Justification
by Andrea Elizabeth
“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.” (Romans 5:18) All of humanity is vindicated or justified at the level of nature in the incarnation which is then carried through to the crucifixion and resurrection. By his death and resurrection Christ defeats death since death cannot contain him. It is not just that it does not have any rights over him, it is that death as annihilation is overpowered and conquered. Death itself is taken captive by God. The weapon of the devil is rendered useless since it does not bring about annihilation of creation. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil– and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14-15) This is what it means to say with Paul that Christ is raised for our justification. (Romans 4) Justification is not primarily an individual affair. It is not per seabout some nominalistic notion of “covenant” drawn from the Scotists. It is about vindicating God and rescuing his creation, both on a natural and personal level. The justification of human nature is then extended to human persons when they freely align their wills to God’s, as Christ freely wills to suffer for the redemption of creation.” (from Anglicans in Exile, on Energetic Procession)
Mr. Robinson gives an explanation for justification that answers my question on how an Orthodox reads the verses mostly written by St. Paul on the subject. I grew up thinking justification meant a legal and in my case, an unconvincing, magical pardon for sin, “just as if I’d never sinned”. I saw my sins as real, and did not believe that God didn’t. I felt though that perhaps my problem was caused by a depressing lack of faith, another real, burdensome sin. Oy vey.
But he explains it with the other definition, alignment. Such as when we right or left justify the text on a page. Christ lined up our human nature with His. When we are united with Him personally and synergistically through grace and our free will, we learn habits of virtue that make us Christ-like, justified. This makes me much happier and makes me feel better that I don’t have to ignore those verses, or my sins.
This is good, and got me thinking of something I wrote on OC.net re: the difference between the Orthodox and Evangelical views of what Christ accomplished on the Cross:
“When you take the stated doctrine of having all your sins completely and permanently wiped out, forever, of never having to deal with any kind of ascetic effort in order to arrive at purification and sanctification, and are ‘free’ to rejoice in a perceived spiritual perfection that God has granted you apart from any obedience you may or may not have actually walked in — well, as virtual and artificial as it may sound when I put it that way, it does make for a VERY grateful reaction on the part of the believer. ‘He who has been forgiven much, loves much,’ and all that. The Evangelical perceives that his sins have been declared null and void through the legal transaction of the blood of Christ before the Father, and so [s/he is] free simply to rejoice in an already finished righteousness, an already guaranteed place in heaven. Couple this grateful state with AGRESSIVE memorization of proof-texts that seem to bolster this teaching, and you have the added rush of thinking that God’s biblical stamp of approval supports the idea, adding confidence to enthusiastic gratitude.
“It is difficult, then, to put Orthodoxy next to that and say, ‘Christ has died and risen again; through baptism we are brought into His Kingdom so that we would have the POTENTIAL of working out our salvation with fear and trembling, making every effort to enter into the rest He prepared for us through His Passion and Resurrection. The enemy, however, still prowls around as the wolf of souls, seeking to make us his prey, so we must be ever mindful of sinful habits that remain in our lives, as they could be occasion for the enemy to gain a foothold. Our life in Christ consists of constant vigilance, constant repentance, constant participation in the sacramental life of the Church, and constant sorrow and (should God grant) true tears of repentance over our state as “chief of sinners” so that we might gain times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord which is the comfort for those who have mourned.’”
I have thought about the inherent gratefulness in being “once and for all justified”, and you explain it and the purifying steps of vigilance and asceticism well.
I felt more defeated by my sin before, and even though the Church teaches strict asceticism, I find the presence of grace and the disciplines of the Church supportive instead of restrictive. “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” It’s deciding to turn from sin that’s often the hard part.
George is fixing the kids’ shower fixtures tonight, so I guess it’ll just be the 5 for your class. I hope it goes well.