Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

24 February, 2008   comments: (0) Sound Doctrine   More Justification Please!! I've been really behind in replying to emails lately and while catching up - I ran across this one, sent to me by a Catholic named Nick who wrote: "From my reading of Protestant theology, the classical Protestant teaching on justification is that it is by imputation of grace, making the soul appear righteous (though not changing it), and occurs once in the believer's life, at conversion". Nick feels that his understanding of protestant belief conflicts with the account of Abraham; he goes on to say: "As a Catholic I believe justification is by infused grace, making the soul righteous. In the case of Abraham he actually increased in righteousness (became more justified) as he continued to obey God. I believe the Catholic model best explains the Biblical evidence. I am open to hearing an equally compelling case from the Protestant side, but until that time I cannot consider anything but the Catholic Faith. I look forward to your response." I was discussing this with my friend Andy Spaulding, who has a great deal of experience interacting with Roman Catholics, and I asked if he could write a foundational post with Nick's viewpoint in mind. Nick had some more specific questions about Abraham, which Andy and some of our commenters would likely be willing to address more thoroughly in the comments should Nick decide to return and talk with us further. I've been twisting Andy's arm for a while now to do some writing for Old Truth (he hasn't done much blogging at all), and so what follows is hopefully the first in many more posts to come: The doctrine of justification was the storm center of the Reformation, and it was the doctrine which Martin Luther said, "the Church stands or falls". But in this day of "can't we all just get along?" many Protestants don't even know what the Catholic Church teaches about this most important doctrine. Eternal souls are at stake, this teaching carries with it heaven or hell. This post is going to show what the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) teaches and believes about the doctrine of justification. It will not be a rebuttal from me concerning what they teach, I'll leave that up to you - the commenters. My aim in this post is in no way meant to be an exhaustive study, that would take hundreds of pages, it is simply a bottom line showing of what the RCC teaches concerning the doctrine of justification. The RCC teaches that justification is a process, not a single, once for all declarative act of God. Rome teaches that justification can be increased, lost through mortal sin, and then regained again through the sacrament of penance. The RCC claims that justification is a life long process, which starts with the sacrament of baptism, justification then increases through the sacraments and personal righteousness. Here are some quotes from the Catholic "counter-reformation", the Council of Trent. It is worthy to note that the RCC has never renounced any of these statements. Many individual Catholics may, but the Vatican never has: (Canon 4)- "If anyone says that the sacraments are not necessary for salvation, and that without the desire of them, men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification, let him be anathema". (Canon 9)- "If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, let him be anathema". (Canon 12)- " If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the Divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified, let him be anathema". (Canon 24)- " If anyone says that the justification received is also not increased before God through good works, but that the works are only the fruit and signs of the justification received, not also a cause of its increase, let him be anathema". (Canon 30)- " If anyone says that after the grace of justification has been received to every penitent sinner, that the guilt is remitted and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such a way, that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world or the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven can be opened to him, let him be anathema". (Canon 33)- " If anyone says, that, by the Catholic doctrine touching justification, by this holy Synod inset forth in this present decree, the Glory of God, or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ are in any way derogated from, and not rather that the truth of our faith, and the glory of God and of Jesus Christ are rendered more illustrious, let him be anathema". (i.e. This council declares that if anyone disagrees with them, they are damned with an eternal curse.) What we have in the RCC teaching of justification expressly contradicts the Reformers teaching that Christ perfect righteousness, imputed to the sinners account, is the only ground on which we stand acceptable before a Holy God. Instead, Rome teaches that grace is infused, resulting in a righteousness that is inherent. this inherent righteousness must be perfected by sacramental sanctification and then finally accomplished in Purgatory. This then, finally, provides the Catholic the grounds for their acceptance before God. Does the Catholic teaching square with Scripture? If not, how so? If it does, how so? And is this teaching promoted by Rome only secondary or is it a matter on which salvation hangs in the balance? Finally, can Catholics and Protestants be united or does this doctrine show that there can never be any allegiance? --Andy S. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.961          Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism