Justification, in
Christian theology, is
God’s act of removing the guilt and penalty of
sin while at the same time declaring a sinner
righteous through
Christ’s atoning sacrifice. In
Protestantism, righteousness from God is viewed as being credited to the sinner’s account through
faith alone, without
works.
The means of justification is an area of significant difference between Catholics/Eastern Orthodox and
Protestants. Broadly speaking,
Catholic and
Orthodox Christians distinguish between initial justification, which in their view occurs at
baptism, and permanent justification, accomplished after a lifetime of striving to do
God’s will.
Most Protestants believe that justification is a singular act in which
God declares an unrighteous individual to be righteous, an act made
possible because Christ was legally “made sin” while on the cross (
2 Cor 5:21). Justification is granted to all who exercise
faith, and that is viewed as a gift from God (unmerited favour) by
Lutherans and
Calvinists, who use
Eph 2:8, as well as
Acts 16:14 and
Phil 1:29to support that belief. Catholics and Eastern Orthodox use
James 2:14-26,
Galatians 5:19-21 and
Matthew 19:17 to support their belief that justification is kept through avoiding
grave sins. Justification is seen by Protestants as being the theological fault line that divided Catholic from Protestant during the
Protestant Reformation.
[1]
Biblical references[edit]
New Testament[edit]
Jesus used the idea of ransom, or redemption when referring to his work on earth.
[2][3] Christ’s
death and resurrection (triumph over Satan and death) provide
justification for believers before God. His righteousness becomes
theirs, and his death becomes an offering to God in their place, to pay
for all of their sins. According to Protestants this justification is by
faith alone – not through good deeds – and is a gift from God through
Christ. According to
Catholics and
Eastern Orthodox justification is a free gift but is gotten through baptism initially and through the
sacrament of reconciliation if justification is lost through
grave sin.
- Verses for salvation by faith alone
- “but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who
believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered
over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification.”[4]
- “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all
who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding
of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his
righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at
the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who
have faith in Jesus.”[5]
- Verses for salvation by baptism and avoiding serious sin[6][7]
- “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits
of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,
and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those
who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”[8]
- “Jesus replied, ‘… If you would enter life, keep the commandments…
“You shall not murder”, “You shall not commit adultery”, “You shall not
steal”, “You shall not give false testimony”‘…”[9]
- “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”[10] (emphasis added)
- Faith plus works
James 2:24-26.
“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith
alone.. But faith without works is dead.” In the context of the
surrounding verses, it is apparent that the point being made is that
what one believes modifies one’s actions – thus true faith in God
results in a desire to follow
his instruction to love one another, and thus would result in good deeds.[needs citation
[11]] The
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), signed by both
Lutheran World Federation and The
Roman Catholic Church on
31 October 1999, clearly stated that “consensus in basic truths of the
doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics.”
[12] In
Roman Catholic and
Lutheran doctrines,
as expressed under section 4.7 no.37, “we confess together that good
works – a Christian life lived in faith, hope and love – follow
justification and are its fruits. When the justified live in Christ and
act in the grace they receive, they bring forth, in biblical terms, good
fruit. Since Christians struggle against sin their entire lives, this
consequence of justification is also for them an obligation they must
fulfill. Thus both Jesus and the apostolic Scriptures admonish
Christians to bring forth the works of love.”
The declaration reinstates that several theological views on
justification held by Lutherans and Catholics, though not apparently
similar to each other, are in fact explaining the same “basic truths of
the doctrine of justification” at different angles.
An example can be cited from section 4.7 no. 38-39, “when Catholics
affirm the ‘meritorious’ character of good works, they wish to say that,
according to the biblical witness, a reward in heaven is promised to
these works. Their intention is to emphasize the responsibility of
persons for their actions, not to contest the character of those works
as gifts, or far less to deny that justification always remains the
unmerited gift of grace,” in comparison with “the concept of a
preservation of grace and a growth in grace and faith is also held by
Lutherans. They do emphasize that righteousness as acceptance by God and
sharing in the righteousness of Christ is always complete. At the same
time, they state that there can be growth in its effects in Christian
living. When they view the good works of Christians as the fruits and
signs of justification and not as one’s own ‘merits’, they nevertheless
also understand eternal life in accord with the New Testament as
unmerited ‘reward’ in the sense of the fulfillment of God’s promise to
the believer.”
“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily
food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and
well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is
dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me
your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” - James 2:15-18
D. James Kennedy explains this verse:
“…James is dealing with people who profess to be
Christians, and yet they don’t evidence the reality of their faith by
their works [deeds]. Over, and over again… people will say they have
faith and they don’t have works, and James is saying that real faith
always produces works as a result… The question is, ‘A man may say that
he has faith, but will that faith justify him?’ If it is just a ‘said’
faith”—no, it won’t!”[13]
- Righteousness
Concerning the need for righteousness, Jesus says “I tell you, unless
your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
not enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is possible by accepting the
salvation of Christ. His righteousness (rightness and purity before God,
as Christ never committed any sins) is transferred to believers when
they seek the forgiveness that Christ purchased for them on the cross.
[14] Concerning his own death and speaking at the
Last Supper, he says, “. . .this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
[15] He also speaks often of forgiveness of sins.
[16]
It was Paul who developed the term justification in the theology of
the church. Justification is a major theme of the epistles to the
Romans and to the
Galatians in
the New Testament, and is also given treatment in many other epistles.
In Romans, Paul develops justification by first speaking of God’s just
wrath at sin (Rom. 1:18 – 3:20). Justification is then presented as the
solution for God’s wrath.
[17] One is said to be ‘justified by faith apart from works of the Law.’
[18] Further, Paul writes of sin and justification in terms of two men, Adam and Christ.
[19] Through
Adam, sin came into the world bringing death; through Jesus,
righteousness came into the world, bringing justification unto life.
[20] In
this connection, Paul speaks of Adam’s sin being ‘imputed’ or
‘accounted’ and speaks of justification as acting in analogy to sin.
[21] In chapter 8, Paul connects justification with predestination and glorification.
[22] He further states that those who are justified cannot be separated from the love of Christ.
[23] Several
of these passages are central in the debate between Roman Catholics,
and the various streams of Protestantism (while there is broad agreement
on justification by faith, there is no complete doctrinal uniformity on
Justification among all Protestant denominations), who can understand
them in quite different ways. In Galatians, Paul emphatically rejects
justification by works of the Law, a rejection sparked apparently by a controversy concerning the necessity of
circumcision for salvation.
[24]
Other New Testament writers[edit]
The
Epistle to the Hebrews also
takes up the theme of justification, declaring that Jesus’ death is
superior to the Old Testament sacrifices in that it takes away sin once
for all (Heb. 10). In Hebrews, faith in Jesus’ sacrifice includes
steadfast perseverance.
[25] James discusses
justification briefly but significantly, declaring that a faith that is
apart from works cannot be a justifying faith, because faith is made
perfect or completed by works.
[26] Indeed, works are required for justification because “man is justified by works, and not by faith alone,”
[27] though the sense of the word
justified in this passage is disputed.
[28] The writer of James emphasizes the Jewish belief that faith and deeds go together. However, in James, it is possible that
justification is referring to how believers are to behave as believers, not how an unbeliever becomes a believer (i.e., salvation).
[29] Faith without works is counterfeit. The faith must produce good fruit as a sign lest it become the occasion for
self-justification.
Early church and justification[edit]
After the
Apostolic era, the concept of justification was secondary to issues such as
martyrdom[citation needed]. Justification as a concept is mentioned in the works of early church fathers
[30] and in the sermons of
John Chrysostom, but it is not developed until
Augustine‘s conflict with Pelagius.
Pelagius taught that one became righteous through the exertion of one’s will to follow the example of Jesus’ life. Over against this,
Augustinetaught
[31] that we are justified by God,
[32] as a work of his grace.
[33] Augustine took great pains in his anti-
Pelagian works
to refute the notion that our works could serve as the proper basis for
our justification. Following an appeal from Augustine,
Pope Innocent I condemned
Pelagius. The accused heretic wrote an appeal of his own, declaring his
innocence, which was duly accepted by Innocent’s successor,
Pope Zosimus. However, the
Council of Carthage in 418 again renounced Pelagius with papal approval.
