Justification is a divine act where God declares the sinner to be innocent of his sins. It is a legal action in that God declares the sinner righteous -- as though he has satisfied the Law of God. This justification is based entirely on the sacrifice of Christ by His shed blood: "...having now been justified by His blood..." (Rom. 5:9).1 Justification is a gift of grace (Rom. 3:24; Titus 3:7) that comes through faith (Rom. 3:28; 5:1).2 Christians receive Jesus (John 1:12) and put their faith-filled trust in what Jesus did on the cross (Isaiah 53:12; 1 Pet. 2:24) and in so doing are justified by God. The Bible states that justification is not by works (Rom. 3:20, 28; 4:5; Eph. 2:8-9) because our righteous deeds are filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Those who are justified are saved and salvation is a free gift (Rom. 6:23), something we cannot earn (Eph. 2:1-10). However, Roman Catholic doctrine denies justification by faith alone and says:
"If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema" (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9).
"If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified, because he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be anathema." (Canon 14).
Anathema, according to Catholic theology means excommunication, "the exclusion of a sinner from the society of the faithful." The Greek word anathema is also translated as "accursed" (Rom. 9:3; Gal. 1:8-9, NASB & KJV), "eternally condemned" (Gal. 1:8-9, NIV), and "cursed" (Rom. 9:3, NIV),. We can see that Roman Catholic theology pronounces a curse of excommunication, of being outside the camp of Christ if you believe that you are saved by grace through faith alone in Jesus.
Does the Roman Catholic Church specifically state that we are "saved by grace and works"? Not that I am aware of and neither do the above Catholic Canons state such a thing. But, when the Roman Catholic Church negates justification by faith alone, it necessarily implies that we must do something for justification, for if it is not by faith alone, then it must be by faith and something.
At this point many Catholics appeal to James 2:24 which says, "You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone." But the context of James is speaking of dead faith as opposed to living, saving faith. James states that if you "say" you have faith but have no works (James 2:14), that faith cannot save you because it is a dead faith (v. 17). In other words, mere intellectual acknowledgement of Christ is a dead faith that produces no regeneration and no change in a person's life. This faith does not justify. Rather, it is only that real and believing faith in Christ that results in justification. When someone is truly justified, he is truly saved and regenerate. Therefore, we see the results of true saving faith as they are manifested in the changed life of the one justified by faith alone. Real faith produces good works but it isn't these works that save you. Good works are the effect of salvation, not the cause of it in any way and they certainly do not help anyone keep their salvation. For more on this, please see Are you justified by Faith (Romans) or works (James)?
Protestant theology, as a whole, appeals to the Bible alone for spiritual truth and maintains that justification is not by works in any way but is by grace through faith in Christ and His sacrifice alone. After all, the Bible says "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Rom. 11:6). Furthermore, the Bible says:
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin," (Rom. 3:20).
"being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus," (Rom. 3:24).
"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," (Rom. 3:28).
"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," (Rom. 4:3).
"But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness," (Rom. 4:5).
"For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith," (Rom. 4:13).
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Rom. 5:1).
"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him," (Rom. 5:9).
"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved," (Rom. 10:9).
"so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith," (Gal. 3:14).
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God," (Eph. 2:8).
I am bewildered when I read Catholic theology that denies justification by faith alone and requires human effort in addition to God's grace to be saved. Of course, Catholicism denies that it is works that save us -- and rightly so. But, it contradicts itself when it teaches that certain things must be done by people in order to be justified and to keep that justification. Whether or not Catholicism calls these works acts of faith or not is immaterial. The label doesn't change the substance. We are either saved by grace through faith alone or we are not.
Of the acts to be performed by Catholics for justification, baptism is the first requirement Please consider these quotes:
". . Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that 'we too might walk in newness of life,'" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 977).
"Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent work of God's mercy," (CCC, par. 2020).
I do not see the Bible saying anywhere that we are justified by baptism. Yes, there are verses that can be interpreted that way, but if they were then they would contradict the clear teaching of Rom. 3:20, 28; 4:3; 5:1; Eph. 2:8 which says salvation by grace through faith, not grace through faith and baptism. For a discussion of this subject please see Is Baptism necessary for salvation?
