The sacrifice of Christ and the Atonement of the Old Testament.

The sacrifice of Christ and the Atonement of the Old Testament.

Scripture explicitly states that the Atonement offerings of the Old Testament were models of the sacrifice of Christ. Hebr. 10, 1 says in relation to the annual and daily atonement sacrifices of the Old Testament: "The law has the shadow" (oxidv == shadow cast, image) "of the goods to come, not the essence of the goods themselves" (o0K avtnv THV ElkKOva TOV TPAYLATOV == not the actual representation of things). The following verses leave no doubt as to what is meant here by "shadow" and "essence". For it is explained in v.1b-14 that the real atonement for sins is not brought about by the Old Testament sacrifices, but only by the self-sacrifice of Christ. v. 4: "It is impossible to take away sins by the blood of oxen and goats"; likewise V. 11. On the other hand, the taking away of sins "is once done by the sacrifice of the body of Christ", v. 10; likewise v. 12.14. The Old Testament sacrifices were therefore, according to Scripture, only images of the sacrifice of Christ. In them, not the objective atonement for sins was carried out, but they were an actual indication of the objective atonement brought about by the sacrifice of Christ. The sacrifices of the Old Testament

Samosatenianorum, qui itidem verentur, ne per doctrinam de satisfactione Christi frigescat studium bonorum operum. [Google]

activam obedientiam a passiva in hoc merito separare. So especially also Quenstedt Il, 407. have been appropriately called a "real prophecy", which means: just as the atonement of man through Christ is prophesied in many scriptures of the Old Testament, the same prophecy is present in the act by which animals were offered up as atonement at God's command. In the exemplary, prophetic character of the Old Testament sacrifices lies the essential difference between these sacrifices and the sacrificial cult of the Gentiles. The Gentiles attributed real power of atonement to their sacrifices; the sacrifices in Israel had their meaning in that they were a prophecy of Christ's sacrifice. With regard to the power of the Old Testament atonement sacrifices, there are seemingly contradictory statements in Scripture. While Hebr. 10:4 says, "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins", we read in Lev. 17:11, etc.: For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it (namely, the blood of animals) to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul The trade-off is obvious. The blood of the sacrificial animals did not atone, that is, not in itself; but it typically atoned, that is, it represented Christ's atoning sacrifice to the Israelites and therefore, as a means of grace ordered by God, offered them the atonement to be effected through Christ. In this way, the believing Israelite attained forgiveness of sins through the proper use of the Old Testament atonement.!°°°

et apostolum facile tollitur; cum enim Moses Lev. 17:11 inquit: "Sanguis hircorum expiat peccata", Paulgs [?] Ebr. 10, 4 inquit: "Sanguis hircorum non expiat peccata": non expiat in se, sed typice, quatenus Christi sacrificium TAaotiK6v pro peccatis mundi adumbrat.[Google] — Quenstedt on the duplex usus of the victims of the Old Testament: /egalis (memory of sins) and evangelicus (presentiment of the sacrifice of Christ). (Syst. II, 943 sq. Baier III, 108.) The more recent views on the Old Testament victims are essentially based on the error that man himself must be reconciled "religiously-ethically" with God. (See Luhartdt, Dogm., p. 243; H. Schmidt and v. Orelli in RE. 2 XVI, 363 ff. 410 ff.) Holtzmann (Neutest. Theol. I 111 ff.) essentially takes the side of the old theologians in the conception of the "concept of sacrifice"; Nitzsch-Stephan, p. 600 f., differently. The interpretation of the individual parts of the Old Testament sacrificial ceremony leads beyond the task of a dogmatic compendium. But here we must remember that the vicarious satisfaction provided by Christ is clearly reflected in all its main ideas by the order of Old Testament atonement. We have summarized above what Scripture teaches about the vicarious satisfaction of Christ in three main points: 1. God according 379-380] To whom and for whom Christ had given satisfaction. The question to whom Christ had given satisfaction has already been sufficiently answered in the previous one, namely God, insofar as God is entitled to holiness and justice. Satisfaction has been given to divine justice, as demonstrated above. And since divine justice does not exist three times, but the one divine justice of the number after the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the old teachers are not wrong when they say that Christ also gave satisfaction to himself. Baier: "In so far as Christ gave satisfaction, he is regarded as a mediator: in so far as he himself also demanded satisfaction, he is to be regarded as God, as the author and avenger of the law, who by his nature is absolutely just like the Father and the Holy Spirit".!°° It is a scriptural thought that the one who gives satisfaction and the one who receives satisfaction are one and the same, 2 Cor. 5:19: dc Hv év Xpiotd KOOLOV KATAAAGOowV éavt@ [God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself]. to his inviolable justice demands of men the fulfillment of his law, and the transgressors of it have forfeited life. 2. Christ, taking the place of men, does enough for divine justice through his active and suffering obedience. 3. Through Christ's substitutionary action and suffering, God is now reconciled with men. All this is clearly illustrated in the Old Testament atonement offerings, especially in the ceremony of the great day of reconciliation. 1. The inviolable holiness and righteousness of God is expressed by the fact that God, in the transgressions of His law, demanded atonement from the transgressors who were killed and whose blood had to be brought before Him (namely, at the altar, on the great day of atonement into the holy of holies). 2. The fact that this was only a substitute, that is, that it was the sinner and not the sacrificial animal that was to die, was expressed by the fact that the one for whom the sacrifice was offered had to lay his hands on the unsuccessful sacrificial animal, confessing his sin and thus transferring it to the sacrificial animal. 3. That God made the sacrifice offered to be a sin offering is shown by the fact that He calls the blood of the sacrificial animal the blood of reconciliation, Leviticus 17:11: For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it [blood] to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. The reconciliation that took place was also represented by external events, e.g. on the great Day of Atonement, when the living goat, after the iniquity of the people was confessed over it and laid on its head, was led into the desert and released there.

Origen's odd idea, reminiscent of dualism, that Christ paid the ransom to the devil, among other things, must be rejected.!°°) Against this Quenstedt explains "The devil, by God's righteous judgment, is only the jailer of men, not their lord and judge, to whom a ransom should have been paid. Soli Deo, non diabolo, 6tpov persolvendum erat. [To God alone, not to the devil, AOtpov was to be paid.] 1°) To the question for whom Christ had given satisfaction, the answer is: a. Not for himself, because the Scripture consistently testifies that Christ was without sin for his Person; the Gpaptia [sin] which Christ bore (Jn. 1:29) and atoned for (1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10) was the actu forensi transmitted sin of man (2 Cor. 5:21; Jn. 1:29 etc.). That Christ also did not do the obedientia activa for himself, but for men, has just been explained, b. Not for the angels, neither for the good ones to complete their righteousness (some Reformed)!% nor for the evil ones (according to Origen and other

avti moAA ov [To whom did He give His soul as ransom for many?]; and answers: Ov yap 5n to be@ [Surely not to God.]. He then asks further: Mn tt ow te novnpe [Perchance, then, to the Evil One?]; and answers: Ovtoc yap expdatet skpatet nLOv, EMSC 60& NTO VAEP NLOV AV TO Avtpov, 1 Tov Inoov. wvyn KTA [The Evil One had us in his power until the ransom for us, the life of Jesus, was given him.]. But that it is a great error to make this teaching of Origen the actual church teaching up to Anselm is proven by Lehre und Wehre 1883, p. 308 ff. Even Origen does not only speak of the ransom of the devil, but also teaches a reconciliation of God, which happened because Christ, through the sacrifice of his body, made God gracious to man. Thus in Rom. 3:23 (cf. Thomasius, Dogmengesch. I, 388), the error of the Fathers of the Church, who are afflicted with the whimsical Origen idea, is that they add a rationalistic inference to a truth of Scripture. From the scriptural truth that sinners are given to the power of the devil through God's righteous judgment (1 Cor. 5:5; Hebr. 2:14, etc.), they concluded that the devil had acquired a right over sinners and could therefore demand a ransom.

