Some cannot distinguish the puppy from the chick.They think anything found under a mother hen is a chick!
James Buchanan in his magnum opus on "Justification" emphasized the sharp distinction between 'Actual Justification' and 'Declarative Justification'- see Lecture VIII. This crucial distinction maintained by the old school Calvinists has been ignored and rejected by the new school Calvinists.
Though so plainly stated in the historic confessions of faith, they confused, and fused them together, leading to serious errors.
By 'actual justification', Buchanan refers to the APPLICATION of Christ's righteousness (ALREADY LEGALLY IMPUTED at the cross) to an individual elect personally, FREELY by the grace of God, at the effectual calling out of his native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ, such that an elect individual is personally and actually and vitally justified.
ACTUAL justification is distinct and different from the LEGAL justification that has taken place at the cross when the righteousness of Christ was LEGALLY IMPUTED to all the elect.
Justification becomes ACTUAL or VITAL or PERSONAL to an individual elect at his effectual calling when the righteousness of Christ is actually and really APPLIED to each elect PERSONALLY. This is the justification by God's free grace spoken of in Romans 3:24.
What was LEGALLY IMPUTED is APPLIED PERSONALLY leading to ACTUAL justification. What was legal was made personal and actual.
Legal IMPUTATION of Christ's righteousness to the elect took place at the cross.
The APPLICATION of the righteousness of Christ to each elect personally takes place at effectual calling out of the state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation.
Actual justification makes believing in Christ possible; faith, receiving and resting in Christ and His righteousness for salvation, declares (i.e. certifies, demonstrates, evidence, etc) the justified state of a man by the free grace of God. That is the declarative justification by faith in Jesus Christ!
Actual justification makes believing in Christ possible. Believing in Jesus Christ declares the justified state of the believer by God's free grace. This is declarative justification by faith!
Which is why the old school baptists declared thus:
"The reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS because they are justified." PBA
Therefore there are these three distinct ASPECTS of justification:
LEGAL justification accomplished at the cross,
ACTUAL Justification applied at effectual calling by free grace
DECLARATIVE justification experienced by faith.
Putting it another way: justification accomplished at the cross; justification applied at effectual calling and justification experienced at faith in Jesus Christ.
New school Calvinists confuse, and fuse these two distinct aspects of justification INTO ONE by teaching: "you are justified by God's free grace when you believe, i.e. by faith."
Instead of faith being the instrument to declare or manifest your justification by the free grace of God, faith is now the instrument to obtain your justification before God!
O damnable heresy! Preaching another gospel... and they still shout and scream 'salvation by God's free grace alone..." and they still dare quote Rom 3:24 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
So, from the left side of their mouth, they spout, "justified by God through my faith", and from the right side they foam, "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
Have they become so deceived and hardened that they don't realize that what comes out from the right side of their mouth is diametrically opposed and contradicted by what comes out from the left side of the SAME mouth?
Abraham's ACTUAL justification by God's grace FREELY took place when God effectually called him while still in Ur of the Chaldean. Abraham's justified state was DECLARED by his faith in Gen 15:1-6. There was a considerable time-lapse between Abraham's ACTUAL justification and his DECLARATIVE justification.
So was the case with Cornelius. He was ACTUALLY justified when effectually called out of the state of sin and death to grace and salvation long before Apostle Peter was sent to him. His DECLARATIVE justification took place when he believed the gospel preached to him by Apostle Peter.
James Buchanan "While Justification is a forensic or judicial term, it is used in Scripture to denote, SOMETIMES the acceptance of a sinner as righteous in the sight of God, - SOMETIMES the manifestation or proof of his acceptance, by which it is attested or made sure: and this variety in the application of it IS THE GROUND OF AN IMPORTANT THEOLOGICAL DISTINCTION, - the distinction between ACTUAL and DECLARATIVE Justification." - Justification, p233, Banner of Truth.
Ii was taught and drilled into my tiny head, "a biblical distinction is the essence of sound theology." The important theological distinction which Buchanan indicated has been ignored and rejected by the new school Calvinists, and they have ended up with their justification before God by their faith!
James Buchanan - "Actual Justification comes first, and is necessarily presupposed in that which is declarative; and hence, if any one is declared to have been justified, we conclude that he was actually justified, or accepted as righteous ...in the sight of God."
It is likely that the new school Calvinists - because of their confusion and prejudiced mindset - may not even understand what Buchanan is saying.
Let me put it more simply:
Actual justification by God's free grace LOGICALLY as well as CHRONOLOGICALLY precedes the Declarative justification by faith. Actual justification by God's free grace makes Declarative justification by man's act of believing possible; therefore Declarative justification by man's act of believing presupposes that the Actual justification that has taken place, by God's free grace.
The great old school baptists put the same truth this way: "The reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS because they are justified." PBA
Why do the new school Calvinists among the Reformed Baptists REFUSE to be converted to the truth? Why don't they give up the lie?
When God justifies a condemned sinner, He declares him not guilty but righteous by forgiving him all his sins and applying the righteousness of Christ to him PERSONALLY. This is the ACTUAL justification spoken of by Buchanan. The condemned man is actually justified because the righteousness of Christ is applied to him personally, freely by God's grace. What was only LEGALLY true is now personally/vitally true!
When faith justifies a believing man, faith declares that the believing man is a man ALREADY justified by the free grace of God. This is the DECLARATIVE justification spoken of by Buchanan. Faith declares the justified state of the believing man.
The old school baptists (representing over 100 baptized congregations, declared this in the 1689LBCF, ch 11, para 4:
"4. God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, (11) and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sin...s, and rise again for their justification;(12) nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit doth in time due actually apply Christ unto them.(13)" 11. Gal 3:8; 1Pe 1:2; 1Ti 2:6. 12. Ro 4:25. 13. Col 1:21-22; Tit 3:4-7
(the WCF does not have the crucial word "personal.")
Three distinct ASPECTS of justification are stated in this condensed paragraph:
1. DECRETAL justification: God did decree to justify... therefore all the elect are justified by God's decree.
2. LEGAL justification: Christ did die for their justification. His righteousness was LEGALLY IMPUTED to all the elect. Though they were LEGALLY justified they were not PERSONALLY justified.
3. PERSONAL / ACTUAL justification when the Holy Spirit actually apply the righteousness of Christ to each individual elect PERSONALLY. This is justification by the free grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (This is elaborated carefully in the first two paragraphs of chapter 11 of the 1689 CoF. The third paragraph elaborates on the experiential justification through faith in the blessed Saviour Jesus Christ.)
Believing becomes possible when PERSONAL / ACTUAL justification has taken place by the free grace of God.
The declarative or experiential justification by faith is stated in the SECOND paragraph of the same chapter - i.e. 1689.11.2. The first paragraph of the chapter deals with the ACTUAL/PERSONAL justification when the righteousness of Jesus Christ is APPLIED to an elect personally.
Buchanan's use of the word "ACTUAL" to designate the PERSONAL/VITAL aspect of justification by God's free grace is not helpful. It has led to much confusion for those who can't differentiate SOUND from SENSE.
Benjamin Keach used the similar term 'ACTUALLY' with reference to experiential justification, saying to the effect, "no one is actually justified until he believes..." However, he is using the word 'actually' in the context of evidential and declarative justification... just like John Gill had done.
Gill said, "... no man is evidentially and declaratively justified until he believes."
But many new school baptists, because they are addicted to sound-byte, don't get the SENSE of what he said and so concluded that "no one is justified by God until he believes."!
It was also Gill who declared, and quoted by subsequent generations of old school baptists, "The reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS because they are justified."
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Written on Oct 6, 2010
