Faith/Works
Brother,
There is still one issue that confuses me about the differences in the Catholic and the Protestant understandings of justification. You've established two fundemental disagreements:
But what about the battle cry of the reformation, sola fide? In your previous discussion of justification you state that works are not the cause of our justification. The Navarre bible (Romans, ch4) agrees, "it is not therefore good works that lead to justification." The general message of Romans is that we are justified by faith (which is of course itself a gift of God). Again quoting Navarre, "what justifies man is faith", and it then goes on to make it clear that the faith must work itself in charity.
In talking to Protestant apologists it really sounds like they would agree with the paragraph above. Don't we both claim that we are justified by faith, not by works (cf Eph 2:8-9), but this faith must be lived out in love. That indeed its this faith by itself that saves us (once again remembering that the faith is only possible by grace) or justifies us, but that this faith must live itself out in love or it's no faith at all. In other words the works do not really play a part in us being justified (they are not the cause of our justification) by they are an evidence of a genuine faith which caused the justification. But of course works do have to be there, otherwise the faith is dead (as James has stated).
Please tell me if my understanding of justification is off, but it seems like to me that the issue of faith/works Cath. and Prot. agree on, and that its the other two issues mentioned above that are the big disagreement factors.
A continued thanks for your discussion on justification... I hope other readers are benifiting from this too.
QUESTION from Jim on July 15, 2003
that of whether we become new creations at justification or whether we simply have our sinfulness covered up, and that of whether once saved always saved.
ANSWER by Staff on July 22, 2003
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Dear Jim: In the discussions between the Lutheran fellowship and the Catholic Church the results have just about come to a total acknowledgement that there really is no difference between Catholics and Lutherans on justification and faith. Rather it was a misunderstanding. Your statement, "That indeed its this faith by itself that saves us (once again remembering that the faith is only possible by grace) or justifies us, but that this faith must live itself out in love or it's no faith at all)" is exactly true. We are saved by grace through faith and not from the works of the law. But Faith is not faith at all, it is dead, unless that faith is expressed in the works of love. No works of love = no faith = no justification However, although Lutherans and a few others have this or a similar concept of justification and faith, many evangelicals and fundamentalist really do not have a firm understanding of justification. The confuse justification and sanctification. In doing so they, in fact, do the exact thing they preach against. They make justification a LEGAL WORK by which we are saved and sanctification a totally separate notion that takes place after the LEGAL PROCLAMATION of justification. St. Paul, however, tells us we are not justified by legal works and that includes the WORK of a legalistic faith. Now, all the fundamentalists out there will be crying foul at my statement, but sorry to any fundamentalist who read this, but you do approach justification as a LEGAL WORK. As a Baptist evangelist for 15 years I preached this. The fundamentalist economy believes justification establishes them in a technical and legal position of righteousness. But the Bible begs to differ. Justification is a process, not a legal pronouncement as Paul so well states about working out our salvation in fear and trembling and his comments about finishing the race and perseverance. By making justification a legal pronouncement the fundamentalists have, in effect, made faith a WORK to procure a LEGAL STATUS. Just DO this (the sinners prayer) and you GET that (justification). Justification is not some legalistic contract between God and man. Such notions are sorely mistaken, utterly unbiblical, and most dangerous for the ones who use this notion to presume their eternal salvation. It is this LEGALISTIC economy, in fact, that allows the fundamentalists to accept (allows them to use as an excuse to accept) once-saved-always-saved without accepting the Calvinistic economy of pre-destination and irresistible grace from which the once-saved-always-saved notion is both philosohpically and theologically derived. Sadly, this legalistic approach does exactly what the fundamentalists says can't happen = to be justified by works, in their case, the work of a "faith contract" without regard to whether that faith is genuine as proved by the works of love. We need to pray for their enlightenment to the truth.
God Bless, |