However, according to Roman Catholicism even faith and baptism aren't sufficient in themselves for you to be saved. It says that baptism is only the first sacrament of forgiveness. Good works, according to Roman Catholicism, are also required and are rewarded with going to heaven:
"We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere 'to the end' and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ," (CCC, par. 1821).
The above quote clearly states that heaven is the "eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ." Catholic theology asserts that works are a predecessor to justification in direct contradiction to God's word which states ". . .that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," (Rom. 3:28). What are the deeds of the Law? Anything we do in hopes of getting or maintaining our righteousness before God.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), par. 2010 it says,
"Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification."
How does anyone merit for himself the underserved kindness of God's grace? Grace is by definition unmerited favor. To me this is an utterly false teaching that you can earn grace from God through works or rituals. So how does the Catholic church get around this apparent dilemma that grace is unmerited but it is obtained through our merits? It states that...
"Sanctifying grace is the gratuitous gift of his life that God makes to us; it is infused by the Holy Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it" (CCC, par. 2023).
This is the crux of the problem. Roman Catholic theology asserts that God's grace is granted through baptism and infused into a person by the Holy Spirit. This then enables him or her to do good works which then are rewarded with heaven. Basically, this is no different than the theology of the cults which maintain that justification is by grace through faith and your works whether it be baptism, going to "the true church," keeping certain laws, receiving the sacraments, or anything else you are required to do. In response, I turn to God's word at Gal.3:1-3:
"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"
Does not the above scripture clearly state that receiving God's Spirit is by faith and not by what we do? Does it not teach us that we cannot perfect our salvation by the works we do in the flesh? To receive Jesus (John 1:12 ) means to become the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) which means a person is saved, justified. Is this salvation something we attained through our effort? Of course not! Is it something we maintain through our effort? Not at all. It is given to Christians by God and assured by God because it rests in what God has done and not in anything we have done -- that is why salvation is by faith and not works. If it did rest in anyway in our works, then our salvation could not be secure and we would end up trying to be good enough to get to heaven. That only leads to bondage to the Law and the result is a lack of assurance of salvation, a constant worry that you are not good enough, and a repeated subjection to the Church's teachings and requirements about what you must do to be saved. The only natural effect of such a teaching would be that you can lose your salvation over and over again and that you must perform the necessary requirements of the Catholic church to stay saved.
Catholic Theology teaches you maintain your justification
Because the Catholic view of justification is a cooperative effort between God and man, this justification can be lost and regained by man's failure to maintain sufficient grace through meritorious works. Now I must admit that within Protestant churches there are different opinions on this very matter of eternal security. Some believe salvation can be lost while others do not. I am not here attempting to address this issue. Rather, I seek to point out that Roman Catholicism teaches that works are necessary for this "re-attainment" of justification. This is how...
According to Catholic theology, penance is a sacrament where a person, through a Catholic priest (CCC, par. 987), receives forgiveness of the sins committed after baptism. The penitent person must confess his sins to a priest. The priest pronounces absolution and imposes acts of Penance to be performed.
"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," (CCC, par. 1446).
The Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, c. i) declared regarding Penance:
"As a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin. . . ."
Acts of penance vary, but some of them are prayer, saying the rosary, reading the scripture, saying a number of "Our Father's" or "Hail Mary's" prayers, doing good works, fasting, and other such things. Is it by doing these acts of penance that the Catholic is able to regain his justified state before God? I am astounded to think that they are taught to believe that by their works of penance justification is regained. In essence it is earning one's salvation. Think about it. If you do not have it and you get it by saying prayers, fasting, and/or doing good works, then you are guilty of "works righteousness" salvation which is condemned by the Bible. "Works Righteousness" means that a person is trying to attain or keep his position with God based upon his works. It is a false teaching.
I confess my sins to God. He forgives me (1 John 1:9). I do not need a Catholic priest to be my mediator of forgiveness. I need the true mediator and High Priest, Jesus. He alone is my mediator (1 Tim. 2:5). He has all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18) to forgive my sins and intercede for me. He finished the work on the cross (John 19:30) so that I do not need to perform any work in order to gain, maintain, or even regain my salvation. That is why the Bible teaches that we are justified by faith (Rom. 5:1) apart from works (Rom. 3:28).
To say that we can add to the finished work of Christ on the cross is to say that what He did was not sufficient to save us. May this never be! We are saved by grace through faith, not grace through faith and our works. If it were, then grace would not be grace.
