Justification (White vs Sippo)

This afternoon, it's good to be with you. It's my desire that all who are attending this afternoon would have a clear knowledge of both sides of this debate when we leave later on this afternoon. To allow for a full understanding of the Protestant position, however, I feel the need to at least give a brief outline of the Roman Catholic position so we have a proper contrast between the two.

The Protestant, I believe, the biblical doctrine of justification differs from the Roman Catholic view in four very important foundational aspects. First of all, we differ on the meaning and the extent of the term justification.

Secondly, we differ on the meaning of the term impute or imputation. Thirdly, we differ on the instrument by which justification takes place. Is it faith alone or faith plus works or activities such as baptism?

Finally, and most importantly, we differ on the grounds or basis upon which simple men can be justified. I shall deal with these four areas as being the most important aspects of my thinking. Let's begin with some definitions.

The Council of Trent defined justification as follows. Quote, a translation from that state in which man is born a child of the first Adam, the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God, to the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Savior.

This translation, however, cannot, since the promulgation of the gospel, be effected except through the labor of regeneration or its desire, end quote. That is, by baptism, which Trent said, without which no man was ever justified, finally.

Therefore, the initial means of justification is baptism, according to Roman Catholic position. Now, the Council of Trent, they went on to assert that God gives to men predisposing grace so that they may, quote, be disposed through his quickening and helping grace, freely assenting to and cooperating with that grace.

The justification, whether faith or works, merits and grows gratuitously solely because those prompted and aided by God's grace. The process of justification is baptism. Denied, and therefore no one ought to flatter himself to obtain to the same.

Hence, it must be taught that repentance is very different from sacramental confession of those sins. Absolution, as temporal punishment, which, as the sacred writings teach, the person, he is enabled to be eternalized and to be equally given to that eternal life.

By the person, it is said that one's final salvation is not solely by his good works. The justified man really acquires a claim to the supernatural reward from God. And Matthias Prem has added, man, for his part, in order to arrive at full sanctification must cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit through faith, God, and neighbor, and prayer.

But he must also perform other works. It is a universally accepted dogma of the Catholic Church that man, in union with the grace of the Holy Spirit, must merit heaven by his good works. These works are meritorious only when they are performed in a state of grace and with a good intention.

We have shown that according to the Holy Scripture, the Christian can actually merit heaven for himself by his good works, end quote. Therefore, we see that justification in the Roman Catholic understanding encompasses the entire concept of forgiveness, as well as sanctification, for it involves a subjective, inward change in the individual.

Justification is not solely a process of imputation, but a process of infusion of grace into the individual according to the Roman position. And finally, the grounds of justification, I assert, is not solely the work of Jesus Christ.

While Christ's passion merits the grace of justification, this grace then produces good works which form part of the basis of the final salvation of the individual. Now, in contrast, the Roman Catholic position allow me to provide the Protestant position taken from the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, which agrees in every way with that of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

We read, quote, those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone, not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them as their righteousness, but by imputing Christ's active obedience under the whole law and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.

Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all of the saving graces and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.

Christ, by his obedience in death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified, and did by the sacrifice of himself and the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf, yet inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and right grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners, end quote.

And the Westminster Shorter Catechism summed it up well by asking the question, what is justification? The answer given, justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoned us all our sins and accepted us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone, end quote.

Please note the following items. First of all, justification is said to be an act of God as judge wherein he declares the believer righteous. Justification, therefore, is a legal forensic declaration on the part of God concerning the believer.

Justification is undertaken by God and is not based on anything done in or done by the believer. It is an act of sovereign grace. Justification is based solely and completely upon the merits of another, the merits of Jesus Christ.

Justification involves the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, both his perfect life as well as his perfect, all-sufficient, atoning and finished sacrifice to the believer, upon which basis the believer is called righteous.

Justification is by grace through faith. Faith is the instrument or means of appropriating justification. This faith is a true saving faith. It is not an empty faith, but is the work of God in the believer's heart.

It is the gift of God to the believer. Justification, while distinct from sanctification, cannot possibly be separated from it. God changes man in regeneration and in sanctification. God declares man righteous in justification.

Any man who is justified will be sanctified. It is impossible to separate justification and sanctification, but it is absolutely necessary to distinguish between them. Justification is a once-for-all action, since it is based upon the completed work of Christ.

It cannot be undone or destroyed by the actions of man. We look back upon our justification, as Paul says in Romans chapter five, verse one. Now, I would like to look to God's word to reveal to us which perspective is true.

For as Jesus said to the Father, thy word is truth. Are we justified only after being baptized? And is justification something that can be undone by human evil? Are we required to go through a sacrament of confession involving contrition and confession and doing works of satisfaction?

