Need help defining some terminology

[MT1926]

I have noticed that quite often we tend to talk past each other because our definition of a word isn’t the same as how the other defines the same word.

Would love to get some Catholic and non-Catholic definitions of the following words. If you care to give some biblical backing to your definition that would be even more beneficial.

Just a few of the confusing differences in definitions I have come across.

Justification

Sanctification

Grace

Faith

Works

Sin (original, mortal, venial)

Idolatry

Thanks for your help

 

[gazelam]

Some LDS definitions…

Justification - To be pardoned from punishment for sin and declared guiltless. A person is justified by the Savior’s grace through faith in him. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/justification-justify?lang=eng)

Sanctification - The process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ (lds.org/scriptures/gs/sanctification?lang=eng&letter=s)

Grace - The enabling power from God that allows men and women to obtain blessings in this life and to gain eternal life and exaltation after they have exercised faith, repented, and given their best effort to keep the commandments. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/grace?lang=eng&letter=g)

Faith - Confidence in something or someone. As most often used in the scriptures, faith is confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that lead a person to obey him. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/faith?lang=eng&letter=f)

Works - A person’s actions, whether good or bad. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/works?lang=eng&letter=w)

Sin (original, mortal, venial) - Willful disobedience to God’s commandments. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/sin?lang=eng&letter=s) Note that LDS don’t speak in terms of “mortal” and “venial” sins. Greivious sins (i.e. murder, adultery, fornication, etc.) need to be confessed to a priesthood authority, where lesser sins can be confessed to God in prayer. Regarding original sin, LDS believe that nothing Adam and Eve did taints their descendents in the sense that all children are born pure before God regardless of the fact that they were born after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Idolatry - The worship of idols or an excessive attachment or devotion to anything. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/idolatry?lang=eng&letter=i)

 

[Kliska]

I have noticed that quite often we tend to talk past each other because our definition of a word isn’t the same as how the other defines the same word.

Would love to get some Catholic and non-Catholic definitions of the following words. If you care to give some biblical backing to your definition that would be even more beneficial.

Just a few of the confusing differences in definitions I have come across.

Good question!

Justification - Being made right before God, the Greek seems to connote a legal standing, or a standing that includes legal implications.

Sanctification - Purification, or the process of purification

Grace - Unmerited favor

Faith - Trusting with great confidence (note that many times “belief” in the scripture is the same Greek word as “faith.” I think “belief” in English is closer to head knowledge, whereas faith is an action.)

Works - When Paul speaks of works it is often tied in with the Mosaic Law. Anything under our own steam that we are actively doing in order to try to attain justification “on our own.” Not all actions are works (thinking, praying, etc…).

Sin (original, mortal, venial) - Sin in general is missing the mark of God’s perfection. Original sin is a taint of ourselves passed down from Adam, and IMO includes physical implications, mental implications, and spiritual implications. The closest I come in a protestant understanding thus far to a “Mortal sin” is rejecting Christ. In Paul’s words; anything that is not of faith.

Idolatry - Worshiping false gods of any type, making gods out of created things or ideas.

 

[Latinitas]

Some LDS definitions…

Justification - To be pardoned from punishment for sin and declared guiltless. A person is justified by the Savior’s grace through faith in him. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/justification-justify?lang=eng)

Sanctification - The process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ (lds.org/scriptures/gs/sanctification?lang=eng&letter=s)

Grace - The enabling power from God that allows men and women to obtain blessings in this life and to gain eternal life and exaltation after they have exercised faith, repented, and given their best effort to keep the commandments. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/grace?lang=eng&letter=g)

Faith - Confidence in something or someone. As most often used in the scriptures, faith is confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that lead a person to obey him. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/faith?lang=eng&letter=f)

Works - A person’s actions, whether good or bad. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/works?lang=eng&letter=w)

Sin (original, mortal, venial) - Willful disobedience to God’s commandments. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/sin?lang=eng&letter=s) Note that LDS don’t speak in terms of “mortal” and “venial” sins. Greivious sins (i.e. murder, adultery, fornication, etc.) need to be confessed to a priesthood authority, where lesser sins can be confessed to God in prayer. Regarding original sin, LDS believe that nothing Adam and Eve did taints their descendents in the sense that all children are born pure before God regardless of the fact that they were born after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Idolatry - The worship of idols or an excessive attachment or devotion to anything. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/idolatry?lang=eng&letter=i)

With all due respect, I believe she wants the Catholic answer to these questions, not the Mormon answer, which will often differ significantly in meaning if not in words.