reconciling death also extended to the angels" (Nitzsch, p. 294), but through the reconciliation of men. According to Scripture, human beings and the angels who have remained in God's fellowship form a holy family. That is why it is said of people who have become believers in Christ that they find their way here (mpoasAnav'sats) to the heavenly Jerusalem and to the myriad of angels (uvpidow ayyéA@v mavnyvpet, Hebr. 12:22-23), and that the angels in heaven rejoice over every addition to the family in the form of a repentant sinner (Luke 15:10). Because people are sinners To whom and for whom Christ had given satisfaction [English edition ~ 380-381 ] representatives of the apocatastasis) ° but c. for mankind, and that for all men. The fact that satisfactio vicaria applies to all people has already been discussed on all sides in the gratia univsrsalis.!°°° One can summarize briefly what Scripture teaches about perfection of satisfaction: The satisfaction given by Christ is perfect both intensively and extensively. It is intensely perfect inasmuch as God is completely reconciled with men through Christ's action, and therefore on the part of mankind no more action and their own goodness is required (rejection of the modern theory of guarantee, "deepened" theory of atonement), but only faith is required in order to be reconciled with God. But it is also extensively perfect, insofar as the complete reconciliation extends equally to all people, not only to those who are actually saved (the elect) but also to those who are actually lost. In discussing the sufficiency of the satisfaction of Christ, the question was also discussed whether a drop of the blood of Christ would have been a sufficient ransom for the sins of the world. The papists answered this they fell out of the holy family. By Christ's reconciling sinners with God, eiprvotomous 616 TOV Tov aVTOV aVTOV avTOV avTOV, they are restored to the heavenly family. Meyer and others who reject any limitation of t4 mévta and want to apply it to anything "existing" overlook the fact that there is a limitation in the text itself. The té mévta receives its closer definition and thus its limitation through the added site Ta ei Tic yng, sits Ta Ev TOs Ovpavoic, "be it on earth, be it in heaven" (those who are in heaven). As inhabitants of heaven, however, not all creatures are described in the Scriptures, but the heavenly Zétus is formed by the holy angels, the church of the firstborn and the spirits of the completed righteous (Heb 12,22.23).

things], Acts 3:21, Christ explains what is to be understood when He says Matt. 17:11 of John the Baptist's activity: dtoyatéotaots névt@v. The dmoKathotaoic mé&vtov thus happens through the testimony of Christ among Israel and in the Gentile world, and is actually carried out on the people who accept the testimony of Christ. In this way everything is produced in the way that God wants to have it in his kingdom, and it is also proclaimed in advance by the prophets. Correctly Nitzsch-Stephan (p.

describes "restoration" as "the realization of all old divine prophecies".

question in the affirmative in order to trade on the "surplus" merit of Christ.

blood of Christ is the blood of the Son of God and thus has infinite value even in the smallest part. Not the quantity but the quality of the blood shed by Christ, as the blood of the Son of God, gives it the infinite value of redemption. For this reason, however, the abundant shedding of the blood is not superfluous, but must be described as corresponding to the will and counsel of God. '°°8) Quenstedt appropriately reminds us of the following principle in this whole matter: Solus Deus optime novit, quantum ad plenam perfectamque pro peccatis nostris satisfactionem requiratur, et cur Filium suum unigenitum tot plagas, nec plures, nec pauciores, pati, nec minus sanguinis ac fuit effusum, effundi voluerit.... Quantum iustitia Dei acceptare debuerit, non ex nostra phantasia, sed ex Bei verbo depromendum est [Google]. In short, we consider all the acts and sufferings of Christ, as described in the Scriptures (Rom. 5:10 - Reconciled to God by the death of His Son’), to be the ransom, whereby enough is done for divine justice. According to the Old Testament model (Ex. 30:7-8; 3 Ex. 16:12-13 1°?) etc.) the high priestly ministry of Christ in the state of humiliation also includes the offering of intercession for the people. Isaiah 53:12 in the description of the work of Christ, besides the satisfactio also the intercessio is mentioned: He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. But Christ intercedes a. for all men, also for the ungodly, as he also bore the sins of these. Example: Luke 23:34 (intercessio generalis), b. especially, as head of the church, for the believers. Example: Joh. 17 (intercessio specialis). The purpose

collected, which is partly reproduced by Philippi IV, 2, pp. 95-98.

Heermann's hymn "Wo soll ich flichen hin", St. L. Hymnal, No. 230, V. 9: "Dein Blut, der edle Saft" etc.

Symbol of prayer." Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8. 382-383] of intercession is the granting of forgiveness of sins and preservation in the same, as can be seen from the examples given. The apparent contradiction between Luke 23:34 and Joh. 17:9 is balanced 1 Tim. 4:10. The high priestly office [sacerdotal] in the state of exaltation. The priesthood of Christ has not ceased with the state of humiliation. Scripture explicitly ascribes the priesthood to Christ even in the state of elevation. According to Hebr. 7:24 Christ has "an unchangeable priesthood" (anapaBatov éyet tv tep@ovvyv). And from this it is concluded, v. 26: Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost (gic 10 mavtEéc) that come unto God by him. But what is the high priestly activity of Christ in the state of exaltation? Not in the repetition of the atoning sacrifice, which Scripture expressly rejects, Rom 6:9-10; Heb 9:12, 16; 7:27 (intercessio Christi in statu exaltationis non est satisfactoria [the intercession of Christ in the state of exaltation is not satisfactory]), but in his intercession for the redeemed, so that they may_share in the salvation acquired once and for all (Epama€) (intercessio Christi in statu exaltationis est applicatoria). This is clearly taught in Scripture Hebr. 7:24, 26: évtvyyavew vaép avtov, scil, for those who come to God through him; John 2:1: Tapdé«Antov éyopev mpdc TOV Tlatépa Incobdv Xptiotov [we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous]; Rom. 8:34: evtvyyavet vaép nv. So intercession has to do with the gathering and preservation of the church. In Baier '° wants to leave undecided whether Christ's intercession for the redeemed is expressed in words and petitions—heavenly words and petitions, of course— (intercessio verbalis), or whether the intercession consists only in the fact that Christ, through his merit acquired in the state of humiliation, constantly moves God to be gracious to us (intercessio realis). But it is not advisable, as everywhere, to depart from the wording of Scripture. According to the text of Scripture, however, Christ himself speaks, not just his merit, Heb. 7:25: he ever liveth to make intercession for them, mavtote C@v sic TO évtvyyavetv brép adtTHV; Rom. 8:34 (literally translated): "who also is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us";!°7?

the right hand of God and presents the latter as a separate act. 1 Joh. 2:1: "we have an advocate (Ilapé«Antov) with the Father, Jesus Christ". That this intercessio is not a "pleading on the knees" etc. is self- evident, since it is the intercessio of "him who is at the right hand of God", Rom. 8:34. But one goes down under the Scriptures when one does not let Christ himself speak, but only the merit of Christ. Quenstedt has the right thing to do against the various forms of weakening the doctrine of Scripture.

high priestly office in the state of humiliation (the offering of a sacrifice of atonement by vicarious satisfaction). They transfer Christ's high priestly office to the state of exaltation, but they understand this to mean only the help that Christ gives to people in the work of their self-salvation, by preventing them from sins and encouraging them to a pious life through his word and example. '° It goes without saying that all modern fighters against the vicarious satisfaction also dismiss the high priestly function of Christ in the state of exaltation in the Socinian direction. According to Scripture, Christ's high priestly activity in the state of exaltation is based solely and exclusively on the satisfactio vicaria performed in the state of humiliation. The fact that in the case of sinning against the exalted Christ TAPAKANTOV EYOLEV TPOG Tov Tatépa. (1 Jn. 2:1-2), is based on the fact that Jesus is Christ dixatoc and at the same time kai adtdc AaoLds got mEpi TOV ALAPTLOV NLAV... Kai Epi GAov TOD KdoLLOD [we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous... the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world]. The same justification for Christ's effective, disgraceful prosecution évtvyyavel bréEp HudV Rom. 8:34:

denies without exegetical justification that the intercession vocalis et oralis is" (Rom 8:34).

