LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.
Jesus says,
CANON
9: "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified;
in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order
to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way
necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will;
let him be anathema."
CANON
12: "If any one shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than
confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is
that confidence alone by which we are justified...let him be accursed"
Canon 14:
"If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified,
because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no
one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this
faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be
anathema."
Canon
24: "If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved
and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are
merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the
increase thereof; let him be anathema."
Canon
30: "If any one saith, that, after the grace of Justification has
been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of
eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any debt
of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in
Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him);
let him be anathema."
Canon 33: "If any one saith, that, by the
Catholic doctrine touching Justification, by this holy Synod inset forth in
this present decree, the glory of God, or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ
are in any way derogated from, and not rather that the truth of our faith, and
the glory in fine of God and of Jesus Christ are rendered (more) illustrious;
let him be anathema.
What you have been reading, thus far, is the Roman
church’s condemnation of Lutheran doctrine, especially that of Justification,
and still in force today. By the way, “anathema” means cursed of God. But it’s
not just Lutheran doctrine. The Augsburg Confession was presented as the
universal creed of Christianity on par with the Creeds.
And everyone agreed, for a few years, at least. However, the
fight remains over Justification and our reaction to Jesus’ words, “everyone enacting sin is a slave to sin.”
Here, Jesus leaves no middle ground. If you sin, no matter how small, you are a
slave to that sin, even if you were saved yesterday.
If you misunderstand justification; meaning, if you
misunderstand how Jesus is working in you to will and to do His good pleasure
(Phil. 2:13), then you will miss salvation. Because you will either think that
you are naturally powerful enough to prepare for free grace from God, that you
just need a little help along the way, or that you think the Holy Spirit does
not work through means.
We believe “…that in spiritual and divine things the
intellect, heart, and will of the unregenerate man are utterly unable, by their
own natural powers, to understand, believe, accept, think, will, begin, effect,
do, work, or concur in working anything, but they are entirely dead to what is
good, and corrupt, so that in man's nature since the Fall, before regeneration,
there is not the least spark of spiritual power remaining, nor present, by
which, of himself, he can prepare himself for God's grace, or accept the
offered grace, nor be capable of it for and of himself, or apply or accommodate
himself thereto, or by his own powers be able of himself, as of himself, to
aid, do, work, or concur in working anything towards his conversion, either
wholly, or half, or in any, even the least or most inconsiderable part; but
that he is the servant [and slave] of sin, John 8:34, and a captive of the
devil, by whom he is moved, Eph. 2:2; 2 Tim. 2:26. Hence the natural free will
according to its perverted disposition and nature is strong and active only
with respect to what is displeasing and contrary to God.” (SD.II:7)
As far as salvation, faith, grace, and forgiveness is
concerned, we obtain this not because of our own merits, meaning ANY work we
do, but freely for the benefit of Christ; through faith alone in Christ.
“Therefore there is a great difference between baptized and
unbaptized men. For since, according to the doctrine of St. Paul, (Gal. 3:27), all who have been baptized have put on
Christ, and thus are truly regenerate, they have now a liberated will, that
is, as Christ says, they have been made free again, (John 8:36); whence they
are able not only to hear the Word, but also to assent to it and accept it,
although in great weakness.” (SD.II:67)
For when we talk about being justified by Christ, being
turned into a free man, we are NOT talking about believers, after they have by
faith, having accepted the remission of sins for Christ’s sake should also be
renewed in the spirit of their mind. Neither is the issue whether or not the
renewal belongs to the benefits of Christ.
Neither is the issue whether or not repentance, contrition,
good intentions, love, or good works should follow such faith.
The chief issue is this: what is it that makes God receive
sinful man in to grace? What must and can be set over against the judgment of
God that we may not be condemned according to the strict sentence of the Law?
What must faith apprehend and bring forward, on what must it rely in order to
deal with God, and what intervenes between the sinner and eternal damnation?
Is it the satisfaction, obedience, and merit of the Son of
God, the Mediator? Or is it the renewal which had been begun in you all, the
love, and other virtues in you?
Justification is therefore not a process, but a promise, a
promise that creates and gives in reality what God says. A promise that says,
if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. God is not a liar and God is not
mocked.
Jesus is what makes God receive sinful man into grace. Jesus
is what is set over and against the judgment of God that we may not be condemned.
Jesus is what faith apprehends and brings forward and relies on to deal with
God. Jesus is our intermediary and interventionist between us and eternal
death.
Hopefully you see the importance of justification and the
fight that the church of the Augsburg
confession wages against the devil and this world. It is not hate-filled-labels,
or moldy history, nor is it “my church is better than your church”.
What we are interested in is the Truth. So, what we follow
is that truth. Since we find truth in the Augsburg
confession, we expect everyone to find that same truth. If we are seeking
like-minded believers, we ask what they think about the Augsburg Confession. If
they’ve never read it, we give them a copy.
For we want them to hear and believe what we hear and
believe: that Justification is a free gift from God, a promise, not a process,
that stands no matter what we do to it, because we did not make the promise,
neither would we, but God did by His Son. And if this Crucified and risen Jesus
Christ sets you free, then you are free indubitably.
Today marks the 487th anniversary of the presentation of that
Augsburg Confession, and the birth of the Lutheran Church
“On Saturday, June 25, 1530, at three o’clock in the
afternoon, Dr. Christian Beyer stood, walked toward the Emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire, Charles V, and began reading the Augsburg Augsburg
When Dr. Beyer finished reading, Dr. Brück took the German
copy of the Confession from him, handed both copies to the emperor, and said,
‘Most gracious Emperor, this is a Confession that will even prevail against the
gates of hell, with the grace and help of God.’ Thus was the Augsburg
"... [in this way the] courageous Lutheran laymen confessed their faith and told the
emperor and the Roman Church what they believed, taught, and confessed.
They relied on the promise of God’s Word, as contained in Psalm 119:46,
‘I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to
shame.’ The Augsburg
