three kinds of justification

in a previous post, i wrote that:

according to classical calvinism, grace is unconditionally given by God and unconditionally received by man. in other words, faith is caused (or effected) by God. if faith is caused (or effected) by God, then justification is a past verdict.

according to moderate calvinism, grace is unconditionally given by God and conditionally received by man. in other words, faith is occasioned (or enabled) by God. if faith is occasioned (or enabled) by God, then justification is a present verdict which will be reaffirmed in the future.

i would like to revise my position. i now hold that in one sense, justification is a past verdict; in another sense, justification is a present verdict; in a third sense, justification is a future verdict. at the same time, i maintain that grace is unconditionally given by God and conditionally received by man.

instead of one kind of justification (ie. justification by faith alone) or even two kinds of justification (ie. justification by faith in the present and justification by works in the future), there are in fact three kinds of justification (ie. justification by Christ's work on the cross in the past, justification by faith in the present and justification by works in the future) and the meaning of the word 'by' is different in each of them. as phil walker puts it, Christ - on the basis of, faith - by the instrument of, works - in accordance with.

justification by Christ's work on the cross in the past

the meaning of the word 'by' in 'justification by Christ's work on the cross' is 'on the basis of'. in other words, 'justification by Christ's work on the cross' means 'justification on the basis of Christ's work on the cross'. it does NOT mean 'justification by the instrument of Christ's work on the cross' or 'justification in accordance with Christ's work on the cross'.

[justification is not by the instrument of Christ's work on the cross. justification is by the instrument of faith. also, justification is not in accordance with Christ's work on the cross. justification is in accordance with works.]

in one sense, Christ's work on the cross was finished around 2000 years ago. in another sense, Christ's work on the cross was finished 'before the creation of the world' (John 17:24, NIV; Ephesians 1:4, NIV; 1 Peter 1:20, NIV). it is in this sense that God justified us by (ie. on the basis of) Christ's work on the cross in the past, not from around 2000 years ago but from all eternity.

justification by faith in the present

the meaning of the word 'by' in 'justification by faith' is 'by the instrument of'. in other words, 'justification by faith' means 'justification by the instrument of faith'. it does NOT mean 'justification on the basis of faith' or 'justification in accordance with faith'.

[justification is not on the basis of faith. justification is on the basis of Christ's work on the cross. also, justification is not in accordance with faith. justification is in accordance with works.]

as N.T. Wright points out, 'some Christians have used terms like 'justification' and 'salvation' as though they were almost interchangeable, but this is clearly untrue to Scripture itself'. it just so happens that justification by faith IS salvation by grace through faith. however, there is a huge difference between the concept of justification by works and the concept of salvation by works.

God created the best possible world (from His perspective), predestining that i) man would sin of his own free will, ii) He would send Christ to reconcile the world to Him, iii) those who would freely believe in Christ would be reconciled to Him and iv) those who would freely not believe in Christ would not be reconciled to Him. it is in this sense that God justifies us by (ie. by the instrument of) faith in the present.

justification by works in the future

the meaning of the word 'by' in 'justification by works' is 'in accordance with'. in other words, 'justification by works' means 'justification in accordance with works'. it does NOT mean 'justification on the basis of works' or 'justification by the instrument of works'.

[justification is not on the basis of works. justification is on the basis of Christ's work on the cross. also, justification is not by the instrument of works. justification is by the instrument of faith.]

as phil walker points out, in a future 'justification by works' can lurk a very subtle distinction between 'justification in accordance with our works' and 'justification on the basis of our works'. the concept of justification in accordance with our works implies that God judges us on what we do with what we have (not what we do not do with what we do not have), while the concept of justification on the basis of our works implies that God counts us righteous in our works (instead of in Christ's work on the cross). the concept of justification in accordance with our works is biblical, while the concept of justification on the basis of our works is unbiblical.

at the end of the day, our works are simply what God has 'prepared in advance for us to do' (Ephesians 2:10, NIV) as we live by faith, as we live one day at a time, as we live in the present, as we trust and obey. it is in this sense that God will justify us by (ie. in accordance with) works in the future.

one in three, three in one

justification on the basis of Christ's work on the cross in the past, justification by the instrument of faith in the present and justification in accordance with works in the future are inextricably linked. as phil walker points out, the latter two [are simply] increasingly public declarations of the first.

"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." - Romans 8:30 (NIV)

links: the point of justification (14 apr 09), more on the point of justification (21 apr 09)