Friday, August 5, 2016

Rescuing the Romans from the Reformers Again

I came across an interesting dialogue between John Pacheco, a Catholic, and Micahel Foord, a Reformed Protestant, on the doctrine of justification, Rescuing the Romans from the Reformers Again. Here are some highlights (Pacheco’s comments are in blue; Foord’s are in red):

On Rom 5:16, 18 supporting transformative justification (cf. here for my discussion of Rom 5:19)
Here's a point to consider. If justification is based on a righteousness that is only forensic and alien, having no basis in reality, then does the converse apply to condemnation? I mean, it's Mr. Foord who is saying:
"...in Romans 5:16 and 18 the nouns for "justification" (dikaioma and dikaiosis) are antonyms of the noun "condemnation" (katakrima). So whatever "justification" / "justify" means, it must be the opposite of "condemnation" / "condemn"."
Hence, not wanting to contradict Mr. Foord's fine pretext, I shall only demand that he be consistent in applying his understading of "justification" to "condemnation". If "justification" is forensically based (i.e righteousness being legal and not real), then that must mean, according to Mr. Foord, that the condemnation of God is also forensically and declaratively based on something which is also not real. But we know that God's condemnation is indeed based on something real (i.e. serious sin, unbelief, etc). [If you aren't saved, you go to hell, and that's a very real experience.] So what does this revelation show us? It shows us that the Reformers view of justification is as fictitious and erroneous as their necessary and compulsory view of condemnation. Either both are based on something real or both are not real. In which realm do you think the great I AM operates? Does He condemn you on something which is legal only? No, you say, His condemnations have their basis in reality? Well, the same applies to "justification", then. Its basis is on a real righteousness and not a mere declarative one.

On the meaning of δικαιοω, we read the following:

As a side issue, which we do not have time to go into, there are three meanings to the verb "to justify" (dikaioo) in the NT. What is disturbing for the Roman Catholic is that none of the three meanings concur with the classic Roman Catholic rendering "to make righteous by a conferral of righteousness."
Sure it does, Mr. Foord. Here are but two examples of many:
"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." ( 1 Cor 6:11)
"...he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:5-7)
Sin is washed away: Psalm 51:2,7; Isaiah 1:16; Ezek. 36:35; Acts 22:16; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 7.
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." (Psalm 51:1-4)
Here is a question for Mr. Foord: If we are to understand "justify" in a declarative and forensic sense so that we are "declared or pronounced righteous" without actually being so, then does that mean that God "being justified" is also only "declared or pronounced righteous" without being so? If He is truly righteous, then why does Scripture use dikaioo to describe God's state if it is only a legal, forensic concept? Furthermore, how can God (who cannot lie or deceive us) declare something which is not? Can God say "the sky is green" when, in actuality, it is not? Can God say "you are righteous" when, in actuality, you are not?

On Gen 15:6 and the justification of Abraham (see here and here), Forod admits that Abraham was not initially justified in this verse, and instead, was initially justified in Gen 12, contra many Reformed apologists (e.g., James R. White, The God Who Justifies [2001]):

Abram was justified, at least by Gen. 12:1 (because he had faith then according to Heb. 11:8), and yet in Gen. 15:6 we find that his faith was what "counted" for righteousness. What does this mean? Quite simply Gen. 15:6 is not a statement about Abram's initial justification. It is a statement about what kept Abram in a justified state (or righteousness). Paul deploys Gen. 15:6 to show that faith is the key element that God "counts" (or takes into account) in establishing one's righteousness (or righteous state). Faith itself is not the "righteousness"; the words cannot be construed that way (note the prepositional phrase eis dikaiosunen"for righteousness" or "aimed at righteousness"). Faith alone is the instrument that brings one into the justified state, and faith alone is the instrument that maintains one in the justified state (Phil. 3:8-9; Rom. 11:20; Col. 1:23).

There are other interesting portions of this dialogue that Latter-day Saints will appreciate.