How can a person know that they are truly walking according to God's will?

[benedictus2]

There is a book by St. Francis de Sales called Finding God’s Will For YOu

In it, he advises the following:

God’s Will must not contradict the commandments. God’s Will also will never go contrary to charity.

A very good summary.

I would rephrase it though to:

God’s Will DOES NOT contradict the commandments.
God’s Will IS NEVER contrary to charity.

 

[NonCatholic]

St Joan of Arc when on trial for her life was asked if she believed herself to be in a state of grace (ie that her life was being lived in accordance with God’s will).

Now if she’d said ‘yes’, of course she would have seemed presumptuous, since God alone knows the truth about our state of soul. If she’d said ‘no’, she would have looked both weak and guilty.

Her answer? “If I am not in the state of grace, may God bring me to it, if I am, may God keep me in it!”

That’s really the only answer any of us can give to such questions, and it should be the constant prayer of all of us!

Having said that, I believe firstly that where God has a particular will for us, and we do our best not to obstruct it, it will make itself known.

Secondly, I don’t believe God necessarily has one set path for us to take in all things.

Remember the servants with the talents? One was given five and made five more, one was given two and made two more. Would the master have punished the servant who had five for making only two more, as long as he wisely used what he was given and made a profit for his master? I seriously doubt it, although he may have rewarded the servant less.

Would he have punished the one who was given only two for making five more - as if he would ONLY be satisfied if the servant made two more and not a penny more or less? Not a bit, though he might have rewarded him more.

God’s will is not hidden in some obscure place; it is in the Bible.

 

[benedictus2]

God’s will is not hidden in some obscure place; it is in the Bible.

You miss LilyMs point.

There is a general God’s Will and there is God’s Will that pertains to the individual alone.

General God’s Will : Love your neighbour as I have loved you.

Specific God’s Will: How do I apply that to say deciding on a vocation? Is it God’s Will that I should marry? or Is it God’s will that I become a nun?

This is when you need to discern God’s Will (when you could sort of say they are hidden because it needs to be found out) because this particular question cannot be answered with a particular Chapter and Verse from the Bible although during discernment, God might just take to you a particular verse in the Bible that will clarify your choices for you.

 

[benedictus2]

God’s will is not hidden in some obscure place; it is in the Bible.

You miss LilyMs point.

There is a general God’s Will and there is God’s Will that pertains to the individual alone.

General God’s Will : Love your neighbour as I have loved you.

Specific God’s Will: How do I apply that to say deciding on a vocation? Is it God’s Will that I should marry? or Is it God’s will that I become a nun?

This is when you need to discern God’s Will (when you could sort of say it is hidden because it needs to be found out/ discerned) because this particular question cannot be answered with a particular Chapter and Verse from the Bible although during discernment, God might just take to you a particular verse in the Bible that will clarify your choices for you.

 

[benedictus2]

Great addition! Feel free to keep it coming. I can’t quote all there is because I have at least six “wills” to list. So far we have two, God’s will is for us be saved and spirit-filled. More coming later this evening or early tomorrow. Stay tuned!

The very first time God made known his will is in the Decalogue.

So the first set of Will of God is not 6 but 10.

 

[NonCatholic]

Re: Knowing God’s will

**Thirdly, If you don’t know God’s will what are you? Foolish, because it’s there for you. And here is another straightforward statement.

1 Thessalonians 4:3. “For this is the will of God” Wow. Doesn’t leave much to speculation, does it? It’s not hard to figure out. “This is the will of God;your sanctification.” Big word that means separation. Separation from what? From sin. To be separated from sin. So far we have: God wants you saved, he wants you spirit-controlled and he wants you separated from sin. It’s exactly what it says. Verse 1 “You ought to walk and please God.” & “You ought to excel more at that.” & “And you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.” **

**Stay tuned for number FOUR coming to a post near you tomorrow. **

 

[cheeto1]

On the 3rd one.

1. First is Mathew 25:31-46 (What ever you do to the least of His Brethen you do it to Him)
2. At the last Supper, He washed His disciples feet and asked us to do the same.
3. The Good Samaritan
4. The compassioin He showed to the Adulterous woman
5. And don’t forget Mary (as in Martha and Mary). There should always be the time that we spend with God alone. He comes first. And if we do this, then the above four will follow. We are able to love others, when we realize that God loved us first.

These are great Benedictus! These are great to remember
and know, But personally speaking, How has Jesus loved me,
in my own situation? How can I do that for others? That’s
really what I don’t have figured out yet.

