| Abbreviations | xiv |
| Introduction | 1 |
1. | The Promise | 1 |
2. | The Heart of the Gospel | 2 |
A. | The Special Comfort of God's Free Grace | 3 |
1. | The Unique Blessing of Justification | 3 |
2. | Basic Definitions | 3 |
B. | The Centrality of Justification in Christian Teaching | 4 |
1. | The Decisive Baseline of Evangelical Teaching | 4 |
2. | Why Is It a Comforting Doctrine? | 5 |
3. | The Limits of Our Powers of Restitution | 6 |
C. | Why a Justification Reader? | 6 |
1. | It Provides a Model for Classic Christian Reasoning | 7 |
2. | Why Is Justification Teaching Especially Pertinent Today? | 7 |
3. | Simplicity | 8 |
4. | On the Genre of the "Reader" | 8 |
5. | Why Have These Texts Remained Shockingly Inaccessible Elsewhere? | 10 |
6. | A Welcoming Note for Orthodox and Catholic Readers | 11 |
Part 1 | Justification | |
Chapter 1 | The Ancient Fathers on Evangelical Justification | 15 |
A. | Typical Misconceptions of Classic Christian Teaching on Saving Faith | 15 |
1. | Peacemaking among the Divided Faithful | 15 |
2. | My Simple Thesis | 16 |
3. | Why the Classic Christian Consensus Is Not Properly Described as Either European or Western | 17 |
4. | Why This Presentation of Evidence Is So Urgently Needed amid Uncharitable Polemics among Evangelicals, Liberals, Catholics, and Orthodox Today | 18 |
5. | How Both Evangelical and Liberal Assumptions Have Tilted the Perception of Ancient Orthodox Christian Salvation Teaching | 19 |
6. | Liberal Misconceptions | 21 |
B. | The Unexplored Connection: The Fathers Were Not Ignorant of the Pauline Teaching of Justification | 23 |
1. | What Is Meant by "Patristic"? | 23 |
2. | The Unity of the First Five Centuries Contrasted with the Conflict of the Last Five Centuries | 24 |
3. | Remembering the Fathers' Continuous Immersion in the Written Word | 26 |
4. | The Practical Impact | 26 |
5. | Why Dangerous? The Alarming Consequence of the Rediscovery of the Unity of the Body of Christ | 28 |
6. | Why Does This Recognition Have a Painful Edge for Protestants? | 28 |
7. | Can Christian Teaching Be Trusted If It Lacks Scriptural Grounding and an Orthodox Historical Textuary? | 29 |
8. | Ecumenical Dialogue Needs These Arguments | 29 |
9. | Assessing the Joint Declaration | 31 |
10. | The Growing Hunger for Greater Evangelical Unity in the Gospel | 32 |
11. | The Search for Balance and the Hazard of Presenting Too Little Evidence or Too Much | 33 |
12. | Fairly Assessing the Evidence | 35 |
Chapter 2 | Justification Defined | 36 |
A. | Rehearsing the Classic Consensus on Justification | 36 |
1. | What Is Justification? | 36 |
2. | The Way to Consensus | 38 |
3. | Representative Reformed Confessions on Justification | 39 |
4. | The Lutheran Formula of Concord | 40 |
5. | Baptist Confessions | 40 |
6. | Anglican Tradition | 41 |
7. | Wesleyan Traditions | 41 |
8. | Pentecostal Traditions | 42 |
9. | Arguing Consensuality | 43 |
B. | Introducing Locus Classicus Patristic Texts on Justification | 44 |
1. | Early Eastern Voices on Justification | 44 |
2. | Early Western Voices on Justification | 45 |
3. | A Case in Point: Consensual Interpretation of Ephesians 2 | 47 |
4. | Whether These Voices Harmonize: Modest Objectives on Doctrinal Concurrence | 49 |
C. | God's Costly Way of Reestablishing a Right Relation with the Sinner | 50 |
1. | Comparing Old and New Testament Interpretations of Justification | 50 |
2. | Old Testament Anticipations | 50 |
3. | Why Do We So Fiercely Resist Hearing This Good News? | 51 |
4. | While You Were Yet Ungodly | 52 |
D. | How Divine Love Brings Sinners into an Uprighted Relation with Divine Justice | 53 |
1. | Unpacking the Courtroom Metaphor | 53 |
2. | The Judge and the Law | 54 |
3. | Elements of the Courtroom Drama | 54 |
4. | Our Advocate | 55 |
5. | How Clemency Comes Late in the Trial | 55 |
6. | The Acquittal | 56 |
7. | There Is Now No Condemnation | 57 |
8. | Behavioral Righteousness Distinguished from Juridical Righteousness | 58 |
Chapter 3 | Receiving Righteousness from God | 60 |
A. | Justified by His Blood | 60 |
1. | In What Sense Is Christ "Made to Be Sin for Us"? | 60 |
2. | Expiation | 62 |
3. | Justified by His Blood | 63 |
4. | Much More Are We Saved by His Blood | 64 |
5. | What Is Redemption? | 65 |
6. | The Exchange | 65 |
B. | How Righteousness Is Revealed | 66 |
1. | Righteousness Belongs to God | 66 |
2. | Righteousness Revealed in Creation and Conscience | 67 |
3. | Righteousness Revealed in the Gospel | 68 |
4. | Giving Account on the Last Day | 68 |
C. | Our Appropriation of God's Righteousness | 69 |
1. | Christ Is Our Only Righteousness | 69 |
2. | Sin Made Apparent by the Law | 70 |
3. | Works Righteousness Rejected | 71 |
4. | Is the Law Overthrown? | 73 |
5. | Neither Circumcision Nor Uncircumcision Yields Advantage | 74 |
6. | Counting All Loss for Christ | 75 |
7. | The Power of His Resurrection | 77 |
Part 2 | Grace Alone | |
Chapter 1 | Why Imputed Grace Dislodges All Boasting | 81 |
A. | Defining Grace | 81 |
1. | Scriptural Terms for God's Unmerited Mercy | 81 |
2. | The Wooing of Sinners | 83 |
B. | The Nurture of Gracious Ability | 83 |
1. | The Demeanor of Grace | 83 |
2. | God's Own Gift of Himself | 83 |
3. | The Gift | 84 |
4. | Life as Unearned Gift | 85 |
5. | Works and Grace Contrasted | 86 |
C. | How Grace Grounds Justification: By Free Grace We Have Full Satisfaction | 87 |
1. | We Are Justified as a Gift | 87 |
2. | Four Related Metaphorical Arenas: Forgiving, Pardoning, Accounting, and Reconciling | 87 |
3. | Forgiving and Pardoning: Are They Distinguishable? | 88 |
4. | Distinguishing Pardon and Justification | 89 |
5. | Only God Can Justly Forgive Sin | 89 |
6. | Who Can Pardon? | 90 |
7. | Forgiveness as Given | 90 |
D. | Imputed Righteousness | 91 |
1. | The Bookkeeping Analogy | 92 |
2. | Discharging Sin and Crediting Righteousness | 92 |
3. | The New Accounting | 93 |
4. | Remission of Debt | 94 |
5. | Summarizing the Confluence of Biblical Metaphors | 94 |
E. | The Fathers Teach the Unmerited Grace of the Triune God | 95 |
1. | The Grace of the Triune God | 95 |
2. | The Spirit Is the Gift | 96 |
3. | The God of All Grace | 97 |
F. | Receiving Grace, Growing in Grace, Living under Grace | 98 |
1. | Receiving Grace | 99 |
2. | Growing in Grace | 99 |
3. | Living under Grace | 100 |
G. | How Protestant Definitions of Grace Confirm the Patristic Consensus | 101 |
1. | Standard Lutheran Confessions | 101 |
2. | Reformed Confessions | 102 |
3. | A Congregationalist Standard | 103 |
4. | A Baptist Standard | 103 |
5. | Anglican Standards | 104 |
6. | Wesleyan Standards | 104 |
7. | Contemporary Evangelicals Speak Together | 105 |
8. | Conclusion: Whether There Is a Consensual Protestant Teaching of Grace | 105 |
Chapter 2 | Let the Fathers Speak for Themselves on Sola Gratia | 107 |
A. | By Grace You Are Saved | 107 |
1. | The Fathers Teach That We Are Freely Justified as a Gift | 107 |
2. | The Fathers Teach That Faith Alone Saves | 108 |
3. | The Fathers Teach That Grace Is Unsearchable | 109 |
4. | The Fathers Teach That Grace Enables Freedom | 110 |
B. | The Fathers Teach That All Boasting Is Out of Place | 111 |
1. | No Room for Boasting | 111 |
2. | Glorifying God, Not Human Works | 112 |
3. | The Strength of Grace Works Precisely through Human Weakness | 113 |
4. | The Grace of Resurrection | 113 |
C. | Grace in Action | 114 |
1. | How Grace Works | 114 |
2. | Grace Can Only Be Received | 115 |
D. | The Gift of Faith and Human Agency | 116 |
1. | Faith Is a Gift Requiring a Response | 117 |
2. | Grace and Active Willing | 117 |
3. | Receptive Faith and Its Activity; Active Faith and Its Receptivity | 118 |
E. | The Grace of Effectual Calling | 120 |
1. | Preparing Grace Leads to Calling | 120 |
2. | Sufficient Grace | 120 |
F. | New Life under Grace | 121 |
1. | Dying to Sin, Living to God | 121 |
2. | Dead in Trespasses, Raised Up with Christ | 122 |
3. | A Special Grace Is Given to the Humble | 122 |
4. | Freedom Undiminished by Grace | 123 |
5. | Using without Abusing Grace | 124 |
6. | The Grace That Is Coming | 125 |
Part 3 | By Faith Alone | |
Chapter 1 | Justifying Faith | 129 |
A. | What Is Faith? | 129 |
1. | Faith Defined | 130 |
2. | Personal Trust | 130 |
B. | Faith Classically Defined in Hebrews 11:1 | 131 |
1. | The Certainty of What We Do Not See | 131 |
2. | The Simplicity of Faith | 131 |
3. | Risk-Taking Trust Is Required to Learn of Faith | 131 |
4. | Faith's Evidences | 132 |
5. | Trusting beyond Sight without Doubt | 133 |
6. | The Condition for Receiving Justifying Grace | 133 |
C. | Justifying Grace Received Only by Faith | 134 |
1. | The Gift Requires a Response | 134 |
2. | Without Faith It Is Impossible to Please God | 135 |
3. | The Power of Faith | 136 |
D. | How Faith Is Congruent with Justification | 136 |
1. | Justifying Faith | 136 |
2. | Does Faith as Such Justify Apart from Grace? | 137 |
3. | Whether Faith Is a Condition of Salvation | 137 |
4. | Faith Requires Renunciation, Freely Resolving to Live a Life of Righteousness | 138 |
Chapter 2 | Faith in God's Righteousness | 139 |
A. | Approaching God with Grounded Confidence | 139 |
1. | Faith Is the Work of the Spirit | 139 |
2. | Faith and the Means of Grace | 140 |
3. | Gaining Confidence in Approaching God | 141 |
4. | Confess with the Lips What Is Believed in the Heart | 141 |
5. | Whether There Is a Patristic Consensus | 143 |
B. | Biblical Examples of Faith | 144 |
1. | Faith as Exemplified by Abraham | 144 |
2. | Righteousness Was Accounted to Abraham Due to His Faith Alone | 146 |
3. | Distinguishing Implicit from Explicit Faith | 146 |
C. | Classic Distinctions Regarding Faith | 148 |
1. | Saving Faith Distinguished from General Human Faith | 148 |
2. | General Faith and the History of Religions | 149 |
3. | The Possibility of Faith | 150 |
4. | Faith as Believing and Believed | 151 |
5. | Contending for the Faith | 152 |
6. | How Saving Faith May Be Studied | 152 |
7. | Historical Faith and Intellectual Assent | 153 |
D. | An Act of Mind, Will, and Heart | 154 |
1. | Faith Assents with the Mind to the Truth of the Word | 155 |
2. | Faith Consents with the Whole Will to Surrender to the Word | 157 |
3. | Faith Trusts with the Heart in the Living Word | 157 |
| Conclusion | 161 |