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Justification by Faith: Definition and Substance | John Calvin · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking, the deep dive where we take a
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stack of sources, really trying to unpack their layers and
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distill the valuable insights for you.
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Glad to be here. Today we're delving into a
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foundational idea, one that really reshaped Christian
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thought and honestly continues to captivate people.
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How a person is declared right before God?
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It's a big one. It is.
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We're working with a rich collection of sources, mainly
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excerpts from John Calvin's Institute to the Christian
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Religion, which, you know, provides a really robust
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framework for grasping this fundamental truth.
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Yeah, Calvin really lays it out systematically.
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Our aim today is simple. Bring clarity.
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What does this faith righteousness truly mean?
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How's it received and how do we differentiate it from common
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misinterpretations so you can leave with a clearer picture of
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this vital subject? Indeed.
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And this isn't just like dry historical theology.
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It's about a concept that speaks directly to our standing before
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a holy God. It's personal, right?
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We'll examine the precise meaning of justification, the
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pretty radical exclusion of humans striving in that process
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the essential place of Christ. Can't overstate that.
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No, and how this view contrasts sharply with other ideas that
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were prevalent in its time. We'll touch on those contrasts
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later. We will.
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We'll also look at the very intention of God's law, not as a
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ladder to earn favor, you know, but more as a path to reveal our
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need for something else. That's a key distinction.
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What's striking here, as you look through the sources, is the
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consistent clarity of this framework.
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It's very coherent, so let's begin our deep dive.
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OK, let's start right at the heart of the matter.
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What is faith righteousness? Our sources define it at its
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most fundamental level as reconciliation with God, and
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this reconciliation consists solely in the forgiveness of
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sins. That's the absolute starting.
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Point. That's a crucial initial step,
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and the question naturally comes up, why is this reconciliation
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so central? I mean, why start there?
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Good question. Our sources explain that well.
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The wrath of God rests upon all humanity as long as they remain
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sinners. That's the default state.
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A supering thought. It is sin creates A genuine
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chasm, a real division between humankind and God.
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It causes God to turn His face away from the Sinner because,
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well, it's contrary to His very character to associate with sin.
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Can't have fellowship with. It exactly so.
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Until a person is brought back to a place of grace through
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Christ, they remain essentially in a state of opposition to God,
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an enemy. The texts sometimes say it's a
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serious predicament. So OK, when we talk about
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justification through faith righteousness, it literally
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means God actively takes the Sinner into union with himself.
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Yes, an embrace. Almost.
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It's a dramatic turning point, isn't it, where an individual
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moves from being that enemy of God to being declared righteous
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through this forgiveness? Declared is the keyword there.
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Right, the sources are quite plain.
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Those God embraces are declared righteous solely because their
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imperfections are washed away by the forgiveness of sins gone.
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Wiped clean. It can simply be called
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remission of sins or wiping clean of the slate.
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And if we broaden our view a bit, Scripture frequently speaks
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of righteousness and reconciliation, you know, hand
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in hand. It shows that each kind of
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contains the other. They're intertwined.
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Very much so. Righteousness is obtained when
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our sins are not counted against us, as Paul says in 2nd
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Corinthians 5. It's a powerful verse.
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It is, and David's testimony in Psalm 32, which Paul himself
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quotes in Romans 4, underscores this further.
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The blessing, which is basically equivalent to being declared
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righteous, comes from the forgiveness of transgressions
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and covered sins. Where the Lord chooses not to
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hold iniquity against someone. Precisely.
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It's a complete release from that burden of guilt.
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OK, here's where the concept, I think, truly gains its
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liberating dimension. Our sources strongly convey that
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faith righteousness is achieved solely by Christ's righteousness
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making intercession for us. Can you unpack what that
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actually means for someone trying to get their head around
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this? Sure, it conveys that a person
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is not declared righteous because of anything in them.
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You know any inherent goodness or quality?
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Nothing internal. No, but because Christ's perfect
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righteousness is communicated to them by imputation.
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Imputation. Let's define that.
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Think of imputation maybe like an accountant crediting an
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amount to your account. Not because you earned it.
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Not because you put it there. But because someone else did.
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Exactly. Someone else made the deposit on
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your behalf. Our righteousness doesn't
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originate in us. It doesn't reside in US.
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It resides entirely in Christ. Outside of us.
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Yes, we possess it only because we are joined to Christ,
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partakers in Him. The Scripture puts it very
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strikingly in 2nd Corinthians 5.21.
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It says God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, took our
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place so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
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It's this incredible exchange Christ took on our sins so his
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perfect, unblemished righteousness could be credited,
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imputed to us. A double exchange, you called
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it. Our sin to Him, His
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righteousness to us. That's the heart of it.
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So it's not a matter what we do then at all.
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It's entirely what Christ did, and that perfect action is then
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applied to us. Correct.
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The sources say Christ's obedience is reckoned to us as
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if it were our own. That's Romans 5.19.
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As if we had done it right. This means His perfection
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effectively covers our imperfections.
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It hides them from God's sight, in a manner of speaking.
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And there's that compelling illustration in the sources, the
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analogy of Jacob. Yes, with Isaac.
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Just as Jacob hid under the precious purity, as Calvin puts
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it, of his first born brother Esau's clothes really to appear
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acceptable to his blind father Isaac.
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Deception, but used as an analogy here.
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Right, an analogy for something far greater.
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We too are covered by Christ's perfection, appearing before God
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as if smelling sweetly with his odor, his acceptability.
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It's a remarkable picture of substitution.
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It really is. And this naturally brings us to
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another foundational idea. Faith.
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Righteousness is completely free.
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Free. It depends solely upon God's
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mercy. It's a gift, not something we
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earn, not something owed to us. We can't work for it.
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No, we come empty handed to receive it.
