The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

In faith we together hold the conviction that justification is the work of the triune God. The Father sent his Son into the world to save sinners.

Justification (theology)

The foundation and presupposition of justification is the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ. Justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness, in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father. By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.

All people are called by God to salvation in Christ. Through Christ alone are we justified, when we receive this salvation in faith. Faith is itself God's gift through the Holy Spirit who works through word and sacrament in the community of believers and who, at the same time, leads believers into that renewal of life which God will bring to completion in eternal life. We also share the conviction that the message of justification directs us in a special way towards the heart of the New Testament witness to God's saving action in Christ: Therefore the doctrine of justification, which takes up this message and explicates it, is more than just one part of Christian doctrine.

It stands in an essential relation to all truths of faith, which are to be seen as internally related to each other. It is an indispensable criterion which constantly serves to orient all the teaching and practice of our churches to Christ. When Lutherans emphasize the unique significance of this criterion, they do not deny the interrelation and significance of all truths of faith. When Catholics see themselves as bound by several criteria, they do not deny the special function of the message of justification.

Lutherans and Catholics share the goal of confessing Christ in all things, who alone is to be trusted above all things as the one Mediator 1 Tim 2: Sources for section 3]. We confess together that all persons depend completely on the saving grace of God for their salvation. The freedom they possess in relation to persons and the things of this world is no freedom in relation to salvation, for as sinners they stand under God's judgment and are incapable of turning by themselves to God to seek deliverance, of meriting their justification before God, or of attaining salvation by their own abilities.

Justification takes place solely by God's grace. Because Catholics and Lutherans confess this together, it is true to say:. When Catholics say that persons "cooperate" in preparing for and accepting justification by consenting to God's justifying action, they see such personal consent as itself an effect of grace, not as an action arising from innate human abilities.

John H. Stoll, Ph.D.

According to Lutheran teaching, human beings are incapable of cooperating in their salvation, because as sinners they actively oppose God and his saving action. Lutherans do not deny that a person can reject the working of grace. When they emphasize that a person can only receive mere passive justification, they mean thereby to exclude any possibility of contributing to one's own justification, but do not deny that believers are fully involved personally in their faith, which is effected by God's Word.

We confess together that God forgives sin by grace and at the same time frees human beings from sin's enslaving power and imparts the gift of new life in Christ. When persons come by faith to share in Christ, God no longer imputes to them their sin and through the Holy Spirit effects in them an active love.

These two aspects of God's gracious action are not to be separated, for persons are by faith united with Christ, who in his person is our righteousness 1 Cor 1: Because Catholics and Lutherans confess this together, it is true to say that:. When Lutherans emphasize that the righteousness of Christ is our righteousness, their intention is above all to insist that the sinner is granted righteousness before God in Christ through the declaration of forgiveness and that only in union with Christ is one's life renewed.

When they stress that God's grace is forgiving love "the favor of God" [12] , they do not thereby deny the renewal of the Christian's life. They intend rather to express that justification remains free from human cooperation and is not dependent on the life-renewing effects of grace in human beings.

When Catholics emphasize the renewal of the interior person through the reception of grace imparted as a gift to the believer, [13] they wish to insist that God's forgiving grace always brings with it a gift of new life, which in the Holy Spirit becomes effective in active love.

They do not thereby deny that God's gift of grace in justification remains independent of human cooperation. Sources for section 4. We confess together that sinners are justified by faith in the saving action of God in Christ. By the action of the Holy Spirit in baptism, they are granted the gift of salvation, which lays the basis for the whole Christian life.

They place their trust in God's gracious promise by justifying faith, which includes hope in God and love for him. Such a faith is active in love and thus the Christian cannot and should not remain without works. But whatever in the justified precedes or follows the free gift of faith is neither the basis of justification nor merits it.

• Wächter des Morgen: Roman (Die Wächter-Serie 5) (German Edition).
• THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION.
• New Yorkers.
• Muses à tout coeur (FICTION) (French Edition).
• Die Young: Burying Your Self in Christ.
• Ubu enchainé (French Edition).

According to Lutheran understanding, God justifies sinners in faith alone sola fide. In faith they place their trust wholly in their Creator and Redeemer and thus live in communion with him. God himself effects faith as he brings forth such trust by his creative word. Because God's act is a new creation, it affects all dimensions of the person and leads to a life in hope and love. In the doctrine of "justification by faith alone," a distinction but not a separation is made between justification itself and the renewal of one's way of life that necessarily follows from justification and without which faith does not exist.