way] expiationem peccatorum nostrorum Iesus in coelis peragit? and the answer: Primum a peccatorum poenis nos liberat, dum virtute et potestate, quam a Patre plenam et absolutam consecutus est, perpetuo nos tuetur et iram Dei interventu suo quodammodo a nobis arcet, quod Scriptura exprimit, dum ait, eum pro nobis interpellare. Your ab ipsorum peccatorum servitute nos liberat, dum eadem potestate ab omni flagitiorum genere nos retrahit et avocat: id vero in, sua ipsius persona nobis ostendendo, quid consequatur is, qui a peccato desistit: vel etiam alia ratione nos hortando et monendo, nobis opem ferendo, ac interdum puniendo, a peccati iugo exsolvit. [Google Xpiotoc 6 dxotavev, waAAov de Kat eyeptsic, which Meyer is right about remarks: "in which predicates his death is a death of reconciliation, his revival as S14 thy dtkaiwmow Nov (4:25)... is to be thought". By inserting the "transformation of mankind" into Christ's work of reconciliation (through the modern "deepened" atonement theory, guarantee theory), mapdKAntosc [Advocate] is reduced to a "stimulant" of moral improvement in man. As Grotius interprets reconciliation 1 John 2:2: Sensus est, (Christ) vires praestat, ne peccemus in posterum [The meaning is, (Christ) provides strength, so that we do not sin in the future ]. — The Papists falsify the doctrine of Christ's high priestly office in the state of exaltation a. by the so- called "unbloody" repetition of Christ's sacrifice in the Sacrifice of the Mass, thereby denying the épamaég [once] of Scripture (Heb 7:27; 9:12; Rom 6:10; Heb 10:14); b. by allowing Mary and the saints with their merits!° to intercede for men, thus placing Christ at their side as intercessor. On the question whether Christ is still interceding for his own after the Last Day, the old Lutheran theologians have also negotiated among themselves.!°°) Feurborn answered the question with No, Calov with Yes. Calov's opinion was also shared by Quenstedt. But the scriptural passages that deal with the intercession of Christ presuppose the conditions that existed before the Last Day, namely the gathering and preservation of the church. Thus, the scriptural evidence for Calov's and Quenstedt's view is missing. If reference is made to Hebr. 7:25, where it says of Christ: "He ever liveth to make intercession for them", Gottfried Hoffmann notes: One will have to agree with Hoffmann. The royal office of Christ. The Scriptures reveal the fact that Christ, the Redeemer of men, has also been given dominion over men and the universe. Scripture is very diligent to emphasize

impetrare possunt et sibi et aliis id, quod orando petunt.

the universal character of Christ's rule and to reject any thought of Christ's rule being only partial or territorially limited: Tavta poi zapedo0n b20 tod Tlatpdc pov (Matt. 11:27); mica éFovoia év ovpave kai Eni Tijc yc (Matt. 28:18); mavta vaétaéEv vKO Tov 1O0dac avtov (Ps. 8:7; Eph. 1:22; 1 Cor. 16:27); in that He has subjected everything to Him, o¥dév agiKkev abt avomotaKtov (Hebr. 2:8). The zavta [always] is specialized Dan. 7:13-14 (all peoples, people and tongues), Ps. 8:7-8 (He rules all things moving on earth, in the air, and in the sea), Ps. 110:2 (the enemies of Christ). In that Christ is subject to the All and ruled by Him is the royal office of Christ (officium Christi regium). That this dominion is given to Christ according to both natures, according to the divine nature essential, according to the human nature shared, but with distinction of states, and that Christ also rules according to the human nature not in absentia but present in the universe — all this was explained in detail in the genus maiestaticum and apotelesmaticum and in the doctrine of the esstates. It is scriptural to divide the omnipotence of Christ into the kingdom of power, grace and glory according to the different nature of the subjects and the different ways of governing °’’ The unbelieving people who have not accepted his gospel, as well as the apostate angels and irrational creatures for whom the gospel is not there, Christ rules with his omnipotence (regnum potentiae); the believing people who have not accepted the gospel of grace (tO sdayyédov THs yapitoc, Acts 20:24), he reigns by his revealed word in grace (regnum gratiae); the people who in this life were subjects in his kingdom of grace, he fills in that life with his revealed glory (regnum gloriae). In this sense the dogmatists say: Regium Christi officium triplex est: regnum potentiae, gratide et gloriae. The whole universe, all creatures as such, belongs to the power of Christ. The scriptural statements for this have just been quoted: ovoev &vvm0taxtov. Only those people who believe the gospel

respicit et diversimode gubernat. (Baier II, 128.) and are justified by faith belong to the kingdom of grace. Kingdom of grace and Church of God on earth (ecclesia militans) are synonyms. Rom. 5:1-2: Atkaimbévtes &« TictEMs siptvynv ExouEv* mpc TOV Osov,... TV Tpooayoyiv EoxiKapeEv TH Tiotet sic THY Yap TAbTHV év EoTIKApEV [Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.]; Acts 5:14: zpoceti#evto (namely TH éxKAnoia) ioTEvOVTES TO Kupio [Believers were the more added to the Lord (namely, to the Church)’’]. In the unbelievers, in the vioic tg GmeWeiac [children of disobedience,], the devil is 5 evepyv [the ruling power], Eph. 2:2.1°7®) The kingdom of glory is the eternal continuation of the kingdom of grace. Only those people who were membra ecclesiae militantis (Rom. 8:17), but they also certainly will be membra ecclesiae triumphantis, Rom. 5:2: KavyopEeba én’ EArid1 Tic 560ENs Tod Oeod. In the kingdom of glory also belong the holy angels according to Hebr. 12:22-23 etc.!°) It may be reminded here that in teaching and in public preaching one should not limit oneself to a mere mention of the three kingdoms and a sketchy description of them, but that in dealing with this subject one should - as one of our fathers used to say - "pull out all the stops". Of course, it does not have to be the registers of their own, but the registers of the Holy Scriptures, which are so detailed in their descriptions here. The regnum potentiae is also described in a special way with the specialization given in Scripture, and the regnum gloriae - also on the basis of Scripture - that is to say, "that the desire is awakened in Christians to enter heaven". The unity of kingdoms. Both the unity and the diversity of the realms are to be recorded on the basis of Scripture. These kingdoms are one kingdom inasmuch as Christ is the one and only Lord in all of them and

allow the kingdom of grace to extend only to the faithful, while others allow it to extend in some way to all people. So Quenstedt (II, 384). Quenstedt does not mix the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace in the manner of those who let Christ's kingdom of grace extend even from honor able pagans, but he wants to express that grace and means of grace are universal: Imo extendit Messias regnum gratiae suae, in totum terrarum orbem habitabilem. Nam sceptrum evangelicae potentiae e Zione emittens, Ps. 110, 3, longe lateque per universum mundum dominio admirabili derivavit.

also under the regnum gloriae, quo alias opposita ad eandem facultatem referri solent. (Baier, 1. c., p. 133.) Damnation is conceived as the reverse of the d6Gaotc. rules them completely uniformly, that is, according to His will and with His divine power and majesty. Scripture statements such as Eph. 1:21-23 very emphatically point to this unity: bzepdav@ ndons apyiic — Kai MAavtdsG bnétacev ONO Tos 1ddac adtod Kai adTOV (et eundem, and the same) é5MKEV KEMaAny DEP TAaVTE TH EKKAnoia [Far above all principality... and hath put all things under His feet and gave Him [et eundem, the same] to be the Head over all things to the Church.]. Keeping this unity present is of great practical importance. For it is a most consoling fact that Christ's sun, moon and stars, air, fire and water, devils and all enemies are no less subject than His Church and the holy angels. And as far as the unified regiment is concerned, Scripture clearly reveals that Christ rules the universe in the interest of the Kingdom of Grace or the Church.!° In other words, all things in heaven and on earth must serve the gathering and preservation of the Church. The kingdoms of this world are "a scaffolding for the building of the Church". Matt. 28:18-19: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, (topevévtec obv) and teach all nations.!°°! The dogmatists also correctly remind us that the kingdoms must not be separated, as if, for example, the use of divine omnipotence were excluded from the kingdom of grace and glory. Rather, both kingdoms presuppose the omnipotent King, who is essential according to his divine nature, and omnipotent according to his human nature. Scripture teaches very clearly that the gathering and preservation of the Church, like a work of divine grace, is also of divine omnipotence. In relation to the Church, divine omnipotence is active a. for the production and maintenance of the faith in the individual members of the Church. Eph. 1:19: " We believe according to the working of His mighty power"; Petr. 1:5: We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation"; the power of toyvpdtepos [the Stronger] must come over toyvpdc, [the strong man’’] if someone is to become a member of Christ's kingdom, Luke 11:21-22; b. for the protection of the church against the outside world.

kingdom of power is ordered to the kingdom of grace] (Systema IT, 383.)