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Nothing to offer. So the gospel message itself
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then, according to the sources, offers this righteousness
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freely, completely apart from any help from human works.
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Completely apart. This is a vital distinction,
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isn't it? It means faith.
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Righteousness wholly excludes all human actions, regardless of
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their nature. There's no mixing.
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That's absolutely right. It's presented as directly
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opposed to works righteousness, antithetical.
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You can't have both. No.
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When one is established, the other has to be overthrown.
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There's simply no middle ground. If righteousness were based on
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works, it would be a due or a debt, like a wage for labor.
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You perform something earned, yes, not a gift of grace as
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Romans 4.4 clearly states. This is a contrast of complete
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opposites. It makes it evident you cannot
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have both simultaneously as the basis for your standing with
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God. And just to be clear, this
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exclusion isn't merely about, say, outward actions or
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ceremonial rituals like the Old Testament sacrifices or dietary
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laws. Good point.
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It goes deeper. The sources are clear.
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It applies to all works, even what we might consider spiritual
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works performed by those who have already the experience
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spiritual rebirth. Even the best efforts of
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believers. Right.
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Even the most mature individuals cannot perfectly fulfill the
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law. Their best works are imperfect.
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They merit no reward on their own before God.
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Stained by sin. Exactly.
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The law and its very essence serves to reveal human
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inability. It brings no benefit in
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commanding righteousness. If that command is seen as a
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means of justification, it actually exposes our failure
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rather than helping us succeed in earning God's favor.
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This is precisely why the doctrine of faith alone
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solifiety is asserted with such strength.
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The sources say that whoever takes everything from works
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firmly enough necessarily gives everything to faith alone.
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It's a necessary consequence. All or nothing?
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Pretty much phrases like His righteousness has been
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manifested apart from the law from Romans 3.21 and and man is
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freely justified in Romans 3.24. These signify a complete
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separation from human effort. It's about where our trust
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rests, either in our own performance or entirely in
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Christ's finished work. OK, and one of the most, well
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freeing practical outcomes of faith righteousness being a free
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gift is that it completely removes any room for boasting.
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Romans 3.27 mentions this. Yes, that exclusion of boasting
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it brings a crucial question to the forefront.
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Why is that so significant? Why hammer that point home?
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Why does Paul emphasize it? Because if any part of our
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righteousness, even the smallest fraction, were based on human
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works, there would always be room for a person to boast
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before God to take some credit for their salvation.
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Look what I contributed. Exactly.
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Look what I did. But the very nature of faith,
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righteousness being solely a gift of God's unmerited favor,
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leaves absolutely no occasion for human pride.
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None. Humbling.
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Very it ensures that all glory, all praise go, goes to God
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alone. Because our right standing is
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received entirely as a gift, not as a debt or reward for
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performance. This fosters a posture of
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humility and deep gratitude. Now, inevitably, some might
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naturally wonder about the role of good works.
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If they don't contribute to our justification, are they just
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irrelevant? A common question.
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Our sources acknowledge that no other faith justifies but faith
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working through love. That's Galatians 5.6.
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So how are we supposed to understand this?
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Does it create a contradiction, or is there a nuance we're
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missing? It's a really important
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clarification the sources provide.
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What's compelling is this faith does not draw its justifying
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ability from that working of love.
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OK, the power isn't in the. Love.
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No. Instead, faith justifies only
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because it leads us into fellowship with the
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righteousness of Christ. It's the instrument that
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connects us to Him. This draws a very clear
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distinction between justification, which is that
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instantaneous one time declaration of righteousness by
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God. The legal verdict?
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Right. And sanctification, which is the
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ongoing lifelong process of growing in holiness and good
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works. The life that follows.
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Exactly. These good works are truly a
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fruit, an evidence, a natural outflow of genuine living faith.
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But they are never the root or the cause of our acceptance with
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God. Fruit, not root.
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That's a good way to put it. The Spirit does assist us in the
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pursuit of holiness, that sanctification.
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But this Spirit enabled growth is distinct from the imputation
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of free righteousness in justification justifying faith
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receives. It doesn't perform for merit.
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It's the hand that takes the gift, not the hand that earns
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the wage. That distinction is vital.
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OK, let's shift our focus a bit to the law itself.
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If justification doesn't come by works of the law, what then is
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its basic purpose? Good question.
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Our sources explain that the law primarily outlines what is
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required for righteousness in God's sight.
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It presents the unwavering standard.
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The perfect standard. The man who practices these
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things will live by them, quoting Romans 10.5.
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It's like a perfect mirror reflecting God's character.
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That's right, it connects righteousness directly to works,
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implying that if someone could perfectly fulfill its commands,
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life and righteousness would indeed be obtained through that
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obedience. If big if.
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Huge if the law has its own promises, but they are entirely
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conditional upon perfect, unblemished works.
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Do this perfectly and you live. Which is fundamentally different
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from gospel promises. Absolutely.
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Gospel promises are freely given based solely on God's mercy
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received through faith, not based on human performance.
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The Law sets the bar at an unattainable height for fallen
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humanity. So given that fallen condition,
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the law's primary function takes on, well, a quite sobering
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aspect. It brings knowledge of sin, as
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Romans 3.2 now says. How exactly does that work in
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practice? How does it reveal sin?
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Well, by setting that perfect standard that no one can
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actually meet, the law functions like a powerful magnifying
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glass, doesn't it? It makes our transgressions, our
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shortcomings, glaringly evident. Shows us where we fail.
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Constantly it illuminates the depth of our failure and moral
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bankruptcy. And because it reveals sin in
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such stark terms, the law works wrath, as Romans 4.15 puts it,
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rather than righteousness. How does revealing sin lead to?
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Because sin creates that fundamental separation between
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humanity and God, and God, in His absolute holiness must turn
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away from the Sinner. He cannot abide sin.