Comparison of traditions[edit]
Christian traditions answer questions about the nature, function and
meaning of justification quite differently. These issues include: Is
justification an event occurring instantaneously or is it as an ongoing
process? Is justification effected by divine action alone (
monergism), by divine and human action together (
synergism) or by human action? Is justification permanent or can it be lost? What is the relationship of justification to
sanctification, the process whereby sinners become righteous and are enabled by the
Holy Spirit to live lives pleasing to God?
|
| Tradition |
Process
or
Event |
Type
of
Action |
Permanence |
Justification
&
Sanctification |
| Roman Catholic |
Process |
Synergism |
Can be lost via mortal sin |
Part of the same process |
| Lutheran |
Event |
Divine monergism |
Can be lost via loss of faith |
Distinct from and prior to sanctification |
| Methodist |
Event |
Synergism |
Can be lost via loss of faith |
Dependent upon continued sanctification |
| Orthodox |
Process |
Synergism |
Can be lost via mortal sin |
Part of the same process (theosis) |
| Reformed/Calvinist |
Event |
Divine monergism |
Cannot be lost |
Both are a result of union with Christ |
Anglican / Episcopal[edit]
Anglicans, particularly
High Church Anglo-Catholics, often follow
Catholicism and
Orthodoxy in believing both man and God are involved in justification.
“Justification has an objective and a subjective aspect. The objective
is the act of God in Christ restoring the covenant and opening it to all
people. The subjective aspect is faith, trust in the divine factor,
acceptance of divine mercy. Apart from the presence of the subjective
aspect there is no justification. People are not justified apart from
their knowledge or against their will…God forgives and accepts sinners
as they are into the divine fellowship, and that these sinners are in
fact changed by their trust in the divine mercy.”
[34] Justification,
the establishment of a relationship with God through Christ, and
sanctification go hand in hand. In historic Anglicanism, the eleventh
article of the
Thirty-Nine Articles made
it clear that justification cannot be earned, “We are accounted
righteous before God… not for our own works or deservings”.
[35]
However, certain Anglican and Episcopalian theologians (especially
Anglo-Catholics) argue for a faith characterized by
faithfulness, where good works and the Sacraments play an important role in the life of the Christian believer. (see
New Perspective on Paul)
Methodism[edit]
John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism, was heavily influenced by the thought of
Dutch Reformed theologian
Jacob Arminius and
Hugo Grotius‘
governmental theory of the atonement. Hence, he held that God’s work in us consisted of
prevenient grace,
which undoes the effects of sin sufficiently that we may then freely
choose to believe. An individual’s act of faith then results in becoming
part of the body of Christ, which allows one to appropriate Christ’s
atonement for oneself, erasing the guilt of sin.
[36] According to the
Articles of Religion in the
Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church:
| “ |
We are accounted righteous before God only for the
merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our
own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only
is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.[37] |
” |
However, once the individual has been so justified, one must then
continue in the new life given; if one fails to persevere in the faith
and in fact falls away from God in total unbelief, the attachment to
Christ — and with it, justification — may be lost.
[38]
Eastern Orthodoxy[edit]
Eastern Christianity, including both
Eastern Orthodoxy and
Oriental Orthodoxy, tends to de-emphasize justification compared to
Catholicism or
Protestantism,
subsuming it within other words such as “sanctification” or “theosis” —
so much so that justification often has no separate treatment in
Eastern theological works.
[citation needed] The Greek term for justification (δικαίωσις,
dikaiōsis)
is not understood by most Eastern theologians to mean simply being
pardoned of one’s sins. In large part, this de-emphasis on justification
is historical. The Eastern church sees humanity as inheriting the
disease of sin from Adam, but not his
guilt; hence, there is no need in Eastern theology for any forensic justification.
[39]
The Orthodox see salvation as a process of
theosis,
in which the individual is united to Christ and the life of Christ is
reproduced within him. Thus, in one sense, justification is an aspect of
theosis.
[40] However, it is also the case that those who are baptized into the church and experience
Chrismation are considered to be cleansed of sin.
[41] Hence,
the Orthodox concept of justification cannot be reconciled to
Protestant concepts, while it is in partial agreement with some Roman
Catholic concepts. In the words of one Orthodox Bishop:
Justification is a word used in the Scriptures to mean
that in Christ we are forgiven and actually made righteous in our
living. Justification is not a once-for-all, instantaneous pronouncement
guaranteeing eternal salvation, regardless of how wickedly a person
might live from that point on. Neither is it merely a legal declaration
that an unrighteous person is righteous. Rather, justification is a
living, dynamic, day-to-day reality for the one who follows Christ. The
Christian actively pursues a righteous life in the grace and power of
God granted to all who continue to believe in Him.[42]
Lutheranism[edit]
From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, the books of
Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the
Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as
penance and
righteousness by
the Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church
was corrupt in their ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several
of the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for
Luther, was the doctrine of justification—God’s act of declaring a
sinner righteous—by faith alone through God’s grace. He began to teach
that
salvation or redemption is a gift of God’s
grace, attainable only through faith in Jesus.
