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Believer Nullification—an Unexpected Potential Side Effect of the Teaching of Forensic Justification
In this article, Dr. Tim Dost explores forensic justification and its relationship to how we view being new creatures in Christ.
From Tim Dost:
It has occurred to me that there is a potential effect of the teaching of forensic justification—the teaching that the believer is justified solely by the grace of God through Christ Jesus, through God’s declaration that they are righteous. The purpose of this piece is not to overturn this doctrine, but rather to point out a potential imbalance that can occur if the doctrine is misapplied. Of course, the proper teaching also includes that the believer becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus, but I believe that the language that is employed frequently leads to a perception by the person in the pew that the New Adam is in fact Christ and not themselves. And while all good things are due to Christ, and all credit must go to him, in their thinking there is a perversion of the teaching simul justus et peccator into simul Cristus et peccator. In effect the believer sometimes thinks that they are only the sinful nature and that it is only Christ that works, and while this is true for justification, in the Christian life people work in a relationship with God and are not nullified or replaced, but rather restored and affirmed. Because of this misunderstanding Christian people wait for Christ to do everything, because they believe that whatever they contribute in the Christian life only arises out of their sinful nature. But Christ’s passive righteousness is in fact an active righteousness of God that is passively received by the sinner and should always be Martin Luther’s, busy, active thing in the newly regenerate believer.
I base this understanding in part on my experience in pastoral ministry. I see two problems that have arisen as a result of this false understanding of forensic justification (note again that I believe the doctrine is true and sound, but that it is frequently misunderstood). First, there is the ineffectiveness of the witness and work of many in our congregations. I believe that this may be due to the way people in the pew hear the message that it is in fact only Christ that does good work in them. The issue here is one of anthropology. In the new man it is not only Christ who works, but the believer in cooperation with Christ who works. This is often taught, but not often heard. Of course, there is the added issue of perceptions. People are told over and over again that what they contribute to forensic justification is their sinful nature, what Christ contributes is his righteousness. This is true, but as part of that righteousness he creates in them a new person who works mightily and willingly with Christ for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God (this could be through service, evangelism, prayer, worship or other means). The problem is that the sincere Christian sinner often believes that there is no goodness possible even in the regenerate life. In fact, they see Christ having replaced them and believe themselves to be only the sinner with Christ doing good works through them.
The second problem is a direct consequence of the first. Confession and absolution is at issue here. In the general confession that is now recited each Sunday morning in most congregations, the individual sometimes ignores the words—as they have been said over and over again, or if they are burdened by sin, they pay so much attention to the words of the confession (and the fact that they are spoken by the confessor gives them even a greater impact) that they may not hear the words of absolution. I had a parishioner that had this problem. She indicated that there was no forgiveness in our church because all she had ever heard was that she was a sinner. I pointed her to the words of absolution and she indicated that she had never paid attention to them, because as a sinner she could not get mentally past the confession to hear the absolution. Because of this situation, when I composed services after the confession I would add the line, “I acknowledge that I have been forgiven, as by Christ himself, amen.” The point here is that there are individuals who are taking confession seriously and yet believe that there is nothing good in them, including in the New Adam. (As an aside, I would also like to see the confessional language of “poor, miserable, sinner” changed to “poor wretched sinner”. Some appear to believe that in order to be a Christian one must be miserable, but misere in Latin in fact primarily means wretched, and wretched people are not always miserable. Confession would not then, be about the mood the person is in but rather their status as sinner in relationship to God).
Because of these issues I think it is essential that we begin to emphasize in our preaching and doctrine that the New Adam is in fact real and in the sense of permanence the only ultimately true nature we possess. Our sinful nature is real for a time until our death, but does not represent our true, eternal nature that will continue to heaven. Rather with Paul we need to affirm, “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature” Rom. 7:17, 18.” We must take accountability for our sin and sins, but we must also acknowledge, by grace through faith, that the new nature is the permanent one in terms of our death, resurrection and heaven and it is in fact a renewed “I” which cooperates with God and in fact can make good decisions and do truly good works. Our appropriate rejection of “decision theology” at the point of justification, often spills over into issues of sanctification. Our people believe that they cannot make any decisions—although in the New Adam making decisions to follow Jesus is par for the course and a daily activity. The issue here is that although we cannot contribute anything to our justification, the New Adam in sanctification, can joyfully work with Christ, even as it struggles with the Devil, the world and our own flesh (the Old Adam).
Of course, all the credit for the doing of these works still goes to our Lord and Savior who provides us with all things. It is very much like the analogy of the bride and the bridegroom that is provided in the Bible. The bridegroom does not become the bride, rather they are united as one flesh and they are one another’s. The groom gives his name to the bride and if he is a good groom, provides all good things so that she might be fruitful in all kinds of ways. Yet the bride does not lose her identity through this process; rather she finds herself to be more of what she should have been—provided she has a good groom (which Christ of course is).
Someone may also choose to raise the verse Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (NIV).” Here it must be recognized that Christ is the life of the believer. That what was death has now become life. But it must also be recognized that Paul speaks of the life I live in the body, I live by faith…. Paul is not nullified, but affirms that he as New Adam, raised by Christ through Cross, water and Word, lives for and in Christ. In short there is a new Paul, who struggling with the old Paul, finds his life in Christ, but is nonetheless real.
Both the words groom and husband in English emphasize this “tending tendency”. The groom takes care of and manages property. Typically we think of grooming as cleaning up or preparing for something fancy. A groom for horses takes care of them before and after riding, insuring that they are properly groomed.
Husband is also a useful term in English. The husband used to refer to the farmer, particularly in the case of vines or fruit crops. It was the husband’s job to cultivate the vines to produce a good crop. In the same way, Christ cultivates us. He makes us ready as a good husband, groom, vinedresser—for the day of our entry into glory. But in all of this we do not lose our identity but rather find it. We are in fact children of an Almighty Father, with Christ as our Lord and the powerful Holy Spirit who leads us through the Word “to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2). Again, we do not lose our identity. Instead, we find our true selves in Christ, our new Adam and the forgiveness of sins found at the cross.
In short, Christ does not replace the believer and leave them as only a sinful nature. Christ regenerates the believer as an “I” that will live with him eternally, and the sinful nature, which is both real and temporary in the believer needs to be seen as an impediment, but not the only or even the primary “me” in salvation. Believers in Christ need to live in the new nature and repent of the old, knowing that while it is real in the here and now, it will be gone after death. In order to do this effectively they need to know that they are new and exist as a new creation in God and can, as those having been justified by Christ, in fact cooperate with Christ as he does his work in and through them. Sincere Lutherans often believe that they must wait for Christ to do everything, because there is no good, new creation in them. Nullified people cannot will, decide or do anything—because they do not believe themselves to be in any way capable of good. But people are not nullified by Christ. Through forensic justification they are rather made new through the power of the Word—made new, to do the works which God has created in advance for them to do. Not works that save, but rather works of Christ through his special bride, his enabled servants, the redeemed.
Thanks for your consideration of this issue.
Written By: host
Date Posted: 3/5/2008
Number of Views: 1123
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