by Jameson Kenneally
To first understand the reformation perspective of justification, we must establish a proper definition of what justification is. We also need to establish what exactly we need justified from. I will also be looking at justification being the central theme of the Gospel, the anthropological and soteriological meanings of the word, addressing the reformation’s response to the Roman Catholic view of justification and meritorious works, the reformation’s admonition of works, and the free nature of justification.
To properly establish an understanding of what the theological term justification is we need to break down the root of the word. Justification is the act of being declared just and righteous before some sort of authority. It can be thought of as a courtroom scene. Somebody goes into the courtroom with a stack of speeding tickets piled into the sky. They utter to themselves, “truly there is no way I can pay this debt.” Yes somehow, by the grace of the almighty judge the man who had an unforgivable debt of speeding tickets was just declared innocent. This staggering courtroom scene is reminiscent of what happens during the instance of justification. The question then arises; instead of a stack of speeding tickets what do I need justified from?
This goes back to the very beginning of all time as is known by the Holy Scriptures. It goes back to the great and majestic Garden of Eden. Our first father Adam, was created by God and in God’s great mercy he made a covenant. This covenant was not to be broken. In it God commands Adam in Genesis 1:26, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” This command is commonly regarded as the covenant of works. This covenant of works was made with our first parent Adam, in the garden, as a condition for communion with the one true, holy, and living God. Adam had kept this commandment in innocence until one fateful day, he partook from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That day he ingested the sweet pear (this is dogma according to me and I shall not be questioned) hanging from that tree. This is the first sin, and it is passed down to all of Adams posterity as stated in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” This sin is something everyone needs justified from but there is much more.
Remember that courtroom scene I painted for you? It would seem unfair if the only debt that man had was that passed from his father or mother. He had not even committed the sin himself. This analogy fails in the sense that sin deserves far greater punishment than any monetary debt we can acquire here. Something this analogy does very well is its reflection on those who have transgressed the law. The law is given to mankind in two tablets the first four commands as man’s duty to God, the fifth being a transitional command to the authorities in our life who bear an element of godly authority, and the final five being our duty to others. This law is written on the hearts of all mankind. It condemns us all. We have all transgressed it. This is the law from which we need justified.
We have now established exactly what we have needed justified from. Now I will examen the reformation’s perspective on justification.
In the reformation there was a heavy emphasis of justification being the center of the Gospel. This is really the story of the Christ event. 1 John 1:7-10 says, “7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Here, verse nine calls back to verse seven. This is one of the bases for which we declare that justification is the central point of the Gospel found only in Christ. Romans 5:16 asserts this same point, “And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.” This verse, like the contents of 1 John, asserts that it is Christ’s work that justifies. This would be the common belief among those who participated in the protestant reformation.
Next is the anthropological and soteriological meanings of the word. As we have established the word justification means “the act of being declared just and righteous before some sort of authority.” In the protestant reformation and today this means that justification has a soteriological and an anthropological implication. The soteriological implication is that we, by the atonement of Christ, are declared just and righteous before an almighty God. The anthropological implication is that we as men are worthy and deserving of a punishment. Romans 3:10 expresses, “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Justification tells us there is something that we need justified from. We have all transgressed the law. We are all depraved. The image set upon us at creation has been distorted as seen in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”. We must be declared just and righteous before God.
An analysis of the Protestant Reformation’s response to the Roman Catholic’s view is an order. It must first be established what the Roman Catholic’s view is. The Roman Catholic view is called infused grace. It is where you are not instantly declared just and righteous before God, but you are infused with enough grace that you can merit your righteousness before God. This might seem like an acceptable doctrine, but we understand that the scriptures clearly state that men are justified by grace freely. Romans 3:24 states, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans states the clear teaching of the reformation which is contrary to that of the Roman Catholic Church.
However, the Reformation never declared that works were unnecessary. Works themselves were never said to merit grace but they could not be discouraged. They contribute nothing to your justification as it is a free gift by grace through the wondrous working of Christ. This beautiful act of love for the believer ought to evoke works. The great Martin Luther of the reformation was alleged to have said, “justification is by faith alone, but it is faith that is never alone.” The reformers never discouraged the acting of good works, yet they disparaged any man who thought that their works could be good enough to merit justice before God. Even our greatest actions transgress the law so severely that we are unable to do good in the sight of God apart from the working of Christ Jesus our Lord. It is this justification that is a free gift. This salvation can be received through the gift of faith. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” No working of any kind can receive salvation. Stated again by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” This gift of faith is given by the spirit as an illustrious illumination to the supernatural. Faith itself is like an empty vessel of the mind, waiting to be moved by the will as the spirit illuminates it. The reformation clearly affirms scripture here, emphasizing what is at the heart of the Gospel.
The reformation view has been predominantly held throughout history as a timeless truth. Today there are various scholars challenging this biblical view in favor for something new and different. We acknowledge that our understanding of theology must always reform back to scripture, but do these new scholars really think they can challenge something as timeless as the reformation’s perspective of justification?
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