Benedicat Deus,
Latinitas

 

[pablope]

I have noticed that quite often we tend to talk past each other because our definition of a word isn’t the same as how the other defines the same word.

Would love to get some Catholic and non-Catholic definitions of the following words. If you care to give some biblical backing to your definition that would be even more beneficial.

Just a few of the confusing differences in definitions I have come across.

Justification

Sanctification

Grace

Faith

Works

p

These can be answered in this article/journal:

chnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/salvation.pdf

Justification By Faith
By Dr. William Marshner

Stages of Justification
Catholic and Protestant views on the respective roles of grace, faith and works cannot be compared meaningfully, unless one specifies what stage of the justificational process one is talking about. In the preparatory stage, for instance, in which prevenient graces first stir a person towards an interest in religious truth, towards repentance, and towards faith, Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists are at one in saying “sola gratia.”2 A second stage is the very transition from death to life, which is the first stage of justification proper. Here the parties are at one in saying “sola fide,” though they seem to mean different things by it. Protestants tend to mean that, at this stage, by the grace of God, man’s act of faith is the sole act required of him; Catholics mean that faith is the beginning, foundation and root of all justification, since only faith makes possible the acts of hope and charity (i.e. love-for-God) which are also required.3 However, since most Protestants have a broad notion of the act of faith, whereby it includes elements of hope and love, it is often hard to tell how far the difference on this point is real and how far it is a matter of words. Finally, however, there comes a third stage, that of actual Christian life, with its problems of growth and perseverance. The man justified by faith is called to “walk” with God, to progress in holiness. It is at this stage that the parties sharply diverge. Catholics affirm, and Protestants strenuously deny, that the born-again Christian’s good works merit for him the increase of grace and of the Christian virtues. As a result, Protestant piety has no obvious place for the self- sacrifices, fasts, and states of perfection which are prominent features of Catholic piety. At each stage, neither the apparent agreements nor the apparent disagreements can be understood without looking at certain metaphysical quarrels, the chief of which is over the very existence of what
Catholics call “grace.”

Justification by Mcgrath

Alister Mcgrath quotes: Reformation Thoughts

Starting with Augustine, the Roman Catholic tradition has understood justification as the entire process by which God forgives and then transforms Christians. Based on their reading of the use of “justification” in Paul’s letters, the Reformers took justification to refer specifically to God’s forgiveness and acceptance. The term “sanctification” was used to refer to the lifelong process of transformation. Thus the Roman Catholic term “justification” effectively includes both what Protestants refer to as “justification” and “sanctification.” This difference in definitions can result in confusion, effectively exaggerating the disagreement. However the difference in definitions reflects a difference in substance. In the Protestant concept, justification is a status before God that is entirely the result of God’s activity and that continues even when humans sin. Thus using different words for justification and sanctification reflects a distinction between aspects of salvation that are entirely the result of God’s activity, and those that involve human cooperation. The Roman Catholic tradition uses a single term, in part, because it does not recognize a distinction of this type. For the Roman Catholic tradition, while everything originates with God, the entire process of justification requires human cooperation, and serious sin compromises it.[1]

The Catholic tradition, following Augustine, has identified justifying works as those works performed by the regenerate, i.e., the baptized, i.e., the justified. Works do not bring bring about the state of justification–God does this gratuitously in the sacrament of baptism–but they do contribute to our growth in justification. Please note that in the traditional Latin usage, “justification” comprehends initial justification, growth in justification (sanctification), and final justification. Hence it is meaningful for Catholics to speak of works as justifying–not in the sense that they earn God’s favor, not in the sense that they effect the transition from a state of sin to a state of righteousness, but in the sense that they contribute to our growth in holiness and sanctity and thus deepen our communion with the Holy Trinity

 

[ajcstr]

Starting with Augustine, the Roman Catholic tradition has understood justification as the entire process by which God forgives and then transforms Christians. Based on their reading of the use of “justification” in Paul’s letters, the Reformers took justification to refer specifically to God’s forgiveness and acceptance. The term “sanctification” was used to refer to the lifelong process of transformation. **Thus the Roman Catholic term “justification” effectively includes both what Protestants refer to as “justification” and “sanctification.” **

This is an important distinction as in many non-Catholic traditions justification occurs at a precise point in time. For example “I was saved on (date)”.

 

[GEddie]

This is an important distinction as in many non-Catholic traditions justification occurs at a precise point in time. For example “I was saved on (date)”.

That’s part of the “eternal security” theology, which however, did not originate until after the Reformation.

ICXC NIKA

 

[ajcstr]

That’s part of the “eternal security” theology, which however, did not originate until after the Reformation.

ICXC NIKA

Now that’s an interesting statement. Not sure if it is ALWAYS linked to eternal security. I think a protestant who believes he can lose his salvation still would believe he was justified at a point in time but I could be wrong.

 

[superwimp]

Hello mt,

I'll define a few of your terms from the perspective of reincarnation.

GRACE Karma is the viewpoint that everything we do, good or bad, comes back around to us. Grace is that ability to lift ourselves out of that cycle. We can learn the lessons we need to learn from our experiences and afterwards were not subject to Karma.

FAITH Acting on the belief that the end of our life here isn’t really the end of our individual existence.

SIN Each person should have an ideal. What do you believe were the motivating factors that caused you to decide to come to earth in the package you chose. Good and bad are then measured against your ideal.

 

[MT1926]

Thanks for the response. Would you be able to expand a little on 2 of your answers?

Some LDS definitions…

Sin (original, mortal, venial) - Regarding original sin, LDS believe that nothing Adam and Eve did taints their descendents in the sense that all children are born pure before God regardless of the fact that they were born after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Would you be able to expand on how the LDS comes up with this teaching. Thanks

Idolatry - An excessive attachment or devotion to anything. (lds.org/scriptures/gs/idolatry?lang=eng&letter=i)

Just wondering what would be considered an excessive attachement?

Also, do you mean excessive devotion or any devotion? Because I understand devotion to mean “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.”

Thanks again

 

[thephilosopher6]

I have noticed that quite often we tend to talk past each other because our definition of a word isn’t the same as how the other defines the same word.

Would love to get some Catholic and non-Catholic definitions of the following words. If you care to give some biblical backing to your definition that would be even more beneficial.

Just a few of the confusing differences in definitions I have come across.

Justification

Sanctification

Grace

Faith

Works

Sin (original, mortal, venial)

Idolatry

Thanks for your help

Justification - At the moment of Baptism a person is Justified before God and infused with grace. Original sin and past sin (if there is any) is washed away and now the life long process of Theosis begins. When one falls into a state of Mortal Sin after Baptism, he/she must go to confession to once again receive the gift of Grace.

Sanctification - Sanctification and Justification are very similar. Sanctification happens alongside Justification. Sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming holy and coming closer to God by his grace which he infuses in us which would be deemed as the process of Theosis.

Grace - The word grace is Greek, charis χάρις When translated it literally means to do someone a favor. God is doing us a favor. Grace is not earned, it is a free gift. It is a favor. He is forgiving us of our sins and making us holy which we lose by sin but by grace we are made holy again. When we are in a state of grace, the holy Trinity dwells within us. This has all been attained by the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Faith - Faith is the act of trusting God to know what he says is true. However, faith is not blind. Faith does require some proof. From that proof we can be assured that the rest of our faith is true. The entire Christian faith rest’s on the resurrection of Jesus.This is our proof. As Saint Paul says, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is in vain and you are still in your sins.” - 1 Corinthians 15:7

Works - Works only count when one is in Grace. Works are how we respond to the free gift of grace that God had given us. We do works because it the way God wants us to live. Christ has told us to help the poor, so we do. He has told us to stand up for the weak, so we do. Christ has told us to pray, so we do. As Saint James, the brother of our Lord says, “The body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” - James 2:26

Sin - When Adam and Eve sinned, sin was brought into the world and all men born would be born with the stain of original sin which separates us from God and bring about a sinful nature. Sin is the act of rebelling against God and disobey what God wants for us as humans. Through the waters of Baptism, we receive the free gift of Grace which is infused into us. It washes away our sins and makes us holy again. When we commit sever, or mortal sin after Baptism, we must seek confession in order to be put back into a state of grace. Venial sins also should be confessed, though they are not strictly necessary. If one dies in mortal sin, he/she will go to hell. If one dies in a state of grace but still with venial sin, he/she will go to purgatory for a time and then go to heaven. If one dies in a state of grace with no sin, he/she will go directly to heaven. Sin was defeated at the cross, and Jesus has attained for us the forgiveness of sins so we don’t go to hell.

Idolatry - Idolatry is the act of worshiping something other than God. Examples would be worship of foreign pagan gods, worship of statues or icons, worship of men or animals, worship of nature (pantheism) etc. All of this is mortal sin and blasphemy. Things that do not count as Idolatry include the act of praying to Saints, veneration of Saints, and veneration of statues and icons. Veneration is the act of showing deep respect for a particular person or object but still falls short of worship. The worship of Saints and Icons would be idolatry and therefore blasphemy against God.

Language is complicated, and in different Christians circles (especially Protestants) these words could have various different meanings. I simply gave the Catholic perspective.

As Wittgenstein said, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

 

[susanlo]

Justification: to be made right or righteous in the eyes of God. Justification occurs at the moment an individual accepts Jesus as their savior and decides to live their life following Jesus. Justification is the work of God and it is based only upon Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It is not something that we can earn or merit. 1 Peter 2: 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Sanctification: the ongoing process of becoming more Christ-like and holy. This includes avoiding sin and actively serving God. This process occurs as the person strives to follow Christ and as the Holy Spirit works inside and changes the person. Philippians 2: 12 ”Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
If someone, such as the criminal on the cross with Jesus, lives only a short time after being justified, then they have been saved. This person may not experience much sanctification. If the person accepts Jesus and is justified and then lives for decades, it should be expected to see the ongoing sanctification process at work in them revealing spiritual fruit in their life.

Grace: an unmerited favor. God’s gift of salvation is a free gift to those who accept Jesus although they do not deserve it on their own. Ephesians 2: 8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Faith: belief in something unseen. Living by faith is following Jesus even when you do not know where the path may lead. Having faith means trusting that God is who He says He is, and that He will do what he says that He will do. Galatians 2: 20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Works: the fruit that are exhibited by a person who has been justified and sanctified. These can be manifested in countless ways, but the spirit with which a Christian serves God, by serving others, looks different than the way a non-religious person may do “good things.” Galatians 5: 22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Sin: falling short of God’s expectation of perfection. All sin separates us from God, but some sins have more earthly consequences. The only unforgivable sin is blaspheme against the Holy Spirit Mark 3: 28 “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
I believe Adam and Eve’s “original sin” caused the consequences of Genesis 3:14-19. We now live in a world with good and evil. Instead of Eden, mankind lives in a broken world filled with sin, pain and sorrow. Everyone is born with a tendency to sin. I did not learn that some Christians believed that people needed to be forgiven for Adam and Eve’s sin until last year. I am struggling to understand that concept.

I like this order of the terms: Mankind has the problem of sin, so God showed his grace by sending his only begotten Son to die on the cross, so those who put their faith in Jesus can receive justification, leading to sanctification and the displaying of works.

 

[MT1926]

Good question!
Works - When Paul speaks of works it is often tied in with the Mosaic Law. Anything under our own steam that we are actively doing in order to try to attain justification “on our own.” Not all actions are works (thinking, praying, etc…).

I agree when St. Paul states “works of law” he is speaking of the Mosaic Law. However, sometimes he does and in other places of the Bible it refers to just “works”.

The definition of works is “an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.”

It seems like you are saying there are no good works and when works is brought up from a biblical standpoint they can only be bad works?

How can an actions not be a work?

Could you expand a little more for me so I can understand how we come to these conclusion biblically?

Thanks

 

[MT1926]

Hello mt,

I'll define a few of your terms from the perspective of reincarnation.

GRACE Grace is that ability to lift ourselves out of that cycle.

I have never heard this definition before, where does it come from?

SIN Each person should have an ideal. What do you believe were the motivating factors that caused you to decide to come to earth in the package you chose. Good and bad are then measured against your ideal.

This kind of sounds like relativism. It sounds like if I don’t hold myself to any standard I would be incapable of sinning?

 

[MT1926]

Language is complicated, and in different Christians circles (especially Protestants) these words could have various different meanings. I simply gave the Catholic perspective.

As Wittgenstein said, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

Thanks for the detailed information. I have found quite often that two people will be saying the exact same thing and be talking past each other. I am hoping I will be able to fully grasp the meanings of words from different faiths and understand how these meanings have come to be.

 

[MT1926]

I like this order of the terms: Mankind has the problem of sin, so God showed his grace by sending his only begotten Son to die on the cross, so those who put their faith in Jesus can receive justification, leading to sanctification and the displaying of works.

Well said.

Thanks for the responses. I liked the bible verses linked to each term.

 

[thephilosopher6]

Thanks for the detailed information. I have found quite often that two people will be saying the exact same thing and be talking past each other. I am hoping I will be able to fully grasp the meanings of words from different faiths and understand how these meanings have come to be.

I guess we can say Catholics and Protestants believe the same thing about these terms at the most basic level. But when it comes to the details, such as whether or not righteousness is infused (Catholic view) or imputed (Protestant view), then the definitions mean something a little different. I gave the Catholic definition, which as the most basic level is the same as Protestant (example: grace is a free gift from God) but the details are different (example: righteousness is infused not imputed; righteousness is imputed not infused).

 

[Kliska]

I agree when St. Paul states “works of law” he is speaking of the Mosaic Law. However, sometimes he does and in other places of the Bible it refers to just “works”.

The definition of works is “an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.”

That would be an English way of defining it, I believe. I think it helps to remember that there was to be no work done on the Sabbath, so that splits actions up into works and non-work. So, for example, breathing is an action but isn’t a work, as you don’t cease from it on the Sabbath.

It seems like you are saying there are no good works and when works is brought up from a biblical standpoint they can only be bad works?

Sorry if I said something confusing; there certainly are good works! Good works are any works that originate with God, and we should see Christians walking in and performing the good works God instructs us, and enables us, to do.

How can an actions not be a work?

Hopefully I cleared it up above. To English speakers they’d be close to synonyms, but we see there are definitely actions Jews could perform on the Sabbath that were not considered work (thinking, praying, eating, etc…). So, from that POV there’s “work” and there’s “rest,” but resting doesn’t mean cease from all action.

 

[superwimp]

I have never heard this definition before, where does it (grace) come from?

Assuming you mean the definition, it's the way my group understands it.  We believe in Karma and grace is a part of Karma.

This kind of sounds like relativism. It sounds like if I don’t hold myself to any standard I would be incapable of sinning?

Using Catholics as an example whether or not they sin is relative to the list of sins the church produced. For Jews it’s relative to the Mosaic law. Your assuming that we need some organization to create this list of things not to do for us. If an individual chooses not to create and hold himself to an ideal he will have wasted this life experience.

 

[ltwin]

This is an important distinction as in many non-Catholic traditions justification occurs at a precise point in time. For example “I was saved on (date)”.

That’s part of the “eternal security” theology, which however, did not originate until after the Reformation.

ICXC NIKA

Now that’s an interesting statement. Not sure if it is ALWAYS linked to eternal security. I think a protestant who believes he can lose his salvation still would believe he was justified at a point in time but I could be wrong.

These are actually two different issues. Evangelical Protestants believe that one can have an assurance of salvation at a particular point in time, i.e. justification. However, many also believe in conditional security–that salvation can be forfeited due to unbelief and/or prolonged willful disobedience. This is a point often lost on many Catholics, who assume that anyone who describes themselves as already saved is talking about eternal security or OSAS.