TheDoctrineofJustiﬁcation$ intheWorkofN.T.Wright...Chose Israel Monotheism Election Eschatology with the help of the law This is the pattern—or the storyline—of Paul’s thought

The Doctrine of Justification in the Work of N. T. Wright

By William N. Wilder Center for Christian Study

Copyright © 2005 William N. Wilder

Overview of the Series

1. I Love to Tell the Story: The Narrative Substructure of Paul’s Theology

2. Adam, Israel, Servant, Christ: Does Covenant Theology Get It Wright?

3.  To Whom It Belongs: The Imputed Righteousness of God

4.  The Importance of Definition: Righteousness, Justification, Faith & Works

Chose Israel Monotheism Election Eschatology

with the help of the law

This is the pattern—or the storyline—of Paul’s thought prior to his conversion.

DAMASCUS ROAD ENCOUNTER WITH

CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTED LORD

The GOSPEL: Proclamation of Crucified, Risen King and Lord

This means everything is different now!

Eschatology Redefined Election Redefined Monotheism Redefined

1. Righteousness of God 2. Justification

covenant membership law court eschatology

(Covenantal Nomism)

A Map to Paul’s Thought World According to N.T. Wright

Chart by William N. Wilder

To Be a Blessing to the World The Creator God

Chose Israel Monotheism Election Eschatology

with the help of the law

This is the pattern—or the storyline—of Paul’s thought prior to his conversion.

DAMASCUS ROAD ENCOUNTER WITH

CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTED LORD

The GOSPEL: Proclamation of Crucified, Risen King and Lord

This means everything is different now!

Eschatology Redefined Election Redefined Monotheism Redefined

1. Righteousness of God 2. Justification

covenant membership law court eschatology

(Covenantal Nomism)

Chart by William N. Wilder

Chose Israel Election

To Be a Blessing to the World The Creator God


Adam Christ

Disobedience Obedience

Curse Blessing

Humanity

New Humanity

Breach of God’s law

in the Garden

Imputation of Adam’s

sin to mankind

Death on the cross

(“Passive Obedience”)

Imputation of church’s sin

to Christ

Fulfillment of the law

(“Active Obedience”)

Imputation of Christ’s

righteousness to his church

1. Original Sin

2. Substitutionary Atonement

3. Justification by Faith

Covenant of Works Covenant of Grace Israel Church

Israel “The WCF “does

not exclude views of the Mosaic covenant

that saw an aspect of the Mosaic covenant that saw an aspect illustrative of the works-inheritance principle

in it, subservient to its position as an administration

of the covenant of grace. This was a quite common

viewpoint.” Rowland Ward, Adam &

Christ

WCF 7.6 There are not therefore two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations.


So which is the controlling story? Is it the story of Adam in Gen 1-3, understood as a covenant of works, elaborated perhaps by the national story of Israel under the Mosaic law?

Or is it the story of Israel, the proper answer to the story of Adam, but with its own meaning and purpose revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and summed up in the mysterious vocation of the Servant?

Adam’s Disobedience

Christ’s Obedience

Adamic administration:

A covenantof works

Abrahamiccovenant

Mosaiclaw

Covenant of Works Covenant of GraceIsrael Church

Worksprinciple

WCF 7.2 The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, (1) wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, (2) upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.(3)

(1)Gal. 3:12. (2)Rom. 10:5; Rom. 5:12-20. (3)Gen. 2:17; Gal. 3:10.



Intended to heap up sin in one place so that the Messiah can deal with it

An anticipation of Israel’s disobedience and exile from the land “God’s

commission to bring salvation to the world”

Chose Israel To Be a Blessing to the WorldThe Creator God

Mosaiclaw

Abrahamiccovenant


Galatians 3:10-14 10 For all who are from the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not remain in all things written in the Book of the Law, to do them."

11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous by faith shall live."

rather "The one who does them shall live by them."

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-

12 But the law is not from faith,

curse “Cursed

curse curse

“Cursed

do

does

live.”

live

faith

faith

blessing of Abraham 14 so that in Christ Jesus

the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,

so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.


Philippians 2 Isaiah 53 Have the same disposition among yourselves as you [have] in [your communion with] Christ Jesus:

1. Who being in God’s image Did not consider equality with God Something to be seized (v.6).

2. Nay, he poured himself out Taking servant’s form Becoming in men’s likeness (v.7).

3. And being found in fashion as man He humbled himself Becoming obedient unto death— and that a cross-death (v.8)!

4. Therefore God also highly exalted him And conferred on him the name— The name above every name (v.9).

5. That at the name of Jesus Every knee might bow Of beings in heaven, on earth, and in the nether-world (v.10).

6. And every tongue confess, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ To the glory of God the Father (v.11).

trans. by A. M. Hunter, Paul, p. 41.

