The Justified and Justness
One of the great problems with Pietism is its focus on the inward man. When presented with a Christianity that is about personal salvation, personal blessing, personal joy, and the personal leadings of the Holy Spirit, it is not hard to think, "It's all about me."
The Christian faith is based on the doctrine of justification by grace. Theologically, justification is God's declaration of man's justness, or righteousness, because the atonement of Jesus Christ has been applied to him. Justification, then, begins with the justness or righteousness of God and proceeds to His act of grace to men. It is not about you; it is about the righteousness of a merciful God. Grace emphasizes that though it is not about us, it is for us; it is an act of God that does for us what we cannot as sinners do for ourselves.
We use the term justification in a more common usage as well. We say a man justifies his words or actions; he vindicates his words or actions as proper or right. Even this usage is, at heart, a theological use of justification, for it places it in the realm of an affirmation of morality.
The justified must think and act in terms of the justness or righteousness of God. Those declared righteous by God's act are regenerated so that, by the Holy Spirit, they are empowered to be the righteous people of God. God makes us the righteous and then enables us to live righteously.
Justification is not a theological abstraction. It is a legal status to which we are first called and then empowered. The term justification only appears in the Authorized Version three times. The term justified is used another 39 times and just, 87. The term righteous, however, is used 225 times and righteousness, 289 times. The emphasis, clearly, is on our understanding of what is just and righteous; it is not on the personal joy of being one of the justified. The just of God must understand and desire that which is just and righteous.
At the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Christ gives two illustrations of the Christian life. One is of a tree bearing fruit. It is expected to bear good fruit. The purpose of the tree is not to feel blessedness and joy because it is God's tree; its purpose is to be productive as God's tree. A second illustration is that of building a house. Christ is not a rock from which we are to enjoy the view; He is the rock and foundation on which we are to engage in building. Fruit represents the productivity of a tree for its planter. Building is a development on the basis of a foundation. Christ called us to be doers, to be the just, not only the justified, to be the righteous of God, not only those right with God.
Justification is our legal status as the just or righteous people of God's grace. It is a status, but it is also a call to think and act in terms of the righteousness God has revealed in His Word. Our calling to be the just is not about us; it never is. We are called to bear righteous fruit, to build in terms of the justness of God.
The Christian faith is based on the doctrine of justification by grace. Theologically, justification is God's declaration of man's justness, or righteousness, because the atonement of Jesus Christ has been applied to him. Justification, then, begins with the justness or righteousness of God and proceeds to His act of grace to men. It is not about you; it is about the righteousness of a merciful God. Grace emphasizes that though it is not about us, it is for us; it is an act of God that does for us what we cannot as sinners do for ourselves.
We use the term justification in a more common usage as well. We say a man justifies his words or actions; he vindicates his words or actions as proper or right. Even this usage is, at heart, a theological use of justification, for it places it in the realm of an affirmation of morality.
The justified must think and act in terms of the justness or righteousness of God. Those declared righteous by God's act are regenerated so that, by the Holy Spirit, they are empowered to be the righteous people of God. God makes us the righteous and then enables us to live righteously.
Justification is not a theological abstraction. It is a legal status to which we are first called and then empowered. The term justification only appears in the Authorized Version three times. The term justified is used another 39 times and just, 87. The term righteous, however, is used 225 times and righteousness, 289 times. The emphasis, clearly, is on our understanding of what is just and righteous; it is not on the personal joy of being one of the justified. The just of God must understand and desire that which is just and righteous.
Psychologically, salvation for man means more than acquittal: it means adoption, the confidence of the sons of God, and the ability to face the problems of the world in terms of the law of God and in the power of the Holy Ghost. For man, justification means transfer from a death cell to a room in the royal mansion: this is its effect. Theologically, the term justification means to acquit and to declare legally righteous; it has reference to a judicial fact, a juridical transaction which is strictly separate from its psychological consequences. A judicial pronouncement of sentence always affects us strongly, but the sentence and its effect are two separate facts although inseparably linked. [Rushdoony, R. J. Salvation and Godly Rule (Vallecito, California: Ross House Books, 2004), 340.]Pietistic religion emphasizes "what’s in it for me?" Biblical religion emphasizes what God expects of us as the regenerated, righteous people of God.
At the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Christ gives two illustrations of the Christian life. One is of a tree bearing fruit. It is expected to bear good fruit. The purpose of the tree is not to feel blessedness and joy because it is God's tree; its purpose is to be productive as God's tree. A second illustration is that of building a house. Christ is not a rock from which we are to enjoy the view; He is the rock and foundation on which we are to engage in building. Fruit represents the productivity of a tree for its planter. Building is a development on the basis of a foundation. Christ called us to be doers, to be the just, not only the justified, to be the righteous of God, not only those right with God.
Justification is our legal status as the just or righteous people of God's grace. It is a status, but it is also a call to think and act in terms of the righteousness God has revealed in His Word. Our calling to be the just is not about us; it never is. We are called to bear righteous fruit, to build in terms of the justness of God.
