TheologyThoughts

John Mahaffy, who reads my blog and is subscribed to various lists, forwarded my comments on the "Non-meritorious works" to Norman Shepherd. Here is that response. I hope to be able to comment within the next day or so. I have edited the response for formatting only.

Dear John,

Thank you for drawing my attention, and the attention of the other
spamees, to a recent blog by Barry Hofstetter whom I do not know
personally. Please allow me to respond briefly, and I would
appreciate it if you could forward this response to the other spamees
and to anyone who might be interested, including Barry.

My response can be brief because the position Barry represents
was really anticipated and responded to in the two lectures I gave in
southern California that have been published in Backbone of the
Bible, edited by P. Andrew Sandlin, published by Covenant Media
Press (2004) (www.cmfnow.com). These lectures dealt with
"Justification by Faith in Pauline Theology" and "Justification by
Works in Reformed Theology."

Barry takes his starting point in a works/merit principle, the idea that
eternal life is the reward for lifelong perfect and meritorious
obedience. This principle requires a covenant of works to be fulfilled
either by Adam or by Christ. Adam failed and Christ succeeded so
that his lifelong perfect obedience is imputed to us for our salvation.
Covenant of works requires the imputation of active obedience and
conversely the imputation of active obedience requires a covenant
of works. The two doctrines are implied in one another.
My basic criticism is that this symbiotic relationship floats above
Scripture in exegetical thin air and has been imposed on Scripture
as a framework for interpretation. Theology becomes the father to
exegesis rather than the product of exegesis.

For the moment I draw attention to just one matter. In my second
lecture I pointed out that "in a doctrine of justification based on a
works/merit paradigm, the merit of works moves into the foreground
and the Cross of Christ retreats into the background" (p. 117).
Barrys blog clearly illustrates that point. Barry maintains that Christ
earned our salvation "through his active obedience to the law," and
he tells us in the last paragraph that without this doctrine the gospel
is emptied of any meaningful content. Nothing is said about the
death and resurrection of Christ even though Paul writes that our
Savior "was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to
life for our justification" (Rom. 4:25).

My colleague, Dick Gaffin, has rightly stressed the centrality of the
death and resurrection of Christ, but this is lost when salvation is
based on a works/merit principle. Then the death and resurrection of
Christ do not save us, but only get us back to square one. They may
serve to keep us out of hell, but they do not get us into heaven.
I find this subordination of the death and resurrection of Christ to the
imputation of active obedience totally out of line with what we read in
the New Testament. The New Testament tells us on page after
page that we are saved by the death and resurrection of Christ.
There is virtually no exegetical evidence for the imputation of active
obedience, and the few texts that are cited are not at all convincing.
Barrys position may well be compatible with the Westminster
standards, but I dont think it is compatible with the Three Forms of
Unity (Belgic Confession; Heidelberg Catechism; Canons of Dordt).
Let me quote from Lords Day 25. Q&A 66 affirms: "And this is
Gods gospel promise; to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by
grace alone because of Christs one sacrifice finished on the cross."
Note that here the Catechism says we have eternal life because of
what Christ did for us on the cross. The follow-up comes in Q&A 67,
"Are both the word and the sacraments then intended to focus our
faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground
of our salvation? Right! In the gospel the Holy Spirit teaches us and
through the holy sacraments he assures us that our entire salvation
rests on Christs one sacrifice for us on the cross."

Let me state my position as succinctly as possible. The sin of Adam
left us with two problems: the guilt of sin with the penalty of death,
and the corruption of our natures so that we cannot please God. Our
condition is hopeless because we cannot atone for sin (we can only
suffer the penalty) and we cannot rid ourselves of our corrupt
nature. Jesus, by his death and resurrection, dealt with both of these
problems. He died for us and in our place. In him the penalty for our
sin is paid and we are vindicated in his resurrection. This is
justification. Second, by his death and resurrection we have died to
sin and have been resurrected/recreated/renewed/regenerated in
righteousness and holiness. This is sanctification. "He saved us
through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus
3:5).

The parallel between Adam and Christ does not reside in the fact
that they were both subject to a covenant of works. It resides in the
expressed fact that by the one trespass of Adam sin and death
entered into human experience, and by the one act of righteousness
of Jesus Christ righteousness and life entered into human
experience (Rom. 5:18; I Cor. 15:22).

Both benefits, justification and sanctification, become ours when we
are united to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the words of I
John 1:9, God forgives our sins and purifies us from all
unrighteousness. In the words of Lords Day 1 of the Heidelberg
Catechism, I belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. "He has fully
paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free
from the tyranny of the devil."

There is no sacrament that memorializes or proclaims the
imputation of active obedience. We have two sacraments that
memorialize and proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ as
the only ground of our salvation. With Paul we must preach Christ
crucified (I Cor. 1:23). Christ crucified, not the imputation of active
obedience, was the gospel Paul preached to the purveyors of works
righteousness among the Galatians. "You foolish Galatians! Who
has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly
portrayed as crucified" (Gal. 3:1). Christ crucified and risen again is
the gospel we must proclaim to lost sinners.

Cordially in Christ, Norman Shepherd