My presentation today will be divided into two parts. The first part will cover
Walther’s teaching on justification particularly as presented in his lectures on Law
and Gospel. The second part of my presentation will provide an application to the
theological and ecclesiastical church situation today.
PART I –
JUSTIFICATION
C.F.W. Walther, one of the founding fathers of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,
was not a particularly original theologian, nor did he wish to be. And he made it clear
frequently in his speeches and in his writings that the theologian he most admired and
trusted was Martin Luther. There is no other theologian or source, other than the Bible,
which he quotes nearly as often as Luther. So significant is his dependence on Luther and
so prevalent is his use of Luther’s writings, that he has frequently been called
‘The American Luther.’ He was referred to often as a repristination theologian
and particularly a Luther repristinator, especially by those who disagreed with his
theology. My predecessor at Concordia Historical Institute used to call him Luther’s
archivist.
Walther himself was not ashamed to be seen as one who was dependent on Luther. He had
no desire to be original or to make a name for himself as a theologian. It was his
foremost wish to establish a truly Lutheran church on the American continent and for
Walther this meant a church firmly based on the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.
Such a church, in his view, ought to see Luther as her premier theologian. Walther
believed… "that to build his doctrine on the organic foundation of Scripture and
to employ the terminology and frame of thought of Lutheran fathers was a mark of a good
dogmatician. In this sense he indicated that to him the only good dogmatician is a
repristination theologian, who leans on his forebears as he summarizes and presents the
faith."1 And the
forefather most to be studied and honored was Luther. However, he was also very well
acquainted with the orthodox Lutheran fathers and frequently quoted John Gerhard, Martin
Chemnitz, Hunnius and others, especially in his lectures on Law and Gospel.
C.F.W. Walther was a prolific writer. What may be his best work, however, is not the
result of an effort on his part to produce a book containing a systematic presentation of
his doctrine on Law and Gospel. Rather, it is the reproduction of student notes taken by a
stenographer from Walther’s lectures on Law and Gospel while he was a professor at
Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. In fact, the book was not even published until ten years
after Walther had died. Walther’s teaching on the subject of Law and Gospel was
presented in a series of 39 lectures based on 25 theses given on Friday evenings,
beginning September 12, 1884 and ending November 6, 1885. The lectures were given on the
basis of thorough notes, which Walther had prepared ahead of time and there is little
doubt that the stenographer was completely faithful and accurate in reproducing
Walther’s presentation on this topic.
I can recommend few books as highly as Walther’s Law and Gospel. For it excels not
only in pointing out the dangerous errors of Rome and Geneva, of liberalism, rationalism
and enthusiasm. It not only demonstrates clearly the many ways in which both the Law and
the Gospel can be perverted and rendered unable to perform their proper work. It also lays
out the true comfort of the Gospel for every reader as it shows over and over again how
our gracious Father, who has justified all the world through the suffering, death and
resurrection of His Son, delivers his gifts of life and creates true faith in the hearts
of sinners by means of His precious Gospel. True Lutherans will always treasure "the
true knowledge of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel" and will place this
distinction at the center of all their theology, their discussions and their spiritual
life.
In reading Walther’s 39 lectures, it is almost impossible not to note his
consistent emphasis throughout his lectures on three aspects of justification. In the
first place, one finds Walther’s emphasis on Christ’s perfect redemption of all
men. Secondly, he focuses on the means of grace (the Word and the sacraments). Thirdly he
gives attention to faith as that which receives the promises offered.2 Permit me to look in some detail at each
of these three aspects of Walther’s treatment of Law and Gospel. I would like to
treat these topics together, however, rather than separately since I think they are very
difficult to separate. After all, the salvation which Christ has achieved for all the
world through His incarnation, life, suffering, death and resurrection can only be
mediated to us through the Gospel and the Sacraments which in turn create faith in order
that the benefits of what Christ has achieved for all may be received by individual
sinners.
Of course, in speaking of the distinction between Law and Gospel, one cannot speak only
of justification. One must speak also of sin, one must speak of punishment and judgment.
But the purpose of the law is to prepare people for the Gospel. The Holy Spirit must do
his opus alienum, ut faciat opus proprium, that is, the Holy Spirit must do his
alien work in order that he may do his proper work. Thus, law and Gospel must both be
preached but Walther notes in his final thesis, "…the word of God is not rightly
divided when the person teaching it does not allow the Gospel to have a general
predominance in his teaching."3
And so, in my presentation today, the Gospel, the doctrine of justification, will have a
definite predominance.
Christ has perfectly redeemed all people. Walther believed in objective justification.
His 14th thesis reads: "In the tenth place, the Word of God is not rightly
divided when faith is required as a condition of justification and salvation, as if a
person were righteous in the sight of God and saved, not only by faith, but also on
account of his faith, for the sake of his faith, and in view of his faith."4 In explanation of this thesis,
Walther writes,
What God’s Word really means when it says that man is justified and saved by faith
alone is nothing else than this: Man is not saved by his own acts, but solely by the doing
and dying of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the whole world. Over
against this teaching modern theologians assert that in the salvation of man two kinds of
activity must be noted: in the first place, there is something that God must do. His part
is the most difficult, for He must accomplish the task of redeeming men. But in the second
place something is required that man must do. For it will not do to admit persons to
heaven, after they have been redeemed, without further parley (talk). Man must do
something really great – he has to believe. This teaching overthrows the Gospel
completely.5
For Walther faith is never a condition of salvation; grace is not offered with the
condition that a sinner accept it. Grace is unconditional and faith simply receives that
which is freely offered. In connection with the predestinarian controversy that raged
among the Lutherans in America for a number of years in the late nineteenth century,
Walther, and the Missouri Synod with him, rejected the intuitu fidei formula which
held that God justified men in view of that faith which He foresaw that they would have.
According to Walther, the German theologians of his day who insisted that men are
justified intuitu fidei, claiming that they have only taken this concept from the
orthodox theologians, have completely misunderstood the use of that term by those
theologians. Walther states, "If John Gerhard and Egidius Hunnius were to rise from
the dead and see that our adversaries in the present controversy on predestination appeal
to them as their authorities, they would be amazed; for it can be plainly shown that they
have rejected and abominated the doctrine of the adversaries."6
Walther quotes Osiander: "Faith does not justify in so far as it is obedience in
compliance with a command, - for thus viewed, it is an action, a work, and something
required by Law, - but only in so far as it receives and is attached to
justification after the manner of a passive instrument."7 Also John Gerhard: "It is one thing to be justified on
account of faith and another to be justified by faith. In the former view,
faith is the meritorious, in the latter, the instrumental cause. {There must be an organ
by which I come into the possession and enjoyment of what some one offers me.} We are not
justified on account of faith as a merit, but by faith which lays hold of the merit of
Christ."8 Justification,
therefore, is per fidem, non propter fidem (through faith, not on account of
faith).
Thus Walther condemns certain statements of Melanchthon that would attribute the cause
of a person’s election to something, which God foresees in that person. Quoting
Melanchthons’s Loci Communes of 1552, Walther says,
Melanchthon writes, "You say you are unable to obey the voice of the Gospel, to
listen to the Son of God, and to accept Him as your Mediator?" This question
Melanchthon answers: "Of course you can!" An awful answer, this! When a
parishioner comes to you complaining of his inability to believe, you must tell him that
you are not surprised at this statement; for no man can; he would be a marvel if he could.
And you must instruct him to do nothing but listen to the Word of God, and God will give
him faith.9
In other words, it is the Word of the Gospel that mediates Christ’s benefits to
the sinner in order that faith may be created. Some of Walther’s best advice to
preachers comes, in my opinion, in the context of his understanding of faith not as a work
which man does, but as a work that the Holy Spirit does in man in response to the
preaching of the Gospel. Walther states in thesis XIII, "In the ninth place, the Word
of God is not rightly divided when one makes an appeal to believe in a manner as if a
person could make himself believe or at least help toward that end, instead of preaching
faith into a person’s heart by laying the Gospel promises before him."10 In explanation of this
thesis, he says,
A preacher must be able to preach a sermon on faith without ever using the term faith.
It is not important that he din (shout) the word faith into the ears of his
audience, but it is necessary for him to frame his address so as to arouse in every poor
sinner the desire to lay the burden of his sins at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and
say to Him: "Thou art mine, and I am Thine."
Here is where Luther reveals his true greatness. He rarely appeals to his hearers to
believe, but he preaches concerning the work of Christ, salvation by grace, and the riches
of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ in such a manner that the hearers get the impression
that all they have to do is to take what is being offered them and find a resting-place in
the lap of divine grace.11
In the words just cited, Walther reveals once again the necessity of the means of
grace. Luther preached the Gospel; that is the message about Jesus Christ, who He is and
what He has done. A good Lutheran preacher will follow the example of Luther and preach
the Gospel. He will not command faith; rather he will use those means by which God has
promised to create faith. Only the means of grace can create faith and only the means of
grace can bestow that which faith receives. Let me repeat that: Only the means of grace
can create faith and only the means of grace can bestow that which faith receives, namely
the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In fact, it is in the very process of
offering and bestowing these things and it is through the offering and bestowing of these
things that faith is created and nourished and preserved.
However, that which only the means of grace can bestow and that which only faith can
receive is not something, which is conditioned in any way by the faith which receives it.
