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The first word on the Protestant side that describes the concept of justification is the term Forensic. Forensic has to do with speech. Perhaps you were involved in a forensics club at school, so you know this term. The reason why the Protestants’ concept of justification is called forensic is because their ultimate basis of justification is the declaration of God. When God declares a man just, he is in fact just. This concept is based on the Scriptural passage in Romans, Chapter 4, where the Apostle Paul appeals to the life of Abraham. Paul states that Abraham believed God when God made certain promises to him. And because Abraham believed God, the Bible says God counted, or imputed, or "reckoned" it to him as righteousness; that is, declared him to be considered standing righteous in God’s sight. So, for Luther and the Protestant Reformers, the basis of Abraham’s justification is found in God’s declaring him pardoned or justified the moment he believed. Forensic justification, then, is an act of God does outside or apart from the man. It is the judicial declaration of God about the man that he, because of Christ, now stands in a state of justness. The man has been officially declared pardoned by God. Now the Roman Catholic considers this forensic justification to be, Legal Fiction; that is, this would involve God calling something "just" that in and of itself is not just. The question Catholicism is raising is, "How can God declare a man to be just, when in fact, he remains a sinner?" This has its roots in the dispute stemming from Luther’s very famous slogan: "Simul Justus et Peccator," which means that when God sees a man truly believe, He then declares that man justified legally in His sight. But at the same time, the pardoned sinner is still a sinner in and of himself. Catholicism believes that God only declares a man just after a man works in cooperation with God’s grace and has become just. God will not call an ashtray a rose. So Catholicism believes that the Protestant concept of forensic justification involves a very serious problem in the righteousness of God—namely it involves God in a legal fiction of calling someone just, who in and of itself, is not just.
This brings us to Point #2. To get a broader understanding of what Protestants mean by Forensic Justification, we need to look at the second word which describes their view. It is the word Synthetic. By this term, the Protestant Reformers meant there is a synthesis, a combining or adding of something to the life of the sinner when he stands before God. Namely, the sinner appears before God, in union with Christ. The Biblical imagery says he appears clothed with the righteousness of Christ; that is, the righteousness, the merits of Christ are given or imputed to him, and cover him. God declares a sinner just, not in and of himself, but He declares him just in Christ. It’s the merits of Christ that constitute a man righteous, not the merits of the man.So, the moment the sinner believes in Christ, God sees him with Christ and all the riches and merits of Christ cancel out the sinner’s debts. The "synthesis" has taken place. The word Analytic describes how Catholicism understands justification. The word Analytic here means to analyze, to examine, to study in order to determine the outcome. Roman Catholicism believes God declares a person just only after He analyzes the person and finds within the person real righteousness, real justness within.
Now to say that the merits of Christ are imputed, which is Point #3 underneath the Protestant side, means that they are reckoned or counted or transferred from the account of Jesus, so to speak, and placed over in the account of the sinner. A man is justified by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ. That is, Christ and His merits have been added to the account of the sinner. The sinner offers nothing of his own but everything of Christ. It’s on the basis of the merits of Christ alone which are imputed to the sinner, that allows God to declare him just. How Catholicism says a person becomes truly righteous within is described by their word under Point #3, which is the word Infusion. By Infusion Catholicism teaches that God’s prevenient grace, or the power of Christ, is infused or placed into the sinner. When this power is given, and the sinner cooperates with this power, then he can arrive in a state of justness. Only then will God declare him to be just because he has, in fact, become just. Catholicism is not teaching a crass view of justification, that a man in and of himself can live a holy and righteous life and can be justified in the sight of God. But Catholicism is teaching that in the power of Christ, a man can arrive at a point where he will become just within, and then God will declare him justified. Catholicism believes the basis of a man’s justification is the righteousness which God finds within the person. For Protestantism, the basis of justification is Christ Himself, His righteousness. In Protestantism, a man’s righteousness within is not in any way the basis upon which God pardons a man; rather, God pardons a man solely on the basis of Christ. In Catholicism, sanctification, or the inner transformation within a person, must come before a man can be justified. In Protestantism, sanctification or the transformation of the person’s inner life, comes only as the immediate result of justification, and never is the means by which a man gains justification. Protestants believe Catholicism has not accepted Paul’s teaching in Romans and Galatians where he clearly defines the only basis upon which God says He will justify a man. Paul says, "To the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is "reckoned," imputed, or counted to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:5).
