Imputed Righteousness GOLDMINE (Justification by Faith Alone)

[Good_Fella]

Baptism creates a number if different things which all can be called salvation:

1 Cor 6:9-12 St. Paul says that we were ‘‘washed’’, ‘‘justified’’, ‘‘sanctified’’ in the name of our lord.these are all different ways of looking at the same reality.

Naturally justification and sanctification are distinct terms. But when we are baptized, “[we] are washed, [we] are sanctified, [we] are justified” all in one single breath as our guilt from all sin is removed and we become a new creation in Christ.

I believe that ppl get justified through repentance and baptism. Meaning their sins are forgiven, and they are simultaneously cleansed internally, but Paul never calls this justification, more so his language is ‘‘made alive’’

Our sins are wholly forgiven provided we are sincere in repenting. One who has the proper disposition to repent is already in the state of grace before he acts. Grace assists us in properly preparing for our baptism by the merits of Christ. So without the element of sanctification, a holy disposition, we cannot be justified.

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin.
Romans 6, 6-7

I’m afraid St. Paul doesn’t rigidly divide justification and sanctification as many Protestants do. For him justification is not just the forgiveness of sin and the remission of guilt, but also dying to sin and desisting from continuing to live in sin. A justified person is one who no longer is a slave of sin, and so he is freed from sin not only by being forgiven. The apostle speaks of our justification in the context of sanctification. The two terms are presented as operating interdependently in the application of our redemption and constitute a single equation in the economy of salvation.

Being then freed from sin, we have been made servants of justice.
Romans 6,18

Our justification is a process that involves renouncing our old way of life and leading a new way of life as partakers of the divine nature with the help of God’s grace. The person who is “dead to sin” is justified by being in a sanctified state. As St. Paul would put it: “For as in Adam all die (living a life of sin), so also in Christ all shall be made alive (living a holy and virtuous life).” We increase in justification as we grow in holiness and love. Freedom from mortal sin keeps us from forfeiting our justification, for we remain in a sanctified state as long as we don’t commit such a sin. Justification isn’t just deliverance from sin, but also the avoidance of sin.

Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of iniquity unto sin; but present yourselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of justice unto God.
Romans 6, 12-13

PAX

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

You are making an equation between two district grammatical construction. When Paul speaks about justification before God it is not the same as being justified from sin. Sin in the context of Romans 6 is referring to the power sphere of sin( even from Francis martin a catholic lecturer in Romans sees this). To be justified from sins power is with reference to the sin master, to be let go from its power. To be justified before God has God, not sin as the object and therefore carriesba different meaning.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

The bible says that Baptism saves.

The bible can not lie.

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

Yes but what we are discussing here is the issue of justification.

In the Pauline sense (acts 13), justification is just the forgiveness and remission of sin that comes through our participation in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ Jesus. The renewal and the forgiveness go hand-in-hand since both are products of this baptismal recreation.

 

[Good_Fella]

You are making an equation between two district grammatical construction. When Paul speaks about justification before God it is not the same as being justified from sin. Sin in the context of Romans 6 is referring to the power sphere of sin( even from Francis martin a catholic lecturer in Romans sees this). To be justified from sins power is with reference to the sin master, to be let go from its power. To be justified before God has God, not sin as the object and therefore carriesba different meaning.

• **Justification detaches man from sin ***which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God’s merciful initiative of forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.
  Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 2.l Grace and Justification, 1999

And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times, it repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart, He said: "I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth … for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noe [Noah] found grace [favour] before the Lord … Noe was a just [righteous] and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.
*Genesis 6, 8-9 *

Unlike the common people of his generation, Noah did not lead a carnal and wicked life. He did not succumb to the impulses of his fallen nature and live an unnatural and perverse life as did the people he lived among to God’s heartfelt regret. Noah pleased God by observing a perfect justice (being righteous) by conforming his life to the will of God. Thus “he found favour before the Lord”. In other words, he was found to be just in God’s sight because he wasn’t enslaved to sin, which mastered the lives of the people of his generation. He lived a life in God’s grace, which God acknowledged. Sin is an object that can come between us and God, who constantly judges our souls. We musn’t divorce the two “objects” in the context of justification and sanctification. Unless we are “justified from sins power” we cannot be justified before God. Justification is a “detachment from sin”, that which is hateful to God, and so we should avail ourselves to the help of his grace in order to free ourselves from being enslaved to it, by following God’s path of righteouness, if we hope to find favour with God. St. Paul is very clear on this central point in Romans 6.

“No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 6, 24

We cannot serve both God and the world, the spirit and the carnal flesh (i.e., greed), and justice and sin. Only by serving our true master, can we be reckoned as just in God’s sight. If we love what is hateful to God (sin), then naturally we hate God. If we love God completely, as Noah did, then we will obey God’s commandments (Jn 14:15). The Father who sees in secret will reward us openly if we discretely conduct our lives in accordance with his good will and trust in his providence. Noah was rewarded by having his life and the lives of his family spared because of his just and meritorious standing before God. His freedom from the grasping power of sin was incidental to his having found favour with God.

PAX
:heaven:

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

To say that Noah was declared righteos initially because of his course of life…is to contradict the principles of Romans 4

 

[Good_Fella]

To say that Noah was declared righteos initially because of his course of life…is to contradict the principles of Romans 4

Please quote me where I said Noah received the initial grace of forgiveness and justification by his own merits at the moment God related his plans to him. Sacred Scripture doesn’t reveal at what point in his life Noah was initially justified by his faith in God through the foreseen merits of Christ. But since it is revealed that Noah found favour with God because he walked with him, I understand that he merited his salvific reward by his increase in justification and growth in righteousness, as all baptized Christians do.

"It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two; to a third one - to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Like wise the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one dug a hole in the ground, and buried his master’s money. After a long time the master of the servants came back and settled accounts with them. The servant who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back. His master said to him in reply,* ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter?*** Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ ".
*Matthew 25, 15-30 *

If we fail to do the things required of us with the spiritual gifts we have received from the Lord through the Holy Spirit at some point in our lives, we will be condemned by our Master when he returns in glory. The redemption he gained for us through the merits of his passion and death will not benefit us personally despite the initial grace of forgiveness and justification in faith. The Lord expects us to bear good fruit and produce our own good works by cooperating with the actual graces we receive. If we fail to produce the good works that the Lord expects of us because of the spiritual gifts he has given us, he will cast us into the eternal darkness. Meanwhile, those of us who have made use of our supernatural talents will merit a reward and a measure of glory proportionate to the extent of what we have accomplished by our gifts of grace. The man who was given one talent is like the person who believes that he has only to rely on Christ’s merits to be saved. Our justification is not a one-time event in our lives, but a process that involves growing in righteousness and bearing more and more good fruit in God’s grace. We are not merely declared righteous by being covered by a personal righteousnes that can belong only to our Lord. God also takes into account that righteousness intrinsic of the believer which has been created by the infusion of his divine grace. Noah was given what was taken away from a corrupt generation of people because he continued to live in God’s grace and grew in holiness, conducting his life favourably before God while making use of his supernatural gifts of grace.

PAX

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

There is no doubt that our judgement in the end time will depend on our service and sacrifice. However, we have to give some meaning to Paul when he says that we have been “justified” in the past sense. And not only that, we have to figure how in the world he uses such language such as “justified” and then swirl words like “propitiation” or “reconciliation” or “forgiveness” around it if it is supposed to mean that we are not changed on the inside to be holy and just in our life, such a factor bears no insistence for sacrifice of propitiation.

What people are trying to do is equate the mission employed in Romans 3:21-26 with Romans 6:1-11. Yes, they are both referring to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, but one context is in terms of “justice” , “satisfying wrath”, “demonstrating that he will punish evil”, “justifying the ungodly who have sinned”, and the other is in the context of “died with Christ, being made alive with Christ, being raised with Christ, putting to death our members”…If one simply finds an equation, they are lacking in support of logic and study.

The way to reconcile this is, just as Joseph Fitzmyer, that our justification is the forgiveness of sin and clean-slate that we receive in the act of re-creation (baptism) and the new creature that is there is a result of the resurrection, not a matter of justification.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

Abraham was JUSTIFIED on three different occasions.

