In previous articles (here, here, here, and here), I’ve argued that the Bible supports the Catholic teaching that our interior state of holiness is a ground for our justification—what we might call “interior justification.” This stands in contrast to the view of some of the early Protestant Reformers. They believed that what makes us righteous before God is simply God declaring us righteous, rather than anything God actually does within us. This view is labeled forensic justification.
There are yet two other passages from St. Paul that support the Catholic view that I’d like to look at: Romans 12:1-2 and Romans 14:17-18.
Let’s start with Romans 12:1-2. Paul writes,
I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.
You might be wondering, “What does this text have to do with justification? Paul doesn’t say anything about it here. And how does it connect to our interior righteousness?”
Let’s start with Paul’s identification of the sacrificial offering of our bodies as spiritual worship. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches in his Commentary on Romans, sacrifice to God involves two aspects: external and internal. The external is the physical offering itself. The internal involves interior acts by which we believe, hope in, and love God. This internal aspect is primary. Aquinas appeals to Luke 17:21 for support, where Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is within you.” The assumption here is that our worship of God makes us members of Christ’s kingdom.
Next, Paul says our offering pleases God. In other words, we’re acceptable to and at peace with God on account of this act of worship.
But remember: this offering principally involves interior acts by which we believe, hope in, and love God, all of which are righteous acts. It follows, therefore, that these internal righteous acts themselves are pleasing to God.
Now, interior acts of intellect and will determine the moral quality of our souls. Since these interior acts are righteous, it follows that the moral quality is righteousness. Insofar as Paul says our spiritual worship is pleasing to God, and that worship makes us interiorly righteous, we can conclude that our interior righteousness serves as a reason why God is pleased with us.
Here is where the connection to justification comes into play. To be pleasing to God is to be at peace with God, which, for Paul, is nothing more than a state of justification. As he writes in Romans 5:1, “since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Being justified and having peace with God are logically interchangeable. You can’t be justified without having peace with God, and you can’t have peace with God and not be justified.
Therefore, our justification is rooted in something that’s internal to us—namely, our minds and wills being properly ordered to God in our belief, hope, and love. This disproves the idea that our justification is not grounded in our interior holiness or righteousness.
So we might summarize our reasoning as follows:
P1: Offering our bodies as a living sacrifice is pleasing to God.
P2: That sacrificial offering involves interior righteous acts of belief, hope, and love.
C1: Therefore, our interior righteous acts of belief, hope, and love are pleasing to God.
P3: Interior righteous acts of belief, hope, and love determine the interior quality of our souls as righteous.
C2: Therefore, the interior righteous quality of our souls is pleasing to God.
P4: To be pleasing to God is to be justified.
C3: Therefore, the interior righteous quality of our souls serves as a ground for our justification.
It’s important to note that our internal acts of belief, hope, and love contribute to our justification only after initially becoming justified. In its Decree on Justification, the Council of Trent infallibly taught (in conjunction with Ephesians 2:8-9) that good works play no meritorious role prior to being initially justified.
Another important note is that the internal acts of belief, hope, and love involved in our spiritual worship are due to God’s grace. No work can contribute to our justification, regardless of whether we’re in the ongoing, present state of justification or in the final stage of justification, without God’s grace.
The other Pauline passage that I’d like to look at is Romans 14:17-18. Paul writes,
The kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
Here, Paul echoes Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God involving an internal dimension. “Food and drink” signify the external precepts of the Mosaic Law. And Paul says the kingdom of God is not that, the implication being that God’s kingdom involves something within us.
But notice how Paul describes that interior dimension: “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” He connects being a member of God’s kingdom—a state of justification—with interior righteousness.
Paul drives this point home in verse 18 by connecting serving Christ—that’s to say, worshiping him—with being “acceptable to God.” As mentioned above, worship involves interior acts of belief, hope, and love. And for Paul, these interior acts of worship constitute our interior state of righteousness. Paul weaves together the interior state of righteousness in verse 17 with serving Christ: “he who thus serves Christ.” Serving Christ is inextricably connected with an interior state of righteousness.
Now, notice the result of this righteous service: “[He] is acceptable to God.” As mentioned above, to be acceptable to God is to be in a state of justification. Thus, Paul teaches our justification—being acceptable to God—is rooted in an interior state of righteousness.
The irony with this Pauline theology is that Paul is the one many Protestants think champions their view of forensic justification. Yet it’s the exact opposite. Paul teaches a conception of justification identical to the Catholic view. He roots justification in the interior state of righteousness that God brings about within a believer.
So Protestants can no longer claim Paul as their champion when it comes to justification. He’s in the Catholic camp.