IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

Steven R. Cook

Introduction

A widely accepted truism in the field of Criminal Law holds that two kinds of criminals exist in the world, those who have been caught, and those who haven’t. The reality is that everyone, at some point in life has committed a crime and fractured the law. Whether the infraction was small or great, everyone is guilty. Someone might break a law and then say “I did not know it was a crime.” However, the Criminal Law system assumes that everyone knows the law, so that ignorance is no excuse. Likewise, God is righteous and just, and He righteously judges all humanity by the standard of His own character and either justifies or condemns accordingly (Matt. 5:48, Rom. 10:2-4). Ignorance of God and His standard of perfection does not remove the guilt imposed upon fallen humanity.

The question “how can a man be righteous before God?” is of major importance. Often humanity sees God as possessing only the attribute of love, and subsequently asks “how can a loving God send any to the lake of fire?” The Bible declares that God is love (Jer. 31:3; 1 John 4:7-12, 16), but He is also righteous (Ps. 11:7; 97:6; 111:3; 119:137; Rom. 10:3-4; 1 John 2:29) and just (Ps. 9:7-8; 19:9; 50:6; 58:11; Heb. 10:30-31); therefore, God can having nothing whatsoever to do with sin, except to condemn it. A better, more biblical question would be “how can a righteous and just God allow a rotten sinner into heaven?” How? Because God in love provided a way to satisfy His righteousness without compromising His character and this act of love can be observed in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This paper will argue that justification before God is based on imputed righteousness, and not earned righteousness from the production of human effort.

Condemnation before a Holy God

Before considering the matter of a person’s justification before God, it is important to address why he needs to be justified. The short answer is because every person stands condemned before God because Adam’s original sin is imputed to his account. The fact is every human is guilty and condemned before God because of the sin of Adam, when he rebelled against God, easting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:1-7). Adam’s sin is imputed to every one of his children with the result that every person is spiritually dead, separated from God, and residing in the kingdom of darkness (Acts 26:18).

So, what is an imputation? The Greek logi,zomai (40 occurrences) denote a counting, crediting, considering, or charging something to someone’s account. In a modern sense, it carries the idea of crediting something to someone, much like depositing money into a checking account. Biblically, an imputation is the action of God whereby He justly credits to another something that either results in condemnation or justification.

The three biblical imputations important to this study are: “(a) imputation of the Adamic sin to the human race, (b) imputation of the sin of man to the substitute, Christ, and (c) an imputation of the righteousness of God to the believer.”1 Regarding the imputation of Adam’s original sin to all humanity, the apostle Paul states:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. Romans 5:122

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:17-19

Adam was the reason sin entered into the world, and as a result death spread to all mankind. In Romans 5:12 it states “all sinned” which translates Greek word a`marta,nw which is in the aorist tense, meaning that when Adam sinned, all humanity sinned with him. That is, Adam served as the representative of all mankind, and so when Adam fell, all humanity fell with him. If Adam had not sinned, his children would not have been born with sin natures and Adam’s original sin would not be imputed to all his posterity. But since Adam did sin, all his children are born “in his own [sinful] likeness, according to his image” (Gen. 5:3); that is, the fallen image of Adam. John A. Witmer expounds on Romans 5:12 as follows:

The Greek past (aorist) tense occurs in all three verbs in this verse. So the entire human race is viewed as having sinned in the one act of Adam’s sin. Two ways of explaining this participation of the human race in the sin of Adam have been presented by theologians—the “federal headship” of Adam over the race and the “natural or seminal headship” of Adam… The federal headship view considers Adam, the first man, as the representative of the human race that generated from him. As the representative of all humans, Adam’s act of sin was considered by God to be the act of all people and his penalty of death was judicially made the penalty of everybody… The natural headship view, on the other hand, recognizes that the entire human race was seminally and physically in Adam, the first man. As a result God considered all people as participating in the act of sin which Adam committed and as receiving the penalty he received.3

