A man is said to be justified in the sight of God when in the judgment of God he is deemed righteous, and is accepted on account of his righteousness; for as iniquity is abominable to God, so neither can the sinner find grace in his sight, so far as he is and so long as he is regarded as a sinner. Hence, wherever sin is, there also are the wrath and vengeance of God. He, on the other hand, is justified who is regarded not as a sinner, but as righteous, and as such stands acquitted at the judgment-seat of God, where all sinners are condemned.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
Justification is a divine act where God not only forgives the helpless sinner of his previous sins, but also bestows upon him/her a declaration of righteousness. The question that concerns Roman Catholics and Protestants is if this righteousness is an “alien” righteousness-that is, if it is a righteousness that is foreign to us. Is it Christ’s righteousness that is conferred upon the believer, or is it an “infused” righteousness that is given to us by means of the Church and her sacraments? The Protestants claim the former, while Catholics hold to the latter.
Luke 18:9-14 says the following:
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The interesting thing about this passage that John Calvin (and later John Piper) points out is that the Pharisee in the text does not give himself the glory for his good works. He thanked God that he did many “good” things. The point that both Calvin and Piper want to show is that even though this man had an “infused” righteousness, it still wasn’t good enough for Christ. The tax collector, however, had something far superior than an infused righteousness: saving faith alone. He had nothing else to offer the great Judge of the universe.
From this passage, we can see that sola fide (faith alone) is sufficient for justification. The despised, humbled tax collector “…went down to his house justified.” This is another grand point in the narrative. Justification is not a process, but a single, one-time event in the life of the believer. This is contrary to Roman Catholicism. Rome claims that we can never have absolute assurance of our justification, for it is an on-going process.
Until Rome can affirm sola fide, there can never be any reconcilliation between the two churches. In fact, I propose that we abandon the term “church” in terms of identifying Roman Catholicism. The reason is because they do not preach the true Gospel, administer the sacraments properly, or practice church discipline in the right manner. This, for Calvin, was the way we can identify the true church of Christ. Rome has disqualified herself from this blessed category.
Until Rome repents of all her sins and delinquencies, I shall continue in my humble abode in Geneva.
Semper Reformanda,
Matthew Halsted
Soli Deo Gloria
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