Introduction
Since the writings of Paul, the doctrine of justification has likely caused more controversy than all other doctrines combined. From Augustine’s influence upon Luther’s breakthrough interpretation of Roman 1:17 that led to the Protestant Reformation, to the twentieth century implications of E. P. Sanders’s covenantal nomism and the New Perspectives that followed, the doctrine of justification has taken center stage. Unfortunately, the doctrine has often taken a backseat in pastoral counseling, thus the question remains as to how the doctrine of justification impacts the practice of pastoral counseling. Without a clear understanding of the connection between the two topics, pastoral counseling risks removing the most powerful change agent known to man – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This paper will prove that the doctrine of justification is a foundational doctrine that underpins the efficacy of pastoral counseling. The research provides a biblical analysis of the doctrine of justification and an exploration of its relationship to a believer’s union with Christ and ongoing transformation followed by the theological implications for pastoral counseling.
Biblical Studies of the Doctrine of Justification
Righteousness
The Greek lemma for the verb justification is δικαιόω, which, according to William Arndt, Frederick Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich (BDAG) has a relatively limited semantic range and means to take up a legal case, render a favorable verdict, release from a claim, or to prove morally right.[1] The lemma for the related noun, righteousness, is δικαιοσύνη, which BDAG explains means the practice of judicial responsibility, quality or state of juridical correctness, or the quality of upright behavior.[2] Accordingly, Scripture often speaks of the verbal action of justifying (δικαιόω), which declares or makes an individual righteous (δικαιοσύνη). The judicial nature of the definition impels theologians to commonly refer to the forensic nature of the word. The focus of this paper is on the quality or state of righteousness, rather than on the behavioral definition.
A traditional view of justification is assumed, which aligns with John Piper, who asserts that God’s justification (1) imputes an external righteousness to believers (2) by faith (3) as a gift of grace.[3] First, regarding imputation, the Apostle Paul references Genesis 15:6 in his letter to the Romans stating, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3).[4] Piper explains that the Hebrew word for credited, וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ, in Genesis 15:6 means to credit, reckon, count, or impute.[5] Douglas Moo explains that God renders to Abraham a “righteousness that does not inherently belong to him.”[6] Paul then provides the connection to New Testament believers in Christ by stating, “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Rom 4:5). Moo explains that here Paul reapplies the original Old Testament declaration and views a new status given freely to believers in a divinely generated creative act.[7]
Next, regarding justification by faith, Paul states, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested…even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Rom 3:21-22). Moo asserts the reasonableness of the traditional objective genitive view of the phrase, through faith in Jesus Christ, which affirms that faith is the means of God’s justification, as opposed to the subjective genitive view, through the faith of Jesus Christ, which contends that the means of justification is the faithfulness of Christ. In the same chapter, Paul again reiterates the means of justification by stating, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law” (Rom 3:28). Paul’s assertion prompted Luther’s insistence that justification is by faith alone, sola fide.[8]
Finally, regarding justification as a gift of grace, Paul states, “For if by the transgression of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance grace and the gift of righteousness” (Rom 5:17). Although the means of justification is by faith, Paul now makes it clear that the righteousness imputed to believers is not due to a work of faith, but due to God’s gracious gift. Significantly, James Dunn suggests the grace Paul refers to highlights the relational nature of righteousness, not a righteousness received as an object apart from God, but instead, a gift retained through a relationship of grace.[9]
Union with Christ
An examination of the relationship between justification and a believer’s union with Christ is necessary to solidify an understanding of a believer’s identity. Tom Peters reinforces Dunn’s relational nature of righteousness by linking faith and justification by stating, “Faith justifies the sinner because [emphasis added] Jesus Christ becomes present in the soul of the believer.”[10] John Calvin adds further clarity by asserting that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit effectively unites believers to the presence of Jesus Christ in their souls.[11] If the imputation of righteousness occurs because of Christ’s presence, and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is the force that unites the believer with Christ’s presence, then, as Lane Tipton explains, a believer’s justification cannot be chronologically prior to a believer’s union with Christ.[12] Instead, justification is effectuated by the simultaneous union with Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Due to the forensic nature of the traditional view of justification, Moo explains that a tendency exists to contend that justification means to make righteous in an ethical sense, which is incoherent, or means to treat as righteous, as though a believer is not really righteous.