Rather it is something, which has been achieved by Christ objectively, apart from any
participation on the part of man, and in no way dependent upon man’s faith. In the
discussion of his ninth thesis, Walther’s insistence on the objective nature of
justification comes through forcefully. The ninth thesis reads,
In the fifth place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when sinners who have been
struck down and terrified by the Law are directed, not to the Word and the Sacraments, but
to their own prayers and wrestlings with God in order that they may win their way into a
state of grace; in other words, when they are told to keep on praying and struggling until
they feel that God has received them into grace.12
In his discussion of this thesis Walther attacks the pietists and the sects who deprive
Christ of His glory and thus call his complete redemption into question by insisting on
some kind of proper attitude and preparations for receiving God’s salvation, and so
on. Against the pietists, Walther insists, "Grace is not something for which I must
look in my heart. It is in the heart of God. Grace cannot be found in me, but is outside
of me."13 Again
Walther says,
The sects picture reconciliation as consisting in this, that the Savior made God willing
to save men, provided men would be willing on their part to be reconciled. But that is the
reverse of the Gospel. God is reconciled. Accordingly, the apostle calls on us:
"Be ye reconciled to God." That means: Since God has been reconciled to you by
Jesus Christ, grasp the hand which the Father in heaven holds out to you. Moreover, the
apostle declares: "If one died for the sins of all men, that is tantamount to all
men’s dying and making satisfaction for their sins. Therefore nothing at all is
required on the part of man to reconcile God; He already is reconciled. Righteousness lies
ready; it must not first be achieved by man. If man were to attempt to do so, that would
be an awful crime, a battle against grace and against the reconciliation and perfect
redemption accomplished by the Son of God.14
Franz Pieper, later president of Concordia Seminary St. Louis and also of the Missouri
Synod, in describing Walther’s understanding of the article of justification quotes a
portion of Walther’s report to the Western District in 1875.
While all religions, except the Christian, teach that man himself must do that by which
he is delivered and saved, the Christian religion teaches not only that all men should be
eternally saved but also that they already have been saved. According to the Christian
faith, man is already redeemed; he is already delivered and freed from his sin and all its
evil consequences. He is already reconciled unto God. The Christian religion proclaims:
You need not redeem yourself nor secure reconciliation between God and yourself, for all
this Christ has already accomplished for you. Nor has He left anything for you to do but
believe this, i.e., to accept it!" Here indeed is the point of distinction between
Christianity and all other religions.15
In Walther’s Easter sermons this focus on objective justification is especially
prominent. In a sermon on Mark 16:1-8 Walther preaches on the theme, "Christ’s
Resurrection – Your absolution." In this sermon he declares,
Jesus, when He was raised from the dead, was absolved for all sin, but since it was not
for Himself but for all people that Christ died, who was it really that was set free, who
was it really that was absolved when Jesus rose from the dead? It was all people! Just as
all Israel triumphed when David defeated Goliath, so all humanity triumphed when Jesus
defeated sin, death and Hell. And so we hear Paul saying in his second epistle to the
Corinthians, "We are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have
died." And again in his epistle to the Romans, "Then as one man’s trespass
led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal
and life for all men." Just as Christ’s condemnation was the condemnation of all
mankind, Christ’s death the death of all mankind, Christ’s payment the payment
for all mankind, even so Christ’s life is now the life of all mankind, His acquittal
the acquittal of all mankind, His justification the justification of all mankind, His
absolution the absolution of all mankind.16
Walther never softened the message of the law. His sixth thesis insists that "the
Word of God is not rightly divided when the Law is not preached in its full
sternness,"17 but it
was his insistence on the truth of objective justification that enabled Walther to preach
the Gospel in its full sweetness. It is this message of Christ’s complete redemption
of all the world that causes Walther to apply the Gospel message in such a powerful and
comforting way to his hearers in this same Easter sermon of 1873.
The riches of the comfort provided in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is …
therefore greater than a humble tongue can express and greater than a human heart can
comprehend. Now that Christ has been raised from the dead, no one needs to think to
himself, "If I approach God with my sins, what will God do? Will He really forgive
them?" No, whoever you are, you may know without any doubt that God has already
forgiven your sins, forgiven them already 1800 years ago when in Christ, through His
resurrection, He absolved all for whom Christ suffered such bitter death.18
But after this beautiful proclamation Walther goes on to say immediately, "One
thing still needs to happen in order that you may have this gift and that one thing –
is faith. For every person who wants to be saved must believe that this general absolution
pronounced at Christ’s resurrection 1800 years ago was also pronounced upon
him."19
Walther believed in universal, objective justification, but Walther was no
universalist. There is no salvation apart from faith in Christ. That which Christ has
purchased through His substitutionary suffering, death and resurrection must be conveyed
to the sinner in such a way that it becomes his own (subjective justification). In other
words, the sinner needs to believe that all that Christ has accomplished for him is truly
his. And so God has provided His means of grace to bring the benefits of Christ’s
life, work and death to the sinner and to create that faith. These are the Gospel and the
Sacraments. Only the Gospel and the Sacraments mediate Christ’s benefits.
