Christianity - Justification through Faith and Works

what does justification mean

made righteous in the sight of God

what is faith

what you believe

what is works

what you do

what set texts put emphasis on faith

letters from the Apostle Paul

what does Romans 1:17 say

“He who is righteous will live by faith”

what does Romans 5:1 say

“Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”

what does Ephesians 2:8-9 say

“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast”

what does Galatians 2:16 say

“yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…because no one will be justified by the works of the law”

what was Augustine taught

that we are justified by God, as a works of his grace

what did he write

ant-Pelagian works against the idea that our works could serve as the proper basis for our justification

what does sola fide mean

faith alone

who is Martin Luther

German monk, professor of theology, began the Protestant Reformation

what did he teach

that human beings are saved sola fide - in other words, by faith alone

what did he believe about justification

not a process that humans have a part in controlling, it is entirely the gift of God given in response to our acceptance of Him

justification is God seeing us as righteous, even though we are not - we are justified and sinful at the same time

what are protestant objections

-focus on works is unbiblical

-Trent taught that good works merit God’s grace - Bible suggests grace is a gift, not a reward

-John 6:29 says the only ‘work’ necessary for salvation is to believe

-good works are not necessary for salvation, but salvation inevitably produces good works

what are the set texts which put emphasis on works

letter from the Apostle James (leader of early Jerusalem church and ‘brother’ of Jesus)

what does James 2:24 say

“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”

what was Pelagius taught

that one became righteous through works, by working to follow the example of Jesus’ life, condemned as heretic by 2 popes

what is the Roman Catholic Church linked to

justification to baptism and penance

what was it believed if you were baptised

your original sin was removed. if you confessed to the priest you were granted absolution in the form of special prayers or deeds to carry out (penance)

what are the links to purgatory

if you died without having done enough good things you would go to purgatory to keep doing penance so that you could go to heaven

whats the indulgences

a certificate issues by the Pope which granted forgiveness of sins in exchange for cash not good works

who was Johann Tetzel

the commissioner responsible for the sale of indulgences

what was the Council of Trent 1545-63

RC response to the Reformation

what did it conclude in 1547

-God doesn’t just automatically make people right with Him, they must do something themselves

-good works are needed if God is to forgive sins. they are necessary, but not sufficient - more than good works are needed if people are to be justified

-they must rely on God too and cooperate with God and his grace

-people are justified through baptism which is God’s gift but they also need to do things like go to Mass and do penance

who is EP sanders

a modern theologian

what did he believe about judaism

never taught that you must be put right with God through works but in ‘conventional nomism’ - belief that God chose the Jewish people

what did he believe about Jesus

in Jesus, God saved the world. this was his gift of grace, now Christians must respond in gratitude, keeping the commandments and seeking a relationship with Christ

what did he believe about your works

they are how you show your faith and gratitude, you enter the covenant through baptism but are then kept righteous through faith and works

what are the criticisms of faith alone

-despite the letters of Paul above, many NT passages seem to reject it e.g Sermon on the Mount ‘let your light shine on others, so they may see your good works’

-Paul’s other letters support justification through works e.g Romans ‘the doers of the law… will be justified’

-’By faith alone’ only occurs once in the NT (James 2:24) where it is rejected

-NT sees justification as a process, not as a one-off event

-rejected by the RC church

what are the criticisms of faith and works

-many NT letters support the emphasis on faith, not works

-Gospels and Acts contradict it - Jesus says in John “This is the work of God, that you believe in him that he has sent” no mention of works

-Bible suggests grace is a gift, not a reward

-too much emphasis on the role of humans, not enough emphasis on the grace and power of God

-can lead to arrogance - people who are self righteous as a result of their actions

-rejected by several Protestant churches