As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Read the first article in this series.
Dunn explains that “justification by faith” means trusting in Jesus alone for salvation, and not relying on obsolete Jewish boundary markers as covenant preconditions for God’s acceptance (i.e., “works of the law”). Jesus is enough. According to Dunn, Paul’s target is not grace v. legalism, but grace v. outmoded nationalism.
The “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP) is a re-calibration of the traditional Protestant understanding of “justification.” NPP has now been a force in New Testament and Pauline scholarship for about three generations. This article aims to present a positive statement of NPP. It is a summary, not a critique—so there will be no critical interaction.
First, we briefly sum up the traditional Protestant understanding of “justification.” Next, we survey five aspects of the NPP that differ from the traditional framework.
“Four specific issues directly related to justification occur within their teaching: the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, the role of works, final justification, and apostasy. This post will examine the first two of these four issues.” - DBTS Blog
“FV is not primarily concerned with soteriology, much less justification. However, some of their teaching in other areas helps to shape their understanding of justification. Three areas that indirectly relate to their teaching of justification will be considered here” - DBTS Blog
“Critics of Federal Vision…. claim that FV teachers, in arguing for a return to the Reformed tradition, have actually offered a return to Rome…. FV proponents have countered that they have simply been misunderstood and misinterpreted.” - DBTS Blog
The Council of Trent declared that “faith is the beginning of justification, the foundation for justification, and the root of justification. But Rome held that a person can have true faith and still not be justified, because there was much more to the Roman system.” - R.C. Sproul
“Church should be the place we sprint to when things are at their worst, not the place we avoid until we’ve got our Instagram-worthy Christianity back in place.” - TGC
“It’s a meticulous exegetical case for forensic justification on the basis of Christ’s obedience—imputed to us in union with him and received by faith alone. Even if (like me) you’re someone who doesn’t need to be convinced, you can still be sharpened by Owen’s thorough treatment of the relevant biblical texts” - TGC
“One doctrine, justification by faith alone, is rightly called the doctrine by which the Church stands or falls. It was this doctrine that Martin Luther was, ultimately, being asked to recant but could not…. five hundred years later, it is still a worthy hill and mountain to stand upon” - Ref21
“The Reformers said that the doctrine of justification–that is, how sinners are put right with God through the work of Christ–is ‘the article upon which the church stands or falls.’ Today in many of America’s churches, this teaching can scarcely be heard.” - Veith
Discussion