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LEHRB UNO WEHRE
MAGAZIN PUER Ev.-LUTH. HOMILE11IC
THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL M ONTHLY
Vol. XD July, 1941 No.7
CONTENTS
.....
Verbal inspiration - a Stumbling-Block to the Jews and Foolish
ness to the Greeks. TIl. Engelder .................. .... .....................__._...... "1
Sermon Study for Fourth Sunday after Trinity. Th. Laetseh ...... 510
The Lutheran Pastor as Teacher. P. E. Kretzm8nn .. . .. _ ............. 523
OutIlnes on the Wueritemberg Gospel Seledions .......... ............ ....... 528
MJsc:elbmea - .- - - _._._....... _ ...._._.._.._..........__ ... 535
TheoJocieal Observer. - Kirehlieh-ZeitgesehlehtIiehes .......... __ ... 543
Book Beview. - Literatur . __ ._.. __ . . __...... _ .... 554
PredlJer - nlcht aUeln wei
den, alJo daa er die Sc:hafe Wlter
w.lse. me lie rechte CbriIten lO11en
.m...clem aucb daneben den Woe!
feD we",.... duI II. en. Schafe JI1cbt
8IIIN1feD und mit faJ.chel' Lebr. ver
fuebren WId Irrtum eIntuehren.
Luther
JI:s tat bin DJng. do dle Leute
mehr bel dll1" Klrchll behaelt denn
ene arute Predlgt. - Apologia. Art. If
If . the trumpet live an uncerta1n
~d. who shall prepare bImself to
the battle? -1 COl'. 14:'
Publlshed for the
Ev. Lath. Syuod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other State.
CONCOBDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. Louis, Mo.
Miscellanea 535
Miscellanea
Faith Counted for Righteousness
In the following communication from a pastoral conference occur
several questions on an important subject that might be of interest to
our readers. We pass them on for further study by individual pastors
and groups of pastors. The letter, quoted in part only, reads: "In
Rom. 4: 3 we are told that Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for r ighteousness. In our discussion of this chapter the question
arose: 'Just what was counted unto Abraham for righteousness?' In
your Christian Dogmatics you write: 'Faith does not justify and save
either as a good quality (nova qualitas) or as a good work (opus per se
dignum) or as a gift of God (donum Spiritus Sancti) or as a source of
good works in us, but alone as the receiving means (oQyavov A1Vt'tLXOV),
by which man, who in himself is ungodly, appropriates to himself the
grace of God and the merits of Christ through implicit trust in the
promise of the Gospel. In short, faith justifies solely by virtue of its
object, which is Jesus Christ, the Crucified, Gal. 2: 16; 1 Cor. 2: 2.'
(Cf. Christian Dogmatics, p.244.) We believe this to be true. It is the
teaching of Luther and of our dogmaticians, including our sainted
Dr. F . Pieper (Christliche Dogmatik, pp. 481 ff.), not to mention our Con-
fessions, which speak very clearly and distinctly on this point. We
realize, too, that right here we are fighting our main battle against Roman
Catholic work-righteousness, so that there can be no other doctrine
quite as important as this. Nevertheless, how can we Lutherans prove
to Roman Catholics that Rom. 4: 3 does not teach their doctrine, that is,
that 'faith does save as an opus per se dignum'? Does not the text seem
to support the papistic conception? Must not the ordinary student of the
Bible who reads this passage understand it in this manner: 'By his very
act of believing' (i. e., by this good work) 'Abraham so greatly pleased
God that this opus excellentissimum was counted unto him for righteous-
ness; in other words, that Abraham was counted righteous because of
his opus per se dignum'? In your Christian Dogmatics you go on to say:
'This truth' (that faith saves only as the receiving means) 'Scripture
teaches clearly by placing faith in opposition to works whenever it de-
scribes the way in which the sinner is justified, Rom. 4: 5; Eph. 2: 8,9.'
(Ibid.) But could not a Roman Catholic or a Romanizing Protestant
reply: 'Even if these passages should exclude ordinary good works, they
certainly do not exclude the good work of believing God'? In short, we
are somewhat perplexed by the Biblical declaration that Abraham's faith
was counted unto him for righteousness. Will you kindly give us the
correct exegesis of this passage, and this in such a way that our Lutheran
interpretation must convince a Romanist?" So far the request for an
opinion on Rom. 4: 3.
It is obvious that Rom. 4: 3 only repeats Gen. 15: 6, though it does not
quote the Hebrew original literally but rather follows the LXX: KaL
E1tLon:uoEv 'A~QlXa,", 'tijl ~Eijl, :KaL EAOYLofu) au'tijl Ei~ IILxaLOOUVl1v. The
536 Miscellanea
Hebrew text reads: "And he [Abram] put his trust O'I;I~~) in Jehovah,
and He [Jehovah] imputed it to him for righteousness." The Latin
version renders the Hebrew accurately: "Credidit itaque ille in Iehovah,
qui irnputavit hoc ipsi iustitiam." Luther's translation is equally correct:
"Abram glaubte dem HErrn, und das rechnete er ihm zur Gerechtigkeit."
This greater directness of expression in the original, that is, in the
Genesis passage, makes the fact of the imputation more emphatic. The
imputing was not done in a general, indefinite way, but the same Lord
who gave the promise to Abraham imputed Abraham's trust in His
promise unto him for righteousness. Our Authorized Version, in Gen.
15: 6, is as accurate as is Luther's: "And he believed in the Lord; and
He counted it to him for righteousness." In Rom. 4: 3, then, the sense is
the same, but the personal directness of the original is lacking. This
fact deserves notice.