[13] Instead, justification means to declare righteous as imputed righteousness is “no legal fiction,” but a “legal reality.”[14] Furthermore, William Evans explains that Calvin’s understanding of the “forensic benefits of salvation” through a believer’s union with Christ makes not only a legal statement, but also an ontological statement.[15] In other words, Paul’s understanding of justification goes beyond a declaration of a legal reality to an ontological reality due to the concurrent role of the indwelt Holy Spirit, who unites believers with Christ. To suggest that the ontological reality is an absorption into the divinity of God or that believers experience a form of Eastern Orthodox theosis misses the point. Instead, Oswald Bayer suggests the ontological reality of justification aligns with the doctrine of creation, whereby Paul asserts that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Cor 5:17).[16] A justified believer’s union with Christ is a new ontological being whereby the old self has been “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20) and a new life is “raised up with Christ” (Col 3:1). In sum, God’s creative activity of justification deploys the Spirit to unite believers to Christ forging a new ontological reality – a new identity in Christ. Accordingly, Bayer contends that “justifying faith is to be perceived according to its ontological significance.”[17]
Transformation
Finally, an exploration of the relationship between justification and transformation is necessary to understand the maturation process of a believer. Andrew Snider notes that the relationship between the “indicative” of declared righteousness and the “imperative” of behavioral righteousness is wrapped in the theological construct of progressive sanctification.[18] Regarding causation, sanctification is not the cause of justification, lest behavior becomes the basis for the declaration of righteousness, and neither is justification the cause of sanctification, lest the resultant righteous behavior caused by justification becomes the basis for salvation.[19] Nevertheless, a traditional view of the relationship between justification and sanctification supports an order of salvation, ordo salutis, supported by Paul’s words, “These whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom he called, he also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom 8:30). J. V. Fesko suggests that Paul’s language in Romans 8 supports the historic understanding that justification precedes sanctification.[20]
Fesko acknowledges that a connection between ordo salutis and a believer’s union with Christ is the unmistakable link between justification and sanctification.[21] Paul asserts, “It is God who is at work in you [emphasis added], both to will and to work His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). In other words, sanctification is powered by the Holy Spirit, who unites believers in Christ to effectuate justification, in a “cooperative work between God and the believer.”[22] Although cooperative in nature, Peter Toon highlights that because self-sanctification is a logical absurdity, the Spirit’s involvement is always prior to human effort.[23] Accordingly, Paul states that believers are progressively sanctified “by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:2), which results in the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5:22). In sum, the Spirit’s work of uniting believers with Christ creates not only a legal reality in God’s justifying act, but also forges a new ontological reality that results in the Spirit empowering progressive sanctification in cooperation with the believer.
Theological Implications of Justification for Pastoral Counseling
Righteousness
The doctrine of justification by faith has several profound implications for pastoral counseling. Larry Crabb contends that at the core of humanity is the need for personal worth or value that requires two inputs: significance and security.[24] The absence of personal worth expressed in a lack of significance or security is the basis for psychological disorders and maladaptive behavior. Crabb explains that the gift of Christ’s righteousness imputed to the believer undermines the incessant need for finding acceptability in one’s performance or other people’s opinions, which causes significant problems and pain.[25] Since acceptability is an already established fact, the need to find significance and security outside of Christ is eradicated. Accordingly, Crabb asserts, “The foundation of the entire Christian life is a proper understanding of justification.”[26]
Not only is the attempt to find security and significance in performance and other people ineffectual, finding personal worth in the self is also an effort in futility. With overtones of Luther’s Anfechtung, Robert Kolb and Charles Arand maintain that finding personal worth in oneself results in anxiety and self-accusations that lead to endless personal audits and comparison games that leave the individual exhausted and confused.[27] Alternatively, living based on Christ’s righteousness frees believers from judging the self, and instead, empowers them to live in the reality of Paul’s words, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Furthermore, if believers lack the core need of personal worth, all extended acts of love become suspect as possible techniques of reciprocity to fill unmet needs. Alternatively, Timothy George claims that “justification by faith alone frees me to love my neighbor disinterestedly, for his or her own sake…not as the calculated means to my own desired ends.”[28] Accordingly, both the counselee’s emotional and relational health depend on the doctrine of justification.
