Objective Universal Justification Archives

Objective and Subjective Justification

Earlier in his Annotations on Romans, Johann Gerhard discusses the nature of salvation in Christ at some length. In particular, Gerhard affirms and grounds the forensic nature of justification in the work of Christ. Contrary to the claims made by some within the Lutheran tradition, the distinction between “objective” and “subjective” justification is not a late innovation. Rather, Gerhard employs the conceptual distinction to explain Christ’s work in both his death and resurrection. Gerhard writes:

He [God the Father] also condemned it, in that He punished our sins in Christ, which were imposed on Him and imputed to Him as to a bondsman. So also, by the very act of raising Him from the dead, He absolved Him from our sins that were imputed to Him, and consequently also absolves us in Him, so that, in this way, the resurrection of Christ may be both the cause and the pledge and the complement of our justification.¹

In a word, Christ paid for all the sins of humanity when they were imputed to him in the crucifixion. Raising Christ from the dead, God the Father “absolves” Christ of the sins of the whole world. This is possible because Jesus has already paid for all sins. Among the many striking images for redemption that Gerhard uses, this is one of the most vivid and compelling.

From this it follows that even before believers subjectively lay hold of Christ in the act of baptismal faith, God pronounces them absolved. Through faith they participate in the objective absolution of Christ in the resurrection. Hence, the pastor does not tell his congregation that “if” they believe, then they will be absolved. Rather, the pastor—serving as the voice of Christ—calls the congregation to trust that God in Christ has already pronounced them absolved.

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Luther’s significant catechetical sermon of 1519 clearly shows his belief in the divine power and sacramentality of the Word of God. In “The Sacrament of Penance,” Luther begins by radically modifying his pre-Reformation theology of confession and absolution in light of his discovery the gospel as the pure promise of righteousness and salvation for the sake of Christ. The medieval Church had spoken of three parts to penance: confession, absolution, satisfaction.¹ By contrast, Luther now speaks of three elements: absolution, grace, and faith.²

In the beginning of the sermon, Luther boldly states that absolution is a unilateral and unconditional divine action: “It follows, then, in the first place, that he forgiveness of guilt, the heavenly indulgence, is granted to no one on account of the worthiness of his contrition over his sins, nor on account of his works of satisfaction, but only on account of his faith in the promise of God, ‘What you loose . . . shall be loosed.”³ Jesus’ historical promise establishes the validity of the word; receiving the word in faith makes it efficacious. “For as you believe, so it is done for you.”⁴ Here we can observe Luther’s use of the Ockhamist concept of covenantal causality, albeit used in a way that guarantees the promise of grace rather than the meritorious character of congruous merit.

Absolution is a divine efficacious word (Thettel-Wort) and not a mere piece of information (Heissel-Wort).⁵ The word that the priest (or pastor) speaks is a sacramental instrument wherein the wholly present God communicates his grace: “This is why it [confession and absolution] is called a sacrament, a holy sign, because in it one hears the words externally that signify spiritual gifts within, gifts by which the heart is comforted and set at peace.”⁶ The sinful heart is only set at peace by divine grace present in the objective word. It follows that the word itself is the divine instrument that creates faith in the heart. As suggested earlier, the logical implication of this is that validity of the sacrament and its efficacy are all contained in the Word of God itself.⁷

Tag: Objective Universal Justification

The Double Benefits of Baptism

Objective and Subjective Justification

Holy Absolution: Objective Justification Received by Subjective Faith

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