A Few Vital Theological Terms and Truths Drawn from God's Word

Last Sunday we read and studied Romans 3:21-26 where the Lord told us through the Apostle Paul:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;  26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Rom. 3:21-26)

As we noted Sunday many have noted how critical the above passage is. The German Reformer Martin Luther commented in his view these verses are some of the most important words in the entire book of Romans and indeed the entire Bible. New Testament scholar Douglas Moo noted we could spend years in these verses as they are loaded with theological truth vital to salvation. The point: these verses are vital for us to understand and receive and love and proclaim. They summarize the heart of the gospel and without them there is no gospel. 

James Buchanan who wrote an excellent and edifying book on justification  wisely and rightly noted when it comes to studying justification that a certain posture of the heart is necessary for every person as he or she approaches God's Word:

“The best preparation for the study of this doctrine [justification] is—neither great intellectual ability, nor much scholastic learning—but a conscience impressed with a sense of our actual condition as sinners in the sight of God. A deep conviction of sin is the one thing needful in such an inquiry,—a conviction of the fact of sin, as an awful reality in our own personal experience,—of the power of sin, as an inveterate evil cleaving to us continually, and having its roots deep in the innermost recesses of our hearts, —and of that awful guilt of sin, past as well as present, as an offence against God, which, one committed can never cease to be true of us individually, and which however He may be pleased to deal with it, has deserved His wrath and righteous condemnation.”

Indeed! Let us approach God's Word with a humble heart and acknowledgement of our unworthiness and His everlasting worthiness (Isaiah 66:1-2). Tragically in our day there are some who distort God's precious truth. Cult groups and others use "our vocabulary but not our dictionary" (as Warren Wiersbe once quipped). In other words they do not derive what they mean from Scripture but from a combination of tradition and Scripture. It is often subtle and always dangerous. So we care about precision and we care about defining our terms and believing what is right and true and good. Theological knowledge cannot save you only Christ can and trust in God's grace in His person and work. However, sound theology can spare you of heartache and will promote unity under the Lordship of Christ according to God's Word. Unity without the truth is false unity as J.C. Ryle put it. It will never last and will crumble quickly.

In light of this, below are some vital theological terms found in the Romans passage in God's Word above. They are summarized helpfully by Dr. Gregg Allison in his very helpful little book the Baker Compact Dictionary of Theological Terms. Let us learn these and understand these and of course be willing to test even these definitions (helpful and correct at many points though they may be) against God's written, revealed Word (Proverbs 18:17;Acts 17:11):

IMPUTATION: In regard to the doctrine of salvation, the divine work of crediting the righteousness of Christ to people who believe in him. God’s work of imputing righteousness is exemplified by Abraham, who, before engaging in good works and apart from the law, believed God’s promise by faith, and God counted him righteous. The object of faith of fallen people today is Jesus Christ, whose perfect obedience to the law, culminating in his death and rewarded with his resurrection, is imputed to them as righteousness as they trust him. Imputation stands opposed to infusion of grace, emphasized in [Roman] Catholic theology.

JUSTIFICATION: A mighty act of God by which he declares sinful people not guilty but righteous instead. He does so by imputing, or crediting, the perfect righteousness of Christ to them. Thus, while they are not actually righteous, God views them as being so because of Christ’s righteousness. The first aspect is the forgiveness of sins, resulting from Christ’s substitutionary death (Rom. 3:25; 5:9). The second aspect is imputation, resulting from Christ’s obedience that makes people righteous (5:18–19). This Protestant view contrasts with the [Roman] Catholic view that justification is not only forgiveness of sins but also regeneration and sanctification.

PENAL SUBSTITUTION ATONEMENT: A model of the atonement, or what Christ’s death accomplished. Major tenets: (1) The atonement is grounded in the holiness of God, who, being perfectly holy, hates and punishes sin. (2) A penalty for sin must be paid. (3) People cannot pay the penalty for their sins and live; rather, the penalty is death. (4) Only God can pay the penalty for sin so humans can live, but he must partake of human nature to pay for human beings. (5) By his death, the God-man, Jesus Christ, atones for human sin. (6) The atonement had to be accomplished in this way.

PROPITIATION: One aspect of the atonement, that Christ’s death appeased the wrath of God against sinful people. The Old Testament background is the blood of sacrifices that was sprinkled on the mercy seat, thereby assuaging God’s wrath and ensuring mercy instead (Lev. 16:11–17). At the heart of propitiation is retributive justice: because God is just, he must punish sin fully. He may exact such deserved punishment from sinful people. Alternatively, he may mercifully mete out that punishment by pouring out his wrath on Christ as “the propitiation . . . for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

REDEMPTION: With respect to the doctrine of salvation, one aspect of the atonement of Christ. Redemption is set against the backdrop of enslavement: human beings are captive to the slavery of sin. The need is for someone to pay a ransom and set slaves free from such bondage. Christ gave “his life as a ransom” for sinners (Mark 10:45); thus, “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7; cf. 1 Pet. 1:18–19). Redemption, which begins in this life, ultimately includes the resurrection of the body (Rom. 8:23). See also atonement; forgiveness; ransom to Satan theory; sin.

RIGHTEOUSNESS: As an attribute of God, his uprightness of person, ways, standards, and judgments. God himself is perfectly righteous, as are his ways in creation, providence, salvation, and consummation (Deut. 32:4). As righteous himself, God establishes moral standards that reflect his nature, and he requires conformity to those standards. His judgments of his creatures are righteous: he always and justly rewards obedience to his standards, and he always and justly punishes disobedience to them. Because God is righteous, his people should be fair and impartial in their judgments, and they should champion what is right and abhor what is wrong.

Praise God for His grace and mercy and His power and provision for sinners like us. Read the above and note that you are not the one working God is....God has accomplished salvation to His glory. And He alone gets the glory for He alone is worthy and powerful enough to do what truth and justice demanded. He did not compromise truth or righteousness but held it in tact perfectly and provided a salvation we did not deserve in His Son and convicted and guided us by His Spirit to believe upon Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Every truth you believe that is in line with Scripture/sound theology ought to lead you to praise God. There is no place for smug arrogance and pride as if you are better or wiser than someone else. All is grace. Let us under God's grace be people who know and love and walk in light of sound biblical theology all our days.  Soli Deo Gloria.