Preface
The following message was originally written on 5 October 2014 and submitted for publication in the comment section on the Reformed Apologetics Ministries (RAM) website on the same date. It is a response to Keith Thompson’s online article, ‘Jesus’ Imputed Righteousness: An Exegetical Case’ (22 Jan. 2014).[1] In this piece I seek to address the following: (1) Romans 5.19 does not support the doctrine of Christ’s active obedience being imputed to believers; and (2) consequently, this verse should not be employed as a proof text in service of this teaching.Subsequently I revised and expanded my initial response on 7 October 2014 and attempted to post it on RAM. Ultimately neither of my messages were ‘approved’ by the owner of the site. As of 8 January 2015, no comments have been approved for publication on this particular article on RAM. One can only surmise that Thompson did not approve the following comment for any other reason than it did not accord with his personal view on the matter. Certainly no rebuttal or refutation was offered, nor did I receive a personal e-mail from Thompson briefly addressing the matter. In short, my message was conveniently ignored.
The following piece has been revised in a few areas by the author as you see it now in its final form.
Romans 5.19 and the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ: a Response to Keith Thompson
Romans 5.19 must be viewed in the light of its context and not abstracted from it. In 5.12–19, Paul compares Adam’s one transgression with Jesus’ one act of obedience. In verse 12 Paul writes of the first man’s sin which led to death for the entire human race: ‘sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so [or in this way] death spread to all men’. Paul proceeds to compare and contrast the effects of Adam’s sin and Christ’s obedience in verses 15–19. He summarises his line of thought in verse 18 thus: ‘Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.’
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5.19, RSV)[2]
It should be clear that Adam’s one trespass is not being compared with Christ’s lifelong obedience to the Father in Romans 5.19. Such a view cannot be sustained contextually. Jesus’ death on the cross is surely Paul’s concern in both verses 18 and 19. The ‘one man’s obedience’ in verse 19 correlates to Jesus’ obedience to death in verse 18 (i.e. the ‘one man’s act of righteousness’).[3] The preceding verses (6–11) establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that the apostle has the sacrificial death of Christ in view:
- ‘While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly’ (v. 6);
- ‘But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’ (v. 8);
- ‘Since, therefore, we are now justified[4] by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath’ (v. 9);
- ‘For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life’ (v. 10).
In summary, we are provided no indication that Paul is concerned with the so-called ‘active obedience’ of Christ and its (purported) imputation to the account of believers in Romans 5.19.[5] Adam’s one transgression of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden and Christ’s obedient death on the cross in Golgotha are the two acts the apostle has in view. This is made explicit in verse 18 and the surrounding context wherein Paul focuses on the redemptive death of Jesus and its connection to believers’ reconciliation to God (vv. 6–11).[6]
Notes
1. See <http://www.reformedapologeticsministries.com/2014/01/jesus-imputed-righteousness-exegetical.html>. (Link is now broken [25 Jun. 2021].)2. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version. All emphases have been added by the author.
3. See Philippians 2.8: ‘And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’
4. Or ‘declared righteous’ (dikaiลthentes). See Romans 5.9 as rendered in the Holman Christian Standard Bible (2009): ‘Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.’
5. While it may be argued that other Pauline texts require such an interpretation (e.g. 2 Cor. 5.21; Phil. 3.9), it is beyond the scope of this article to pursue the matter.
6. Something is to be said for Romans 5.10b: ‘much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.’ As in 4.25, Jesus’ resurrection life is surely in view. Christ ‘was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification’ (Rom. 4.25, ESV). Though often ignored in traditional Protestant discussions of justification, the resurrection of Christ certainly plays a pivotal role in our final justification before God. The death of Jesus is not the full picture. Believers are declared righteous by the blood of Christ, and will be saved from the future wrath (Rom. 5.9b) by the resurrection life of Christ at the final judgement (v. 10c).
Copyright © J. D. Gallรฉ, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021. All rights reserved.
Latest revisions: 18 September 2015 (one word altered); 14 March 2016 (added to note four); 6 October 2016 (alterations made to text in bold; altered one word in third note; minor emendation made to fourth note); 21 November 2016 (added a previously neglected full stop); 10 January 2017 (added punctuation to sixth note); 16 March 2017 (minor revisions made to preface); 24 February 2018 (converted eighteen colons to full stops; omitted a hyphen); 23 May 2019 (changed one term in n. 2); added to first note in order to indicate present brokenness of website link (25 Jun. 2021); modified one word in concluding paragraph (18 Sept. 2021).