Romans 5:12 describes the first of the imputations that serve as a necessary prerequisite for salvation. It should be understood that without this first imputation, mankind would not be eligible to receive salvation. In fact, condemnation necessarily precedes salvation. All humanity is condemned “in Adam.” A human does nothing to condemn himself before God; and likewise, he does nothing to make himself righteous. Millard J. Erickson explains:

Just as we are not actually righteous in ourselves, but are treated as if we have the same righteous standing that Jesus has, so though we are not personally sinful until we commit our first sinful act, we are, before that time, treated as if we have the same sinful standing that Adam had. If it is just to impute to us a righteousness that is not ours but Christ’s, it is also fair and just to impute to us Adam’s sin and guilt. He is able to act on our behalf as is Christ.4

As the representative of all humanity, “Adam was on probation for all of us as it were; and because Adam sinned, all of us are treated as guilty and corrupted.”5 Every human is treated as though he were Adam himself, standing guilty before God with whom he broke covenant.

Grounds for Justification

Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and nothing else is required of the believer who would be declared righteous before God. This is possible for one reason only, and that is because Jesus Christ died as a substitute for humanity. Only upon His death, burial, and resurrection does the believer find opportunity for salvation with God. Kenneth W. Allen writes:

The grounds of justification are the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was without sin in His person and conduct and during His earthly life He kept the law perfectly. Having therefore no sins of His own for which He need suffer the penalty of death, He had the right to die on the cross as a propitiation for the sins of the world.6

The grounds of justification are made possible only through the work of Jesus Christ on behalf of all humanity. The believer benefits from the fact that Jesus died as a substitute for him, and there is no longer a barrier between God and man (2 Cor. 5:19-21; Eph. 2:14-15). Millard J. Erickson states:

It is as if, with respect to one’s spiritual status, a new entity has come into being. It is as if Christ and I have been married, or have merged to form a new corporation. Thus, the imputation of His righteousness is not so much a matter of transferring something from one person to another as it is a matter of bringing the two together so that they hold all things in common. In Christ I died on the cross, and in Him I was resurrected. Thus, his death is not only in my place, but with me.7

It cannot be stated strongly enough that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is the sole basis for the sinner’s justification before God. Jesus’ prefect life qualified Him to go to the cross as a sinless substitute and bear the wrath that belonged to every sinner. When the unsaved person comes to God for acceptance, it must be through the work of Christ, for nothing else will satisfy. The hymn writer Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778) captured this truth in his hymn Rock of Ages:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure;

Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labors of my hands

Can fulfill thy law's commands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to the cross I cling;

Naked, come to thee for dress;

Helpless, look to thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

When mine eyes shall close in death,

When I soar to worlds unknown,

See thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee.

“Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling” should be the attitude of every sinner who comes to God.

The Great Trade-off

Peter tells us “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18). This is the greatest trade-off in history; the “just for the unjust.” Christ took all humanities sins upon Himself, so they might be able to receive His righteousness. Biblical passages that explain the trade-off are:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for [avnti.] many. Mark 10:45

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for [u`pe.r] the ungodly. Romans 5:6

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for [u`pe.r] us. Romans 5:8

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for [u`pe.r] all, therefore all died. 2 Corinthians 5:14

The prepositions u`pe.r and avntiv are clearly used in Scripture to express the idea of substitution, that Jesus died in place of the sinner. Lewis Sperry Chafer explains the two prepositions as follows:

Two Greek propositions are involved in the doctrine of substitution: (1) U`pe.r (translated for), which word is broad in its scope and may mean no more than that a thing accomplished becomes a benefit to others. In this respect it would be declared by this word that Christ’s death became a benefit to a great or less degree to those for whom He died. This word is, however, at times invested with the most absolute substitutionary meaning (cf. Heb. 2:9; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:21; 3:18; 4:1). (2) Avntiv (also translated for), which word conveys the thought of complete substitution of one thing or person in the place of another. Orthodox men, whether of one school or the other, will contend like that Christ’s death was for men in the most definite sense.8

