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Justification (theology)

This article is about the theological concept. For other uses, see Justification.
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In Christian theology, justification is the event or process by which sinners are made or declared to be righteous in the sight of God.[1]

In the 21st century, there is now substantial agreement on justification by most Christian communions. The collective bodies of most of the largest Christian denominations, including Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican and Methodist, have affirmed a 1999 Lutheran–Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification that details this consensus, noting different "distinctive emphases" that individual communions consider essential to state.

Historically, the difference in theories on the means of justification has often been the theological fault line that divided Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox from the Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed traditions of Protestantism during the Reformation.[2][3]

Catholic doctrine characteristically portrays this righteousness as infused, i.e., God "pours" grace into one's soul or, "fills" one with his grace more and more over time; faith—shown through charity and good works—justifies sinners (fides caritate formata.) Broadly speaking, Catholics have spoken of justification—which in their view initially occurs at baptism, partaking of the sacraments and the resulting grace of cooperation with God's will (sanctification)—as an organic whole: one act of reconciliation brought to completeness in glorification.[4][5]

In the Lutheran and Reformed denominational traditions, this righteousness is portrayed as imputed to the inherently ungodly, by grace, through faith in the voluntary sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. The Reformed, Lutheran and Anglican traditions emphasize that "the observance of the moral law is not necessary either as a prerequisite for obtaining justification or as a means for preserving it."[3][6] Therefore, a righteousness from God is viewed as being credited to the sinner's account through faith alone, apart from works, being based solely on the "blood of Christ". Growth in personal holiness is considered distinct from justification, belonging rather to sanctification.

In Anabaptist Christianity, the Lutheran doctrine of justification is rejected.[7] Rather than a forensic justification that only gives a legal change of one's status before God, Anabaptists teach that "justification begun a dynamic process by which the believer partook of the nature of Christ and was so enabled to live increasingly like Jesus."[8]

Orthodox theology similarly teaches that "Salvation is accomplished by grace in response to faith. But that faith cannot be passive; it must express itself…by feeding, clothing, visiting and otherwise caring for the “least” of Jesus’ brethren (Mt 25)."[9]

In Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant theology, anyone who has been justified will produce good works as a product of faith, as a result of God's grace in sanctification. Notable exceptions to the idea that sanctification and good works always accompany justification are found in Free Grace Theology held by many Independent Baptist churches.[10]

For Lutherans, justification can be lost with the loss of faith.[11] Lutherans affirm that mortal sin can destroy faith;[12][13] for Catholics and Orthodox Christians, justification can also be lost by committing a mortal sin.[14] Anabaptists teach that Christians can apostatize, resulting in a loss of salvation, through disobedience to God and indulgence in sin;[15] for Methodists along with other groups belonging to the Holiness Movement, salvation also can be lost with the loss of faith or through sinning (cf. conditional security).[16][17] The Reformed tradition generally holds that justification can never truly be lost: for those who have been justified by grace, will certainly persevere through faith until the return of Christ himself.[18]