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As Isaiah 59 vividly describes, our iniquities have separated us
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from our God. The law basically diagnosis this
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terminal condition. It reveals the separation and
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the just anger of God against sin.
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OK, this leads us to a crucial question now what does the law
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reveal about us, about human capacity?
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The sources state without any hesitation that no one, not
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ordinary people, not even the most spiritually mature
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individuals, can perfectly fulfill it.
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That's a significant claim. It is a very significant claim.
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Even the quote spiritual works performed by those who've been
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regenerated, people who genuinely desire to obey God,
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even their best efforts are imperfect.
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Stained. Yes, stained by human weakness
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and remaining sin, they merit no reward on their own before a
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perfectly holy God. Therefore, the law clearly and
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unequivocally demonstrates that humanity is destitute of the
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works required for righteousness.
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We simply lack the capacity. We can't measure up.
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Never. And precisely because no one can
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perfectly fulfill it, the law effectively excludes all
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boasting based on human effort or merit.
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If righteousness were based on works, there would be a reason
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to boast before God to point to our achievements, right?
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Sure, I kept the law. But the law's demands are
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impossible to meet perfectly. Romans 4.2 brings this out
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regarding Abraham. So the law humbles us to the
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core. It strips away self-reliance.
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So if the law shows our complete inability to achieve
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righteousness through our own efforts, what larger, perhaps
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surprising purpose does it ultimately have?
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It seems almost crill if it only brings knowledge of sin and
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condemnation. It might seem that way
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initially, but it absolutely serves a greater purpose.
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Its purpose is to highlight the necessity of a different kind of
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righteousness, one that is free and depends solely upon God's
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mercy. It points away for itself.
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Exactly. The law brings no benefit in
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commanding righteousness as a means of justification precisely
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because of human inability. This inability to be justified
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by the Law of Moses, as Acts 13 puts it, underscores the
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absolute need for the righteousness from God through
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faith, which Paul talks about in Philippians 3.
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So it drives us to the gospel. Precisely when the ability to
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justify is denied to the law, these words refer to the whole
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law, ceremonial regulations and moral commands, because even the
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moral law, the 10 commandments, reveals human imperfection and
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leads to a curse if not perfectly fulfilled.
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Galatians 3 is clear on that. The curse of the law.
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Yes. So in short, the law's intention
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is not to justify, but rather to establish God's perfect
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standard, expose our sin and inability, show us we incur
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God's wrath due to sin, and ultimately Dr. individuals to
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seek righteousness as a free gift through faith in Christ.
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The law itself cannot make alive or confer righteousness.
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As Galatians 3.21 says, it leads us to the one who can.
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It's a tutor leading us to Christ.
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That's a helpful way to see it. OK, let's delve further into
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this relationship between grace and works, especially concerning
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justification. Our sources present them as
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fundamentally opposed in either a situation.
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So what exactly is this grace in this specific context?
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Grace here is depicted as God's pure and freely given goodness,
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His unmerited favor. Undeserved.
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Completely. It is the sole basis for the
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free righteousness bestowed by God, depending entirely upon His
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mercy and benevolent will, not on anything in us.
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Nothing we bring to the table. Nothing.
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When righteousness is given by grace, it is not something owed.
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It means we come to receive it with absolutely nothing in our
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hands to offer. The gospel message itself, by
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its very nature, offers this free righteousness completely
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apart from any help from human works.
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It's a declaration of God's uncoerced faith favor.
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OK. And then on the other side of
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that coin, what about works in this critical distinction?
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What falls into that category? Works in this context refers to
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human actions, whether they are the specific works of the law,
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which covers both the ceremonial and moral aspects of God's
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commands, or even what might seem like admirable spiritual
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works performed by those who have already experienced
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spiritual regeneration. So even good deeds done by
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believers. Yes.
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When considered as a basis for justification, the concept of
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works inherently implies a do or something do as a wage or reward
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for effort. The central problem, as we've
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already discussed, is that no one, not even the most
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spiritually mature, can perfectly fulfill the law's
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demands. We always fall short.
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Always the law, instead of bringing righteousness, brings
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knowledge of sin and consequently works wrath.
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So any attempt to rely on works, even our best ones for
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justification is fundamentally flawed from the start.
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This is a really crucial point I think, for our listeners to
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grasp. The sources adamantly state that
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faith righteousness so differs from works righteousness that
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when one is established, the other has to be overthrown.
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This isn't just a slight difference in emphasis, it's a
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complete opposition. How can we best understand the
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finality of this exclusivity? It means that grace and works
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cannot coexist as the basis for justification.
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They are mutually exclusive categories in this specific
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context. Can't mix them.
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Cannot mix them for justification.
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If justification were based on works, it would inherently be a
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debt, a wage for labor, not a gift of grace.
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Paul's powerful argument in Romans 4.4 to 5 brings this out
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so clearly. Now to him who works, the pay is
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not considered a gift, but his due.
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You earned it. Right.
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But to one who does not work, but believes in him, who
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justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.
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It's belief, not work that receives.
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Believes in him who justifies the ungodly, no less.
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Exactly. Not the inherently good, the
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presence of any particle of works, righteousness, even the
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slightest hint that we contributed to earning our
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standing immediately allowed house for human boasting.
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Which Paul says is excluded. Right Wellmans 3.27
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Justification by faith excludes all boasting.
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Therefore the phrase faith alone is so crucial because it firmly
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means excluding all works without any qualification from
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the act of justification itself. It's a clean break, preventing
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us from taking any credit. Given the strong emphasis on the
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exclusion of works, let's circle back to that potential
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confusion. Does this mean good works are
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irrelevant once someone is justified?
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We touched on Galatians 5.6 Faith working through love.
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How do we reconcile this apparent tension?
