tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28113006.post115624847363095391..comments2023-07-13T08:48:47.109-05:00Comments on The Race Set Before Us: Nick's Question about Justification Now and Not Yet--Part 6abcanedayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13671418539630398806noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28113006.post-1156310728709011292006-08-23T00:25:00.000-05:002006-08-23T00:25:00.000-05:00This is an important distinction, and not just bei...This is an important distinction, and not just being picky with words. Whole theologies (and lives) can stand or fall by getting this right or wrong. Obedience and faith clearly are radically distinct from one perspective (we are justified by faith in Christ, not justified by the obedience of faith), yet from another perspective faith IS obedience, and faith and works are like eggs and omelettes. <BR/><BR/>I find myself increasingly wary of both NPP and traditional reformed scholars who go far to one extreme or another. Those who see no difference at all between the forensic and transformative in Paul (and I agree they overlap a lot at times, but always distinguishable), I think, miss the centrality of the death and resurrection of Christ and instead substitute our new covenant obedience as, in and of itself, fulfilling God's covenant stipulations so that God declares us righteous because we actually ARE righteous (I have heard Don Garlington say this several times, and I think he tends very much to this extreme). And I believe Scripture teaches very clearly Christians, through the Spirit, fulfill what the law demands of them--but let's not put this in the place where only Jesus' atonement and vindication belong, or we are in trouble.<BR/><BR/> Yet, on the other hand, I think it is very telling that much that flows out of reformed theology only stresses the forensic, and seems genuinely puzzled at how James and Paul fit together (if only they saw Romans 2...it would solve so much!). If justification by faith and judgment according to works feels like tension to us, we are probably on the wrong track. Anyway, that's my two-cents worth for now.<BR/><BR/>BTW Dr. Caneday, I think you make a crucial point in your previous post (#5) when you point out that the good works of a believer (Ephesians 2:10, Romans 2, Romans 8, Galatians 5, etc.) need to be carefully distinguished from the works of the law and dead, pre-Christian works. Many of the errors and misunderstandings in the current debates on justification flow out of using the term "works" generically, as if it were basically only positive (NPP) or only negative (Lutheran), and miss the nuances the NT writers give to these realities. I think it is interesting that in Romans, for instance, the word "works" is almost always negative, while the word "obedience" is almost always positive. I love Titus 3:4-8, in which you see this distinction so clearly:<BR/><BR/>"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works."Nick Nowalkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16801028847236395038noreply@blogger.com