Righteous and Justification from Sin Received from Without
Chapter 3 - 1.9
Justification is the declaration of righteousness that God imparts to sinners on account of Christ. The Baptized are freed from slavery to sin and “δεδικαιωται––justified, declared righteous,” [1] from sin. Paul writes, “For the one who died has been [δεδικαιωται] declared righteous and stands justified from sin” (Rom 6:7; cf. v. 11; 7:4; 8:1; Gal 2:20; Col 3:1-3; Heb 4:10; 1 Pet 3:18; 4:1). Just as the person is ruled not guilty before a judge in court, the sinner is ruled not guilty before God and stands justified from sin before God for Christ’s sake.[2] Declared righteousness is called forensic justification (righteousness).[3] Justification from sin is bestowed in Baptism, in which sinners are united to Christ. God’s declaration of righteousness on account of Christ is for the sinner so that the sinner “stands justified from sin” (Rom 6:7). Sinners declared righteous are born of God, saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:5-8).
As a result of faith and Baptism into Christ, slavery to sin has been abolished and overruled by God’s power and righteousness. Therefore Baptized believers are no longer under the condemnation and judgment of sin, but set free from sin, under grace, and no longer slaves to sin on account of Christ Jesus. The slave to Jesus Christ is also a slave to righteousness (cf. Rom 6:18-19).
Sinners freed from slavery to sin are now instruments of righteousness for the sake of Christ. Through faith in Christ, there is no longer condemnation (cf. John 5:24; Rom 8:1), but life in Christ “as living from [the] dead and your bodily members to God [as] instruments of righteousness” (Rom 6:13). The sinner is no longer condemned by the Law, but raised from the deadness of sin and its consequences. Thus, all freed from slavery to sin are alive from its grave in Christ alone.
Righteousness from Without
Sinners have Christ’s righteousness as a gift from without or outside oneself. Middendorf explains, “The righteousness of God comes to us from outside of us (extra nos).”[4] This righteousness is “extra nos ipso,[5] from outside the sinner and “iustitia extra nos posita,” which proclaims justification apart from the good works of the sinner.[6] Justification grants the sinner to be freed from slavery to sin, and his master is now God. As such, extra nos righteousness from God allows sinners to be freed from slavery to sin and instead enslaved to righteousness.
Paul furthers this point when he says, “And, after being freed from the [slavery] of sin, you were enslaved to righteousness” (Rom 6:18).[7] The reign of slavery to sin, death, and condemnation of the Law is abolished in Christ’s death and resurrection, freeing sinners. Righteousness is apart from our works (cf. 3:19–20, 28; 4:4–6)––it is all a gift of God’s grace through Christ (cf. Rom 5:15, 17, 18). Eternal life is given to sinners through faith in Christ to free the captives from slavery to sin to become slaves of God, enslaved to righteousness.
Luther wrote in Two Kinds of Righteousness,
The first is alien righteousness, that is the righteousness of another, instilled from without, This is the righteousness of Christ by which he justifies through faith, as written in 1 Cor 1 [:30]: ‘Whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.’ . . . This righteousness, then, is given to men in baptism and whenever they are truly repentant.[8]
Luther points to Christ alone as the wisdom of God from whom sinners' righteousness comes.
The Holy Spirit works repentance and faith in the sinner by bringing Christ’s righteousness through Baptism. Jesus’ righteousness is bestowed from outside the sinner for Christ’s sake because of His payment for sinners’ redemption. The slave to Christ is declared righteous, receiving what Luther describes as “alien righteousness.” Through faith and Baptism, the freed slave from sin is also a new creation (cf. 2 Cor 5:17), and “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph 2:10).
Freed for Life in Christ
Salvation from sin and death is the Good News. Moreover, Paul writes that the Good News is the power of God, “For I am not ashamed of the Good News, because it is [the] power of God into salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16; cf. 1 Cor 1:18). The Good News is Jesus Christ crucified and risen “according to the Scriptures,” [9] for sinners' freedom from slavery to sin and death and for the forgiveness of sins. Thus, the Baptized are “living from the dead” (Rom 6:13), united to the death and resurrection of Christ, and free from eternal death to eternal life (cf. John 5:24; Rom 6:13).[10]
Paul clarifies unity into Christ through Baptism, “Indeed, since we have become united and grow together with the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be [united in the likeness] of his resurrection” (Rom 6:5). The Baptized have died to sin in Christ’s death and died to the condemnation of the Law through Baptism into Christ. Jesus Messiah fulfilled the Law that condemned enslaved sinners “sold under sin” (cf. Rom 7:14), now free from sin and death.