Is God working in us so that we ourselves can make satisfaction for our sins or did Christ make full and complete satisfaction in our place on Calvary so that now God is working in us to conform us to the image of Christ?

Before engaging in the specific scriptural passages that teach justification by faith alone, I wish to emphasize something that is absolutely foundational to our debate today. The Bible teaches that salvation is based upon God's grace.

Grace is not simply an aid that helps men to do things. Grace is free, absolutely free, completely based upon the will and mercy of God, not upon any action of man. Now, the Bible tells us that we are justified by grace in Titus chapter three, verses five through seven, where we read, quote, "'He saved us not on the basis of deeds "'which we have done in righteousness, "'but according to his mercy, "'by the washing of regeneration "'and renewing of the Holy Spirit, "'whom he poured out upon us "'richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, "'that being justified by his grace, "'we might be made heirs "'according to the hope of eternal life.'".

Now, we are also told that we are justified as a gift by his grace in Romans 3 .24, and we'll look at that later. But aside from being justified by grace, we are also said to be justified by the blood of Jesus Christ in Romans 5 .9, where we read, quote, "'Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, "'we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him.'".

So we see that the Bible speaks of our justification by grace and our justification by the blood of Christ. And further, the Bible speaks of our justification by faith as in Romans 5 .1, "'Therefore, having been justified by faith, "'we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.'".

So we are justified by grace, justified by the blood of Christ, justified by faith. Now, are these three different things or different aspects of one thing? Clearly, Paul is describing the great truth of justification by God's free grace.

His grace is unmerited. We cannot earn it. The blood of Christ shed on behalf of his people was unmerited and free. We did not earn it. And the faith that justifies true saving faith, as I said before, is the gift of God's grace as well.

So the real issue is this. Is God's grace sufficient to bring about justification or must human merit be added to the grace of God? In the past, I've used a very important passage, Genesis 15, verse six, to help give order and cohesiveness.

My presentation, Biblical Doctrine of Justification by Faith and with your indulgence, no pun intended, I would like to do that again this morning. Genesis 15, six, we believe, "'And he believed in the Lord "'and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.'".

The first concept to examine is that of faith. Abraham believed in God. Now, we assert that a man is justified by this kind of faith, not by any other action. This is exactly what Paul said when he faced Peter in Antioch.

Remember what had happened. Peter had seriously compromised the gospel of grace by withdrawing from table fellowship with the Gentiles. In rebuking him, Paul said, quote, "'Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law, "'but by faith in Jesus Christ, "'even we have believed in Christ Jesus "'so that we might be justified by faith in Christ "'and not by works of law, "'for no flesh shall be justified "'by works of law,' Galatians 2, 16.".

Now, he took our central passage this afternoon, Genesis 15, six, and made the same point in Romans chapter four, one of the clearest, most obvious arguments for justification by faith. Having concluded the first section of the book by saying in the 28th verse of the third chapter, quote, "'Therefore we conclude "'that a man is justified by faith "'without the works of law,'.

He went on to cite our passage in verse three of chapter four, and immediately upon citing the justification of Abram, Paul asserted the following, quote, "'Now to the one who works, "'the wage is not reckoned as a gift, "'but as what is due, "'but to the one who does not work, "'but rather believes upon the one "'who justifies the ungodly, "'his faith is reckoned as righteousness.'".

Note well what Paul said. Paul contrasts the concepts of working and believing. This is a common concept in the New Testament. There is a strong antithesis between belief and work when it comes to being right with God.

One must either work at doing the deeds of law, or one must believe in Christ. One simply cannot meld the two together. Paul asserts that those who do not work, but in opposition to this believe, are the ones who receive righteousness.

The antithesis between faith and works is found to be central to all of Paul's discussion of how a man is made right with God. Not how a person lives the Christian life, but how a man is made right with God.

Prior to this, Paul had said in Romans chapter three, verses 21 through 25, but now apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been revealed, being witnessed to by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ to all the ones believing.

For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood.

Men are justified freely and by grace. Paul asserts that justification is by grace. Here in Romans, we note it again in Titus 3 .7, is Paul contradicting himself by saying that we are justified by grace and faith?

No, not at all. As we asserted before, there is a perfect concert between grace and faith, just as Paul pointed out in Romans 4 .16, where he said this, and this is very important. For this reason, it is by faith that it might be in accordance with grace.

Faith abandons all efforts at work or merit and realizes man's complete dependence upon God, not just for the provision of a way of salvation, but for the entire action of salvation itself. The great theologian from New England, Jonathan Edwards said, hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by which we come to have an interest in this redemption.