Now let’s look at #4. On the Protestant side we find the words No Human Merit. By this, Protestants mean that man has no merit of his own whatsoever that can dispose God to justify him. Justification is not God’s judgment based on the personal righteousness within the sinner; or of any kind of good works a man can do. Rather, justification is God’s judgment based on the work of Christ at the cross in whom the sinner believes. The Bible says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5). Across from the Protestant side is the Roman Catholic phrase, Congruous Merit. Catholicism teaches that working in cooperation with prevenient grace, or the "Habitus of Grace," terms that describe the infused power of Christ within a person, the sinner can then live a life that is not absolutely perfect, but a life that is meritorious enough that it makes it congruous or "fitting" for God to grant justification. Man’s cooperation with Christ’s power earns man congruous merit before God. But at least congruous merit must be present before justification takes place in Roman Catholicism.
Protestants believe you Can’t Lose Justification. Classically, the Protestant Reformers argued that since a man’s justification depended solely on Christ’s merits and not anything which a man does, a man could not lose his justification. Since Christ has already successfully lived a perfect life and died to pay for all of man’s sins, nothing will ever change this fact. Therefore, once a man has the righteousness of Christ reckoned to his account, and has been imputed to cover his sins, while believing in Christ, the total number of good or bad deeds a person does will not change this gift from God. It should be pointed out that though Luther agreed that the merits of Christ were the sole basis of a man’s justification and it did not depend in any way on a man’s deeds, a man could still lose his justification if he totally turned away from Christ. Since God’s gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life was appropriated by faith, if a man decided not to believe and to rest his eternal destiny in Christ, and totally turned against Him, only then would a man lose his salvation. In other words, the only sin that Luther felt would cause a man to lose his salvation was the sin of apostasy. On the other hand, Calvin taught that once God justified a man, God would strengthen that man’s faith and protect him so that he would never want to turn away from believing in the work of Christ on his behalf. Point #5 across from the Protestant position of Can’t Lose Justification is Roman Catholicism’s position, You Can Lose It. Catholicism believes that justification can be destroyed; that is, justifying grace within a man can be obliterated by his committing mortal sin. Roman Catholicism distinguishes between venial sins, sins that are not so serious that they involve the destruction of justifying grace, with mortal sins, which are sins so serious that the grace of justification can be destroyed within man. If a man commits mortal sin and destroys his justification, in order for him to regain it, Catholicism teaches he must come via the Sacrament of Penance, which involves confession, absolution, and satisfaction. Catholics do believe in Christ, but are reminded that their justification also depends on their works cooperating with Christ. A man cannot know his own heart, so being subject to many temptations, he may commit a variety of mortal sins, any one of which could destroy his justification. That is why the Council of Trent stated, "Each one, when he regards himself and his own weakness and indisposition, may have fear and apprehension touching his own grace; seeing that no one can know with a certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God." So for Catholicism, a man can lose his justification and can’t be sure he will someday be in heaven.
