Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, Justification, Faith Alone, Joint Declaration Doctrine Justification,

1. The Early Church for Today
Reformation 501
Sola Fide
Part Three

2. Review

3. “ALONE”!

4. A Modern Distinction

5. Martin Luther (1483-1546)

6. Romans 1: 17
“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:
‘The righteous will live by faith.”
Young Luther; Righteousness first, then Faith.
New Luther; By faith we receive righteousness.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)

7. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Justification
I do not Achieve Justification (Passive Righteousness).
I am Given Christ’s Righteousness (Alien), accepting it by Faith.
I am still a sinner (saved by Grace).
With Faith I have Christ’s Righteousness.
Without Faith I forfeit Christ’s Righteousness.

8. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Justification
“God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does.”
We shouldn't’do good works to earn God’s
favor, but in gratitude to God and to help each
other.

9. Sanctification
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
"He dwells in our hearts by such faith and purifies us daily by
His own proper work.”
Sanctification is by God.
By Faith and God’s Grace we can have a
continuous victory over the Flesh.

10. Council of Trent (1545-1563)

11. Council of Trent (1545-1563)
SESSION VI, CANON I
If any one saith, that man may be justified before God by his own
works, whether done through the teaching of human nature, or that
of the law, without the grace of God through Jesus Christ; let him be
anathema.

12. Council of Trent (1545-1563)
SESSION VI, CANON IX
If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such
wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order
to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any
way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement
of his own will; let him be anathema.

13. Council of Trent (1545-1563)
“By grace you are saved,”
So now,
By grace, “workout your salvation
with fear and trembling.”
“Justification is not only the remission of
sins, but also the sanctification and
renewal of the interior man.”

14. Council of Trent (1545-1563)
By grace
& cooperation,
you gain greater
Justification.
No!
By faith alone
we are given
Christ’s
Righteousness.

15. The Ancient Church

16. The Ancient Church
The Freedom of the Will was assumed.
The Human Predicament was not fully explored.
Sanctification was included in the idea of Justification.

17. “...And we, too, being called by His will in
Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor
by our own wisdom, or understanding, or
godliness, or works which we have wrought in
holiness of heart; but by that faith through
which, from the beginning, Almighty God has
justified all men; to whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen.”
Clement of Rome (d. 100)
The Ancient Church

18. The Ancient Church
Clement of Rome (d. 100)
“Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace
has been given by God. Let us clothe
ourselves with concord and humility, ever
exercising self-control, standing far off from
all whispering and evil-speaking, being
justified by our works, and not our words.”

19. The Ancient Church
Tertullian (160-220)
He exhorts “those who are justified by faith
in Christ, and not by the Law, to have peace
with God.”
“We make petition, then, that He supply us
with the substance of His will and the
capacity to do it–so that we may be saved
both in the heaven and on earth”

20. The Ancient Church
“By dividing the virtues into different types the Apostle has made
each type of virtue into the particular piece of armor for each of the
crucial moments in our lives. Entwining justice with faith and
plaiting them together he constructs
with them the hoplite's breastplate,
protecting the soldier’s body
Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394)
thoroughly and securely with them both.
One piece of armor separated from another
cannot by itself be a protection for the one
who handles it. Faith without the works of
justice is not enough to save one from death,
nor again is the justice of one's life a
guarantee of salvation if it is on its own,
divorced from faith.”

21. The Ancient Church
SUMMARY OF THE EARLY CHRUCH FATHERS
1. There was no mature Dogma.
2. Justification is an Event and a Process.
3. Faith was defined as an “Obedient Faith”.
4. Synergism – Work with God on This.

22. The Ancient Church
“Father, command what you will, and
grant what you command.”

23. The Ancient Church
“Father, command what you will, and
grant what you command.”
...and we will do it!

24. The Ancient Church
Pelagius’Teachings
1. We are born neutral, without a sin nature.
2. We are born with a functional Free Will.
3. God’s Grace is an Illuminating Grace.
4. Jesus and Adam both serve as Examples.

25. The Ancient Church
Augustine on the Human Predicament
Original Sin
The Human Will
Justification
Faith itself is a gift from God.
God operates upon man in the act of
justification, & cooperates with him in the
process of justification.

26. The Ancient Church
Augustine on the Human Predicament
Original Sin
The Human Will
Justification
Augustine understands Justification as, “to
make right”, “being made just”.
This is not only a change in status, but in
reality.

27. The Ancient Church
“Justification is Grace Simply and Entirely, Eternal Life is Reward
and Grace.
This question, then, seems to me to be by no means capable of
solution, unless we understand that even those good works of ours,
which are recompensed with eternal life, belong to the grace of God,
because of what is said by the Lord Jesus: ‘Without me ye can do
nothing.’
And the apostle himself, after saying, ‘By grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works,
lest any man should boast;’ saw, of course, the possibility that men
would think from this statement that good works are not necessary to
those who believe, but that faith alone suffices for them...

28. The Ancient Church
Luther on Augustine
“Augustine has sometimes erred and is not to be trusted. Although
good and holy, he was yet lacking in the true faith, as well as the
other fathers...But when the door was opened for me in Paul, so that I
understood what justification by faith is, it was
all over with Augustine.”
“It was Augustine's view that the law...if the
Holy Spirit assists, the works of the law do
justify...I reply by saying ‘No’.”

29. The Ancient Church
1. Augustine differs from the Reformers in that
he understands the word ‘justify’ to mean
‘make righteous’ instead of ‘declare righteous.’
2. Unlike the Reformers, “Augustine believed
that justification was more than merely an
event; it was also a process, and thus he
believed in inherent righteousness rather than
imputed righteousness.”

30. The Ancient Church
3. Augustine did not operate with the
distinction between sanctification and
justification, which is typical in Reformed and
Lutheran thought.
4. (Schreiner holds that) “Augustine would
have endorsed faith alone, for his
predestination theology emphasized that
salvation is the Lord’s work and faith is a gift
from him.”

31. The Modern Church

32. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Justification
1. I do not Achieve Justification (Passive Righteousness).
2. I am Given Christ’s Righteousness (Alien Righteousness).
3. Received by Faith Alone, not earned.
4. My Efforts do not Achieve Righteousness.

33. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)

34. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)
The Augsburg Confession (1530)

35. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)
The Augsburg Confession (1530)
Apologia (1530)

36. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)
The Augsburg Confession (1530)
Apologia (1530)
Imputed Righteousness
Through Faith the “Righteousness of
Christ” is treated as if it were the
believer’s.

37. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)
The Augsburg Confession (1530)
Apologia (1530)
Imputed Righteousness
NOT “Infused” Righteousness
i.e. Over time the Believer Becomes
Righteous through Grace and their
Efforts.

38. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)
The Augsburg Confession (1530)
Apologia (1530)
Imputed Righteousness
Forensic
The believer is Declared Righteous,
Pronounced Righteous.

39. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Martin Bucer
(1491-1551)

40. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Martin Bucer
(1491-1551)
Double Justification
Primary Justification: Faith Alone
Secondary Justification: Includes Works

41. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Martin Bucer
(1491-1551)
Double Justification
Primary Justification: Faith Alone
Secondary Justification: Includes Works
The Order of Salvation
Election
First Justification
Second Justification
Glorification

42. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
John Calvin (1509-
1564)

43. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
The Order of Salvation
Election
Mystical Union
Justification
Sanctification
Glorification
John Calvin (1509-
1564)

44. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
“The whole may be thus summed up:
Christ given to us by the kindness of God is
apprehended and possessed by faith, by
means of which we obtain in particular a
twofold benefit...
first, being reconciled by the righteousness
of Christ, God becomes, instead of a judge,
an indulgent Father; and...
secondly, being sanctified by his Spirit, we
aspire to integrity and purity of life.”
John Calvin (1509-
1564)

45. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
“...when we say a man is justified by faith
alone, we do not fancy a faith devoid of
charity, but we mean that faith alone is the
cause of justification.”
It is “faith alone which justifies, and yet the
faith which justifies is not alone.”
John Calvin (1509-
1564)

46. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
“Justification and sanctification, are constantly conjoined and cohere;
but from this it is erroneously inferred that they are one and the
same...
[A]s soon as any one is justified, renewal also necessarily follows:
and there is no dispute as to whether or not Christ sanctifies all whom
he justifies...
The whole dispute is as to the cause of justification. The Fathers of
Trent pretend that it is twofold, as if we were justified partly by
forgiveness of sins and partly by spiritual regeneration...

47. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Justification and Sanctification
(Regeneration) are being defined and
categorized.
They are not the same thing, but they are
not to be separated.
John Calvin (1509-
1564)

48. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Hans Kung & Karl Barth

49. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Hans Kung & Karl Barth
“Protestants speak of a declaration of
justice and Catholics of a making just.
But Protestants speak of a declaring just
which includes a making just; and
Catholics of a making just which
supposes a declaring just.
Is it not time to stop
arguing about imaginary
differences?"

50. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999)

51. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
A document created, and agreed to, by the Catholic Church's
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran
World Federation signed in 1999.
It states that the churches now share "a common understanding of
our justification by God's grace through faith in Christ”.
www.lutheranworld.org

52. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“We confess together that all persons depend completely on the
saving grace of God for their salvation. The freedom they possess in
relation to persons and the things of this world is no freedom in
relation to salvation, for as sinners they stand under God’s judgment
and are incapable of turning by themselves to God to seek
deliverance, of meriting their justification before God, or of
attaining salvation by their own abilities. Justification takes place
solely by God’s grace.
Because Catholics and Lutherans confess this together, it is true to
say...

53. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“When Catholics say that persons ‘cooperate’ in preparing for and
accepting justification by consenting to God’s justifying action, they
see such personal consent as itself an effect of grace, not as an
action arising from innate human abilities.”

54. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“When they (Lutherans) emphasize that a person can only receive
(mere passive) justification, they mean thereby to exclude any
possibility of contributing to one’s own justification, but do not
deny that believers are fully involved personally in their faith,
which is effected by God’s Word.”

55. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“According to Lutheran understanding, God justifies sinners in faith
alone (sola fide). In faith they place their trust wholly in their
Creator and Redeemer and thus live in communion with him...
In the doctrine of ‘justification by faith alone,’ a distinction but not
a separation is made between justification itself and the
renewal of one’s way of life that necessarily follows from
justification and without which faith does not exist...
Justification and renewal are joined in Christ, who is present in
faith.”

56. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“The Catholic understanding also sees faith as fundamental in
justification. For without faith, no justification can take place...
Catholic teaching emphasizes the renewal of life by justifying grace,
this renewal in faith, hope, and love is always dependent on God’s
unfathomable grace and contributes nothing to justification about
which one could boast before God.”

57. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“The understanding of the doctrine of justification set forth in this
Declaration shows that a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of
justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics.
In light of this consensus the remaining differences of language,
theological elaboration, and emphasis in the understanding of
justification described in paras. 18 to 39 are acceptable.”

58. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
“Thus the doctrinal condemnations of the 16th century, in so far as
they relate to the doctrine of justification, appear in a new light: The
teaching of the Lutheran churches presented in this Declaration does
not fall under the condemnations from the Council of Trent.
The condemnations in the Lutheran Confessions do not apply
to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church presented in this
Declaration.”

59. The Modern Church
Continuing the Dialogue
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
Would Luther have signed?
What about Calvin?

60. Sola Fide: Justification by Faith Alone
Sola Fide
We are Justified by Faith Alone.
Not by Faith producing Justifying Works.

61. The Early Church for Today
Reformation 501
Sola Scriptura
Part One