Thereby the basis is indicated from which the renewal of life proceeds, for it comes forth from the love of God imparted to the person in justification. Justification and renewal are joined in Christ, who is present in faith. The Catholic understanding also sees faith as fundamental in justification. For without faith, no justification can take place. Persons are justified through baptism as hearers of the word and believers in it. The justification of sinners is forgiveness of sins and being made righteous by justifying grace, which makes us children of God.

In justification the righteous receive from Christ faith, hope, and love and are thereby taken into communion with him. Thus justifying grace never becomes a human possession to which one could appeal over against God. While Catholic teaching emphasizes the renewal of life by justifying grace, this renewal in faith, hope, and love is always dependent on God's unfathomable grace and contributes nothing to justification about which one could boast before God Rom 3: We confess together that in baptism the Holy Spirit unites one with Christ, justifies, and truly renews the person.

But the justified must all through life constantly look to God's unconditional justifying grace. They also are continuously exposed to the power of sin still pressing its attacks cf. The justified also must ask God daily for forgiveness as in the Lord's Prayer Mt. Lutherans understand this condition of the Christian as a being "at the same time righteous and sinner. In Christ, they are made just before God.

Looking at themselves through the law, however, they recognize that they remain also totally sinners. Sin still lives in them 1 Jn 1: This contradiction to God is as such truly sin. Nevertheless, the enslaving power of sin is broken on the basis of the merit of Christ. It no longer is a sin that "rules" the Christian for it is itself "ruled" by Christ with whom the justified are bound in faith.

In this life, then, Christians can in part lead a just life. Despite sin, the Christian is no longer separated from God, because in the daily return to baptism, the person who has been born anew by baptism and the Holy Spirit has this sin forgiven. Thus this sin no longer brings damnation and eternal death.

In these affirmations, they are in agreement with Roman Catholics, despite the difference in understanding sin in the justified. Catholics hold that the grace of Jesus Christ imparted in baptism takes away all that is sin "in the proper sense" and that is "worthy of damnation" Rom 8: Since, according to Catholic conviction, human sins always involve a personal element and since this element is lacking in this inclination, Catholics do not see this inclination as sin in an authentic sense.

They do not thereby deny that this inclination does not correspond to God's original design for humanity and that it is objectively in contradiction to God and remains one's enemy in lifelong struggle. Grateful for deliverance by Christ, they underscore that this inclination in contradiction to God does not merit the punishment of eternal death [17] and does not separate the justified person from God.

But when individuals voluntarily separate themselves from God, it is not enough to return to observing the commandments, for they must receive pardon and peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation through the word of forgiveness imparted to them in virtue of God's reconciling work in Christ. We confess together that persons are justified by faith in the gospel "apart from works prescribed by the law" Rom 3: Christ has fulfilled the law and by his death and resurrection has overcome it as a way to salvation.

We also confess that God's commandments retain their validity for the justified and that Christ has by his teaching and example expressed God's will which is a standard for the conduct of the justified also. Lutherans state that the distinction and right ordering of law and gospel is essential for the understanding of justification.

In its theological use, the law is demand and accusation. Throughout their lives, all persons, Christians also, in that they are sinners, stand under this accusation which uncovers their sin so that, in faith in the gospel, they will turn unreservedly to the mercy of God in Christ, which alone justifies them. Because the law as a way to salvation has been fulfilled and overcome through the gospel, Catholics can say that Christ is not a lawgiver in the manner of Moses.

• Meine Star Karriere (German Edition).
• .
• The Sarbanes- Oxley Act - A brief introduction.
• Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.
• A Source Book in Theatrical History.
• !
• Histoires de Noël pour le Crétin (French Edition);

When Catholics emphasize that the righteous are bound to observe God's commandments, they do not thereby deny that through Jesus Christ God has mercifully promised to his children the grace of eternal life. We confess together that the faithful can rely on the mercy and promises of God. In spite of their own weakness and the manifold threats to their faith, on the strength of Christ's death and resurrection they can build on the effective promise of God's grace in Word and Sacrament and so be sure of this grace.

This was emphasized in a particular way by the Reformers: In trust in God's promise they are assured of their salvation, but are never secure looking at themselves. Catholics can share the concern of the Reformers to ground faith in the objective reality of Christ's promise, to look away from one's own experience, and to trust in Christ's forgiving word alone cf. With the Second Vatican Council, Catholics state: No one may doubt God's mercy and Christ's merit.

