Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 198

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198 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

Til

We also ask the Synodical Conference to adopt the following
resolution:
Resolved: The statement of the Common Confession,
“By His redemptive work Christ is the propitiation
for the sins of the whole world; hence forgiveness
of sin has been secured and provided for all men.
(This is often spoken of as objective justification.)
...2Cor. 5:19,”
does not settle the differences between the Synodical Con-
ference and the American Lutheran Church on the doctrine
of Objective Justification. For the doctrine that forgive-
ness of sin has been secured and provided for all men be-
longs to the article concerning Redemption, not to that of
Justification. And the American Lutheran Church has
never denied that the redemption of Christ covers all men,
whether they believe or not. (Cf. Dr. Lenski on Romans
5:16: “indeed all men were reconciled to God, and it is
possible to call this universal or world-justification, but
never in the sense of absolving every individual sinner of
his sins before and without faith, never in the sense of
abolishing the personal justification which God pronounces
only the instant He kindles faith.” Commentary, p. 379.)
But the ALC has persistently denied that “justification has
been pronounced on all men, or that God by the resurrec-
tion of Christ proclaimed all men justified in Him,” which
is what the term “objective justification” means. (Lenski
on Romans 5:19: “Nowhere in the Bible is any man con-
stituted or declared righteous ‘without faith, before faith,’
all asseverations and argumentations to the contrary not-
withstanding.” Commentary, p.388. Hence this statement
of the Common Confession does not harmonize with the
true doctrine of Objective Justification confessed by the
Synodical Conference in 1872 (see above, I), any more
than does the Declaration of 1938, which says:
“To this end He also purposes to justify those who
have come to faith.”
This means that the term “justification” applies only to
believers, to those who are “elected in view of their faith”
(Lenski’s Commentary on Romans 1:17), not to the “un-
godly,” nor to “sinners” (Lenski on Romans 4:5 and
Romans 5:16-19). ,
V

We also ask the Synodical Conference to adopt the follow-
ing resolution:

Resolved: We reject the resolution with regard to
Prayer Fellowship adopted by The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod in 1944, at its Saginaw Convention, since
it conflicts with the above-stated definition of unionism.
That resolution stated: “Joint prayer at intersynodical
conferences, asking God for His guidance and blessing
upon the deliberations and discussions of His Word, does
not militate against the resolution of the Fort Wayne Con-