No. 17. >> Professor Lewis, I have read that the word justification is one of the words used to describe salvation that does so in terms of courtroom language. Had this language does seem to fit where Paul concludes his discussion about universal sin in Romans Chapter 3 Verses 19 through 20. Could you comment on this? >>PROFESSOR DAVID I. M. LEWIS: Yes, Nick, I will. Nick, you know that Scripture is actually rich in terms that describe what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. But probably for us Lutherans, justification is one of the most important terms that we have used in our theological system. And it is certainly a term that is very prominent in the book of Romans. Especially in this section that you've mentioned going from the theme in Romans 1:16 and 17 to where Paul makes the case for universal sin in Romans 1:18 through 3:20. And now concluding in -- the concluding verses of Romans 3:19 through 20 where Paul sums up the case of universal sin, he does seem to cast it in terms of a courtroom. Paul concludes by saying that the whole world is accountable to God. The Greek word there is the word ***habatikos, which is actually a term related to the Greek words to justify and righteousness justification. And what that word means is that the whole world is accountable to God in the courtroom sense. In other words, it really means that we are guilty before God. And the whole world is guilty before God. And awaiting the verdict of guilty for their sins. And Paul has pretty much established the case that everybody, Gentile and Jew, is liable, is accountable, is answerable to the courtroom verdict of God. And that verdict would be guilty. And so this would be a setting where the term justification would apply as the term for what God does in Jesus Christ. Now, there are some related terms that I would like to discuss again as we're talking about justification. First there's the Greek word dikaios. Dikaios is a verb. It is an action. And this verb is to justify or to declare righteous. And often this verb is used in the courtroom sense. It is the verdict that the judge would render upon the person. And now, if the person is not guilty of that for which they've been accused, then the judge would dikaios them or justify them or declare that they are right. That they are just. This could be a courtroom term. And it appears this is how Paul is using it in this section of Romans. Then there's the word dikaisoyne, which is the word that could be translated as righteousness as we've seen in Romans 1:17, the righteousness of God, this can also be translated as justification. And this word first it can describe the process of doing the verb. The process of declaring somebody righteous. Of declaring someone to be just. And in fact, this is how Lutherans have understood, again, the righteousness of God. That when we say righteousness of God, we don't -- in Romans 1:17, it's not an attribute or quality of God that he is righteous. Although that is theologically true. But what it signifies there is that this is the process, this is the action of God declaring not guilty, declaring righteous those who believe in Jesus Christ. Ad then once that's declared, then it becomes an attribute that the person who has been justified now has. They now have the attribute of righteousness that they've received through the declaration. And so this is how we should understand dike eye a sun nay in this context. And then finally there's the related adjective which is ***dikyos, which means righteous or just. And this adjective now describes the person who has been justified. This is the verdict. This is the status they have. They now have the status of being righteous. And so the verb is the act that is done in the courtroom setting of declaring the person who is not guilty to be righteous. Righteousness justification is the noun that describes this process. And then it is also -- it also describes an attribute the person has once the process is done. And then the adjective describes the status. And so dick eye us, just, back in Romans 1:17, the just will live by faith. And now, Nick, I could point out that this is still the way it works in our courtrooms today. Theoretically even if a man is guilty of the crime of which he's been accused, if he goes through the courtroom setting and if the jury finds him innocent, then the judge renders that verdict. And this man is for all legal purposes, for all forensic courtroom purposes, this man is innocent. And the State cannot punish him. In fact, even if he has actually committed the crime. There's a lot of people who believe that OJ Simpson was guilty of what he was accused of doing. But in a forensic courtroom sense, he was given the verdict of not guilty. So now the court, the government, cannot lay their hands upon him for those crimes for which he was accused. Theoretically it still works that way in the courtroom today. The verdict, the sentencing is the last word. Okay. Well, this does fit in then with Romans 3:19 through 20 where Paul sums up his case about the universal sin of mankind. In reading from the ESV what Paul says is: Now we know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law. So that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. This is the result. When the law speaks, the second use of the law, it accuses everybody of sin. And every mouth is stopped. Nobody has any defense they can offer for themselves when they stand before God. And in fact, the whole world is answerable. This is that noun ***habatikos. In other words, they are answerable in a courtroom sense. They are legal -- they are guilty. They are answerable to God. They await his punishment. For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. Since through the law comes knowledge of sin. And so this is where Paul leaves us all hanging. And Martin Fransman in his commentary says of this section of Romans that neither salvation nor faith can be understood aright unless they are seen against the dark background of the wrath of God. So why does Paul jump from his theme in Romans 1:16 and 17 where he talks about the Gospel as the power of God for salvation and the righteousness of God being revealed and then present this dark case against humanity? Because in a sense the only way we can properly understand salvation, the only way we can properly understand the role of faith in our receiving salvation is to see what the problem is. And the problem is is that all men, Jew and Gentile alike, have no defense against God. We are answerable to him in his divine court. And we await the verdict of guilty because that's what the law tells us we are. And we need a solution. We need a different verdict from God. And this is where justification comes in. Is that God does give us a verdict that we would not expect. Now, such a verdict would No. 1, it would have to come from God since he is the judge of the divine court. No. 2, it would have to come to us as a gift because what we deserve is his wrath and condemnation. And No. 3, it would have to come on the merits of somebody else since we alone have not earned that verdict. And of course this is what the Gospel that Paul is proclaiming says. That God gives the verdict of not guilty. Actually even better, the verdict of righteous. Which now confers this status upon it because God has said this. This comes as a gift by grace. And it comes through what Jesus Christ did. Not through what we have done. And so this solution is found in full in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul is proclaiming. And now we can understand why Paul is not ashamed of this Gospel. Because this Gospel is indeed the means through which God saves. It has the power to save sinful men. This is a Gospel that declares justification. That God declares righteous those who believe in Jesus even though they are guilty before him. For the sake of Jesus God declares them righteous. Now, here we can talk about the difference then between the Roman Catholic understanding of grace and the Lutheran understanding of grace. We talked about this a bit when I was answering the question about Luther's understanding of the righteousness of God. Well, Roman Catholicism teaches a grace that is infused grace. In other words, the sinful person, God infuses grace, he puts grace into them as a gift. And that grace gives them the power to do a little better in their Christian life and in their good works. And as they advance to the next step God infuses a little more grace and a little more grace until finally they attain the goal of God's righteousness. And this is how the sacraments work in the Roman Catholic system. The sacraments are means through which God infuses grace to help people along. So baptism gets you going. But confession and absolution and penance sort of keep you on the track until finally, you know, last rites, you get one last infusion of grace that hopefully gets you up there. Although in the medieval system the purgatory figure prominently is a place where people died. Before they attain that goal they would go there to continue to be purged. Well the Lutheran emphasis on grace is imputed grace. In other words, God does not stick his grace into us to empower us. Rather, it all begins with his declaration that we are righteous. And when God declares that verdict, then it is settled at that point. The same way it is in court. As soon as the man is declared not guilty, he is not guilty and the court cannot touch him for that crime. And that's how it works in the divine court. For the sake of Jesus God declares us righteous. And because he has said it's so, it is so. And that is where the Christian life begins, with imputed grace. God gives us a status that we did not earn. But that's our status. And so now we can see why faith is so key. Faith is the only way that could really receive this promise. Faith is the means because it's trusting what God has said. Here is the deal with me: Like Luther when I look in the law, I know that I am ***habatikos, that I am answerable to God, that I am guilty before him. It's very unexpected when he tells me instead: Not guilty. But he tells me: Righteous because of what my Son Jesus did for you. How could I receive that declaration, that promise from God? I receive it by faith. By trusting what he has said. And Paul even tells us that faith itself is a given that is given to me by the Holy Spirit. It's such a wonderful thing that only God could give me the faith to believe this wonderful promise, this wonderful declaration of who I am of the status I have before him for the sake of what Jesus Christ has done. And so when we Lutherans talk about justification or forensic justification, you're very right that this is a very technical way of talking about salvation in the specific courtroom setting. And now this term was very central for Paul. And for Paul's theology as we see him developing it in Romans 1:16 through Romans 3 Verse 21. This section where he introduces his theme, makes the case about the universal sinfulness of all people and how all people are guilty before God. But then suddenly proclaims a righteousness that comes apart from the law. This is very much centered into the idea of justification. This forensic courtroom talk. The declaration of God that those who believe are righteous. That verdict gives them the new status. Because this is so central to Paul's theology, this is also a term that has become very central to our Lutheran understanding of salvation, too. So that very often we will refer to salvation with a simple term of justification. Well, as we go through Romans, we'll see that there are other views of salvation and other words that describe salvation from other vantage points. Nevertheless, because of the centrality of this word and this view in Paul's theology, I think we Lutherans are right to see as most important that you understand the Gospel when you understand justification. Namely, that the sinner who believes in Jesus is declared righteous by God. And that verdict stands in the divine courtroom. And it confers a new status upon that person. Righteous. And that is where the Christian life begins.