Wired4Truth

Declared Righteous: Rome vs. the Reformation

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:51:15 +0000

Doug: I read this article at Monergism.com (the greatest single Website in the Reformed world, in my opinion) and figured it should be shared with my friends who visit the blog. The original article can be found here

Declared Righteous: Rome vs. the Reformation

by R.C. Sproul, with comments

We recently posted (in a forum) a short excerpt from R.C. Sproul’s excellent new commentary on Romans (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) regarding the difference between the Reformation and the RCC view of justification. I had forgotten how much I liked R.C. Sproul and after reading through this commentary I remembered how good his communication skills are. After posting his excerpt (which follows) a person considering Roman Catholicism responded, which I also followed up with a response. Hope you find this helpful.

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R.C. Sproul quote:

Rome set forth their doctrine — and still does — that God will never declare a person just until that person actually, under divine scrutiny, is found to be just…when God looks at us, he will not say that we are just until he sees that we really are just.Rome teaches that we cannot be just without grace, that we will never become just without faith, and that we will never become just without the assistance of Christ. We need faith, we need grace, and we need Jesus. We need the righteousness of Christ infused or poured into our soul, but you must cooperate with that grace to such a degree that we will in fact become righteous. If we die with any impurity in our soul, thereby lacking complete righteousness, we will not go to heaven. If no mortal sin is present in our life, we will go to purgatory, which is the place of purging. The point of the purging is to get rid of the dross so that we become completely pure. It may take three years or three million years, but the object of purgatory is to make us righteous so that we can be admitted into God’s heaven.

Part of the reason for this belief, that justification is rooted in an inherent righteousness in the sinner, comes from something unfortunate in church history. In the early centuries, when the Greek language passed away from the central attention of the church fathers and Latin became the dominant language, many scholars read only the Latin Bible, not the Greek bible, and they borrowed the Roman or Latin word for justification, iustificare, from which we get the English work justification. The Latin verb ficare means “to make” or “to shape” or “to do.” Isutus means “righteousness” or “justice,” so iustificare literally means “to make righteous,” which we believe is what happens in sanctification, not in justification.

The Greek word that we are dealing with here in the Romans text is the word dikaioo, dikaiosune, which does not mean “to make righteous” but rather “to declare righteous.” In the Roman Catholic view, God will never pronounce a person just or righteous until, by the help of God’s grace and Christ, that person actually becomes righteous. [But] If God were to judge us tonight, what would he find? Would he find sin in our lives? Could he possibly declare us just if he considers only the righteousness that he finds in us today? Remember what the Apostle Paul said: “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (3:20). That is precisely why the ground for our justification cannot be found in us or in any righteousness inherent in our souls. That is why we need so desperately what Luther called a iustia alienum, an alien righteousness, a righteousness that comes from outside ourselves. Luther called this righteousness extranos, outside or apart from us.

In simple terms, this means that the only righteousness sufficient for us to stand before the judgment of God is the righteousness of Christ.

Excerpt from Romans (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) by R.C. Sproul

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Response from visitor considering Roman Cathoicism:

I love R.C Sproul, even though I am now going Catholic. I love how he always gives the proper Catholic teaching. The sad part about it though, is that he is discounting the Catholic form of justification for a legal argument made my Luther and Calvin, and he is presupposing that when Paul says “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” that Paul is talking about the moral natural law of God, and not the Jewish ceremonial laws that he is combating in the early Church.

Sungenis a former Westminster graduate who is now a Catholic, wrote a very detailed book on “Not by faith alone” and he has tried to get Sproul to have a genuine and honest open conversation about it, and Sproul does not want to do it. I am not saying it is because Sproul isn’t right, but I believe that for someone like me, who is leaning Catholic, it would be very helpful to hear one of my heroes R.C Sproul address this book that is pretty in depth.

—————-

My Response:

_____, if you don’t mind I would like to comment on something you posted: You said, “…he [Sproul] is presupposing that when Paul says “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” that Paul is talking about the moral natural law of God, and not the Jewish ceremonial laws that he is combating in the early Church.”

If we look at the context of the whole epistle as to how Paul is using the term Law, it becomes immediately apparent that his warning not to circumcise also encompasses a much broader warning not to trust in anything other than Christ alone, whether it be circumcision or anything else. The specific context of Romans 1-3 (out of which you quote), however, focuses in on a list of humanity’s sins which constitute the breaking of the moral law of God, and Paul finishes his argument that all men are under sin by saying, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” SO the law does not show our moral ability but our moral inability. And Christ came to set us free from such bondage (Gal 4: 1-7; 21-31). to ceremonial laws like circumcision precisely because practicing it would then require us to obey the entire moral law perfectly. Consider what Paul says about this in Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” Gal 5:1,2

Notice, Paul tells the Galatians that if they trust in circumsicion, they will also have to obey the whole law (which includes the moral law) perfectly, if the want to save themselves. Likewise Later in Gal 6 he says, “even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

So Paul makes it plain here that those who keep the ceremonial law cannot keep the whole law so it is useless. So we cannot make obedience to the law into a Savior. His only boast is Christ alone. They were also boasting in their converts. Rememeber Paul attached an anathema at the beginning of the epistle to those who reject this understanding, so I would encourage you to consider VERY seriously your next step. I pray the Lord bless you and open your heart and eyes to the true Gospel.

It is true that many Protestants may misrepresent RCC by saying that they believe in a salvation apart from grace. We understand that both Roman Catholics (and Arminians for that matter) would denounce any belief which says you can be saved without the grace of God. However, it is important to note that the Reformers never claimed Rome believed you can be saved apart from grace. That wasn’t the debate. The debate at the time of the Reformation was never, even for a moment, about the NECESSITY of grace, it was always about the sufficiency of grace. And frankly that remains the issue today – and is the central debate in the church. Is Christ sufficient to save us to the uttermost? Is Christ’s work enough? In RCC theology, if you either have to attain or maintain your own just standing before God, then what Christ did for us (in his life and death) was not sufficient in itself to redeem us…it was not enough. It may have been necessary, but it was not sufficient. Christ, in this case, is no longer a Savior, but simply one who helps us save ourselves. Such is the position RCC has placed themselves in.

———–

Response from visitor considering Roman Cathoicism:

I agree. This is clearly where the debate should be. I am tired of talking to people who claim that grace is not taught in the RCC, so thanks for honestly defining the RCC.

I am NOT a Piperian!!!! This post was originally written at 2.30 in the morning....

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A Teenager’s Struggle with Depression

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:52:46 +0000

I think in many respects, I owe all my friends an apology for compulsively lying to them all the time. Every time one of them asks, “How are you doing?”, “Are you OK?” or something similar, I respond, “I’m doing OK.” Same with the folks at church, on campus, my family, especially my mum who calls everyday to see how I’m coping. They ask, I give my form answer.

Late last year, I was diagnosed with full-scale depression. I’d had a minor depressive disorder before that, but recently it’s been a complete struggle to cope. I’m in my first year at university and to be really honest, I don’t feel I fit in. I get up in the morning, go to lectures, hit the library, go to campus fellowships, even have “friends” here, but for all that, I don’t feel like I belong. And that’s the case anywhere – home, church, family. I’m pretty much an outlier (maths folks will know what that is)

In the past couple of months, I’ve found myself asking the question, “What is wrong with me?” Why, at age 19, am I crippled by shyness and feelings of inferiority? Why do I detach myself from folks who mean well? Why do I prefer my own company to being with friends? Why do I have friends in the first place?

Sometimes I feel like such a fraud, hiding behind books and theology and not being honest with who I truly am. I feel like I look in the mirror in the morning and don’t see the same person everyone else does – to be honest, I’m having a crisis of identity and I know the theologically correct answer, but it’s far from a reality.

