INCORPORATED RIGHTEOUSNESS: A RESPONSE TO RECENT EVANGELICAL DISCUSSION CONCERNING THE IMPUTATION OF CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IN JUSTIFICATION

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Jun 2004 by Bird, Michael F

Notably, the direct object of the verb [lambda][omicron][gamma][iota][zeta][omicron][mu][alpha][iota] varies. (1) In verses 3, 5, 9, faith is reckoned as righteousness (implicitly for vv. 10, 22, 23). (2) In verse 4 wages are not credited. (3) For verses 6, 11 (and implied in v. 24) righteousness is credited, while (4) in verse 8 there is the non-crediting of sin. A uniform translation of "imputed" as applied by Piper does not fit the verses where faith is the subject, since it is odd to think of faith being imputed. As Garlington observes, "If righteousness is imputed by faith, then how can faith itself be imputed? It would seem that Piper has arrived at a double imputation, that of righteousness and of faith." By the same token, Garlington's insistence on the translation "consider as being" does not hold in verse 4 since the commercial accounting metaphor dictates a sense of "credit" (cf. Phlm 18).67

This raises two further questions. First, in what sense can faith be reckoned as righteousness? Piper is adamant that it simply is not. Gundry and Garlington think that righteousness consists of faith. Garlington further unpacks that as meaning that righteousness is, analytically, "conformity to the covenant relationship; it consists of a faithful obedience to the Lord whose will is enshrined in the covenant." Faithfulness begins with faith which leads to righteousness (cf. Rom 10:10).68 Granted that [pi][iota][sigma][tau][iota][final sigma] can denote both faith and faithfulness, yet the idea of righteousness as covenant faithfulness is problematic. If faith is reckoned as righteousness (and righteousness = faithfulness to the covenant), it means that faith is reckoned as faithfulness. But that amounts to a tautology. Furthermore, the issue at hand is, what forms the grounds of Abraham's righteousness before God? In contemporary Jewish interpretation it was Abraham's faithfulness and obedience that constituted his righteousness (combining Gen 15:6 with 17:4-14 and 22:1-19). For Paul, the contrast is not between faith (trust) and faithfulness (fidelity), but faith (trust) and works (Mosaic legislation).

Christ's righteousness is simply not mentioned, so what is the origin of this credited righteousness? Paul provides the answer in 4:25.73 There Paul employs a traditional Christological formula that states the grounds of justification: Christ's death and resurrection. The parallelism between the two prepositional [delta][iota][alpha]-clauses should not be dogmatically retained so as to effect a translation of "he was handed over because of ([delta][iota][alpha]) our sins and raised because of ([delta][iota][alpha]) our justification" (e.g. NASB).74 Granted that the resurrection vindicates Christ's sin-bearing death (cf. Acts 2:24, 32-33; 3:15; 5:30; Rom 1:3-4; Phil 2:5-11), but it seems strange to think of justification as causing Christ's resurrection. Rather, the second [delta][iota][alpha]-clause should be understood as being prospective, i.e. "he was raised for (the purpose of) our justification." What stands behind this passage is Isa 53:11. There, the Servant of the Lord suffers and is justified in the heavenly courtroom upon seeing "the light of life."75 The result of the Servant's own resurrection-justification is that he will "justify many." Hence, justification is primarily a function of Christ's resurrection.76 Without driving a wedge between Christ's death and resurrection, the rhetoric of the verse suggests that Christ's resurrection does something which his death does not. The death of Christ constitutes the divine verdict against sin, whereas the resurrection transforms that verdict into vindication.77 While Christ's resurrection is the "first-fruits" of the general resurrection (cf. Rom 1:3-4; 1 Cor 15:20-22; Col 1:18), similarly his justification through resurrection comprises the initial execution of the justifying verdict. Through faith, believers are incorporated or identified with the risen and justified Messiah, and they are justified by virtue of their participation in him (cf. Col 2:12; 1 Cor 15:17). Along this line Morna D. Hooker comments,