 

[NonCatholic]

These are great Benedictus! These are great to remember
and know, But personally speaking, How has Jesus loved me,
in my own situation? How can I do that for others? That’s
really what I don’t have figured out yet.

**
I’m not sure if this is relevant to your question, but the love that God puts on us is not the human"emotional love" that we equate to love, but rather a commitment to His elect. We can show our love by “doing unto others as you would have then do to you” The great thing about this is once you realize love is a commitment and not merely emotion, the giving of yourself rather without expecting reciprocity; you are more able to make and fulfill your comittments to the other person or ministry or whatever…thus expressing love by doing regardless of how you may feel. I could have done better at explaining. The main reason this is possible because you now have the servants heart, like Jesus, and don’t look at things all the time “what’s in this for me”**

 

[benedictus2]

These are great Benedictus! These are great to remember
and know, But personally speaking, How has Jesus loved me,
in my own situation? How can I do that for others? That’s
really what I don’t have figured out yet.

Personally speaking, what you might find helpful is meditating on the gospels. Not just reading them. Meditating on them.

If you like I will email/pm you a little bit of my story and how meditating on the prodigal son has helped me come to know the tenderness with which God loves me.

 

[benedictus2]

I’m not sure if this is relevant to your question, but the love that God puts on us is not the human"emotional love" that we equate to love, but rather a commitment to His elect. We can show our love by “doing unto others as you would have then do to you” The great thing about this is once you realize love is a commitment and not merely emotion, the giving of yourself rather without expecting reciprocity; you are more able to make and fulfill your comittments to the other person or ministry or whatever…thus expressing love by doing regardless of how you may feel. I could have done better at explaining. The main reason this is possible because you now have the servants heart, like Jesus, and don’t look at things all the time "what’s in this for me"

Except for the “commitment to His elect” bit this is a most wonderful post.:clapping: :clapping: :tiphat: :tiphat:

 

[SHW]

**
I’m not sure if this is relevant to your question, but the love that God puts on us is not the human"emotional love" that we equate to love, but rather a commitment to His elect. We can show our love by “doing unto others as you would have then do to you” The great thing about this is once you realize love is a commitment and not merely emotion, the giving of yourself rather without expecting reciprocity; you are more able to make and fulfill your comittments to the other person or ministry or whatever…thus expressing love by doing regardless of how you may feel. I could have done better at explaining. The main reason this is possible because you now have the servants heart, like Jesus, and don’t look at things all the time “what’s in this for me”**

I think you did a great job explaining it. Agape love or altruistic love is unselfish love. I think God’s love is more than a commitment to His elect, however. “God so loved the world…” God is Love but we cannot fathom what this means exactly. We do get glimpses of it. (1 John 4:7-16)

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Blessings,
SHW

 

[benedictus2]

1 Thessalonians 4:3. “For this is the will of God” Wow. Doesn’t leave much to speculation, does it? It’s not hard to figure out. "This is the will of God;your sanctification." Big word that means separation. Separation from what? From sin. To be separated from sin. So far we have: God wants you saved, he wants you spirit-controlled and he wants you separated from sin. It’s exactly what it says. Verse 1 “You ought to walk and please God.” & “You ought to excel more at that.” & “And you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.”

**Stay tuned for number FOUR coming to a post near you tomorrow. **

To be sanctifiied is not to be separated although if you bring in sin then it does work.

To be sanctified is to be made holy. Christ said be holy as thy Father in heaven is holy.

Question is what does it mean to be Holy?

Also, In practical terms how do you walk with God? How do you please God? Micah has much to say on this subject. Live just, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God.

 

[wina]

I would change the title of the thread to " Knowing Gods Will"

Number one was, God’s will is for us to be saved. Number two, God’s will is that we be "Spirit Filled". Ephesians 5:17 “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Do not be foolish, Aphron, (senseless, foolish, or stupid), which is to think, ah, the alpha privative to be unthinking, to be ignorant, to be destitute of knowledge, to be simple minded. Don’t be ignorant, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Now, if you don’t understand the will of the Lord, what are you? Foolish, ignorant, might even say stupid. Why? It is because the will of God is not lost. It is not obscure. It is not hidden. If you do not understand what the will of the Lord is then you are just simple-minded, you’re just ignorant ; that’s what Paul is saying.

Verse 18 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”

Summarizing; His will, secondly, is that you not operate in ignorance and foolishness, but that you understand that God’s will is that you be filled with the Holy Spirit, rather than being drunk with wine and conducting yourself in a dissipated way. Why is that comparison there? Because the issue here is control. Filled is “Pleroo” in the Greek and it has the idea of filling in a controlling sense, not filling in a static sense, like wind filling the sails of a ship moving it along. A way to translate this would be allow yourselves to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Illustrations of how this word is used, that carries that meaning. In John 16:6 “Sorrow has filled your heart. Sorrow has filled your heart.” What that means is sorrow has taken over control. If you say someone is a little bit sad, that’s one thing. If you say they are filled with sorrow, you simply mean that they have lost the ability to balance out their sorrow with positive thoughts or good thoughts or hopeful thoughts. And they have literally succumbed to the dominating power of sorrow. In Luke 6:11, it talks about being filled with madness. Being filled means totally controlled by and dominated by madness. You’ve lost all ability to balance off the experience and emotional response with some sense of reason and you’re filled with madness. Or in Luke 4:28 talks about being filled with wrath. You no longer can control your anger and act it out in hostility.

He compares it to being drunk. Alcohol is a controlling substance. They have lost the ability to control their behavior, their speech, their emotion, their mind. They have come under the control of that drug.

In the ancient world, this is one of the ways that they worshiped the false gods, through drunkenness, gluttony and sexual orgies. They thought that as they lost themselves, they transcended the temporal world and ascended into communion with the deities, the more debauched and the more drunken, the more transcendent and the more likely to contact the divine.

Do you believe that we may reject Holy Spirit to control ourselves? because of our free will?

 

[NonCatholic]

To be sanctifiied is not to be separated although if you bring in sin then it does work.

To be sanctified is to be made holy. Christ said be holy as thy Father in heaven is holy.

Question is what does it mean to be Holy?

Also, In practical terms how do you walk with God? How do you please God? Micah has much to say on this subject. Live just, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God.

**
To be Holy is to be righteous before God, which is the separation of sin. The Catholic teaching is a blend on justification and sanctification; they don’t make a clear distinction, which is a grave error. Justification is having your sins past, present and future forgiven through the imputation of Jesus righteouness given as a gift to the true believer; sanctification, also the work and gift of God is one’s life pattern (to sin less and less and do the works God preordained for one to walk in) established after justification; it continues an earthly lifetime until you come to glorification.

A perfect biblical example of justification is the tax collector and the Pharisee.

Luke 18:13-14 13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So if that tax collector were to die 5 minutes after Jesus said that; where would he be? Heaven. Notice there is nothing the man did on his own; Jesus declared him justified. This the way anyone is saved. Your Church teaches you that justification is a process; it is an obvious error and a potentially damning one.**

 

[NonCatholic]

Do you believe that we may reject Holy Spirit to control ourselves? because of our free will?

**Anyone who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit can grieve the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

This would be doing something you know is against the will of God, the best example is that you would knowingly sin. However; a true believer will be overwhelmed with guilt and come into repentance and if that doesn’t work; then one could be chastened by God back into compliance, which can be painful and another possible scenario; God just brings one directly into His presence.**

 

[NonCatholic]

Knowing God’s Will

**Number four, God’s will is that you are to be submissive. In James chapter 4, it says in verse 7, “Submit, therefore, to God.” That’s the first point of submission. “Submit, therefore, to God.” Also, Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submit to one another” This is talking about humility, folks. Be submissive. Be submissive to God. Be submissive to one another. Wives, be submissive to your husbands. And husbands, be submissive, in the sense that you love your wives and you seek that which fulfills their desire, a servants heart like Jesus.

Hebrews 13 tells us, verses 7 and 17 to submit to those that are over you in the Lord, to submit to the pastors and elders of the church who lead and direct you.
1 Peter 2:13 It says, "Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, to kings, ones in authority, governors, etc. Verse 15, “For such is the will of God.” It is God’s will that you submit to the government so that you never, ever cause the gospel to bear a reproach. He says, “By doing this, you will silence the ignorance of foolish men.” By being a good citizen, submitting to the authorities that God has placed over you in human government, you will silence those who criticize the Christian faith. You submit to government. You submit to the authority in the church. You submit in family. You submit to one another. You submit to Christ as Lord. One should submit to God. Humble submission, one’s life should be characterized in all things by humility, submissiveness, on all levels. That’s the will of God. Humble yourselves and in due time, God will lift you up. This is His will. .

So God’s will is that you are Saved, Spirit-controlled, Sanctified, and Submissive.

Number 5 will be posted tomorrow. God bless the hearing and hearers of His word. **

 

[benedictus2]

To be Holy is to be righteous before God, which is the separation of sin. The Catholic teaching is a blend on justification and sanctification; they don’t make a clear distinction, which is a grave error. Justification is having your sins past, present and future forgiven through the imputation of Jesus righteouness given as a gift to the true believer; .

I think this is one of the areas where Protestants and Catholics differ in understanding.

Protestants think that justification is IMPUTED that is one is declared righteous without actually having to be righteous.

Catholics believe that one is **not merely declared **righteous. One is actually made righteous by the action of God’s grace.

We are not covered with the clean clothes of justification but underneath we are putrid and stink to high heavesn.

We are are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. We don’t just look clean on the outside, we are are actually made clean inside and out.

 

[NonCatholic]

I think this is one of the areas where Protestants and Catholics differ in understanding. I agree.

Protestants think that justification is IMPUTED that is one is declared righteous without actually having to be righteous. I disagree. Protestants believe the biblical account.

Catholics believe that one is **not merely declared **righteous. One is actually made righteous by the action of God’s grace.

We are not covered with the clean clothes of justification but underneath we are putrid and stink to high heavesn.

We are are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. We don’t just look clean on the outside, we are are actually made clean inside and out.

**Certainly if justification by faith alone is so crucial a doctrine, we would expect to find it clearly taught by our Lord. Indeed, that is precisely what we discover.

Although Christ made no formal explication of the doctrine of justification (such as Paul did in his epistle to the Romans), justification by faith underlay and permeated all His gospel preaching. While Jesus never gave a discourse on the subject, it is easy to demonstrate from Jesus’ evangelistic ministry that He taught sola fide.

For example, it was Jesus Himself who stated, “he who hears My word, and believes . . . has passed out of death into life” (Jn. 5:24)–without undergoing any sacrament or ritual, and without any waiting period or purgatory. The thief on the cross is the classic example. On the most meager evidence of his faith, Jesus told him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43). No sacrament or work was required for him to procure salvation.

Furthermore, the many healings Jesus accomplished were physical evidence of His power to forgive sins (Matt. 9:5-6). When He healed, He frequently said, “Your faith has made you well” (Matt. 9:22; Mk. 5:34; 10:52; Lk. 8:48; 17:19; 18:42). All those healings were object lessons on the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

But the one occasion where Jesus actually declared someone “justified” provides the best insight into the doctrine as He taught it:

He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke 18:9-14, emphasis added).

That parable surely shocked Jesus’ listeners! They “trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (v. 9)–the very definition of self-righteousness. Their theological heroes were the Pharisees, who held to the most rigid legalistic standards. They fasted, made a great show of praying and giving alms, and even went further in applying the ceremonial laws than Moses had actually prescribed. “As to the righteousness which is in the Law,” they considered themselves “blameless” ( Phil. 3:5-6).

Yet Jesus had stunned multitudes by saying, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20)–followed by, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48). Clearly, He set a standard that was humanly impossible, for no one could surpass the rigorous living of the scribes and Pharisees. Now He further astounds His listeners with a parable that seems to place a detestable tax-gatherer in a better position spiritually than a praying Pharisee.

Jesus’ point is clear. He was teaching that justification is by faith alone. All the theology of justification is there. But without delving into abstract theology, Jesus clearly painted the picture for us with a parable**.

CONTINUED ON NEXT POST

 

[NonCatholic]

** a judicial act of God

This tax-gatherer’s justification was an instantaneous reality. There was no process, no time lapse, no fear of purgatory. He “went down to his house justified” (v. 14)–not because of anything he had done, but because of what had been done on his behalf.

Notice that the tax-collector understood his own helplessness. He owed an impossible debt he knew he could not pay. All he could do was repent and plead for mercy. Contrast his prayer with that of the arrogant Pharisee. He did not recite what he had done. He knew that even his best works were sin. He did not offer to do anything for God. He simply pleaded for divine mercy. He was looking for God to do for him what he could not do for himself. That is the very nature of the penitence Jesus called for.

by faith alone

Furthermore, this man went away justified without performing any works of penance, without doing any sacrament or ritual, without any meritorious works whatsoever. His justification was complete without any of those things, because it was solely on the basis of faith. Everything necessary to atone for his sin and provide forgiveness had already been done on his behalf. He was justified by faith on the spot.

Again, he makes a stark contrast with the smug Pharisee, who was so certain that all his fasting and tithing and other works made him acceptable to God. But while the working Pharisee remained unjustified, the believing tax-gatherer received full justification by faith alone.

an imputed righteousness

Remember Jesus’ statement from the Sermon on the Mount, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20)? Yet now He states that this tax-gatherer–the most wicked of men–was justified! How did such a sinner obtain a righteousness that exceeded that of the Pharisee? If the standard is divine perfection (v. 48), how could a traitorous tax-collector ever become just in God’s eyes?