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Isa 45:22 "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. 24 They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.'" All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. 25 But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult. ___________________________________________________________ 52:13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness— 15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away (LXX: “In his humiliation he was deprived of justice; cf. Acts 8:32). And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken (LXX: “Because of the iniquities of my people he was led to death). 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

3 And being found in fashion as man He humbled himself Becoming obedient unto death— and that a cross- death (v.8)!










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A,D2


1 Who being in God’s image Did not consider equality with God Something to be seized (v 6)










F,G

B A E B C D

E

C

F

D1 G

A,D2


A

B

52:11 See, my servant will act wisely, he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

B

53:12 See, I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death…

A

2 Nay, he poured himself out Taking servant’s form Becoming in men’s likeness (v.7)










F,G

B A E B C D

E

C

F

D1 G

A,D2


3 And being found in fashion as man He humbled himself Becoming obedient unto death— and that a cross- death (v.8)!

C

D

53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away (LXX: “In his humiliation he was deprived of justice; cf. Acts 8:32). And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken (LXX:”Because of the iniquities of my people he was led to death”).

C

53:12 See, I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death… D2

D1










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B A E B C D

E

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A,D2


“The theological structure I have proposed shows that Servant-christology and Adam-christology belong well together, and cannot be played off against each other.

Both, in the last analysis, are Israel-christologies.”

Climax of the Covenant, p. 61


The same Last Adam/Servant connection may be found in Romans 5

Isa 53:11 (ESV) “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

Rom 5:19 (ESV) “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

“With audible overtones of Isa 53:11, he declares that, as Adam’s disobedience gave ‘the many’ the status of being ‘sinners’… so Christ’s obedience has given “the many” the status of being ‘righteous’.”

Wright, NIB Romans, p. 529


So Christ is obedient to the Servant’s vocation…

Galatians 3:10-1410 For all who are from the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not remainin all things written in the Book of the Law, to do them."

11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous by faith shall live."

rather "The one who does them shall live by them."

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-

12 But the law is not from faith,

curse“Cursed

cursecurse

“Cursed

do

does

live.”

live

faith

faith

blessing of Abraham

BlessingCurse

14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,

so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.









F,G

B A E B C D

E

C

F

D1 G

A,D2


ServantServant

&&

AdamAdam

inin Philippians 2

Philippians 23 And being found

in fashion as manHe humbledhimselfBecomingobedient unto death—and that a cross-death (v.8)!

The same last Adam-‐‑Servant connection may be found in Romans 5

Isa 53:11 (ESV) “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

Rom 5:19 (ESV) “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

“With audible overtones of Isa 53:11, he declares that, as Adam’s disobedience gave ‘the many’ the status of being ‘sinners’… so Christ’s obedience has given “the many” the status of being ‘righteous’.”

Wright, NIB Romans, p. 529


And this then solves the problem of Israel’s (and Adam’s) disobedience.

“The Torah brings the curse for Israel, because Israel has not kept it.

“Rather, Israel as a whole has failed in her task of being the light to the nations, of being the seed of Abraham through whom the varied families of the world would be blessed.

Climax of the Covenant, pp. 155-156

“..the death of Jesus finally exhausts the curse which stood over against the covenant people, so that the blessing of Abraham might after all come upon the Gentiles.”


One might be tempted to see here a modified covenant of works…

“The Torah brings the curse for Israel, because Israel has not kept it.

“Rather, Israel as a whole has failed in her task of being the light to the nations, of being the seed of Abraham through whom the varied families of the world would be blessed.

“..the death of Jesus finally exhausts the curse which stood over against the covenant people, so that the blessing of Abraham might after all come upon the Gentiles.”

Climax of the Covenant, pp. 155-156


Wright does not. “…when the Torah arrived in Israel… it meant that Israel copied and recapitulated the sin of Adam, showing that Israel was indeed sinful…

“Some people have seen this as an indictment of Israel, of ‘the Jew’ trying to earn justification or salvation by works-righteousness, to gain favour with God by keeping the law… But that is not the point. Paul exonerates not only the law, but also, interestingly, the ‘I’: it is no longer ‘I’ that do it, he says (verses 17,20 [in Rom 7]). Not only the law, but Israel itself, appear to be… trapped in a negative spiral… But whereas the law was ‘spiritual,’ Israel belongs, in other words, on the ‘Adam’ side of the equation. The law does not enable Israel to get out of that problem; it merely intensifies it…

“God wanted sin to be brought to its full height in order that he might deal with it, condemn it, punish it once and for all.”

