On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther preached his 95 theses on the insults and indulgences of the clergy at the door of the church of Wittenberg. This famous event is often considered the starting point of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther and the other reformers’ main concern was the doctrine of justification. To use Calvin’s language, it was the “main hinge on which religion revolves. “And the doctrine of justification is no less important today than it was 500 years ago.
- There are five key concepts that every Protestant must understand if he wants to understand the doctrine of the reformer’s justification (and the Bible).
First, the Christian is simul iustus and peccator. It is the famous Latin phrase of Martin Luther meaning “justified and sinful”. Catechism strongly reminds us that although we are righteous before God, we always violate His commandments, we feel the pain of conscience. and fight inner sin. On this side of the tisis, we will always be sinful saints, the miserable righteous and sometimes even justified fools. God does not absolve us of our guilt on the basis of our works, but why do we trust in the Who justifies the wicked?(Romans 4. 5).
Second, our justification before God is based on the righteousness of others. [1] This means that we are justified by justice that is not ours. I am not right before God for my righteousness, but why?The perfect satisfaction, justice and holiness of Christ?” I was commissioned. “I have nothing in my hands, I simply cling to your cross; naked, I come to you in a dress; incapable, I look at you by grace; dirty, I go to the fountain; Wash me, Savior, or will you die?August Toplady wrote in an ancient hymn. We bring nothing to our salvation. The name by which every Christian should be called is: Is the Lord our righteousness?(Jeremiah 23:6).
Third, The righteousness of Christ is ours by imputation, not by infusion; In other words, we are not sanctified, nor are we imbued with goodness as if we had it in ourselves, but the righteousness of Christ is credited to our own account.
Fourth, we are only justified by faith. The Catholic Church has recognized that the Christian is saved by faith; was the only part they didn’t admit. In fact, the Council of Trent of the Catholic Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth century declared that those who believed in any justification by imputation or justification by faith were anathema. But the evangelical faith has always said that “all I have to do is accept God’s gift with a believing heart. “In truth, the faith it justifies must manifest itself in good works. James 2 is about that. However, this work serves as confirmatory evidence and not as the basis for our justification. We are justified by faith without the works of the law (Romans 3:28; Titus 3. 5). The gospel is: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and will you be saved?(Acts 16:30-31), right? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, cooperate with transformative grace, and you will be saved. We only contribute to our salvation through our sin; we bring no merit, but that of Christ; and nothing necessary for justification except faith alone.
Finally, in the face of all this reflection on the need for faith, catechism explains that faith is only an instrumental cause of our salvation, that is, faith is not what God considers acceptable in us, in fact, in rigor, faith in itself does not justify it; faith is only the instrument by which we take possession of Christ, communicate with him, and share all his blessings; it is the object of our faith that counts. If you enter an icy lake, it is not your faith that prevents you from falling into the water, it is true, it takes faith to enter the lake, but it is the object of your faith, the twelve centimeters of ice, that protects you. Believe in Christ with all your heart, but do not put your faith in your faith. Your experience of trust in Christ will fluctuate. So don’t forget to trust In Jesus Christ and not in your faith in Him. Only Jesus died for us and was resurrected for our justification. Believe and you’ll be saved too.
1 N. T. : Has the original term?Extraterrestrial justice?has been translated as ‘the justice of another person’. The original phrase that refers to the term “Alien”: “Alien does not?T refers to a spirituality ET [Alien does not refer to an extraterrestrial spirituality] has been removed from the Portuguese version.