The question, however, remains: "Just what did God count 01' im-
pute to Abraham for righteousness?" The promise, recorded in Gen. 15: 5,
reads: "So shall thy seed be," i. e., as numerous as the stars in the
heavens. To Abraham, complaining that the Lord had granted him no
heir, the promise of innumerable descendants was given; and Abra-
ham's faith in that promise was indeed amazing. In Rom. 4: 18 St. Paul
describes its superb greatness thus: "Who against hope in hope believed
that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which
was spoken, So shall thy seed be." Abraham believed in hope, when
apparently there was nothing to hope for, since God seemingly did not
care to fulfil His promise. Yet he believed the unbelievable upon th.e
ground of the very promise.
However, the promise of innumerable descendants must not be
understood in an earthly manner of bodily descendants, but in a spiritual
way. St. Paul argues this point when in another passage he writes:
"Neither, because they are the [physical] seed of Abraham, are they all
children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which
are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but
the children of the promise are counted for the seed:' Rom. 9: 7, 8.
According to this divine and infallible interpretation of the promise
(given by divine inspiration), when God promised Abraham descendants
as innumerable as are the stars in the heavens, He had in mind, not the
'IaQuf]A. xu"tu. aUQxu, but the uncounted spiritual children .of Abraha.l'll,
i. e., all true believers (the communio sanctorum) , who trust in the divine
Gospel-promise as Abraham (their type and pattern) trusted in the'
promise made to him. In Gal. 4: 28 St. Paul says still more directly:
"Now we, bre· , we believers in Ch -ist) , as Is, are the
[Abraham's] children of promise." The seed, L~en, are the 'IcrQuf]A.
%o'"tu. JtV8U[kOt, the spiTitual Israel.
However, the promise made to Abraham according to Gen. 15: 5 im-
plied still more, because the "seed," which properly meant the spiritual
Israel, were to have as their chief representative and head the "Seed of
the Woman" (Gen. 3:15), or the Messiah. In Gen. 22:17 the promise of
Gen. 15:5 is reiterated in an enlarged and nlore pointed way; for in that
passage there is added to it the special promise: "And in thy Seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed," v.IS. That the Seed referred
Miscellanea 537
to in this passage is Christ, SL Paul tells us in unmistakable terms in
Gal. 3: 16, where he writes: "Now, to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one,
And to thy Seed, which' is Christ." Hence the Seed, in sensu. speciali,
in whom all nations of the earth v,ere to be blessed, was the Savior
Himself; and Abraham's faith was so very wondrous because he, against
hope, in hope believed that from him should come the promised Messiah,
despite the fact that even in his old age he had no son. Gal. 3: 16 thus
gives us the clue to the correct understanding of Gen. 15: 5 and Rom. 4: 3.
How so?
Wh 1 Abraham believed in Christ, he believed in the blessing which
Christ was to bring to him and all his sinful descendants, as also, of
course, to all the nations of the earth. As all the nations of the earth
were to be blessed in the Messiah, so Abraham. himself, the "father of
all believeTs in Christ." As suggested before, the Messianic blessing, of
course, was not to be earthly but spiritual; and as such it had a definite
spiritual content. The Savior was to bring to the world (to speak in
the words of Luther) forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. This is
clear already from the protevangel, Gen. 3: 15; and it becomes increas-
ingly clear in the greater light of the ever more lucid Messianic predic-
tions of the later prophets, especially of Isaiah (cf. chap. 53). Above all,
it becomes clear as we study Rom. 4: 6, 7, a passage which tells us in so
many undeniable words that the Messianic blessing is that of forgiveness
of sins. The words read: "Even as David also describeth the blessedness
of the man unto whom God im.puteth righteousness vvithout works,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins
are covered." Positively, the Lord imputes to the believer the righteous-
ness of Christ; negatively, he covers, or forgives, his sins. But the
imputation of righteousness and the covering, or forgiving, of sins al"e
interchangeable terms. Both describe the same act of justification; both
coincide. When God forgives sin through faith in Christ, He also im-
putes to the believer Christ's righteousness. This we say in passing.
But what the passage just quoted proves beyond all doubt is that the
spiritual blessing of the Messiah was forgiveness of sins, li.fe, and salva-
tion, or we may say, the imputation of Christ's righteousness, secured
by His active and passive obedience. Weare aware that we are here
speaking in New Testament terms; but the terms are given us by the
Holy Spirit Himself.
In what, then, did Abrahani believe? Vve answer: "In the content
of the promise, in the salvation, the righteousness of Christ." Abra11am
did not rely for salvation on the righteousness of his works; he trusted
in the blessing of the Messiah, the righteousness of Christ, to save him.
Not incipient righteousness, but the imputed righteousness of the Savior
was the ground of his hope. This is the explanation which God Himself
gives us of Abraham's faith and justification.
In the light of all this we can readily understand the statement that
God counted Abraham's faith unto him for righteousness. From what
we have learned above this statement involves a figure of speech, namely,
a metonymy, the thing acquiring being used for the thing acquired, the
cause for the effect; faith standing for what faith obtains, namely, for-
538 Miscellanea
giveness of sins, life, and salvation, or, to eXDress it in our accustomed
way, for Chrit's imputed righteousness. What was counted unto
Abraham for righteousness was the Messiah's spiritual blessing, which
Abraham's faith secured as the medium Ie 1'pt'tt%OV - the O"W't'l1QL