The Main Thing is still the Main Thing!
On the eve of another Reformation Sunday we find ourselves still fighting for that principle which Calvin called the "main hinge on which religion turns" and which Luther called the mark of a standing or falling church, namely the doctrine of justification by faith alone in the imputed righteousness of Christ alone.
I had occasion this week to revisit some notes of N. T. Wright's comments on Justification, which he prefers to call 'Vindication.'
Vindication 'is God's declaration that a person is in the right, i. e. that the person's sins have been forgiven and that he or she is part of the single covenant family promised to Abraham'. Wright emphatically denies that justification is on the basis of the imputation of Christ's righteousness. 'It is not God's own righteousness or Christ's own righteousness that is reckoned to God's redeemed people but, rather, the fresh status of "covenant member" and/or "justified sinner", which is accredited to those who are in Christ, who have heard the gospel and responded with "the obedience of faith"'.
As Simon Gathercole notes, "It is true to say that justification by faith is about including Gentiles into the people of God. But it is essential to see that the core meaning of justification by faith is about how believers, despite their sin, can be reckoned as righteous before God." One danger of NPP is of minimizing sin by stressing justification as primarily addressing how Gentiles are incorporated into the people of God. Again, Gathercole comments, "One leading New Testament scholar has described his view of justification as God building an extra room in his house for Gentiles. The other danger is reducing faith to primarily a badge or identity marker." (1)
Compare Wright's approach to justification to that of Calvin and Luther: Calvin said, "We who are not righteous in ourselves are reckoned as such in Christ." In other words, in justification, it is not that we are indwelt by Christ and so are justified on that basis, but rather we are not righteous in ourselves. We are reckoned righteous in Christ. Calvin insisted that, in terms of our justification, our righteousness is always outside of ourselves. It is something God does for us. He imputes it to us.He reckons us as righteous, but we are not righteous. Yet we
become righteous as a result of the justification that is given to us outside of anything that we do or anything that happens within us. Luther described the same truth when he talked about an "alien righteousness," the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us.
On the other hand faith is much more than a badge of citizenship in the people of God.
Calvin defined faith like this: "A firm and certain knowledge of God's benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit." On the one hand Calvin goes further than Rome here (and possibly further than some advocates of NPP), faith is more than
Intellectual assent to truth, it is more than the bare perception of the truth which in Roman Catholic teaching is the first step to faith. faith is trust, it is resting on the promise of God in Christ. On the other hand he does not go as far as Rome's insistence that true faith must include love. Faith produces love to God and other people, but that is not the definition of faith. Faith is being persuaded, it involves trust, and it is the Work of the Holy Spirit. It is not a meritorious condition of salvation. Faith is not a requirement, rather 'Faith is a singular gift of God.'
Calvin looks at justification as one would look at a precious stone and its many facets: He
says that justification is "the acceptance with which God receives us into His favor as righteous." He continues, "It consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ's
righteousness." On the other hand, "To justify means nothing else than to acquit of guilt him who was accused, as if his innocence were confirmed." And again, "We define justification as follows: the sinner, received into communion with Christ, is reconciled to God by His grace, while, cleansed by Christ's blood, he obtains forgiveness of sins, and clothed with Christ's righteousness as if it were his own, he stands confident before the heavenly judgment seat."
I spoke to a friend this week that has had a bad diagnosis and, as he faces an uncertain future, what gives him strength is to know that he is resting on that righteousness he has received by faith in Christ alone. That will keep him through life and in death will bring him to glory. On the cusp of this years Reformation Sunday here is aprayer of John Calvin:
"Almighty God, You set before our eyes the many evils by which we have provoked Your anger against us. And yet, You give us the hope of pardon if we repent. Grant us a teachable spirit that, with becoming meekness, we may pay attention to Your warnings, but not so as to despair of the mercy offered us, but seek it through Your Son, as He has once for all made peace with You by shedding His blood. So cleanse us also by Your Spirit from all our pollutions until, at last, we stand spotless before You in that day when Christ shall appear for the salvation of all His people. Amen."
Notes:
1. Simon Gathercole, "What Did Paul Really Mean?," http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/august/13.22.html?start=5.
