Justification and Christ’s life.

While John Piper is on his writing sabbatical, he posted this article on the DG blog today (it is also the May Taste & See article as well). The question that he poses and then tries to answer is:

When we teach that our right standing with God is attained through the imputation of Christ’s obedience to our account (Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:6, 11; 10:3), does this imply that the work of Christ on the cross—his final suffering and death—is insufficient for our justification?

His answer to this question is:

So back to our initial question: “Does the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness imply that the cross is insufficient for our right standing with God?” The answer is no. Just as the perfectly obedient life of Christ is essential to the death of Christ as a covering for our sin, so the perfectly obedient life of Christ is essential to the death of Christ as the supreme act of obedience by which we are appointed righteous in him. The death of Christ is sufficient for covering our sins as the climax of a sinless life. And the death of Christ is sufficient for our justification as the climax of a sinless life.

For the full argument, click here. I really look forward to what he is producing during his writing sabbatical for this year.