TaVTA OvvEpyei sic aya8dv [All things work together for good to them that love God,]. That the world still exists only for the sake of the Church, says Christ Matt. 24:14. The same is said with regard to all external orders 1 Cor. 15:24-25. (Cf. Luther, St. L. VIII, 1166 ff.) Matt. 16:18: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against them." Cf. Luther’s: "A Mighty Fortress." The differences of the kingdoms. The differences of the kingdoms is also to be recorded on the basis of Scripture. So Christ very emphatically separates His kingdom of grace from the kingdoms of this world, when He says Joh. 18:36: My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (évted8Ev == Ek TOV KOOLOV tovtov [from this world]). "The Church of Christ is in the world but not of the world", that is: although the Church has her outward abode in the kingdoms of this world (Joh. 17:11, 15; 1 Tim. 2:2 etc.), she does not have the nature of the kingdoms of this world!°8 and is not built and governed in the manner of these kingdoms. Christ obtains the kingdoms of this world through the order of the worldly authorities and everything that belongs to this realm (external righteousness, external power, including parental power, and in general the relationship of superiority and subordination in the social realm); but his Church he collects, maintains and governs through his Word and the sacraments. It is only through these means in which the Holy Spirit is active (means of grace) that he works and maintains faith in the Gospel in people. For this purpose he gives his gifts in the Church, and in particular he has also instituted the public preaching office. (This matter must again be treated under the Doctrine of the Church.!°89) All those who want to use other means of church building than Word and Sacrament are acting

Baier III, 129.)

preaching office should be counted as a prophetic or royal office should not be fussed over, as has already been noted above. The ministry of preaching belongs to both offices, because Christ teaches in the church through the same and eo ipso rules through the same. It is much more important to note that Christ is the only teacher and regent in his Church, because preachers are only considered as causa ministerialis, that is, they do not have their own word to preach, but only Christ's. 1 Petr. 4:11: ei tic AaAst > AOyta Oeod [If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God ]. Matt. 28:20. The preachers should neither teach nor rule the church from their own head. Luther therefore urges all preachers to study the Scriptures diligently, especially the pastoral letters, "so that it will not be necessary to govern Christians out of their own human conceit". (Erl. 63, 148.) contrary to Christ's command and find extraordinary fools, since they do not build the church with the means they have chosen themselves, but only destroy it. — But not only world empire and kingdom of grace are to be separated according to the Scriptures. Also the kingdom of grace, which in a number of scriptures is connected with the kingdom of glory to form a unity (Joh. 5:24; 3:36; Col. 3:3; Gal. 4:26; Matt. 4:17 etc.), is sharply separated from the kingdom of glory in another number of scriptures. So e.g., 1 Joh. 3:2: ovam EMaVEPHYH TL EOOLEIa; Rom. 8:24-25: tT yap edad (with the tone on eAridt) Eomtinpev. The tremendous difference between the two kingdoms consists a. in the way of recognizing the divine things. In the kingdom of grace, all knowledge is mediated by word and faith (cognitio abstractiva), while in the kingdom of glory, seeing takes its place (cognitio intuitiva). 1 Cor. 13:12: "now we see through a glass, darkly (ev aiviypatt), but then face to face" (a1péammov mpoc mpdommov). Cf. v. 9-10. And it is of great practical importance to keep this difference strictly recorded. vast difference between the kingdom of grace and glory is b. the different external condition of the members of these kingdoms. In the kingdom of grace only humiliation, the cross and tribulation are to be expected; only in the kingdom of glory is lowliness transformed into glory, Acts 14:22: d10 TOAAOV OAiwEewv Set NH Lac ElosABEw Etc THV Baotrsiav tov Seov. If anything, it is clearly testified to by Scripture. ° Anyone who in this relationship mixes the kingdom of glory and grace, perverts the hope of Christians and falls into chiliastic dreams. The royal office of Christ as an article of faith. The existence of the threefold kingdom of Christ is an article of faith and therefore, on the basis of the Holy Scriptures, to be constantly and diligently inculcated. As for the kingdom of power,

(avEoic) comes vpiv tots HABopEevoig — Ev TH NEPA Ekeivn, 2 Thess. 1:5-10; Matt. 5:10-12; Rom. 8:18 ff. although its objects are visible, at least in part, we do not see Christ's dominion over them. Hebr. 2:8: " But now we see not yet all things put under him." Christ's mastery is hidden from the natural eye. On the contrary, it often has the prestige "as if not Christ but the devil were in the government.

detailed descriptions (angels and devils, the enemies of Christ, the unreasoning creature, etc.), inculcates the regnum potentiae Christi, so that we may believe it to our consolation. — As far as the kingdom of grace is concerned, it is true that the means by which Christ gathers and maintains this kingdom are audible and visible, namely the means of grace. But the kingdom itself is invisible; it is within the hearts of people who believe in Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit, Luke 17:20. 21: OvK epyetar Baotrsia tov teov peta TapatnpHoswMs — H Paotrsia tov tgeov Evtdc VUaV sottv; Petr. 2,5: oikoc avevpaticdc. But the scripture testifies that on earth there will always be and remain a Christian church in spite of the opposition of the devil (Matt. 16:18), the false teachers (2 Tim. 2:17-19) and the world (Joh. 16:33), and on the basis of the scriptures we believe the existence of the Church. — As far as the kingdom of glory is concerned, the words "It doth not yet appear what we shall be", 1 Jn 3:2. The kingdom of glory is the object of hope (éAzic) of Christians, which they have to wait for with patience (61' vaopovyc), Rom 5:2; 8:24-25. According to Scripture, it is part of the right shape of Christian life here on earth that the eyes of Christians should be constantly focused on the kingdom of glory. Those who have become believers in Christ are characterized by Scripture as éexdeyOuEvot THV aroKdAvyt tov Kvpiov nuov Inoov Xpiotov at the end of the world, Cor. 1:7-8. Therefore, as has already been pointed out above, a servant of the church must not merely mention the kingdom of glory at the end of public sermons in passing, but must deal with it in detail and make it clear to the reader, on the basis of the many scriptural passages that deal with eternal life, so that the Christian's daily life may be a life of Christian hope, for consolation in the tribulation and for the awakening and preservation of the heavenly sense.!°°°

39. Fallacies. * I. All Nestorianizing false teachers attack Christ's royal office. These halve Christ as king by excluding his human nature from the omnipresent rule in the kingdom of power and grace. So the Roman Catholics, the Reformed and the Reformed sects. This is set forth in detail in the doctrine of the communication of attributes. II. The Modern kenoticists. These exclude Christ according to the divine nature from the royal office by making him in the state of humiliation also according to the divine nature without omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience, and thus making him resign from the world government even during this time. According to the divine nature, the Son of God is said to have renounced the "divine way of being and working", although the Son of God clearly testifies to the contrary. This is explained in detail in the Doctrine of the states of Christ’. III. The Subordinators. These make Christ subordinate to the Father according to the divine nature ("God in the second sense of the word"). It is connected with this that they teach that the Son of God relinquished His dominion in the kingdom of glory. The point to be made here is this: On the one hand Scripture attributes to Christ an eternal reign, Luke 1:33; Eph. 1:21. On the other hand it speaks of a handover of the kingdom to the Father on the Last Day, Cor. 15:24. This handover of the kingdom is in substance the transformation of the temporal kingdom, in which Christ hiddenly reigned through word and external means, into the eternal kingdom, which is radiated by the revealed divine glory that is common to the three Persons. Therefore 1 Cor. 15:28 after the handing over of the kingdom does not say: "that the Father (6 zatip) may be all in all",!°8 but: "that God (6 $¢6c¢) may be all in all"!°8® TV. All those who in any

