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| Objective Justification "protects the Gospel"? Hoenecke cannot be wrong because he was WELS, but Luther is belittled and ignored because...? Ask Pope Herman the Mercenary to explain this. |
Brethren: While searching online for a Hoenecke quotation about UOJ ("Emphasizing objective justification is necessary in order to preserve the real content of the Gospel" EV. LUTH. DOGMATICS III:338,) I found a link to a Steadfast Lutherans post on 10/14/12 by Pastor Shawn Stafford "What is Objective Justification?" which lists some other Scriptural passages used to teach UOJ, as well as some references in the Lutheran Confessions and, most interesting of all, "Dangers of Denying Objective Justification."
I. SCRIPTURE PASSAGES: Along with "the usual suspects" (as in Pastor Rolf Preus' lectures--thanks for the correction, Pastor Jackson!--and in CASABLANCA) Pastor Stafford offered two more passages: 1. 1 Tim. 2:6: "...Who [Christ] gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." My response: Once again, Christ's Universal Atonement for sins, nothing about Justification. And speaking of time as in this passage, isn't it about TIME that the UOJers stop stealing the passages which speak of the UA and applying them to try to "prove" UOJ?
2. Rom. 3:22-24: "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: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." My response: I see "all" referring to "them that BELIEVE" but I DON'T see "all" referring those who are "justified freely." Do YOU? As Pastor Jackson pointed out with reference to Rom. 4:24-25, FAITH is RIGHT THERE IN THE PASSAGE, but the UOJers ignore IT! The passage is about JBFA!
II. LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS PASSAGES (all passages from the Triglotta Edition:) 1. Apology XII:62: "And what else is the refusal to assent to absolution but charging God with falsehood? If the heart doubts, it regards those things which God promises and uncertain and of no account. Accordingly, in 1 John 5, 10 it is written: 'He that believeth not hath made Him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.'" My response: Why did Pastor Stafford leave OUT of his quotation from #62 the first sentence? It reads "Therefore, it [Absolution] necessarily requires FAITH." WHERE in ANY of #62 is there ANY mention of UOJ? The whole passage is about JBFA!
2. Apology XII:94: "Therefore, if any one be not confident that he is forgiven, he denies that God has sworn what is true, than which a more horrible blasphemy cannot be imagined." My response: Again, let's check the context of the passage. Three verses before Pastor Stafford's passage begins, after quoting Ezekiel 33:11, Melanchthon writes "For as God swears that He does not wish the death of a sinner, He shows that FAITH IS REQUIRED, in order that WE MAY BELIEVE the one swearing [God's oath in Ezk. 33:11], and be firmly CONFIDENT that He FORGIVES us." And then the passage quoted, which speaks of the blasphemy of "NOT BEING CONFIDENT"/believing/having faith that one is forgiven by God. Once again, the whole passage is about JBFA!
3. LC III:88: "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." My response: Does God forgive sin even BEFORE our prayer? YES, of course, IN THE WAY IN WHICH LUTHER GOES ON TO EXPLAIN: God has given us the Gospel, which announces that His forgiveness is available to us because of Christ's Universal Atonement for sin! BUT, as Luther goes on to point out "But this is to the intent that WE MAY RECOGNIZE AND ACCEPT SUCH FORGIVENESS." We MUST ACCEPT God's forgiveness in the Gospel BY God's gift of FAITH in God's Son Jesus Christ, which is ours in the Gospel. Once again, the whole passage is about JBFA!
III. "THE DANGERS OF DENYING OBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION:" 1. "Denying objective justification may lead to falling into the error of limited atonement, that Jesus paid only for the sins of believers." My response: Oh, REALLY? I'm afraid that I'd have to deny the Scriptural doctrine of the UNIVERSAL ATONEMENT OF CHRIST to fall into the error of limited atonement! If Pastor Stafford is thinking of the possibility of apostasy, of course the Bible teaches that possibility, but this "danger" is mere speculation. But IS it "mere speculation" that the belief in UOJ "may lead to falling into the error" of the Calvinists' "Perseverance of the Saints" ("once saved, always saved") or UNIVERSALISM? Haven't some who believe UOJ done so?
2. "Denying objective justification can turn faith into a human work." My response: Oh, REALLY? I'm afraid that I'd have to deny that FAITH IS GOD'S GIFT "By grace are ye saved through faith; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD," (Eph. 2:8,) to fall into such an error. Mere speculation again, but keep trying, Pastor Stafford...
3. "Denying objective justification can make faith a cause of justification." My response: Oh, REALLY? I'm afraid that I'd have to deny the verse already quoted "By grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH..." which clearly teaches that God's gift of Faith is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of Justification. In Pastor Stafford's statement, is he DENYING that Faith IS a CAUSE of Justification, the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE? Wow, he'd better check his dogmatics text again! I for one do NOT deny that God's gift of Faith IS a cause of Justification, the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE!
4. "Denying objective justification diminishes the glory of the Gospel." My response: Oh, REALLY? So far, Pastor Stafford has given us two examples of mere speculation and one (inadvertent, I'm sure!) crass doctrinal error; all that Pastor Stafford has left to offer is mere SUBJECTIVE OPINION. Of course, the whole of "The Dangers of Denying Objective Justification" has been speculative, but with this example Pastor Stafford demonstrates real judgementalism without providing any objective evidence for his assertions. Pastor Stafford should be challenged to provide evidence of individuals who succumbed to any of these speculative warnings, because otherwise his warnings are, to quote Sir Thomas More in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (Act Two) "Terrors for children...an empty cupboard! To frighten children in the dark," and NOT those who KNOW that the Bible teaches Justification by Faith Alone and not some man-made "Two-Decker Justification" as with the Millennialists' Two Second Comings" and the Calvinists' "Two Elections."
ADDENDUM: Now, what started my search: Adolph Hoenecke's quotation: "Emphasizing objective justification is necessary in order to preserve the real content of the Gospel." My response: Oh, REALLY?
That is simply NOT TRUE, since God's Word WILL accomplish Its task (Is. 55:11: "[My Word] SHALL accomplish that which I please, and It shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it") which is stated in 2 Tim. 3:15 as being "To make thee wise unto salvation through FAITH which is in Christ Jesus." To doubt this is to doubt God and His Word! As God preserves His Word to us, so shall we be able to be like the Berean Christians, who "examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true." And what IS "the real content of the Gospel?" Hoenecke doesn't tell us here, but for me it is what the Apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor. 15:1-4: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you THE GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein YE STAND; by which also ye are SAVED, if ye keep in MEMORY what I preached unto you, unless ye have BELIEVED in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also RECEIVED, how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES; and that He was buried, and that He ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY according to the Scriptures" and what Christ Himself said in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM should NOT perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE." No UOJ here, JUST the Scriptural doctrine of JBFA! THAT is the REAL "content of the Gospel"!
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| They stand line to reject the Bible. Abraham was justified by faith in the Savior, Genesis 15. |