The teaching that men are JUSTIFIED once is a LIE!

Jesus taught us to be baptized–everyone who rejects that teaching–I don’t care if they’ve had the greatest born again experience of Jesus Christ in the history of the world–if they refuse to be baptized as He taught us–they will go to Hell!

Justification ONCE and MORTAL sin followed by death is not worth a hill of beans–it is worth Hell!

BAPTISM by water, blood, or desire followed by death is SALVIFIC and results in heaven!

BAPTISM is a sacrament–God works in a special way in a sacrament.

Anyone that says it is just an ordinance REJECTS the truth that god’s church taught for CENTURIES!

Don’t believe such people.

Repent–be BAPTIZED–and you will be saved if you persevere in God’s grace until death!

 

[kepha1]

Hi Jerry Jet, remember me from Madrid’s “Speak Your Mind” forum? How ya doin’ ole buddy?

 

[Good_Fella]

There is no doubt that our judgement in the end time will depend on our service and sacrifice. However, we have to give some meaning to Paul when he says that we have been “justified” in the past sense. And not only that, we have to figure how in the world he uses such language such as “justified” and then swirl words like “propitiation” or “reconciliation” or “forgiveness” around it if it is supposed to mean that we are not changed on the inside to be holy and just in our life, such a factor bears no insistence for sacrifice of propitiation.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5, 1

"For all have sinned and do need the glory of God. Being justified by his grace, through the redemption, that is of Jesus Christ, whom God has proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to the shewing of his justice, for the remission of former sins."
Romans 3, 23-25

As I suggested above in this thread, when St. Paul uses the word “justification”, he is focussing on one aspect of how God has provided his grace for the salvation of the soul. So when the apostle tells us that we “have been justified by his grace”, he is giving us the reason we can be just and righteous before God by his grace, that being the atonement for our sins by Christ’s propitiatory death on the cross. For the Roman Christian community, this event happened before its members were baptized. However, our salvation is still conditional and depends on how well we cooperate with God’s grace in our pilgrimage of faith. Now that we have been initially justified and reconciled with God by his gratuitous mercy through Christ’s reedeming merits, we are called to die to sin by not letting it personally reign over us in our experience of faith. Justification is an ongoing process that presently continues in our lives as baptized Christians, now that Christ has destroyed the absolute power and reign of sin over humankind by his death on the cross, since he alone was incapable of sinning by his divine nature and thus able to appease the eternal wrath of God. (Rom 6:10).

*For he that is dead **is justified *** from sin.
Romans 6, 7

It is very important for us to note that when St. Paul speaks of justification it is not only in the present perfect tense. He also employs the simple and progressive present tenses. By properly putting the above usages of the verb “to justify” together, we can see how the apostle entirely viewed our justification in the application of our redemption in and through Christ. For him justification was not something that merely happened back then either when Christ died on the cross or when we first professed our faith in Jesus when we were baptized. He saw that justification also included a daily rendering of ourselves obedient to God’s will. This brings us to the other aspect of the grace of salvation: being in the state of grace. As long as we are in the state of sanctifying grace, we are just in God’s sight and worthy of salvation. Thus justification is the reason for our salvation, and sanctification is the condition for it. The two terms cannot be dichotamized in the single application of our redemption. They become virtually synonymous in their common objective - the salvation of the soul - as they function in their respective aspects as gifts of divine grace. And so the two terms are used interchangeably in Scripture. Here are some examples from among many:

Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Hebrews 13, 12

For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.
Romans 5, 19

But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2, 13

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath.
Romans 5, 9

What people are trying to do is equate the mission employed in Romans 3:21-26 with Romans 6:1-11. Yes, they are both referring to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, but one context is in terms of “justice” , “satisfying wrath”, “demonstrating that he will punish evil”, “justifying the ungodly who have sinned”, and the other is in the context of “died with Christ, being made alive with Christ, being raised with Christ, putting to death our members”…If one simply finds an equation, they are lacking in support of logic and study.