(Dogmatik 1 III, 208.)

thinks at this point, but the newer ones, including Meyer, insert their subordinationist dogmatics here. The subordinationist interpretation of the words tote Kat 6 vlog VIOTAYNOETAL TO VLOTAEOVTL AVTM TH TévtA_refutes itself, because the words deal with a subjugation that only occurs after the Last Day, whereas subordinationism is based on a previously existing relationship of essence. Regarding the form of human rule in the church. The Church is a strict monarchy (Matt. 23:8: "One is your Master, Christ; but you are all brothers"), in giving and returning of the kingdom, the Scriptures speak thus: Before the last day the Father gave névta to the Son (Matt. 11:27), and this so completely that the Father does not judge anyone (Joh. 5:22) and executes the judgment ev dvdpi through one man (Acts 17:31). On Judgment Day the Son again hands over tnv Baotrsiav te Seo kot matpt (1 Cor. 15:24). But how the handing over of the kingdom to the Son, which was allowed before the Last Day, leaves the trinitarian relationship completely intact with regard to the divine being and work (see: éy@ kai 6 Ilatip év éopev, Joh. 10:30; 0 &v sig TOV KOATOV Tod Hatpoc, Joh. 1:18; eyo ev TP NaTpi Kai Kai TaTIp EV ELLOl, Joh. 14:11; & Gv éxsivoc [the Father] zou tadta Kai 6 Yidcg Gpoimes moret, Joh. 5:19), then of course also the return of the kingdom to the Father on Judgment Day has nothing to do with the trinitarian relationship. All those who deny the numerical unity of the divine being and work in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is so clearly testified to in Scripture, and who can speak of a change in the Trinitarian relationship through the incarnation of the Son, are so prejudiced by their unchristian "dogmatics" that they cannot interpret passages like 1 Cor 15:24-28, but only insert them. They have their place outside the Christian, even outside the natural concept of God, as has been repeatedly pointed out earlier. They are completely in the dark. In our place they overlook the fact that the apostle explicitly describes the handing over of the kingdom as a renunciation of all dominions, powers and forces (v. 24) and accordingly positively determines the new order of things to the effect that "God (6 @e6c¢ is all in all" (v. 28). So we will probably have to leave it at Luther and Melanchthon's interpretation: Before the Last Day, Christ, to whom all things have been handed over, rules by divine power (Matt. 28:18 etc.), but invisibly, by means, through an apparatus of rule. After the Last Day, this apparatus of rule is abolished, and the clear Godhead directly penetrates everything. Melanchthon (quoted by Meyer): Deus... immediate se ostendens, vivificans et effundens in beatos suam mirandam lucem, sapientiam, iustitiam et laetitiam. [Immediately [without means] God shows Himself and vivifies and fills the blessed with His wonderful light, wisdom, righteousness, and joy] (Luther's detailed explanation of 1 Cor. 15:24 ff. St. L. VU, 1166 ff.) Meyer himself also finally says the right thing in the words: "that God may be the only and immediate all-determining principle in all members of the kingdom hitherto ruled by Christ". What keeps the subordinators from a factually correct understanding of the passage is the fact that they a priori do not consider the Son of God to be the one true God, but one subordinate, etepoc Sedc. As for the Son's being subject after the Last Day, it does not refer to the Son in his Trinitarian relationship, according to which he is one with the Father, the Father in him and he in the Father, in the Father's bosom and working in numerical unity with the Father, but to the Son insofar as he forms a unity with the Church, which, however, remains under God even after the Last Day. who wants to rule Christ alone through his word. The preaching office founded by Christ has only the power of the Word of God, that is, it can only command what is commanded in the Word of God. The things that are not commanded in God's Word (adiaphora) are ordered by the Christians themselves through mutual agreement. The most horrible intervention in Christ's royal office is in the Papacy (Antichrist kat! éGoynv, 2 Thess. 2:4). But against Christ's sole rule in the church are also a. all false teachers insofar as they seek to bring their own word to bear in the church (therefore called avtiyptatotantichrists, 1 John 2:18); b. all Protestant church fellowships with Romanizing tendencies, insofar as they want to subject the consciences of Christians to a church government beyond God's word, de jure or de facto. So not only Reformed sects, but See can RAADEEE and the state churchmen.!%°°) V. All those who mix worldly realm and kingdom of grace, or church and state. This includes: a. Those who make the Church a world empire by building the Church, instead of through the Word of God, with all earthly means belonging to the rich of this world (external violence, natural morality, culture, etc.), thus eo ipso depriving the Church of her peculiar character; b. who seek to turn the state into a spiritual kingdom by governing the state according to "Christian principles" etc. instead of reason with God's word; c. the old and new false teachers, who dream of an effect of grace of the Holy Spirit A more precise idea of this (namely of the unum corpus mysticum of Christ and of the Church before and after the Last Day) is denied us in this life, because the closer revelation of Scripture is missing. Gerhard correctly understands (after examining a number of interpretations) the subjection de subiectione corporis mystici [on the subjection of the mystical body]. Gerhard's reasoning testifies to close observation of the use of Scripture: Scriptura enim duplex corpus Christo tribuit, personale, quod in Aoyov vrdataatv assumsit, et spirituale sive mysticum, quod spiritus sui vinculo sibi copulavit, cuius corporis membra sunt. omnes vere credentes. De hoc mystico corpore apostolus proprie loquitur, quando Christum Patri suo in die novissimo subiiciendum asserit (De iud. extremo, § 112.) Because of the union of the Son with the Church in the one corpus mysticum, the Church is called 1 Cor. 12:13 precisely Christ Himself (6 Xptotdc), and of Christ it says in the same relation 1 Cor. 3:23: Christ is God, Xptotdc dé Osod.

Government", Delegate Synod 1896, Report,, [EN] p. 33 ff. outside the means of grace, who let the heathen become saved without the gospel, etc., and thus mix nature and grace, kingdom of power and kingdom of grace. So of the moderns also Hofmann.!°°) VI. The chiliasts. The millennial kingdom of the chiliasts belongs neither to the kingdom of grace nor to the kingdom of honor, but is a caricature of both; it belongs to the kingdom of fantasy. It inverts the hope of Christians by directing it towards a dreamed glory here on earth instead of the eternal glory in heaven (1 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:20-21; Joh. 17:24 etc.). Further details in the Doctrine of the Church VII. All modern fighters of satisfactio vicaria are eo ipso fighters of the Kingdom of Christ, because the Church of Christ on earth is the community of those who believe the Gospel, which is the message of salvation (&n0AbTpwatc, ransom) that has come through Christ. According to the fighters of vicarious satisfaction, Christ does not gather and maintain his kingdom through the Gospel and by generating and maintaining faith mediated by the Gospel and in the Gospel, but by stimulating a "religious- moral transformation of humanity". Those furthest to the left define Christ's kingdom purely pagan as the union of people under pure laws of virtue, which are presented as God's commandments, such as Kant. (Luthardt Dogmatik, p. 271.) Likewise Ritschl and Adolf Harnack. According to Ritschl, the Kingdom of God is "the community of moral action from the motive of love". (Rechtfertigung, und VersGhnung III, 274.) According to Adolf Harnack "not the Son, but only the Father belongs in the Gospel", and the Gospel is "the instruction for the right way of life". (Wesen des Christentums, p. 91-92.) Thus all Unitarians who, in denying the divinity of Christ, deny all three kingdoms of Christ, even if they call their kingdom of the "right way of life" inspired by Christ regnum gratiae. '°° Kirn can be considered an average representative

