Actual Righteousness?

The formal cause of Martin Luther’s dispute with the church—and, indeed, of the whole Reformation—was the authority of Scripture, but the Biblical issue that was at the heart of the debate was the doctrine of justification by faith alone. As we close out this short series of studies from Dr. R.C. Sproul’s teaching series Justification by Faith Alone, we will examine some of the key differences between the Roman Catholic Church’s understanding of justification and the Reformers’ view of the issue.

Both the Roman church and the Reformers agreed that faith plays a major role in justification. The crucial disagreement was—and is—over the instrumental cause of justification, the means by which the effect (justification) is produced. The Reformers said the instrumental cause of justification was faith itself. However, the Roman Catholic Church declared that the instrumental cause was baptism (in the first instance) and penance (in the second or restorative instance). The church said that a person must have faith in Christ, but he must go on to receive baptism, which the church called “the sacrament of faith.” At baptism, justifying grace, the grace of the righteousness of Christ, is infused into the person’s soul, cleansing it of the effects of the fall of man and leaving the person in a state of grace. The righteousness of Christ then inhabits or inheres in him—the person is just. However, this righteousness can be lost. If the person loses his faith, he also loses his justification. Strangely, however, he may retain his faith and still lose his justification if he commits mortal sin (sin that is so heinous it kills the infused grace of justification, as opposed to venial sin, which is not so serious and lethal). If this happens, the person must be justified again. This is accomplished by penance, which the church defines as “the second plank of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls.” Penance therefore is seen as providing a new infusion of the justifying righteousness of Christ.

In the Roman view, therefore, faith begins the process of justification. But only when righteousness actually inhabits a person does God declare him to be just. The Reformers replied that God actually declares a person to be just while sin still remains in him. We will look more closely at this view in tomorrow’s study.