"Accordingly," Walther writes, "preachers who do not clearly and plainly
proclaim the Gospel… are not faithful in the discharge of their ministry and inflict
great injury on men’s souls. Instead of advancing Christians in the knowledge of the
pure doctrine, they allow them to grope in the dark, nurse false imaginations in them, and
speed them on in their false and dangerous path."20 Martin Luther makes similar observations. Speaking about
bishops as servants of Christ, he says, "It is their duty to tend His sheep and give
them pasture. Therefore to give pasture is nothing else than to preach the Gospel, by
which souls are fed and made fat and fruitful, and that the sheep are nourished with the
Gospel and God’s Word. This alone is the office of a bishop."21
Luther speaks of the Gospel as "…a word of salvation, a word of grace, a word
of comfort, a word of joy, a voice of the bridegroom and the bride, a good word, a word of
peace,"22 and sees it
as the clear duty of every preacher to proclaim this precious Gospel. In fact, says Luther
in his Explanations of the Ninety-five Theses, "May every single sermon be
forever damned which persuades a person to find security and trust in or through anything
whatever except the pure mercy of God, which is Christ."23
Walther once again recapitulates Luther when he insists that only the Gospel brings
Christ’s benefits. In his 27th evening lecture he says, "According to
Luther’s description of the Gospel as the last will and testament of Christ, the
Gospel is not a doctrine teaching us how we make ourselves worthy in the sight of God, but
what we are to receive from God."24
The Gospel conveys, remits, gives Christ’s benefits and all that he has achieved for
us. The great sin of a heretic, then, in not preaching the Gospel is not so much that he
corrupts God’s Word, which he surely does, but that he deprives sinners of that
salvation which only the Gospel can bring.
Walther has no use for the sects, therefore, which insist upon inner spiritual
struggles before one can have certainty of faith. "For the confounding of law and
Gospel that is common among the sects," says Walther, "consists in nothing else
than this, that they instruct alarmed sinners by prayer and inward wrestling to fight
their way into a state of grace until they feel grace indwelling in them, instead of
pointing them to the Word and the Sacraments."25 Only the Word and the Sacraments convey grace.
And because of this belief that only the Word and Sacraments convey grace, Walther
warned forcefully against depending on one’s feelings as a sign that one had received
grace. In a report delivered in 1872 to the Synodical Conference,26 Walther stated,
We by no means deny that the Spirit of grace makes Himself felt in the hearts of
sinners… But it is a colossal mistake if the feeling which the enthusiasts arouse by
their praying and wrestling is regarded as grace. At best – for often this feeling is
effected by other causes, and not by God’s Spirit – that which the enthusiasts
call grace is a gracious effect produced by the Holy Ghost. But that grace by which we are
justified and saved is something outside us and not anything in us. Therefore when a
penitent sinner comes to a Lutheran pastor with the question: "Where may I, a lost
and condemned sinner, find grace?" the Lutheran pastor will answer him: "Comfort
yourself with God’s grace, as it is stored up for you in the Gospel and the holy
Sacraments. Believe what God tells you there, and be of good cheer because of the grace
which is granted to you in the divine Word. Receive absolution, and go to the Lord’s
Table, for it is there that God offers, imparts, grants, and seals to you His grace and
the forgiveness of all your sins."27
Dependence on feelings was one of Walther’s favorite targets because it created
such uncertainty and deprived sinners of comfort, pointing them finally to something in
themselves. In an essay delivered in 1859 he asserts.
The enthusiasts declare that they distinguish themselves from the papists in that they
are sure of their state of grace.28
Nevertheless, the enthusiasts revert to the papistic principle of justification because
their assurance of salvation rests not upon the eternally abiding Word, but upon their own
vacillating feeling; hence they are bound either to become hypocrites or often to lament
that they have lost Christ. It is for this reason also that they put forth such efforts to
arouse their feelings by all manner of means and that now this one and then another boasts
of his conversion, while in a short time they are obliged, because of their lack of
comfort, to return to the mourners’ bench.29
Much of the confusion regarding the distinction between Law and Gospel is the result of
a misunderstanding regarding the nature of faith. Faith is not a cause of forgiveness,
faith does not effect salvation, faith does not bring about any of the blessings which it
receives. Faith is pure receptivity. Faith simply receives that which is offered.
This point is important when Walther speaks of the Reformed view of the Lord’s
Supper. Once again he emphasizes the objective nature of Jesus’ redemption as
expressed in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is not faith which produces the
benefits received in the Lord’s Supper; faith simply receives that which has been
procured by Christ and is offered in the Sacrament.
By the words, "for you" He invited the disciples to ponder the fact that they
were now receiving and eating that body by the bitter death of which on the cross the
entire world would be redeemed. He meant to remind them that they ought to break forth
with joy and gladness because the ransom that was to be paid for the sins of the whole
world was, so to speak, put in their mouths. Offering the disciples the cup which He had
blessed, Christ said: "This is the cup, the new testament in My blood, which is shed
for you." Why did He add the words "shed for you"? He meant to say:
"When receiving the blood of redemption in this Holy Supper, you receive at the same
time what has been acquired on the cross by means of this sacrifice."30
Thus, also in his view of the Lord’s Supper, the part which faith plays is simply
that of receiving. Faith has no merit of its own; its merit lies in that which it
receives. Faith takes no credit; faith only receives credit.
Thus, faith is a powerful thing for faith has Christ and everything He offers –
forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. And only the one with faith has these things. The
one with faith has God Himself as Father and an eternal kingdom as an inheritance. Yet
faith, of which such glorious things can be said, contains no merit of its own except that
which it receives from Him in whom faith trusts.