The idea of substitution teaches that Jesus died in our place. That is, God the Father imputed the sin of all humanity on Jesus Christ while He was on the cross and judged Him as if the sinner where there paying for the consequences of his own sin. Furthermore, God the Father imputes His righteousness to the sinner who comes by faith alone to Christ alone, trusting completely that Jesus’ work was sufficient to satisfy the Father’s righteous demands against sin. Keep in mind that all human sin was imputed to Jesus, and that just as such an imputation did not make Him a sinner, so the imputation of His righteousness to the believer does not make him righteous in conduct, it only declares him to be righteous. Regarding 2 Corinthians 5:21 Charles Hodge declares:

There is probably no passage in the Scriptures in which the doctrine of justification is more concisely or clearly stated than [this]. Our sins were imputed to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us. He bore our sins; we are clothed in his righteousness... Christ bearing our sins did not make him morally a sinner... nor does Christ's righteousness become subjectively ours, it is not the moral quality of our souls... Our sins were the judicial ground of the sufferings of Christ, so that they were a satisfaction of justice; and his righteousness is the judicial ground of our acceptance with God.9

God subtracts the sinner’s sin and credits it to Jesus while He was on the cross (2 Cor. 5:19), and then imputes His righteousness to the believer at the moment of faith in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), hence the believer is then declared “justified.” Justification is the declaration of God that the Christian is made acceptable to Him forever, and that such acceptance is based solely on the fact that the believer is “in Christ.” Just as God cannot, and will not ever condemn Jesus Christ, neither can He, nor will He ever condemn the believer who is in union with the Savior (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:7-9). Indeed, Hebrews 10:14 declares the believer is “perfected forever” in Christ.

The change from death in Adam to life in Christ is simple; for “as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). The fact is “God sees but two men and each member of the race is either in one or the other. The unregenerate are in Adam; the regenerate is in Christ.”10

Imputation of God’s righteousness to the believer is the sole ground for justification. Sadly, there are some who seek to be justified before God through a mixture of faith and good works, or sometimes by good works alone. However, the Scripture makes it clear that when the believer places his faith in Christ alone he is declared righteous before God.

Justification Explained

I am not justified by works of my own,

But rather through faith in Christ alone;

Who died as a substitute for all my sin,

So that His righteousness might dwell within.11

Justification means someone is declared right before a judge, and freed from any guilt of punishment from sin. In Scripture, God imputed all humanities’ sin to Jesus on the cross, imputes His righteousness to the believer, and declares as just the ungodly person who by simple faith believes that Jesus is the Christ, the perfect sacrifice who died for them, and was resurrected on the third day (Jo. 3:16; 20:31; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 15:3-4).

According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, justification is “an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”12 John Calvin saw justification “simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.”13 The church historian Philip Schaff states:

The subjective principle of Protestantism is the doctrine of justification and salvation by faith in Christ; as distinct from the doctrine of justification by faith and works or salvation by grace and human merit. Luther's formula is sola fide. Calvin goes further back to God's eternal election, as the ultimate ground of salvation and comfort in life and in death. But Luther and Calvin meant substantially the same thing, and agree in the more general proposition of salvation by free grace through living faith in Christ (Acts 4:12), in opposition to any Pelagian or semi-Pelagian compromise which divides the work and merit between God and man. And this is the very soul of evangelical Protestantism.14

Lewis Sperry Chafer offers the following excellent definition of justification:

Theologically considered, the term justification means to be declared righteous. It is true that, being in Christ, the believer is righteous; but justification is the divine acknowledgement and declaration that the one who is in Christ is righteous. That which God publishes He defends. Justification is immutable.15

