1.

Meaning of the Term Justification and salvation

1.1. Justification

In the Catholic Church, justification (from the Latin iustus, righteous; and facio, to make)
means what God does in order to render people righteous. (theologically justifixation means
righteousness; a just person is right with God.) According to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church; “The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our
sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” and
through Baptism.” (CCC 1987). Justification, therefore, is entirely the work of God. Justification
is also considered as the work of grace; “Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is
favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of
God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life” (CCC 1996).

1.2. Salvation

For most Catholic theologians, salvation refers to eternal salvation, that is, people’s full
and definitive union with God. Salvation does not, therefore, coincide perfectly with
justification. Justification is absolutely necessary for (eternal) salvation; therefore, justification
could be viewed as the beginning of salvation. This we clearly see in CCC 1992. Justification,
however, at least while people are here on earth, can never be considered definitive, since people
can always lose their righteousness by deliberately committing grave sins.

2. Difference between salvation and justification

The concepts of salvation and justification refer to the same work that God does within
us, but each emphasizes different aspects. The term salvation within Catholic theology tends to
emphasize the idea that we are rescued by Jesus from sin and its eternal
consequences. The Catechism defines salvation as such: The forgiveness of sins and restoration
of friendship with God, which can be done by God alone.

The concept of justification within Catholic theology emphasizes right relationship with
God. But rather than God merely declaring us to be in good standing with him, he actually makes
us holy. The Catechism highlights this in its definition justification: The gracious action of God
which frees us from sin and communicates “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ” (Rom. 3:22). Justification is not only the remission of sins but also the sanctification and
renewal of the interior man.

In light of these two definitions, we can say that the Catholic understanding of salvation
(rescued from sin and its eternal consequences) involves justification (right relationship with
God and renewed within) and that justification involves salvation.

3. Catholic and protestant view of justification and salvation

Many issues were involved in the Reformation, but the core matter of the Reformation
was the doctrine of justification. There was no great disagreement between the Roman Catholic
Church authorities and the Protestant Reformers about the objective side. All the parties agreed
that Jesus was divine, the Son of God and of the Virgin Mary, and that He lived a life of perfect
obedience, died on the cross in an atoning death, and was raised from the grave.

The Reformers believed and taught that we are justified by faith alone. Faith, they said, is
the sole instrumental cause for our justification. By this they meant that we receive all the
benefits of Jesus’ work through putting our trust in Him alone.

The Roman communion also taught that faith is a necessary condition for salvation. At
the seminal Council of Trent (1545–1563), which formulated Rome’s response to the
Reformation, the Roman Catholic authorities declared that faith affords three things: the initium,
the fundamentum, and the radix. That is, faith is the beginning of justification, the foundation for
justification, and the root of justification. But Rome held that a person can have true faith and
still not be justified, because there was much more to the Roman system.

In reality, the Roman view as expressed at Trent, was that justification is accomplished
through the sacraments. Initially, the recipient must accept and cooperate in baptism, by which
he receives justifying grace. He retains that grace until he commits a mortal sin. Mortal sin is
called “mortal” because it kills the grace of justification. The sinner then must be justified a
second time. That happens through the sacrament of penance, which the Council of Trent defined
as “a second plank” of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls.

The fundamental difference was this. Trent said that God does not justify anyone until
real righteousness inheres within the person. In other words, God does not declare a person
righteous unless he or she is righteous. So, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, justification
depends on a person’s sanctification. By contrast, the Reformers said justification is based on the
imputation of the righteousness of Jesus. The only ground by which a person can be saved is
Jesus’ righteousness, which is reckoned to him when he believes.

There were radically different views of salvation. They could not be reconciled. One of
them was the gospel. One of them was not. Thus, what was at stake in the Reformation was the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Though the Council of Trent made many fine affirmations of traditional
truths of the Christian faith, it declared justification by faith alone to be anathema, ignoring many
plain teachings of Scripture, such as Romans 3:28: “For we hold that one is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.”

4. Council of Trent on justification and salvation

The Catholic Church’s teaching on justification and salvation are very well dealt in the Council
of Trent. In order to have a correct understanding of this topic it is good to go back to the
documents of the Council of Trent on this matter.

4.1 Meaning of Justification

“it is not only a remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward
man through the voluntary reception of the grace and gifts whereby an unjust man becomes just
and from being an enemy becomes a friend, that he may be an heir according to hope of life
everlasting. The causes of justification are: the final cause is the glory of God and of Christ and
life everlasting; the efficient cause is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies gratuitously,
signing and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance; the
meritorious cause is His most beloved only begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, when we were
enemies, for the exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, merited for us justification by His
most holy passion on the wood of the cross and made satisfaction for us to God the Father; the
instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of faith, without which no
man was ever justified”( Session 6, Chapter VII, Decree Concerning Justification)

4.2. The Catholic Faith is the foundation of all Justification.

“Now, they are disposed to that justice when, aroused and aided by divine grace,
receiving faith by hearing, they are moved freely toward God, believing to be true what has been
divinely revealed and promised, especially that the sinner is justified by God by His grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; and when, understanding themselves to be sinners,
they, by turning themselves from the fear of divine justice, by which they are salutarily aroused,
to consider the mercy of God, are raised to hope, trusting that God will be propitious to them for
Christ’s sake; and they begin to love Him as the fountain of all justice, and on that account are
moved against sin by a certain hatred and detestation, that is, by that repentance that must be
performed before baptism; finally, when they resolve (desire) to receive baptism, to begin a new
life and to keep the commandments of God”.( Session 6, Chapter VI, Decree Concerning
Justification (January 13, 1547)

4.3. Faith is the beginning of Human salvation

“But when the Apostle says that man is justified by faith and freely, these words are to be
understood in that sense in which the uninterrupted unanimity of the Catholic Church has held
and expressed them, namely, that we are therefore said to be justified by faith, because faith is
the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without which it is
impossible to please God and to come to the fellowship of His sons”. (Session 6, Chapter VIII,
Decree Concerning Justification (Jan. 13, 1547)

4.4. A person who has the Catholic Faith can attain the state of Justification if that person
receives the Sacraments or has the resolve (desire) to receive them.

“In which words is given a brief description of the justification of the sinner, as being a
translation from that state in which man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace
and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Savior. This
translation however cannot, since the promulgation of the Gospel, be effected except through the
laver of regeneration or its desire, as it is written: Unless a man be born again of water and the
Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”.( Session 6, Chapter IV, Decree
Concerning Justification (Jan. 13, 1547)

4.5. Together with justification the reception of the Sacraments is required for Salvation

“If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but
are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God
through faith alone the grace of justification, though all are not necessary for each one, let him be
anathema. [Notice, faith and desire are necessary for justification, not only desire and not only
faith.]”( Session 7, Canon 4 of the Sacraments in General from the Decree Concerning the
Sacraments (March 3, 1547)

“If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but
are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God
through faith alone the grace of justification, though all are not necessary for each one, let him be
anathema.”( Session 7, Canon 4 of the Sacraments in General from the Decree Concerning the
Sacraments)

5. Justification is not equal to salvation but the beginning of salvation

Justification, according to the Catholic Church, is the grace of the Holy Spirit when it is
used to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us the righteousness of God through faith
in Jesus Christ' and through Baptism (CCC 1987). “ It is the gift given us by God which makes
us "dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11b). It is this justification which
allows us to pass beyond the sinful state we inherit by virtue of being human; which allows us to
be cleansed of our original sin, to repent, and be forgiven: Moved by grace, man turns toward
God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high.
"Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the
interior man." In general, Justification, then, is necessary for salvation, since it is God's gift of
grace to us which allows us to live and work in him. But it is not salvation itself, which means
God invites and allows human beings to cooperate with him in order to live (and die, and live
again) fully in him. It is this fullness of life—in particular, of eternal life with God after death—
which is salvation itself. Justification is given in the Sacrament of Baptism at the beginning of
Christian life; but we believe that we attain the fullness of salvation only at the end of life.

Conclusion

As a conclusion we can say that, justification means what God does to make
people righteous and right with Him; salvation means the full realization of that justification,
when people reach their definitive union with Him. In short, Justification can be attained by a
person with the Catholic Faith together with at least a desire for the Sacraments. He cannot attain
Salvation unless he receives the Sacraments. As the foregoing discussion from the Council of
Trent points out, justification and salvation are two different things. Justification is the road to
salvation, and not salvation itself. After all we are Catholics who believe in a dogmatic faith,
good works, and sanctifying grace, not Protestants who believe in confidence alone.