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Summary Of Righteousness By Piper

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Piper argues that Wright and other New Perspectivists are misunderstanding the nature of humanity. Just as there are innumerable variations between Christian denominations of today, Piper reasons, even if many Jews did not have a works-based understanding of salvation, some certainly did. Paul could be addressing this particular subset of Jews within Romans and Galatians. To Piper, Paul’s letters could be toward those legalistic Jews who view the Law as that which does not literally save, but which creates spiritual superiority - and in some ways, earns a degree of favor before God. Piper views this kind of works-righteousness as warped and unbiblical, citing likened issues as the purpose for Paul’s composition of Romans and Galatians. For this reason, Piper and other Reformers argue that Wright is mistaken in his understanding of Paul’s opponents within these books. Piper writes that God’s righteousness is …show more content…

This is a matter of controversy between Wright and Piper. Piper writes that no single action, such as keeping the covenant, is the essence of God’s righteousness, because all His acts are done in righteousness. In the same way, Piper argues, the essence of human righteousness is faithfulness to uphold the glory of God in all that we do. The issue, however, as Piper describes, is that humans fall short of this glory, and thus, no one is righteous. Piper would cite biblical references such as Romans 3:23 and Romans 3:10 to illustrate this Reformer perspective. Convinced that Paul is speaking of a positive righteousness being counted to the defendant, not merely the verdict of clemency, Piper believes that Wright’s system leaves no room for imputation of righteousness, as it is traditionally understood: Christ’s obedience imputed to the sinner’s account. Piper accuses Wright of muddying the water in this area, so that it is unclear whether Wright claims that righteousness is imparted, as believed in

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