"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace," (Rom. 11:6).
Relationship, not Ritual
Salvation is a free gift from God given to us by His awesome Grace and is based upon the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Christians receive this by faith because faith is all we have left since my works are excluded, by God, as having anything to do with attaining salvation.
God desires fellowship with His people (1 Cor. 1:9), not rituals and works righteousness that cannot save us.
May God receive all the glory due Him because of His grace.
Excellent Bible study on Justification James and how the Roman Catholic church seeks justification by works.
2 Timothy 3:16; & 2 Tim 4:3,4: � **ALL SCRIPTURE** is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.... For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Matthew 1:24,25: When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her **UNTIL** she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Mark 6:1,3:Jesus left and went to His hometown...and began to teach...They asked, "Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't His sisters here with us?"
Mark 3:31-34: Then Jesus' mother and BROTHERS arrived. Standing outside...A crowd was sitting around Him, and they told Him, "Your mother and BROTHERS are outside looking for you." "Who are My mother and my brothers?" Jesus asked. Then He looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother!"
Matthew 6:6,9-11: Jesus says, �When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your **Father**, who is unseen. Then your **Father**, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you ...This then is how you should pray: �Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.....�
Is there even one instance where a believer prayed to someone other than the **Father** in the OT or the NT?? Answer; ZERO!
What church:devil::devil: had its evil leader decree that it is OK to pray to and worship Mary, a human being, who was a sinless VIRGIN??
I Timothy 3:1-5:If anyone sets his heart on being an Overseer or Bishop, he desires a noble task. Now the Overseer or Bishop must be the husband of but one wife.....He must manage his own family well..If anyone does no know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church? I Tim 3:12 and Titus 1:6: Deacons and Elders should also be the husband of but one wife.
I Corinthians 9:5: Paul said �Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other Apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas {PETER} What church:devil: became famous for having thousands of their unmarried priests fondle and seduce hundreds of thousands of innocent and trusting children?? There were over 250 Roman Catholic priests and teachers found guilty of seducing children just in the German province of Munich alone. As a result over 200,000 disgusted Germans and about 76,000 Austrians left the Roman Catholic Church in 2010.
Matthew 23:9: Jesus says, �Do not call ANYONE on earth 'father,' for you have ONE {Spiritual} Father, and He is in Heaven!!� What Church:devil: calls all their priests spiritual �Fathers�?? And their Satanic leader:devil: �Holy Father�?? And their evil followers bow down and kiss his ring and worship him???
This Church:devil: actually claims that they do not worship Mary but what are all these "Hail Mary's" all about??? Actually this Church worships and prays to Mary far more than they worship Jesus and His Father combined even though God's Word commands us over 100 times to Worship and pray to GOD ALONE!!
Hebrews 9:15,26b-28: Christ is the mediator of a NEW COVENANT so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant...But now He has APPEARED ONCE FOR ALL at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the SACRIFICE of Himself... so Christ was SACRIFICED ONCE to take away the sins of many people, and He will *APPEAR* a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. Hebrews 10:10: �We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus **ONCE FOR ALL**!!�
What Church:devil: believes that Jesus has to die every day except Good Friday to take away sins and that Satanic priests:devil: have the power to change wine into the blood of Jesus which they drink and wafers into the body of Jesus which they eat.
Romans 6:9,10: "We know that since Christ was raised from the dead, *HE CANNOT DIE AGAIN*; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died,* HE DIED FOR SIN **ONCE** FOR ALL*; but the life He lives He lives to God!":applause::angel:
Jude, Read the article. We are talking about THE CENTER of the Christian faith. The Bible says we can only be saved by faith in Jesus, and ROME says something completely different.
PETROS is always translated PETER in the NT and PETRA is always translated "ROCK"
Matthew 16:15-18: Jesus asked, "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter {Petros} answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter {Petros}, and on this ROCK {Petra} I will build My Church."
It is interesting to note that "PETRA" is mentioned exactly 15 times in the NT and every time it is translated "ROCK!".
"PETROS" is mentioned exactly 155 times in the NT and every time it is translated "PETER" and is **NEVER** translated ROCK!!
