Why we are beyond merely forgiven
15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Romans 5:15-17
Yesterday I read John Piper’s book entitled Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness? You can download the free online version here. As always, Piper never disappoints. A friend yesterday asked me how or through whom did I come to an understanding of the doctrine of justification and the imputed righteousness of Christ, but I couldn’t recall. I don’t remember at what point in my Christian walk I came to understand it as I do now. I guess it’s been a process, but I must say that Piper’s book definitely broadened my understanding of this awesome truth that God amazingly “justifies the ungodly” (Rom 4:5).
Anytime we speak of the gift of God we may immediately think of eternal life, but the free gift spoken of in Romans 5:15-17 is not eternal life. It is “the free gift of righteousness” (vs. 17). The righteousness spoken of here is a righteousness that, as Paul says, is not “a righteousness of [our] own” (Phil 3:9), but a “righteousness from God” that we receive by faith. In order for us to be “justified” before God he must look upon us as righteous, not merely forgiven. We must truly stand righteous before him if we are to be accepted by Him. Again I do not refer to merely standing guiltless (forgiven), but we must come to him clothed in righteousness. The problem is that we are destitute of any righteousness. This is where the gift comes in. God freely and graciously gives us Jesus’ righteousness if we accept it by faith. Piper says, “The free gift in verse 15 is not the gift of eternal life, but the gift of righteousness that obtains it eternal life.”
From Piper, page 115
The Greek word for “justify” does not mean to “forgive.” It means to declare righteous, usually in a court of law. A prisoner who is found guilty and is forgiven would not be called “justified” in the ordinary sense of the word. He is justified if he is not found guilty. Forgiveness means to be found guilty and then not have the guilt reckoned to you but let go. So we should be careful that we not assume that justification and forgiveness are identical.
What are the implications of this?
The implications are amazing! It's very liberating. Instead of seeing ourselves as merely “pardoned sinners” we may see ourselves as God sees us. He sees us “in Christ” i.e. he sees his beloved Son’s righteousness as our own. In an earthly court a criminal that is merely pardoned may be “forgiven” of his crimes yet he still carries the stigma of being a criminal. He hasn’t been “justified,” (declared just and righteous) but he's simply been pardoned. We, as sinners in God's Supreme Court, are not only forgiven because of Jesus' blood, but additionally we are “declared just” (justified) because Jesus’ righteousness is credited to us. Struggling believers are at times counseled by being reminded that God no longer sees their sin and that he has forgotten them, but an emphasis only on this aspect of what God does on our behalf is short-sided. It’s not only that God doesn’t see (he doesn't hold it against us) our sin, but God has “raised [us] with Christ” (Col 3:1). In one sense we are with Christ at “the right hand of God” (Col 3:2) because our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
Jesus Christ is in a position of reigning. Pay attention. We are told that because of Adam’s original sin “the judgment following [his] trespass brought condemnation” (Rom 5:16) and that “because of one man’s trespass, death reigned” (Rom 5:17), but notice that Jesus reverses because his “one act of righteousness leads to justification and life” (Rom 5:). You’d think however that by the reversal that “life” would reign in contrast to “death,” but it doesn’t say that. It says “those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness [will] reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:17). It’s us, as individuals, alongside Jesus that will reign! We are not merely pardoned sinners, but we reign with Christ while clothed in his righteousness. This is how God sees us. He has declared us just even before “rulers…authorities…the cosmic powers over this present darkness…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12) that we are indeed righteous!
Amazing and almost unbelievable!
Comments
Next, Rom 5:9 speaks of "justified by His blood," which can only mean forgive, and 5:9 parallels "justified by His blood" with "reconciled by His death" in 5:10.
One shortfall I saw in Piper's book was that he doesn't address the term "impute" in Scripture. He makes a very brief comment upon it, but considering the book is titled "counted" (reckoned, impute, etc), he should have set out to prove that. Upon my personal study of Scripture, I see no grounds for the notion of "imputation," because the Greek word simply isn't used that way. Psalm 106:30-31 gives an accurate picture of how to view the phrase "reckoned as righteousness."
“...doesn't address the term ‘impute’ in Scripture [only that] He makes a very brief comment upon it...”
The entire book is practically devoted to proving imputation from a bookkeeping framework. You also stated:
I think "justify" very much can mean 'forgive', for that is plainly what it means in Rom 4 where Paul defines 'justify' in v5 as "blessed is the man who's sins are forgiven" (5-8).
Piper’s exegetical case for making a distinction between justification and forgiveness is found on pages 116-119. I think his position is argued very well exegetically. Piper goes back to Psalm 32. The very passage that Paul is quoting in Romans 4 and proves even from that OT passage that Paul has in view not merely forgiveness, but imputation of righteousness. Again this is found on pages 116-119. I’m not sure what else to say. Piper’s book is very exhaustive on the issues you’ve brought up. I don’t think I can do a better job in explaining it. Thanks again.
Nick: I read it a while back, in it's entirety. It was at a bookstore, so I didn't get to read it as carefully as I'd liked.
Chris: I was taken back by some of your claims especially the claim that Piper
“...doesn't address the term ‘impute’ in Scripture [only that] He makes a very brief comment upon it...”
The entire book is practically devoted to proving imputation from a bookkeeping framework.
Nick: Let me clarify. There is a Greek word, Logizomai, that is translated into English as 'reckoned, counted, imputed, etc' (all the same Greek word). What shocked me is that Piper spent about a sentence examining that Greek word. That doesn't sit well with me, because the Greek term for 'counted' is critical in this discussion. Under my personal study of Scripture, I've looked up what passages that Greek term appears and I see strong evidence that 'counted' means the exact opposite of what Piper assumes.
This stood out especially to me when I was reading Piper's comments on Rom 4:4, a place where Logizomai appears, yet Piper never addressed Logizomai in this text.
Chris: You also stated:
I think "justify" very much can mean 'forgive', for that is plainly what it means in Rom 4 where Paul defines 'justify' in v5 as "blessed is the man who's sins are forgiven" (5-8).
Piper’s exegetical case for making a distinction between justification and forgiveness is found on pages 116-119. I think his position is argued very well exegetically. Piper goes back to Psalm 32. The very passage that Paul is quoting in Romans 4 and proves even from that OT passage that Paul has in view not merely forgiveness, but imputation of righteousness.
Nick: But the kicker here is what "imputation" means. It doesn't mean 'count X as Y' (e.g. credit righteousness to someone who is actually unrighteous), but rather 'count X as X' (i.e. count someone righteous who is in fact righteous). Thus when someone's sins are forgiven, they are righteous by definition. Note 1 Jn 1:9, 'if we confess our sins, he will cleans us of all unrighteousness', with the result being a righteous man. So "blessed" is the man who's sins are forgiven means the man is Blessed precisely because he has no sin. Piper overlooks this because his definition of 'impute'. This also goes into how Piper deals with Rom 5:9, saying it only is talking about part of justification, meaning 'justify' means more than just 'declare righteous'.