[43]
“This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification,” insisted
Martin Luther, “is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness.”
[44] He also called this doctrine the
articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae (“article
of the standing and falling of the church”): “…if this article stands,
the Church stands; if it falls, the Church falls.”
[45] Lutherans follow Luther in this when they call this doctrine “the
material principle” of theology in relation to the Bible, which is “the
formal principle.”
[46] They believe justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ’s righteousness alone is the
gospel, the core of the Christian faith around which all other Christian doctrines are centered and based.
Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work of God.
When God’s righteousness is mentioned in the gospel, it is God’s action
of declaring righteous the unrighteous sinner who has faith in Jesus
Christ.
[47] The righteousness by which the person is justified (declared righteous) is not his own (theologically,
proper righteousness) but that of another, Christ, (
alien righteousness).
“That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law,” said
Luther. “Faith is that which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits
of Christ”.
[48] Thus
faith, for Luther, is a gift from God, and “. . .a living, bold trust
in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a
thousand times trusting in it.”
[48] This
faith grasps Christ’s righteousness and appropriates it for the
believer. He explained his concept of “justification” in the
Smalcald Articles:
The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our
God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our
justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and
merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in
His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot
be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law or merit. Therefore,
it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us … Nothing of
this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth
and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).[49]
Traditionally, Lutherans have taught
forensic (or
legal) justification, a divine verdict of acquittal pronounced on the
believing sinner. God declares the sinner to be “not guilty” because
Christ has taken his place, living a perfect life according to God’s law
and suffering for his sins. For Lutherans justification is in no way
dependent upon the thoughts, words, and deeds of those justified through
faith alone in Christ. The new obedience that the justified sinner
renders to God through
sanctification follows justification as a consequence, but is not part of justification.
[50]
Lutherans believe that individuals receive this gift of salvation through faith alone.
[51] Saving faith is the knowledge of,
[52] acceptance of,
[53] and trust
[54] in the promise of the Gospel.
[55] Even faith itself is seen as a gift of God, created in the hearts of Christians
[56] by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word
[57] and Baptism.
[58] Faith is seen as an instrument that receives the gift of salvation, not something that causes salvation.
[59] Thus, Lutherans reject the “
decision theology” which is common among modern
evangelicals.
For Lutherans, justification provides the power by which Christians
can grow in holiness. Such improvement comes about in the believer only
after he has become a new creation in Christ. This improvement is not
completed in this life: Christians are always “saint and sinner at the
same time” (
simul iustus et peccator)
[60]—saints
because they are holy in God’s eyes, for Christ’s sake, and do works
that please him; sinners because they continue to sin until death.
Reformed[edit]
John Calvin‘s
understanding of justification was in substantial agreement with Martin
Luther’s. Calvin expanded this understanding by emphasizing that
justification is a part of one’s union with Christ. The center of
Calvin’s
soteriology was
Union with Christ.
[61] For
Calvin, one is united to Christ by faith, and all of the benefits of
Christ come from being united to him. Therefore, anyone who is justified
will also receive all of the benefits of salvation, including
sanctification. Thus, while Calvin agreed in substance with the
“simultaneously saint and sinner” formulation,
[62] he was more definite in asserting that the result of being justified is a consequent sanctification.
[63] Calvin also used more definite language than Luther, spelling out the exchange notion of
imputed righteousness: that the good works that Jesus did in his life (collectively referred to as the
active obedience of Christ) are imputed to his people, while their sins were imputed to him on the cross.
For Calvin, Adam and Jesus functioned as
federal heads, or legal representatives, meaning that each one represented his people through his actions.
[64] When
Adam sinned, all of Adam’s people were accounted to have sinned at that
moment. When Jesus achieved righteousness, all of his people were
accounted to be righteous at that moment. In this way Calvin attempted
to simultaneously solve the problems of original sin, justification, and
atonement.
Some of the technical details of this union with Christ are tied into Calvin’s understanding of the
atonement and of
predestination.
One outcome of Calvin’s change in center over against Luther was that
he saw justification as a permanent feature of being connected to
Christ: since, for Calvin, people are attached to Christ
monergistically, it is therefore impossible for them to lose
justification if indeed they were once justified. This idea was
expressed by the
Synod of Dort as the “perseverance of the saint.”