For there is included in the nature of faith a sensible acknowledgement of absolute dependence on God in this affair. Faith abases man and exalts God. It gives all the glory of redemption to him alone.

It is necessary in order to saving faith that man should be emptied of himself, be sensible that he is wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And I agree with Dr. Edwards. For salvation to be of grace, it cannot possibly be of works.

As Paul said in Romans 11 .6, either it is on the basis of works or of grace, it cannot be both. Grace, by definition, excludes the entire concept of human works or merit. Grace cannot be merited and cannot coexist with merit on the part of the one to whom it is given.

The contrast of faith and works as mutually exclusive concepts is continued in Paul's strong letter to the Galatians. He asserts that one simply cannot combine works of law with faith in Christ. Note his strong words in Galatians 2 .21.

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through law, then Christ died needlessly. If one asserts that righteousness is the result of God's grace and human action, human action prompted by God's grace, maybe so.

But if one asserts this, then one is nullifying the work of Christ completely. No synergism is possible. It is either all of grace or not of grace at all. Finally, when Paul provides a clear antithesis in Galatians 3 .10 -11, he writes, for as many as are works of law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed are all those who do not abide in all the things written in the book of the law to do them.

But that no one shall be justified before God by law is evident for the just shall live by faith. I believe the impossibility of the Roman position is clearly seen. Faith plus works nullifies grace. Grace plus works is dead.

Does not the Bible say that Christians are to do good works, however? Well, of course it does. But the only one who can do good works is the one who has already been justified and is already in peace with God.

As Paul taught the Ephesians, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before ordained that we should walk in them.

God has foreordained that we should walk in good works. He created those good works for us to walk in them, but we are justified before that point in time. Salvation is the gift of God, not just the bare plan of God, or even just the bare grace of God that prompts us to move toward God, but all salvation is of God.

Were this not the case, we would certainly boast. But salvation is not of man or by man, but is of and by God and God alone. The purpose of God is clearly presented. We have been created in Christ Jesus in Ephesians 2, eight through 10, unto good works, not by good works, not with the help of good works, but that we might perform good works.

First comes full salvation from God, then as a result, the works prompted by the Holy Spirit of God. No human merits, even that supposedly produced by human works performed in the state of grace, will ever stand before the judgment bar of God.

Only the righteousness of Christ, apprehended by faith, will avail. And lest you think my words to be too strong, remember what Paul said in summing up his argument in Galatians chapter five, verse two.

Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. The Judaizers in Galatia were asserting that an act of obedience, circumcision, was absolutely necessary for justification.

Five minutes. Paul made it crystal clear. It is either Christ alone as the perfect savior, or it is the works of law, no matter what law one might choose. Christ will not share his saviorhood with anyone, and that includes us.

The next term we need to examine quickly in Genesis 15, six is the term translated reckoned or imputed. The usage of this term in the Old Testament indicates that to impute something to someone does not involve a subjective change in the person.

One example of this usage is Leviticus 17, four. Here, any man who did not bring an animal he had slaughtered to the door of the temple, a tabernacle, I'm sorry, as an offering to the Lord, as the scripture says, quote, blood guiltiness is to be reckoned to that man, end quote.

Surely this guilt is not infused into the man, but he is legally declared guilty of blood. I suggest that this is the proper background for Paul's understanding of the term in Genesis 15, six as well.

To reckon something to someone's account does not involve a subjective change in that person. This is especially clear in a legal context, and that is exactly what we've seen in Romans chapters three and four.

However, as time is fleeting and I'm hearing bells going off, I shall turn quickly to the next important term, that being the term righteousness. Abram believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Christ became sin in our place that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. What do these terms mean? The Hebrew term tzedakah carries two main thoughts. It is often used what we normally consider as moral righteousness or uprightness.

The New Testament uses the term in this way as well, for example, in describing Joseph as a righteous man in Matthew 119 and Luke 1 .6, where Zechariah and Elizabeth are described as just. But the Hebrew tzedakah also carries a forensic or legal concept of being right in the eyes of law.

That is, of being in the proper relationship to the law. This is often the case when the verb form is used. There are a number of examples of this usage from the Old Testament. These include Exodus 23 .7, Proverbs 17 .15, but I should use just one example, Deuteronomy 25 .1.

Quote, if there is a dispute between men, they go to court and the judges decide their case and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. End quote. Note the context. We are in a law court. To justify the righteous obviously means to give a legal forensic declaration regarding his proper standing before the law.

