N.T. Wright's Long Farewell

N.T. Wright’s Long Farewell [Excerpts]

[TBC: The title's "Long Farewell" refers to the writer's conclusion that N.T. Wright "...has been saying 'Farewell' to the evangelical church for quite some time now..." and in the following article, he demonstrates why.]

If you want a quick-but-tedious way to separate some of the shallower evanjellyfish from the more theologically-serious evangelicals in your circle of friends, here’s a simple method: call N.T. Wright a heretic. It’s quick because the blowback you will surely experience can be timed in microseconds. It’s tedious because you will be subjected to a series of overweeningly shrill diatribes, accompanied by confident insinuations that anyone who says such a thing is a divisive dolt. But a more effective method is difficult to find. N.T. Wright is a heretic. There, I’ve said it. Let the ranting begin. So, let’s look at how he’s [chosen to say farewell to Evangelicalism] for at least the past 20 years. According to Wright…

1. The Gospel is not about “getting saved.” Wright puts it this way: "I must stress again that the doctrine of justification by faith is not what Paul means by ‘the gospel’. It is implied by the gospel; when the gospel is proclaimed, people come to faith and so are regarded by God as members of his people. But ‘the gospel’ is not an account of how people get saved."¹

The problem is, that Paul tells us what he means by “the gospel,” and it seems to have quite a bit to do with how people get saved: "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1Cor. 15:1-5, ESV. Emphasis added.)

2. Justification is not about being declared righteous in Christ here and now. In fact, according to Wright, it’s not even really about being declared righteous at all. "Justification is the covenant declaration, which will be issued on the last day, in which the true people of God will be vindicated and those who insist on worshipping false gods will be shown to be in the wrong."²

Wright often uses familiar language in describing justification, but he means something very different from what historic evangelical Protestants have meant by the same language. For example, he uses the word “forensic,” to refer to God’s legal verdict, but that verdict is not based on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to believers. Far from it!...In spite of being defined in every Greek lexicon as “the act of pronouncing righteous,” or something similar, he redefines it to mean membership in God’s covenant people. In connection with this, D.A. Carson records the following humorous incident: "I cannot resist an anecdote. A few years ago I found myself in prolonged conversation with a retired classicist and expert on the Septuagint. He had heard, vaguely, of the new perspective, and wanted me to explain it to him. I took a half-hour or so to give him a potted history of some of the stances that fall within that rubric, including the view that ‘justification,' for some, has come to mean something like 'God’s declaration that certain people truly belong to the covenant community.' He asked a simple question: 'Do those who hold this view know any Greek at all?’ ”³

3. There is a “final justification” by works. Wright interprets Paul’s statement in Romans:2:13(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
See All..., “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (ESV), as meaning that at the judgment seat of Christ believers will be justified on the basis of works. Never mind the fact that in the very next chapter Paul writes, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Rom:3:20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
See All... ESV)

As Cornelis Venema has pointed out: "From an historical perspective, Wright’s position is not unlike that of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, which also claimed that the Reformation’s view of justification by faith alone failed to do justice to the biblical theme of a final acquittal before God based upon works. If, as Wright insists, the justification of believers requires a final phase or ‘completion,' which will be determined by the works of the justified, then it seems evident that he teaches a doctrine of justification by grace through faith plus works. The apostle Paul’s teaching that works are wholly excluded as a basis for the justification of believers is incompatible with the idea that (final) justification will ultimately be based upon works."⁴

http://midwestoutreach.org/2017/07/27/n-t-wrights-long-farewell/

1  Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, 132-133.

2  Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, 131.

3 Carson, “The Vindication of Imputation,” in Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier, eds., Justification: What’s at Stake in the Current Debates, (Downers Grove, IL, USA and Leicester, UK: InterVarsity Press and Apollos, 2004), 50-51.

4  Venema, “A Future Justification Based on Works?” February 1, 2010, Ligonier Ministries.