“Justification: Set Up Where It Ought Not to Be” is the title of an article by David P. Scaer that appeared in Concordia Theological Quarterly (Volume 80, Number 3-4, July/October 2016, pages 269-285). Back in my seminary days I took Christology from Scaer and I can say that his style has not changed. He presents the truth of God’s word in a way that is often shocking, causing us to return to that truth and examine it in a fresh way to see if what Scaer says is true. He is not satisfied with comfortable slogans and platitudes, and he didn’t want us to be either.
Here he examines the cherished Lutheran principle that Justification is the doctrine on which the Church stands or falls. The question then comes up, “What about Jesus?” In the 1974 walk-out at our St. Louis seminary, all walkers agreed with this “justification” shibboleth. All agreed that we are “justified through faith.” The problem is that the walkers taught our trust is in our faith. The biblical position is that our faith is in Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, who suffered, died and rose on the third day, the Jesus who ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and who will come again to judge the living and the dead. In other words, the theology of the walkers taught that you may believe in Christ as revealed in the Bible, but that isn’t necessary. It is faith that matters, not the person and work of Jesus. Their accent, then, was the preached word by which faith is created, but not on the Incarnate Word in whom we believe or the Bible who reveals the true Jesus.
It might be nice to say that the battle has been fought and the enemy of confidence in our personal faith as opposed to faith in the real Jesus Christ revealed in the Bible has been dealt the death blow. This is not the case. Fideism (as this teaching is called) is alive and well in America, and can easily slip into our thinking and teaching.
Scarer also challenges us in the area of Luther’s sort-of reduced cannon (John, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians) and finds it insufficient. He also examines Luther’s views on James and finds them insufficient.
I enjoyed the article and recommend it, with this warning: Expect to be challenged. It is not a comfortable read, but then the works of David Scarer seldom are.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Rickert