In recent times, two controversies have arisen in the Reformed
churches over justification. The first concerns the teaching of “final
justification” by Norman Shepherd; the second is the exact relationship
of justification, sanctification, and church membership, which is part
of a larger controversy concerning the
Federal Vision.
Catholicism[edit]
To Catholics, justification is “a translation, from that state
wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace,
and of the adoption of the sons of God, through the second Adam, Jesus
Christ, our Savior”,
[65] including
the transforming of a sinner from the state of unrighteousness to the
state of holiness. This transformation is made possible by accessing
the
merit of Christ, made available in the atonement, through faith and the sacraments.
[66] The Catholic Church teaches that “faith without works is dead”
[67][68] and that works perfect faith.
[69]
In Catholic theology, all are born in a state of
original sin,
meaning that the sinful nature of Adam is inherited by all. Following
Augustine, the Catholic Church asserts that people are unable to make
themselves righteous; instead, they require justification.
[70] Catholic
theology holds that the sacrament of baptism, which is closely
connected to faith, “purifies, justifies and sanctifies” the sinner; in
this sacrament, the sinner is “freed from sin”.
[71][72] This
is termed initial justification or “being cleansed of sin”, the
entrance into the Christian life. Catholics use Mark 16:16, John 3:5,
and Acts 2:38 to support this view in justification by baptism.
As the individual then progresses in his Christian life, he continues
to receive God’s grace both directly through the Holy Spirit as well as
through the sacraments. This has the effect of combating sin in the
individual’s life, causing him to become more righteous both in heart
and in action. If one falls into
mortal sin they lose justification and it can be gained back through the
sacrament of confession.
[73]
At the
Final Judgment, the individual’s works will then be evaluated.
[74] At that time, those who are righteous will be shown to be so. This is the permanent justification.
In the
Council of Trent,
which Catholics believe to be infallible, the Catholic Church declared
in the VII session in canon IV that, “If any one saith, that the
sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but
superfluous; and that, without them, or without the desire thereof, men
obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification;-though
all (the sacraments) are not indeed necessary for every individual; let
him be anathema (excommunicated).”
[75]
The New Church (Emanuel Swedenborg)[edit]
According to the doctrine of
The New Church, as explained by
Emanuel Swedenborg,
the doctrine of justification by faith alone is a false belief, which
forms the foundation of much of Protestant theology. Man must of his own
volition justify himself, and yet believe that justification comes from
God only. Not only must man believe in God, but must love God with all
his strength, and his neighbor as himself.
[76] Inasmuch
as man obeys God’s commandment to love others, so God conjoins himself
to man, and man to God. It is from this that man’s belief becomes a
living and saving belief.
[77] It
is by means of faith from charity, that a man is reformed and
justified, and this is done as if from himself, and this proceeds from
the Divine Truth which flows in from the Holy Spirit.
[78] Man
is of the will and understanding, and he is saved when both are brought
into accordance with God’s will. “Believing in the Lord is not merely
acknowledging Him but also doing His commandments; for simply
acknowledging Him is solely a matter of thought, arising from somewhat
of the understanding; but doing His commandments is also a matter of
acknowledgment from the will. Man’s mind consists of understanding and
will; and as the understanding deals with thinking and the will with
doing, so when man’s acknowledgment is merely from the thought of the
understanding he comes to the Lord with only half of his mind; but when
there is doing he comes with all of it; and this is to believe.”
[79]
Universalism became a significant minority view in the 18th century, popularized by thinkers such as
John Murray (the American, not
the Scot).
Universalism holds that Christ’s death on the cross has entirely atoned
for the sin of humanity; hence, God’s wrath is or will be satisfied for
all people. Conservative and liberal varieties of universalism then
point in different directions. Pluralistic
Unitarian Universalism asserts
that many different religions all lead to God. Others teach that God’s
love is sufficient to cover for sins, thus embracing some form of the
moral influence theory of
Peter Abelard.
For some universalists, justification either was accomplished once and
for all in the crucifixion, or is altogether unnecessary.
A range of so-called ‘New Perspectives on Paul’, represented by Protestant scholars such as
E.P. Sanders,
N.T. Wright, and
James Dunn,
have given rise to a re-thinking of the historical Protestant
understanding of justification. Proponents of this view argue that
Paul’s letters have too often been read through the lens of the
Protestant reformation rather than in the context of first-century
Second Temple Judaism, and therefore impose a religion of legalism on
their understanding of Pharisaism. This view has been strongly
criticized by a number of Reformed ministers and theologians including
John Piper,
D.A. Carson, and
Sinclair Ferguson.