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It's an excellent point and probably one of the most common
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areas for misunderstanding this doctrine.
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It's crucial to understand that this phrase faith working
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through love does not mean that the working of love gives faith
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its justifying power or ability. The works don't empower the
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faith to justify correct. Instead, faith justifies in no
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other way but in that it leads us into fellowship with the
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righteousness of Christ. It unites us to Him.
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It's the connector. Yes, this implies that while
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good works flowing from genuine love for God and neighbor are an
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inseparable fruit and evidence of a justified faith.
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You expect to see them you. Do if the faith is real, but
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they are never the means or the condition by which justification
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is achieved. The sources maintain a very
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clear line between sanctification, that ongoing
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process of becoming holy through good works driven by the Spirit
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within us, and justification, the instantaneous, definitive
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declaration of righteousness through Christ's imputed
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righteousness. Two distinct things.
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Distinct though related, the grace of God certainly helps
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believers in the pursuit of holiness in sanctification.
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But that empowering grace for holy living is not to be
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confused with the imputation of free righteousness and
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justification. 1 is the cause of our standing justification.
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The other is the consequence in our lives, sanctification.
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Cause and effect, got it. OK, let's delve deeper now into
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this truly distinctive idea of faith alone solified.
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Our sources explain that faith justifies by being the
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instrument through which believers receive and embrace
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Christ's righteousness and God's free mercy.
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It doesn't contribute any merit of its own.
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So what does it fully mean to receive Christ's righteousness?
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How does faith do that? Faith is described as the means,
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the channel by which a person receives and embraces the
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righteousness offered in the gospel.
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The hand that takes the gift. That's a great image for it.
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This righteousness, as we've firmly established, is not in
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us, but in Christ. It's external to us.
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Christ's obedience and perfection are reckoned to us as
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if it were our own imputed. It means we are justified solely
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by the intercession of Christ's righteousness, and that a person
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is not righteous in himself inherently, but because Christ's
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righteousness is communicated to him by imputation.
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So faith is like the acceptance of that communication.
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Yes, it's the trusting acceptance.
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It's beautifully brought to life by that analogy from Ambrose
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about Jacob. Again, just as Jacob disguised
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himself under the precious purity of our first born brother
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Christ, so that we may be attested righteous in God's
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sight. Clothes in Christ.
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Exactly. We are clothed in Christ's
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perfection. It's like standing before a
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judge, covered not by your own soiled garments, but by the
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impeccably clean robe of another, and being declared
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righteous because of that robe which you received by faith.
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So if faith is merely the receiving hand, then faith alone
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must direct our gaze entirely away from ourselves, away from
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our own accomplishments or feelings.
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Is that a correct reading? Precisely.
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That's a major implication. Justification by faith alone
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compels us to turn aside from contemplating our own works, our
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own performance, our own internal state, and to look
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solely upon God's mercy and create perfection.
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Look outward, not inward. Entirely outward to Christ, it
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is God who receives the Sinner with His pure and freely given
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goodness, Finding nothing in the Sinner themselves except their
22:07
miserable, destitute condition. Faith allows the Sinner who
22:11
despairs of their own efforts to please God, to ground the
22:14
entirety of their salvation and hope in God's sheer mercy
22:17
revealed in Christ. It moves us from a posture of
22:20
striving to one of simply receiving and resting.
22:24
We've touched on this, but it's worth reiterating the core
22:26
outcome. Faith alone brings this vital
22:29
reconciliation and forgiveness. Can you expand on how central
22:32
that truly is to the whole concept?
22:34
It's absolutely fundamental because our greatest barrier to
22:36
God is our sin. That's the problem justification
22:39
solves. So the righteousness of faith is
22:41
essentially reconciliation with God, which consists solely in
22:44
the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is the
22:46
reconciliation in this sense. Yes, to be made righteous means
22:50
one is made righteous solely by the fact that they are purified
22:53
when their spots are washed away by forgiveness of sins, as Paul
22:57
states. So clearly, God reconciles the
22:59
world by not counting men's trespasses against them.
23:03
That's Second Corinthians 5.19, the non imputation of sin.
23:07
He doesn't hold it against us. Exactly, and David's testimony
23:10
in Psalm 32 further supports this, declaring blessed is the
23:13
one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are
23:16
covered. Blessed is the man against whom
23:18
the Lord counts no iniquity. That's the blessing, That's the
23:21
righteousness. God choosing not to count our
23:23
sin against us because of Christ.
23:25
It's a declaration of divine amnesty.
23:27
Why then, is the phrase faith alone so critical here?
23:31
Beyond just being a historical slogan, what does that word
23:34
alone truly protect in terms of the message?
23:37
The phrase faith alone is crucial because it unequivocally
23:40
signifies that justification occurs apart from the works of
23:43
the law, as Romans 3.28 says. It's totally separate.
23:46
Totally separate. It means we are freed of all
23:49
conditions of the law, and it happens without the merit of
23:52
works. Paul's arguments consistently
23:55
demonstrate that so long as any particle of works righteousness
23:58
remains, some occasion for boasting remains with us.
24:01
Even a tiny bit allows for pride.
24:03
But faith excludes boasting. Right, Romans 3.27.
24:07
Again, faith by its very nature as receiving a free gift,
24:11
excludes all boasting. Even spiritual works or those
24:15
performed by the regenerated are excluded when justifying ability
24:18
is ascribed to faith, because even the most perfect human
24:22
works are still imperfect before God and merit no reward of
24:25
itself. The alone guards the purity of
24:28
grace. It ensures that God alone
24:30
receives all the glory for our justification.
24:33
This sounds like an incredibly pure gift, then completely
24:35
unearned. How does that understanding
24:37
shape our view of salvation itself?