From what we have seen above, the complete application of our redemption is comprised of three key components: justification, sanctification, and the forgiveness of sin. Justification is a process by which the sinner is made right with God through the remission of guilt; sanctification is the process by which a person is made holy through the infused gifts of the Holy Spirit which enables the soul to be pleasing to God. It involves growing in grace and conforming to the divine image, so that a person remains right with God in his grace; forgiveness is the pardon or remission of sin. The sins that are forgiven are actually removed from the soul, and not merely blanketed by Christ’s merits. It involves the soul being restored to a sanctified state in order to be reconciled with God and be in good standing with him again through a perfect act of contrition. David is a prime example. All three components constitute in a single equation what it means to be saved, now that Christ has opened the gates of Heaven with his precious blood.

Being then freed from sin, we have been made servants of justice.
*Romans 6, 18 *

The way to reconcile this is, just as Joseph Fitzmyer, that our justification is the forgiveness of sin and clean-slate that we receive in the act of re-creation (baptism) and the new creature that is there is a result of the resurrection, not a matter of justification.

I’m sure that Mr. Fitzmyer, or any faithful well-informed Catholic, would tell you that justification and sanctification are virtually identical insofar they are two aspects of salvation that proceed together in our journey of faith. As two distinct aspects of salvation they operate simultaneously with the common objective of final attainment.

PAX
:heaven:

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

Well I guess if we can agree that justification, in its specific usage in Romans, can at least be confessed that it is dealing with our remission of sin while it also accomplishes a recreation, we are fine.

 

[Good_Fella]

Well I guess if we can agree that justification, in its specific usage in Romans, can at least be confessed that it is dealing with our remission of sin while it also accomplishes a recreation, we are fine.

Absolutely!

“On the negative side, justification is a true removal of sin, and not having merely one’s sins ignored or no longer held against the sinner by God. On the positive side, it is the supernatural sanctification and renewal of the person who thus becomes holy and pleasing to God and an heir of heaven…The primary purpose of justification is the honour of God and of Christ; its secondary purpose is the eternal life of mankind. The main efficient cause or agent is the mercy of God; the main instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is called ‘the sacrament of faith’ to spell out the necessity of faith for salvation. And that which constitutes justification or its essence is ‘the justice of God, not by which he is just Himself, but by which he makes us just,’ namely sanctifying grace.”
[Catholic Dictionary]

Justification essentially is being truly holy and free from sin for the greater glory and honour of God and of his Christ. It’s about being restored to Adam’s state before his fall from grace and justice, though we still have to suffer from the effects of original sin. Through the incarnation God himself exemplified in the person of the Son how we should live in accord with God’s good will as a new creation through a renewal of spirit. The divine Word did not become man only to atone for the sin of mankind. Appeasing the wrath or justice of God requires our regeneration in the Spirit for the sake of his honour. Unless we are truly righteous, we cannot honour God in view of his own absolute righteousness. Nor could God forsake his own honour by simply overlooking our sins while they remain concealed wrapped in the cloak of Christ’s personal righteousness. Justification is indeed an actual removal of sin and guilt, which simultaneously includes the supernatural sanctification and renewal of the person who puts his faith in Christ and becomes holy and pleasing to God by his grace and an heir of eternal salvation.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
2 Corinthians 5, 17-18

" ‘There is henceforth laid up for me,’ he says, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, shall give me that day.’ Now, to whom should the righteous Judge award the crown, except to him on whom the merciful Father had bestowed grace? And how could the crown be one ‘of righteousness,’ unless the grace had preceded which ‘justifieth’ the ungodly?"
St. Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, 6:14 (A.D. 427)

PAX

 

[Catholic_Dude]

I have really been enjoying this discussion.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Just an FYI: I’m in the process of writing up a new blog article on Imputation, which I’ll attempt to format it in the form of a “Top-Ten List” fashion.

 

[William_C]

If anyone wants to know one of the biggest cover-ups in Protestant history, see this article:

devinrose.heroicvirtuecreations.com/blog/2012/06/12/a-study-on-imputation-of-righteousness/

It documents how the top Protestant scholars have ignored or botched a crucial Greek word (Logizomai) that appears in Scripture and is used in verses allegedly proving Imputed Righteousness (a key teaching for Justification by Faith Alone). What most Protestants don’t know, and those who do wont tell you, is that the Greek word Logizomai means the exact opposite of “Impute”.