Both hq'd'c.16 in the Old Testament (Gen. 15:6; Isa. 61:10) and dikaiosu,nh17 in the New Testament (Rom. 3:22, 25, 26, 28) refer to someone being declared righteous in a legal sense according to a legal standard. When a person is declared righteous before God, it is based on the fact that God has imputed His righteousness to that person, who by faith has trusted in the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ on his behalf. Men are declared righteous before God because He has credited to them Christ’s righteousness. The reason God accepts a sinner as righteous has nothing to do with the sinner’s good works, but has everything to do with the fact that God is gracious, and graciously bestows His righteousness to the sinner who by faith trusts in Jesus substitutionary work on the cross. Merrill F. Unger writes:

Justification is a divine act whereby an infinitely Holy God judicially declares a believing sinner to be righteous and acceptable before Him because Christ has borne the sinner’s sin on the cross and has become “to us…righteousness” (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 3:24). Justification springs from the fountain of God’s grace (Titus 3:4-5). It is operative as the result of the redemptive and propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, who has settled all the claims of the law (Rom. 3:24-25; 5:9). Justification is on the basis of faith and not by human merit or works (3:28-30; 4:5; Gal. 2:16). In this marvelous operation of God the infinitely holy Judge judicially declares righteous the one who believes in Jesus (Rom. 8:31-34).18

J. I. Packer adds:

Justification is a judicial act of God pardoning sinners (wicked and ungodly persons, Rom. 4:5; 3:9-24), accepting them as just, and so putting permanently right their previously estranged relationship with himself. This justifying sentence is God’s gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:15-17), his bestowal of a status of acceptance for Jesus’ sake (2 Cor. 5:21).19

The common threads running through each definition are:

· God’s personal righteousness is the standard by which all humanity is either condemned or declared righteous (Ps. 11:7; Rom. 3:23).

· God’s provision of Christ as a propitiatory substitute on behalf of sinful humanity (2 Cor. 5:19-21; 1 Jo. 2:2; 4:10).

· The imputation of God’s righteousness to the believer (2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9).

· God’s declaration as righteous the believer who trusts in the finished work of Christ on his behalf (Rom. 8:1; 31-34).

· Salvation as an act of God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:4-5).

· Divine righteousness received by means of faith (Rom. 3:28-30; 4:5; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9).

· Human works rejected as acceptable to God (Isa. 64:6; Tit. 3:4-5).

· Distinction between immediate justification and progressive sanctification (2 Cor. 5:21; John 17:17).

God’s own righteousness is the norm or standard by which all humanity is compared and found either justified or condemned. Jesus is the only One to have ever lived a perfect life to such an extent that God looked down from heaven and said “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 17:5). “Clearly righteousness is understood as a matter of living up to the standards set for a relationship. Ultimately, God’s own person and nature are the measure or standard of righteousness.”

Justification by Grace Alone

Grace is the unmerited, unearned favor which God demonstrates toward sinful man and is based completely on His own gracious character. Grace rules out any good works on the part of another to win the approval of God, for if grace is not free, then it is not grace, but rather what is due. In short, God in grace treats us better than we deserve.

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. “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.’ “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!’ “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.” Luke 18:9-14

There are those who trust “in themselves” that they are “righteous,” while others say “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” The former represents that camp who seeks to be accepted before God based on their own merit, rather than trusting in the righteousness that comes by faith alone in Jesus Christ; while the latter come to God and seek justification, not on any goodness found within, but rather on God’s mercy (Rom. 3:21-28; 4:1-11; 5:1, 6-9; 8:1, 31-34; 10:3-4; Gal. 2:16; 3:11, 21, 24-26; Phil. 3:9; Tit. 3:4-7; 2 Pet. 3:18). The pseudo-righteous man operates on a relative righteousness where he compares himself with other sinners and then says “God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” Though he prays to God, he makes himself the standard of righteousness whereby he condemns others. A pseudo-righteous man does not see his own sin, only the sin of others.

Justification is based on grace alone, and not on any worthiness found in the sinner. The Scriptures declare loudly that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). While full of sin and completely unacceptable to God, He demonstrated His love toward fallen humanity by graciously sending His Son to die as a substitute on their behalf. This act on the part of God was done not on the basis of who they are, but on the basis of who He is. God did not send His Son to die for humanity because any were found to be sweet and lovely; rather, He sent His Son to die for them because God is love! All humanity is deserving only of death; therefore, any act on the part of God to save anyone must be considered gracious.