24:39
It shapes it profoundly. Justification by faith is truly
24:42
a free gift received by grace, not as a debt or an earned wage,
24:45
as Romans 4.4 to 5 illustrates so well.
24:48
The worker gets paid, the believer receives is a gift.
24:51
Exactly. To one who does not work but
24:53
believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
24:56
reckoned as righteousness. It means we literally come empty
25:00
to receive it. Nothing in our hands we bring.
25:02
Precisely that there are no strings attached, no hidden
25:06
requirements that we must fulfill first to qualify.
25:09
This freedom allows us to approach God not with fear of
25:12
judgement based on our performance, but with profound
25:14
gratitude for a gift we could never, ever earn.
25:17
It changes everything about how we relate to God.
25:20
OK. And the sources consistently
25:23
draw a very sharp line between what they call law righteousness
25:27
and faith righteousness. Can you elaborate one more time
25:30
on why this distinction is so vital to maintain?
25:32
Yes, it's vital because confusing them is disastrous.
25:36
The law demands perfect performance, stating the man who
25:39
practices these things will live by them, meaning if you do them
25:41
perfectly, you will attain life through that doing.
25:43
That's Romans 10.5. The way it works.
25:45
Yes. In stark contrast, faith
25:48
righteousness announces salvation if you believe in your
25:50
heart. That's Romans 10.9.
25:52
It's about belief, not performance.
25:54
The way of faith exactly when the ability to justify is denied
25:58
to the law. These words refer to the whole
26:00
law, including both its ceremonial and moral
26:03
requirements. It's not just about ditching
26:05
sacrifices, it's about realizing we can't perfectly keep the
26:08
moral law either. Even the 10 commandments.
26:10
Even those because through the law comes knowledge of sin,
26:14
Romans 3.2 O and the law works wrath, Romans 4.15 not
26:19
righteousness. The law in its very nature
26:21
cannot make alive or confer righteousness.
26:24
It exposes our need. It doesn't meet it.
26:26
This clear opposition prevents any confusion about how a person
26:30
comes into a right standing with God.
26:32
It's either by perfect doing impossible for us, or by
26:35
believing reception, God's gracious provision.
26:38
OK, let's turn to Paul's writing specifically now, as they are
26:40
absolutely foundational to this entire understanding of
26:43
righteousness. How does Paul in his letters
26:45
present faith as the means of receiving this righteousness?
26:48
Paul consistently establishes faith as the exclusive and
26:51
foundational means by which individuals receive God's, a
26:54
free gift of justification. Faith is presented as the
26:56
mechanism, the conduit, the instrument, the channel, yes,
27:00
the channel through which believers receive the
27:02
righteousness that God offers. In the gospel, Paul states that
27:05
this righteousness means being freely justified and occurs
27:08
apart from the works of the Law. That's Romans 3.24 and 28.
27:12
Central Texts. Absolutely.
27:14
The concept of being justified by faith alone is central to
27:17
Paul's thought. Even if the word alone isn't
27:20
always explicitly attached to faith in every single verse, the
27:24
concept is pervasive. The.
27:25
Idea is there. It is because Paul consistently
27:28
takes everything from works and firmly gives everything to faith
27:32
alone as the means of reception. Expressions like his
27:35
righteousness has been manifested apart from the law,
27:38
Romans 3.21 and man is freely justified.
27:41
Romans 3.24 under score that faith is the only, only act of
27:44
principle required from our side in receiving this righteousness.
27:48
It's the open hand receiving the gift God offers.
27:51
And Paul clearly presents this faith righteousness as directly
27:54
opposite to works righteousness. We've said this, but what's the
27:57
consequence of this strict opposition in Paul's view?
28:00
He states very clearly that when one is established, the other
28:03
has to be overthrown. They are incompatible
28:05
foundations. Can't build on both.
28:06
No, this means a person seeking Christ's righteousness must
28:11
abandoned his own righteousness. You have to let go of self
28:14
reliant. There's no trying to combine the
28:16
two Which. Is hard for people.
28:17
Very hard. This is precisely why, as Romans
28:20
10.3 explains, the Israelites stumbled in their desire to
28:25
establish their own righteousness.
28:26
They did not submit to God's righteousness.
28:29
They clung to works. Tried to build their own case.
28:31
Yes, and Paul insists faith excludes all boasting Romans
28:36
3.27. If any human works, even those
28:40
we might consider spiritual, or perhaps gifts of Christ
28:43
operating in US, were associated with the basis of justification,
28:47
it would always leave room for human pride.
28:49
Some grounds for self congratulation.
28:50
Exactly. Faith eliminates this
28:52
possibility entirely by ensuring that righteousness is received
28:55
purely as a gift, not as a debt for performance, as Romans 4.4
28:59
shows. Paul's argument regarding
29:01
Abraham highlights this perfectly.
29:03
If Abraham were justified by works, he would indeed have
29:06
something to boast about before God.
29:08
But the Scripture says he has no reason to boast before God.
29:11
Romans 4.2. So what was the verdict?
29:13
Therefore his faith was reckoned as righteousness.
29:16
Romans 4.2 to 3. The humility is inherent in the
29:19
God ordained method of receiving righteousness.
29:22
And Paul also directly links faith to forgiveness and
29:25
reconciliation, doesn't he? It seems these ideas are just
29:28
inextricably tied together in his theology.
29:30
They absolutely are. You can't really separate them
29:32
in Paul's mind. For Paul, the righteousness of
29:35
faith is reconciliation with God, which consists solely in
29:39
the forgiveness of sins. Righteousness equals
29:41
reconciliation equals forgiveness.
29:43
In essence, yes, he often uses righteousness and reconciliation
29:47
indiscriminately, as in 2nd Corinthians 5, teaching that
29:50
righteousness is obtained when our sins are not counted against
29:53
us. The non imputation again.
