Declared Righteous or Made Righteous? | askTheocast.com

Justification as Declaration, Not Moral Transformation

Hi, this is John, and I'm answering the question, what is the difference between being declared righteous and made righteous? This is really at the heart of the Reformation. The Roman Catholic theology teaches that through works and the sacraments, you are made righteous.

You actually become righteous as part of your nature. And then, as far as the Reformation goes, we hold that, for instance, Romans chapter five, verse one says that we are justified by faith, meaning that one is declared to be right with God by faith, not by their actions, but by faith.

So, we did not actually gain forgiveness of our sins, and we are not by nature righteous. So, when God looks at us, He does not say, you are righteous. He's saying, you have been declared to be righteous.

It has been pronounced over you. It has been given to you. It's not part of who you are. Now, once we are justified, once we have been declared righteous, then God begins to sanctify us, to actually transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Sanctification Now, Glorification Later

And we won't be made righteous until we are glorified. That's in heaven, when we are finally transformed into the actual image of Jesus Christ, that's when we will be made righteous. But as we stand right now, as believers, we have it declared over to us.

It's pronounced upon us. This is why this is important. If we are made righteous, that means that God looks to our own righteousness as to why we are justified, as to why we can have a right relationship with Him.

And this means our justification is now dependent upon our level of righteousness. And you have to not only gain it, but maintain it. And this goes a lot right along with the Council of Trent, Canon 24, where it literally says that your good works not only are a part of your justification, but they increase your justification.

We believe that it's solely feeded by faith alone that one is declared to be righteous, not in a progressive stance, but you are in the eyes of God. There is nothing left that is finished. You are removed of guilt, of sin, and all the requirements to be accepted by God has been given to you by Jesus Christ.

So the way in the act of obedience, Jesus, His obedience while on earth to the law, all of those good acts have been given to us, not because we've deserved them or earned them, they've been given to us.

The Gift of Christ’s Obedience and Grace

So that's why God can look at us and say, He declares us righteous. He pronounces us righteous because of the gift that we have received. So Ephesians 2 .89, we receive this gift of grace, of faith, by grace, that is not something that we earn.

So the difference between declared, it's something that's pronounced over you, it is not because that's who you are, versus made. And this is also helpful when you think about your relationship to God going forward.

If you have not been made righteous, which means it's not part of your inherent nature, you are now still going to battle the flesh. Paul says this, the spirit wages war against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit.

That's because the spirit lives within you and calling you to holiness, but it's not part of your actual nature. Your nature still fights back against that. So this is why there's no condemnation for those who were in Christ Jesus, meaning declared to be justified, not because you are actually righteous.

God looks to the righteousness of Christ that's been declared over you, not to your own personal righteous. One day we will be holy and righteous, but that's not who we are now. So that's the difference between being declared righteous and made righteous.

Hope that was helpful.