Every person, however, may be concerned about his salvation when he looks upon his own weaknesses and shortcomings. Recognizing his own failures, however, the believer may yet be certain that God intends his salvation. 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. According to Catholic understanding, good works, made possible by grace and the working of the Holy Spirit, contribute to growth in grace, so that the righteousness that comes from God is preserved and communion with Christ is deepened.

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.

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.

The understanding of the doctrine of justification set forth in this Declaration shows that a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics. In light of this consensus the remaining differences of language, theological elaboration, and emphasis in the understanding of justification described in paras.

Therefore the Lutheran and the Catholic explications of justification are in their difference open to one another and do not destroy the consensus regarding the basic truths. Thus the doctrinal condemnations of the 16th century, in so far as they relate to the doctrine of justification, appear in a new light: The teaching of the Lutheran churches presented in this Declaration does not fall under the condemnations from the Council of Trent.

The condemnations in the Lutheran Confessions do not apply to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church presented in this Declaration. Nothing is thereby taken away from the seriousness of the condemnations related to the doctrine of justification. Some were not simply pointless. They remain for us "salutary warnings" to which we must attend in our teaching and practice. Our consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification must come to influence the life and teachings of our churches. Here it must prove itself.

In this respect, there are still questions of varying importance which need further clarification. These include, among other topics, the relationship between the Word of God and church doctrine, as well as ecclesiology, ecclesial authority, church unity, ministry, the sacraments, and the relation between justification and social ethics. We are convinced that the consensus we have reached offers a solid basis for this clarification. The Lutheran churches and the Roman Catholic Church will continue to strive together to deepen this common understanding of justification and to make it bear fruit in the life and teaching of the churches.

We give thanks to the Lord for this decisive step forward on the way to overcoming the division of the church. We ask the Holy Spirit to lead us further toward that visible unity which is Christ's will. 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. Anglicans , particularly high-church Anglo-Catholics , often follow Catholicism and Orthodoxy in believing both man and God are involved in justification.

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.

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 However, certain Anglican 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. 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. 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. 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: He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world John 1: 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: 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 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. Lutherans believe that individuals receive this gift of salvation through faith alone. 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 [52] —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.

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.

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. 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. John Calvin 's understanding of justification was in substantial agreement with Martin Luther's.

Navigation menu

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. 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, [57] he was more definite in asserting that the result of being justified is a consequent sanctification. For Calvin, Adam and Jesus functioned as federal heads , or legal representatives, meaning that each one represented his people through his actions.

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: 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.

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.

THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION

It is from this that man's belief becomes a living and saving belief. 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. 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. 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.

Carson , and Sinclair Ferguson. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also known as the LDS or, informally the 'Mormon' church , believes that while justification is a gift from God [67] , the recipient must choose it through striving to do good works to the extent possible. The ancient American Prophet Nephi wrote " In LDS theology, justification is not earned through good works, but rather chosen by striving to rid one's life of sin.

This allows God to rescue his children from sin while not infringing on their agency. 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.

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 Book of Concord equally reject the " JDDJ " as fatally flawed. Wright has written extensively on the topic of justification [69] 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.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the theological concept. For other uses, see Justification. Apostles' Creed Nicene Creed. Apology of the Augsburg Confession. Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope. Theology of Martin Luther. Justification Law and Gospel. Sola gratia Sola scriptura. Divine Providence Marian theology.

Sacramental Union Homosexuality Criticism of Protestantism. Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. Theology of Martin Luther and Sola Fide. Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved 4 April In the West, at least in the popular mind, the debate was long polarized between Catholic emphasis on salvation through "works-righteousness," and Protestant insistence on "justification by faith alone!

Justification is not enough for the Methodists. The Christian life cannot get along without transformation as well. Transofrmation is accomplished through the process of sanctification. Did the Reformers Misread Paul?: Fourth, justification is connected to the sacramental system, particularly the sacraments of baptism and penance. The former is the instrumental cause of initiaul justification, and the latter restores justification once it has been lost through mortall sin Final salvation, therefore, is the result of an inherent, though imperfect, righteousness.

This balance is most evident in Wesley's understanding of faith and works, justification and sanctification Wesley, in a sermon entitled "Justification by Faith", makes an attempt to define the term accurately. First, he states what justification is not. It is not being made actually just and righteous that is sanctification.

It is not being cleared of the accusations of Satan, nor of the law, nor even of God. We have sinned, so the accusation stands. Justification implies pardon, the forgiveness of sins Ultimately for the true Wesleyan salvation is completed by our return to original righteousness. This is done by the work of the Holy Spirit