From Schreiner on Paul’s theology of righteousness:
Regarding Righteousness
“. . . justification should not be accepted as the center of Pauline theology . . . . The foundation of his theology is the glory of God in the work of Christ” (193)
“This righteous status with God is no fiction but a reality. Further, because believers are right in God’s sight, God grants them his Spirit and power to live a new life. Hence, the forensic gift of righteousness becomes the basis (and is the only basis) on which believers receive God’s powerful Spirit that transforms their lives” (194).
“In the death of Jesus Christ, therefore, the saving righteousness and the judging righteousness of God meet. God vindicates his judging holiness since God in Christ absorbs his wrath at his crucifixion (203).
Schreiner demonstrates a rare humility in scholarship today when he acknowledges changing his position regarding the righteousness of God. He once saw it not as forensic, but reformative. He has changed his position and acknowledges those who helped him in the process. (205-206).
“Paul is arguing that the forensic work of Christ is the basis of God’s transforming work, but it does not follow from this that the forensic and transforming work are the same thing. What this verse does indicate is that Christ’s forensic work is not separated from a changed life but is the basis for such a change” (207).
“To sum up, righteousness is an end-time gift (Gal 5:5), a verdict from the day of judgment, which has now been pronounced in the lives of believers on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Believers are in a right relationship with God forensically on the basis of Christ’s sinless life and his atoning death (2 Cor 5:21). The righteousness given is an alien righteousness, given to sinners by God. Believers canot do anything to prepare themselves to receive such righteousness. It is a gift given by God himself to htose who believe in Christ Jesus. Righteousness is not merited by works or awarded to those who are good enough to warrant God’s favor. All without exception sin, and our only hope is God’s grace. Most important, forensic righteousness is the basis and ground of any tranformationa that occurs in our lives. This means that any change in the lives of believers is rooted in the objective work of Christ by which believers are declared to be right in God’s eyes. But for Paul the work of God is a whole. He never imagined someone who was justified yet who failed to live in newness of life (Rom 6:4). Those who are declared to be in the right are united with Christ, they enjoy the gift of the Spirit, and they are empowered to live in a new way. Hence any attempt to divide justification and sanctification – so that some could enjoy the former without experiencing the latter – violates Pauline theology” (208-209).
“Paul never confines the gospel to the idea that we have been declared righteous before God. To be declared righteous without living righteously would be a monstrosity and an impossibility. The cross-work of Jesus Christ, in which he fulfilled the law by offering himself as a sin offering, has as its goal the obedience of the believer (Rom 8:1-4). Still, Martin Luther was correct in emphasizing that we remain sinners. God’s grace invades the lives of his people; and significant, substantial and observable changes occur. Nevertheless, given the already-but-not-yet character of Pauline eschatology, we are still stained with sin until the day we die. Luther was on target; we are justified but at the same time we are also sinners” (209).
Regarding Saving Faith
“Paul emphasizes that the way one becomes right with God is by faith, trusting in God’s provision and resting on his promises” (209).
“Saving faith is not passive” (210).
“The dynamism of faith is also clear because obedience flows from it” (211).
Regarding pistis Jesou Christou (faith in Jesus Christ).
Is the phrase to be understood as the faith of Jesus Christ or faith in Jesus Christ?
“The argument that the combination of pistis and a genitive of person always refers to the faith/faithfulness of the person is not verified by the text” (213).
The arguments supporting faith in Christ are compelling:
Paul often refers to the faith of believers.
He never refers to the faith of Christ.
He writes specifically of Christ as being the object of believers’ faith.
The flow of thought in Romans 3-4 and Galatians 2-3 supports the idea of faith in Christ.