[citation needed]
An alternative theory to traditional views of justification is that
Christ died to prove that mankind is actually innocent before God, thus
the word justification is taken literally rather than a theological
definition being applied.This is not to be confused with the Legal
Justification theory which states only that mankind is legally
justified.
[80]
Interactions between various doctrines[edit]
Sola fide[edit]
Luther’s reformulation of justification introduced the phrase
sola fide,
or “by faith alone”. That phrase has been one of the uniting factors
among various Protestant denominations; despite the wide variety of
doctrines and practices among Protestants, they all agree that one is
saved (often meaning “justified”) by faith alone.
Catholics from the
Diet of Worms and
Council of Trent until the present day (e.g., Sungenis) have criticized this phrase on several grounds. First and foremost,
[clarification needed] it appears to them to indicate that one can be justified without any actual change of life. Hence the strong language of Trent:
“If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the
sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of
sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured
forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or
even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of
God; let him be anathema.”[81]
and
“If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are
not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them,
or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone,
the grace of justification;-though all (the sacraments) are not indeed
necessary for every individual; let him be anathema (excommunicated).”[82]
Second, Catholics point out that the only use of the formula “faith alone” (
sola fide) in the Bible is in
James 2:24, which appears to deny the
sola fide concept:
“You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” In
addition, there is the passage (in for example,
Matthew 25:31-46)
describing Christ’s judgment at the end of time. The just, those who
are to enter into the Kingdom, are separated from those who are to go
into everlasting punishment, on the basis of their actions in life:
‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and
you took me in..
Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire.. for I was hungry,
and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to
drink..
And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.’
Hence, they claim that Scripture upholds their rejection of
sola fide justification.
Third, Roman Catholics claim that the term
sola fide has many
different subtleties of meaning among different groups of Protestants.
They maintain that these differences cast doubt on the coherence of the
concept of
sola fide.
Within Protestantism, there is debate as to how strongly
sanctification is tied to justification. Thus, in modern times, the
“Lordship Salvation” controversy between some faculty at Dallas Seminary
(
Charles Ryrie and
Zane C. Hodges) and others (
John F. MacArthur and
R.C. Sproul) has resulted in serious thinking on this question: can one be justified without any evidence of sanctification whatsoever?
(It should be noted
[citation needed] that
this question, however important, is a misunderstanding of the Lordship
Salvation controversy. The proposition that all genuine born again
people will do some good works is common ground, since grace advocates
Wilkin,
Ryrie and
Hodges have all concurred that they will. [See
Wilkin, “Are Good Works Inevitable?” Grace in Focus, February 1990; Ryrie,
So Great Salvation, and Hodges, "We Believe in: Assurance of Salvation"
The Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, 1990.] In the Lordship debate, the question is: can true believers commit ‘apostasy’?)
Looking at this controversy from the outside, Roman Catholics claim
that “justification by faith alone” does not have a coherent meaning.
Protestants meanwhile hold tenaciously to the
sola fide formula, charging that without it, the Christian is led down a path that is inevitably Pelagian and
Judaizing.
They charge that the abuses Luther saw were a logical outworking of a
Roman Catholic system that includes good works as a necessary condition
for justification. They respond to the argument from James 2:24 (above)
by asserting that the passage in question refers to demonstrating one’s
justification before men, rather than achieving justification before
God.
Despite these differences, Roman Catholics and most Lutherans as
represented by most of the Lutheran councils worldwide that agreed with
the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification(JDDJ), believe that they have found much agreement on the subject of justification. Other Lutherans, especially
Confessional Lutherans,
maintain that this agreement fails to properly define the meaning of
faith, sin, and other essential terms and thus do not support the
Lutheran World Federation’s agreement. Likewise, Catholics affirming the
real and serious differences between the decrees of the
Council of Trent and the normative Lutheran documents collected in the 1580
Book of Concord equally reject the 1999 “
JDDJ” as fatally flawed.
[83] In July 2006 the World Methodist Council, representing 70 million Wesleyan Christians, including The
United Methodist Church, “signed on” to the Joint Declaration on Justification between Roman Catholics and the Lutheran World Federation.
Anglican bishop
N.T. Wright has written extensively on the topic of justification
[84] (see also
New Perspective on Paul).