Romans “For Everyone,” pp. 127-128


Wright does not. “…when the Torah arrived in Israel… it meant that Israel copied and recapitulated the sin of Adam, showing that Israel was indeed sinful…

“Some people have seen this as an indictment of Israel, of ‘the Jew’ trying to earn justification or salvation by works-righteousness, to gain favour with God by keeping the law… But that is not the point. Paul exonerates not only the law, but also, interestingly, the ‘I’: it is no longer ‘I’ that do it, he says (verses 17,20 [in Rom 7]). Not only the law, but Israel itself, appear to be… trapped in a negative spiral… But whereas the law was ‘spiritual,’ Israel belongs, in other words, on the ‘Adam’ side of the equation. The law does not enable Israel to get out of that problem; it merely intensifies it…

Romans “For Everyone,” pp. 127-128

The death of Jesus exhausts

the curse and brings God’s

people out from the BONDAGE

OF SIN into the new exodus

trek toward the new creation.

“God wanted sin to be brought to its full height in order that he might deal with it, condemn it, punish it once and for all.”


So which is the controlling story? Is it the story of Adam in Gen 1-3, understood as a covenant of works, elaborated perhaps by the national story of Israel under the Mosaic law?

Or is it the story of Israel, the proper answer to the story of Adam, but with its own meaning and purpose revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and summed up in the mysterious vocation of the Servant?



Adamic administration:

A covenantof works

Abrahamiccovenant

Mosaiclaw

Covenant of Works Covenant of GraceIsrael Church

Worksprinciple

WCF 7.2 The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, (1) wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, (2) upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.(3)

(1)Gal. 3:12. (2)Rom. 10:5; Rom. 5:12-20. (3)Gen. 2:17; Gal. 3:10.



Intended to heap up sin in one place so that the Messiah can deal with it

An anticipation of Israel’s disobedience and exile from the land “God’s

commission to bring salvation to the world”

Chose Israel To Be a Blessing to the WorldThe Creator God

Mosaiclaw

Abrahamiccovenant

To Whom It Belongs: The Imputed Righteousness of God


Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley

“We believe that the clarity of the Gospel, the freeness of grace and justification, and the assurance of the believer are all undermined by the formulations of the NPP, NTW, NS, and AAT/FV theologies. No greater tragedy could befall the PCA today than to compromise the lucidity of her preaching of the glorious Gospel of grace, yet that is, we fear, precisely what we are facing.”

February 1, 2005 Pastoral Letter and Summary:


N. T. Wright

“I believe passionately that scripture must be the judge of all our traditions, no maXer how venerable, and that the way 'ʹimputation'ʹ has developed as a particular major theme in some protestant theology may be one of those traditions that needs reassessing in the light of scripture itself (not just of what our traditions traditionally tell us that scripture says!).”

Wrightsaid Q&A, March 2004 (www.ntwrightpage.com):


Imputation & Incorporation “My sense is that within certain sub-‐‑traditions of Protestantism the word 'ʹimputation'ʹ has been made to carry far, far more baggage than it even begins to in the NT, and that'ʹs a warning sign to me. As far as I can see, Paul'ʹs central statements of something that I might be prepared to say 'ʹimputation'ʹ about are in a passage like Romans 6, where the logic runs: by baptism, you are 'ʹin Christ'ʹ; therefore what is true of Christ is true of you; therefore, specifically, his death and resurrection are true of you; therefore you must calculate this, do the sums, work out who you actually are -‐‑-‐‑ and then live accordingly. But I think this provides a somewhat different grid of understanding to normal 'ʹimputation'ʹ theology. The 'ʹreckoning'ʹ thus takes place within, and as part of, incorporation into the people of the Messiah.”

Wrightsaid Q&A, March 2004 (www.ntwrightpage.com)


The Righteousness of God in 2 Cor 5:21 “There is probably no passage in the Scriptures in which the doctrine of justification is more concisely or clearly stated than in [2 Corinthians 5:21]. 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, so that our pardon is an act of justice…. It is not mere pardon, but justification alone that gives us peace with God.” Charles Hodge, quoted by Piper,

Counted Righteous, p. 83


The Righteousness of God in 2 Cor 5:21 “There is probably no passage in the Scriptures in which the doctrine of justification is more concisely or clearly stated than in [2 Corinthians 5:21]. Our sins were imputed to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us. He bore our sins; we are clothed in his righteousness…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, so that our pardon is an act of justice…. It is not mere pardon, but justification alone that gives us peace with God.”

Charles Hodge, quoted by Piper, Counted Righteous, p. 83

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.