As a result of sinners’ death to sin and unity with Christ, on the one hand, sinners are freed from slavery to sin and, on the other hand, raised to Christ’s eternal life, alive in Christ. Paul writes, “Thus you also count yourselves to be dead to sin on the one hand, but, on the other hand, living to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11). Scripture speaks of death and dying to sin when one is raised and resurrected to life with Christ.[11] Eternal life in Christ is the free gift of God, and grants freedom from the consequences of sin and death.
In the joyful truth and reality of Christ’s Kingdom, the struggle with sin remains and physical death is imminent. However, for now and forever, “the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23). On the Last Day, the dead to sin will rise from physical death into everlasting life with all the saints. Even though the physical body temporarily dies, all the saints and slaves of God are looking forward to the Resurrection on the Last Day into the new heavens and new earth where death will be no more (cf. 1 Cor 15:54). Middendorf writes of the theme of “now/not yet” in Romans 6,
Turning specifically to Romans 6, the dominant theme is the “now/not yet” relationship of believers in regard to sin. Through Baptism into Christ, believers “now” have already died to sin’s slavery. Nevertheless, as long as their own physical death (as well as bodily resurrection on the Last Day) has “not yet” taken place, believers remain engaged in an ongoing struggle against sin throughout their earthly life.[12]
The slave of God struggles with sin, lives in Christ now, and has hope for the fullness of life with God forever as His joyful slaves of righteousness (cf. Rom 6:18).[13] Slavery to God and slavery to righteousness are joyous gifts of God to sinners raised to life in Christ. The sinner freed from slavery to sin is now a son and slave of God in Christ.
Jesus says, “the son remains forever . . . So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:35, 36).[14] Freedom from slavery to sin and death is precisely what Jesus speaks about here. Jesus Christ is the one who remains in His house forever, freeing the captives from slavery to sin. Sinners were once orphans, as “children of the devil” (1 John 3:10)––of wrath, but are now “adopted as sons” [15] of God through Christ (cf. Rom 8:15, 23; Gal 4:5). The sons of God are now slaves to God and righteousness. Saint John Chrysostom wrote of Romans 6:18,
“Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants [slaves] of righteousness.’ There are two gifts of God which he here points out. The ‘freeing from sin,’ and also the ‘making them servants [slaves] to righteousness,’ which is better than any freedom. For God hath done the same as if a person were to take an orphan, who had been carried away by savages into their own country, and were not only to free him from captivity, but were to set a kind father over him, and bring him to very great dignity. And this has been done in our case.”[16]
The orphan, free from savage captivity to sin and death, is under the care of a merciful and kind Father through the Son, Jesus.
[1] “δεδικαίωται—This is a perfect indicative passive of δικαιόω, and a divine passive. The meaning is, then, “he has been declared righteous [by God] and stands justified.” The general reticence of English versions to translate δεδικαίωται with “righteousness/justification” terminology is odd, especially in Romans. Translations typically use “is freed” (e.g., RSV, NRSV, NASB) or “has been set free” (ESV). BDAG offers “the one who died is freed fr[om] sin” (s.v. δικαιόω, 3), though this definition of δικαιόω (“make free/pure”) is given for Pauline use only here, in 1 Cor 6:11, and, possibly, 1 Tim 3:16. But translating δικαιόω with “make/set free” loses its forensic force and is, therefore, both inadequate and theologically problematic. Paul is not saying believers are free from sin or sinning. “Make/set free” would be appropriate if the verb were ἐλευθερόω, which Paul uses later in the midst of the language of slavery (6:18, 22; cf. 6:20; 7:3).” Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 449; “δικαιόω . . . δεδικαίωμαι Ro 6:7; 1 Cor 4:4 . . . ③ to cause someone to be released from personal or institutional claims that are no longer to be considered pertinent or valid, make free/pure . . . ἁμαρτίας the one who died is freed fr. sin Ro 6:7.” BDAG, 249; “δικαιόω dikaioō; from G1342; to show to be righteous, declare righteous: — acknowledged...justice.” NASEC, G1344; This study holds δεδικαίωται as “declared righteous and stands justified from sin” in Romans 6:7.
[2] Perhaps, such as in court: Once the pronounced verdict––declaration of grace and judgment is final–and as the gavel on the sounding block is called to order, no one can question or overthrow the judge’s pronounced judgment and authority.