29:55
Yes, and he brings in David's testimony from Psalm 32
29:59
specifically to confirm that righteousness is imputed apart
30:02
from works. He equates David's blessedness
30:05
with the forgiveness of transgressions and sins where
30:07
the Lord has not imputed iniquity.
30:09
That's Romans 4.6 to 8. Thus, for call, faith allows a
30:14
Sinner to be purified when their spots are washed away by
30:17
forgiveness of sins. It's this profound act of divine
30:21
pardon, received by faith that fundamentally changes our
30:25
standing before God. So it really comes down to faith
30:27
being the receiving hand for Christ's righteousness, the
30:29
conduit. Can you give us maybe a bit more
30:31
detail on how that imputed righteousness fully functions
30:34
from Paul's perspective? How does faith connect us to it?
30:36
Well, Paul says faith leads believers into fellowship with
30:39
the righteousness of Christ. It's what unites us to Christ,
30:42
who is our righteousness. It is by believing in Him who
30:45
justifies the ungodly that his faith is reckoned as
30:48
righteousness. That's Romans 4.5 again.
30:50
Believing in the justifier. Yes, our righteousness is not in
30:54
us but in Christ, and we possess it only because we are partakers
30:58
in Christ, joined to Him by faith.
31:00
Faith is the God appointed means by which Christ's perfect
31:03
obedience and spotless perfection are reckoned to us as
31:07
if it were our own. Applied to our account.
31:09
Exactly. This implies that faith simply
31:11
accepts the free, unearned righteousness that God bestows
31:14
through Christ's actions, rather than relying on any works or
31:18
efforts or qualities of our own. It's the mechanism for receiving
31:21
a divine credit transfer, if you will.
31:24
And once again, just to clarify that common question about
31:26
Paul's teaching, he states in Galatians 5.6 that no other
31:30
faith justifies but faith working through love.
31:34
How does Paul intend for us to understand this in light of his
31:36
overall very strong emphasis on faith alone?
31:39
Right. It's crucial to see how Paul fix
31:41
this together. He is not suggesting that faith
31:43
takes its justifying ability from that working of love.
31:46
The power isn't in the love it produces.
31:49
Instead, faith justifies precisely because it leads us
31:52
into fellowship with the righteousness of Christ.
31:54
The justifying ability lies entirely in Christ's
31:57
righteousness, which faith embraces or apprehends.
32:01
It doesn't lie in any merit or earning derived from the works
32:04
of love that flow from that faith.
32:05
So Paul is describing the kind of faith that justifies.
32:08
Exactly. Paul is describing the nature of
32:11
true living, justifying faith. It is never dead or barren or
32:15
inactive. It inevitably expresses itself
32:17
in love. It shows itself.
32:18
It does. This means good works are a
32:20
fruit and necessary evidence of genuine faith and inseparable
32:24
companion to it. But they are never the source of
32:27
its justifying ability. They are the effect of
32:29
justification in the believer's life, not its cause or basis.
32:33
Paul maintains that distinction very carefully.
32:35
Effect not 'cause that seems key.
32:38
OK, let's turn our attention now to a significant theological
32:41
disagreement that our sources cover quite extensively,
32:44
Calvin's sharp refutation of a contemporary theologian named
32:47
Andreas OC Ander. What was OC Anders primary
32:50
position regarding how believers are made righteous?
32:52
It sounds quite different. It was indeed quite different,
32:56
and Calvin saw it as a serious deviation.
32:59
Oceander asserted that Christ's righteousness, the righteousness
33:02
which justifies believers, derives primarily from his
33:05
divine nature rather than his human nature.
33:08
OK, why did he think that? He argued that it would be quote
33:12
impossible for God to regard as just those who are not
33:15
inherently just in their very being.
33:18
This implied for him that true justification required an actual
33:22
essential righteousness from God Himself dwelling within the
33:25
believer and infusion almost. Not just declared righteous, but
33:29
made intrinsically righteous. That was his idea.
33:32
He contended that Christ has given to us His righteousness,
33:34
but not in respect to his human, but to His divine nature,
33:37
calling it a righteousness of God, not of man.
33:40
For Oceander, the righteousness we receive wasn't something
33:43
credited to us from outside. It was in some way God's own
33:45
divine essence infused into us. So Oceander seemed to reason
33:49
then that if Christ is wisdom for us, and wisdom applies only
33:53
to the eternal Word, his divine nature, then logically Christ
33:57
the man is not righteousness. You got his argument.
33:59
That was part of his reasoning. He also objected that the power
34:03
of justifying is far above both angels and men, implying
34:07
Christ's human nature couldn't possibly possess this justifying
34:10
ability because such ability depends on God's direct
34:13
appointment and divine power, not on any created dignity.
34:18
His arguments pushed for a more mystical, inherent, almost
34:21
ontological righteousness. Interesting.
34:24
And based on this, he interpreted the word
34:26
righteousness whenever mentioned in Scripture as meaning
34:28
essential righteousness. He took it to mean an inherent
34:31
internal quality derived directly from God's essence.
34:34
He even asserted that Christ himself was righteous by divine
34:37
righteousness. Inclying our righteousness is
34:39
the same kind. That was the implication.
34:41
He accused those who denied Christ as our righteousness
34:44
according to His divine nature of making two gods and not
34:48
believing we are righteous by the righteousness of God, even
34:50
if they confess that God dwells in US.
34:53
He believed righteousness was fundamentally that internal
34:55
quality by which we are moved to act rightly, and that God alone
34:59
works this in US. So he viewed righteousness
35:01
primarily as an internal transformation that makes us
35:04
intrinsically just, rather than an external declaration based on
35:08
Christ's work for us. How does Calvin respond to these
35:11
assertions? He clearly saw Oleander's views
35:14
and a real danger to the gospel message as he understood it.