And so everything comes from God through Christ and in the matter of salvation only God
is glorified and men can be comforted because salvation is only by grace. Lex semper
accusat. (The Law always accuses.) The Law must be preached. If it is not, no one will
ever embrace the Gospel. And the law must not be softened in its proclamation to
impenitent sinners. It must be preached to them in its full severity. No preacher has the
right to withhold the law from his messages for in so doing, he will undermine his own
purpose to preach the Gospel most effectively because only sinners aware of their
condition and hopelessness in and of themselves in the face of a righteous God will desire
grace. Therefore the law must be preached. But the Law always accuses; it never comforts;
it cannot save. Only the Gospel can actually deliver forgiveness, life and salvation.
Therefore it is a terrible thing for a preacher to mix or confuse Law and Gospel and, as
Walther says in his fourth thesis, echoing the Formula of Concord, "The true
knowledge of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is not only a glorious light,
affording the correct understanding of the entire Holy Scriptures, but without this
knowledge Scripture is and remains a sealed book."31
PART II –
THE CHURCH TODAY
Almost exactly a year ago in Augsburg, Germany on October 31, representatives of
Lutheran churches all around the world and representatives of the Roman church signed a
document called Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. According to
this document, those signing it declared that they had reached a consensus on the doctrine
of justification and that the condemnations which the two churches had directed at each
other during the 16th century no longer apply to the way the churches
understand this teaching today. I am assuming that all of you are somewhat acquainted with
the events surrounding the signing of this document since they have been pretty well
publicized over the last few years. The Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Synod, the
Evangelical Lutheran Synod and many other Lutheran churches around the world declined to
sign the Joint Declaration, insisting that consensus had not been reached and that
it would be dishonest to sign a document stating that it had. The ELCA, of course, has
signed the document.
Has the Church of Rome has changed its position on Purgatory, merits of the saints,
prayers to the saints, indulgences, the place of human works in the meriting of salvation,
works of supererogation, the mass as a sacrifice of Christ by the priest for the sins of
the living and the dead? Nowhere will you find any indication that Rome has changed its
positions on any of theses teachings, all of which impinge directly on our understanding
of the doctrine of justification.
Neither has Rome has changed its definition of the word ‘grace’. And
it’s extremely important to point this fact out. Because in the Joint Declaration the
participants all claim that they agree that sinners are saved entirely by God’s
grace. However, nowhere in the document did they define the word ‘grace’, an
incredibly damaging omission since Lutherans and Roman Catholics have completely different
definitions of this word. Lutherans define grace as the free and undeserved favor of God,
whereby without any merit or worthiness on our part, He declares sinners righteous and
just in his sight for the sake of the all-sufficient life, suffering, death and
resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. According to the Lutheran view, justification is
forensic and takes place outside of us. It is not something that happens in us. It is
rather a declaration of God upon us. For the sake of what my Son Jesus Christ has done as
your substitute, keeping all my law perfectly on your behalf, bearing your sin and guilt,
while on the cross, enduring God’s wrath upon your sin, dying your death and rising
again to life, because of what he has done, I declare you just, righteous in my sight,
innocent of all guilt. This is the Lutheran view of grace and justification.
This is not by any means the Roman view of grace and justification. The Roman view of
grace teaches that through His suffering, death and resurrection Jesus Christ merited
grace for mankind. Grace is a power or virtue or quality which is infused by God, poured
by God, so to speak, into the sinner. This grace, which is a quality or power from God, is
an action whereby God pours into the human heart the gifts of faith, hope and charity and
thus gives humans the ability to please God with their good works and thus merit His
favor. Thus justification takes place, according to the Roman view within the human being.
And grace, in the Roman view does not exclude works but makes possible those works which
merit salvation. To put it very simply, Lutherans believe that the work of Christ is mans
justification (objective justification); Rome believes that the work of Christ makes
possible man’s justification. Grace, according to the Roman view makes it possible
for human beings to do those works which merit God’s favor and aid in attaining
salvation. Grace comes from God but works also merit salvation. Lutherans reject all works
as meriting salvation. Lutherans believe St. Paul who says, "Therefore by the deeds
of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight." Romans 3:20. Lutherans believe
St. Paul who says, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from
the deeds of the law." Romans 3:28 Lutherans agree with St. Paul who says,
"…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in
Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith
in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be
justified." Galatians 2:16 Lutherans believe St. Paul who says, "By grace you
have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not or
works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 As you can see, the Lutherans and
the Roman Catholics have very different definitions of the word ‘grace.’ And the
classical Roman view is not biblical.
But the Joint Declaration, which claims that Lutherans and Roman Catholics have
arrived at consensus on the doctrine of justification, scrupulously avoids defining the
word ‘grace.’ Why? In order that agreement may be declared, an agreement which
both parties know very well does not exist. As Robert Preus noted in his book, Justification
and Rome, the participants in the Lutheran/Roman Catholic dialogues appear to have
tacitly agreed to a dialogue process which involved massive equivocation, in order that an
artificial and entirely misleading consensus might be declared.32
Thus, the objective of the dialogue process was not that the participants might
together arrive at the truth. The objective was to declare agreement, even if such a
declaration had to ignore the fact that words were being defined differently. The
objective of the dialogue process was not to promote doctrinal harmony in the church which
is the body of Christ and thus hidden from the eyes of the world. The objective of the
dialogue process was to declare doctrinal harmony to all the world, knowing that such a
declaration was not based on agreement on the truth, but on a common commitment to an
objective. In other words, we wish to be united; therefore, we will declare ourselves to
be united.
