Monday, December 3, 2018

Dr. Lito Cruz - Guest Editorial - Faith Is Never a Work

Dr. Lito Cruz earned a PhD in math and is a rostered Lutheran pastor. His wife Lynne manages a family business.

Faith is never a work, whatsoever -

Faith is never a work, if we are talking about the faith in Christ mentioned in the Scriptures. Those who say or claim it is, are doing a number on you.

This is a straw man fallacy.

In Romans 4:16, it says "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace..."

The Bible does not say nor imply at any time that your faith in Christ is something you have generated out of your sheer self.

If you are saved through faith, says St Paul in Romans 4, then you are saved by grace. Faith in Christ is always according to grace.

If you are saved by your faith then so say the straw man accusers - then you can have faith in your faith. Faith in Christ cannot be faith in something else, by the definition of Scripture. Stick to that definition, the accuser is doing a fallacy he himself does not recognize he is making.

If you say I have decided to believe in Jesus, then you are just fooling yourself, your faith is not a decision you cannot decide about Jesus dying for you. You can deny it and so claim that God is a liar but when you are convinced by it, the HS produced it in you.

LPC

 Norma A. Boeckler


***

GJ - Yes, this is one of the favorite scams of the pan-denominational UOJ sales team -

"We cannot have a contingency - like faith - or God's grace is no longer grace." UOJ

This claim is often repeated throughout the LCMS-WELS-ELS, but I read it over and over among the modern, apostate theologians. To be clear - there is no difference between Tillich-Barth/Kirschbaum-Bultmann and the posturing Lutherans.

Tis easy to roust the UOJists from their homes, feasting on the rotting remains of Lutherdom in America, like the sowbugs that enjoy the damp darkness of a log resting on soil.

They love Romans 4 - but I do not know why. They have never read or comprehended all 25 verses, a compelling narrative based on Abraham justified by faith.

"If we believe..." is a doctrinal crime, the UOJists claim. But -

Romans 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him 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.

Simple exegesis - unfolding the meaning of the passage - without requiring Greek (though languages help), we can see how the Holy Spirit through St. Paul utterly destroys UOJ at the source they claim for themselves. 


As Dr. Cruz shows us with one slice of the double-edged sword - the Word - grace is not opposed to faith. 

Romans 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Romans is even more powerful in this chapter than we can detect from reading it alone. The reason is that Paul has eliminated all forms of righteousness except the righteousness of faith, consigning the remainder to the Law. Properly understood - and carefully explained as young Webber and Boy Buchholz might say - UOJ is nothing but Law and lawlessness - their law, their legalism, and the lawlessness that allows them to bless fellow false teachers and notorious pastoral adulterers. 

And what does ELS-WELS abhor? - Justification by Faith. They cannot even say the phrase unless they quickly convert it to their Subjective Justification - a profound decision that the entire world declared forgiven and saved. Using the Talmudic logic of John Sparky Brenner, God has justified the world without faith, but only fools would imagine individuals are justified by faith. In fact, Sparky has to squeeze out this malapropism: "individual appropriation of forgiveness." Funny that, because we read - 

  Norma A. Boeckler