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Products>The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Pastoral Perspective

The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Pastoral Perspective

Publisher:
, 2019
ISBN: 9781433555411
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Overview

Many factors contributed to the Protestant Reformation, but one of the most significant was the debate over the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In fact, Martin Luther argued that justification is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. This comprehensive volume of 26 essays from a host of scholars explores the doctrine of justification from the lenses of history, the Bible, theology, and pastoral practice—revealing the enduring significance of this pillar of Protestant theology.

Resource Experts
  • Explores the question of how humans can be brought back to the holy God
  • Evaluates the “New Perspective” and its aftermath
  • Connects justification to other themes including atonement, sanctification, and resurrection

I. Justification in Biblical Perspective

  • “He Believed the Lord”: The Pedigree of Justification in the Pentateuch (Stephen Dempster)
  • Singing and Living Justification by Faith Alone: The Psalms and the Wisdom Literature (Allan Harman)
  • Salvation Is the Lord’s: Prophetic Perspectives (Willem VanGemeren)
  • Setting the Record Straight: Second Temple Judaism and Works Righteousness (Robert J. Cara)
  • What Does Justification Have To Do with the Gospels? (Brian Vickers)
  • The Righteous God Righteously Righteouses the Unrighteous: Justification according to Romans (Andrew David Naselli)
  • By Grace You Have Been Saved through Faith: Justification in the Pauline Epistles (Brandon Crowe)
  • An Epistle of Straw? Reconciling James with Paul (Dan McCartney)
  • The New Quest for Paul: A Critique of the New Perspective on Paul (Timo Laato)
  • What’s Next? Justification after the New Perspective (David A. Shaw)

II. Justification in Theological Perspective

  • “Behold, the Lamb of God”: Theology Proper and the Inseparability of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement from Forensic Justification and Imputation (Stephen J. Wellum)
  • Raised for Our Justification: The Christological, Covenantal, Forensic, and Eschatological Contours of an Ambiguous Relationship (Matthew Barrett)
  • The Theology of Justification by Faith: The Theological Case for Sola Fide (Mark Thompson)
  • The Passive and Active Obedience of Christ: Retrieving a Biblical Distinction (Brandon Crowe)
  • A Contested Union: Union with Christ and the Justification Debate (David VanDrunen)
  • Faith Works: Properly Understanding the Relationship between Justification and Sanctification (R. Lucas Stamps)
  • Justification, the Law, and the New Covenant (Jason Meyer)

III. Justification in Church History

  • Reformation Invention or Historic Orthodoxy? Justification in the Fathers (Gerald Bray)
  • The Evolution of Justification: Justification in the Medieval Traditions (Nick Needham)
  • Can This Bird Fly? The Reformation as Reaction to the Via Moderna’s Covenantal, Voluntarist Justification Theology (Matthew Barrett)
  • The First and Chief Article: Luther’s Discovery of Sola Fide and Its Controversial Reception in Lutheranism (Korey Maas)
  • The Ground of Religion: Justification according to the Reformed Tradition (J. V. Fesko)
  • Not by Faith Alone? An Analysis of the Roman Catholic Doctrine of Justification from Trent to the Joint Declaration (Leonardo De Chirico)
  • The Eclipse of Justification: Justification during the Enlightenment and Post-Enlightenment Eras (Bruce P. Baugus)

IV. Justification in Pastoral Practice

  • Justification and Conversion: Attractions and Repulsions to Rome (Chris Castaldo)
  • The Ground on Which We Stand: The Necessity of Justification for Pastoral Ministry (Sam Storms)

Top Highlights

“One is not justified because he is sanctified, but he is sanctified because he is justified.12” (Page 32)

“Calvin said that justification ‘is the ground on which religion must be supported,’ warning that ‘unless you understand first of all what your position is before God, and what the judgment which he passes upon you, you have no foundation on which your salvation can be laid, or on which piety towards God can be reared.’” (Page 35)

“But the New Testament also uses the language of sanctification to refer to the believer’s experiential growth in holiness. This ‘progressive sanctification’ involves the process of moral transformation in the life of the believer by the inner work of the Holy Spirit in cooperation with the believer’s own efforts (e.g., 1 Thess. 5:23).” (Page 508)

“The striking use of asyndeton combined with disjunctive clauses (x + qatal) both at the beginning of Genesis 15 (15:1) and at the end (15:18) serve to set off this text formally from its surrounding context.” (Page 48)

“What makes justification good news?46 The answer is that it enables all who are sinners—both Jew and Gentile—to be accepted before a holy God (now!), and this by faith alone.” (Page 247)

The breadth and depth of this new work on justification is quite astonishing. An array of scholars from various backgrounds assess the biblical witness, the theological profile, the historical backdrop, and the pastoral application of justification. A most impressive achievement.

—Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

How can a person be right with God? In this stellar, well-conceived volume, the contributors’ collective answer to this question is, ‘One is right with God only by trusting in the righteousness of another, namely, in the sinless substitute, Christ Jesus, alone’—the ‘great exchange.’ In this, they stand in a powerful biblical and historical tradition, as the volume amply demonstrates. Highly recommended!

—Andreas J. Köstenberger, Director of the Center for Biblical Studies and Research Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Founder, Biblical Foundations

The tide is definitely turning. No longer can it be taken for granted that the New Perspective has the last word on the ‘chief article.’ With essays by specialists in various fields, this volume is a wonderful defense of the gospel, and I heartily recommend it.

—Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California; author, Justification (New Studies in Dogmatics)

Matthew Barrett is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine, an evangelical publication making theology accessible to those in the church. He is the host of the Credo podcast, where he has conversations with the best theologians today to discuss the most important issues in theology. Dr. Barrett has been the executive editor of Credo Magazine for over ten years, publishing over 40 issues.

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    $27.99

    Digital list price: $39.99
    Save $12.00 (30%)