In the controversy between Protestants and Roman Catholics there has been no question whether Jesus obeyed God’s law, but only to what effect. Did Jesus obey the law so as to make it possible for us to cooperate with grace toward future justification, or did he obey God’s law for us (pro nobis) to accomplish our justification once for all? The Protestants affirmed the latter and denied the former. Nevertheless, despite the unity among confessional Protestants on justification, questions have persistently arisen among them concerning the nature, intent, and effect of Jesus’s law keeping and its relation to the justification of sinners. Continue reading →