Three helpful paragraphs from an essay on ‘Forensic Metaphors in Romans’:
"As far as his dealings with believers are concerned, this judge
[God] shocks all expectations. He sides with the guilty; he takes painful measures to
vouchsafe their acquittal; he shows mercy where he should have punished
severely; he acquits unconditionally. Instead of judicial objectivity and
equity, mercy is now the norm. The only requirement is that they should accept
his offer. Instances of pardon were well-known in Romans legal practice, but
these were spasmodic, eclectic, frequently qualified and conditional, and very
often politically motivated. A timeless, universal and absolutely unconditional
pardon like the one here in Romans, was totally unheard of."
"Metaphors have their strengths and weakness. Paul’s forensic
imagery also has its limitations. As such, it can only depict sin as guilt
before God. Other metaphors are necessary to portray, for example, its
enslaving, estranging or defiling aspects. It also cannot describe the specific
effect of Christ’s salvific work. For that purpose Paul had to resort to other
metaphors like deliverance (Rom 3:24), atonement (3:25) and reconciliation
(5:10-11). An additional weakness is that, apart from their new status as
righteous and the imperative resulting from it, the forensic imagery focusses
pre-eminently on believers’ entry into the new community. It reveals
very little about the nature of their new life in Christ."
"On the other hand, Paul’s forensic metaphors are pre-eminently
suited to highlight the sovereign activity of God, the radicality of sin and
the even greater radicality of grace. In order to highlight the surprising
otherness and the joy-bringing “goodness” of the good news to his Romans addressees,
the apostle could scarcely have made a better choice. This was the language
they would understand Ironical as it may seem, exactly by using forensic
imagery, Paul completely delegalized the Christian message. In God’s gospel
court room grace reigns supreme (Rom 5:20-21)."
Andrie B. du Toit ‘Forensic Metaphors in Romans and their
Soteriological Significance,’ Salvation in the New Testament: Perspectives
on Soteriology, ed. Jan. G. van der Watt (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 213-246
(this quote on 242-243, emphasis original).