To argue that a man must do good works before he can be declared righteous before God is nonsense! To make a man righteous before God based on his own merit is an affront to the grace of God Who has provided eternal life and righteousness based on faith alone in Christ alone; for if any man brings his own works to God and says “declare me righteous that I may enter your kingdom,” God is left with no other choice than to reject that man. For the Scripture clearly states “the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom. 4:4-5). It is not the man who works, but the man who trusts in the finished work of Jesus on his behalf who is declared righteous before God. It is clear, “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20).

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Romans 3:21-28

The Scripture gives no shortage of statements declaring that Christians have “been justified by faith” (Rom. 5:1), with the result that there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1); and who will dare to “bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies” (Rom. 8:33). One might ask, “Is there anything a human can do by himself to be good enough?” No! The Bible describes human good as inadequate to measure up to the perfect standard of God’s righteousness. Human good is described as:

· Dead works (Heb. 6:1; 9:14).

· Not able to save mankind (Tit. 3:5; Eph. 2:8-9).

· Never acceptable to God (Isa. 64:6).

· Judged at the last judgment (unbeliever – Eccl. 12:14; Rev. 20:12-15; believer -1 Cor. 3:11-16; 2 Cor. 5:10).

This understanding does not seek to destroy what the Bible addresses regarding good works; rather it seeks to place good works as something subsequent to salvation. Philip Schaff writes:

Protestantism does by no means despise or neglect good works or favor antinomian license; it only subordinates them to faith, and measures their value by quality rather than quantity. They are not the condition, but the necessary evidence of justification; they are not the root, but the fruits of the tree. The same faith which justifies does also sanctify.20

It is sad, but some have confused positional sanctification (which comes by faith alone in Christ alone) with experiential sanctification (which is the result of spiritual growth subsequent to salvation), and concluded that man, by his own efforts can be declared righteous before God. Charles Finney has done harm to the doctrine of forensic justification by teaching a salvation by works rather than by faith alone. Finney states:

There can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense, but upon the ground of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to law. This is of course denied by those who hold that gospel justification, or the justification of penitent sinners, is of the nature of a forensic or judicial justification. They hold to the legal maxim, that what a man does by another he does by himself, and therefore the law regards Christ's obedience as ours, on the ground that He obeyed for us.21

And again he states:

It is self-evident, that entire obedience to God's law is possible on the ground of natural ability. To deny this, is to deny that a man is able to do as well as he can. . . it is, of course, forever settled, that a state of entire sanctification is attainable in this life, on the ground of natural ability.22

Finney taught perfectionism, concluding that a man must cease from all sinfulness if he is to be acceptable before God. Finney’s teaching of salvation by works contradicts the Word of God, which is the final authority on matters of faith. God’s Word declares “while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6), and “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). If man could save himself, why did Christ die? The answer is that Jesus provided for sinful man what he COULD NOT provide for himself; salvation! If man can save himself by his own efforts, then Christ died needlessly (Gal. 2:21). Finney is guilty of rejecting the provision of God by faith alone. The apostle Paul writes of similar legalists in his own day when he states:

For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10:3-4

Man, by his own efforts, cannot win the approval of God. Isaiah makes clear that “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isa. 64:6). If a lost sinner were to be “good” his whole life and give to charities, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, give to the poor, offer medicine to the sick, and perform every other deed declared righteous by men, and then gather all those deeds into one bag and bring it before God and demand its “trade-in value,” it would be worth one “filthy rag.” All of man’s relative righteousness can never measure up to the standard of God’s prefect righteousness. Man’s relative righteousness is equal to one “filthy rag,” which in the end will be tossed into fire to be burned like a soiled undergarment which cannot be cleaned.

In spite of such false teachers as Finney, the Word of God rings clear that a sinner is justified before God based on the imputation of His righteousness to the one who comes with the empty hands of faith and believes the gospel.

