Holding the Line on Justification
August 11, 2007
For the past decade or so, I have had the privilege of playing a minor role in the defense of the Protestant doctrine of justification. Running in the circles of the anti-New Perspective resistance, I have known the passions of those of us who first raised the alarm and then sought to man the barricades. There have been times when it seemed to us that the panzers of higher-critical and post-conservative scholarship were on the brink of breaking through into the evangelical motherland. But more recently it has seemed that the defense is stiffening and the Maginot line of justification is holding up against the assault.
This summer has been especially encouraging. I would hail two events as particularly significant. The first is the PCA's overwhelming approval of the study report on the New Perspective on Paul and the Federal Vision as they pertain to justification and the recent issue of Christianity Today and its clear stand with the historic Protestant doctrine. I would especially alert readers to the telling CT editorial and the cover story by long-time NPP critic Simon Gathercole. Soon, our defense will covert to counter-assault, as evidenced by the soon-to-appear exegetical study by John Piper, The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright.
So what does this mean? I think it means that while academia continues to hem and haw about justification, endlessly calling for further study, the leading institutions of the church are declaring "enough is enough -- we will not give away our precious doctrine of justification."
This summer has been especially encouraging. I would hail two events as particularly significant. The first is the PCA's overwhelming approval of the study report on the New Perspective on Paul and the Federal Vision as they pertain to justification and the recent issue of Christianity Today and its clear stand with the historic Protestant doctrine. I would especially alert readers to the telling CT editorial and the cover story by long-time NPP critic Simon Gathercole. Soon, our defense will covert to counter-assault, as evidenced by the soon-to-appear exegetical study by John Piper, The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright.
So what does this mean? I think it means that while academia continues to hem and haw about justification, endlessly calling for further study, the leading institutions of the church are declaring "enough is enough -- we will not give away our precious doctrine of justification."
