TheDoctrineofJustiﬁcation$ intheWorkofN.T.Wright...TheDoctrineofJustiﬁcation$ intheWorkofN.T.Wright ... WSPRS

Copyright © 2005 William N. Wilder

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

By William N. Wilder Center for Christian Study


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


Imputation &

Incorpora

tion

“My sense is

that within

certain su

b-‐‑tradition

s of

Protestant

ism the word 'ʹi

mputation'ʹ h

as been m

ade to

carry far, f

ar more baggag

e than it e

ven begins

to in the

NT, and th

at'ʹs a warn

ing sign to

me. As far a

s I can see

,

Paul'ʹs cen

tral statem

ents of som

ething tha

t I might be

prepared to

say 'ʹimputat

ion'ʹ about

are in a pas

sage like

Romans 6, whe

re the logic

runs: by b

aptism, you

are 'ʹin

Christ'ʹ; the

refore wh

at is true o

f Christ is

true of you

;

therefore,

specificall

y, his deat

h and resu

rrection ar

e true of

you; there

fore you m

ust calcula

te this, do

the sums, wo

rk

out who yo

u actually

are -‐‑-‐‑ and

then live

accordingl

y. But I

think this

provides a

somewhat diff

erent grid

of

understan

ding to no

rmal 'ʹimputat

ion'ʹ theolo

gy. The

'ʹreckoning'ʹ

thus takes

place with

in, and as p

art of,

incorporat

ion into the

people of

the Messia

h.”

Wrightsaid Q&A, March 2004

(www.ntwr

ightpage.c

om)

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”

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 th

eou, ‘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 th

eou; 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

Wrig

ht sa

ys no

!


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.

righteousness from God


righteousness of

righteousness of God

(1) Or through the faith of Jesus Christ

righteous

righteousness justice

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


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






righteousness of



righteous


just justice

through faith in Jesus 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” (NTW translation; Romans FE, 51).


they are freely declared to be in the right, to be members of the covenant

NIV Rom 3:21-26 NRSV Rom 3:21-26

are justified they are now justified




righteousness of







they are now justified

“‘The doctrine of justification’, [Alister McGrath] writes, has come to develop a meaning quite independent of its biblical origins, and concerns the means by which man’s relationship to God is established. The church has chosen to subsume its discussion of the reconciliation of man to God under the aegis of justification, thereby giving the concept an emphasis quite absent from the New Testament. The ‘doctrine of justification’ has come to bear a meaning within dogmatic theology which is quite independent of its Pauline origins…

So far I basically agree; and I shall develop the detail of this from the Pauline end, which McGrath himself does not do.” WSPRS, p. 115




righteousness of








What then does Paul mean when he uses the language of ‘justification’, and how is this related to the gospel?

I shall now argue for a threefold position about justification language in Paul, corresponding closely to the threefold grid I offered in the previous chapter for understanding ‘God’s righteousness’.

WSPRS, p. 117

Let’s go back to the map…


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

(Covenantal Nomism)

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

To Be a Blessing to the World The Creator God


righteousness fromGod

righteousness of

righteousness ofGod

righteousnessjustice


“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 redemptionwhich is found in the Messiah, Jesus” (NTW translation; Romans FE, 51).


they are freely declared to be inthe right, to be members of the covenant








(Covenantal Nomism)

1. Righteousness of God 2. Justification

covenant membership law court eschatology











law court eschatology

(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







covenant membership


covenant membership











(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







God’s covenant justice

1. Righteousness of God covenant membership law court eschatology


covenant membership











(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







2. Justification

the right, to be members of the covenant they are freely declared to be in

covenant membership law court eschatology covenant membership law court eschatology


Chose IsraelMonotheism Election Eschatology



DAMASCUS ROAD ENCOUNTERWITH

CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTEDLORD



Eschatology RedefinedElection RedefinedMonotheism Redefined

1. Righteousness of God2. Justification


(Covenantal Nomism)

A Map to Paul’s Thought WorldAccording to N.T. Wright

To Be a Blessing to the WorldThe Creator God



righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







covenant membership

Election Redefined Eschatology Redefined


“First, it is covenant language--not in the sense of that word made famous through some sixteenth- and seventeenth-century discussions, but in the first-century Jewish sense. When Paul speaks of justification he is operating within the whole world of second-temple Judaism, which clung onto the covenant promises in the face of increasingly difficult political circumstances” (WSPRS, 117).


“Second, it is law-court language, functioning within the covenantal setting as a strong explanatory metaphor. Two things must be said about this. First, this metaphor is necessary for understanding what the covenant was all about. The covenant was there to put the world the rights, to deal with evil and to restore God’s justice and order to the cosmos. Second, it is never independent of the covenant setting… Their redemption… would be seen as the great law court showdown, the great victory before the great judge” (WSPRS, 117).