35:17
He responded quite forcefully. Calvin clarifies that while the
35:20
Son of God is eternal wisdom, Paul's statement about Christ
35:23
being wisdom for us applies to our use of that wisdom.
35:26
It's how we benefit from it. And that rightly fits Christ's
35:29
human nature, as the light of divine wisdom was in a sense
35:32
hidden until Christ came forth in the nature of man.
35:35
It was through his humanity that this wisdom and righteousness
35:38
were demonstrated and made available to us.
35:40
So the humanity is the vehicle. Yes, Calvin strongly defends
35:44
that Ausiender deprives Christ's human nature of the office of
35:48
justifying. For Calvin, the Hypostatic
35:51
Union, Christ being fully God and fully man is absolutely
35:54
crucial, and it's his work as the God man, particularly his
35:58
human obedience and suffering, that is at the heart of our
36:00
justification. So for Calvin, the human nature
36:03
of Christ is absolutely central to his justifying work.
36:06
It's not just his divinity acting mystically within us, but
36:09
his humanity living perfectly and dying sacrificially for us.
36:12
Precisely, Calvin counters ausiender by stating that while
36:16
the justifying ability certainly depends on God's appointment and
36:19
Christ's divine person, it especially belonged to the man
36:22
Christ as he submitted to the law to redeem us from.
36:25
It's a curse. It was the human who obeyed.
36:27
It was Christ in his humanity who perfectly obeyed the law and
36:30
suffered its penalty on our behalf.
36:33
Calvin dismisses Odeander's interpretation of essential
36:35
righteousness as twisting Scripture, a shameful heap of
36:39
passages that corrupts the biblical text.
36:41
He particularly objects to Ozander's reading of David's
36:44
pleas for God's righteousness, which cattlemen understood as
36:47
pleas for God's merciful deliverance and faithfulness,
36:50
not for an infusion of divine essence.
36:52
What about Ozander's argument that Christ himself was
36:55
righteous by divine righteousness, which then leads
36:58
to the inference that our righteousness must be God's
37:00
essence dwelling in US? Calvin labels this inference
37:03
simply absurd. He explains that Isaiah's
37:06
statement about God putting on righteousness, Isaiah 59.1 Teen,
37:10
signifies God's self-sufficiency and initiative in bringing
37:13
redemption, not that Christ was somehow deprived of his actual
37:16
role as the perfect Redeemer through his specific human work.
37:19
It doesn't mean Christ's humanity didn't achieve it.
37:21
No, Calvin brings it back to Paul's clear teaching that we
37:26
are righteous by the obedience of one man.
37:28
Romans 5.9 thing. It's about Christ's active
37:31
obedience and passive suffering as a man fulfilling the law on
37:34
our behalf that is credited to us.
37:37
Oceander's view, Calvin feared, would undermine the specific
37:40
historical substitutionary work of Christ in his humanity.
37:44
What were the larger, more serious consequences of
37:46
Oceander's view, according to Calvin?
37:49
What was really at stake in this theological dispute?
37:51
Why fight so hard over? It For Calvin, the stakes were
37:54
incredibly high. He concludes that anyone who
37:57
proposes two kinds of righteousness, implying some
37:59
kind of essential righteousness developing in the believer
38:02
alongside the imputed righteousness of Christ,
38:04
ultimately prevents miserable souls from reposing holy in
38:07
God's mere mercy. It muddies the water, creates
38:10
uncertainty. Exactly.
38:12
The danger for Calvin was that it would inevitably shift the
38:15
focus, even subtly, away from Christ's finished external work
38:18
credited to us and back towards something within the believer,
38:21
however divinely enabled that internal quality might be.
38:24
Looking inward again. Right.
38:26
He argues that such a view effectively crowns Christ in
38:30
mockery with a wreath of thorns because it diminishes his
38:33
complete sufficiency as the one who alone provides the
38:35
righteousness required by God. It highlights Calvin's strong
38:39
conviction that righteousness is fully external to us, entirely
38:43
imputed and received by faith alone.
38:46
This safeguards against any human boasting or reliance on
38:49
inherent righteousness. It directly opposes the idea
38:52
that our righteousness is anything other than not in us,
38:55
but in Christ, possessed only because we are partakers in Him.
38:59
I'll see Anders view Calvin believed ultimately undermined
39:02
the believers assurance because it made their standing depend at
39:05
least partly on their own inherent internal state rather
39:08
than solely on Christ Perfect work credited to them.
39:11
A crucial distinction, then, OK? Our sources also present
39:14
Calvin's critique of the the prevailing Roman doctrine of
39:17
grace at the time, particularly as understood by what he calls
39:20
the rank and file of the papists or school men, meaning the
39:22
scholastic theologians. What were their central tenets
39:25
regarding faith and grace in the context of justification?
39:29
Well, according to Calvin's reading of them, they often
39:31
define faith as an assurance of conscience in awaiting from God
39:35
their reward for merits. Reward for merits?
39:38
That sounds different already. It does.
39:40
It suggests a view where faith is somehow linked to merited
39:44
reward, something earned through works, rather than being the
39:47
instrument for receiving purely free acceptance.
39:50
OK. And crucially, Calvin says they
39:52
interpreted the grace of God not as the imputation of free
39:56
righteousness, but as the Spirit helping in the pursuit of
39:59
holiness. So grace has helped to be holy.
40:02
Primarily, yes. This tied grace mainly to
40:05
internal transformation and the ability to perform good works,
40:08
rather than to the external imputation of Christ's
40:11
righteousness being credited to us.
40:13
Grace was seen largely as an internal power or quality that
40:17
made one able to do good and thus eventually become righteous
40:20
enough for God's acceptance. The sources specifically
40:23
mentioned Peter Lombard, a very significant figure in this
40:26
scholastic tradition. How did he explain justification
40:29
then, given this understanding of grace as help for holiness?