There is a reason why no Protestants want to directly interact with this article!
You wont see any big-name Protestant blogs or articles accurately addressing the Greek word Logizomai, and that’s saying something!

Is Nick “infallible?”

Could Nick be wrong? Or, is it simply impossible for Nick to be wrong?

 

[Good_Fella]

Just an FYI: I’m in the process of writing up a new blog article on Imputation, which I’ll attempt to format it in the form of a “Top-Ten List” fashion.

All the best in your noble endeavour.

PAX

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Is Nick “infallible?”

Could Nick be wrong? Or, is it simply impossible for Nick to be wrong?

Sorry for not seeing this earlier.

I don’t think anyone would say the article is infallible or that it’s impossible for it/he to be wrong. Is there more to your objection than this, or do you see specific issues in the article that you would object to?

 

[Erick_Ybarra]

The problem that the article does not recognize is how to fit that regular use of impute into Romans 4:1-9. God imputes justice to the human creature apart from works (and this is any work of righteousness whether found in the prescriptions of Sinai or whatever) is parrallel to God justifying the ungodly. This is profound. The fact that God will justify the law-keepers and give them eternal life as well as God condemning law-breakers and giving them eternal death is not a mystery or unknown to Jews. What is new in the gospel (Romans 3:21-26) is that justice is obtained before God by faith (a special word including conversion and repentance and baptism to christ). God imputes righteousness to the ungodly! This is oppossing his revealed justice. Whether he passes over sin (rom 3:25) or imputes righteousness to sinful ungodly creatures (Romans 4:4) , his justice is called into question. However with a sacrifice of propitiation which atones for sin, God is enabled to reckon the belief as righteousness, which is how Abraham was justified in God sight. This doesn’t diminish the fact that later he was saved and justified by works when his faith came to fulfillment.

The death of Jesus stands at the center of the imputation of righteosuness. His death for our sin covers, forgives, and cancels sin. This is imputing righteosunsss to a man. Prior to receiving this is the response of self-denial and repentance of life.

We are justified by the blood of Jesus (Roman 4:25; 5:9; Gal 2:21). Therefore it is apart from our doing. This grace is applied in baptism by and through faith.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

The problem that the article does not recognize is how to fit that regular use of impute into Romans 4:1-9.

I’m not sure how you can say that: the article covers logizomai in three key verses 4:3, 4:4, and 4:8, and shows how the Protestant use of “impute” cannot make any sense. For example, in 4:8 it says “Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not logizomai his sin”. If logizomai means ‘to transfer’ as Protestants claim, then the verse says the Blessed man is he whom the Lord will NOT ‘transfer’ his sin, which doesn’t make sense.

God imputes justice to the human creature apart from works (and this is any work of righteousness whether found in the prescriptions of Sinai or whatever) is parrallel to God justifying the ungodly. This is profound.

There are two serious problems here: (1) you said the “works” Paul mentions are any works whatsoever, yet Paul is talking strictly about the works of the Law, so that’s bad exegesis; (2) God justifying the ungodly is interpreted by Paul as God forgiving sin, which is why he immediately quotes Psalm 32. In this situation, Paul was equating “not imputing sin” with “imputing righteousness”.

The fact that God will justify the law-keepers and give them eternal life as well as God condemning law-breakers and giving them eternal death is not a mystery or unknown to Jews.

And God still does this for Christians and all people.

What is new in the gospel (Romans 3:21-26) is that justice is obtained before God by faith (a special word including conversion and repentance and baptism to christ). God imputes righteousness to the ungodly!

You’re Papally and Dogmatically presuming “imputing righteousness” is found in the text, when it’s not. The whole point of the article was to show that “impute” does not correspond to the Greek word Paul was inspired by God to use.

The death of Jesus stands at the center of the imputation of righteosuness. His death for our sin covers, forgives, and cancels sin. This is imputing righteosunsss to a man. Prior to receiving this is the response of self-denial and repentance of life. We are justified by the blood of Jesus (Roman 4:25; 5:9; Gal 2:21). Therefore it is apart from our doing. This grace is applied in baptism by and through faith.

I agree with this, but not the language you’re using. There is no “imputing” taking place.