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What is Justification? How different Catholic and Protestant's position on Justification? One simple way to explain relation between Justification and Salvation is: if salvation is our goal then Justification is how to reach that goal. We must be first justified before we can enter heaven. The Council of Trent defines Justification as a translation from that state in which 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 Saviour [1] Martin Luther stated that justification is redemption from sin, death, and the devil and are made partakers of life eternal, not by ourselves but by help of Christ [2]. John Calvin defined justification as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favour as if we were righteous [3] Both Catholics and Protestants consider justification as important and prime issue. The Catholic Church declares that Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit (CCC # 1994). Citing Augustine’s words, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Justification of the wicked is even greater than the creation of the world. Luther wrote that the article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines. It is the head and the cornerstone and it alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God [4]. To John Calvin Justification is the principal ground on which religion must be supported [5]. Both Catholics and Protestants agree that justification comes from God’s grace (Titus 3:7) and has been merited (de condignly) by Christ (Romans 3:23-25, 5:9) "Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1992 "Our justification comes from the grace of God. Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1996 However though they use the same word, Justification, Catholics and Protestants do not mean the same thing. Their disagreement arises from different understanding in the scriptural term “Righteousness”. In Greek, Justification (dikaios, dikaiwsiV) and Righteousness (dikaiosune, dikaisune) have the same root or they are related. Justification has something to do with righteousness as the Scripture testifies: the righteous will go to eternal life (Matthew 25:46) while the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9). In short, To Protestants and “Bible only” Christians, “to justify” means “to declare righteous” because (their) Justification is one time event while to Catholics it means “to make righteous” because Justification is a process.
The simplest way to explain the differences between Catholic and Protestant Justification is using analogy. Suppose our state before justification is like wearing a dirty robe, which does not entitle us to enter heaven. We cannot clean our robe using our own efforts. In Protestant’s Justification, Christ will give us His spotless robe to cover up ours at the time we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour [6]. Christ needs to do it only once. We still wear our dirty robe, but it is now covered with Christ’s. When God look at us He will see us wearing the spotless robe of Christ and declares us clean. Note that with the robe from Christ we are renewed outwardly but inside we still have our dirty robe. In Catholic justification, on the other hand, God through Christ will help us to wash our dirty robe. At our conversion, Christ makes it clean for the first time through Baptism (if we have the chance to have it). After this whenever we dirty our robe through sinning, Christ will again help us to wash it (through sacrament of penance). The process is continued through out our life. When we die with our robe still stained with venial sins, it will be cleansed in purgatory because nothing unclean can enter heaven (Revelation 21:27). At the end of Justification, we enter heaven wearing our clean robe. Obviously what is made clean is also declared clean. they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Revelation 22:14 Other common analogy for Protestant Justification is Courtroom analogy. In fact Protestants usually refer (their) Justification as a legal or forensic one. The word forensic means “belonging to courts of judicature” and is used in legal proceedings. In the words of Reformed scholar R.C. Sproul: “The Reformers viewed justification as being forensic, resting on God’s judicial declaration that the sinner is counted as just or righteous by virtue of the imputation of the righteousness of Christ." [7] In the Protestant courtroom analogy God is the judge and we stand in the courtroom as debtors or criminals, unable to pay our debts or guilty of committed crime and are about to be thrown to jail (i.e. hell). We are in hopeless situation but God offers the only solution. He sent His Son to step down and if we believe in Him, He will pay our debt or the penalty of our crime and set us free. Justification then is just simply a legal exchange, i.e. we get Christ righteousness while He gets our punishment. We are declared just/righteous or, in the words of John Calvin, we are declared as if we were righteous (R.C. Sproul uses the phrase "counted as righteous"). This courtroom analogy fits well with the Protestant’s understanding of Justification, i.e. it is a one-time event where we are declared righteous through the imputation of Christ righteousness. It does not make room for purgatory. Christ already paid the penalty of our sin, so there is no need of purgatory. Catholics use Family analogy for Justification where God is our Father and we are His (adopted) children [8]. Note that Trent’s definition of justification has the phrase “adoption as sons of God”. Adoption as sons of God is something biblical that Protestants also believe (cf. Romans 8:15, 23, Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5). However their forensic Justification system cannot fit in the Family analogy. We are not only declared sons but also made and become sons (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1 & 5:1), become heir with Christ (Romans 8:17) and partake His divinity (2 Peter 1:4). In the Family analogy we receive our adoption through our faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26), not because of any righteous (or unrighteous) things we did. Once belong to the family of God, we have our duties and must obey household rules. No father will tell his children because they are his they can do whatever they like and there are no rule to obey and no duty in the house. At the same time a father will not tell his friends that his children must work in his house in order not to be thrown out of the house. Any human father wants his children to grow up and to become good persons, not to become criminals, drug addicts or prostitutes and he is more than willing to help his children to achieve that. For example he is willing to spend some money for their education (free gift from him, not a loan, i.e. his children do not need to pay him back). He spent time with his children to teach them not to associate with wrong companies; he makes sure they are in good health etc. Obviously his children must cooperate with him and do their part. Just because the father pays the tuition fee they will not get the degree or skills unless they study. If they do not listen to their father’s advice they may end up becoming member of gangs or drug addicts. Any human father will discipline his children for their own good when they do something wrong and reward them for being good (be is ice cream treat, a new bike etc.). The reward is obviously a gift from the father, not their wages for being good. Similarly our heavenly Father wants us, his children, to learn, to grow, to do our duty and to become mature, that is, to become like Him (Philippians 2:14). In the process He will also sometime discipline us for our own good (Hebrews 12:6) and will reward us, a gift from Him, when we well behave. God the Father does not leave us struggling alone; with our cooperation He, through Christ, will continuously help us by giving us His Grace until we are welcomed to enter our heavenly home. Again, nothing unclean can enter heaven (Revelation 21:27), so God cleansed us in purgatory if we still have our venial sin upon dying. In both Protestant Justification analogies, men in remain passive. The only thing they need to do is to believe in Christ who will cover their unrighteousness with His perfect righteousness or pay their debt of sin and then it is done. In Catholic Justification, on the other hand, men are active through-out the justification process; i.e. using their freewill they cooperate with God’s given Grace. Because to Catholics Justification is a process, they are not accustomed to the question" have you been saved?" or "Do you want to be saved?". Such questions go in line with Protestant's one time event (and forensic) Justification.
End notes [1] Chapter 4 of the Decrees on Justification [2] What Luther Says, page 701 [3] John Calvin: Institute of Christian Religion, III.11.2 [4] What Luther Says, pages 703-704 [5] John Calvin: Institute of Christian Religion, III.11.1 [6] Reformed scholar R.C Sproul cited Zechariah 3:2-5 and Romans 13:14 as biblical supports for being clothed with Christ’ righteousness (cf. Faith Alone, page 102). But in Zechariah 3:2-5 shows that God asked the angel to remove Joshua’s filthy garments first before clothing him with new garments. In other words he was made and declared clean. Romans 13:14 has the words “put on Christ”, not “put on righteousness of Christ”. Galatians 3:27-28 explains that “to put on Christ” means “to be one in Christ”, not separated based on our race (Jews or Greek), social status (slave or free) or gender (male or female). Ephesians 4:22-24 asks us to put off our old corrupt nature first before we put on the new nature, created after God’s likeness in true righteousness and holiness. It does not say the new nature covers our old one either. [7] R.C. Sproul: Faith Alone, page 44 [8] A family is not complete without a mother and this is how the role of Virgin Mary as the mother of us fits in. |