 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Luther writes (Commentary on Gal 2:20), "Christ and I must be joined together so that He lives in me and I in Him - and what a wonderful way of speaking that is. For because He lives in me, whatever there is in me of grace, righteousness, life, peace, salvation is all His but in such a way that it is mine through this inseparable union and conjunction which I have with Him through faith. Through this faith Christ and I are made one body, as it were, and spirit. Now because Christ lives in me there must be present with Him grace, righteousness, life, and salvation whereas the Law, sin, and death are absent: in fact, the Law is crucified and devoured and destroyed along with sin, death, and the devil. Thus, Paul tries to draw us wholly away from ourselves and transplant us into Christ by faith in Him."
Seems that Luther is grounding justification in union with Christ, no? "BECAUSE Christ lives in me there must be present with Him . . . righteousness."
No, says Preus. Imputation is not a "metaphor" or "figure" but a description of what actually takes place in justification. This "blessed exchange" can, however, be set in a "metaphorical pattern of thought" such as "marriage, union with Christ, crucifixion of Law, sin, and death, etc.)." "It is not possible to understand Luther as grounding the blessed exchange in the fact of the believer's union with Christ. To do so would deny that the justitia aliena is imputed and would put the two motifs [of imputation and union] in opposition to each other. Furthermore, union with Christ is the result of justification, not the other way around."
Curious, that.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, December 09, 2004 at 07:26 PM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