His views are troubling to many evangelicals, and have sparked some
debate. Those concerned with his view of justification worry that he
marginalizes the importance of the
penal substitutionary transaction that
takes place at salvation. Defenders of Wright respond by saying that,
while the bishop acknowledges advocacy of penal substitution in many
biblical texts, he does not see its application in scriptures other
evangelicals might. Proponents of Wright’s view of justification warn
detractors to “read him well” before criticizing his theology
forthright.
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- Phillip Edgecumbe Hughes (1982). Faith and Works: Cranmer and Hooker on Justification. Morehouse-Barlow Co. ISBN 0-8192-1315-2
- Robert D. Preus (1997). Justification and Rome. Concordia Academic Press. ISBN 0-570-04264-X
- Thomas P. Scheck (Author), Joseph T. Lienhard S.J. (Foreword), Origen and the History of Justification: The Legacy of Origen’s Commentary on Romans, 2008, University of Notre Dame Press, ISBN 0-268-04128-8 ISBN 9780268041281 [85] (Origen’s Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Books: 1-5, 6-10)
- Sungenis, Robert (1997). Not By Faith Alone. Queenship Publishing. ISBN 1-57918-008-6.
References[edit]
- Jump up^ For example, Kurt Aland, A History of Christianity, vol. 2, trans. James Schaaf (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986) p. 13-14.
- Jump up^ Matthew 20:28
- Jump up^ Mark 10:45
- Jump up^ Romans 4:-24
- Jump up^ Romans 3:21-26
- Jump up^ Salvation.
- Jump up^ “Baptism”. Scripture Catholic.
- Jump up^ Galatians 5:19-21.
- Jump up^ Matthew 19:17.
- Jump up^ Mark 16:16.
- Jump up^ [needs citation]
- Jump up^ “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification”. Vatican.va. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- Jump up^ (D. James Kennedy in“Irreconcilable Differences,” a roundtable discussion and television broadcast, Ft. Lauderdale FL, 1995) Justification by faith – what about James 2:24?
- Jump up^ However
the righteousness being discussed here is that only attained by
accepting the salvation of Jesus, rather than that of good deeds as some
have mistakenly claimed. Matt.5:20.
- Jump up^ Mt 26:28; see also: Luke 2:76, 77; John 1:29; John 3
- Jump up^ e.g., Luke 5:17-26.
- Jump up^ Rom. 3:21 – 26, 5:1.
- Jump up^ Rom. 3:28
- Jump up^ Rom. 5.
- Jump up^ Rom. 5:15 – 17
- Jump up^ ελλογειται, Rom. 5:13; Rom. 5:18.
- Jump up^ Rom. 8:30.
- Jump up^ Rom. 8:33-39
- Jump up^ Gal. 2:16, 5:4; see also Rom. 5:1 – 12; see also Council of Jerusalem
- Jump up^ Heb. 10:19-23, 12:1
- Jump up^ James chapter 2, especially 2:22
- Jump up^ Jas. 2:24
- Jump up^ Catholics
and others take it in its most common sense, whereas Protestants
believe that that sense introduces a contradiction with Paul and so take
the meaning in James to be “proved right” as in Mat. 11:19. Some also
point to the difference between the episodes in the life of Abraham
referenced by Paul and James. In Romans 4 Paul refers to Abraham’s being
counted righteous by faith in God’s promise in Genesis 15, whereas
James talks about Abraham’s being “justified” in a sense more like
“vindicated” in his faithful willingness to offer Isaac on the altar
later in Genesis 22.
- Jump up^ Justified in the Spirit, Macchia, Frank D 2010, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. pp.211-215
- Jump up^ Clement of Rome, To the Corinthians 32.4
- Jump up^ St. Augustin. “Anti-Pelegian writings”. online at Calvin college
- Jump up^ ibid. “Chapter 19 – Sin is from Natural Descent, as Righteousness is from Regeneration”.
- Jump up^ ibid. “Chapter 5 – The Will of Man Requires the Help of God.”.
- Jump up^ Theological
Questions (1983), Thomas, C. Owen, pp. 81-82, sometime Fiske Professor
of Systematic Theology, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA)
- Jump up^ Thirty-Nine Articles
- Jump up^ John Wesley: Sermon 5: Justification by Faith
- Jump up^ The United Methodist Church: The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church – Article IX—Of the Justification of Man
- Jump up^ Sermon redirection
- Jump up^ Orthodox Church in America, online doctrine. “Redemption”.; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America web site “The Dogmatic Tradition of the Orthodox Church”.
