What Is Righteousness?

[Guest JeffCR07]

pelagianism, and I believe there is a distinction between "righteousness" as we understand and Justification. We must understand that Justification and Sanctification are inseperable, and the Sanctified man will [i]actually[/i] be righteous, for Christ is alive in him, as a counterbalance to the effects of Original Sin and concupiscence.

What God declares to be so will always be so. God's Will is the Law and the Word by which all things are made and governed. Thus, when God declares a man to be righteous, that man must actually be made righteous, for God's Will determines reality, not vice versa. Moreover, the argument that God wills only that the man be declared righteous but not actually be made righteous, and that his will is for the righteousness of christ to be imputed upon the man is nonsense as well, becuase such a proposition necessitates God declaring an actually unrighteous man to be "named" righteous on account of the merits of Christ, thus making God a liar.

[MorphRC]

Ok. I actually understood all that..LOL

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Crusader_4' date='Aug 23 2004, 11:55 PM'] God...and one can experience Rightouseness by conforming to Gods Will. [/quote]
God is, of course, righteous, and one can experience righteousness by beliving in Jesus and thus, having Christ's righteousness imputed to him by faith alone.

[Crusader_4]

No unfortunalty not Icthus. I could believe in Jesus all i want yet commit genocide and thus i would not be righteous since Gods Will is not being shown through me and i am not allowing it to take root within my heart and show. Because when God is manifested actions will follow... you cant seperate them like you can not seperate a the trunk of a tree from its roots...it ceases to be a true...just like you can not seperate faith/works from our spiritual journeys or we cease to be followers of Christ.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='ICTHUS' date='Aug 24 2004, 03:39 PM'] God is, of course, righteous, and one can experience righteousness by beliving in Jesus and thus, having Christ's righteousness imputed to him by faith alone. [/quote]
The theological position which holds that a man justified by grace merely receives an extrinsic and imputed righteousness is heretical, and no one believed that prior to the 16th century Reformation. Salvation is by grace alone, for it is grace that empowers a man to make an act of faith in Christ, and it is grace that simultaneously pours into man's soul the infused gifts of hope and love as well. Faith, without love, is dead, and cannot justify anyone, because even the demons believe in God [cf. James 2:19], but they lack love, and so they are not justified.

Now, a Catholic can hold that God declares a man to be just, but he must also believe that what God declares to be so, is ontologically true. That when God declares a man to be just, He really, and not in mere appearance, makes that man just. In other words, he can accept various juridical metaphors in relation to the doctrine of justification, but he cannot accept the heretical proposition that says that when God declares a man to be just, the man in question in fact remains completely sinful, because that is the heretical teaching of the Protestant Reformers. Justification involves many things, e.g., communion with God, divine filiation, theosis, etc., and so it should not be reduced to juridical categories alone.

God bless,
Todd

[MorphRC]

No such thing as Faith alone ICHTUS. Do you believe that Jesus could have just had faith in His Father, and not go through with the suffering [work]?

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='Aug 24 2004, 07:16 PM'] The theological position which holds that a man justified by grace merely receives an extrinsic and imputed righteousness is heretical, and no one believed that prior to the 16th century Reformation. Salvation is by grace alone, for it is grace that empowers a man to make an act of faith in Christ, and it is grace that simultaneously pours into man's soul the infused gifts of hope and love as well. Faith, without love, is dead, and cannot justify anyone, because even the demons believe in God [cf. James 2:19], but they lack love, and so they are not justified.
[/quote]
We believe that a man is justified by faith alone, not that that faith is barren! That should be evident!

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='ICTHUS' date='Aug 25 2004, 04:46 PM'] We believe that a man is justified by faith alone, not that that faith is barren! That should be evident! [/quote]
It's good to hear that you don't believe in a barren faith, but if justifying faith cannot be barren, if it requires other things in order to translate a man from a state of mortal sin to a state of grace, then it logically follows that faith alone isn't enough. But regardless, the Catholic Church teaches that faith alone cannot justify a man, because faith must be infused with charity in order to be a living reality.

The Catholic Church teaches that man is justified by grace alone, which empowers him to make an act of faith in Christ, and which simultaneously pours the theological virtues of hope and charity into his soul. Moreover, unlike the Reformers, the Catholic Church holds that justification is an ongoing process; in other words, the justified man grows in justice and holiness throughout his life as he is assimilated more and more to the uncreated life of the Triune God. Grace is a dynamic principle of life, it is not merely "divine favor" as the Reformers asserted; instead, it is a real participation in the uncreated Energy of God, which deifies man, making him a son of God in the only begotten Son of God.