Theses on Justification, 1983 (LC-MS, outcast doc?); good intro to Lutheran Confessions; from Robert Preus?

In my 2 most recent posts (here and here), I wanted to balance the breathtaking errors in today's LC-MS with signs of life from that same body in recent decades.  Alongside Prof. Eugene Klug's testimony, perhaps the best source of some encouragement is a document produced by their CTCR in 1983.  Rolf Preus claimed that his father, Robert Preus, authored this paper, saying:

At any rate, the controversy wasn't entirely harmful to the church inasmuch as it did yield a fine statement from the Commission on Theology and Church Relations [CTCR] of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod on the doctrine of justification, authored by none other than Robert Preus. 

Although this document makes no mention whatsoever of either C.F.W. Walther or Franz Pieper, yet it owes its doctrine not only to Martin Luther, but also largely to these 2 giants of Church History.  I may have some concerns about some aspects of the teaching of Robert Preus, but this paper, whoever authored it, is worthy of study by Lutherans today, here and now.  (I will have more comments of Robert Preus at a later time.)  –  This document is available for download from the official LC-MS CTCR site here.  This document is one of the best official Christian teaching documents since the day Franz Pieper died.  It is so significant, that I want to present it in its entirety on this blog post.  There are dozens (hundreds?) of references to the Lutheran Book of Concord (or Confessions) and I have spent perhaps 15 hours hyperlinking them to the BookOfConcord.org website (Triglotta text) for ease of quick reference.

If you want a better essay on the Doctrine of Justification, go to Walther's essay in 1872 -- here.  Another better treatise would be Franz Pieper's "Lectures on Justification" in the book The Church and Her Treasure.  But if you want one of the best essays in the past 50 years from today's LC-MS, then study the following CTCR essay... of Robert Preus?

Because the automatic tagging of Bible references does not work within the following display window, I have compiled all Bible passages and listed them below this window so they are readily available to the reader by just clicking on the verse reference.

All highlighting is mine.  All hyperlinks must be opened in a new window or new tab!

Scripture references, click and view

Old Testament	New Testament
Genesis 12:3; 15:6;	Matthew 7:1-5; 9:1-8; 9:2; 16:19; 18:18; 18:34; 19:16-22; 26:26-28; 28:18-20;
Deuteronomy 25:1; 27:26;	Mark 10:45; 16:15; 16:16;
1 Kings 8:32;	Luke 7:47-48; 8:11-15; 18:14; 24:46-47; 24:47;
Job 19:25;	John 1:12; 1:14; 1:16-17; 1:29; 3:6; 3:16; 3:36; 5:39; 6:44; 6:65; 8:24; 10:28; 15:1-11; 15:5; 17:20; 20:21-23; 20:23;
Psalms 5:5; 19:7-8; 32:3-5; 32:5; 51:5; 90:7-8; 103:10-12; 110:3; 130:1-8; 130:4;	Acts 1:8; 2:22-24; 2:32-33; 2:38; 4:12; 5:30-32; 8:35; 10:38-43; 10:43; 11:14; 11:20-21; 13:32-33; 13:38-39; 13:39;
Proverbs 17:15;	Romans 1:16-17; 1:18; 1:32; 2:5, 8-9; 3:9-19; 3:12; 3:16-18; 3:19-28; 3:20-28; 3:21-28; 3:23-28;  3:24-26; 3:25-26; 3:28; 4:1-8; 4:1-13; 4:2-8; 4:5; 4:13-15; 4:16; 4:25; 5:1-2; 5:1-11; 5:6, 8; 5:6-18; 5:10; 5:15, 20; 5:18-19; 5:19-24; 6:1-14; 6:23; 8:1; 8:30; 8:32-34; 8:33; 8:37-39; 9:33; 10:5-17; 10:6-8; 10:17; 11:6; 11:32; 12:1; 14:23; 15:13; 16:25; 16:25-27;
Ecclesiastes 7:20;	1 Corinthians 1:21; 1:21-24; 1:29-30; 1:30; 2:1-5; 2:2; 2:12; 3:5; 3:11; 4:1-5; 4:3-5; 4:15; 6:11; 9:16; 12:3; 15:1-2; 15:1-5;
Isaiah 5:23; 45:25; 50:8; 52:3-7; 53; 53:5-7; 55:10-11;	2 Corinthians 1:19-20; 3:5; 3:9; 4:6; 5:15, 21; 5:16-21; 5:17; 5:18-21; 5:18-21; 5:19-21; 5:21; 8:3-4; 8:9; 11:4;
Jeremiah 31:31-34;	Galatians 1:3-10; 1:7; 1:8; 1:11; 2:16; 2:20; 2:21; 3:1; 3:10-14; 3:12; 3:21-26; 3:26-27; 5:4; 3:10; 3:13; 3:22-24; 4:4-5; 4:4-7; 5:4; 5:5; 5:19-21; 5:22-24; 6:14-15;
Habakkuk 2:4;	Ephesians 1:7; 1:19; 2:3; 2:5b; 2:5-8; 2:8-10; 2:13-16; 2:14; 5:2; 5:6;
	Philippians 1:6; 1:29; 3:8-9; 3:8-10; 3:9;
	Colossians 1:5-6; 1:20-23; 1:21-23; 2:14-15; 3:6; 3:13;
	1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:13; 5:1-10;
	2 Thessalonians 2:14;
	1 Timothy 1:8-11; 1:15; 2:4; 2:4-6; 2:6; 2:12; 3:16; 4:10;
	2 Timothy 1:10; 1:12; 2:8; 2:13; 2:25;
	Titus 2:11; 2:14; 3:3-7; 3:5;
	Hebrews 2:9; 2:14-18; 7:27; 9:22; 9:26; 9:28; 10:12, 18;
	James 1:18-21; 1:21; 4:11;
	1 Peter 1:3-5; 1:18-19; 1:23-25; 2:21-24; 3:18; 3:21; 5:10;
	1 John 1:7; 1:8; 2:2; 2:12; 3:2; 4:10; 5:9-10; 5:10-13; 5:12;
	Revelation 15:4;

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
March 23, 2015: Because the LC-MS download file has some minor errors compared to the printed version, I am providing a download link to a PDF file of the scanned copy (text searchable) of the official printed version.  This will clarify any remaining errors in my text copy above.

===>>>  Download print copy here  <<<=== (updated link 2019-01-16)

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I may present this same essay in a "piecemeal" fashion and insert comments along the way.  But for now, I want this essay thrown in the face of today's LC-MS.