This is clearly seen by the term that is paralleled with the act of justifying here, and that is to condemn. Neither involves a subjective change in the individual. The righteous man was righteous inwardly before the declaration of his righteousness, just as the guilty man was guilty before the proclamation of his guilt and condemnation.

This is the source of Paul's understanding of justification in the New Testament. Paul's use of the terms demands that this is so. The conjunction of the two terms, impute and to justify, in Paul's teachings clearly shows that the Protestant understanding of God's declaration of the righteousness of the believer is the biblical one.

I shall demonstrate this briefly by two passages from the New Testament. First, with reference to the imputation, we note again Paul's words in Romans 4. Just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from worse.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Note the parallels that Paul presents. The imputation of righteousness and the non-imputation of sin is likened to forgiveness of those sins and to their covering.

Where is the subjective change? It is nowhere. The imputation of righteousness is a legal transaction based upon the authority of God as judge. God can impute righteousness to those who are of faith because of the full, complete, and real satisfaction that has been made on their behalf by Christ.

My second passage, this one relevant to the forensic or legal character of justification, is Romans 8 .33. Here we read, who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns?

Again, you have the same contrast of justification and condemnation. And we ask the question, who can condemn those who've been justified? That is, who has been declared righteous by the eternal judge himself?

The answer is no one can do so.

Justification by Grace, Faith, and the Blood of Christ

Okay, unlike my opponent, I am going to begin my part of the discussion with scripture and not with the words of men. I'm going to give you a reading from the second papal encyclical known as the Second Letter of Peter in the Bible.

Quote, Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. His divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his glory and excellence.

By this, he has granted to us his precious and very great promises that through these, you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion and become partakers in the divine nature.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, your virtue, with knowledge, your knowledge, with self-control, your self-control with steadfastness, your steadfastness with godliness, your godliness with brotherly affection, and your brotherly affection with charity.

For if these things are yours and abound, they will keep you from being unproductive or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and short-sighted.

He has forgotten that he was cleansed of his old sins. Therefore, brethren, diligently work to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. You will be richly provided for with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But beloved, do not ignore this one fact. With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not slow about his promises as some count slowness, but he is forbearing towards you all, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise. The elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and every work that is done on it will be revealed.

Since all these things are to be destroyed, what sort of person ought you to be? You should abide in holy conduct and godliness, thus hastening the coming of the day of the Lord. In preparation for this day, the heavens will be set ablaze, the elements themselves will melt with fire, and according to his promise, we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell.

Therefore, beloved, as you wait for this, be zealous to be found to be at peace with him and without spot or blemish. Thus consider the long-suffering patience of our Lord as our salvation. Our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you about this, as he has written in all his letters according to the wisdom given to him.

There are some things in them hard to understand which the ignorant and the unstable distort to their own destruction. They do this also with the other scriptures. Beloved, you have been warned beforehand.

Beware, lest you are led astray with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and to the day of eternity.

Amen. End of quote. So St. Peter wrote to his congregation in Rome shortly before his death there as a martyr. He tells them to zealously pursue a life of holy conduct and righteous living, just, he says, as St. Paul had written to the Roman community in his famous epistle many years before.

The life he describes would be grounded in faith, but not in faith alone. Faith must be supplemented by many virtues culminating in supernatural charity. St. Peter tells them to seek these virtues so that at the consummation of the world by fire, the righteousness of Christians will be all that God will find when the chaff of the world is burnt away.

Then God will make a new creation to enthrone this righteousness forevermore. The only reason that God delays this consummation is that he is waiting patiently for all men to seek and achieve this righteousness, which will manifest itself in virtue, steadfastness, and charity.

The Christian must therefore zealously strive to be found at peace with the Lord, for such peace does not come easily. But the congregation is warned, beware of lawless men who distort St. Paul's teaching and the rest of scripture to upset the moral order which God has ordained as our end.

In chapter one, verse 20, he warns that these people interpret scripture for themselves, forgetting that only men, quote, moved by the Holy Spirit speak for God, unquote. An early statement of the magisterium of the church by the first Pope.

These false teachers will pretend that sins are not truly cleansed, but merely ignored. They will extol an unproductive and fruitless so-called faith, devoid of virtue and of charity. As St. Peter says in the same epistle, chapter two, verse 10, they indulge their flesh in depraved lust and despise authority.

And in verse 19, they promise freedom, but are slaves of corruption. Who are these persons about whom St. Peter is speaking? They were obviously heretics from the apostolic times who based their errors on false interpretations of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans.

Isn't it interesting? In the epistle of St. James, also in the Bible, there are the same issues being dealt with. In particular, he gives a virtual line-by-line exegesis of Romans chapters three and four in the relevant areas.

