The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1908, Page 50

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50

The Lutheran Pioneer.

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Justification Before God.

(A paper read before Immanuel Lutheran Conference, and
published by its request.)

III.
We become righteous by the obedience of Christ,
in whom God has justified the world.

3.

We have spoken of the object of Christ’s obe-
dience, of the work of redemption. Many persons
will confess that Christ has redeemed men, but they
do not realize what this means. To set forth clearly
what Christ has accomplished by His obedience, we
say that in Him God has justified the world. This
must have been the result of Christ’s obedience,
unless He failed in His work of taking away the
sin of the world. Scripture expressly teaches that
the redemption obtained by Christ means forgive-
ness. We read of Christ in Eph. 1, 7: .“In whom
we have redemption through His blood, the for-
giveness of sins.” By receiving remission we be-
come righteous. Jeremiah calls Christ “The Lord,
Our Righteousness,” Jer. 23, 6; 33, 16. If Christ’s
redemption means forgiveness, righteousness, then
if means man’s justification; for justification con-
sists in forgiveness. That we were declared just
when Christ died is taught in Rom. 5, 8—10. That
this justification applies to all men is seen from
Rom. 5, 18. 19. We are told in 2 Cor. 5,-19: “That
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Him-
self, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”
Not imputing trespasses to the world is justifying
the world. St. Paul says of Christ, Rom. 4, 25:
“Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised
again for our justification.” “For” means the same
in both statements, namely, “because of,” “on ac-
count of.” Because our sins were laid on Christ,
He died; because justice was satisfied, He was set
free, was acquitted, and we in Him. His justifica-
tion is our justification; for He bore our sins.
As He bore the sins of the world, the world was
declared just, when Christ was raised again.

To deny that God, at the death and resurrection
of Christ, has justified the world means to deny
that Christ has redeemed, bought free, the world.
We were under condemnation on account of capital
crimes deserving eternal death. Christ came to

free us by paying the price required of God, if He-

should declare us free from condemmation, if He
should acquit us and pronounce us righteous. Now,
if Christ has succeeded in His mission, if God has
accepted the ransom, then God has thereby declared

us free from condemnation, He has justified us.
If God has not justified the world, that is to say,
declared the whole world free from their sins and
righteous in His sight, then we cannot say that
Christ has redeemed men. If, as some say, Christ
has only made it possible for God to forgive the
world, if men now do their share, then Christ has
only partly redeemed us, and men must work out
the other portion of redemption; then Christ has
only partly reconciled us, and men must do their
then
Christ has given part of the needed ransom, and
men must furnish the remainder.

But where does Scripture speak of Christ’s work
in such a manner? No one has the right to, add
the word “partly,” when the Bible teaches that
Christ has redeemed us, bought us, given the re-
quired ransom, reconciled us to God. ‘To say that
God has forgiven or justified the world in Christ
is but another way of saying that God has accepted
Christ’s work of redemption. We cannot give up
the statement that God has forgiven or justified the
world without at the same time surrendering Serip-
ture’s teaching concerning redemption.

Through the redemption that is in Christ, for
the sake of Christ?s obedience, God forgives us,
justifies us by grace, without works. If a person
claims that we must do some work to move God to
declare us just, if you want God to count you right-
cous on account of your doings, your obedience to
the Law, you reject the grace of God and declare
that Christ died for naught, as St. Paul says, Gal.
2, 21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for
if righteousness come by Law, then Christ is dead
in vain.” You then reject Christ and His redemp-
tion, as is also taught Gal. 5, 4: “Christ is become
of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified
by the Law; ye are fallen from grace.” God for-
gives only through Christ, in whom He has already
forgiven the world.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift,
for the gift of His Son, our Redeemer, whose blood.
cleanses us from all sin! . J. Pu. $8.

part to finish the work of reconciliation;

Not Weary.

The Rey. Dr. Chalmers tells of a man in Glas-

gow whom he went to see twenty-one times without.

being received. But he did not grow weary, and
the nexf time the dying infidel invited him in be-
cause he wanted to see the man that had grit
enough to stand twenty-one refusals.

‘