Notthemama1984
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
This morning I stepped outside into the cold air and I started to think about something. Am I thinking properly or am I way off?
NT Wright makes the claim that "righteousness" is not a substance that can be imputed or infused. It is not something you can hold in your hand.
Well heat is not a substance either. I cannot give you a handful of heat. It is an aspect of something. It is an adjective describing something. Even though this is true, something that is hot or creates heat can affect me and cause me to warm up. For example, the sun creates massive amounts of heat and when that heat hits me, I warm up. I am physically changed.
Would it be wrong to see the same thing with righteousness? It may not be a substance, but it is an aspect that can change or affect someone. Righteousness comes from Christ and when it comes in contact with the spiritual man, it changes him. In the same way that my hot body can never claim the heat is its own (my body does not create the heat at any time. It is always a reaction to the sun), our spiritual man can never claim the righteousness, but must acknowledge that it is Christ's righteousness in us that is causing the change.
In my brain this analogy helps explain the idea of not being able to hold a cup of righteousness without throwing away imputed righteousness.
Thoughts?
NT Wright makes the claim that "righteousness" is not a substance that can be imputed or infused. It is not something you can hold in your hand.
Well heat is not a substance either. I cannot give you a handful of heat. It is an aspect of something. It is an adjective describing something. Even though this is true, something that is hot or creates heat can affect me and cause me to warm up. For example, the sun creates massive amounts of heat and when that heat hits me, I warm up. I am physically changed.
Would it be wrong to see the same thing with righteousness? It may not be a substance, but it is an aspect that can change or affect someone. Righteousness comes from Christ and when it comes in contact with the spiritual man, it changes him. In the same way that my hot body can never claim the heat is its own (my body does not create the heat at any time. It is always a reaction to the sun), our spiritual man can never claim the righteousness, but must acknowledge that it is Christ's righteousness in us that is causing the change.
In my brain this analogy helps explain the idea of not being able to hold a cup of righteousness without throwing away imputed righteousness.
Thoughts?