Understanding the Catholic doctrine of justification

[Todd_Easton]

Am I reading this correctly?

No, you seem to be ignoring the numerous conditions mentioned as necessary for non-Catholics to be saved, including belief, invincible ignorance of Christ and his Church, perfect love, perseverance, and perfect contrition after mortal sin.

I don’t understand your comment about atheists…

I cannot say anything definitive about the possibility of salvation for atheists because I don’t know exactly what, if anything, the Church teaches on the subject. However, I suppose that if they are atheists through no fault of their own and always cooperate with the graces they received from God, they too can be saved, since the Church teaches that sufficient grace for salvation is given to all.

 

[Wannano]

I totally agree with you. Rituals and ceremonies are not what saves anyone. It is as simple as John 3:16. Without personal belief it is all fluff.

 

[John_Martin]

Justification means you have a right to do what you are doing and no one questions your right.

In Romans, the Jews were saying that they had the right to consider themselves the Holy People because they were circumcised and descended from the Fathers and from the Prophets and had the Law from Moses.

Paul described that Abraham was justified because he believed God - he had the right to consider himself the “People of God” and travel to the promise in Hebron because he believed God’s promise to him. God did not require anything else of Abraham before he would lead him to Hebron, just to believe him (and that meant he would pack up and go; Abraham did not just sit there and require God to majically zap him into Hebron.) Abraham was “The People of God on the Move to the Promised Land being Proudly Led by the LORD.”

Paul also said the Gentiles in Rome were also, like Abraham, able to consider themselves the People of God because they believe the promise found in Jesus, and they then began acting out the part of “People of God”.

We are Justified as Catholics because we believe the promises sent to us via Apostolic Messengers from Jesus: We believe we were born of the Holy Spirit when we were told, “I baptize you in the Name…” We believe what we were taught by our teachers and we believe the Bishop when he confirms us. So we Do the Deeds of the People of God, fully justified in doing them, Celebrating Mass, Proclaiming the Gospel, being Salt and Light in this country where we are sojourning just as Abraham was salt and light in the lands he sojourned to as God led him Home.

We are the Official People of God because we were told so by Messengers Sent Officially from our King, and so we are justified in doing the Deeds only the Official People of God May Do, the Rituals and Ceremonies are for us alone to do.

 

[Ilkka]

works are a necessary fruit of a real faith, but it is grace through faith which saves us, but that faith always bears fruit in good works

Do you see salvation primarily as getting to Heaven? Salvation is also that but it needs to start within us. Our main problem is not the just punishment for our sins (Hell) but rather sin itself. Using the same logic, our main goal is not Heaven but rather living out a covenant life with God. It does lead us to Heaven eventually but our eyes should be set on God and not the blessings He has for us.

To find out your true desires, think about what draws you to Heaven the most? Is it the immortality or the endless recreational activities there? The beauty and the colors? Or is it being united with God our Father and Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit; our Triune God who is all-good and worthy of all our love? If you desire anything more than the presence of God Himself, then your perspective needs to change.

when you commit mortal sin you lose that faith

When one sins mortally, they lose their right standing with God because they have willfully with full consent committed a grave sin that they know to be against God’s direct commands. When you think about this from a perspective of a relationship, it makes sense. If you willfully and consentually do something that your loved one thinks is very bad, you’re essentially saying with your act ’I don’t care about you nor your will’. That’s the same with God.

Purgatory is just a sort of restitution to rebuild the relationship after you’ve been forgiven

Purgatory purges us from all the sinful ways of our hearts before we enter Heaven. These sinful ways could be subconscious attitudes or thought patterns that are borne of Evil and not God.

making restitution for sins and penance, but these do not seem to be exactly necessary in Catholic teaching to satisfy the justice of God, but merely to show how sorry one is?

This also needs to be understood from the perspective of relationship with God. We don’t withhold forgiveness until someone makes amends but if they don’t do that, it hurts the relationship and leaves it with lacking in mutual trust and respect. When we make amends and do penance, we are tending our whole being towards greater love and respect for God and our neighbors. It builds a stronger foundation for the relationship and transgressions are more easily avoided in the future.