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Romans 4:3-5

Paul makes the doctrine of forensic justification clear when he teaches the church at Rome to consider Abraham as the example of faith leading to righteousness. What does Paul mean when he declares that Abraham believed God and that subsequently it was “credited to him” as righteousness? It means God imputed to Abraham’s account His righteousness; which imputation is possible because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on behalf of all humanity. Paul himself stated that he would be found in Him not having a righteousness of his own, “but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9).

Justification through Faith Alone

The evidence for justification by faith alone in Christ alone is evident in Scripture (John 1:12; 3:16; 20:31; Acts 16:31; Rom. 1:17; 3:22-31; 10:3-4; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-10; Tit. 1:1-2). Some have tried to add requirements such as baptism (Mark 16:16; 1 Cor. 1:17), lordship salvation (Rom. 10:9), or walking an aisle. One need only look back to Abraham who was never baptized, never declared God “Lord” (even though He is), and certainly never walked an aisle, and yet he is saved. Kenneth W. Allen writes:

Man is justified before God by faith alone; but what is faith? Faith is not merely intellectual assent to divine truth. “To have faith” means “to trust in,” “to rely on,” and in relation to justification faith refers to trust in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ… Faith is not the merit of justification but is the means. It is an instrument by which one lays hold of the basis of justification, which is the blood of Jesus Christ.23

The Bible declares that “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). When Paul explained that it is “through faith” one is saved, he could not have been clearer. Faith does not save, Jesus saves; faith is merely the means by which a believer receives salvation. J. I. Packer declares:

The necessary means, or instrumental cause, of justification is personal faith in Jesus Christ as crucified Savior and risen Lord (Rom. 4:23-25; 10:8-13). This is because the meritorious ground of our justification is entirely in Christ. As we give ourselves in faith to Jesus, Jesus gives us his gift of righteousness, so that in the very act of “closing with Christ,” as older Reformed teachers put it, we receive divine pardon and acceptance which we could not otherwise have (Gal. 2:15-16; 3:24). 24

Salvation is never what the sinner for God, but rather, what He has done for us by sending His Son to die in our place. Because we are marked by sin and death, we are unable to do one thing to remedy our fallen position, and so we must look to the savior to save us. It’s only with the empty hands of faith that we accept God’s free offer of salvation.

Conclusion

Forensic justification is taught in the Bible in contradistinction to moral justification. It has been argued throughout this paper that a sinner is declared righteous before God solely on the basis of imputed righteousness given by God at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ. If any human works were to be added to the finished work of Jesus Christ, salvation would become void; for faith plus anything equals nothing.

ENDNOTES

1. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Volume Two (Grand Rapid: Michigan, Kregel Publications, 1997), 296.

3. John A. Witmer, Romans: The Bible Knowledge Commentary (USA: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1983), 458.

4. Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House Co., 1998), 652.

5. Ibid., 652.

6. Kenneth W. Allen, “Justification by Faith” Bibliotheca Sacra, 135 (1978): 112.

7. Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 836.

8. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Volume Three, 199-200.

9. Charles Hodge, Commentary on 2 Corinthians (Carlisle, PA.: The Banner of Truth Publication, year unknown), 150-151.

10. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Volume Two, 303.

11. I wrote this small poem shortly after reading several articles on forensic justification.

12. The Westminster Shorter Catechism; Question 33 (Richmond: Virginia, John Knox Press, 1910), 407-408.

13. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 3 (Albany: Ages Software, 1998), 200.

14. Philip Schaff, Justification by Faith; The History of the Christian Church-Volume VII (Grand Rapids: Michigan, W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1950), 20-21.

15. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Volume Three, 128.

16. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), 842-843.

17. Fredrick William Danker, ed., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), 249.

18. Merrill F. Unger, Justification: The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988), 729

19. J. I. Packer, “Justification” Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton: Illinois, Tyndale House Publishers, 1993) 164.

20. Philip Schaff, 22.

21.