“Calling God `Our Father’”

It is not uncommon to hear critics of the Protestant Reformation complain that Martin Luther and John Calvin, along with those who followed them throughout subsequent generations, were so preoccupied with a Christian’s legal standing before God (justification), that both the Lutheran and Reformed traditions downplayed the loving relationship that sinners enjoy with their creator as his adopted children. This charge usually arises from the nature of the biblical doctrine of justification as understood by those whose theological origins are found in the Reformation. Protestantism, in most of its forms, understood that the righteousness earned by Jesus through his personal obedience to God’s commandments is reckoned (or imputed) to a sinner through the means of faith, so that the sinner is given a right-standing before God and is therefore delivered from God’s wrath.

In emphasizing a Christian’s right-standing with God via imputation, critics contend that broadly conceived the Reformation’s approach to the Christian life falls squarely upon a person’s legal standing before God, and as a consequence, necessarily depreciates the personal relationship that a sinner enjoys with God downplaying Jesus’ role as a loving Savior. I once heard a Roman Catholic apologist put it like this: “Protestants use a courtroom model, while we [Roman Catholics] use a family model.” In other words, the Reformation emphasis on justification supposedly shifts the focus of the Christian life to being saved “from” God, instead of emphasizing being saved “for” God. If the doctrine of justification is the true watershed doctrine by which the church stands or falls, then God is primarily understood as a stern judge, not as a loving father. The Christian’s standing before God is essentially legal, not familial.

This would be a powerful argument, if it were true.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Read More