19. 2 In fact, in regard to the four theological points just listed, Roman Catholics before the Reformation had exactly the same teachings as Protestants did after it. That is, Catholics had the same teachings regarding the trinity of persons in the Divine, the same teachings regarding original sin, the same teachings regarding the assigning of Christ’s merit, and the same teachings regarding our being justified by believing that we are assigned Christ’s merit; the only difference was that Catholics united that faith to goodwill or good works.

25. Brief Analysis

The books, sermons, and other sayings of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation make it clear that although those leaders separated faith and goodwill, nevertheless they did say that goodwill was an appendage to faith and eventually even an integral part of it. Nevertheless they tried to avoid bringing the two together and giving them a shared or concurrent power to save. After those leaders have stated that faith and goodwill are separate, they go on to unite them, and in fact express that union in clear and unambiguous wording. For example, they say that after we go through the process of being made just, our faith is never alone — our faith brings with it goodwill or good works, and if it does not, it is dead rather than living; see §13 n, o, p, q, v, y. In fact, they state that good works necessarily follow faith; see §13 u, v, w; and that the reborn use their new powers and gifts to cooperate with the Holy Spirit; see §13 x.

From the statements gathered above from the Council of Trent in §§4, 5, 6, 7, 8, it is clear that Roman Catholics present exactly the same teachings.

4. Concerning justification:

(a) When that blessed fullness of time had come, the heavenly Father, the Father of mercies, sent Jesus Christ, his own Son, to the human race, in order both to [redeem] the Jews, who were under the law, and to allow the Gentiles, who were not following justice, to attain it, and all people to receive adoption as his children. God sent him forth as a propitiator for our sins through faith in his blood, not for our sins only but also for those of the whole world (Session 6, chapter 2).

(b) Nevertheless, not all people receive the benefit of Christ’s death, but only those with whom he shares the merit earned through his suffering. Therefore if people were not born again in Christ, they never would be justified (Session 6, chapter 3).

(c) The beginning of this justification is to be derived from the preexisting grace of God through Jesus Christ, that is, from his calling to us (Session 6, chapter 5).

(d) We are made ready for his justice when, stirred by divine grace and conceiving faith by hearing, we freely move toward God, believing those things to be true that have been divinely revealed and promised to us — especially this promise, that God justifies the impious by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and that when we understand that we are sinners and are beneficially struck with fear of divine justice, we are raised to hope since we have confidence that God is appeased toward us because of Christ (Session 6, chapter 6).

(e) This readiness and preparation are followed by the process itself of being justified, which is not only a forgiving of our sins but also a sanctification and renewal of our inner self through the receiving of the grace and of the gifts by which we turn from an unjust person into a just person and from an enemy [of God] into a friend, so that we inherit the hope of everlasting life (Session 6, chapter 7).

(f) The final cause of this justification is the glory of God and of Christ, and life everlasting. The efficient cause is a merciful God who washes and sanctifies us gratuitously. The meritorious cause is God’s most beloved Only-Begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies, for the exceeding goodwill with which he loved us, merited justification for us by his most holy suffering on the wood of the cross, and made satisfaction for us to God the Father. The instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of the faith without which no one was ever justified. The lone formal cause is the justice of God — not the justice with which he himself is just, but the justice with which he makes us just; namely, the justice with which we, being endowed by him, are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and we are not only reputed just, but are truly called just, and are in fact just, receiving justice within us, each according to our own measure, which the Holy Spirit distributes to everyone as he wills (Session 6, chapter 7, §2).

(g) Justification is a transferal from that state in which we are born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and our adoption as children of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ our Savior (Session 6, chapter 4).