himself as King by establishing his community and by issuing laws (to be permanently valid) for it. But only the interior of man is the immediate area of his tule. It did not begin only after his elevation above the earth; incidentally, it is essentially limited to the regnum gratiae. If, at the same time, the regnum potentiae (power over the world in the manner of the general divine government) of "positive" modern theology when he speaks of reconciliation with reference to the historical gathering of the Church: "Reconciliation is historically complete if Christ's work makes possible and guarantees forever the pardon of sinners" (guarantee theory); "but it is at the same time a continuing process, if the once happened salvation foundation carries within itself the strength to transform the life of mankind into its Godly form. What thus unfolds in history is, for God's judgement, set in the salvation work accomplished, and this his effective power is_one of the reasons for its value before God". (Dogmatik, p. 118) This is factually exactly the Roman Catholic fides caritate sive operibus formata [faith formed by charity or by works and in application to the Christian church on earth the complete destruction of it; for katnpyjOnte &n6 Xpiatov, oitivEc év VOW dtka1ovoOE' TS yapitoc é€enéoate (Gal. 5:4). It goes without saying that there is no regnum gloriae after the regnum gratiae is revealed. Concluding remark. The whole teaching of Christ's work can be summarized in its main points in this way: Christ in his prophetic office is the only teacher of mankind to salvation. All teaching that is proclaimed in and by the Church and yet is not the word of Christ is pseudo-prophecy. Christ in his high priestly office is the only reconciler of mankind, who, through his vicarious satisfaction, has reconciled all people completely with God. All reconciliation that people still want to bring about with their own work is pseudo-reconciliation. Christ in his royal office, like the Lord of the whole world, is especially the head of his church, which he rules as sole ruler through his word. All government of the Church that is not done with Christ's word, but binds the consciences of Christians to the word of man, is pseudo-government. should be ascribed to the Logos, this would be an expression of a knowledge without Christian-religious meaning. In any case, the incarnate has not claimed it. Only by his commandment to draw the world into the realm of salvation did he indirectly want to exercise power over the world. The doctrine of regnum gloriae must also be eliminated. Potentia and gloria find only attributes of the regnum gratiae." The Appropriation of Salvation. Summary presentation. It is of little consequence whether one calls the way in which the person participates in the salvation acquired by Christ "appropriation of salvation" (applicatio salutis a Christo acquisitae), "way of salvation" (via salutis, ratio consequendi salutem), "appropriating grace of the Holy Spirit" (gratia Spiritus Sancti applicatrix), order of salvation" (ordo salutis) or whatever else. All these expressions have been and are used in the right or wrong sense according to the point of view of those who use them. It all comes down to the fact that the thing in question is taken from Scripture and is not constructed according to human opinion. Above all, it is necessary to establish what, according to Scripture, constitutes the "salvation" that has come about through the vicarious satisfaction of Christ. Just as the "calamity" of mankind consists in the fact that they are "children of wrath" because of their sins through God's demanding and punishing justice, so the "salvation" or salvation of men consists in the fact that through Christ's vicarious satisfaction full and complete grace, that is, forgiveness of sins, is available for them. And the appropriation of salvation now takes place in such a way that the forgiveness of sins present in God's heart is offered by God to men through the Gospel and received by man through faith. The knowledge of salvation, yv@otc owtnpiac, on the part of man consists in the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins.!) In the presentation of the "appropriation of salvation" Mes now depends on the fact that faith alone (sola fides) is held on as the means of appropriation of the forgiveness of sins. Neither what precedes faith in man (repentance, contritio), nor what follows faith (unio mystica, sanctification and good works, etc.), may be coordinated with or connected to faith as an appropriation means of the forgiveness of sins. If this happens, the whole Christian order of salvation is perverted and transformed into an order of disaster. The Formula of Concord (p. 618, 38 [Zrigl. 929, Sol. Decl., HI, 38]) rightly reminds us that it is necessary to "be driven" that this remain the office and property of faith alone, that it alone and

AMEE! ALAPTLIOV ODTOV. nothing else whatever, is the means or instrument by and through which God’s grace and the merit of Christ in the promise of the Gospel are received, apprehended, accepted, applied to us, and appropriated; and that from this office and property of such application or appropriation love and all other virtues or works are excluded". This exclusion of the "renewal, sanctification, virtue or good work" from the "application or appropriation" of the forgiveness of sins belongs to the ordo, inter fidem et bona opera, inter iustificationem et renovationem seu sanctificationem conservandus est [between faith and good works [that] must abide and be maintained, and likewise between justification and renewal, or sanctification’’] (p. 619, 40 [Trigl. 929, 40]). The Formula of Concord sets out the ordo positively as follows: "First faith is kindled in us in conversion by the Holy Ghost from the hearing of the Gospel. This lays hold of God’s grace in Christ, by which the person is justified. Then, when the person is justified (iam est iustificato), he is also renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, from which renewal and sanctification the fruits of good works then follow" (619, 41 [929, 41]). This leads us to the presentation of the appropriation of salvation in its individual parts. We offer this presentation first in an overview. Experience has taught us that this modus docendi is advantageous. The doctrine of salvation-appropriation, as long as it is not constructed but taken from the Scriptures, has a firm, inner—we would like to say mathematically exact— connection.!°89) But this connection is easily pushed into the background if the individual parts are immediately dealt with to the extent that has unfortunately become necessary due to the occurrence of the multiform error. To the "overview" we also add a limited number of ecclesiastical testimonies and terms. It must be based on the objective reconciliation or justification of the whole world of sinners. This reconciliation, as we saw, does not consist in a change of mind

connection, even if it is undermined in the representation of the same impropriety. on the part of God '° in such a way that God, with Himself, "before His divine forum," substituted forgiveness of men’s sins for wrath over their sin, Lu) Aoy1COpLEvos ADTOIS TA TAPAATHLATA ADTAV, SU’ EVOSG SUCOLDLATOG Eic navtas dvOpamovs sic SuKaiwow Cojo!) Reconciliation is also, as has also been pointed out, a complete—extensively and intensively perfect—one, because we have no right to restrict either the term KOop0c [world] (2 Cor. 5:19) and zavtac avOpmmovc [all men] (Rom. 5:18) or the term ov oyiCOpEvos TA Tapantopata [not imputing their trespasses] and dikaiwoic [Justification’] (op. cit.). In these scriptural passages. This is the meaning of objective reconciliation as taught in 2 Cor. 5:19; Rom. 5:18-19; 5:10; 4:25. God does not keep to himself the fact of the world's reconciliation with itself, but he makes it known to men. He does not do this directly, through secret effects, dreams, apparitions, etc., but through his Word of reconciliation or through the Gospel. The report of the fact of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19) is immediately followed by the indication of the mode of proclamation in the words: kai 0épEvoc Ev NIV TOV AOYoV Tig KATAAAaYTIC [and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation] and the Church has the command: " O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength!" «pvéate 10 sdvayyéAov méon TH Ktice.!° The Gospel is therefore also more closely characterized as 10 svayyéAtov Tis YAPItOSG TOD sod, tod evayysediov Tic siping, and its preachers are called ot evayyeaiGouevot eipyvnv.!°®) Then it should be added here immediately

already been explained p. 438 f. Cf. also the detailed explanation of the voluntas antecedens and consequens p. 38 ff.

presentation of the modern "positive" theologians.

