The Facts on Roman Catholicism (The Facts On Series) by John Ankerberg

Author:John Ankerberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-03-19T09:50:00+00:00

He is justified gratuitously by the pure mercy of God, not on account of his own or any human merit, but purely through the merits of Jesus Christ; for Jesus Christ is our only mediator of redemption, who alone, by his passion and death, has reconciled us to his Father.36

The problem here is not that Catholics teach "justification occurs by grace." The problem is, the Catholic definition of "justification" and "grace" is different from what the Bible teaches. The Catholic Church teaches that justification is the infusion of sanctifying grace or supernatural ability that actually works to help make a person objectively righteous and pleasing in the eyes of God. If sustained until death, this grace permits a person to merit entrance into heaven because of the righteous life he or she has lived. One actually deserves heaven because one's own goodness, in part, has earned it.

This explains why the basis for justification in Catholic theology is not the fact of Christ's righteousness being reckoned-imputed-to a believer by faith alone. Rather it is the fact that, through the sacraments, Christ's righteousness is infused into our very being so that we progressively become more and more righteous. And on that basis-the fact we have actual righteousness now-we are declared "righteous." Thus, in Catholicism justification occurs primarily by means of the sacraments and not exclusively by personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, the Church argues that because this infusion of sanctifying ability is not merited by anyone, it is therefore entirely a free gift of God's grace. But what this really seems to say is that God gives the means by which individuals can help to earn their own salvation. In the end, what saves us is the works we do after conversion, works that have been energized by grace. Let's explain this more fully.

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