- Jump up^ Bishop Dmitri, Orthodox Christian Teaching, (Syosset, New York: Orthodox Church of America, 1983), p. 77.
- Jump up^ ibid “The Fundamental Teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church”.
- Jump up^ Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission, Bishop Alexander (editor), “The Orthodox Church”.
- Jump up^ Wriedt, Markus. “Luther’s Theology,” in The Cambridge Companion to Luther. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 88–94.
- Jump up^ Selected
passages from Martin Luther, “Commentary on Galatians (1538)” as
translated in Herbert J. A. Bouman, “The Doctrine of Justification in
the Lutheran Confessions,” Concordia Theological Monthly 26 (November 1955) No. 11:801.[1]
- Jump up^ In XV Psalmos graduum 1532-33; WA 40/III.352.3
- Jump up^ Herbert J. A. Bouman, ibid., 801-802.
- Jump up^ Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann, eds., Luther’s Works, 55 vols. (St. Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press, 1955-1986), 34:337
- ^ Jump up to:a b Martin Luther’s Definition of Faith
- Jump up^ Luther, Martin. “The Smalcald Articles,” in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, 289, Part two, Article 1.
- Jump up^ Herbert J. A. Bouman, ibid., 805.
- Jump up^ Augsburg Confession, Article 4, “Of Justification”
- Jump up^ John 17:3, Luke 1:77,Galatians 4:9, Philippians 3:8, and 1 Timothy 2:4 refer to faith in terms of knowledge.
- Jump up^ John 5:46 refers to acceptance of the truth of Christ’s teaching, while John 3:36 notes the rejection of his teaching.
- Jump up^ John 3:16,36, Galatians 2:16, Romans 4:20-25, 2 Timothy 1:12 speak of trust, confidence, and belief in Christ. John 3:18 notes belief in the name of Christ, and Mark 1:15 notes belief in the gospel.
- Jump up^ Engelder, T.E.W., Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934. pp. 54-5, Part XIV. “Sin”
- Jump up^ Ps. 51:10, Engelder, T.E.W., Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p.57 Part XV. “Conversion”, paragraph 78.
- Jump up^ John 17:20, Rom. 10:17, Engelder, T.E.W., Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p.101 Part XXV. “The Church”, paragraph 141.
- Jump up^ Titus 3:5, Engelder, T.E.W., Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p.87 Part XXIII. “Baptism”, paragraph 118.
- Jump up^ Eph. 2:8, Engelder, T.E.W., Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p.57 Part XV. “Conversion”, paragraph 78.
- Jump up^ “daily we sin, daily we are justified” from the Disputation Concerning Justification (1536) ISBN 0-8006-0334-6
- Jump up^ Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. III.xi.10.
- Jump up^ Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. III.xiii.
- Jump up^ Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. III.xiv.19; III.xvi.
- Jump up^ Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. II.i.8.
- Jump up^ Council of Trent, “Decree on Justification” chapter 4
- Jump up^ ”Decree on Justification”, chap. 7
- Jump up^ James 2:26.
- Jump up^ Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 1815. The Vatican.
- Jump up^ James 2:22.
- Jump up^ Council of Trent, “Decree on Original Sin,” ch. 1, 7, 8.
- Jump up^ “The sacrament of Baptism”. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
- Jump up^ 1 Peter 3:21.
- Jump up^ Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 1446.
The Vatican. “Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful
members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have
fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and
wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance
offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of
justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as “the
second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of
grace.”"
- Jump up^ Mt. 25
- Jump up^ “The Council of Trent Session 7″.
- Jump up^ Swedenborg,
Emanuel. The True Christian Religion, containing the Universal Theology
of the New Church, 1771. Trans. by John Ager, 1910, n. 71.
- Jump up^ Ibid., n. 74.
- Jump up^ Ibid., n. 142, 150.
- Jump up^ Ibid., n. 151.
- Jump up^ [2], The Bible’s Main Point: The Effect of the Gospel.
- Jump up^ trent: complete
- Jump up^ “The Council of Trent Session 7 canon IV”.
- Jump up^ Cf., e.g., C. J. Malloy, Engrafted into Christ: A Critique of the Joint Declaration (New York: P. Lang, 2005)
- Jump up^ See N.T. Wright, “The Shape of Justification” on The Paul Page; “Justification: The Biblical Basis and its Relevance for Contemporary Evangelicalism” on N.T. Wright Page
- Jump up^ Origen
and the history of justification: the legacy of Origen’s commentary … –
Thomas P. Scheck, Joseph T. Lienhard – Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
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