Peace of Spirit Through Justification by Faith Alone

The primary issue of controversy between the Reformers of the Sixteenth Century and the Roman Catholic Church was the question of justification: What is its basis? Faith alone? Or faith and works? The Reformers held, and correctly so, that justification before God occurs by grace alone through faith alone, and is, therefore, instantaneous. In contrast, Rome mixed (and continues to mix) faith with works, such that justification is a process, one which may not even be completed in this life, but continue into Purgatory. 

Here is the Protestant definition: "Justification is the divine declaration, the judicial verdict, that instantaneously and perfectly acquits the sinner of guilt before the tribunal of God and constitutes him perfectly righteous. Upon the instantaneous verdict of justification, there is nothing imperfect about the justified sinner regarding righteousness with God, nothing to improve and nothing to increase. It is with the justified sinner as though he were as guiltless as the perfect Jesus Christ, as though he had fully atoned for all his sins and perfectly obeyed all the commandments of God, and as though he had completely satisfied the justice of God" (Rev. David Engelsma, "Gospel Truth of Justification," p. 225, emphasis added). Notice his use of words such as "perfect" and "instantaneous." Biblical justification is a legal verdict, and, just like a judge's declaration of "not guilty" in a human court, justification occurs at a point of time, fully, and can never be increased or decreased, or wait for some additional action. If the justified sinner were to die immediately after professing his faith, such as the thief on the cross (Luke 23:42-43), he would be transported to the presence of Jesus just as surely as the man of God who has been faithful for decades before his death. 

In contrast, Rome denies those qualities of justification, because she blends justification with sanctification. She holds that a person is justified by faith plus the works that come from it. Her foundation for that claim is a misreading of James 2:24: "You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." However, the context of that verse is not justification before God, but rather how that justification is demonstrated before men. Since no man can see the heart of another, he has no way to know whether his friend's profession of faith is real or false. How can he tell? By his friend's works or lack of them. 

One result of that difference is the assurance of salvation. The Protestant view of instantaneous justification apart from works enables the believer to know of his eternal welfare immediately and for the rest of his life, as the Apostle John told us: "This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (I John 5:11). Notice the present tense. He doesn't say "may have" or "could have" or someday could have." In contrast, Rome claims that it is arrogant to believe that one has eternal life now. In Rome's system, the believer can never know for sure his eternal status. He must continue to work, hoping that he has done enough, but unable to know. That is a system of bondage and fear, while the true Gospel brings peace: "Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).