Roman Catholic View of Justification (Part 1): Luther and the Reformation with R.C. Sproul

Many members of the Protestant church today do not understand properly their origins and the nature of their predecessors “protest” against the Roman Catholic Church. When asked about the respective differences, they may respond with some stereotypical answers such as, “I don’t worship Mary,” “I believe in justification by faith, not works,” or “The bread and wine of the Lord’s supper don’t really turn into the body of Jesus.” In this lesson, Dr. Sproul explains the real, serious points of doctrine at stake during Martin Luther’s timeframe and the Reformation, paying careful attention to the doctrine of justification and its place in Roman Catholic thought.

[egrstgatga]

I am a full-time barber only finished high-school no further education but this channel has taught me everything I know about theology. Very thankful towards the Lord for the work you men of God do with these videos. I have many catholic friends, now I have a much better fortress hahaha. Peace my brothers!

[tommasolombardi]

I was raised in a hardcore catholic family. I was an alter boy for many years and actually wanted to become a priest. Later I read the Gospels and understood that I was saved by grace alone in Christ alone. It took me many years to live the Catholic Church but God had His way. Soli Deo Gloria

[clivejames]

This is the Catholic view of Justification/Sanctification, from Scripture:
1) We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8)
2) working in love (Galatians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 13)
3) in obedience to God (John 3:36)
4) and growing progressively in holiness (Matt. 5:43-48)

[elizabethdurbin]

I did not understand grace until I attended a Christian church. So glad to have walked away.

[kentadamson]

If I can make a humble suggestion, if someone wants to learn about the teachings of the Catholic Church, read their documents for yourself. Sproul got a lot wrong here, starting within the first couple minutes of the presentation. I was raised Protestant and followed guys like John MacArthur and Sproul for years. a few years back, I started reading the early church fathers, what you find is that Protestantism is pretty much entirely absent. It was in fact the Catholic Church that defined and defended that doctrines of the Trinity, two natures of Christ, and put together the canon of scripture. At any rate, you are better off reading the catechism or official church teaching yourself than letting someone like Sproul interpret it for you. One of the main things that struck me about Protestantism is that the reformers would not even recognize the churches today that were founded in their name. Luther completely believed in the efficacy of baptism, the Eucharist, praying to and venerating Mary as well as other teachings that are very Catholic in nature. Be smart friends, do some of the heavy lifting yourself and study things for yourself instead of trusting everything you see on the internet.

[jayman]

This guy sure could teach....One of the top teachers in Christendom in my opinion.

[wibisonohartono]

Robert Charles Sproul was my favourite Reformed author. His books about Reformed teaching are easy to understand. The questions I would like to ask Liguonier Ministries:
1. According to Sproul the use of Latin in the Catholic Church is the reason why the Catholic Church ended up with wrong meaning of Greek verb "to justify" while Luther who worked on Greek New Testament got it correctly. However, the Eastern Orthodox Church who continued using Greek to this day, does not teach the same justification as that of the Reformers. The phrase "justified by faith" in New Testament appears four times (Rom. 3:28, 5:1, Gal. 2:16, 3:24). In Greek three of them (Rom. 5:1, Gal. 2:16, 3:24) appear in passive aorist tense while that of Rom. 3:28 is in passive present tense. Those two tenses do not indicate a completed action in the past. If justification is meant to be one time event is by faith alone, then Paul would write those verses in passive perfect tense. Unlike that of English, Greek perfect tense indicates the action described by the verb (to be justified) is completed in the past with continuing result to the present (from speaker/writer point of view).
2. According to Reformers through (one time) justification by faith alone we are counted or declared as righteous based on righteousness of Christ imputed on us. The reason is we can never be able to become righteous that meets God's standard and therefore the only solution is we use righteousness Christ to cover our unrighteousness. When God looks at us, instead of seeing our sins and unrighteousness, he will see the perfect righteousness of Christ. How do you reconcile this concept of external/alien righteousness of Christ with Ezekiel 18:20 that says "the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself", which means we cannot use other person's righteousness?
3. Imputed righteousness concept of the Reformers implies that we are both justified (counted as righteous) and sinners at the same time, which in Latin is "simul iustus et peccator". How do you reconcile it with Ezekiel 33:12 that says "the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins", which means we cannot become righteous and sinner at the same time?

