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| I find Paul appealing, but McCain appalling. |
KJV Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
The first student post at Steadfast Enthusiasts gathered over 500 comments and is still moving along. Therefore, Andrew Preus posted a second, similar post, which is also gathering comments. Meanwhile, LaughQuest has turned a Sabre of Boldness award into another defense of Universal Objective Justification, forgiveness without the Word of God, an opinion called "pure and wholesome" by Andrew's father, Rolf.
Some are chiming in to say Robert Preus never rejected UOJ, although his book proves otherwise. To show I am wrong, Andrew cited a Geneva-trained theologian not mentioned in Justification and Rome. "My dead aunt Gertrude agrees with me, so that proves I am right." That is the line of thinking displayed as the UOJ train begins to derail.
The Kokomo Statements (three from J. P. Meyer's book, Ministers of Christ) are either used by the pernicious justification-by-faith Lutherans to abuse UOJ or they are the official teaching of the Wisconsin Sect. They are wonderful but criticized by Jon Buchholz, the desert DP. My head spins trying to follow the authorities whirling around. But that is the trouble with Enthusiasm, when the Holy Spirit is divorced from the Word. All the opinions have that in common, but harmony is impossible. Either God declared the entire world forgiven the moment Christ died - or - He did so the moment Christ rose from the dead. In both cases He neglected to give us a single passage saying this was true. So the UOJ Stormtroopers cannot even get the most important date in world history straight. That does not bode well for the longevity of their fad.
But all the UOJ fussing avoids the central point, revealed by St. Paul, a major theme of the Reformation - No other Gospel. The Lutheran Reformers cited Galatians 1:8 frequently and refused to compromise on justification by faith. If they could bring Robert Preus back from the dead, or an angel, or the Apostle Paul, and all agreed against the Gospel, the Gospel would remain true.
The state churches of Germany were rationalistic in the 19th century, so those authorities were in complete agreement with the universities. All agreed - Christianity was at best as a moralistic, society-transforming philosophy. That was their emergent church, so believers could not be ordained in most cases. The power of church and state did not repudiate the truth of the Scriptures. That did not change one iota of the Word of God.
Synods Do Not Establish Doctrine
