422. What is justification? (part 3 continuation)
(Comp 422 repetition) Justification is
the most excellent work of God's love. It is the merciful and freely-given act
of God which takes away our sins and makes us just and holy in our whole being.
It is brought about by means of the grace of the Holy Spirit which has been
merited for us by the passion of Christ and is given to us in Baptism.
Justification is the beginning of the free response of man, that is, faith in
Christ and of cooperation with the grace of the Holy Spirit.
“In brief”
(CCC 2018) Like conversion, justification has two aspects.
Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and so accepts
forgiveness and righteousness from on high. (CCC 2020) Justification has been
merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It
conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal
the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most
excellent work of God's mercy.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1912) The common good is always oriented towards the
progress of persons: "The order of things must be subordinate to the order
of persons, and not the other way around" (GS 26 § 3). This order is
founded on truth, built up in justice, and animated by love.
Reflection
(CCC 1995) The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior
life. By giving birth to the "inner man" (Cf. Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16),
justification entails the sanctification
of his whole being: Just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to
greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for
sanctification.... But now that you have been set free from sin and have become
slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life
(Rom 6:19, 22). [END]
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