Representing the views of Protestants are the famous words, By Faith Alone. For Protestants, faith is not just intellectual assent to certain facts about Christ’s salvation; rather, faith is a knowledge of the facts plus a total commitment or trust and reliance on Jesus Christ, who is the sole reason and grounds upon which God justifies us. For Protestants, justification is an act that can take place in a single moment, the moment the sinner, through faith, trusts Christ completely. At that moment, the benefits of Christ are applied to his righteousness. Faith is not a meritorious work that God looks at as the reason or the basis for a person’s justification. Rather faith is only an "instrument" which allows a someone to reach out to Christ, who is the sole reason, grounds, and basis upon which God justifies. Point #6 across from Faith Alone is Catholicism’s belief that justification is by Faith Plus Works. For Catholicism, faith is required, but they object to saying that faith alone is all that is required for a person to be justified. Catholicism requires in addition to faith, "works." The dispute centers on some key passages in the New Testament, most notably the 3rd and 4th chapters of Romans and the 2nd chapter of the Epistle of James. Let’s look at these passages right now. Romans, Chapter 3, beginning at verse 28: "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." Protestants believe that since Paul says that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law, then one can only conclude justification must be by faith alone. There are no other options. Further, the apostle goes on building his case by giving a historical example in Romans, Chapter 4, where he appeals to the case of Abraham. It begins, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was reckoned" —here’s the word "counted" or "imputed"—"to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. Now the point is that what Paul is very clearly saying here is that when Abraham believed God, that was the time of his justification. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham believed God and he was justified by divine declaration apart from works. So here in Chapter 4 the Apostle Paul links the statement from Chapter 3, "We are justified by faith apart from the works of the law," with the historical situation of Abraham to prove his case that a man is declared justified by God the moment he believes. Paul labors the point that it is by faith alone in Christ and nothing of man’s works that is the basis of God’s justifying a man. Now, how does the Roman Catholic Church deal with this? Well, they counter this concept of justification by faith alone by an appeal to James 2:24. It reads: "You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." Now, Roman Catholic scholars say to Protestants, "Can the Bible make it any clearer? Here you are going around teaching that justification is by faith alone and yet we have a statement from the Apostle James that says, ‘You see then that justification is by works and not by faith alone.’ And what’s more, not only does James say that justification is by works and not by faith alone, but he appeals to Abraham to prove his point, the very historical figure that the Apostle Paul appealed to in stating his case of justification by faith in Romans 4." Does this mean we have an irreconcilable contradiction between the two apostles? Are they teaching different doctrines? No. First we need to ask, "If the word ‘justified’ defined the same way in Romans as it is in James?" The error that many people make is to assume that "justified" has only one meaning. Let me give you an example, where the Lord Jesus Himself uses the word "justified" and it doesn’t mean what the Apostle Paul means in the Book of Romans. In Luke 7:35 Jesus said, "Wisdom is justified by all her children." What does this mean? Well, "Wisdom" is personified and spoken of as a woman here, and this woman is justified by her children. When Jesus uses the word "justified" in this proverb, does it mean that Wisdom is brought into right-standing and pardon with God by her children? Does it mean that Wisdom is "infused" with justifying grace by her children? Obviously not. It means Wisdom is justified by what it produces. It means, "If you won’t believe that this is Wisdom, wait till you see the children of this Wisdom, then you’ll know it’s true Wisdom." Then Wisdom will be vindicated, when you see the results, the children, of true Wisdom. Now, I hope that you can see that the sense of the word "justify" here in Luke on the lips of the Lord Jesus is not the same use of the term "justified" that Paul is using in the Book of Romans. And if you can see that clearly, maybe you will be open to seeing that James can also use the word "justify" in a different sense than Paul in Romans. You’re probably saying, "Well, I can see that." Well, then in what sense is James using the word "justified"? The main question James is trying to answer is, "If someone claims to have a true faith, how can we tell?" What is a true faith? We see this from what James says in verse 14 where people are claiming that they have true faith. For James writes, "If a man says he has faith but has no works, that is not a real faith, that is a dead faith." Luther and the Reformers would agree. They said, "A living faith will always result in obedience and works. Works do not bring justification, but they do flow out of it. They are the results that show that a man has true faith." A faith that results in no works is a dead faith. It is not genuine. It is not real faith. That’s why Luther said, "Justification is by faith alone," but not the faith that is alone. And by that he meant, justification is secured solely on the basis of Christ and what He did at the cross, not by a man’s works. But a genuine faith will always result in works flowing from it. That’s why justification is by faith alone, but if it’s genuine, it will not be alone in that out of it will flow works. James continues, "Someone may well say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without the works and I will show you my faith by my works." In other words, James agrees that anyone who says he has faith, you ought to ask him to prove it is real by showing you his good works. Which brings us to another point, when comparing tha Apostle Paul and the Apostle James. Before whom are the apostles writing that a person is justified? Well, for Paul, he is writing about a person being justified before God. He is not talking about a man justifying his faith before men. Only God can see a man’s heart. That’s why Paul says, "Justification is by faith." James is talking about a justification that takes place before men. Men cannot see a person’s heart. The only way they can tell that someone has true faith is by seeing a changed life — a person’s works. In James’ day, apparently there was someone who tried to show they had faith by showing how much knowledge they had. And with sarcasm dripping from the apostle’s pen he writes, "You believe that God is One. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder." Here James shows that intellectual belief only is not a real faith. It puts you on an equal basis with the demons who also believe but are not saved. Faith includes knowing facts about Christ and how He died for our sins, and then believing those facts are true; but most importantly, a true faith is a committing of oneself to Christ. Like the man who wheeled a wheelbarrow on a rope over Niagara Falls. When he came back, he asked the crowd, "How many of you think I can do it again?" They all thought that he could do it again. And he said, "Well, then, which one of you will jump in the wheelbarrow and let me take them across?" There were no volunteers. Faith is more than intellectual knowledge. It’s a committing of oneself to Christ totally and completely — trusting Christ for your eternal destiny. Such a real faith in Christ always results in works and obedience. That’s why James goes on to say, "But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless." Then James cites Abraham as an example of one who demonstrates he has a real faith by his good works. Abraham’s works proved that Abraham had authentic, real faith — the kind of faith that saves. Now, in reading this next verse in James, when we come to the word "justify," let me give it the same meaning that Jesus gave to the word "justify" in Luke 9:35. James says, "Was not Abraham our father vindicated by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?" You see that faith was working with his works and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. The Reformers agreed here, saying that the results, the inevitable fruit of a true faith, will always be works and obedience. Verse 23 continues, "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned" — here’s that word "imputed" that Paul uses — "to him as righteousness." So James and Paul agree that in Genesis 15, Abraham’s belief in God was a genuine and real faith because God imputed to him righteousness and he was called the friend of God. But in front of men, how can one prove his claim to a genuine faith is real? James writes in verse 24, "You see that a man is vindicated" — here’s that word "justified" again — "by works and not by faith alone." This sense of the word "justify" fits the context perfectly. It also fits when he talks about Rahab. "In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also vindicated by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?" So, the Reformation point is that James is using Abraham to illustrate that Abraham’s faith was justified or "vindicated" by Abraham’s works. Abraham’s works proved that Abraham had authentic, real faith, the kind of faith that saves. Again, both Paul and James appeal to something that happened in Abraham’s life. Paul is appealing to that which is recorded in Genesis 15 when Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. James is alluding to something that happened to Abraham recorded seven chapters later in Genesis 22. Now, those seven chapters mark a great number of years in the life of Abraham and mark a difference in one period of his life to another. Paul refers to Genesis 15 when he says, "Abraham believed God and was justified," in the sense that Abraham was being admitted into fellowship with God. He was reconciled with God. The whole point of Paul’s appeal to Abraham is that in Genesis 15 he was justified as soon as he believed. His faith was real. It was authentic. And because God was able to see his heart, he knew Abraham’s faith was real and therefore justified him apart from any works. For James, it wasn’t until Genesis 22 that God puts Abraham to the test with Isaac. It’s there that Abraham demonstrates or shows the reality of his faith by the good works that he does. It’s in this sense that James says, "Abraham is justified by his works," not in the sense of being brought into relationship with God, but in the sense that his faith is vindicated by his works. His works prove Abraham had real faith. James is saying, "To test whether or not the faith Paul is talking about is a real, genuine faith, you can only check it by looking at a person’s works." Paul and James are in agreement doctrinally. There is no contradiction. Anybody can say they have faith, but a real faith will always result in works. And if you want to see a man who is an illustration of real faith, look at Abraham. He believed God’s promises and God declared that he was justified at that moment. He also proved his faith was real before men by his obedient works. Abraham’s works vindicated Abraham’s faith. In conclusion: (1) justification must be defined in the context of Scripture; (2) Jesus used "justification" in the sense of vindication; (3) that very sense of the word fits James and answers the question of what it is that proves, in front of men, that a man has true, authentic faith; (4) this interpretation shows that Paul and James are in agreement doctrinally in teaching that a man is justified by faith alone before God and that puts him in right-standing, but a genuine faith will always result in a changed life — in works of obedience. The works of obedience do not bring justification before God; rather, works flow from true justification and demonstrate that a man’s faith is real. [For additional information on the above topic, see our Resource Center under "World Religions" and "Proofs for the Truth of Christianity."]
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Copyright 2006, Ankerberg Theological Research Institute | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
