A thought on Objective Justification
In an article about the state of confessional Lutheranism, I read this interesting quote today: (the quote is speaking of the difference between the Lutheran, Reformed, and Roman Catholic understanding of the atonement)
"The Tridentine paradigm has Christ earning not the free gift of salvation as such, but only the opportunity to earn salvation with the aid of divine grace! In other words, the classic Roman Catholic paradigm denies the intensive perfection of Christ's saving work. Calvinism on the other hand affirms the intensive, but denies the extensive perfection of that work. In that view Christ won full and free salvation, but not for all mankind, rather only for the elect. The plain fact is that only the Church of the Augsburg Confession teaches both the intensive and the extensive perfection of Christ's reconciling work--all sins of all men have been fully expiated (II Cor. 5:19-21). All that remains is to receive this gift in faith--an that appropriating faith is itself a gift!"
I've heard this before, but it caught my eye again, as it identifies the flaw in the respective understandings of the doctrine of the atonement.
The above quote is from the article "The Church in the Twenty-First Century: Will there be a Lutheran One?" p. 195 By Kurt Marquart, in the volume "All Theology is Christology: essays in honor of David P. Scaer"
"The Tridentine paradigm has Christ earning not the free gift of salvation as such, but only the opportunity to earn salvation with the aid of divine grace! In other words, the classic Roman Catholic paradigm denies the intensive perfection of Christ's saving work. Calvinism on the other hand affirms the intensive, but denies the extensive perfection of that work. In that view Christ won full and free salvation, but not for all mankind, rather only for the elect. The plain fact is that only the Church of the Augsburg Confession teaches both the intensive and the extensive perfection of Christ's reconciling work--all sins of all men have been fully expiated (II Cor. 5:19-21). All that remains is to receive this gift in faith--an that appropriating faith is itself a gift!"
I've heard this before, but it caught my eye again, as it identifies the flaw in the respective understandings of the doctrine of the atonement.
The above quote is from the article "The Church in the Twenty-First Century: Will there be a Lutheran One?" p. 195 By Kurt Marquart, in the volume "All Theology is Christology: essays in honor of David P. Scaer"
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