  1. ^ Cross, Frank Leslie; Livingstone, Elizabeth A. (2005). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. p. 914. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
  2. ^ For example, Kurt Aland, A History of Christianity, vol. 2, trans. James Schaaf (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986) pp. 13–14.
  3. ^ a b Bray, Gerald (3 March 2021). Anglicanism. Lexham Press. ISBN 978-1-68359-437-6. The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the central teaching of the Lutheran Reformation and is fully accepted by Anglicans. Apart from anything else, it is a guarantee that everyone is saved equally—there is no special reward for those who do more (or better) works than others.
  4. ^ Peters, Ted (1 August 2015). God – The World's Future: Systematic Theology for a New Era (3rd ed.). Augsburg Fortress Publishers. p. 391. ISBN 9781506400419. Justification is not enough for the Methodists. The Christian life cannot get along without transformation as well. Transformation is accomplished through the process of sanctification. "The one [justification] implies what God does for us through his Son, the other [sanctification] he works in us by his Spirit." The spiritual life of the Methodist ends up reiterating what the Roman Catholics had deemed so important, namely transformation.
  5. ^ O'Kelley, Aaron T. (7 October 2014). Did the Reformers Misread Paul?: A Historical–Theological Critique of the New Perspective. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 43. ISBN 9781625647726. Fourth, justification is connected to the sacramental system, particularly the sacraments of baptism and penance. The former is the instrumental cause of initial justification, and the latter restores justification once it has been lost through mortal sin...Final salvation, therefore, is the result of an inherent, though imperfect, righteousness.
  6. ^ "New Advent".
  7. ^ Brewer, Brian C. (30 December 2021). T&T Clark Handbook of Anabaptism. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-567-68949-8. They dismissed the Lutheran doctrine of justification, a dead faith as they called it, which was unable to produce Christian love and good works.
  8. ^ Dyck, C. J., Keeney, W. E., Beachy, A. J., eds. (1 February 1992). The Writings of Dirk Philips. Herald Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-8361-3111-8.
  9. ^ Breck, John (1 September 2006). "God's "Righteousness"". Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved 4 April 2017. 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!)." ... In the Eastern perspective, there is no thought that we must accumulate merits in order to justify ourselves before God, although our faithful often seem (as evidenced in Confession) to feel that if we are to be saved, our good works must outweigh our sins. Nor, on the other hand, is there a denial of the place and importance of good works in Christian life (Ephesians 2:8-10!). Salvation is accomplished by grace in response to faith. But that faith cannot be passive; it must express itself, not merely by confessing Jesus as "personal Lord and Savior," but by feeding, clothing, visiting and otherwise caring for the "least" of Jesus' brethren (Mt 25).
  10. ^ Wilkin, Bob (September 2014). "What Is Free Grace Theology? – Grace Evangelical Society". Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  11. ^ Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The Vatican. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  12. ^ Pieper, Franz (1950). Christian Dogmatics. Concordia Publishing House. p. 568. ISBN 978-0-570-06712-2. As to their effect, sins are divided into mortal sins and venial sins. Mortal sins are those which result in the death of the sinner. This term takes in all the sins of the unbelievers. In the case of the believers those sins are called mortal which force the Holy Spirit to depart from one's heart, which destroy faith. Venial sins are sins which, though they in themselves merit eternal death, are daily forgiven to the believer. They are also called sins of weakness. They do not drive the Holy Spirit from the heart, do not extinguish faith.
  13. ^ Curtis, Heath (8 July 2015). Mortal Sin and the Loss of Salvation. Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy. It is, accordingly, necessary to know and to teach that when holy men, still having and feeling original sin, also daily repenting of and striving with it, happen to fall into manifest sins, as David into adultery, murder, and blasphemy, that then faith and the Holy Ghost has departed from them [they cast out faith and the Holy Ghost]. For the Holy Ghost does not permit sin to have dominion, to gain the upper hand so as to be accomplished, but represses and restrains it so that it must not do what it wishes. But if it does what it wishes, the Holy Ghost and faith are [certainly] not present. For St. John says, 1 John 3:9: Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, … and he cannot sin. And yet it is also the truth when the same St. John says, 1:8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
  14. ^ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Justification. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  15. ^ Eby, Edwin. "How Secure Is a Believer?" (PDF). Anabaptist Resources. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  16. ^ Pinson, J. Matthew (2002). Four Views on Eternal Security. Harper Collins. p. 18. ISBN 9780310234395. While for Arminius loss of salvation came only through ceasing to believe in Christ, Wesleyans held that it could result from eiter unbelief or unconfessed sin. ... Anabaptists (e.g., Mennonites, Brethren) and Restorationists (e.g., the Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, Disciples of Christ) have traditionally tended towards doctrines of salvation similar to that of Wesleyan Arminianism – without affirming a "second blessing" and entire sanctification. There have always been some in these groups, however, who espoused a view more akin to Reformed Arminianism. Many traditional Lutherans also affirm the possibility of apostasy and reconversion.
  17. ^ Robinson, Jeff (25 August 2016). "Meet a Reformed Arminian". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 16 June 2019. Reformed Arminianism's understanding of apostasy veers from the Wesleyan notion that individuals may repeatedly fall from grace by committing individual sins and may be repeatedly restored to a state of grace through penitence.
  18. ^ "Perseverance of the Saints". Grace to You. Retrieved 2022-08-13.

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