Perhaps you consider my assessment of the intentions of those involved in the dialogue
process too harsh. Then please listen for just a few moments to official Roman Catholic
theology on this subject. During the very midst of the dialogue process, about a year
before the Joint Declaration was signed, around the time the ELCA declared their
commitment to the Joint Declaration, the Roman Catholic Church stated,
"eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward given by God for
good works and merit."33
Let me repeat that. "Eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward
given by God for good works and merit." These words are not ambiguous. They may be
false doctrine, but they are certainly easy enough to understand.
The historic positions of Lutheranism and Romanism are well-known to and understood by
any serious theological students. Even confirmation students in our Lutheran churches, if
they have good pastors, know not only their own teaching on the topic of justification,
but that of the Roman Catholics as well. This is because Rome, like the Lutheran Church,
has clearly stated its position in the past. Consider, for example, Rome’s
declarations at the Council of Trent – very relevant to our discussion today. Let me
share some of them with you.
Canon 9 If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that
nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and
that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his
own will, let him be anathema (cursed).34
Canon 11 If anyone says that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the
justice (righteousness) of Christ or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of
the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and
remains in them, or also that the grace by which we are justified is only the good will of
God, let him be anathema.35
Canon 12 If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine
mercy, which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that
justifies us, let him be anathema.36
Canon 24 If anyone says that the justice (righteousness) received is not preserved and
also not increased before God through good works, but that those works are merely the
fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of its increase, let him be
anathema.37
Canon 32 If anyone says that the good works of the one justified are in such manner the
gifts of God that they are not also the good merits of him justified; or that the one
justified by the good works that he performs by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus
Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit an increase of grace, eternal
life, and in case he dies in grace, the attainment of eternal life itself and also an
increase of glory, let him be anathema.38
At this point perhaps someone will say, "But that is Rome in the 1500’s.
Things have changed quite a bit since then. Well, then, let’s look at the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, (1994) which is described by Pope John Paul II as a catechism,
which shows, "carefully the content and wondrous harmony of the catholic faith."39
We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and
do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to
persevere ‘to the end’ and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God’s eternal
reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ.40
By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces
to merit it.41
With justification, faith, hope and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience
to the divine will granted us.42
Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the
righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.43
No one can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion. Moved by the
Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to
attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.44
The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians
and that the justified man is still bound to keep them; the Second Vatican Council
confirms: "The Bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord… the
mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that
all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the
Commandments."45
Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and secondly to
man’s collaboration.46
Those who believe that significant changes in Roman Catholic doctrine have actually
brought us closer together in our understanding of justification are in a dream world,
blindly listening to the ecumenical spin-masters. Consider the fact that one month before
the signing of the Joint Declaration, the Vatican released a new edition of its Manual
of Indulgences. According to Agence de presse internationale catholique, a
French language news agency in Switzerland, "This manual of a hundred pages,
published by the Apostolic Penitencery, the Vatican body responsible for matters of
conscience, explains in 33 points the concrete methods for remission of sins – by
prayer, receiving the sacraments, works of charity and acts of penance."47 In connection with the release of this
manual, Vatican theologian, Ivan Fucek, a Jesuit priest stated that "Catholic
doctrines on indulgences and Purgatory, approved by the Council of Trent in the 16th
century, were a doctrine of ‘faith’ and therefore not up for discussion."48
In the document entitled Incarnationis Mysterium, also known as the Bull of
Indiction of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, Pope John Paul II states that
"every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be
purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This
purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment of sin’, and
this expiation removes whatever impedes full communion with God and with one’s
brothers and sisters."49
According to this same decree,
All the faithful, properly prepared, can fully enjoy, throughout the Jubilee, the gift
of the indulgence, in accordance with the following norms.
While indulgences granted either generally or by special rescript remain in force
during the Great Jubilee, it should be noted that the Jubilee indulgence also can be
applied in suffrage to the souls of the deceased: such an offering constitutes an
outstanding act of supernatural charity, in virtue of the bond which, in the Mystical Body
of Christ, unites the faithful still on pilgrimage here below and those who have already
ended their earthly journey. Then, too, the rule that a plenary indulgence can be gained
only once a day remains in force during the entire Jubilee year.50
The Bull then enumerates various ways in which the indulgence can be acquired through
certain pilgrimages, certain acts of charity and so on. Consider once more what The
Catechism of the Catholic Church says. What is an indulgence?
An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose
guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains
under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the
minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the
satisfaction of Christ and the saints.
