In Reformed
theology, justification is an external act wherein God, acting as judge,
declares (not makes) the sinner “justified/righteous” based on the forensic imputation
of the righteousness of Christ. That justification is declarative merely and not transformational, and
that any transformation of the person is within the sphere of sanctification merely are important tenets of historic
Protestant theology.
Notwithstanding,
Reformed apologists and theologians often slip up and speak of justification as
being transformative. I discussed this in a post from 2017:
In a recent
book by a Four-Point Calvinist, while affirming justification is declarative
merely, makes similar statements that affirm transformational justification in
the following commentary about Rom 5:19:
Humans sin in relationship to God’s character
and they are justified in relation to His character. All men were placed in the
class of sinners and all men will be placed in the class of righteous. There is
nothing mankind has done to warrant either; and, there is also nothing mankind
can do to prevent either from happening. Both actions, being made a sinner and being made righteous concerning original
Adamic sin, are both imputed upon all men as passive recipients. Impute means
to “credit to one’s account and treat them accordingly.” One imputation of God
is by the one man’s disobedience and the other from the one man’s righteous obedience
. . . will be made righteous…the verb
“will be made” (κατασταθησονται [katastathēsontai]) is a future passive verb. Again, a passive verb is one in which
the subjects (i.e. all men) are passive or being acted upon (i.e. by God). God’s
grace will make all men positionally
in right standing with God (i.e. acquitted, not guilty, etc.) concerning their
original sin through Jesus Christ’s obedience. Because of Christ’s imputed
righteousness, it is just as though each person will stand before God and be related
as though they were actually obedient . . . righteous…Righteous
(δικαιος [dikaios]) when used in the masculine or
feminine adjectivally of persons, as it is here, refers to one as being just and right without any deficiency
or failure. All men being made righteous within this context are being made righteous in regard to their
imputed original sin of Adam . . . righteousness
(δικαιοσυνης
[dikaiosynēs]). Righteousness is
associated with both a gift and power (Romans 5:17, 21), because it is
intimately associated with the power (δυναμις [dunamis])
of Christ’s resurrection. Grace reigns through righteousness, and this
righteousness is certainly not a righteousness produced by man, but a righteousness
produced by Christ which is imputed by God’s grace upon man. Just like in v.
19, it is Christ’s obedience that makes
one justified; so here, it is Christ’s righteousness that makes one righteous. Man is the passive recipient of God’s
reigning grace through Christ’s righteousness. (R.J. Arthur, For Whom Did Christ Die? Reconciling
Unlimited Atonement and Limited Atonement [2018], 47, 51, 52, 59, emphasis in
bold added)
For a thorough refutation of imputation, including a discussion of Rom 5:19, see:
Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness
