On Justification

Jesus’ prayer “that all may be one” can hardly be realized without a serious discussion of the doctrine of justification, the “first and chief article”[1] of the Protestant Reformation.  After all, dichotomous interpretations of the diverse biblical treatment of justification constitute the principal cause of the historical and theological divisions between Catholics and Protestants.  Most Christians know that there was a consequential fissure in the church in the sixteenth century and that this split had something to do with how men and women, stained and wounded by sin, were brought to wholeness and eternal life in Jesus Christ.  But very few could tell you what has happened in the last 500 years, if anything, to move toward reconciliation and reintegration in the one Body of Christ.

The vast majority of Christians today continue to think about the doctrine of justification according to the age-old caricature: Catholics believe in justification by works while Protestants believe in justification by faith.  It seems fairly straightforward.  But have you ever stopped and wondered if this is what Catholic and Protestant churches actually teach and believe?  Do the anathemas and doctrinal condemnations hurled back and forth between Protestants and Catholics in centuries past still apply?  Have you ever wondered if we might be continually drumming up old arguments which have long since been settled? 

In October of 1999, an ecumenical event of colossal significance took place in Augsburg, Germany.[2]  482 years after Luther famously nailed the 95 theses to the doors of castle church, the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church solemnly confessed a fundamental consensus on the doctrine of justification.  In the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, the vast majority of Lutheran churches worldwide and the Roman Catholic Church announced that they “have together listened to the good news proclaimed in Holy Scripture” and that “this common listening . . . has led to a shared understanding of justification.”[3] 

This shared understanding represents one of the most important and groundbreaking developments in the history of the Western Church, one that no pastoral minister or youth worker can afford to ignore.  It changes the way we unpack the Scriptures and handle the delicate conversations that inevitably arise in Bible studies and backyard debates everywhere.  It transforms the way we minister to kids in Young Life, answering the touchy questions that bubble to the surface of Campaigner discussions and cabin times at camp properties around the world.  This official statement of the Joint Declaration finally grants us the freedom to stand united on a rift that has divided us for nearly half a millennium.  

So what does the declaration say and how can we explain our shared understanding on the doctrine of justification today?  In pastoral settings and casual conversations, how are we to explain this articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae, “the article by which the church stands or falls”?

First and foremost, we can stack hands on the conviction that we are justified by grace alone.  Both Protestants and Catholics agree that the foundation of justification is God’s grace and not our own works or abilities.  The Joint Declaration states clearly, “We confess together that all persons depend completely on the saving grace of God for their salvation”(JD, 19).  No “earning our way to heaven” or justifying ourselves by stringent moral adherence.  Even when Catholics talk about “cooperating with God’s grace” this is understood as an act of personal consent which is itself a gift of God’s grace.  From beginning to end, it is all grace.

Second, we are justified by Christ alone.  We receive the gift of salvation which issues from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Heaven forbid we posit ourselves as judges and arbiters of salvation, deciding who is “in” and who is “out.”  Yet when salvation occurs both Catholics and Protestants can agree that it is Christ who saves.  All people are called to eternal life in Christ Jesus and God’s grace is made available through His Passion, Resurrection and continued presence in our lives.

Third, we are justified by faith.  Without faith, there is no salvation.  By placing their trust completely in their Creator and Redeemer, Christians find communion with God and live as they were intended as partners in the kingdom.  The Joint Declaration is careful to note that faith, understood by both Lutherans and Catholics, “is active in love, and thus cannot and should not remain without works”(JD, 25).  Drawing from the passage typically quoted to highlight faith, Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians both that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” and “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works”(Eph 2:8a,10a).  What both Catholic and Reformed traditions understand as justification by faith alone (sola fide) is not merely intellectual assent to prescribed doctrines but a complete change of life involving mind, will and affections.

Fourth, even for those justified by God’s grace by faith, sin still exists.  “Sin still lives in them,” the Joint Declaration says referencing 1 Jn 1:8 and Romans 7:17 and 20.  It does not take much personal reflection to realize that those who have given their lives to Christ are still sinners.  Yet both Lutherans and Catholics confess that this sin, and the enduring inclination we all have toward sin (Catholics call this concupiscence), does NOT, however, separate us from the love and mercy of God.  Through Christ the “enslaving power of sin is broken” (JD, 29) and the justified are not separated from God.

In summary, the Joint Declaration states “Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works” (JD, 15).  This is truly Good News!  This is something to be shared!  While there are still points of disagreement between Protestants and Catholics, we must resist the temptation to fall into old caricatures and arguments.  The doctrinal condemnations of the Reformation and the Council of Trent no longer apply.   Fundamentally, on this primary issue of justification at least, we are no longer divided. 

Yet the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church challenge us to “become who we are.”  This historical consensus on the basic truths of justification must not collect dust in some document.  It must be lived and embodied in our churches and in our relationships today.  “Here,” the declaration exhorts, “it must prove itself”(JD, 43).  In the next leadership meeting or small group gathering, in the next religious discussion around the coffee pot, proclaim and live into the unity that already exists.  While grace is always received as gift from the salvific work of God, it is always and forever our responsibility not to “waste this grace but to live in it”(Annex, 2D).

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[1]             Martin Luther, The Smalcald Articles, II, 1: Book of Concord, 292.

[2]             A location rich in religious symbolism, Augsburg was the place where the Augsburg Confession was presented to Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire by (among others) one Martin Luther in 1530. The Augsburg Confession consists of 28 articles of faith which stand as the primary tenants of the Lutheran movement of the sixteenth century.  Even today, the “Augustana” (drawn from its etymological roots in the Latin, Confessio Augustana) represents one of the most critical documents of the Lutheran church.

[3]             Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, 14.