The Gospel of Justification.
By "Justification" (narrow) Protestants (generally) mean the ESTABLISHMENT of a new and different relationship with God, the GIVING of the divine gifts of spiritual life, faith in Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit. We do NOT mean all that results of these gifts and actions by God, what CHRISTIANS (those with the gifts of life, faith and justification) are called to do (that's Sanctification in the narrow sense) - in that, there is (and always has been) essential agreement between Catholicism and (most of) Protestantism. So the debate, the issue of the Reformation, the issue that so divides Western Christianity today has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with what Christians are called to do, those WITH life/faith/Holy Spirit/Justification (as the Catholic Church itself has so powerfully stressed, it's how one RECEIVES that.
Lutherans teach that justification (narrow) is Sola Gratia - Solus Christus - Sola Fide as ONE, singular, inseparable doctrine. THIS is what the RCC so powerfully repudiates, this is what divides western Christianity and has for 500 years.
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone). “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and all this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (
Ephesians 2:8, see also
Romans 6:23,
Titus 3:5, etc.). This places emphasis that our salvation (here in the sense of narrow justification) flows from God’s heart – not ours. It is the fruit of God's works/achievements - not ours. Grace in justification is God’s unmerited, unconditional love/favor/gift. God's mercy in NOT treating us as we deserve but of God's grace in giving us what we don't deserve and did not merit.
Solus Christus (Christ Alone). “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (
Acts 16:31). “There is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved” (
Acts 4:12). “No one comes to the Father except by Me” (
John 14:6). Christ IS our Savior and our salvation. It’s CHRIST’s perfect live, CHRIST’s perfect sacrifice, CHRIST’s triumphant resurrection! Christ is the object of our faith. In justification, it is not how much we believe or how good we believe but in Whom we believe; our focus is on the quality of Christ’s work rather than on the quality of our faith; HE is our certainty. We look to the Cross ( not in the mirror) to see the Savior. There is a life GIVER (as the ancient creed stresses) - and it's not dead self (
1 John 5:11-12)
Sola Fide (Faith Alone). “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!” (
Acts 16:30-31. Also see
John 3:16,
Acts 10:43, etc.). This proclaims that His grace and salvation are embraced by God’s gift of faith. Faith in this context means to trust or rely upon. It means to have active confidence or reliance especially upon something “unseen” or “unproven.” It too is the gift of God.
For God so loved the world (
Sola Gratia) that He gave His only begotten Son (
Solus Christus) that whosoever believes in Him (
Sola Fide) will not perish but has everlasting life (Justification, narrow)
John 3:16
"You were dead in your trespasses and sins" (
Ephesians 2:1)
“God is love!” (
1 John 1:8)
“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but has everlasting life!” (
John 3:16)
“God shows His love for us in that while we were enemies, Christ died for us” (
Rom. 5:8).
"This is our testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son does not have life" (
1 John 5:11-12)
“God saved us not because of deeds done by us but in virtue of His own mercy, that we might be saved by His grace” (
Titus 3:5),
“For our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (
2 Corinthians 5:21).
“The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” (
Romans 6:23).
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your doing but it is the gift of God” (
Ephesians 2:8).
“Everyone that believes in Christ receives forgiveness of sins through His name” (
Acts 10:43)
“Sirs, what must we do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (
Acts 16:30-31)
Our justification (narrow) is the result of GOD’S heart, will and work – not our own. Nor is this a mixture of our works and His works so that Jesus is PARTLY the Savior and we are PARTLY the Savior (synergistic Pelagianism), no, Jesus IS the SAVIOR. If it has to do with salvation (justification, narrow) then it's Jesus' doing and gift. We are to keep our hearts and faith focused squarely and only on Jesus who ALONE is THE Savior. How spiritual life is the gift of God. All this is the free gift of God, not because of what the Dead do for self lest any should have reason to boast of self and render Christ irrelevant in this regard.
A word about faith…
“For by grace you have been saved through faith in Christ, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God”
Ephesians 2:8
“We are justified by faith”
Romans 5:1
“God justifies he who has faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:26
The word “faith” in this context means to rely, to trust. In its use here, it means to rely on Christ for Salvation (and beyond). It is the means by which we embrace the promise and the work of Christ.
Faith in this context is not just (or even primarily) a cognitive or mental thing, it means to place our trust, our life in another – to rely. When we ride in an airplane, we may not understand exactly how the plane flies – but we can board the plane and literally entrust our very lives to it. We may submit to surgery and to a surgeon whom we don’t even know (and who doesn’t know us) and have no idea what will happen – literally entrusting our very life to him/her. Trust is a key factor in lives (to not trust is to be paranoid). For a Christian, we trust our soul and much of our life to God. In salvation, we trust in His works rather than in our own, we look to HIS perfect life rather than our sinful one, to His death rather than the one we deserve. We are placing our lives in His loving hands.
Faith is not our doing, it is the ‘gift of God” (
Ephesians 2:8)
Of course, this IN NO WAY is the "end" of anything, it is the START, the BEGINNING, the GRANTING of life, faith, Holy Spirit.... Once alive, once justified, we are called to many things - things that do not CAUSE faith/life/justification but REVEAL and APPLY it.
My perspective...
- Josiah
.