Quote, if you really fulfill the royal law, which says according to scripture, you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself, then you do well. But if you show partiality, that is if you are a bigot, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

So speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has no mercy to others, yet mercy triumphs over judgment. What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works?

Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says, go in peace, be warm, be filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Well, you show me your faith without works if you can, and I will show you my faith by my works.

If you believe that God is one, you do well, but even the demons believe that and they shudder in terror. Are you willing to know, oh empty man, that faith without works is barren? Was not Abraham our ancestor justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

You see that faith was working along with his works and that faith was made complete by works. You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. Ladies and gentlemen, the debate is over.

The Bible has spoken. Basically, what my opponent is trying to convince you of is that the Bible does not mean what it says, but that it means the exact opposite. We might as well sit around arguing about whether St. Joseph was the biological father of Christ or not.

I would continue with this quotation. Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out on different roads? For just as the body without breath, that is pneuma, spirit, the same word in Greek, just as the body without spirit is dead, faith without works is dead.

Note well, as in St. Peter's encyclical, faith is only the beginning of our justification. It must be completed by works of mercy in order for it to be a saving Christian faith. St. James is not saying that works merely demonstrate that one's already saved by some naked faith.

Works are the very soul and spirit, the life and breath of faith. They are integral to and present within a saving faith and not merely its external byproduct. Who can doubt that St. James was dealing with the same heretics as St. Peter?

Now, if we were to look at the contemporary Christian scene, ladies and gentlemen, who would most resemble these heretics against which these two scriptural authors were writing? Who believes that a man can be saved by faith alone without doing good works?

Who misinterprets St. Paul consistently? Who has abandoned Christian morality in various ways over history, making concessions to secular morality? Who else is it but those who have the label of Protestant because they protest against the witness and teaching of the historic Catholic church?

The aim of my presentation tonight will be to demonstrate that the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone without doing good works is an anti-biblical doctrine, which is a variance with the true teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, and other authors of the Bible.

I will show that this false teaching is an invention of men who picked and chose their scriptures to achieve a narrow, predetermined interpretation while ignoring the wider context which contradicted their views.

Their teaching is not a new era, but an old one, known to the New Testament authors and specifically and deliberately refuted by them. This other gospel nullifies the word of God. It is merely a human tradition based on the personal desires of those who apostatized from the historic church.

Furthermore, I will show that the witness of the historic church exemplified by the teachings of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman church has consistently expounded the correct doctrine through history.

Finally, I want to make this very clear. What we are debating here is not some irrelevant, esoteric, or abstract idea about which men of goodwill may disagree. It is the gospel itself which is at stake, the reality of what it means for a man to be just, righteous, and holy before the one true living God.

This is not a compromise between the values and judgments of men, but a revelation of the righteousness of God to whom all creation owes worship, submission, and fealty. He has revealed his truth in these matters.

I say to you who have ears, hear his word, repent of your errors, turn your minds back to the paths of righteousness and peace available only in Christ Jesus. Believe in his gospel and no other. It is typical of Protestants to follow the example of the founding father of their religion, Martin Luther, by not looking to the words of our Lord and Savior in the gospels for guidance on these matters.

Rather, they look to the epistles of St. Paul to the Romans and to the Galatians, primarily, and focus on certain Old Testament texts like Genesis 15 .6. It is quite interesting that my opponent in his book on justification by faith makes exactly seven quotations from the gospel, and only two of those quotations are the words of Christ being directed to the disciple.

All the rest of them are offhand comments about it, and in fact, he admits that he was confronted by a neo-Orthodox Protestant theologian who accused him of not using the gospels in order to fit his doctrines, but rather he was constructing them on the basis of what Luther and Calvin thought that Paul thought.

Now, the central doctrine of Protestantism, justification by faith alone, has always focused on men and their reflexive self-interest in personal salvation. In opposition to this, the historic Catholic Church has always taught that the key doctrine of Christianity is the incarnation and revelation of God in Jesus of Nazareth.

Consequently, Protestants have focused more on faith itself than on the object of faith. They have always looked to certain men, St. Paul, Luther, Calvin, and the Catholic Bishop St. Augustine, who wrote extensively on the faith matter itself, and they rarely have ever listened to what Jesus Christ said.

In many ways, what Jesus says is an embarrassment to their positions because Christ consistently emphasized that eternal life was a reward conditional on the conduct of the believer. Jesus taught that it was necessary to forgive others in order to be forgiven ourselves.

For example, whenever we say the Lord's Prayer, we say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Clearly, we are pronouncing a condemnation on ourselves if we fail to do so.