The Catholic Church teaches that the grounds for our justification—a theological term that generally refers to a Christian being in a right relationship with God—is our interior state of holiness, which God brings about within us when we are initially saved. As the Council of Trent famously taught, “not only are we reputed [that is, considered “righteous” or “just” by God] but we are truly called and are just, receiving justice within us” (Decree on Justification, Ch. 7, emphasis added). The council goes on to clarify that “justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.”
In other words, for a Catholic, God reckons a believer to be at peace with him—justified—because he has freely and gratuitously brought about, through faith and charity, an interior state of righteousness in the believer. Justification isn’t merely about a change in a legal status, so a Catholic believes; it involves a real change within the person.
This stands in contrast to the Reformed tradition of Protestantism, which denies that our interior state of holiness is the ground of justification. On that view, what makes us righteous before God is simply God declaring us righteous, rather than anything God actually does within us.
So the obvious question arises: which view is correct?
There are many biblical passages that, I argue, refute the Reformed position and support the Catholic view. I’ve examined some of those passages elsewhere (here, here, and here). But here I want to focus on a different one.
Consider what St. Paul writes in Romans 5:6-11:
While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.
The first thing to notice is that Paul here has justification in view. Just a few verses earlier, he writes, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God” (v. 1).
Now, notice how Paul sets things up. He juxtaposes what he calls the “ungodly” state, or being “sinners,” with the state of having God’s love poured into our hearts. Paul describes his own former condition and that of the Roman Christians as an “ungodly” state—one that involved sin and interior defilement: “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” This would have been a state in which the soul was void of sanctifying grace due to what the Catholic Tradition calls mortal sin.
But here’s the good news. Paul says that he and the Roman Christians were taken out of that state of defilement because, as he puts it, “the love of God [that] has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us” (v. 5).
That phrase—“into our hearts”—is crucial. In the Bible, the “heart” signifies the interior core of the person. For example, God says through the prophet Jeremiah, “I the LORD search the mind and test the heart, to give to every man according to his ways” (Jer. 17:10). Likewise, Jesus teaches in Mark 7:20-23, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come[s sin.] . . . All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.”
So for Paul, the state opposite of being “ungodly” is not merely a change in external status. It’s something interior. And that interior state is having the love of God dwelling within us—a love that makes us truly holy within.
What’s especially interesting is that Paul identifies this same interior state as the state of being justified. Again, he acknowledges in verse 1 that he and the Roman Christians have been justified. But he explicitly contrasts that justified state with their former state of being “ungodly.”
He writes in verses 7-8,
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Notice the contrast between being “sinners” and being “just.” Paul’s point is that when they were in an ungodly, sinful state, they were not just. The implication is straightforward: since they are no longer in that ungodly state, they are now just.
So for Paul, the state opposite of ungodliness is the state of justification. And he describes that very same state as having God’s love within our hearts. This shows that Paul understands justification as being constituted by God’s love dwelling within us. Since having God’s love within us entails an interior holiness, it follows that Paul conceives of justification as involving an interior state of holiness.
At the very least, this refutes the claim that justification does not involve interior holiness. And when it comes to the Church’s teaching, it shows that our interior state of holiness—having sanctifying grace in our souls (with charity accompanying it)—is indeed grounds for our justification. Showing that it’s the only ground would require further argument. But that’s a discussion for another time.