Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "From the Formula of Concord - Election":
I would not doubt that UOJ enthusiasts cannot bear Scriptures such as 1 John 1:9. Here, following, it is, in its context:
1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
This 1 John 1:5-10 Scripture is anathema to UOJ enthusiasts. Why? Because it is (in harmony) as Luther says:
".....In which Christian church He daily and richly forgives sins to me an all believers....."
Furthermore, UOJ enthusiasts cannot bear Luther and Luther's understanding of the Holy Spirit's role in the continued (ongoing) maintenance of faith in the believer's heart.
"LPC" rightly pointed out - the affinity of the UOJ mentality with that of Calvinism - not being able to resist God's grace. Then, if that is so, - why the need to confess our sins (1 John 1:9) and have to depend upon the Holy Spirit for His forgiveness cleansing and continued infusion and maintenance of [personal] faith?
Finally, I think that UOJ (universal objective justification) enthusiasts have a very difficult time "connecting the (spiritual) dots," because they treat with over emphasis (and imbalance) the second person of the Trinity at the expense (diminishing) of the 3rd Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
In short, their error initiates and stems from a basic and unhealthy disrespect for the Holy Spirit. I think it could then be generally stated that the UOJ theory has replaced the Holy Spirit. Hence, UOJ enthusiasts perpetually sin against the First Commandment - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." But, that does not matter to them, because of their (self conceived) all encompassing blanket absolution that is claimed by them to have been wrought by the Second Person of the Trinity.
Nathan M. Bickel
www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org
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GJ - Luther had a good point about false teachers and Biblical passages. They always have a gloss (an explanation) to add their spin to the passage. Rome did this during the Reformation and still does. Papists even have their own version of Genesis 3, where Satan would wound Mary's foot, where Mary's foot appeared as a cloud to Elijah (Mt. Carmel, Carmelite nuns), and Mary served as co-Redeemer, offering up her Son.
The SynConference gloss begins and ends with UOJ, so the Word taught so impurely hardens and blinds the teachers and students.
People introduced to SynConference UOJ say, "What? That is ridiculous!"
Papenfuss (Mr. Kokomo) never heard of it before he entered the sacred space of The Sausage Factory, where Sig Becker and others promoted the "Chief Article of the SynConference."
The WELS leaders are so evil that they demand the NNIV, which adds an "all" to Romans 3, to back up their mainline dogma of ALL being justified WITHOUT FAITH.
NNIV
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 - gloss added word] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
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| Is this not a gloss upon a gloss? But it all makes sense when one accepts the infallibility of the pope and the un-clarity of the Scriptures. Who else teaches "This is a g-r-e-y area of the Word. Let's see what Holy Mother Synod teaches about it"? |
