Featured FOUR REASONS PROFESSOR WRIGHT IS WRONG ON JUSTIFICATION

No, you are teaching conditional covenant righteousness - justification by works. It makes perfect sense that God makes a covenant with Himself as three divine persons IF substitutionary atonement is its basis in Christ. The whole point is that God accomplished "in Christ" the substitute what cannot be accomplished "in Adam."

That is not a "covenant" that is a decree made by God without any consent made by man whatsoever.

That is the unconditional "everlasting covenant" obtained "in Christ" and performed by Christ. However, his covenant with Abraham conditioned on circumcision is another story.

Half truth! Israel agreed and said they would (other half of truth, thus an actual covenant between two parties).

These are commands not a covenant! The everlasting covenant secured the demands among his elect as that was the covenant responsibility of the Holy Spirit.

That is not a covenant with man but the declaration of the everlasting covenant

 

Your whole argument is based upon a complete distortion of my view. You are arguing as though I believed we are justified by keeping the law when I believe we are justified by Christ satisfaction of the law in my behalf. The term "saints" simply means "set apart" and we have been "set apart" by the everlasting covenant between the Divine Persons, we have been set apart by the substitionary Person and work of Christ. We have been set apart by the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us and we shall be set apart in the resurrection of the just. We are called "priests' as a METAPHOR because we have direct access to God by the Spirit through the High Priestly work of Christ.

 

Is "sin" a "moral" issue? If sin is a "moral" issue then whatever standard that defines sin and condemns sin must be a "moral" standard. Is it "sinners" that need justificaition? If not then why justification? If so then justification is a "moral" issue.

 

1. The problem is you don't understand sin! First it is not wrong to be LIKE God. The problem was his desire TO BE God. Why did he want TO BE God? Because he wanted TO BE THE LAW MAKER or his own SELF RULE.
2. That is why the essence of the Christian life is DYING TO SELF (negative side) and whatsoever, ye think, say or do to the GLORY OF GOD (positive side)
3. That is why THE LAW can be summed up in the two great commandments in the order they are given but ultimately in one word "love" as God IS love.

 

Here is the essence of your wrong diagnosis. You don't understand what "HIS OWN LUSTS" means! It means HIS OWN AGENDA -meaning SELF-RULE. That is why all sin is AGAINST GOD because it is replacing God by your own agenda - self-rule! That is why THE LAW OF GOD is a moral issue because the violation at any point is a direct attack upon the whole Being of God as God. Violation of His law is the assertion that YOU are God and God is not God. His law must be vindicated, it must be satisfied fully if God is to be God as to "come short" is to rob God of His glory as God who alone has the right to decree what is right and what is wrong.

 

You don't understand either sin or the Law as it is not a matter of abstract issues but about REPLACING GOD IN TOTALITY! It is about establishing SELF-RULE. It is about the question who is really God?

 

Righteousness is about submission to God as God and the issue who is God. Sin is about usurping God by self-rule or becoming the law unto themselves.

 

The everlasting covenant is about God's own redemptive purpose of grace and restoring creation to its rightful relationship to its creator where God is God and all within that created order recognize and glorify Him as God, thus God reconciling his creation to Himself. It is about the Father sacrificing his only Son for God haters. It is about the Holy Spirit restoring the image of God in undeserving sinners. It is about the Son satisfying the wrath of God against usurpers of His kingdom.It is an "everlasting" covenant which man has no part with regard to covenantal actions or responsibilities but is the UNDESERVING object. It is God doing everything to restore His creation to Himself as an act of pure grace with regard to sinners.It begins with Grace it is by grace and it concludes with grace in every aspect from beginning to end. The law must be completely satisfied as anything "short" of complete satisfaction is robbing God of his "glory" of BEING GOD as the Law is the manifestation of God's rule, thus God's right to be God.

 

No, faith is not mans part as man is incapable of faith (Jn.6:44). Faith is the work and gift of God (Jn. 6:29; Eph. 2:8; Philip.1:29) and that is why it is "of grace" (Rom.4:16). Moreover, it is not abstract "faith" but faith "IN" the SUBSTITUTIONARY Person and work of Christ as revealed in the gospel. It "faith" IN Christ's Person and work in satisfying what the sinner could not satisfy - the Law's penalty satisfied by his death, the law's righteous standard - satisfied by his sinless perfection, being IMPUTED to the believers POSITION before the law of God and IMPARTED to the believer PERSONALLY by infusion through regeneration and in practice by progessive sanctifiation and that is why the law is written upon his heart in regeneration (2 Cor. 3:3). Vindicating the law is vindicating God to be God. Satisfying the laws demands is a necessity in the Kingdom or rule of God for God to be God. If sin and sinners can get away with violating His law they are God and He is not God.

 

Jesus is not a mere man but the Second Person and covenant responsible party in the everlasting covenant within the Godhead. Just a mere sinless man could not reconcile sinners with God. He must be a God/man and that is why the everlasting covenant EXCLUDES all but the Trinity. Read Ephesians 1:4-14 where the covenant responsibilities of the covenant parties are spelled out and you will find NO MAN delegated any covenant responsibility but man is consistently the OBJECT of this covenant. Read Romans 8:28-35 and you will find NO MAN delegated any covenant responsibility in the everlasting "purpose" of redemption but man is consistently the OBJECT of this covenant.

 

The whole issue of sin and the law is all about really who is God. Sin disputes God's right to be God. The whole issue of the everlasting covenant is reestablishing His rule over His creation. It is vindicating, as well as satisfying HIS LAW as to fail to do either one is to relinquish His right to rule over His own creation. It is restoring HIS LAW over all, thus declaring Himself to be God. That is why the new birth is described in creative MORAL terms as the restoration of God's own image as the righteousness or true holiness of God in fallen man.

The Law is his standard to judge all rational beings. The law is his standard to define right and wrong. The law is his standard to condemn and thus define sin. The Law is his standard to delcare what is and who is righteous. The law is that standard because the law declares God to be God and that is why the first three commandments directly relate to the absolute preeminence of God, and why all ten can be summarized by two and those two can be summarized in one word "love" for God IS love.

The Law is the declaration that God is God while sin is the dispute over that declaration. The Everlasting Covenant is about settling that dispute forever and restoring all creation to that declaration (Revelation 4-5).