Union with Christ
Although the declaration of the righteousness creates a legal reality of acceptability, without the coexistent ontological reality of a believer’s union with Christ, the doctrine of justification may fade into the background of dry rationalism. Kevin Vanhoozer explains, “The human person is both irreducibly individual and constitutionally interrelated…I am a child in relation to my parents, a husband in relation to my wife…a creature in relation to God, and a disciple in relation to Christ.”[29] A believer’s union with Christ cements the ongoing relational aspect of personal identity. Brian Rosner asserts that a believer’s identity is wrapped up in being a child of God that images Christ, which occurs through the Spirit uniting believers with Christ.[30] Accordingly, Paul insists, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16) and nothing “will be able to separate us from the love God, which is in Christ Jesus [emphasis added] our Lord” (Rom. 8:31).
Christ-Centered Therapy
Understanding the ontological reality of being in Christ provides two important implications for pastoral counseling. First, Neil Anderson, Terry Zuehlke, and Julianne Zuehlke explain that secular recovery programs that reinforce sitting in a circle and repeating an identity of failure are ineffective. [31] For example, “Hello, my name is Bob and I am an alcoholic,” undermines the reality of a life in Christ because committing a sin is significantly different than being sin; the former is resolved by appropriating one’s identity, the latter is ultimately unresolvable in a secular context without Christ. Second, Anderson, Zuehlke, and Zuehlke also note that without the ontological reality of Christ’s relational union with believers, the best possible outcome afforded secular psychology is an effort in behavior modification to cope with sin.[32] Alternatively, when a believer’s identity exists “in Christ,” the relational needs are met in an infinite supply of the Father’s love that renders the sin, which attempts to meet the relational needs or cope with unmet relational needs, impotent and unnecessary.
Transformation
The Holy Spirit that unites believers with Christ also empowers progressive sanctification, but the process requires cooperation between the Spirit and the believer, which has significant implications for pastoral counseling. Paul provides insight into the cooperative effort by stating, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). Craig Keener notes that the language of “renewing” in Romans 12:2 “undoubtedly alludes to the ‘new’ life obtained by the union with the risen Christ and by the Spirit.”[33] The ontological union creates the environment where the Spirit empowers transformation through the willing participation of the believer, not in actively transforming the self, but by passively being transformed by God’s truth. Regarding pastoral counseling, the implication is clear. Crabb explains that the ultimate problem counselees face is a crisis of wrong beliefs, wrong beliefs about personal worth, significance, security, relational identity, and love the God to name a few.[34] Accordingly, when the believer’s beliefs align with the legal reality of Christ’s righteousness, the ontological reality of his or her union with Christ, and the truths of God’s Word, pastoral counseling provides an experience of transformation completely unavailable to any other form of counseling.
Conclusion
The doctrine of justification asserts that through a declarative act God imputes an external righteousness to believer as a gift of grace. Furthermore, justification has ontological significance as Christ’s presence is effectuated through a creative act whereby the Spirit unites the believer with Christ into a new creation. Finally, the legal and ontological realities of justification provide the environment for progressive sanctification in cooperation with the believer. The implications of the doctrine of justification for pastoral counseling are that counselees’ individual needs of significance and security are met, relational needs of identity are met, and transformation is available to the counselee through willing cooperation. Without question, the doctrine of justification is a foundational doctrine that underpins the efficacy of pastoral counseling.
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[1] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000), 249.
[2] Ibid., 247–48.
[3] John Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness? (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2002), 54.
[4] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New American Standard Bible (La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation, 1995).
[5] Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ, 54.
[6] Douglass J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1996), 262.
[7] Ibid., 264.
[8] Timothy George, Theology of the Reformers (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1988), 70–71.
[9] James D. G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 38a. (Dallas: Word, 1998), 281–82.
[10] Ted Peters, Sin Boldy! Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015), 317.
[11] John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 1:538.
