Petto: Our Works do not Contribute to Justification

Although Christ fulfilled the Law for us, so as it is imputed to us, and we made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5.21. Yet it doth not follow that we should be freed altogether from the obligation of the Law unto obedience; for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, his obeying and fulfilling of the Law for us, was as the condition of Life, or that upon which the Lord hath promised Justification unto Life; but we may be (and are) obliged to obedience, not for that, but for other ends; not in the least for our Justification and title to Life; but as a part of our Sanctification; and we sin in not obeying, that we may glorifie God by those fruits of our being Spiritually alive. Christ’s obedience was for one end, ours is for another; as his sufferings were for one end, our afflictions for another, and neither of them unnecessary.

“Christ and the Condition: Samuel Petto (c.1624-1711) on the Mosaic Covenant,” by Michael G. Brown

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Horton, Wingren, and Luther on Working for Your Neighbor

I finally finished reading The Law is Not of Faith yesterday. In the volume’s final essay, “Obedience is Better than Sacrifice,” Michael Horton endeavors to show the importance of the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s active obedience. Although not exactly his primary point, I found the following passage particularly interesting (emphasis in bold is mine):

“No longer paralyzed by anxiety in a debt economy [since Christ has paid our debt -PTMcW] we are free to live imperfectly yet joyfully in the eucharistic economy, between Christ’s finished work and our final glorification. We are no longer debtors to God in any respect — not even to his grace, but are grateful heirs. For this first time, we can render obedience that comes from the heart of sons rather than slaves. In Christ, the Great King finally has received the human service in which his fatherly heart delights. And the whole creation will enter with thanksgiving behind its new Adam (Rom. 8:18-24).