The Righteousness of Faith Before God (Formula of Concord Article III)

Comments · 23

• JO

  @jonathanrocha2275 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Brother, this is such a timely message for me. Last night I listened to two hour long sermons on the righteousness of God. One was from Dan Mohler and the other from John MacArthur. I had looked on YouTube for a Lutheran message on the righteousness of God, but couldn’t find any. But here it is! Wow!

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• RO

  @rodgerjones2196 · 2 years ago

  Thank you, Dr for another informative and well produced video. Looking forward to the next one.

• FR

  @free_boiling4502 · 6 months ago

  This helps so much!

• CA

  @CanadianAnglicans · 2 years ago

  Excited for this video.

• LI

  @lisajones7756 · 2 years ago

  Thank you Dr Cooper 😊

• TH

  @TheAndreas1008 · 2 years ago

  This coming up the day before my exam on justification in FC III (comp w Osiander and Stancaro) is great timing!

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• TH

  @TheAndreas1008 · 2 years ago

  Just did my exam on Osiander, Stancaro, and FC III on justification after Christ&apos;s divine nature, human nature, or both natures. In case anyone is curious, I translated some of Osiander&apos;s work (&quot;Ein Disputation von der Rechtfertigung des Glaubens&quot; / &quot;A Disputation on the Justification by Faith&quot; - 1550) from German - I don&apos;t think it&apos;s accessible in English anywhere. Note: I disagree with Osiander on many points and side with FC III, but here&apos;s an excerpt of his writing to those who&apos;re curious on what FC III was writing against:<br><br>1. When the Holy Paul (in Galatians 3:21b) says, &apos;if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law,&apos; he has comprehensively summarized the entire power of our justification, both briefly and completely. <br>2. Because it does not justify us if it does not also make us alive, and conversely, it does not make us alive if it does not also justify us. <br>3. Thus, it is rightly said that we are justified by faith, for the righteous shall live by faith. Habakkuk 2, Romans 1, Galatians 3 <br>4. For the word &apos;justify,&apos; in its original sense, means to make a godless person righteous, that is, to bring the dead back to life. Romans 3 <br>5. Which then is a work of the Divine Almighty, Wisdom, and Grace, no less than creating something new. Romans 3 <br>6. Yet it is often interpreted in another sense, where it is understood to mean as much as holding, confessing, testifying, or judging that one is righteous. <br>7. But the law, which reveals sin and brings about wrath, since it is a minister of death, is as far removed from being able to justify as death is distinct from life. Romans 3, 4:7, 2 Corinthians 3 <br>8. But we are not speaking here of the life and death of the body, but of the life and death of the soul. <br>9. For as long as the soul is ruled by sin, it is dead, but when Christ dwells within it through faith, it lives. <br>10. But we do not call faith a fleshly occurrence, whereby we believe anything, but rather a movement of the Spirit, which God arouses in our hearts through the preaching of His Word and His Holy Spirit, so that we believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son. Colossians 2<br><br>15. Just as one who is called a servant when he has no master is not truly a servant, so also faith that does not apprehend Christ is not truly Christian faith, but rather a fleshly occurrence that has its origin either in blood, or in the will of the flesh, or in the will of a man. John 1 <br>16. Therefore, the faith that justifies must always be understood synecdochally in Holy Scripture, namely, that it includes its object, our Lord Jesus Christ, within it. <br>17. Just as the royal prophet calls his cup &apos;a cup that intoxicates,&apos; though it is not the cup itself that intoxicates but only the wine therein, which can intoxicate, so also the Scripture calls the faith that justifies &apos;faith that intoxicates,&apos; though not the faith itself, but rather Christ apprehended through faith, can make alive and righteous. Psalm 23<br><br>19. Therefore, we boldly and consistently defend that faith does not make us righteous because it is a quality, nor because it is a relation, nor because it is an excellent virtue, nor for any reason of its worthiness, but solely because it apprehends Christ, who is its object, and unites with us.<br><br>26. But only our Lord Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled the law and all righteousness, is righteous, as Zacharias says, &apos;Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous.&apos; Zechariah 9 <br>27. But He is not righteous because He has fulfilled the law, but because from eternity He has been born a righteous Son from the righteous Father, as He Himself says, &apos;Righteous Father, the world does not know you.&apos; John 17 <br>28. Therefore, the righteousness of the Father and the Son and, as you may wish, of the Holy Spirit is the same righteousness, with which the righteous God justifies the ungodly, namely, the righteousness of God, which is also the righteousness of faith itself. <br>29. Since, however, no one is righteous outside of Christ but all are dead through trespasses and are by nature children of wrath, no one will be given the righteousness of God and eternal life unless their sins are forgiven beforehand through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2, Colossians 2 <br>30. Therefore, we gladly recognize two parts of our justification, namely, forgiveness of sin and reconciliation. <br>31. But we do not understand reconciliation in the common way, as one person reconciles with another, but theologically, so that being reconciled with God means being united with Christ and being born again from Him, so that He is in us and we in Him, and through Him we live and are accounted righteous because of His righteousness that dwells in us. <br><br>36. This seed of God remains in believers forever, so that we become children of God and partakers of the divine nature, for whoever is united with God becomes one spirit with Him.<br><br>53. Therefore, we are righteous with His essential righteousness, as it is written, &apos;This is the name by which He will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.&apos; Jeremiah 23, 33 <br>54. But יהוה, as it stands in Hebrew, is God&apos;s ineffable name, which no creature can ascribe, and it means the Divine Being of the three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, indicating that the Son should become flesh. <br><br>73 Those who teach lesser things, such as ice, that we are considered righteous solely for the forgiveness of sins and not also because of the righteousness of Christ, who dwells within us through faith. <br>74 For God is not so unjust or a lover of injustice that He would consider someone righteous who is entirely devoid of true righteousness, as it is written, &quot;You are not a God who delights in wickedness.&quot; <br><br>76 For the righteousness of Christ is indeed imputed to us, but only when it is within us, as it is written, &quot;God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.&quot;<br><br>79 And although the one who is justified must continue to be justified further, it does not happen through our works but through the knowledge of the Son of God, through faith, through which we are increasingly united with Him from day to day until we all arrive and become a complete man, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.

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• T.

  @T.D.Barrett73 · 2 years ago

  You will notice that in the Old Testament context, Abraham&apos;s faith is called righteous. It was righteous for Abraham to believe God. It was a good thing he did. God liked it. God said, &quot;hey, see that right there? Abraham believed me. Thats a righteous act on his part.&quot;

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• KJ

  @kjhg323 · 2 years ago

  I think one of the main arguments of this article is fallacious. The key section (which Dr. Cooper read) says: &quot;For since this incipient righteousness or renewal in us is incomplete and impure in this life because of the flesh, the person cannot stand with and by it before God’s tribunal, but before God’s tribunal only the righteousness of the obedience, suffering, and death of Christ, which is imputed to faith, can stand.&quot; The reason this is fallacious is because God&apos;s tribunal, strictly speaking, only happens on the Last Day, when we are raised from the dead. Therefore, while our &quot;incipient righteousness or renewal&quot; is incomplete right now, it will be complete on the Last Day, and therefore can stand before God&apos;s tribunal. So someone can be imperfectly renewed now, but by faith trust God&apos;s promise that he will be made wholly new on the Last Day, and therefore withstand God&apos;s judgement.<br><br>This is how Luther (at least in his earlier writings, as Dr. Cooper alluded to) understands justification by faith: &quot;Thus you understand how a man becomes in baptism guiltless, pure and sinless, and yet continues full of evil inclinations, that he is called pure only because he has begun to be pure, and has a sign and covenant of this purity, and is always to become more pure. Because of this God will not count against him the impurity which still cleaves to him, and, therefore, he is pure rather through the gracious imputation of God than through anything in his own nature&quot; (Treatise on Baptism, 1519)

• GU

  @guyparker1749 · 2 years ago

  Under Western thought Western Way..Concordia calls ,what a ,America Church&apos;s of Concordia,,United Sons of Missouri..Far but maybe Puritan lacks objectiveness.Sorry if I miss May pole day .but I did..

• TH

  @thethikboy · 1 year ago

  Clear as mud

• IS

  @isabellamaschietto2172 · 11 months ago

  I want to move to glencoe Illinois with my mom Paula in next door neighbor houses for Christmas this year ONLY❤