[12] Lane G. Tipton, “Biblical Theology and the Westminster Standards Revisited: Union with Christ and Justification Sola Fide,” The Westminster Theological Journal 75, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 11–12.
[13] Moo, The Epistle, 227.
[14] Ibid.
[15] William B. Evans, “Three Current Reformed Models of Union with Christ,” Presbyterion 41, no. 1-2 (Fall 2015): 13.
[16] Oswald Bayer, “The Doctrine of Justification and Ontology,” Neue Zeitschrift Für Systematische Theologie Und Religionsphilosophie 43, no. 1 (2001): 44–45.
[17] Ibid., 46.
[18] Andrew V. Snider, “Sanctification and Justification: A Unity of Distinctions,” The Master’s Seminary Journal 21, no. 2 (Fall 2010): 171–72. Positional sanctification is God’s act of setting apart His people, which is comparable to justification; however, all references to sanctification for the remainder of the paper refer to progressive sanctification.
[19] Ibid., 173–75.
[20] J. V. Fesko, “Romans 8.29-30 and the Question of the Ordo Salutis,” Journal of Reformed Theology 8, no. 1 (2014): 44–45.
[21] Ibid., 38, 41, 44.
[22] Snider, “Sanctification and Justification,” 172.
[23]Peter Toon, Justification and Sanctification (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1983), 40.
[24] Larry Crabb, Effective Biblical Counseling: A Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselors (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 62–63.
[25] Ibid., 26.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 50.
[28] George, Theology of the Reformers, 73.
[29] Kevin Vanhoozer, “Human Being, Individual, and Social,” in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine, ed. Colin E. Gunton (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1997), 180.
[30] Brian S. Rosner, Known by God: A Biblical Theology of Personal Identity, ed. Jonathan Lunde (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 84.
[31] Neil T. Anderson, Terry E. Zuehlke, and Julianne Zuehlke, Christ Centered Therapy: The Practical Integration of Theology and Psychology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 92.
[32] Ibid., 93.
[33] Craig S. Keener, The Mind of the Spirit: Paul’s Approach to Transformed Thinking (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016), 154.
[34] Crabb, Effective Biblical Counseling, 64.
Bibliography
- Anderson, Neil T., Terry E. Zuehlke, and Julianne Zuehlke. Christ Centered Therapy: The Practical Integration of Theology and Psychology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
- Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000.
- Bayer, Oswald. “The Doctrine of Justification and Ontology.” Neue Zeitschrift Für Systematische Theologie Und Religionsphilosophie 43, no. 1 (2001): 44–53.
- Calvin, John. Institutes of Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Vol. 1. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.
- Crabb, Larry. Effective Biblical Counseling: A Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselors. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
- Dunn, James D. G. Romans 1-8. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 38A. Dallas: Word, 1998.
- Evans, William B. “Three Current Reformed Models of Union with Christ.” Presbyterion 41, no. 1-2 (Fall 2015): 12–30.
- Fesko, J. V. “Romans 8.29-30 and the Question of the Ordo Salutis.” Journal of Reformed Theology 8, no. 1 (2014): 35–60.
- George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1988.
- Keener, Craig S. The Mind of the Spirit: Paul’s Approach to Transformed Thinking. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016.
- Kolb, Robert, and Charles P. Arand. The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.
- Luther, Martin. The Freedom of a Christian. Edited by Mark D. Tranvik. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008.
- Moo, Douglass J. The Epistle to the Romans. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1996.
- Peters, Ted. Sin Boldy! Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015.
- Piper, John. Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness? Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2002.
- Rosner, Brian S. Known by God: A Biblical Theology of Personal Identity. Edited by Jonathan Lunde. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017.
- Snider, Andrew V. “Sanctification and Justification: A Unity of Distinctions.” The Master’s Seminary Journal 21, no. 2 (Fall 2010): 159–78.
- Tipton, Lane G. “Biblical Theology and the Westminster Standards Revisited: Union with Christ and Justification Sola Fide.” The Westminster Theological Journal 75, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 1–12.
- Toon, Peter. Justification and Sanctification. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1983.
- Vanhoozer, Kevin. “Human Being, Individual, and Social.” In The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine, edited by Colin E. Gunton, 158–88. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1997.