[3] Erwin Lueker writes forensic justification is an “Act of God by which He judicially declares a sinner righteous for the sake of Christ.” Lueker, Lutheran Cyclopedia, 304; Thomas Schreiner comments, “forensic righteousness is the basis or foundation for freedom from the power of sin. Only those who have died with Christ are declared to be righteous and thus are enabled to conquer the mastery of sin.” Thomas Schreiner, Romans, 2nd ed., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), 320; The conqueror of sin is declared righteous in Christ in His death and resurrection from the dead, and those in Christ are passive recipients of grace also has Christ’s righteousness and victory over sin and death (cf. Rom 8:37; 1 John 5:4-5).
[4] Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 455.
[5] “extra nos ipsos = outside of ourselves.” David Scaer, A Latin Ecclesiastical Glossary: For Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics (1978), 20, 29; “The righteousness of God comes to us from outside of us (extra nos).” Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 455.
[6] “iustitia extra nos posita = justification takes place apart from man’s effort.” Scaer, A Latin Ecclesiastical Glossary: For Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics, 20, 29.
[7] Middendorf lays out Paul’s past tense speaking of slavery to sin: “But Paul states this description in the past tense: “you were slaves to sin” (6:17). What changed? The bookends of 6:17 establish the important point. The verse begins by giving “thanks … to God” (χάρις … τῷ θεῷ) and concludes with a divine passive, “you were handed over” (παρεδόθητε). Paul reinforces this in the very next verse, which begins with another divine passive, “after being freed” (ἐλευθερωθέντες, 6:18). Together these expressions communicate that you were delivered and freed from slavery by God and, therefore, properly give thanks to him.” Romans 1–8, 499-500.
[8] Luther, “Two Kinds of Righteousness” (1519), AE 31:297.
[9] Paul writes, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4; cf. Psalm 16:10; Isa 53; Matt 12:20; 16:21; Luke 24:25-27; John 1:29; 2:19-22; Acts 2:23-32; 8:32; 13:33-35; 26:22-23; Gal 1:4; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet 2:24).
[10] “As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus, [that] we were baptized into his death?” (Rom 6:3).
[11] Resurrection, or being raised with Christ in Romans 6 also seen in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God . . . For you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
[12] Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 442.
[13] Cf. Isa 25:8; 60:20; 65:17-19; 66:22; Hos 13:14; Matt 24:25; Rom 6:18; 1 Cor 15: 54-58; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 7:17; 21:1-7.
[14] See the promises of God in Abraham's Offspring, the son of the promise and the son of the slave woman (cf. Gen 21:8-21; Joh 8:35; Gal 3:18; 4:21-31).
[15] Das explains adoption in Galatians: “4:5 υἱοθεσίαν (‘adoption as sons’)—Although daughters were sometimes adopted in the Greco-Roman world—and this may be reflected in Paul’s movement from (masculine) ‘sons’ to (neuter, inclusive) ‘children’ in Rom 8:14, 16—daughters could not carry on a family line in first-century patriarchal society, and their adoptions are narrated with different terminology. Males were the only ones described by the ancients as enjoying ‘adoption as sons.’ Paul also prefers ‘sons’ (υἱοί, e.g., Gal 3:26; 4:6) over ‘children’ (τέκνα, in Galatians only in 4:19–31) because the adoption of baptized believers as sons is dependent upon and inextricably tied to Jesus as God’s ‘Son’ (υἱός, 4:4; also, e.g., 1:16; 2:20), the proper heir (Norm Mundhenk, “Adoption: Being Recognized as a Son,” BT 59 (2008): 169–78; Burke, Adopted, 21, n. 2) . . . In Gal 4:4–5 Paul says that God has sent forth his Son not only to redeem those under the Law but also ‘in order that we might receive the adoption as sons.’ In 3:26 Paul climactically declares the Galatians to be ‘sons of God in Christ,’ and in 4:6 he again emphatically proclaims them God’s adopted ‘sons.’ In the Greco-Roman world, adoption could grant even a slave the full rights and privileges of a natural son (thus 4:7). Although the Jews did not generally practice adoption in Paul’s day (υἱοθεσία, Gal 4:5; cf. also Rom 9:4), the apostle is drawing on a widely recognized custom as a way of explaining the benefits of Christ’s saving work.” Galatians, Concordia Commentary, 398, 412–413.
[16] John Chrysostom, “Homilies on Acts and Romans,” vol. XI, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, ed. by Philip Schaff, 14 vols (1886-1889, repr., Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Printing Company, 1997), 412-13. Hereafter, NPNF.