Justification by Faith vs. Justification by “Faith Alone”.

Pope Benedict XVI has been using his weekly general audience to provide the faithful an in-depth teaching regarding St. Paul and his letters. In November of last year, he spoke about St. Paul’s teaching on justification. What follows are excerpts of his message on November 19th; the English translation is courtesy of the National Catholic Register.

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The Letter to the Philippians is a moving testimony to Paul’s journey from justice based on the Law and achieved by observing a set of prescribed works to a justice based on faith in Christ. He realized that everything that had seemed to him as gain up until that point was, in reality, a loss before God.

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It is precisely because of this personal experience of a relationship with Jesus that Paul places at the center of his message an irreducible contrast between two alternative paths to justice: one based on the works of the Law and the other founded on the grace of faith in Christ.

Therefore, this juxtaposition of justice through the works of the Law and justice through faith in Christ becomes a dominant theme throughout his letters: “We, who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, yet who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Gal. 2:15-16)

He goes on to tell the Christians of Rome that “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24).

Furthermore, he adds, “For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of law” (Rom. 3:28).  Martin Luther translated this point as “justified by faith alone.” I will return to this at the end of my catechesis.

Freedom from the Law 

First of all, we must clarify what is the “Law,” from which we have been freed, and what are those “works of the Law” that do not justify.

Within the community of Corinth, the opinion already existed — a question that would return systematically throughout history — that maintained it was a question of moral law and that Christian freedom consisted, therefore, in being free from ethics.

So, the catchphrase “everything is licit for me” was circulating in Corinth. It is obvious that this interpretation is erroneous: Christian liberty is not libertinism; the freedom of which St. Paul speaks is not freedom from doing good.

Therefore, what is the meaning of the Law from which we have been freed and that does not save?

For St. Paul, as well as for all his contemporaries, the word “Law” meant the entire Torah, that is, the five books of Moses.

According to the interpretation of the Pharisees, the Torah involved — and this is what Paul studied and made his own — a collection of attitudes and actions that ranged from a core of ethics to ritual and cultural observances that determined, in essence, the identity of a religious man, (particularly circumcision, precepts regarding clean food and ritual cleanliness in general, rules regarding the observance of the Sabbath, etc.)

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In order to counter [Hellenistic] cultural pressure, which not only threatened Jewish identity but also its faith in the one God and His promises, a wall of distinction and a shield of defense was needed in order to protect the precious heritage of faith. This wall consisted of observing all the Jewish precepts.

A People Set Apart

Paul, who had learned these observances precisely in their function as a defense of God’s gifts and of the heritage of faith in the one true God, saw the freedom of the Christians as a threat to his identity: That is why he persecuted them.

During his encounter with the risen Christ, he realized, however, that the situation had changed radically with Christ’s resurrection. With Christ, the God of Israel — the one true God — became the God of all peoples.

The wall, he says in his letter to the Ephesians, between Israel and the pagans was no longer necessary. Christ protects us against polytheism and all its deviations.

Christ unites us with and in the one true God. Christ guarantees our true identity within the diversity of cultures. The wall is no longer necessary. Our common identity within the diversity of cultures is Christ, and it is He who makes us just.

Being just simply means being with Christ and in Christ. That is all. The other precepts were no longer necessary.

For this reason, Luther’s use of the expression sola fide (faith alone) is true if faith is not placed in opposition to charity, to love.

Faith is looking at Christ, trusting in Christ, adhering to Christ, and being conformed to Christ and to His life. The form of Christ, and of Christ’s life, is love. Therefore, believing is being conformed to Christ and entering into His love.

That is why St. Paul, in his Letter to the Galatians, where he developed to a large extent his doctrine on justification, speaks about faith that works through charity (see Galatians 5:14).

Love of God and Neighbor

Paul knows that the Law is present and fulfilled in a two-fold way — love of God and love of neighbor. Thus, the entire Law is fulfilled through communion with Christ and through faith that creates charity.

We become just by entering into communion with Christ who is love.

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Charity is the realization of communion with Christ. Thus, united with Him, we are just — and in no other way.

In the end, we can only ask the Lord to help us believe — to truly believe. Thus, belief becomes life, union with Christ and a transformation of our life.

Transformed by His love, by love for God and love for neighbor, we can truly be just in God’s eyes.

Making Disciples — St. Paul’s way

   There is a certain chain of “sub shops” which orginated in New Jersey, and when you go into one of these shops, and order your sub, you can simply say, “Make it ‘Mike’s way’”

   This apostolate was purposely launched on June 29th, 2008, the beginning of the “Year of St. Paul” called for by Pope Benedict XVI. It is St. Paul who, in word and deed, provides the best example of the eternal impact that one man’s life can have on the life of another.  

   On his second missionary journey, St. Paul takes the young man Timothy under his wing (Acts 16), and from that time on Timothy goes everywhere with him, being taught the doctrines of the Faith, being trained in the work of the ministry, being shaped by the daily disciplines of the Christian life. St. Paul pours his life into Timothy, reproducing himself spiritually into the young man of God. By doing so, St. Paul raises up another co-laborer in the Gospel; Timothy will ultimately serve as bishop of the Church in Ephesus.

   Jesus said, “Go… make disciples…”; the  Apostle Paul shows us that one-to-one mentoring is how disciples are made. So… where’s your “man”, your “woman”?  Where is that person, whom God has brought across your path and into your life, who is willing to give the time, take on the discipline, and grow into the man or woman of God that He has called them to be? Where’s your “Timothy”? Find one, and go make a disciple, “Paul’s way”