Do Catholics believe in imputed righteousness?

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lampalm said:
How is a Catholic declared righteous before God?
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He is not “declared” righteous. Try not to think in Calvinistic, Reformed terms. We actually have to undergo a transformation of being that is affected in large part with the assistance of grace and the sacraments. In other words, we actually gotta become good human beings, like Christ.
 
btw, I reserve the right to be wrong on all of this. Justification/sanctification/salvation are not strong areas for me right now.
 
Windfish said:
He is not “declared” righteous. Try not to think in Calvinistic, Reformed terms. We actually have to undergo a transformation of being that is affected in large part with the assistance of grace and the sacraments. In other words, we actually gotta become good human beings, like Christ.
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Ok.
I believe in undergoing a transformation also, but is a Catholic “good” with God before the transformation is finished?
Like if a Catholic dies?
 
lampalm said:
Ok.
I believe in undergoing a transformation also, but is a Catholic “good” with God before the transformation is finished?
Like if a Catholic dies?
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I have been talking with Catholic converts from the Reformed tradition, and one thing I have learned from them is that we have such a different view of salvation - the terms we use, in fact, are defined differently, so that makes communication very difficult. My suggestion would be to ask a Catholic convert from the Reformed tradition or perhaps get a book on the topic. Not my strong suit.
 
Does imputed righteousness say that our nature is totally depraved(we don’t have the capacity to be good) as opposed to merely having a fallen nature which is redeemed in Christ and subject to our choice to live according to Him and His commands? -🤷
 
soccerdad57 said:
Does imputed righteousness say that our nature is totally depraved(we don’t have the capacity to be good) as opposed to merely having a fallen nature which is redeemed in Christ and subject to our choice to live according to Him and His commands? -🤷
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imputed righteousness does not deal with mans nature (outside of the problem of sin)
 
All centers upon the nature of the righteousness, justice, or goodness to which man can attain and upon the nature of the faith required in order to do so. Let us take first, therefore, the question of righteousness.
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The Catholic Church te aches tha t at baptism (John 3:5) the soul passes from a state of original or inherited sin to a state of grace (Rom. 6:23). God does not merely declare the soul to be righteous or just in his sight. He makes the soul 'holy in itself by producing within it, through the activity of the Holy Ghost, a supernatural quality of spiritual goodness which is a true regeneration, renewal, or renovation (Tit. 3:5, 1 Pet. 3:21).
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This spiritual quality incorporates us in Christ as his very members (1 Cor. 6:15), makes us live by him as the branches exist by the very life of the vine to which they belong (John 15:5), and through him enables us to become in a mysterious way sharers in the divine nature itself (2 Pet. 1:4).
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The goodness, justice, righteousness, or holiness of a soul in a state of grace is, therefore, a reality and not merely a fiction. It is imparted to the soul by God, sanctifying it in its very nature. It is not merely imputed to the soul by God, leaving the soul still contaminated by the filth of sin.
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That is from the Catholic Answers Article By faith alone? . Rather than being, as Luther made it out to be, dungballs covered in snow (imputed righteousness), we are a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), not an old creature which is covered up with snow. Heck, our sins, though they are scarlet, will be made, (not covered) as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). This is what we believe. If my fellow brothers and sisters see that I have made any mistakes in presenting the faith, please correct me. Other than this, I hold to my statement.
 
Cruxis117 said:
That is from the Catholic Answers Article By faith alone? . Rather than being, as Luther made it out to be, dungballs covered in snow (imputed righteousness), we are a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), not an old creature which is covered up with snow. Heck, our sins, though they are scarlet, will be made, (not covered) as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). This is what we believe. If my fellow brothers and sisters see that I have made any mistakes in presenting the faith, please correct me. Other than this, I hold to my statement.
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Luther believed in the internal change…
 
JonNC said:
No, they believe in infused righteousness. I’ll let the Catholics here describe it.

Jon
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Jon, you could probably do a better job of it anyway. 👍

Imputed righteousness seems to imply that one need not be Christian to receive the benefits of His sacrifice. I find this an odd concept, since, if it is true, Christ apparently wasted three years of teaching for nothing.
 
po18guy said:
Jon, you could probably do a better job of it anyway. 👍

Imputed righteousness seems to imply that one need not be Christian to receive the benefits of His sacrifice. I find this an odd concept, since, if it is true, Christ apparently wasted three years of teaching for nothing.
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Coming out of the Wesleyan tradition, imputed righteousness is that at the time of conversion, the righteousness of Christ becomes ours, therefore, we are covered with His righteousness. It is the work of God, not of ourselves. So we stand before God not condemned, but justified because of Jesus.
 
lampalm said:
Ok.
I believe in undergoing a transformation also, but is a Catholic “good” with God before the transformation is finished?
Like if a Catholic dies?
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Like Windfish this is not my strong suit but I have been involved in a conversation on another board over this so have had to try and gain some better understanding…

To be honest I think that the entire subject gets bolloxed up in details that make effective conversation nearly impossible. More than once I have found myself and others saying the same basic thing but just differently enough that the other doesn’t seem to get it.

With that caveat - I will try to answer your question above like this.
When a person is baptized, he is taken at his word. god believes him and “imputes”, if you like, a clean slate - making that person Justified before God should he die that next instant…
As time progresses the person needs to remain faithful and seek to grow in holiness to the very best of his ability. So long as he does that and works to incorporate Christ’s righteousness (become Christlike) out of Love for God, then he remains Justified.
Of course we know there will be bumps and failures. When we die, any imperfections that remain are cleaned up in Purgatory.

Now - if after baptism the person does NOT remain faithful to his promise to God and instead becomes complacent, turning away from his repentance into his old sinful ways and forgetting about God, or relying soley on Christ’s righteousness, then the intitial justification will not hold. Not for lack of God’s true Love, but for lack of man’s true Love.

Peace
James
 
Imputed righteousness seems to imply that one need not be Christian to receive the benefits of His sacrifice. I find this an odd concept, since, if it is true, Christ apparently wasted three years of teaching for nothing.
Thank you - seems to clear things up
 
t68ware said:
Coming out of the Wesleyan tradition, imputed righteousness is that at the time of conversion, the righteousness of Christ becomes ours, therefore, we are covered with His righteousness. It is the work of God, not of ourselves. So we stand before God not condemned, but justified because of Jesus.
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Thank you. Perhaps not surprisingly, the term “righteousness” does not appear as a subject title in the catechism, but “justification” certainly does. Here’s the link to the Catholic definition of justification, if anyone, especially the OP, cares to have a quick read.
 
po18guy said:
Imputed righteousness seems to imply that one need not be Christian to receive the benefits of His sacrifice. I find this an odd concept, since, if it is true, Christ apparently wasted three years of teaching for nothing.
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How did you come to this conclusion? :confused:
 
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