The only possible answer is that he received a righteousness that was not his own (cf. Phil. 3:9). Righteousness was imputed to him by faith (Rom. 4:9-11).

Whose righteousness was reckoned to him? It could only be the perfect righteousness of a flawless Substitute, who in turn must bear the tax-gatherer’s sins and suffer the penalty of God’s wrath in his place. And the gospel tells us that is precisely what Jesus did.

The tax-gatherer was justified. God declared him righteous, imputing to him the full and perfect righteousness of Christ, forgiving him of all unrighteousness, and delivering him from all condemnation. Forever thereafter he stood before God on the ground of a perfect righteousness that had been reckoned to his account.

That is what justification means. It is the only true gospel. All other points of theology emanate from it. As Packer wrote, “The doctrine of justification by faith is like Atlas: it bears a world on its shoulders, the entire evangelical knowledge of saving grace.” The difference between Rome and the Reformers is not theological hair-splitting. A right understanding of justification by faith is the very foundation of the gospel. You cannot go wrong on this point without corrupting every other doctrine as well. And that is why every “different gospel” is under the eternal curse of God.

You cannot say that Luther invented the idea of justification by faith alone. Long before Luther it was taught by Augustine and Paul and Jesus and Moses. Even back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve realized soon after their sin that the fig leaves with which they tried to cover their shame were woefully inadequate. The gospel is given in Genesis 3:21 when Moses tells us that God clothed them. They needed something they couldn’t provide for themselves; and God giving man what man needs to stand in His favorable presence is the essence of the gospel. Luther merely restated what true Christians have understood for centuries, that justification is by faith alone. **

 

[benedictus2]

**Certainly if justification by faith alone is so crucial a doctrine, we would expect to find it clearly taught by our Lord. Indeed, that is precisely what we discover. **

Indeed that is NOT what we discover. Matthew 25:31-46 again.

**Although Christ made no formal explication of the doctrine of justification (such as Paul did in his epistle to the Romans), justification by faith underlay and permeated all His gospel preaching. While Jesus never gave a discourse on the subject, it is easy to demonstrate from Jesus’ evangelistic ministry that He taught sola fide. **

But while we are saved by grace (meaning it is all gratis, free) through faith, it is not by faith ALONE. The ALONE bit is what is contentious.

As a matter of fact, the only place in the bible where the phrase “faith alone” can be found is in James where it says "A person is justified by works NOT BY FAITH ALONE.

**For example, it was Jesus Himself who stated, “he who hears My word, and believes . . . has passed out of death into life” (Jn. 5:24)–without undergoing any sacrament or ritual, and without any waiting period or purgatory. The thief on the cross is the classic example. On the most meager evidence of his faith, Jesus told him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43). No sacrament or work was required for him to procure salvation. **

And I agree that these verses do say that faith in Him is important.

But the problem with shoring up you position with this is that you forget that there are verses that say other wise.
As I mentioned above Matthew 25:31-46 did not make mention of any faith in Him.

As a matter of fact, all he says is that when we do these goods works, to the least of His brethren we do it to him. And it is this good works that gain you entrance to the kingdom. Because as the passage goes, when the righteous get into the kingdom they ask the king : Lord when did we do these to you? So clearly, they had not known let alone, professed Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

And on another occasion He says it is not those who call Him Lord, Lord but those who **DO **the will of His Father who well be saved.

While those who have faith in Him will indeed be saved, the saved are not limited to those who have faith in him. That is a very important distinction to make here.

**Furthermore, the many healings Jesus accomplished were physical evidence of His power to forgive sins (Matt. 9:5-6). When He healed, He frequently said, “Your faith has made you well” (Matt. 9:22; Mk. 5:34; 10:52; Lk. 8:48; 17:19; 18:42). All those healings were object lessons on the doctrine of justification by faith alone. **

And that is correct. All these people were healed because of their faith. But where does it say only those who have faith will be saved. ?

But the one occasion where Jesus actually declared someone “justified” provides the best insight into the doctrine as He taught it:

**He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14, emphasis added). **

And the one glaring fact that you fail to see in this parable is that Jesus declared this man justified because he actually was justified because of his humility.

He was justified because he was humble. He recognized his sin. There was no pride in him. That is why he was justified. Jesus did not just declare him justified and underneath he was still mired in sin. No he declared him justified because of in his humility in acknowleging his sinfulness, his sins were forgiven.

Notice that he could have declared the pharisee justified as well but he did not. Why,? Because the pharisee was proud. He thought he was good.

This parable in fact supports the Catholic position that one is not merely declared justified. The grace of God has worked on this man and this made him see how sinful he was. There was not hiding from his sin. There was no pride.