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Chapter 4 is entitled, “The law-Court Dynamics of Justification and the Necessity of Real Moral Righteousness.” In chapter 3, Piper discussed one problem he had with Wright’s view of justification, namely that his definition of God’s righteousness did not go far enough. It only describes what righteousness does rather than what it is. In this chapter, Piper discusses another problem he sees with Wright’s law-court imagery, that it does not seem to come to terms with the fact that the judge is omniscient. Wright stresses that for he defendant in the courtroom, the sinner, righteousness is not a character quality but a status. It means that the judge has found in the defendant’s favor. That is his status.
In a human court, the judge listens to the evidence and makes a finding, regardless of whether the defendant has actually committed the crime or not. However, in God’s courtroom, He is Just and Omniscient, so He can never make an unjust or incorrect judgment. But how could God make a finding that a defendant is guilty as charged, yet still find him righteous? That is what the atonement is all about, and Piper believes that both he and Wright would agree on that statement. Christ died for our sins, and on the basis of Christ’s taking the penalty for us, we are able to go free. But clemency and forgiveness are not justification. Paul has something more to say than that, as glorious as those are.
The charge is God’s courtroom is that none is righteous (Rom 3:12), and the context is immorality (no one does good, not even one). Piper states that to reckon righteous to a defendant is more than giving him a status of forgiven or the declaration that he is a member of the covenant family. John Piper states that it is more plausible that “in Paul’s mind whenever sins are not counted, a positive righteousness is counted.” Piper states that Romans 4:6 – 8 may hang on Paul’s understanding of Psalm 32 as “implying that wherever there is divine forgiveness of lawless deeds – wherever sins are not counted – righteousness is counted.” In other words, the sinner is not merely thought by God to be a forgiven sinful person, but actually a righteous person, to whom God counts righteousness.
So then Piper then goes back to the law-court scene, and explains the meaning of justification. Forgiveness and clemency can commute a sentence, but they cannot mean that the judge finds in the defendant’s favor. Piper states at length:
An omniscient and just judge never “finds in favor” of a guilty defendant. He always vindicates the claim that is true. If the defendant is guilty, the omniscient, just judge finds in favor of the plaintiff. The judge may show mercy. He has it in his power to bestow clemency, and to forgive, and not to condemn the guilty. But not condemning the guilty would never have been called “justification” or “finding in favor” or “bestowing the status of righteous.”
Nevertheless, justification and finding in favor and bestowing a status of righteous are indeed what happen in the law-court of God when guilty sinners who believe in Jesus are on trial.
God actually justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5). He declares the unrighteous to be righteous, not guilty of the charge, not simply forgiven. Yet earlier in Romans Paul states that there is none righteous, but God declares them righteous. What is the basis for this declaration? John Piper explains again:
Exercising clemency toward, or forgiving, a guilty defendant does not provide a basis for justification. Commuting the sentence of the guilty person merely because of clemency or forgiveness is not what justification is. And an omniscient, just judge does not say that a defendant has moral righteousness when he is guilty of having no moral righteousness (Rom. 3:10)-unless there is a way that an alien moral righteousness can be counted as his.
In other words, since forgiveness and clemency are not justification. The Just and Omniscient Judge can find in our favor and proclaim the sinner as righteous because we have an alien righteousness that is imputed to us from Christ. This imputation of righteousness allows God to declare us righteous in accordance with reality. This is not made up. It is real righteousness that is reckoned to sinners based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God counts sinners as morally righteous even though we are not.
Piper sums up at the end of this chapter and asks a very important question: “When the Judge finds in our favor, does he count us as having the required moral righteousness-not in ourselves, but because of the divine righteousness imputed to us in Christ?” Piper answers yes, while Wright answers no.
