Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

asis of their good works, he would not only be in conflict with Paul, but would also be
self-contradictory, for he explicitly says that Abraham was justified by faith.
b. Theological terms to express the relation of faith to justification. There are especially
three terms that come into consideration here.
(1) Instrumental cause. This name was very generally used at first, but afterwards met
with considerable opposition. The question was raised, whether it was God’s
instrument or man’s. And it was said: It cannot be God’s, since the faith referred to is
not God’s faith; neither can it be man’s, for justification is not a deed of man, but of
God. We should bear in mind, however, (a) that according to the plain teaching of the
Bible we are justified by faith, dia pisteos, and that this dia can only be understood in an
instrumental sense, Rom. 3:28; Gal. 3:8; (b) that the Bible explicitly says that God justifies
the sinner by faith, and therefore represents faith as God’s instrument, Rom. 3:30; and
(c) that faith is also represented as the instrument of man, as the means by which he
receives justification, Gal. 2:16. Faith can be regarded as the instrument of God in a
twofold sense. It is a gift of God wrought in the sinner unto justification. Moreover, by
working faith in the sinner, God carries the declaration of pardon into his heart or
conscience. But faith is also an instrument of man by which he appropriates Christ and
all His precious gifts, Rom. 4:5; Gal. 2:16. This is also the representation of the matter
which we find in the Belgic Confession, 85 and in the Heidelberg Catechism. 86 By faith we
embrace Christ and remain in contact with Him who is our righteousness. The name
“instrumental cause” is regularly used in Protestant Confessions. Yet some Reformed
theologians prefer to avoid it, in order to guard themselves against the danger of giving
the impression that justification is in any way dependent on faith as a work of man.
(2) Appropriating organ. This name expresses the idea that by faith the sinner
appropriates the righteousness of Christ and establishes a conscious union between
himself and Christ. The merits of Christ constitute the dikaioma, the legal basis on which
the formal declaration of God in justification rests. By faith the sinner appropriates the
righteousness of the Mediator already imputed to him ideally in the pactum salutis; and
on the basis of this he is now formally justified before God. Faith justifies in so far as it
takes possession of Christ. The name “appropriating organ” includes the instrumental
idea, and is therefore perfectly in harmony with the statements found in our
confessional standards. It has an advantage over the more common name in that it
excludes the idea that faith is in any sense the basis for justification. It can be called an
85 Art. XXII.
86 Questions 60 and 61.
580