The only comfort I take from any of this is that God is indeed at work. He is the Potter who sits at the wheel and fashion something out of nothing. Maybe this is just a season I have to work through. Maybe this is like a test – if it is, then it would seem like I’m failing…

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Justin Peters is coming to London!!!

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:55:23 +0000

Evangelist Justin Peters

My friend Obed Brefo, blogger over at The Brefos, sent me an email yesterday, letting me know that Justin Peters, expert on the Word-Faith Movement and staff evangelist at First Baptist Church, Vicksburg, Mississippi, will be visiting the UK.

The dates are as follows:

DATE: Sunday 7th February 2010
TIME: 10:30am
VENUE: Hope Community Church, Ellenborough Rd, Wood Green, London, N22 5PS

DATE: Tuesday 9th February 2010
TIME: 19:00
VENUE: Lincoln Road Chapel, Lincoln Road, Enfield, EN3 4AH

If you’re in the London area, please try and attend what looks set to be an amazing seminar.

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The New Tyndale.com!

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:16:14 +0000

Tyndale's 30 Day Launch Celebration

My friends at Tyndale House Publishers launch their all-new website at Tyndale.com on February 1st. [UPDATE: They already have. Giveaway still starts on Feb 1st]

To celebrate the launch, they are having a little giveaway. Each day, they’ll be giving away four books in the following categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Bibles and Kids.

Tyndale House Publishers, the house behind the New Living Translation, have been great friends of mine [they've hooked me up with review materials, some of which will drop on the blog soon] and I am thankful to the hilt for their new website. So, come February 1st, hit the site and enjoy!

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“32 Hours: The Church in Haiti” – A Presentation You Need to See

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:53:06 +0000

Please stop whatever you are doing and watch this presentation from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. I’m not a Mark Driscoll by any stretch, but this is must-see and must-act viewing:

Please, if you can, help the Baptist Haiti Mission and Churches Helping Churches.

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A Gift for All My London Readers!!!

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:53:41 +0000

I was going to write a full paragraph, explaining how awesome this place is, but it’s 4.25am, so I’ll cut to the chase.

Some of you may already know this, but there’s a secondhand Christian bookshop in Sydenham, down in the nether regions of South London (OK, maybe not nether regions – but I’m not a fan of South London LOL…even though my home church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, is resident there LOL) run by a wonderful organisation called Book-Aid (whose work you can read about here). My good friend Nicole shared the existence of this place with me and I’m definitely glad she did (let’s just say I got me some goods which I’m enjoying already).

You can find Book-Aid Sydenham at:

Book Aid
Bromley House
Kangley Bridge Road
Sydenham
London SE26 5AQ

They only open on Thursdays from 9:00am to 5:00pm, though appointments can be made to visit via their telephone number 0208 778 2247 or their e-mail at office@book-aid.org.

For a little more incentive (as if you need more LOL), they have an epic Banner of Truth collection. Case closed for me! (got me 9 different Banner titles at a throwaway price, including The Grace of God in the Gospel, featuring N.T. Wright along with two other authors extolling the virtues of Reformed theology. Oh, the irony)

These folks are doing a great job and it’s cool to let folks now about it, so if you have a few pounds to shed (money, not weight), head on down. Who knows? Might bump into me there

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Book Giveaway

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:11:28 +0000

Nathan W. Bingham’s Microblog is having a little giveaway, featuring three books by host of the White Horse Inn. Related posts:FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY! To celebrate the launch of his new blog Devotional Christian,... BibleWorks 8 Giveaway In celebration of one year of blogging, Nathan W. Bingham... Giveaway!!!! It’s 1.13am – I’m about to go to bed, but... Related posts [...] Related posts:

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Inane Theological Comment of 2009

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:31:33 +0000

A little backstory to this one. In August 2008, I started a blog called The Silly Sheeple Chronicles, along with a buddy of mine. I put out an article regarding a faith healer and “Bible teacher” very popular in African Pentecostal circles by the name of Chris Oyakhilome, who at the time was visiting my city, London. Clearly his fans were unimpressed with my calling him out and this blog post was written in direct response to me. Here is one of the comments just to demonstrate the unbiblical nature of the many people following this man. The commenter will remain nameless – I’d like to think he’d be embarrassed by this. Reformed theologians, look away now:

