Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Brian Vickers on Romans 5:19 and καθίστημι

Commenting on Rom 5:19 and καθίστημι, Protestant Brian Vickers wrote that:


Made Righteous

 

The word “made” (kathisthēmi) is not strictly a synonym for “impute” (logizomai). Imputation language . . . is not the language of 5:19. . . . In the New Testament, the same word translated as “made” in 5:19 is most commonly used to designate the place and/or status a thing or person holds or to which a thing or a person is appointed (see Matt. 25:21, 23; Luke 12:14; Acts 6:3; Titus 1:5; Heb. 5:1).  Less commonly the word carries the sense of become, cause to me, or make and refers to some state of being (see James 4:4, “makes himself an enemy of God,” and 2 Peter 1:8, “If these [qualifies] are yours . . . they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful”). Neither New Testament writers, nor those who translated the Old Testament into Greek, use it as a synonym for impute. . . . In 5:19 the phrase “will be made righteous” refers to being put into a position, like the way we sometimes use the word appoint, as in “he was appointed to be a federal judge.” (Brian Vickers, Justification By Grace Through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair [Explorations in Biblical Theology; Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishing, 2013], 47-48)

 

Note the language of “appointment”; however, even allowing for this meaning of καθίστημι, when one is “appointed” to a role or office, say, President of the USA, one is not merely “declared” such; one is made such, being invested with all powers/authorities thereof. To see why the common Protestant understanding of Rom 5:19 in general, and καθίστημι in particular, is flawed, as is the common understanding of λογιζομαι, see:


Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness