"The gift of salvation": Its failure to address the crux of justification

This background is quite evident in Psalm 98, the text to which Paul undoubtedly alludes when he speaks of the "righteousness of God" which has been revealed in the Gospel (Rom 1:17). The beginning of this psalm is often cited as an example of God's saving righteousness:

Yahweh has made known his salvation.

To the eyes of the nations he has revealed his righteousness.

He has remembered his constant love and his faithfulness to

the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God

(Ps 98:1-3).

We should not, however, lose sight of its conclusion:

... Shout for joy before the king, Yahweh

Let the sea and its fullness roar

The world, and those who dwell in it

Let the rivers clap their hands

And the hills together shout with joy,

Before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth

He shall judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with rectitude (Ps 98:6b-9).

In the psalm, Yahweh is moved to action out of covenant faithfulness to his people. His action itself, however, cannot properly be called "covenantal." He rather acts as the king of creation (Ps 98:6), who judges and establishes justice in the earth. For this reason the elements of creation, the sea, the rivers and the hills celebrate his coming. His deliverance of Israel anticipates his "coming" to judge savingly on behalf of the world. The nations themselves may expect to receive the justi,;e and equity which has been granted already to Israel (Ps 98:7-9). In Ps 98:2, "Yahweh's righteousness" signifies his verdict on Israel's behalf which is expressed in vindicating action. We have to do here not merely with salvation, but with saving justice. Without going into detail, I would argue that the same relation between verdict and vindication informs Paul's references to justification, as is particularly evident in Rom 4:25, where Paul speaks of Jesus having been "delivered up on account of our transgressions, and raised on account of our justification." The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our vindication, which bears the divine verdict on our behalf. 14

Thesis 3: The human being is to be understood on the basis of the cross and resurrection, that is, as a sinner given over to condemnation and death and raised to life with Christ. The cross is not to be interpreted through a prior or independent understanding of the human being, that is, as an enablement and transformation of the creature.

The traditional dispute between Roman Catholics and Protestants on the definition of justification derives ultimately from differing understandings of the human being. I note that Paul O'Callaghan, a Roman Catholic scholar, concludes his recent, thorough and excellent survey of "the justification debate" with this very conclusion. 15 Put in simple terms, the question is whether our status as sinners comprehends the whole of what we are, or if our creaturehood-including our bearing the image of God-stands alongside and qualifies the reality of sin, as a sort of remainder. If we take the latter view, the grace of Christ may, or rather, must be infused, radiated or otherwise communicated so that the human being might be healed and transformed. It follows as a matter of course, that from the canons and decrees of Trent up to the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism has understood "justification" as "not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inner man," which establishes "cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom." 16