“This ‘justification’ would thus also be eschatological: it would be the final fulfilment of Israel’s long-cherished hope. But, importantly, this event could be anticipated under certain circumstances, so that particular Jews and/or groups of Jews could see themselves as the true Israel in advance of the day when everyone else would see them as well... (WSPRS, 118).












(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







covenant membership




“‘Justification’ in the first century was not about how someone might establish a relationship with God. It was about God’s eschatological definition, both past and future, of who was, in fact, a member of his people. In Sanders’ terms, it was not so much about ‘getting in’, or indeed about ‘staying in’, as about ‘how you could tell who was in’. In standard Christian theological language, it wasn’t so much about soteriology as about ecclesiology; not so much about salvation as about the church” (WSPRS, 119).













(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







covenant membership




“Already we can see that this brief study of the Jewish meaning of ‘justification’ emphasizes two points I made in the last chapter. First, within the law-court setting, the ‘righteousness’ which someone has when the court has found in their favor is not a moral quality which they bring into court with them; it is the legal status which they carry out of court with them. Second, we saw that this legal status, the ‘righteousness’ of the person who has won the case, is not to be confused with the judge’s righteousness’” (WSPRS, 119).













(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







covenant membership




covenant membership law court eschatology To summarize: 1. Righteousness of God 2. Justification

“is about God’s eschatological definition both future and present, of who was, in fact,

a member of his people” (WSPRS, 119).

Justification












(Covenantal Nomism)





righteousness of

righteousness ofGod







covenant membership





• “’Righteousness’… is not a moral quality which they bring into court with them; it is the legal status they carry out of court with them.”

• The eschatological vindication of God’s people “could be anticipated under certain circumstances,” whether through adherence to the Torah or through faith in Jesus Christ.

Justification is a declaration of covenant membership (not the imputation of a moral status).

Future justification may be anticipated in the present by a badge of covenant membership, whether works (of Torah) or faith (in Christ).

Justification

or or










Justification

or or

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

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Righteousness is not simply a legal status or membership in a group; it is a moral quality based on one’s doing the good and avoiding the evil.

Righteousness is not solely or even primarily a covenantal category; rather righteousness is a creation category that includes—and transcends—covenantal faithfulness.

Covenant Membership Counterpoint



covenant membership law court eschatologyTo summarize:1. Righteousness of God2. Justification “is about God’s eschatological definition

both future and present, of who was, in fact, a member of his people” (WSPRS, 119).

•“’Righteousness’… is not a moral quality which they bring into court with them; it is the legal status they carry out of court with them.”

•The eschatological vindication of God’s people “could be anticipated under certain circumstances,”whether through adherence to the Torah or through faith in Jesus Christ.



JustificationJustification

or or

According to N.T. WrightA Map to Paul’s Thought World

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Covenant MembershipCounterpoint

Sin Rom 3:9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. Rom 3:10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;

is best seen in contrast to

Stephen Westerholm, Perspectives

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Ordinary Sin Righteousness is best seen in contrast to

Rom 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


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Sin is best seen in contrast to

19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness,

Rom 6.18-19 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.


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Sin is best seen in contrast to

1 Cor 4:4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent (lit. “make me righteous” or “justify me”). It is the Lord who judges me.


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“In brief, and in the broadest terms, then, (ordinary) righteousness, as contrasted with sin, must be what one ought to do, the righteous (in the ordinary way) is the one who does righteousness, and to [justify] is to ‘declare (to be righteous, or to be) innocent of wrongdoing’” (p. 265).

Example: 1 Kings 8:32 (Solomon is praying): “…then hear Thou in heaven and act and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.


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“We need only note that [righteousness] (dikaiosu,nh) here is not simply what one ought to do but also what what has when one has done it” (p. 266).

Example: 1 Kings 8:32 (Solomon is praying): “…then hear Thou in heaven and act and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

I.e., it is the moral quality one brings into court!


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Proverbs Sodom & Gomorrah

Gerar Noah

Romans 1 Job


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Proverbs Sodom & Gomorrah

Gerar Noah

Romans 1 Job

“The contrast between the tsaddiq (LXX di,kaioj) and the ‘wicked’, together with that between the ‘wise’ and ‘fools’, is perhaps the central motif of the book of Proverbs; no book in the Bible uses the language of righteousness with anything approaching comparable frequency. Yet the framework of Proverbs… is emphatically not covenantal…: since God ‘by wisdom’ created heavens and earth (3:19), it behooves humans beings to gain ‘wisdom’ and to govern their lives accordingly (so showing themselves ‘wise’ and ‘righteous’) if they would prosper. For a significant strand of Hebrew literature, then, what human beings (Israel is not specified) ought and ought not to do is discussed using the language of righteousness in a completely noncovenantal framework” (p. 288).