The Righteousness of God in 2 Cor 5:21 “There is probably no passage in the Scriptures in which the doctrine of justification is more concisely or clearly stated than in [2 Corinthians 5:21]. Our sins were imputed to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us. He bore our sins; we are clothed in his righteousness…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, so that our pardon is an act of justice…. It is not mere pardon, but justification alone that gives us peace with God.”

Charles Hodge, quoted by Piper, Counted Righteous, p. 83

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

“The second passage is 2 Corinthians 5.21, which as I have argued elsewhere is not, as a matter of good exegesis, a statement of soteriology but of apostolic vocation. The entire passage is about the way in which Paul’s new covenant ministry, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, is in fact God’s appointed means for establishing and maintaining the church. ‘So that we might become God’s righteousness in him’ means that in Christ those who are called to be apostolic preachers actually embody God’s own covenant faithfulness.” NTW, Rutherford Lecture,

(www.ntwrightpage.com)


The main argument for taking dikaiosune theou to denote an aspect of the character of God himself is the way in which Paul is summoning up a massive biblical and intertestamental theme, found not least in Isaiah 40-55 which I have argued elsewhere is vital for him. God’s dikaiosune, his tsedaqah, is that aspect of his character because of which, despite Israel’s infidelity and consequent banishment, God will remain true to the covenant with Abraham and rescue her none the less. This ‘righteousness’ is of course a form of justice; God has bound himself to the covenant, or perhaps we should say God’s covenant is binding upon him, and through this covenant he has promised not only to save Israel but also, thereby, to renew creation itself. NTW, Rutherford Lecture

(www.ntwrightpage.com)

The Real Meaning of “Righteousness of God”


The Real Meaning of “Righteousness of God” You can see this most clearly if you remember the context of the Jewish lawcourt which forms the background for Paul’s forensic use of the dikaiosune theme.... For the judge to be righteous, it is necessary that he try the case fairly, refuse bribes or other favouritism, uphold the law, and take special note for the helpless, the widows, and so on. When either the plaintiff or the defendant is declared ‘righteous’ at the end of the case, there is no sense that in either case the judge’s own righteousness has been passed on to them, by imputation, impartation, or any other process. What they have is a status of ‘righteous’ which comes from the judge. NTW, Rutherford Lecture

(www.ntwrightpage.com) Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom… To imagine the defendant somehow receiving the judge’s righteousness is simply a category mistake. That is not how the language works. NTW, What Saint Paul

Really Said, p. 98


Is Philippians 3:9 a Clarification Of What Paul Means by the “Righteousness of God?

Philippians 3:8-9 [I want to] gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

The key phrase here, importantly, is not dikaiosune theou, ‘God’s righteousness’, but dikaiosune ek theou, a righteousness from God. All too often scholars have referred to this passage as though it could be the yardstick for uses of dikaiosune theou; but this is impossible. Thinking back to the Hebrew law court, what we have here is the ‘righteousness’, the status, which the vindicated party possesses as a result of the court’s decision. This is ‘a righteous status from God’; and this is not, as we saw, God’s own righteousness.” NTW, WSPRS, p. 104

This brings us to Romans… We’ll begin with Romans 3:21-‐‑26.


NIV Romans 3:21-26 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

NRS Romans 3:21-26 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ (1) for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

(1) Or through the faith of Jesus Christ




righteousness from God


righteousness of

righteousness of God


righteous

righteousness justice

just justice






righteousness of



righteous


just justice

“Once…the specific argument of 3:21-26 is grasped, it is quite impossible that this phrase should mean, as NIV, “a righteousness from God,” that is, the righteous status that believers enjoy as a gift from God and in God’s presence” (NIB Romans, p. 465).






righteousness of



righteous


just justice

(1)  Or through the faith of Jesus Christ

through faith in Jesus Christ

through faith in Jesus Christ (1)






righteousness of



righteous


just justice

(1)  Or through the faith of Jesus Christ

through faith in Jesus Christ

through faith in Jesus Christ (1)

“But now, quite apart from the law (though the law and the prophets bore witness to it), God’s covenant justice comes into operation through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah, for the benefit of all who have faith. For there is no distinction: all sinned, and fell short of God’s glory – and by God’s grace they are freely declared to be in the right, to be members of the covenant, through the redemption which is found in the Messiah, Jesus” (Wright’s translation; Romans ‘For Everyone’, p. 51).

Wright’s Translation


NIV Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-- but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Next time: Romans 4:1-‐‑5!

The Importance of Definition: Righteousness, Justification, Faith & Works

Next week….

Documents

TheDoctrineofJustiﬁcation$ intheWorkofN.T.Wright...Chose Israel Monotheism Election Eschatology with the help of the law This is the pattern—or the storyline—of Paul’s thought