To be justified is to be declared righteous in the legal sense. This does not mean that we are made righteous in that we no longer sin, but that we are declared righteous solely on the basis of Christ work on the cross. “Justification is a legal term implying a clearing of one’s name, the winning of a favorable verdict, whether it be in a court of law, of public opinion, or of conscience. God’s justification is not for the righteous, but for the wicked. Hence justification is the judicial act of God whereby guilty sinners, who put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, are declared righteous in His eyes and are freed from guilt and punishment.[1]” It is clear from scripture that we all come into this world condemned, awaiting the wrath of God (John 3:36). God’s perfect righteousness is needed if we want to have fellowship with Him. But we have a problem, the problem is that we are guilty before our God (Nah. 1:3) and we have no righteousness of our own to present to God (Isa. 64:6). God being a holy and just God cannot fellowship with guilty sinners, thus something must happen for us to able to enter into the presence and have fellowship with God so that we might be saved. God cannot just look over or ignore the stench of sin, for if he was to do that he would not be just.
One aspect of our justification is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. In the same way that we have all inherited Adams sinful nature at birth, we also receive Christ’s righteousness at our new birth. Imputation is applying the righteousness of Christ on our account, so that when we appear before the father we would be found clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It is because of this righteousness that we can be found innocent before God. The holy righteous judge must punish the guilty, thus Christ took the guilt of every sin that every believer has ever or will ever commit upon himself as he hung on the cross. God punished Christ as if he was the guilty party, and in doing so we received the righteousness of Christ on our account, thus being justified. There is not work that we could do to present ourselves before God that would be acceptable, we are only found acceptable because of the declaration of Christ righteousness that has been imputed to us. The sins of the believer are forgiven. “Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38, 39). “All the sins of the believer, past, present, and to come, were laid upon Christ and atoned for by Him. Although sins cannot be actually pardoned before they are actually committed yet their obligation to the curse of the law were virtually remitted at the Cross, antecedently to their actual commission.”[2] It is the accomplished work of Christ on the cross that gives us full forgiveness of sins. The beautiful work that Christ did, in both his life and his death, was to accomplish everything the Father gave him to accomplish (John 17:4), in such a way that brings ultimate glory to God. Jesus did not come to pay a ransom to the devil for our souls, he did not come to provide an example of how to reach God, and he did not come to relinquish his holy and just attributes so that those attributes would not longer hinder our relationship with God. Jesus came to satisfy God’s justice, he came to prove that God is holy. Jesus walked into the courtroom of God and took our guilty sentence upon himself and was convicted, tried, sentenced and executed under the holy wrath of God. Thus expiating our guilt on the cross and declaring us legally righteous.
[1] Clarence Herbert Benson, Biblical Faith : Doctrines Every Christian Should Know, Biblical essentials series (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2003). 39.
If the punishment our sins deserved was inflicted on the Cross, resulting in actual forgiveness, then the elect are in fact not born under God's wrath, nor do they every have to repent of their sin. This is flatly contrary to Scripture.
ReplyDeleteI see other things I object to in your post, but I'll leave that for another time.
If it is not the work of the cross that provides actual forgiveness then where does it come from? I do believe it is a false dichotomy to say that if the cross resulted in actual forgiveness then the elect are not born under Gods wrath nor need to repent. forgiveness was accomplished on the cross and applied at conversion, for if it was any other way then the gift of faith would be nulled.
ReplyDeleteOn a side not It is pointless to go back in forth on this matter because we are coming from two different theological dispositions. I believe in the sole authority of scripture, you do not. I believe the Bible teach substitutionary atonement, you do not. If we could agree that Scripture is the sole authority on which we base our faith, maybe then we could discuss these things.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI'm distinguishing between actual and potential forgiveness. The former means sins are forgiven in virtue of the punishment being executed on a substitute; the latter means there is grounds to forgive someone based upon meeting certain secondary conditions like repentance.
I don't see anything wrong with my logic, and Calvinists have realized this same issue as well. If God's wrath was re-directed and vented on Christ, then there's no wrath upon the elect (ever) by definition.
I don't think this is an issue of the "sole authority of Scripture," because I believe I hold Scripture in as high if not higher regard than Protestants do. I'm perfectly comfortable limiting my argument and proofs from Scripture. My original argument is doing just that.