I probably won't spend a lot of time on this one, but below I've attempted to interact with probably some of Sheperd's statements that are considered the most troublesome.
In reply to:[color:"blue"]The Pauline affirmation in Romans 2:13, "the doers of the Law will be justified," is not to be understood hypothetically in the sense that there are no persons who fall into that class, but in the sense that faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ will be justified (Compare Luke 8:21; James 1:22-25).
There are usually two problems people have with this. (1) They feel that Sheperd believed that one is not justified until the end of the salvation process. This I believe contradicts some of Sheperd’s other points. (2) They believe that Sheperd taught that one is justified on the basis of one's own merit, which too would contradict other statements he has made.
I think Sheperd is in agreement with Murray on this one. Murray states: "Whether any will be actually justified by works either in this life or at the final judgment is beside the apostle's interest and design and this juncture. The burden of this verse is that not the hearers or mere possessors of the law will be justified before God but that in terms of the law the criterion is doing, not hearing...there is no need to import questions that are not relevant to the universe of discourse."
I would take Sheperd as saying here that all those who would be openly and publicly declared righteous on the last day will be those who were obedient to Christ. I cannot construe from this, especially in light of his other statements, that he felt that the grounds of this open justification would be our works. Rather, I believe that he meant that good works belong to the justified and only they have them. I find it plausible that Sheperd was speaking of justification in a demonstrative sense, but this need not be the case. In other words, he might have been speaking of our works vindicating (i.e. "justifying") our invisible faith and union with Christ.
In reply to:[color:"blue"]The exclusive ground of the justification of the believer in the state of justification is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, but his obedience, which is simply the perseverance of the saints in the way of truth and righteousness, is necessary to his continuing in a state of justification (Heb. 3:6, 14).
I must admit, this not the happiest of phrases, but I must allow for it based upon his other points. I believe (or better yet, I hope) what he was saying was that if one were to fall away from good works, such a one would lose his justification. This is indeed true. The question now becomes, can one fall away from the grace that effects good works? I believe Sheperd’s answer is "no", which we read in other places. I think we read this sort of thing in the “book of warnings”, Hebrews; but we also read that the author is confident of better things for God’s elect – the things that accompany salvation...
{Added later, after edited} No doubt, it does sound as if Sheperd may have been saying that our obedience keeps us justified. This is troublesome indeed.
In reply to:[color:"blue"]The righteousness of Jesus Christ ever remains the exclusive ground of the believer's justification, but the personal godliness of the believer is also necessary for his justification in the judgment of the last day (Matt. 7:21-23; 25:31-46; Heb. 12:14).
This wording is in my estimation pathetic. The word "necessary" would suggest that godliness is a "condition" that must be met, rather than a consequence or fruit of what God works in the justified. However, I must grant that his words were simply poorly chosen because in the same breath Sheperd speaks of the exclusive grounds of justification being the merits of Christ alone. I must interpret his unclear statement in light of the clearer one he makes in the same breath. Accordingly, I must take the word "necessary" as suggesting that godliness will be a quality that will accompany the justified, at least to some extent.
As my pastor has pointed out to me, whether one is a heretic or not should be easily qualified in just a few minutes of questioning.
