A Brief Look at John Calvin on Imputation - by Thomas R. Schreiner

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is supposed to be a Bible teaching to explain a doctrine. However, the author doesn't quote a single word of Scripture. He is able to quote Calvin, but Calvin also does not quote Scripture. He does cite two Scripture references, but neither of them have anything to do with imputation.

As such, this is nothing more than a long series of undocumented opinions. And this from a professor at a seminary? We must deem it Bad Bible Teaching.

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Thomas R. Schreiner is a Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Th??e Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Pastor of Preaching at Clifton Baptist Church. You can find him on Twitter at @DrTomSchreiner.

September 26, 2017

One of the contributions of the Reformation is a clear understanding that righteousness is imputed to us. (Here's the premise to be demonstrated. What does "imputed" mean? And where does the Bible say this? These are the questions the author must answer.)

Here we think of John Calvin since he represents a clear understanding (Rather than explain it himself the author chooses to present Calvin's teaching, because it is clear. We certainly hope.)

of this doctrine. Righteousness can’t come from ourselves since even our best works are still marred by sin. Our works can’t bring right standing with God since he demands perfection, (Perfection? We would say that God demands righteousness, not perfection: 

Ro. 3:21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

Pay close attention to the author's word choices, which skews the Gospel and obfuscates understanding.)

and we all fall short in many ways. Those who are in the right before God, then, are forgiven of their sins, which means their sins are no longer counted against them or imputed to them. (The author simply asserts what he must prove, that imputation is found in the Bible.

In actual fact our sins are gone. Washed away. There's nothing to count:

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Further, our sins are not imputed to us. Our sins are ours until we repent and believe.)

This is another way of saying that justification is forensic. ("Forensic?" Does the average Christian have any idea what this word means? The most pertinent definition we could find was reasonable inference from evidence. Now remember, the author is writing to explain imputation. How does the use of this word help us in any way?

Justification is not a legal process. God does not weigh the evidence and render a verdict. He make a holy proclamation of our new status as justified, that is, righteous by faith. 

The Greek word for justification is dikaiousthai, to judge, declare, pronounce, righteous and therefore acceptable...

Ro. 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Justified by faith, apart from the law. There is no legal process. It's a sacrificial process.)

It follows, then, that justification, according to Calvin, doesn’t mean we are made righteous but that we are counted as righteous; (??? Why does this follow? The author pulls it out of left field.

The author makes a distinction between being made righteous and being counted as righteous. In our opinion, this is a key issue, which needs to be thoroughly discussed.)

believers are not transformed in justification, but forgiven. (The author keeps making bare assertions. Where in the Bible do we find this information?

What we actually do find is that the very nature of justification is transformation: 

Ro. 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Because of the cleansing by the blood, God proclaimed us justified by faith. 

1Co. 6:11 ...But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Being forgiven is definitionally a new status. We have been fundamentally transformed from death to life.)

Justification is extrinsic instead of intrinsic, (More obfuscating words. We happen to know what they mean, as do many people. However, the issue not that people generally know what these words mean, but rather, how is the author using them, and by using them does he clarify what he's attempting to to explain?)

so that those who are justified have a new status before God. (But, but... the author just wrote, ...believers are not transformed in justification..." He contradicts himself.)

Our justification, then, is perfect from the beginning. Believers don’t become more justified as they progress in holiness, for justification doesn’t denote inner renewal but the declaration from God that one is acquitted and not guilty before him. (More undocumented claims. And what is "inner renewal?" The terminology suggests being born again, which we would consider synonymous with justification.

Justification would be the event of salvation, while the transformative change into Christ-likeness would be sanctification.)

Even after our conversion, ("Conversion?" What's wrong with "born again?" Why the need to use unnecessarily stilted terminology?)

our faith remains imperfect. Calvin appeals to 1 Corinthians 13:12 where Paul says our faith is incomplete and partial in this life. (Let's quote it: 

1Co. 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.)

In other words, sin continues to bedevil believers. (Well, that's certainly true, but it's not what Paul was telling us. He was referring to the ceasing of knowledge and prophecy, not the perfection level of our faith.

And remember, the assertion was that our faith remains imperfect. But now he's talking about sin. Imperfect faith is not the same thing as sin.)

The continuing presence of sin indicates that righteousness has to be forensic, (There's that word again...)

for no one can claim to be right before God while they are still stained with sin. (Moving the goalposts, now. The fact that we continue to sin does not mean we are stained with sin: 

1Jn. 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

It seems that the author doesn't believe the blood of Jesus is sufficient.)

Similarly, faith can’t count for our righteousness since it isn’t perfect or constant, (Where is this standard found in the Bible? In fact, the Bible tells us something different: 

Ro. 9:30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith...

Righteousness is obtained, not imputed, and it's obtained by faith.)

and therefore we need righteousness to be imputed to us to rest assured that we are right with God. (Where do we find this in the Bible?)

Trusting in our works troubles our conscience since we all fail, and thus believers must rely on Christ to enjoy peace with God. Calvin teaches that we won’t have peace and rest unless we “are entirely righteous before him.” (Where do we find this in the Bible?)

And this righteousness is in fact ours by imputation. (Again this is the central premise, which the author simply asserts once again. Where do we find this in the Bible?)

We can see, then, why imputation is so important in Calvin’s theology, for our assurance rests upon the truth that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to believers. Believers don’t locate righteousness in themselves but are righteous because Christ’s righteousness is reckoned to them. (False binary choice. The biblical fact is that we obtain righteousness, real righteousness, through faith. God proclaims our righteousness because the blood has cleansed us.)

Calvin puts it this way: “Therefore, we explain justification simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sin and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.” A person “is not righteous in himself but because the righteousness of Christ is communicated to him by imputation.” In Calvin’s interpretation of Romans 5:19, (Let's quote it: 

Ro. 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

We were made righteous "through" [Greek, dia, used to express the means or instrumentality by which an action is performed. The Father used Jesus as the means to make us righteous. This is in no way imputation.)

which speaks of believers being made righteous on account of Christ’s obedience, he says, “what else is this but to lodge our righteousness in Christ’s obedience, because the obedience of Christ is reckoned to us as if it were our own.” (The verse does not say "reckoned," it says "made." The Greek word is katastathēsontai, to appoint,... to set down as, constitute (Latinsisto), equivalent to to declare, show to be... 

There is no "reckon" implied here.)

For Calvin, “imputation is made possible only by our union with the Christ and because we become at that same moment members of his body.” Therefore, believers are counted righteous as those who belong to Jesus Christ, as those who are engrafted into him. The crucial role that union with Christ plays in imputation is often expressed in Calvin. “You see that righteousness is not in us but in Christ, that we possess it only because we are partakers in Christ.”

Calvin summarizes well the Protestant doctrine of imputation, a doctrine which has continued to be a great comfort and strength for believers and for those who are heirs of the Reformation. (Unfortunately, the author was unable to provide any Bible verse that teaches imputation.)

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Editor’s note: This essay is a slight revision of material found in Thomas R. Schreiner, Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification. What the Reformers Taught . . . and Why It Still Matters (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), pp. 59-60. Used with permission.