Dr. R.C. Sproul’s second and final conference message was entitled “Counted Righteous in Christ (Imputation).” He began by reading Genesis 15:1-6, where we learn that Abraham believed God, and God “counted it to him as righteousness.” Dr. Sproul then read from Romans 4:1-8, where we see Paul hearkening back to Abraham as “Exhibit A” of how righteousness is obtained before God.
IMPUTATION AND JUSTIFICATION
As the previous texts showed, imputation is closely related to justification (our being declared righteous before God). Dr. Sproul noted that the word “imputation” can be defined in various ways. It can mean to ascribe or to attribute something to someone. It can also mean to reckon or even to transfer something to someone. When the Bible speaks of God’s work of justification, it uses imputation in a legal or forensic manner. Forensic evidence is that which would be presented in a law court to determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant.
ROMAN CATHOLICS ALSO BELIEVE IN FORENSIC JUSTIFICATION
Several years ago, an effort known as Evangelicals and Catholics Together sought to bring Protestants and Roman Catholics together on this issue of justification. They argued that both Protestants and Roman Catholics had “a unity of faith in the gospel.”
But what many may not recognize is that the Roman Catholic church has always taught forensic justification. The dividing question has been: On what grounds will God declare anyone just in His sight? For Protestants, the only ground whereby God will grant righteousness to anyone is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. God in His mercy attributes the righteousness of Christ to our account. We are simultaneously righteous and sinners (simul iustus et peccator). For Roman Catholics, this constitutes a legal fiction. How can God declare someone to be righteous until or unless they actually are righteous?
IMPUTATION: REAL OR “LEGAL FICTION”?
But imputation is not a legal fiction. If it were, Jesus could not die for my sin. If it were, Adam could not sin as a representative of the human race. Without imputation, neither original sin nor justification is sensible. It is important to understand that when God imputes the sin of Adam to me, this reckoning is real. When God imputes my sin to Jesus the sin-bearer, that too is real. And when He transfers Christ’s righteousness to me, that too is real. This is the basis whereby we can stand before a Holy God.
The key to grasping this is to recognize that the only way to be saved is by works. Only a perfect life saves. Justification by faith alone ultimately means justification by Christ alone. This is why Christ could not just arrive on the scene and immediately go to Golgotha. He had to enter humanity as a baby and to live under the law. Not only did he have to die for our sin, he had to life a perfect life of active obedience on our behalf.
CLOTHED IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST
The metaphor of clothing is helpful in understanding the doctrine of imputation. When Adam and Eve sinned, a realization of nakedness and shame following. Graciously, God provided clothing–a covering of their shame. Wearing clothes allows us to not pervade our shame openly before the whole world. Likewise, we stand before God, “dressed in His righteousness.” His perfect life and death on our behalf is our righteousness before God. Therefore, imputation is not a legal fiction.
JESUS CHRIST – THE PRIEST WITH DIRTY CLOTHES
Another metaphor we have is in the Old Testament sacrificial system. We see the shedding of blood and the blood being poured all over the mercy seat. But then we also read of another goat which is not killed. Rather, the priest transfers (imputes) the sin of the people onto this goat and sends it far away into the wilderness. The book of Hebrews tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never ultimately address the sin problem. Rather, these were only shadows and types which pointed to Christ.
Christ is the ultimate sacrificial Lamb of God. But Christ is also the scapegoat who carries away our sins. And Christ also fulfilled the law of God on our behalf and is our righteousness.
In closing, Dr. Sproul reminded us of his book The Priest With Dirty Clothes
Ligonier Conference – R.C. Sproul Jr. – (II)
R.C. Sproul Jr. followed Dr. Lawson with a message entitled “Evangelizing Your Children.” R.C. Sproul Jr. is the founder of the Highlands Study Center in Mendota, Va., which seeks to help Christians live more simple, separate, and deliberate lives to the glory of God and for the building of His kingdom. He travels extensively as a conference speaker and has written several books including Tearing Down Strongholds: And Defending the Truth
INTRODUCTION
R. C. Sproul Jr. took a poll of how many Episcopalians, Anglicans, and Lutherans were present. (There weren’t many.) He then queried as to how many Presbyterians were present. (Roughly 50%.) Lastly, he asked about the Baptist contingency. (Again, roughly 50%.) He noted that the first group tends to view children as already being “inside” the Kingdom, Presbyterians view children as sort-of “half-way in, half-way out”, and Baptists view them as “fully out.”
However, regardless of which group we find ourselves in, our obligations to our own children (and those who gather with us on the Lord’s Day) are the same: We need to preach the gospel to them and call them to repent and believe. The gospel is not something we master once and then move on. Repenting and believing the gospel is the answer to every problem there is. Our children need to hear it every day, and we need to be saying it every day.
APOLOGETICS & GENUINE CHRISTIAN LOVE
Yet Christians often fail to recognize this. Consider, for example, our enthusiasm for apologetics (which R.C. Sproul Jr. shares — he recently pointed out Ravi Zacharias to his children as one of his heroes). Yet in the Bible we’re never told that giving a clear apologetic argument for Christianity will be the means by which “all men will know that we are His disciples.” Rather, Jesus said that would take place in and through the saints love for each other. And what better place for that to happen than in the home? Francis of Assisi famously quipped, “Preach the gospel, and use words when necessary.” Our lives need to be so shaped by the gospel that our behavior and comportment shine brightly as lights set on a hill, for others to see and believe in our Father in heaven.
MODEL REPENTANCE
But the reality is that in our homes, we often do not bear the fruit that we should. So what do we do? We repent and believe the gospel. Our children need to see us modeling repentance for our own sinfulness within the home. Regular repentance will help ward off hypocrisy, which strongly militates against passing on the Faith to our children.
MODEL FORGIVENESS
And just as we should model repentance for our children, we should also model forgiveness. When you forgive your kids during the discipline process, do they know that you love them? Do you take the time to preach the gospel to your children? Do you tell them the truth – about God’s feelings toward sin, and about God’s forgiveness? R.C. Sproul Jr. noted that Jr. after he disciplines his children he gives them a big hug, a kiss on the check, and then tells them that he loves them, loved them while discipling them, and will always love them.
A GOSPEL-SATURATED HOME
So when does this start? In the very beginning. Deuteronomy 6 tells us that our homes should be infused with a gospel culture from Day 1. God can cause children to believe the good news even before they are able to communicate it with full articulation. (Later, during a Q&A session, R.C. Sproul Jr. offered several measures for determining the legitimacy of a child’s profession of faith.)
Finally, Sproul Jr. exhorted us to pray for our kids. Saint Augustine’s mother Monica prayed daily and fervently for her son while he lived a licentious life well into his adulthood. Our prayers for our children change the world. We rightly pray that God would prosper our work, our health, and our marriages. But isn’t the superlative language that John uses rather striking: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (III John 4)