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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 294

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294

II. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

Subjective and Objective Justification
Le a de r’s

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Gui de

Session 1

Photo: Erik M. Lunsford

Subjective justification means the justification of the
individual. Subjective justification talks about the way in
which Christ’s work comes to you through the Gospel and is
received in faith.

2. The Factors in Subjective or Individual
Justification

• What Christ has done
The foundation of justification is what God has done in
Christ. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world (John 1:29). He bore the curse of the law in our
stead, so that we would be free from it (Gal. 3:13). He has
redeemed us with His blood (1 Peter 1:18–19), the blood
that cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7).

Subjective and Objective Justification
Leader’s Guide

• The Gospel
The Gospel is the Good News about what God has done
in Jesus Christ. But it is not only good “news” in the
sense that it is informational. The Bible also speaks of the
Gospel as a promise. One knows and accepts information.
One trusts — or does not trust — a promise. “But the
Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the
promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those
who believe” (Gal. 3:22). Our Lutheran Confessions put it
this way:

Session 1:

Introduction of Terms
Did Jesus die for the sins of the whole world, or did He
die only for the sins of those who believe in Him? Has the
entire world been justified, or only those who believe?
In The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, we use terms
like subjective (individual) justification and objective
(general or universal) justification to answer the above
questions. In this Bible study we examine these terms and
what they mean. We also seek to discuss their scriptural
foundation and why these terms are important.

1. Subjective or Individual Justification

Most of the time, when we talk about justification, we talk
about the justification of the individual person. Justification
means that God forgives sin and declares an individual
righteous. Read Romans 4:5–8:
“To the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just
as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom
God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are
those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are

Justification is thus by faith, not by works. God justifies
a person when that individual hears the Gospel and the
Holy Spirit creates faith in the Gospel in that person.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the
word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).

• Faith
Faith is trust in this promise. It is believing God’s promise
and, as such, it is the instrument and means by which we
cling to Christ. Christ is given to us through the Gospel
and received only in faith. Faith is individual and personal. It is the person who believes; therefore, one person
cannot believe for another person. Faith is a gift from
God; it is not anything a person can produce in himself or
herself (Col. 2:12; Phil. 1:29; John 6:28–29). We are justified by
faith (Rom. 3:28).

Faith receives what God promises in the Gospel:
forgiveness of sins on account of Christ. The Gospel
promises Christ’s righteousness to the individual:
Christ’s righteousness as atonement and His fulfillment
of the Law. This is what is called subjective or individual
(personal) justification because it speaks about how God
justifies and saves individuals when they believe His
Gospel promise. Here, subjective does not mean “only
according to one’s opinion” or “not really true.” It means
that justification spoken of in this way concerns the
subject, or the individual person.
“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from
works of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
Leader’s Guide |

2019 Convention Workbook

“But since justification takes place through a free promise,
it follows that we cannot justify ourselves. Otherwise,
why would a promise be needed? And since the promise
cannot be grasped in any other way than by faith, the gospel
(which is, strictly speaking, the promise of the forgiveness
of sins and justification on account of Christ) proclaims
the righteousness of faith in Christ, which the law does not
teach.” (Ap IV, 43)1

covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will
not count his sin’” (Rom. 4:5–8).

Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert, eds., The Book of Concord: The Confessions
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000), 127.

2 | Subjective and Objective Justification | Session 1

3. Things to Watch for When Talking
about Subjective or Individual Justification
• Christ has accomplished salvation.
What Christ has done on the cross and through the
empty tomb is sufficient for the salvation of all people.
Our salvation does not need to be, in fact cannot be,
supplemented by anything beyond what Christ has
already accomplished in His life and death, nor by
anything we may or must do. Thus, salvation is never
something like this:
Christ’s work + our works = salvation.
God wants us to do good works. But Christians do good
works because they are God’s children, not to become God’s
children or to remain God’s children. Good works are a sign
that we are children of God, or, in other words, a sign of
faith. The absence of good works is a sign that someone is
not a child of God and does not have faith.
Another false view of salvation looks like this:
Christ’s work + our faithfulness unto death = salvation.
Of course, we are admonished to stay faithful to Christ as
long as we live. But this faithfulness is not something we do
by our own power. Rather, God works faithfulness in us. By
means of His Gospel He preserves and strengthens our faith
so that we do not fall away from Christ.
So, this is the proper “salvation equation:”
Christ’s work + Gospel (Means of Grace) + God’s gift of
faith = salvation!
• The Gospel is not an offer.
We live in a consumer society. The customer is king, and
a multitude of goods vie for our attention. Special offers
flood our emails and social media. The Gospel, however,
is not an offer from God that we are free to choose or
not choose. It is the powerful Good News that creates
faith when and where it pleases God. It is the powerful
Word that makes alive those who are dead in their sins.
Whatever your path to faith is — whether you are a lifelong believer or someone who came to faith in Christ as
an adult — you became a Christian not because you chose
to, but because God created faith in you. He made you
a Christian. Maybe you think: “But I did choose to be a
Christian, I did choose the Gospel.” But if you “chose” the
Gospel, it is only because you could choose the Gospel.