tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791905807871268056.post1822221641900797157..comments2024-01-09T09:47:28.292+08:00Comments on Veritas Lux Mea: Justification - are we "declared righteous" or "made righteous"?Justin Geldarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421255545472085832noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791905807871268056.post-34478113252692170542013-02-17T21:44:55.693+08:002013-02-17T21:44:55.693+08:00"Furthermore, the Reformers went on to teach ..."Furthermore, the Reformers went on to teach the separation of justification and sanctification. Justification, according to them, was the once-for-all transaction whereby the sinner was declared righteous; whereas sanctification was the ongoing process whereby the sinner progressively grows in righteousness (or is MADE righteous) – a process that would continue until the believer is completely conformed to the image of Christ and finally glorified in Heaven."<br /><br />As a Baptist, I found the deficient teaching on sanctification even more disturbing than the confusion over being "made righteous." The idea that I WAS SAVED no matter how I lived, that sanctification was like a decoration - beautiful but totally optional - was a sour note in the melody of my Christian experience. I was going straight to Heaven when I died, my church told me, as long as I "knew that I knew that I knew" that I was! I know now as a Catholic that God will never rest until I am made the saint that He has called me to be. If His work in me is not finished in this life, He will put me through Purgatory until I am what He has called me to be. What a glorious thought that the saints in Heaven aren't just jerks whom God calls "righteous" - they are men and women who have actually been MADE righteous!<br /><br />I loved this - thanks, Justin!Renéenoreply@blogger.com