An Anglican on Justification
December 10th, 2007 by tempe
I really enjoy reading Graeme Goldsworthy. I had not heard of him (he is an Anglican professor at Moore Theological College in Australia; he may be retired now, I am not certain) until about 2 years ago, when I was attending a preaching conference in Wheaton, IL. He is able to explain Biblical Theology in non-technical ways (as opposed to, say, G. Vos). Reading him has improved (I hope!) my preaching of OT narratives, for instance. I bought my buddy Trey a copy of The Goldsworthy Trilogy (Gospel and Kingdom, Gospel and Wisdom, The Gospel in Revelation) as a gift when he preached my installation service, and he says he has enjoyed it as well.
I ran across this statement by Goldsworthy on the doctrine of justification (page 353). I thought it was very profound, and surprising topical as well (it appears in Gospel and Wisdom, which was published 20 years ago). Here are Goldsworthy’s thoughts on this important doctrine (along with its relationship to the equally important topic of union with Christ):
Paul’s view on justification, which is expounded in detail in Romans, is closely linked to the idea of the believer being in Christ. Our being in Christ is not some kind of mystical merging of our beings with the being of Christ. It is a declaratory thing, for God declares it to be so. It refers not to our state of being, as when we say we are some place or other, but to our status in God’s eyes. It is Paul’s way of describing the nature of our union with Christ. On the grounds of Christ’s merits, God is pleased to regard the believer as possessing everything that belongs to Jesus. It is in this sense that ‘Christ is our life’ (Colossians 3:4). God actually treats us as if we possessed the very life of Christ as our own. In ourselves we are yet sinful, but in Christ we are righteous, sanctified, perfect. In ourselves we still suffer from the foolishness of worldly wisdom, but in Christ we are perfectly wise, for he is our wisdom before God.
I don’t think Goldsworthy has exhausted all aspects of union with Christ (he is, after all, talking about the relationship between justification and our union with Christ), but these are powerful words, nonetheless.
I haven’t read Gospel and Wisdom yet, but i think this statement is far too weak. He seems to be saying something like, “We are only in union with Christ insofar as we are *SEEN* to be in him by God the Father.” This is precisely true, in one sense, but that’s not the only way we are “in Christ.” We actually *DO* have a mystical, metaphysical union with him, and this is what Calvin taught so clearly, especially with its connection to the Eucharist, which, somehow, makes us *MORE* mystically and metaphysically (the former was Calvin’s word, not the latter, but both mean the same thing) united to Christ and to all other believers who are mystically connected to him in this body of the Church.
I am much more comfortable saying that our justification by imputation comes as a direct result of our mystical union with Christ by faith. When we are “in him” in that mystical sense, then God is right and just to see us as having what Christ has, namely his righteousness, his verdict, his resurrection, and his eternal life (among many, many other things).
I read something recently describing our union with Christ as God’s reaching down by his Spirit to us, and our reaching up to him by faith (which is his gift as a result of the work of his Spirit), and that’s the union that is effected. We become intrinsically linked to Christ, and so what is true of him is true, not only by way of imputation, but really and truly.
Goldsworthy is good stuff. I bought his Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture at the Expository Preaching conference held at SBTS a few years ago. I recommend it heartily. I’ll see if I can remember to bring a copy by when I get some room in my schedule for a Wednesday evening bible study.
Thanks, Chris. I already have a copy of GG’s Preaching the Whole Bible…. As I said before, he’s really opened up preaching the OT, particularly the narratives. And he’s much easier to read than Vos!