposed-to.html

The Dresden Catechism -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/dresden-why-does-everything-happen-in.html

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

Pastor Rydecki- Welcome to the ranks of those thrown out of the WELS! In 1992, the self-described "Brethren" of the WELS here in Michigan did essentially the same thing to Pastor John Gore (and got rid of me at the same time simply because I defended my pastor & mentor) that has now been done to you. I won't go into extensive detail here, but the excuse they used was similar in that they called us "crypto-Catholics" for believing what we had been taught from childhood as Lutheran doctrine. If you are interested in more detail, you can contact me at DimestoreLiam@live.com - God bless you & god luck!

WELS Church Lady Defeats Jack Kilcrease with One Quotation

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post "The Purpose of Web Discussions - Censorship - Acco...":


Galatians Chapter 3:

8"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, IN THEE SHALL ALL NATIONS BE BLESSED."

14"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

22"But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." 23"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." 24"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

25"But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." 26"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ."

In Christ,
Rebecca

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GJ - I quoted from Robert Preus' final book and poor Jack Kilcrease used that as an excuse to make some more mocking comments. He did not deal with the content of the quotations because he could not.

I posted Rebecca's citation on Steadfast Enthusiasts. They cannot act like men, so they will have to be schooled by a woman.

I appreciate the discernment of the laity. The clergy have a burden in getting past the training they have had. Theories are proposed--which are bad enough--but worst of all is the pressure to conform when everyone is repeating the same fallacies.

UOJ was so foreign to me that I thought they were using "Objective Justification" as a synonym for the atonement. Laity alerted me to the facts and kept me working on the topic.

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LPC has left a new comment on your post "WELS Church Lady Defeats Jack Kilcrease with One Q...":

We do well to refer to that blog site as Steadfast Enthusiasts or Steadfast Universalists or Steadfast Waltherians.

LPC

Page-Reads: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Wednesday: 2,000 page-reads.
Thursday: 2,500 page-reads.
Friday: 2,500 page-reads.

Since June of 2010 - 763,000 page reads.

Average monthly - 46,000 page-reads.

Average daily - 1,500 page-reads.

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Grey Goose noted:

It is interesting how the cycle of irritated responses to Ichabod keeps turning.  Two or three days at a time and then silence for much longer.  I suppose they are busy doing something in the interim and then something sets them off but they stay unidentified.  Only the phoney names change.  It gets funny. 

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GJ - I was curious about what got the Fox Valley crowd off their barstools and onto the computer again. Then I noticed that the quotes Tim Glende hates have been read by hundreds of people in the last week and month.