The New Justification?

A number of years ago when the writings of N.T. Wright began to gain in popularity, many (rightly so) were up in arms regarding what they perceived as an attempt to redefine justification. Away from the Reformation model of forensic justification - where repentant sinners are declared righteous now - through the imputed righteousness of Christ by faith - Wright seemed to be indicating the Reformers and virtually all since had misunderstood Paul on the subject. Especially in Romans. His view - shared by E.P. Sanders and James D.G. Dunn was dubbed, “The New Perspective on Paul.”

Don Carson attempts to summarize the view this way: “Tom understands justification to be God’s declaration that you are in the covenant community. Not God’s declaration that you are just entering the covenant community. It is an ongoing status thing. In other words, you are ongoingly justified as God ongoingly declares you to be in the covenant community. So it is not bound up with the beginning of your Christian experience as it is in traditional Protestantism. In Tom it still is declarative. It’s not quite that way in other new perspective people, but with Tom it’s not declarative that you are just.

It’s declarative, rather, you are in the community, you are in the covenant bond. In a certain sense, therefore, ecclesiology is now being raised above soteriology.”

D. A. Carson, “The New Perspective on Paul,” in D. A. Carson Sermon Library (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).

Now any number of capable theologians have risen to the occasion in combating Wright’s thesis - quite decidedly in my opinion. But no sooner has this re-casting of justification been met, than a new, surprising and more subtle one has arisen. I’ll simply call it - “The New Perspective on Politics.” And its heartbeat is: One cannot be Christian, and be a Democrat. Justification comes by virtue of party affiliation. Or at the least, justification is denied by virtue of party affiliation.

On the surface, this view carries a certain amount of logic. I’ve had it put to me recently this way: “No one can be apart of the Democratic Party in America, or vote for a Democratic candidate, and be a Christian.” That statement is in effect, a backdoor denial of justification by faith.

The statement is attractive for many reasons. 1. We love to enlist God on our side of issues, whatever they may be. We want to be able to wave His banner over our choices, preferences and views. 2. It is deceptively simple. And we like simple. We do not want to have to think any more deeply than “this is that, and that’s that!” 3. It calls us to latch on to a genuinely missing idealism that motivates. And we like that feeling. 4. It seems to stand against the rising tide of the moral disintegration we see all around us. We want to be on God’s side of things. 5. It allows us to demonize certain individuals, and virtually canonize others. We crave white hats and black hats. Knowing who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. And there are others. But I’ll stop here.

As is true in so many debates, the questions we ask and the way questions are asked often seem to box us into certain categories of thinking. They serve as a neat sifting mechanism. But if those questions are posed differently, we might need to think about them in ways we hadn’t considered previously. Let’s take being a part of the Republican or conservative parties as pitted against being a part of the Democratic party, and rephrase the question a bit.

Let’s move the discussion to a different milieu and see if the logic holds up.

This being Reformation weekend, here’s the question we would put to Luther. Can you be a Christian, and still be part of a Church so obviously corrupt? Indulgences. The Papacy. Rampant sexual immorality in the clergy. Heresies abounding. Blatant materialism. Wouldn’t anyone who is born again need to leave?

Luther didn’t think so. Though certainly many of his contemporaries did. They reasoned one could not remain a Roman Catholic and be a born again Christian. While they drew the line and left, he sought to remain and reform. Until they spit him out.

Let’s take it further back. Jesus has come. Can He remain a self-confessed Jew within the Jewish worship system? Can any Jew who believes in Him? How can He tell His disciples: “The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you”? Aren’t they rabid legalists? Don’t they deny Him? Don’t they pursue greed and self-righteousness? Aren’t the High Priestly Sadducees deniers of Scripture and Scripture truth? How can one be a “Christian” and go to Synagogue? Paul certainly seems to have messed that one up didn’t he? Imagine going back to Jerusalem to participate in a Jewish ceremonial vow in the Temple!

Let’s drive it closer to home.

How about being a part of a liberal denomination? Can one remain within the Methodist Church, or the PCUSA or others, and still be a Christian? Do they have the right to remain and seek reform and revival? Can they still be members knowing what causes those denominations support? Or does their Christianity, their justification depend upon affiliation or non-affiliation?

One more. More to home.

Can a Christian BE a Christian, and have membership in a group that aborts nearly a million babies a year, thrives on greed, hosts 60% of the porn websites in the word - (428 million individual pages), promotes the disintegration of the nuclear family, sponsors and markets gambling to the poorest of the poor, continues to open the flood gates to legalized drug use, has a massively corrupt government and has the highest murder rate in the world? Can a Christian remain as a citizen of the United States? Can we in clear conscience pay a penny in taxes to such a group? Aren’t we required to renounce our citizenship? After all - as citizens, as members of this society, aren’t we condoning, if not in some way participating in all of these things to some degree?

No.

We remain, and we seek to be salt and light where we are. As do many who might remain in the Democratic party. Because some other issues aside, there are good concepts and other people, who need their influence.

My concern here is that we do not invent and new doctrine of justification based upon political party affiliation - unless we are willing to apply that doctrine to ourselves as a citizens of the United Sates.

Pray, preach Christ, dialog, write, speak up for and crave revival. Wherever you find yourself. And if some do not draw the line where you do, because they are seeking those things in a place where you are not - cast no stones. Reinforce them in their efforts to bring the Cross to bear in their field - even as you seek to do so in yours.