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It has often been pointed out that sola scriptura doesn't mean nuda scriptura (bare scripture).Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 18
The Last Supper is meant to picture not only the fulfillment of past promises of God and the present impending death of Jesus, but just as much the assured future of an even greater meal in the coming kingdom of God.
those who claim that justification is peripheral in Paul's thought overstate their case. The term appears in nonpolemical contexts and in confessional-type statements, signifying its importance.137, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
N.T. Wright avers that justification has ecclesiological implications and is not equivalent to salvation, and this is certainly true. Still, justification is fundamentally a matter of soteriology and by implication ecclesiology.Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 136
Before the Council of Trent (1545-1563) took place, in the early 1540s some prominent Roman Catholics and Protestants attempted to find a rapprochement on justification and other doctrines in a number of colloquies, the most significant being the Regensburg colloquy (1541). Surprisingly, there was substantial agreement in Article 5 on justification.64, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
Protestants who ignore or despise the contributions of the earliest era of the church show their folly and arrogance, for we stand in debt to the church throughout the ages.21, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
The verdict of the final judgement is declared in advance for those who belong to Jesus Christ, and on the day of judgement that verdict will be proclaimed to the world. What is remarkable is that believers enjoy now the end-time verdict. Believers have assurance of salvation by faith alone because the verdict of the final day is already theirs!Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 152
Historically, Roman Catholics have defended the notion that the righteousness that saves us on the day of judgement is infused, while Protestants have maintained that the righteousness that delivers us from God's wrath is imputed.26, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
In the OT, the plural form of the word righteousness (sidqot) designates God's saving righteousness, his deliverance of his people. The singular noun (sedaqa) is often used with parallel terms like "faithful love," "truth," and "salvation." Still, God's righteousness shouldn't be collapsed into these other terms, as if they all mean exactly the same thing. There is still the notion of "rightness" and "righteousness" in the term, even when it describes God's saving righteousness.Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 152
Why is this debate over faith in Jesus Christ important?... because it reveals the emphasis in Paul's thinking. In other words, if these texts say that one must believe in Jesus Christ for righteousness, such a theme is incredibly pervasive and forceful in Paul's letters. He reminds his readers again and again that they must put their faith in Jesus Christ to stand in the right before God, to be saved on the last day.131-132, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
Works don't justify, not because they are legalistic, but because of human sin and disobedience. Salvation has to be by grace because human works fall short of the standard God requires. When we say salvation is by faith alone, we are saying that salvation is entirely God's work.110-111, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
[Gal 3:10] Works of law, then, are defined as everything written in the law, and the curse is unleashed on those who fail to keep everything commanded. The fundamental reason for the curse, then, is not the imposition of the law on the Gentiles (through that is clearly wrong), but disobedience -the failure to keep what the law says.103, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
Rom 3:20. Justification doesn't come by works of law, since the knowledge of sin is disclosed through the law. Paul does not say that the law fails to justify because the Jews excluded the Gentiles. Instead, the law uncovered their sin, demonstrating that they failed to keep what God enjoined.101, Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
Despite these strengths in the New Perspective view, their understanding of works of law isn't persuasive. The term doesn't limit its focus on the boundary markers but instead refers to the entire law. In other words, Paul's fundamental criticism wasn't that the badges of the law were imposed on the Gentiles, as if they were compelled to become Jews. Instead "works of the law" refers to the entire law, which includes, of course, the boundary markers.Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 100
Canon IX contains these thunderous words, "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema." On the one hand, these words reflect a misunderstanding of the Protestant view, as if the latter claimed that good words were unnecessary. On the other hand, the language of preparation reflects the theology of Gabriel Biel and a view of grace that differs sharply from the Reformers, who taught there is nothing we can do to prepare ourselves to receive God's grace.Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 65
we cannot expect the earliest Christians to have the same clarity on the issue of sola fide as the Reformers. The emphasis we find among them on topics like good works and merit lacks the clarity of the later discussions, but a sympathetic reading doesn't posit a contradiction between them and the Reformers. True faith results in good works, and the term "merit" in the early fathers may designate the reward given instead of being interpreted to say that one earns salvation.Sola Fide, 23
Justification by faith alone isn't the product of rigid and brittle orthodoxy. It speaks to the minds and hearts of people all throughout history because it tackles one of the fundamental questions of our human condition: How can a person be right with God?Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 15
sola fide! These words declared that salvation does not come from looking at our own works of righteousness, but from looking outside ourselves to another, to the person and work of Jesus Christ.Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner Copyright ©2015 by Schreiner. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com, 15
Justification is by faith alone, but it isn't a faith that is alone, for true faith produces good works. Still, good works are not the ground or cause of salvation; they are the fruit of one's faith. The perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers, so that their righteousness is not inherent but is theirs because they are united to Jesus Christ. At the final judgment God will declare publicly what was already the case in the lives of believers, i.e., that they are righteous by faith, and their works will verify (but will not be the foundation of) that declaration.
What we typically call the moral norms of the law are fulfilled, at least in some measure, in the lives of believers. Nevertheless, they are not normative merely because they appear in the Mosaic covenant, for that covenant has passed away. It seems that they are normative because they express the character of God. We know that they still express God's will for believers because they are repeated as moral norms in the New Testament. It is not surprising that in the welter of the laws we find in the Old Testament (613 according to the rabbis) that some of those laws express transcendent moral principles. Still, the mistake we make is trying to carve up neatly the law into moral and nonmoral categories. Many of the so-called "ceremonial" laws have a moral dimension that cannot be jettisoned. They are not applicable to believers today because we live in a completely different cultural situation.
The distinction between the moral, ceremonial, and civil law is appealing and attractive. Even though it has some elements of truth, it does not sufficiently capture Paul's stance toward the law. As stated earlier, Paul argues that the entirety of the law has been set aside now that Christ has come.
The law drives people to the promise, so that they are righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.Galatians Commentary, 245
Sometimes I wonder if egalitarians hope to triumph in the debate on the role of women by publishing book after book on the subject. Each work propounds a new thesis which explains why the traditional interpretation is flawed. Complementarians could easily give in from sheer exhaustion, thinking that so many books written by such a diversity of different authors could scarcely be wrong. Further, it is difficult to keep writing books promoting the complementarian view. Our view of the biblical text has not changed dramatically in the last twenty five years. Should we continue to write books that essentially promote traditional interpretations? Is the goal of publishing to write what is true or what is new? One of the dangers of evangelical publishing is the desire to say something novel. Our evangelical publishing houses could end up like those in Athens so long ago: 'Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new'(Acts 17:21, NASB).http://www.cbmw.org/Resources/Book-Reviews/Slaves-Women-and-Homosexuals-by-William-J-Webb-Review-by-Thomas-R-Schreiner
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