Justification

N.T. Wright offers a sweeping review of the controversy surrounding him concerning the doctrine of justification in his latest book published by IVP Academic. Wright's book is in response to many of his critics including John Piper and D.A. Carson, but it is much more than an experiment in self-defense. Wright succinctly presents his own understanding of justification, arguing that his definition is more true to the Pauline writings of the New Testament. I will admit that my knowledge on this debate is limited, but one would be hard pressed to argue that Wright has varied from Christian orthodoxy. What he has done is to "out-Reform the neo-Reformed" as Scot McKnight phrased it. He has pushed those who consider themselves Reformed and anyone else who is a Christ follower to dive deep into Scripture and allow it to be our framework for theology rather than our specific theological systems and beliefs being imposed on Scripture.

I was blown away by the power of such an immanent scholar to approach this subject with the skilled hand of a surgeon as over half of the book is simply exegesis of major portions of the Pauline corpus. At the core of Wright's motivation is a pastoral desire for his own congregation and all who call Jesus Lord to allow scripture to dictate our beliefs and lives.

I will share a couple of favorite quotes: one serious and one light-hearted. I hope to share more in the days ahead, so many of them are lengthy excerpts as opposed to one-liners.

We must read scripture in its own way and through its own lenses, instead of imposing on it a framework of doctrine, however pastorally helpful it may appear, which is derived from somewhere else. There are many things which are pastorally helpful in the short or medium term which are not in fact grounded on the deepest possible reading of Scripture. That is simply a testimony to the grace of God: we don't have to get everything right before anything can work! But if the church is to be built up and nurtured in Scripture it must be semper reformanda, submitting all its traditions to the Word of God. And when we bring the doctrine of "imputed righteousness" to Paul, we find that he achieves what that doctrine wants to achieve, but by a radically different route. In fact, he achieves more. To know that one has died and been raised is far, far more pastorally significant than to know that one has, vicariously, fulfilled the Torah.

From Romans 6 we leap straight into Romans 8. For a lifelong exegete to skip over Romans 7 is like a thirsty Irishman ignoring a pint of Guinness.

Both of the quotes above are from page 233. I think they capture the warmth of Wright's writing while at the same time communicating the implications that one's understanding of justification has for living the Christian life.