Biblical Theology And The Westminster Standards Revisited: Union With Christ And Justification "Sola Fide" -- By: Lane G. Tipton

Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 75:1 (Spring 2013)
Article: Biblical Theology And The Westminster Standards Revisited: Union With Christ And Justification "Sola Fide"
Author: Lane G. Tipton


Biblical Theology And The Westminster Standards Revisited: Union With Christ And Justification Sola Fide

Lane G. Tipton

Lane G. Tipton was inaugurated as the Charles Krahe Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary on November 13, 2012. This article is a revised version of his inaugural address.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 30, asks the question that lies at the heart of the application of redemption: “How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?” The answer: “The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.”

Basic to both the question and the answer is a distinction, commonplace in Reformed theology, between redemption accomplished (historia salutis) and redemption applied (ordo salutis). This question and answer in its simplicity and profundity provides an instructive paradigm that ought to orient our thinking about the nature of the redemption accomplished by Christ, on the one hand, and applied in Christ, on the other hand.

Gaining clarity on this basic distinction, particularly with reference to the relationship between union with Christ by faith and justification in Christ by faith alone, will occupy the bulk of this presentation.

I.

Addressing the accomplishment of redemption, answer 30 speaks of redemption “purchased” by Christ. This pecuniary language is designed to locate the redemption of believers in a unique and unrepeatable event in redemptive history, by which the Mediator and Surety of the covenant of grace secures the redemption of his people in his humiliation and exaltation.

Stated in summary terms, Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the threefold office of a prophet, priest, and king, both in his estate of humiliation and in his estate of exaltation (WSC 23).

The accent on the once-for-all character of the securing of redemption by Christ, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation, finds clear expression in Westminster Shorter Catechism 25:

How doth Christ execute the office of a priest? Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.

The accent in the first half of the answer falls properly on the once-for-all character of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice of himself to satisfy divine justice (cf. Heb 9:26). Yet that once-for-all past earthly ministry that cul...

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