God-centered resources from the ministry of John Piper

Listen to John Piper talk about how his and N. T. Wright's views of justification are different (2.5 min).

[The following is an edited transcript of the audio.]

Bob Allen: Are there any other specifics in what N. T. Wright has been saying that also trouble you that you’d like to bring up before we get into some of that hurt to the church that you just referred to?

John Piper: There are four or five other things, but let me just mention one.

I’m concerned most especially about what he teaches about the role of the imputation of God’s righteousness in Christ to us and the imputation of the obedience of Jesus to us according to Romans 5:19.

Here’s what Wright says about imputation. (When I read it I thought, “I got to write a book about this.”)

If we use the language of the law-court, it makes no sense whatever to say that the judge imputes, imparts, bequeaths, conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or the defendant. Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom. . . . If and when God does act to vindicate his people, his people will then, metaphorically speaking, have the status of ‘righteousness’ . . . . But the righteousness they have will not be God’s own righteousness. That makes no sense at all. (What Saint Paul Really Said, 98-99)

I almost titled this book Nonsense Happens, because he says, “That makes no sense at all.” But I knew that title would be misunderstood. People would think I was saying that I think everything N. T. Wright has written is nonsense, which I don’t believe in the least—he writes many amazing, helpful, glorious things. But this struck me as being very hurtful. To say that the imputation of God’s righteousness across the courtroom onto the defendant in union with Jesus Christ is nonsense is devastating.

There are other things that he has said that get my goat and I think are hurtful to the church, but that’ll be enough for this little introduction.

This is the fifth question in a 7-part interview that John Piper did in preparation for his forthcoming book The Future of Justification.

• Part 1, Who is this book for?
• Part 2, Who is N. T. Wright?
• Part 3, What do you believe about justification?
• Part 4, How is Wright's view of justification different than yours?