[brycemitchell]

It would be nice if he would actually quote official Catholic teaching on the subject. I have read numerous official Catholic teachings on justification and I’ve never read any that said we are justified after sanctification. All the ones I’ve read say that justification not only the initial declaration of righteousness (as Protestants believe) but that God has also made us a new creation and is sanctifying us and conforming us to the image of his Son.

[flamingswordapologetics]

We need more of this and some clear disclosure on all sides of the debate. I am seeing many discussions on this subject and Protestants becoming Catholic or very open to unification. I'm all for unity among Christians, but not at any price.

[donboniface]

The Catholic view of Salvation is that Christ’s death is a sacrifice of atonement (see Leviticus chapter 5). Christ offers himself, not just nails through his wrists, but his whole life is a offering given to God. Holy Week is Christ displaying before our very 👀 the ethic that he commands for us.

Christ surrenders himself to wicked men who martyr him, not God killing Christ, but us. Not as a penal substitution but as a martyr to charity, holiness and righteousness. As Paul says he took on the nature of a servant, obedient to death on a Cross, therefore God exalted him.


If you follow Imputed Justification the rest of the Bible (mostly about moral behavior and warnings) makes no sense.

[Pikminable]

He is actually false about penance. The church teaches that the person's sins are forgiven at absolution by the priest. This is before any penance is performed by the penitent.

And condign merit is God giving us His grace because He promised it, not because we earned it.

[militaryandemergencyservic]

yes - I'm not a Catholic and I know that works do not save you, but faith in Christ. However, I'm sure that any Catholic will tell me that the works he or she does come out of his or her faith. They probably don't think at all that their works save them at all. But maybe I'm wrong.

[andrewdrew]

Merit of absolution is the crux of the matter.
Redemption through Christ alone cannot be any other way.

[robertwaguespack]

In addition to contrition there is also a need for firm purpose of amendment.

[billmartin]

At confession, we are given a penance, but that is to remediate temporal punishment (aka time in purgatory), you don’t have to do it to make reconciliation effective. Reconciliation happens at absolution, there is no “work” needed other than repentance.

[davidthomas]

Say what you like about his beliefs, but the man is a great communicator.

[georgemay]

"Imputation" vs. "Infusion." This is the substance of the argument. Paul addresses it in his specific grief against those leaders in the Galatian churches that pushed the idea of "infusion." I guess their need for being recognized as "father confessors" to satisfy God outweighed their need for truth. The temptation to use knowledge as a weapon looms big in the mind of "control freaks."

[MarkABE]

Why could I never consider becoming a Protestant? Because of what I should be obliged to believe. That Jesus Christ founded a Church. He promised that he would be with it always and that it would never fail. A Protestant must believe that the Church founded by Jesus Christ fizzled out in about a hundred years. That there was no true Christian Church until Martin Luther founded the many not very holy and non apostolic Churches fifteen hundred years later. I should be also obliged to believe that the Bishops who met in Council to define the dogmas of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ got it wrong. That, without the blessings offered by the many not very holy and non apostolic Churches, outside which, Protestants believe, there is no salvation, all were destined to the fires of Hell for fifteen hundred years and that the true way to salvation has only been available for about five hundred years. Well, you believe that, if you like.

[criticalbruv]

Sin doesn't destroy your salvation so mechanistically as you act like Catholics think. Rather YOU destroy your salvation if YOUR sin is truly mortal ( the list "can be considered mortal", not that it definitely is if the act is done...).

This is because mortal sin is the act of a person who says in their heart that they're not sure (luke warm) or don't want to be with God and thus reject God's salvation and send themselves to Hell. Mortal sin is stuff which can be an act of one who is actively opposed to God's desire for them. The sin act isn't separate front them but rather a result of their state of heart already, or is that which gives death to faith or enacts and fulfills the desires or will of the heart. Just as works are that which give life to faith or enacts and fulfills the desires or will of the heart, afforded to them by God's grace (in the protestant rc sproul sense)

[firingallcylinders]

I recently just started working at a Catholic School. I knew some things about Rome, but my eyes have been opened just to how much extra Biblical stuff they believe in. I was looking for a video about this subject should apologetics arise. Thanks.