The elect are accepted and forgiven now. The elect are declared children of God now. Justification and Adoption are received in the present and are not waited for until the judgment. What takes place at the judgment is the declaration of public "righteousness" attributed to the believer that was determined at regeneration. The focus of this discussion is on the righteousness that God "gives" and not on the righteousness which God "is" in His being. This distinction is important because Luther despaired over the righteousness of God in His being until he learned that the righteousness described in v. 16 and v.17 are a reference to the alien righteousness which God gives to the believer. The righteousness of God comes at a cost--a cost where the believer is justified by a gift. This gift is a purchase through redemption "from" the slavery of sin--it's penalty and bondage--and a purchase "to" the alien righteousness given by God in Christ. Christ is our propitiation wherein God is appeased, His wrath is averted, and sin is dealt with by Christ's "blood." This satisfying sacrifice is demonstrated in the Old Testament on the mercy seat where a blameless and spotless lamb is sacrificed on behalf of the sinner. Christ is our lamb through whom we are forgiven and declared righteous in God's sight.
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