Thursday, October 7, 2021

W.E. Best and the Reformed Doctrine of Justification

The following shows the common eisegesis (and blasphemous nonsense) that comes with any (esp. Reformed) Protestant work defending forensic justification:

 

Justification is a legal term used to designate the acceptance of anyone as righteous in the sight of God. Justification does not make a person righteous; it declares him righteous. A wicked man may be justified (pronounced guiltless), and a just (guiltless) person may be condemned, but they are abomination to the Lord (Prov. 17:15). The sinner justified (declaratively) on the ground of the impeccable Savior’s righteousness, but how is Christ justified? “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit…” (1 Tim. 3:16). . . . As wisdom is justified of all her children (Luke 7:35), so the Son of God is declared just by all who have received the revelation of heaven (Matt. 16:13-17). (W.E. Best, Studies in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ [Houston, Tex.: W.E. Best Book Missionary Trust, 1975], 79)

 

To see why Best et al., are wrong about (1) imputation; (2) the instrument of justification; (3) the nature of justification (including the meaning of δικαιοω in 1 Tim 3:16) as well as Luke 7 and the “justification” of wisdom and its implications for δικαιοω elsewhere, see:

 

Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness 


"Born of Water and of the Spirit": The Biblical Evidence for Baptismal Regeneration (for those who want a free PDF copy, drop me an email at ScripturalMormonismATgmailDOTcom)


Refuting Christina Darlington on the Nature of "Justification" (includes a discussion of 1 Tim 3:16 and Luke 7 and the "justification" of wisdom)