An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the
temporal punishment due to sin. Indulgences may be applied to the living or the dead.51
Quite recently, on September 29, 1999, in fact, Pope John Paul II held a General
Audience in which he addressed the topic of The Gift of Indulgences. "The
point of departure for understanding indulgences is the abundance of God’s mercy,
made manifest in the cross of Christ. Jesus crucified is the greatest
‘indulgence’ that the Father has offered humanity, allowing the forgiveness of
sins and the possibility of filial life (cf Jn 1:12-13) in the Holy Spirit (cf Gal 4:6; Rm
5:5; 8:15-16)."52 I
would like to make two observations.
First, the pope says, "Jesus crucified is the greatest
"indulgence." (Emphasis added) He is the greatest indulgence? This would
certainly imply that he is not the only indulgence. And indeed, Roman Catholic doctrine
holds that works of supererogation performed by the saints are added to the treasury of
merits available for application to the faithful upon the performance of sincere acts of
penance. Within the Roman Catholic doctrinal system Jesus truly does lose his place as the
one to whom alone glory is given in matters of salvation. It is no surprise then to hear
this pope calling Jesus’ mother Mary co-redemptrix (co-redeemer).
Second, the pope says, "Jesus crucified is the greatest ‘indulgence’
that the Father has offered humanity, allowing the forgiveness of sins…."
(Emphasis added) In the Roman view, once Jesus has completed his mission as Savior,
forgiveness is now available, justification is now possible, reconciliation now can and
may happen. But within Roman Catholicism there is no concept of a God whose wrath has been
completely stilled by the sacrifice of His Son. They cannot, therefore, properly
understand Jesus’ words on the cross, "It is finished." John 19:30 What did
Walther say? "The true knowledge of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is
not only a glorious light, affording the correct understanding of the entire Holy
Scriptures, but without this knowledge Scripture is and remains a sealed book."
Within Roman Catholicism there is no concept of complete and total forgiveness,
according to which God would actually say to a sinful world, "You are now completely
righteous and innocent in my eyes, because of what my Son has done for you." The
teaching of objective justification is foreign to Roman Catholic ears. They cannot
properly understand the words of John the Baptizer who said, "Behold the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29 They cannot properly understand the
words of St. Paul, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses to them, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation."
2 Co 5:19 In fact, what does Pope John Paul II say in this same document to which I have
been referring? "In light of this principle it is not difficult to understand how
reconciliation with God, freely offered and rich in mercy, implies at the same time a
laborious process, which involves man’s personal responsibility and the Church’s
sacramental mandate. For the pardon of those sins committed after baptism, this process is
centered on the sacrament of penance…."53
Again what does Walther say? "The true knowledge of the distinction between the Law
and the Gospel is not only a glorious light, affording the correct understanding of the
entire Holy Scriptures, but without this knowledge Scripture is and remains a sealed
book."
Roman Catholic doctrine hasn’t changed. The issues dividing Rome from the Lutheran
Church are no different today than they were in the 1600’s, all of the ecumenical
hype notwithstanding. Luther’s hope that the Church of Rome would be reformed and
come to embrace the pure Gospel did not materialize in his day, nor has his hope been
realized today. And the Joint Declaration is an act of treason on the part of those
who, bearing the name Lutheran, signed it.
In this day of what approaches ecumenical mania a sober reading of Walther’s Law
and Gospel will provide a beneficial inoculation against the feverish rush toward new
and wrong declarations of fellowship or mutual understanding. Where true unity exists, the
church rejoices in her declaration of fellowship or consensus or convergence. But when the
doctrine is not purely taught and believed by the participants, when the Law is called
Gospel and the Gospel is so conditioned that it turns into Law, such declarations not only
lack integrity, but also serve to destroy the very church they claim to unite. One wonders
what would have happened had the Lutheran participants in the Lutheran/Roman Catholic
dialogues insisted that a proper distinction between Law and Gospel be an essential part
of the discussions and any subsequent agreements. It is hard for me to imagine that a
declaration of consensus would ever have been reached. For this distinction, which was at
the heart of the Reformation, is one which Rome to this very day does not understand.
But would a heavier emphasis on objective justification during the Lutheran/Roman
Catholic dialogues have resulted in a clearer agreement on the article of justification
than that which was achieved? Quite the contrary! In my view, had the Lutherans insisted
on presenting the actual Lutheran view on justification, that in Christ God truly
reconciled the entire world to Himself, it is probable that a more honest conclusion would
have been reached – that is, we are clearly not in agreement on the article of
justification. And indeed, while liberal Lutherans around the world cling feverishly to
their Joint Declaration, believing it to be a true ecumenical breakthrough, we hear
Rome saying, "that the Roman Catholic condemnations, made at the time of the
Reformation, might still apply to points of Lutheran doctrine as outlined in the joint
declaration."54
CONCLUSION
As we consider how we Lutherans can witness to the world most effectively today, it
would be wise for us in the Missouri Synod especially to listen to the voice of our most
esteemed theologian whose words are extremely timely in an age which more and more
despises the truth and despises even the claim that there is such a thing as religious
truth.
In a Reformation sermon preached in 1858, Walther concludes his sermon with the
following words of warning and encouragement.
But, my friends, the fact that the Lutheran Reformation was an actual and therefore a
complete one is …important for us…because it comforts and encourages us in the
face of the deterioration under which the church of the Reformation suffers at the present
time. For if the Reformation was a work of God, w2hich anyone can easily see who compares
it with God’s Word, why should we be discouraged? Men may mock and despise such a
work, but they cannot destroy it. People may forsake the fortress of our church and rob
themselves of their heavenly treasures, but they cannot destroy this fortress. It stands
in the midst of the ocean of the world, exposed to the waves of unbelief and error,
assailed by the most fearful weapons of the mighty and wise of the world, hidden by the
very clouds of heaven, withdrawn from the eyes of men by the smoke of battle, covered with
offenses, yes already seeming to totter. But, take heart! It does not fall, because it is
built on a rock which lies deeper than the ocean of the world, upon the rock of the words
of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ the cornerstone, upon the rock of the
eternal Word of God itself. For God’s Word is nothing else than Luther’s
doctrine, and Luther’s doctrine is nothing else than God’s Word. Why then should
we despair? For "all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord
endureth forever." Therefore, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! "God’s Word and
Luther’s doctrine pure Shall to eternity endure!" Amen.55
1. Arthur
Drevlow, Ed., C.F.W. Walther: The American Luther, (Mankato, MN: Walther Press, 1987),
151.
2. This
description of Walther’s emphasis on justification is provided by Franz Pieper, noted
Missouri theologian, professor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and president of the
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Franz Pieper, Dr. C. F. W. Walther as Theologian,
Concordia Theological Monthly, Vols. 55 & 56 (December, 1955 & January, 1956).
3. Law and
Gospel, 403.
4. Ibid.,
268.
5. Ibid.,
269.
6. Ibid.,
271.
7. Ibid.,
272, italics in the original.
8. Ibid.,
273, italics in the original.
9. Ibid.,
264.
10.
Ibid., 260.
11.
Ibid., 260.
12.
Ibid., 129.
13.
Ibid., 145.
14.
Ibid., 136, italics in the original.
15.
Franz Pieper, Dr. C. F. W. Walther as Theologian. Concordia Theological Monthly,
Vol. XXVI (December, 1955), 921.
16.
Preached, Easter Day, 1846, translation by Daniel Preus. Mark 16:1-8 was apparently one of
Walther’s favorite pericopes. He preached on this text no less than 16 times.
17. Law
and Gospel, 79.
18.
Sermon on Mark 16:1-8, Easter, 1846.
19.
Ibid.
20. Law
and Gospel, 276.
21. Luther’s
Works, Jaroslav Pelikan and Walter A. Hansen, Eds. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 1967) vol. 30, 134. Subsequent references to this 55 volume set of Luther’s
writings will be abbreviated LW.
22. LW,
31, 231.
23.
Ibid., 209.
24. Law
and Gospel, 291.
25.
Ibid., 153.
26. The
Synodical Conference was a federation of American Lutheran synods organized in 1872 by
confessionally minded Lutheran church bodies for the purposes of promoting unity in
doctrine, external expression of such unity, mutual encouragement in faith and confession,
providing a common front against false doctrine and working together for common goals. The
conference was dissolved in 1967 due to disagreements among some of the member synods.
27. Synodical
Conference Report, 1872, 23.
28.
This quotation from Walther contains a footnote at this point which reads, "The
Papists, as is well known, regard it as a criminal presumption for the ordinary Christian
to claim to be sure of his state of grace.
29.
C.F.W. Walther, The Lutheran Doctrine of Justification, an essay delivered at
Addison, Ill., 1859.
30. Law
and Gospel, 152.
31.
Ibid., 60.
32.
Robert D. Preus, Justification and Rome. (St. Louis: Concordia Academic Press,
1997), 33 & 111.
33. Ecumenical
News International, ENI News Service, June 25, 1998.
34. Canons
and Decrees of the Council of Trent, H. J. Schroeder, ed., (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder
Book Co, 1941), 43.
35.
Ibid.
36.
Ibid., 43-44.
37.
Ibid., 45.
38.
Ibid., 46.
39. Catechism
of the Catholic Church, (New York: Image, Doubleday, 1995) 6.
40.
Ibid., 500.
41.
Ibid., 504.
42.
Ibid., 536.
43.
Ibid.
44.
Ibid., 545. Emphasis added.
45.
Ibid., 558.
46.
Ibid., 545.
47. Ecumenical
News International, ENI News Service, September 23, 1999.
48.
Ibid.
49. Incarnationis
Mysterium; Bull of Indiction of the Great Jubilee of the Year, 2000, Catholic
Information Network, December 6, 1998.
50.
Ibid.
51. Catechism
of the Catholic Church,(Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1994), 370.
52. The
Gift of Indulgences, Pope John Paul II, General Audience, September 29, 1999.
53.
Ibid.
54.
Ibid.
55.
C.F.W. Walther, The Word of His Grace: Occasional and Festival Sermons, translated
and edited by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod Translation Committee,(Lake Mills, Iowa:
Graphic Publishing Company, Inc., 1978) p. 55.