Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 74:1 (Spring 2012)
Article: John Flavel On The Priority Of Union With Christ: Further Historical Perspective On The Structure Of Reformed Soteriology
Author: William R. Edwards

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WTJ 74:1 (Spring 2012) p. 33

John Flavel On The Priority Of Union With Christ:
Further Historical Perspective On The Structure Of Reformed Soteriology

William R. Edwards

William R. (Rob) Edwards is the pastor of Mercy Presbyterian Church in Forest, Va.

I. Introduction

A relatively small but significant debate continues within a segment of the Reformed community regarding priority within the structure of soteriology. Although there is a much longer history, the context for the current debate reaches back most immediately to various critiques of the New Perspective on Paul and the Federal Vision. These movements emphasize union with Christ while objecting to the doctrine of justification as historically understood within Reformed theology. In particular, the role of imputation, whereby Christ’s righteousness is attributed to the believer, is openly questioned.

The response from Reformed circles defending the traditional formulation of the doctrine of justification has, generally speaking, followed along two lines. One response continues to assert the central role of union with Christ as the overarching principle in the application of redemption while arguing that imputation is an essential aspect of this union when properly conceived.1 The other response places greater emphasis on the priority of justification for the entire structure of salvation and uniquely distinguishes this forensic dimension in relation to the other benefits of redemption.2

These two responses in defense of the historic Reformed doctrine of justification, with their differing emphases, have brought to the fore deeper structural differences, which has become the occasion for this broader debate about theological priority within Reformed soteriology. It should be noted that both positions vigorously maintain that justification is God’s forensic, or legal, declaration of a believer’s righteous status dependent entirely on the imputed

WTJ 74:1 (Spring 2012) p. 34

righteousness of Christ and received by faith alone. This is not at question. The debate is about the broader structure of salvation, specifically the relationship between union with Christ and justification, along with the other benefits of redemption, particularly sanctification.3

These differences include divergent readings in the area of historical theology as well. Both positions appeal to the Reformed tradition, laying claim to Calvin and the trajectory of Reformed theology as it developed into the seventeenth century. Individuals such as Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Lane G. Tipton, Ma...

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