And Jesus Christ is called the "ROCK" two times in the NT in I Corinthians 10:4!! In talking about the water that Israel drank for 40 years in the wilderness:
I Corinthians 4:3,4: "They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual "ROCK" that accompanied them, and that **ROCK** was CHRIST!!"
Colossians 1:18: "He {Christ} is the **HEAD** of the body, the church, He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in *EVERYTHING* He might have the supremacy."
Ephesians 5:22-25: Wives, submit you your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as *Christ* is the **HEAD** of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now the church submits to Christ , so also wives should submit to the husbands in *EVERYTHING*!"
Ephesians 1:22,23: And God placed *ALL THINGS* under His feet and appointed Him to be the **HEAD** over **EVERYTHING** for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills **EVERYTHING** in **EVERY WAY*!":applause::peace:
Sorry, I had posted this on the worng thread... long day:laugh:
Justification as according to Romans chapter 3 and chapater 4, only means that upon repentance of our sins God make us right before Him when He imputes His righteousness in us and we have legal standing before Him as saints instead of sinners.
Everyone who has faith to believe in Jesus Christ is justififed because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, God declares we who were the sinners who repented, absolved from his/her sins, and released from the pentaly of death, and restores us back as we were without sins as children.
Anyone who comes to God and trust in Him through Christ for salvation will be/is justified.
Justification give us leagl standing before God as not guilty of our sins when we have repented, instead of being under condemnation and the penalty of death.
Justification was never meant to be a doctrine, and Paull never taught or preached the justification of Christ on the cross as a doctrine.
It is man who has taken God's word and His works and made man made doctrines out of them, this is why there is so much religious divide, bashing, confusion, hate, and strife among Christians beleivers... everybody preaching and teaching their own made-up doctrines of God's word ad His works... instead of preaching and teaching what God has already said He did in His word, and what Jesus did on the cross to recogncile man back to God free from sin through repentance and grace least any man should boast, and placed us in right standing in innocence as saints before God unto salavtion...
Romans chapter 3:28 tells us that What the sacrifce of the law for sins could not do, Christ did through His sacrifice of His life on the cross as a debt paid in full by the blood.... that's justification. nothng more and nothing less! Jesus paid our sin debt for us while we were still sinnes, so that we might have right to the tree of life in Chirst.
The very Fact that so many are Squabbling over just what Justification is and what it means and How it Occurs�shows that The Church was Correct in Holding a Council and DEFINING � Once and For ALL � the Definition of JUSTFICATION.
Throughout the History of The Church we see where Learned�Pious�Believers would Debate one or more Aspects of Christianity. The Nature of Christ�the Perpetual Virginity of Mary and many others. Whenever it got to the Point where it became Widespread or Heated � The Church called for a Council and with Fasting and Invoking of The Holy Spirit and many Prayers and of course much Debate�
�She would DEFINE Once and ForEVER the Subject at hand.
Once this was done and Completed�the Squabbling would Stop and Desist! Everyone�even The Doctors of The Church�would fall in behind it.
This is what happened with Justification.
As far back as Apostolic Times a Theory of Justification (just how we are �Justified� by God) was being spread by
Antinomianism who believed
good works do not promote salvation,
so neither do evil works hinder it; and, as all Christians are necessarily sanctified by their very vocation and profession, so as justified Christians, they are
incapable of losing their spiritual holiness, justification, and final salvation
by any act of disobedience to, or even by any direct violation of the law of God.
Antinomianism was considered a Heretic
Throughout Her History others came up with their Own Views until it was Necessary to Define it.
The Reformers in their Need to be as far away from Catholicism as possible Resurrected the old theories and Quite Eloquently developed their Own.
Martin Luther on Justification by faith alone........
"Of this article [justification] nothing may be yielded or conceded, though heaven and earth and whatever will not abide, fall to ruin; for 'there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,' says St. Peter (Acts 4:12); 'and with His stripes we are healed' (Is. 53:5). And on this article all that we teach and practice is based, against the pope, the devil, and the world. That is why we must be very certain of this doctrine and not doubt; otherwise all is lost, and the pope and the devil and all things gain the victory over us and are adjudged right."
Archimedes, there are thousand varieties of protestant churches, and all of them believe in justification by faith alone.
Just as all of them believe that bowing down before statues is a gross violation of the 2nd commandment, and that Mary worship is idolatry, and pergatory is a fantasy, etc, etc, etc.
