The Catholic view of Justification

[Starwarsfan2]

Sorry to bother you , but I’d like to know more about the catholic view of justification , keeping in mind that I don’t accept the jddj signed by the lwf.

 

[Duane1966]

Sorry to bother you , but I’d like to know more about the catholic view of justification , keeping in mind that I don’t accept the jddj signed by the lwf.

shamelesspopery.com/tag/justification/

calledtocommunion.com/?s=justification

 

[Cathoholic]

Starwarsfan2.

Do you have a specific question concerning justification?

Would you like the focus of the answer to be from the Fathers? Scripture? The Catechism? The Councils? (Evidently you do not want information from the “Joint Declaration”)

I’ll just mention for other readers that may not know what you are alluding to,

. . . . the “jddj signed by the lwf” . . . .

is the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (can be read many places including here).

LWF is Lutheran World Federation.

I’ll await your reply and take it from there.

God bless.

Cathoholic

PS Welcome to Catholic Answers Forums (I see this was just your second post).

Incidentally. Why did you publish this question under “Non-Catholic Religions”?

 

[MoreCoffee]

Sorry to bother you , but I’d like to know more about the catholic view of justification , keeping in mind that I don’t accept the jddj signed by the lwf.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and the Compendium to the CCC provide extensive answers to your question.

[For the compendium click this link](http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#Gods Salvation: Law and Grace)

For the Catechism click this link

It is important to keep in mind that the Catholic Church wrote and taught about Justification many centuries before Martin Luther lived and that the Catholic Church defines the word rather differently from the common usage in Lutheran/Protestant theology today. The Glossary of the CCC defines Justification thus:

JUSTIFICATION: The gracious action of God which frees us from sin and communicates “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” (Rom 3:22). Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man

 

[Starwarsfan2]

So Catholics believe justification and sanctification to be the same ? so close to wesleyanism then , vs monergism , follow up question , do you think Lutherans and Catholics will ever find true agreement ?
As to an above question the Holy scriptures and the church fathers are fine .

 

[QNDNNDQDCE]

So Catholics believe justification and sanctification to be the same ? so close to wesleyanism then , vs monergism , follow up question , do you think Lutherans and Catholics will ever find true agreement ?
As to an above question the Holy scriptures and the church fathers are fine .

No, I don’t think that Catholics would say that justification is synonymous. But Catholics would say that justification and sanctification both admit a variety of senses. As far as justification goes, Protestants traditionally would say that the Biblical doctrine of justification refers only to the instant when the sinner is reconciled to God. Catholics speak of justification in this sense (the beginning of sanctifying grace), but also apply justification to perseverance in grace through the final judgment. In my view, this makes more sense of St. James’s “justified by works and not by faith only” line and the numerous places that speak of judgement based on works.

Similarly, I have seen many Protestants distinguish justification from sanctification, saying that justification is the instant when you are saved from sin, and sanctification is the life-long process of being made holy afterwards. I also think this is misguided, since there are places in the New Testament where sanctification would correspond more to the instant of salvation. For example, in both 1 Corinthians 6:11 and Hebrews 10:29, the word “sanctified” clearly is applied to baptismal grace.

Here is a book recommendation from a Reformed Protestant perspective (obviously I do not share his perspective) you might find interesting.

books.google.com/books/about/Iustitia_Dei.html?id=Grf9-seFcQMC

 

[Cathoholic]

Starwarsfan2

You asked:

So Catholics believe justification and sanctification to be the same?

No but they are related.

Excerpt from CCC 1989 Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.

CCC 1992a Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us . . . .

Nothing unclean can enter that holy city, the New Jerusalem, Heaven (Revelation 21:27).

No sanctification, no Heaven.

Sanctification is part of our justification.

We are saved by the work of Christ through sanctification and belief. St. Paul puts it this way . . . .

2nd THESSALONIANS 2:13 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be **saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief **in the truth.