Lecture 12-2 Justification

Question 1

Importance of the Doctrine

Answer 1

a. Luther said this is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls.
b. Since the Reformation, Protestants have been adamant that justification is the most important soteriological issue separating them from Roman Catholics.
c. See Malcolm Yarnell, “Christian Justification: A Reformation Baptist View,” Criswell Theological Review n.s. 2 (2005): 71-89.

Question 2

Preliminary Definition

Answer 2

The gracious declaration by God that a Christian is righteous by reason of the righteousness of Jesus Christ in his obedient life, his atoning death, and his justifying resurrection, which righteousness is subsequently imputed to the unrighteous man. Although a human is unrighteous, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is possessed potentially through Christ’s union with human nature and actually through a man’s union with Christ by the gift of faith. Christian justification is one of the many interconnected graces (along with regeneration, sanctification, and glorification), which are summarily classified under the overall designation of salvation.

Question 3

Romans 1:15-18

Answer 3

So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness […] (NASB).

Question 4

Barth on Romans 1:17

Answer 4

“From faithfulness the righteousness of God reveals itself, that is to say, from His faithfulness to us. […] Unto faith is revealed that which God reveals from His faithfulness. […] Where the faithfulness of God encounters the fidelity of men, there is manifested His righteousness. There shall the righteous man live. This is the theme of the Epistle to the Romans.” Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, 6th edn, trans. Edwyn C. Hoskyns (New York: Oxford University Press, 1933), 41-42.

Question 5

Luke 18:9-14 I

Answer 5

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Question 6

Luke 18:9-14 II

Answer 6

The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

Question 7

Luke 18:9-14 III

Answer 7

But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

Question 8

Luke 18:9-14 IV

Answer 8

I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (NASB).

Question 9

Detailed Definition

Answer 9

a. Implicated before the throne of God.
b. Inability of man.
c. Ineffectiveness of the law to justify.
d. Interposition of God’s grace.
e. Intercession of Christ.
f. Incorporation in Christ.
g. Imputation of righteousness.
h. Instrumentality of faith.
i. Interconnectivity of soteriological graces.
j. Integrity of systematic theology.

Question 10

Three Major Challenges

Answer 10

a. Overreaction to liberal accusations
b. The downplaying of distinctions in the name of ecumenism
c. The evangelical embrace of the new perspective on Paul