40:33
Lombard, as Calvin represents him, explained that
40:35
justification is given through Christ's death in two ways.
40:39
First, love is aroused in our hearts by grace, and this love
40:42
then makes us righteous. Love makes us righteous.
40:45
Yes, that's the idea and 2nd through the same spirit infused
40:50
love, sin is extinguished or overcome in us.
40:54
This reveals, Calvin argues, that their view of God's grace
40:57
and justification was primarily insofar as we are directed
41:01
through the grace of the Holy Spirit to good works.
41:04
So grace enables the works that then lead to righteousness.
41:06
That seems to be the model Calvin is critiquing.
41:09
For Lombard and many schoolmen, grace wasn't simply God's
41:12
unmerited favor accounting Christ's righteousness to us,
41:15
but rather an internal work that enabled us to become inherently
41:18
righteous through our performance of love filled works
41:20
empowered by that grace. So their understanding of grace
41:23
was very much about a process of inner renewal and the actual
41:27
making righteous of the individual, not just a legal
41:29
declaration based on Christ. Yes, that's a good way to
41:32
summarize the view Calvin is opposing.
41:35
The Roman doctrine as he saw it, subsumes grace under
41:38
sanctification, by which we are reborn in newness of life
41:42
through the Spirit. Merges justification and
41:44
sanctification. Effectively, yes.
41:46
OR makes justification dependent on the progress of
41:49
sanctification. This meant that for them, grace
41:52
was fundamentally about the Spirit's work in making a person
41:55
inwardly holy and enabling them to perform good works which then
41:59
contributed to their ultimate righteous standing before God.
42:03
It was about being made righteous through an internal
42:06
grace enabled process, rather than being declared righteous
42:09
instantly through an external act of God based on Christ's
42:12
work alone. That distinction is subtle, but
42:15
for Calvin, absolutely critical. What were Calvin's main
42:19
criticisms of this Roman doctrine then?
42:21
Why did he see it as so problematic, even labeling it a
42:24
drift towards Pelagianism? Calvin critiqued this view
42:26
strongly. He noted that it departs
42:28
considerably from the right imitation of Augustine, even
42:31
though the school men often claimed to be following
42:33
Augustine. So he thought they misunderstood
42:35
Augustine. He did.
42:37
He contended that the schools have gone continually from bad
42:40
to worse, until in headlong ruin they have plunged into a sort of
42:44
Pelagianism. Pelagianism.
42:46
That's the heresy that denies original sin and says humans can
42:49
achieve righteousness on their own.
42:51
Broadly, yes. It minimizes or denies the
42:54
absolute necessity of God's initiating and sustaining grace.
42:57
Calvin argued that by mingling works into the basis of
43:00
justification, and by defining grace primarily as internal help
43:04
for holiness rather than the free imputation of Christ's
43:07
righteousness, they suddenly reintroduce reliance on human
43:10
merit. Even if it was grace enabled
43:12
merit. Still relying on what we do,
43:14
enabled by grace. That was his concern.
43:17
He felt they obscured God's pure mercy, which alone can calm
43:20
fearful souls and grant solid assurance of salvation.
43:23
He argued they failed to recognize that Scripture
43:25
consistently leads us to look solely on God's mercy and
43:27
Christ's perfection found outside of ourselves and that
43:30
the gospel bestows free righteousness completely apart
43:33
from our works. This mixing for Calvin robbed
43:36
people of the true freedom, assurance and rest found in
43:39
Christ alone. It put the burden back on the
43:41
believers performance. We've certainly covered a
43:44
substantial amount of ground today on reform thinking a lot
43:47
to process. We've seen that faith
43:49
righteousness as presented in these sources is fundamentally
43:52
reconciliation with God. It comes through the complete
43:55
forgiveness of sins and the imputation, the crediting of
44:00
Christ's perfect righteousness. All received as a free gift.
44:03
Yes, received as a free gift through faith alone, with
44:07
absolutely no room left for human work or boasting in the
44:10
matter of our justification. And the law plays its part, too.
44:14
Right. The law, far from justifying us,
44:17
actually reveals our sin and our inability to meet God's
44:20
standard, thereby driving us to seek this free grace offered in
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Christ. We also discussed how grace and
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works are mutually exclusive as the basis for justification and
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clarify that true, justifying faith is inherently active works
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through love. But that activity doesn't
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contribute to our righteous standing before God.
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It flows from it. Indeed, and we contrasted this
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clear understanding with other views, like Ozander's idea of
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essential righteousness, which Calvin strongly refuted for,
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among other things, undermining Christ's specific human work for
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us. And the Roman doctrine too.
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And the Roman doctrine as Calvin perceived it, which tended to
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blend grace with sanctification and human merit, potentially
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obscuring the freeness of justification.
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So the central idea for you are a listener to consider.
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The one we hope you take with you from this deep dive is this.
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It's that our righteousness, our right standing before God, is
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not found within us. It's not in anything we do or
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feel or achieve. It is entirely in Christ outside
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of ourselves. An alien righteousness,
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sometimes called. Exactly.
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And understanding this frees us from that crushing burden of
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trying to earn God's favor. It places our hope entirely on
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His mercy and Christ's finished, perfect work credited to us.
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So what might this mean for you personally if you're standing
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before God? Depends not on your fluctuating,
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imperfect efforts, but on the flawless perfection of Christ
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freely credited to you. How might that reshape your
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daily life? How might it change your view of
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God's goodness? Maybe your sense of security?
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Your motivation for obedience. Good questions to ponder.
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We encourage you to think about this truth, maybe to cherish
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this freeing reality, and as always, to continue to seek
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wisdom in God's Word. Keep digging into these things.
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Absolutely. We look forward to our next deep
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dive with you here on Reformed Thinking.