ADAM PERSECUTED GOD . in what way? AFTER GOD HAS CREATED HIM AND HE GAVE HIM A HELPER AND WARNED HIM NOT TO EAT CERTAIN FRUIT HE LATER COLLECTED FROM HIS HELPER AND HE ATE AND WHEN GOD CAME BACK AND CALLED HIM ADAM ADAM WHERE ARE YOU HE FAILED TO SAY MY FATHER IAM VERY SORRY.HE PERSECUTED GOD EVENTUALLY HE WAS JUDGED BY GOD .

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My Christmas Presents This Year (Well, in January…)

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:31:01 +0000

Books, books...oh and more books!

So, Christmas is over, and I am £400 better off than I was in December 24th. (Can somebody turn to their neighbour and shout, “Win!”). Taking out £100 for food and travel until my next Student Loan payment (and yes, I can make that money stretch more than Elastigirl from the Incredibles), I have £300 so I’ve decided to treat myself to a few gifts. After all, I was told by the giver of the aforementioned money to “enjoy myself for once” so here goes… (click the pictures for links to Tabernacle Bookshop where I’ll be getting them from):

Calvin's Commentaries, complete with free Institutes

Calvin’s Commentaries + free Institutes, John Calvin, Baker Books (£90.00): Well, does this really need any explanation? The celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin may be pretty much over, but that’s not stopping me from purchasing the commemorative edition of his commentaries, comparing with an edition of the Institutes. Each volume has a special logo commemorating the 500th anniversary.

2000 Years of Christ's Power, Vol. 1

2000 Years of Christ’s Power, 3 vols, Dr. Nick R. Needham, Grace Publications (£39.50): Been eyeing this overview of church history by Dr. Needham, professor of church history at Highland Theological College, Dingwall, Scotland and pastor at Inverness Reformed Baptist Church. Vol 1 covers the Patristics (early church fathers), Vol. 2 covers the Middle Ages and Vol. 3 looks at the Renaissance and Reformation.

(and lastly…)

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, 4 vols, J.C. Ryle, Baker (£20.00): Wrestled as to whether I should get either the separate paperback or this set, but the price margin made it a good deal. I’ve had the opportunity to read his famed work on Holiness, as well as his work on the Inspiration of Scripture and I look forward to owning a nice set of his expositions on the Gospels.

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by J.C. Ryle

There are also four books which I need to get for seminary since I am behind on the books by two months (yikes…), but these books right here will serve my Christmas present to myself this year.

Oh, and I didn’t cover the CD sets of my pastor’s sermons I plan on buying Meeeeeeeeeeeery Christmas, Doug!

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Musical Note for Boxing Day…

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:12:18 +0000

This just in from the folks at Reach Records:

Entermission the debut album from DJ Official available in stores now!.

After producing for over 10 years and serving as traveling deejay, Official finally has the opportunity to reveal the dynamic of his skill-set on one project. The album is purposed to influence Christians to think about the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) and the Great Commandment (Luke 10:27) on a local level. As Christians we have a personal mission field, which consist of those that God has placed in our sphere of influence. With a missional mindset we can affect the people around us with the Gospel message by the way we live and conduct ourselves in our everyday walk. This is a message that needs to be heard and with everything from Reggae, Downsouth, East Coast, Commercial, Underground, Electro, and Rock/Hipster featured on the album there is something for everyone!

EnterMission features over 20 artists such as Lecrae, Flame, Sho Baraka, JR, Tedashii, Trip Lee, R-Swift, Thi’sl, Jahaziel, and more! Every single track on EnterMission is produced by DJ Official.

To order the album, go here

You can listen to the singles, read about the album, and create your own version of the album cover here

There are three versions to choose from:

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