Dr. Sam Storms – original source if the sinner would take the initiative by humbly calling on God and “doing what lies within”, God would respond with the grace of justification. This doctrine, however, brought Luther little comfort, for he found himself despairing of the ability to fulfill the condition of the covenant. He conceived of the “righteousness of God” as an impartial divine attribute according to which God either forgave or condemned the individual based on the latter’s response to the terms of the covenant. God’s righteousness, therefore, was not gospel (i.e., good news) for Luther but an ever-present threat. The transformation in Luther’s theology came with the recognition that the “righteousness” of God was, in fact, that according to which God graciously provided the very righteousness he required.

(2) Luther’s concept of justification is best seen in the phrase simul iustus et peccator, i.e., simultaneously both just and a sinner. Or again, the Christian is intrinsically (i.e., experientially) sinful, yet extrinsically (i.e., legally) righteous. In justification the sinner is passive (man is incapable of initiating the process leading to justification) and God is active. God in grace imputes to us a righteousness not our own and we in faith gratefully receive it (a faith, be it noted, that is no less a gift of God’s grace than the righteousness imputed through it).

(3) Justification means we are declared righteous, not made righteous. It is a change in our status, not our nature. That doesn’t mean justification has no relationship to progressive sanctification in which we are gradually, by grace, transformed inwardly into the very image of Jesus himself. They are distinct spiritual realities, but by no means separable. Those who are truly justified will be sanctified. This radical and fundamental distinction between justification as a status obtained by initial faith and the subsequent sanctification or transformation of one’s nature through grace was a profound insight of the Protestant Reformers and a return to the biblical doctrine itself.

(4) Justification is objective, not subjective. That is to say, it is something done for us, not in us. Or to say much the same thing, justification is forensic, not experiential. That is to say, it is a legal act, not an emotional feeling. Whereas we do not feel justification when it occurs, once we comprehend what God has done there may be great exhilaration of soul and spirit.

Thus, the differences between the Protestant and Roman Catholic views on justification are unmistakable. In Protestantism, justification is extrinsic (not intrinsic), alien to us (not inherent within us), objective or for us (not subjective or in us), punctiliar (it occurs at a point in time, when we believe, and is not progressive), forensic (not experiential), declarative (not transformative), entails the imputation of righteousness to us (not the impartation of righteousness in us), issues in (but is not the same as) sanctification, and pertains to our status (not our being) as we are reckoned righteous (not made righteous). Continue reading →

Here’s an excellent article by R. J. Grune entitled “g.rand, a.k. uzer, & howe” – original source here.

Satan is the world-class accuser. If he ran a law firm, he’d be its first and most powerful partner. His specialty is accusing and destroying people. Like you. From the moment you’re accused, he’s prowling around in front of the jury, ready to attack and make his case. He never comes to court unprepared. He’s got evidence, eyewitnesses, and testimonies to put you away for life. He calls your friends on the stand to testify about your lies and cover-ups. He puts your family on the stand to reveal your weakness before the jury. His evidence submitted before the court and in full public view includes e-mails, voice-mails, and even off-the-record conversations that make you look like a dirt-bag.

And The Accuser doesn’t stop there. Witnesses for the prosecution continue until you are crushed with guilt and your character is shamed beyond recovery. You’re buried under a burden of evidence and testimony with no way out. The accused – you – fight to defend yourself. After all, you got yourself into the mess, and you can at least mount a defense to get yourself out.

You think about hiring a lawyer, but opt to make your own defense, boldly ignoring the lawyer’s axiom “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.” With your back against the wall facing brutal accusations, what other choice do you have? Is there really any better person to help you avoid a guilty verdict? Can anyone really justify your actions better than you? If there’s a chance that you will be found innocent, you have the best shot at making it happen. That’s foolishness, though. You’re not going to get off, and you know it. The accusations are accurate. You might as well just plead guilty. Your efforts to self-justify and refute the evidence are hopeless.

Counter intuitively, it’s in this hopelessness that God meets you in the courtroom where Satan has made his airtight case against you. Jesus arrives as your advocate. You don’t have to make a defense. Revelation 12:10-11 says, “For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb.” 1 John 2 says, “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” When Jesus makes his entrance into the courtroom, he comes with witnesses, testimonies, and evidence to support you. Oddly, though, his evidence doesn’t testify to your righteousness but to his. Jesus transforms the proceedings by exchanging his innocence for your guilt. He mitigates the charges against you by offering his own life – his active obedience, his sacrificial death, and his victorious resurrection – all on your behalf. This is an unbeatable tactic. The accuser doesn’t stand a chance. When you are clearly guilty, Jesus gives you a new shot at life, and there’s nothing Satan and his team can do to take that from you.

But the accuser is clever. Even after the case is closed, Satan knows exactly the accusations to whisper to cause you to question your innocence. He knows what wounds to re-open. The accuser is an expert at bringing up forgiven sins. He is an expert in convincing you that your case might be re-opened, perhaps by God himself. Maybe God will change his mind. Maybe your sin is too much for even Jesus to cover.

While Satan continues to accuse and sow doubt, the law is the law. There is no double jeopardy in the Kingdom of God. In Romans 8 Paul writes, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen. It is God who justifies.” When Jesus says, “Not guilty,” that is what you are. The case is closed. The gavel falls. Court adjourned.