disposition of God for Christ's sake, favorem Dei, the forgiveness that baptism and the Lord's Supper also belong to the gospel, namely, they are media of the presentation of the forgiveness of sins or justification available through Christ's atoning work. The baptism happens sic Geo Tov Gpaptidv [the remission of sins] (Acts 2:38), and also in the Lord's Supper Christ gives His body and blood as given (6166pEvov) and shed (EKYVVVOLEVOV) Eig AMEoL GpapTIdAv (Luke 22:19-20; Matt. 26:26-28). Apology: Idem effectus est verbi et ritus (namely the sacraments) — Certo enim debent statuere corda, cum baptizamur, cum vescimur corpore Domini, quod vere ignoscat nobis Deus propter Christum [The effect of the Word and of the rite [Sacrament] is the same’’].!°?) All other effects that are still attributed to the sacraments are theirs, because they are media of the forgiveness of sins, as will be shown later, in contrast to errors. It must also be remembered here that the Gospel, in every form of testimony, as spoken, read, pondered in the heart, etc.,!! is a medium of forgiveness or justification of sins. Wherever and however the Word of reconciliation comes to people, God's forgiveness or justification of sins comes to people. In this sense we call the Word of the Gospel and the sacraments means of grace, media communicationis remissionis peccatorum sive iustificationis ex parte Dei. Just as the reconciliation that has taken place is an objective one, independent of human sentiments, so the means of grace have an objective validity independent of human sentiments and moods.!!°) But as certain as it is that the means of grace have absolutely objective validity, independent of the subjective state of man, that is, they offer without distinction to all men to whom they come the non-attribution of sins or justification (media gratiae sunt media oblativa sive dativa ex parte Dei), it is also certain that God wants the forgiveness of sins, justification, absolution. Likewise, the proclaimed eipyvy refers to the objective peace that God has made with the world through Christianity and proclaims to the world as a fait accompli through the Gospel.

173, 42 [Trigl. 261, Art. X IL [V], 42]: Sacramenta sunt signa Novi Testamenti, hoc est, signa remissionis peccatorum. [For these [Sacraments] are signs of the New Testament, i. e., signs of the remission of sins’’]

has not lied or been absent, but you have deceived yourself, and it is your fault; the king has certainly given it. (St. L. XIX, 946 f.) of sins offered to be believed by man and thus appropriated by faith. Nowhere does Scripture give the thought, which has pleased some in old and new times, that people could have forgiveness of their sins and become saved even without faith in the gospel, on the basis of the general world reconciliation. On the contrary, Scripture immediately adds to the words "Preach the gospel to all creatures": He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned. So the sentence is scripturally correct: Fides ex parte hominis ad salutem consequendam necessaria est. [Faith on the part of man is necessary to attain salvation.] Thus, with regard to the appropriation of salvation, everything comes from the fact that faith in the gospel is born in man. Scripture answers the question where this faith comes from: Faith is neither wholly nor partly a product of man, because every natural man is not only completely uncomprehending of the gospel (od abt@ éotiv) but also hostile to it (u@pia att éottv), Cor. 2:14. In any case, faith is a completely divine effect: " We believe according to the effect of its mighty strength (kata mv evépyetav TOV KpGitOvS TIS 1Gxbos avtod),!!) and that is divine effect through the gospel itself.. The gospel, "the word, of faith" (to pha tio aicotews, Rom. 10:8), is a word that gives itself faith or recognition: 1) miotic &§ axons, Rom. 10:17. And Christ testifies in the high priestly prayer that all members of the church will believe in him until the last day through the apostles' word (514 Tov AOyou avtov) (Jn. 17:20). But Scripture gives us even more detailed information about this wonderful quality of the Word, that it gives itself recognition. It is true that the sermon of a crucified Savior to the Jews okévdoaAov and the Greeks papia

words: "He who believes will be saved," etc., that hell is already shut up, heaven is open, eternal life and joy are there; but there is still something missing in the first part, that you are not the man who is called qui credit, a believer, or at any rate, you are still weak in faith. A. C. XII [Trig]. 49, XII, 1]: Itaque utendum est sacramentis ita, ut fides accedat, quae credat promissionibus, quae per sacramenta exhibentur et ostenduntur. [Wherefore we must so use the Sacraments that faith be added to believe the promises which are offered and set forth through the Sacraments.]

he created heaven and earth again. (To 1 Pet. 1:5. St. L. IX, 972) (1 Cor. 1:23). But the Holy Spirit is active in this sermon. Christ keeps his promise that the Holy Spirit sent by him will_transfigure him - Christ (eye d0€é0¢1). So, as we know from Paul's account, the matter practically arose in Corinth. When the apostle preached in Corinth, without the expense of rhetoric (ov Kad prepoynv Adyov) and scientific proof (ovK év tEvGois av8parivys cogias Adyotc) Jesus Christ, the crucified Tyoovv Xpiotov Kat TOVTOV EOTAVPMLEVOV), Such preaching "in the shedding of the Spirit and power" (ev anodsitet zvebpatos Kat SvvdpEew@c) h*4 the intended result that the faith of the Corinthians was not based on human wisdom but on the power of God. The situation is therefore this: By offering the grace or the forgiveness of sins through the gospel, God also works through the same gospel in the hearts of men for faith in the gospel. The means of grace are not only instrumenta oblativa sive dativa, but also instrumenta operativa sive effectiva. As media dativa ex parte Dei gignunt fidem sive medium AntvtiuK6v ex parte hominis.!) The question so often raised, how to preach so that faith comes into being,

power (v. 5; 2 Cor. 4:7; 1 Thess. 1:5) communicating in it" (better: effective), which through his lectures had an effect on the minds, leading them from their truth - the testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum. The inner witness of the Holy Spirit is present through the action of faith.

Spiritus Sanctus, qui fidem efficit, ubi et quando est visum Deo, in iis, qui audiunt evangelium.... Damnant [ecclesiae apud nos] Anabaptistas et alios, qui sentiunt, Spiritum Sanctum contingere sine verbo externo hominibus per ipsorum praeparationes et opera. [Google] By the way: The many offensive ubi et quando est visum Deo [When and where it pleases God,’] merely reproduces the phrases xatd Tv Eevdokiav tov OeAnuatoc [According to the good pleasure of His will] (Eph. 1:5), vaep tI¢ Evdokiac (tov Geov), Phil. 2:13 etc. and says that faith is not in the hands of man (not even of the revivalist preacher), but only in God's hands. (§ 6. 714, 45 ff. [Trigl. 1079, F. C., Sol. Decl., XI, 45]) This sense also emerges from the attached Damnant, about the double function of the means of grace, that they offer the forgiveness of sins and thereby work faith, it says in the Apology (173, 42 [Trigl. 263, Art. XII [V], 42]): Sacramenta sunt signa novi testamenti, hoc est, signa remissionis peccatorum. Offerunt igitur remissionem peccatorum, sicut clare testantur verba coenae Domini; "Hoc est corpus meum, quod pro vobis traditur. Hic est calix novi testamenti" etc. Ita fides concipitur et confirmatur per absolutionem, per auditum evangelii, per usum sacramentorum. (Google is to be answered in this way: The process by which faith is born in the heart of man is also called conversion to God (conversio ad Deum) in Scripture. That the conversion of a person takes place through his faith in the Gospel is expressed in Acts 11:21: moAdc TE apis 6 mioTEvous EéoTPEWeEV Emi TOV KUptov. The expression "convert to God" or "turning to God" is based on a figurative expression. Every natural man is inwardly fleeing from God because of his evil conscience.!!°) This flight is increased by the additional preaching of the law. But man ceases to flee and inwardly turns back to God as soon as he becomes a believer in the Adyoc Tg KaTAAAaYs [Word of reconciliation], in the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, through the action of the Holy Spirit, or the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, of the gracious God, shines forth in him (2 Cor. 4:6). When Scripture says that man is converted from his sins to keep the commandments of God (Ezek. 18:21; 1 Kings 8:35), it describes the conversion according to the works, whereby the conversion of the heart must be revealed before men who cannot see into the heart. That the essence of conversion (forma conversionis) consists in the kindling of faith in Christ is still held by later dogmatists. '!° So that the doctrine of the acquisition of salvation is not unnecessarily confused, it should be noted that enlightenment (i/luminatio), revival or vivification (vivificatio), and rebirth (regeneratio) are synonyms of conversion, that is, they coincide factually—not conceptually—with "conversion," because, like conversion, they consist in the kindling of

conversionem ab infidelitate ad fidem. [Conversion... marks the conversion from unbelief to faith. ] faith in the Gospel,!!°®) as will be explained in more detail later. In most— not all—passages of Scripture, vocatio is also used as a synonym of conversion, namely in the sense of becoming a believer in grace. Similarly, the word repentance (poenitentia, uetévo1a) in some scriptural passages refers not only to the knowledge of sin, but at the same time also to faith in the forgiveness of sins. '!!® This too is to be explained in more detail later. "1D The reason for this is none other than that the forgiveness of sins, or justification, does not need to be acquired by man first, but is present in the heart of God through Christ's life and suffering, and is proclaimed by God in the Gospel to be believed by man.!!!?) Because justification is present and promised by God in the Word, faith is the only medium of justification on the part of man (ex parte hominis), that is, dev faith to the exclusion of the works of man. As the apostle summarizes the situation in the words Aoy1Cope80 yap ducatotobar niotet GvOp@nov ywpic Epywv vouov [Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law’’], Rom. 3:28. One must first deny or forget that God has reconciled the world with himself through Christianity, and proclaims through the Gospel the reconciliation that has taken place or the non-attribution of sins to be believed, before one can even think that on the part of man even more than faith is needed for justification. Apology (123, 96 [Trig/. 179, Art. Ill, 96]): Iustificatio est res gratis promissa propter Christum, qua re sola fide semper coram Deo accipitur [Justification is a thing freely promised for Christ's sake, which is always received before God by faith alone’’]. Furthermore: If justification on the part of man is accomplished

peccatorum est iustificari, iuxta illud (Ps. 32:1): Beati, quorum remissae sunt iniquitates. [To attain the remission of sins is to be justified, according to Ps. 32:1: Blessed 77]is he whose transgression is forgiven.

justifies before God the moment we apprehend the promise by faith through faith (ziatet) with the exclusion of works (ywpic épyov vouov), that is, without any human righteousness of its own, three things are said at the same time, namely, that justification is not a physical but a forensic act,!!!) that faith does not justify as a virtue or work,!''' and that faith is certain of its cause, that is, the forgiveness of sins or justification. ''!>) In addition, the following belongs to the general characterization of the Christian doctrine of justification: 1) In this doctrine the differentia specifica is formed, which distinguishes the Christian religion from all other religions. On the other hand, it is clear that by denying sola fide by stopping the works of the Law (that is, love,'!!® of the "ethical-religious" transformation of humanity) in order to achieve reconciliation with God, Christianity is denied in general, Gal. 5:4: " Christ is become of no effect unto you,!!!) you who want to be justified by the Law, and have fallen from grace. Luther. therefore, in his well-known dictum, which horrified some, does not go beyond

infundens, sed actus iudicialis vel forensis, quo iniustus iustus pronunoiatur. [It is not a physical or medicinal act, infusing habitual justice or life, but a judicial or forensic act by which the unjust is pronounced righteous.] Apol, (131, 131 [Zrigl. 919, Art. IT, 131]): lustificari significat hic non ex impio iustum effici, sed usu forensi iustum pronunciari. [To be justified does not mean that a righteous man is made out of a wicked man, but to be pronounced righteous in ae ease It is not necessary to prove the actus forensis by induction of all places where the word "justify" occurs in Scripture, but the actus forensis is established in Rom. 3:28 and is clearly taught in all places where the épya vopov [works of law]; that is, all one's own human righteousness, is excluded from justification, Ln exov ep Sukatoobvnv THY ex vopov [Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law] Phil. 3:9.

vopov [By faith, without the deeds of the Law.] F. C.. (612, 13 [Trigl. 919, F. C., Sol. Decl., III, 13]) rightly says that faith justifies, not for this cause and reason that it is so good a work and so fair a virtue, but because it lays hold of and accepts the merit of Christ in the promise of the holy Gospel.

remissione peccatorum [certain conviction of the remission of sins], because it is the assent to the Gospel, worked by the Holy Spirit in the heart of man, which promises the forgiveness of sins. The inner testimony of the Holy Spirit (testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum) is not something apart from faith, but faith itself, 1 John 5:9-10; Apol. 108, 113 (German text) [Zrigl. 155, Art. IV [II], 113].

of the law], Rom. 13:10.

imprint is to be triggered: katapyetoOa kor yopiCeaar ad tivoc [is removed and separated from his]." The point is: You who want to be justified by the law and Christ finds separated people. Scripture when he says: All people in the world who do not believe this justification (the justification by faith without works) are either Jews or Turks or Papists or heretics.!'!!®) One therefore tries in vain to an understanding of the, as long as one has not conveyed an understanding of the Christian doctrine of justification, as our ancient theologians constantly insist,!!!° — 2. It because according to Scripture all other doctrines are in the relationship of antecedens or consequent to it. Thus the whole Christology (the doctrine of Christ's person and work) appears as a precondition for justification by faith without works, because the wonderful event of God's making his Son human in the fullness of time and putting him under the duty and curse of the law in place of man had the purpose of ransoming mankind from the law as a medium of justification (6E@yopaCetv).!2 Also the doctrine of sin has justification sola fide as its purpose. The fact that God tells the bitter truth in Scripture to all people: "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3:10), and so closes the mouth of the whole world (v. 19), does not have as its final purpose the thorough general humiliation of human beings and the general closing of the mouth, but serves only as an introduction and transition to the dtkatoovbvy dé Oeod 516 Tictews Inood Xptiotod sic mévtac tovbs totevovtas [‘the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe’’] (v. 22). Also the means of grace (the Gospel and the sacraments) are by divine order primo loco means of the forgiveness of sins through faith without the works of the law, so that all those who mix works into the appropriation of the forgiveness of sins do not let the means of grace come to their divine purpose.!!?! Thus,

omnibus gentibus et superstitionibus [This one place especially distinguishes the church from all other people and their superstitions] (Loci, 1623, De iustif., p. 216.) Cf. also the pronunciation of [ d.], footnote 8.

Ei YUP 514 VOLOD dtkaLoovvN Gpa Xpiotdc dwpedv aéVavev. [I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain.]

article on justification, the other articles are not valid either. It is believed in vain that there is a triune God, the aforementioned doctrines characterize themselves as an antecedens of the doctrine of justification. And everything that takes place in a Christian and in a Christian in this world after justification, or is given to him by God, is presented by Scripture as a consequens of justification by faith without the law, as will be shown below in the individual passages. It is said that justification by faith is the culmination of this life here on earth, insofar as man in this life does not go beyond the forgiveness of sins,!!?) and the forgiveness of sins is and remains the source and basis of all honors, goods and gifts that God bestows on a human being here on earth. Without a clear recognition of this fact a correct understanding of the "order of salvation" is not possible. Through the divine remission of guilt the relationship of a human being to God has become a completely ordered one, because the remission of guilt is not only a partial but a perfect one.!!?) God is now for man @gdc brép Hudv [God for us], Rom. 8:31. But if God is for him, the gates of blessing in heaven open above him. The faith which has grasped the divine justification for Christ's sake is then also (post remissionem peccatorum acceptam) the great means of receiving of all other gifts and acts of grace of God. It says in relation to the believers 1 Cor. 3:21: "All things are yours", 2avta vudv sottv. Justification by faith establishes the wonderful sovereignty and glory of the Christian state. The contempt of the Christian state, which is practice under the Papacy and is also found under the decadent Protestantism, that Christ is true God and man, and that he died and rose again, if it does not also come to the belief that we have forgiveness of sins through Christ's substitutionary work alone. In fact, none of the articles mentioned is believed with faith worked by the Holy Spirit (fide divina), because only with faith in the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake does the Holy Spirit enter into the heart. What is believed without faith in justification is believed only fide humana, notitia historica [human faith, historical information], with the head and mouth.

supererogationis) and the sects (high life — Pearsall Smith).

lustificatio sive remissio peccatorum semper perfecta est, sanctificatio imperfecta, incrementum admittens. (The justification or remission of sins is always perfect, sanctification imperfect, admitting of growth. is always based on the elimination or disregard of justification by faith without the law works.!!2# From the abundance of blessings or the all-possession of the righteous, the following details should be emphasized: