Justification is an important issue. It concerns how one is made right with God. However, when it comes to the differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics, I am convinced that this is no longer the issue that divides us, and at the very least, it shouldn’t be.
Our disagreement has historically come down to the formal cause of justification. Does God declare us righteous on the infusion of his grace in our person (Rome) or by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness (Protestants)? I tend to think this debate silly, as it would seem to me that both are essentially correct. As St. Paul says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (ESV, Rom. 6:5). Baptism, agreed to be the instrumental cause of justification is what Paul has in mind here. In baptism, we are united with the death and resurrection of Christ, so that just as he was raised, “we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
God does not declare dead people to be righteous. If you are dead, you are a slave to sin. Only those who have come to life can be counted among the righteous because only those who come to life have been freed from sin. Therefore, it is this union with Christ’s death and resurrection that makes us to be righteous in the sight of the Father. This union with his person is such that we are not only imputed that which belongs to him, but we are actually infused with his presence. Therefore God does make us righteous because we have a real ontological sharing in our Federal Head. But at the same time, the very nature of sharing means that this ontological change is not inherent to our humanity. It is something extra nos.
This vision of union being the formal cause of justification turns justification into a truly Trinitarian action.
The Father declares us righteous.
This declaration is given on the basis of the Son.
The Holy Spirit unites us with the Son in baptism so that we might ontologically partake in the benefits of his work.
This threefold movement is one act of the Godhead in which sinners are brought out of death and into glorious participation in God himself.
I believe that when the polemics are put aside, Rome and Protestants are much closer in their understanding of justification than they let on. The infused righteousness that forms the basis of our standing before God is not inherently our own but comes via our union with Christ. The imputed righteousness that God credits to us does not remain without but takes up a transformative residence within us. Both are true. Both must be true.
Rome and Protestants are in agreement that the meritorious cause of justification is the work of Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, the debate is only calling into question how that merit is applied to the believer. This conversation must continue, as reaching unity of mind is important. But it should continue, not as a debate over the Gospel, but over how the Gospel works its way out in the life of the believer. I am of the opinion that a greater emphasis on union will yield greater ecumenical progress on this theological disagreement. However, let us disagree as brothers, shall we?
Works Cited
The Holy Bible. English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, 2016.