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Proverbs Sodom

Gerar Noah

Romans 1 Job

Genesis 18:22-26 22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" 26 And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."


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Proverbs Sodom

Gerar Noah

Romans 1 Job

Genesis 20:3-6 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "You are about to die because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a married woman." 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her; so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I did this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands." 6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; furthermore it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.


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Proverbs Sodom

Gerar Noah

Romans 1 Job

Genesis 20:3-6 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "You are about to die because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a married woman." 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her; so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I did this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands." 6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; furthermore it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.

righteous

the righteousness


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Noah









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Proverbs Sodom

Gerar Romans 1 Job

Genesis 6:9 9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God (also 7:1).

LXX Job 1:1 There was a certain man in the land of Ausis, whose name was Job; and than man was true, blameless, righteous, and godly, abstaining from everything evil.


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Proverbs Sodom

Gerar

Job

ESV Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.


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“The Sinaitic covenant may thus be said to provide its members with a framework within which righteousness is to be pursued, and where unambiguous guidance is given on how to attain it. Still, not even Israelites within the covenant are righteous without doing righteousness. And though what Israelites ought to do—and hence what makes them righteous—is to keep the laws of the covenant, ‘righteousness’ does not mean “covenant faithfulness”; otherwise (as noted above) it could not be expected of Gentiles” (p. 288).

“In short, ‘righteousness’, by definition, represents what ‘sinners’, as ‘sinners’, lack and need. It is not, by definition, that from which Gentiles, as Gentiles, are excluded” (p.292).


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So what confuses the issue?

1. There are examples where righteousness is a status that has been granted, a status which is clearly not based on some moral quality.

2. Justification language often occurs in contexts in which the place of Gentiles in God’s people is in question.










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“Paul…clearly uses ‘dikaios’ of acquitted sinners (Rom 1:17, 5:19), those who extraordinarily enjoy the status that would ordinarily belong only to those who had themselves done what is dikaios. It is thus true of Paul’s extraordinary usage to say that dikaios and dikaiosness indicate the status enjoyed by believers as a result of a forensic declaration and that they carry no implications about the ethical conduct of the ones said to ‘be dikaios’ (or to ‘receive dikaiosness’)” (Westerholm, p. 276n.36).

1. There are examples where righteousness is a status that has been granted, a status which is clearly not based on some moral quality.










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2. Justification language often occurs in contexts in which the place of Gentiles in God’s people is in question.

“Once Paul has established that sinners (including David, whose circumcision and ‘Jewishness’ were not in question; cf. 4:6-8) can be dikaiosified [declared righteous] by faith apart from works (i.e., apart from the moral behavior on which such a judgment would normally be based, he raises the question whether this extraordinary ‘blessedness’ can apply to non-Jews who remain uncircumcised as well as to Jews” (Westerholm, p. 281n.46).










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To sum up:

N. T. Wright’s definition of the righteousness word group is unduly restrictive…

…both in its too strict placement of words like justification and righteousness in a covenantal context…

…and in in its limiting of the meaning to a legal status (without due regard for the ‘ordinary’ meaning of righteousness).

Righteousness is something God demands of all human beings, it is ordinarily attained by doing the good and avoiding the evil, and is ultimately only available to those, who by faith in the Servant Messiah, receive righteousness apart from works, as a gift.










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To sum up:














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To sum up:














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To sum up:

Wright perceives more clearly than most how the cross and resurrection results in a redefinition of monotheism, election, and eschatology.

In my view, he fails to appreciate the further redefinition of righteousness that comes as a result of the Christ event. Because of the death of Christ, righteousness language is now used in an extraordinary way: the ungodly have been justified!

This leads us to our final point…










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Covenant Membership Counterpoint










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Counterpoint Wright’s own redefinition of eschatology includes the insight that what was to have happened at the end of time has come to pass in the middle of time.

Yet his definition of present justification makes it a conventional anticipation of final judgment (whether for pre-Christian Jews by the works of the Torah or for Christians by faith in the Messiah).

But if God’s eschatological purposes have been fulfilled in Christ, our justification is not simply anticipation; it is participation—in an actual eschatological event.

Again, Wright’s own redefinition of eschatology leads to a necessary redefinition of righteousness language —a redefinition in this case more for those in the first century than for those in the Reformation and after.

The Creator God Chose Israel To Be a Blessing to the World Monotheism Election Eschatology










(Covenantal Nomism)

Documents

TheDoctrineofJustiﬁcation$ intheWorkofN.T.Wright...TheDoctrineofJustiﬁcation$ intheWorkofN.T.Wright ... WSPRS