wfn.org | Significance of the Joint Declaration

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

What is justification?

GENEVA, 23 October 1999 (lwi) - The doctrine of justification refers -
generally and simply speaking - to the religious and ethical question of
how we as human beings can find ourselves to be in a right position in
relation to our Creator, others and ourselves.

The religious aspect of this doctrine has an historical side, inasmuch
as it is rooted in both the Old and the New Testaments. For the Jewish
faith being righteous is of highest importance, and is directly
connected to keeping the Law which expresses the will of God. In the New
Testament, the understanding of justification is developed by Paul as a
theological doctrine, particularly in his letters to the Romans and to
the Galatians. Basically, Paul considers that human righteousness is not
achieved by fulfilling God's commandments. For Paul, the true
righteousness is the appropriation of God's own righteousness, which is
his love and his grace and revealed to us in Christ. This appropriation
takes place in faith and by way of faith. The part of Paul's teaching,
which most clearly distinguishes it from the Jewish faith, is the focus
on Jesus Christ as the person by whom God in a new covenant has made his
grace come near. In the new covenant, Christ is our righteousness. We
are declared righteous in Christ even if we are not righteous according
to the commandments of the Law.

It is obvious in Paul as in the rest of the New Testament that the "new
life", the life in faith, is a life in active love and in the service of
others, often referred to as "good works" - an expression which became a
central concept in the Reformation controversies. For Paul, God's
righteousness was revealed in Christ "without works." For him, our good
works are not at the origin of God's righteousness, but the other way
around. God's righteousness, which is his love, is the main source of
our love, and thereby the main source of our good works. This point is
also at the core of the Joint Declaration.

In the late Middle Ages the biblical doctrine of justification had
become less clear in the preaching of the church. Moreover, the biblical
writings were available to very few only. This brought with it a number
of practices in the life of the church which were not in line with the
message that we are justified by our faith by God's grace, among other
things, the importance of doing good works, particularly works
prescribed by the church.

At the time of the Reformation, there were many, among them Martin
Luther, who called for reforms in some of these practices The need for
these reforms is clearly recognized also by Roman Catholics today. The
Augsburg Confession was presented by the Lutherans in 1530 as an attempt
to avoid the split in the Western church. But the attempt did not
succeed.

In the course of the Reformation and the so-called Counter-Reformation,
positions hardened to a great extent. In general, the positions of the
Lutherans and the Roman Catholics remained unreconciled, with
significant differences both regarding the faith and the practices of
the church.
In the course of the continued controversies, mutual condemnations were
formulated in the Lutheran "Formula of Concord" and the Roman Catholic
"Decree on Justification" adopted by the Council of Trent, and the
Lutheran churches and the Roman Catholic Church have since remained
separated on the central issues of salvation by grace and faith and the
role of good works.

The function of the Joint Declaration is to go behind the controversies
of the Reformation period and to listen jointly to the biblical message
on justification. In this way, a "consensus in basic truths" of
justification has been achieved in a process by which the biblical
message has been allowed to speak in its own right and was formulated
jointly as an expression of ecumenical agreement today. On the basis of
that agreement it has been possible to state that the mutual
condemnations from the time of the Reformation do not apply to the
teaching on justification as set forth in the Joint Declaration. What
the Joint Declaration does is to put the focus clearly on that which
unites us regarding the faith in our justification in Christ. We do not
say we have a consensus in all that pertains to this faith. And we
certainly do not have agreement on all the consequences we see as
following from this faith.

There are many who wonder how the Joint Declaration will affect the
ecumenical relationship of the Lutheran churches and the Roman Catholic
Church. Actually, there are no immediate institutional changes.
Regarding the possibility of sharing the Eucharist, for instance, the
Lutheran churches are to a great extent open to welcoming Roman
Catholics to their communion table. On the Roman Catholic side, however,
the picture is more complicated. The question of sharing the Eucharist
is closely linked to the mutual recognition of ministries.

One should not, however, on that basis consider the Joint Declaration as
having little ecumenical value. First of all, the agreements on basic
truths regarding justification are in themselves a significant basis for
making progress on remaining controversial issues such as the ministry
in the church. Also, the Joint Declaration makes it clear that the two
church partners share a common treasure of faith which should inspire
Roman Catholics and Lutherans worldwide to closer contact and
cooperation on the parish level.

The doctrine of justification by faith is a call to all those who are
baptized to Christ to take part in building community across the
barriers that exist between women and men, old and young and
socio-economic groups. Because we are justified by God and not by
ourselves, we should all receive each other as God receives us. The
message of justification calls the churches of the world to look closely
and self-critically at their attitude toward other churches. Are they
able to really recognize the presence of Christ himself among Christians
of other traditions? Are they honestly and genuinely pursuing paths of
openness and cooperation? If this sounds overly idealistic, we must
remember that the Christian faith cannot avoid these challenges, because
they arise out of its core, which is the Gospel.

The message of justification by faith, which means justification by God,
is an explication of the central meaning of the Gospel as preached and
practiced by Christ. It is our task to interpret its meaning in ever-new
circumstances in obedience to Christ by whom we have been justified and
been made part of God's rule of grace.

(This article was contributed by Rev. Sven Oppegaard, the LWF Assistant
General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs.)

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
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