Luther on justification

This text is devoted to a critical examination of the doctrine of justification in the works of the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther. After considering the scholastic understanding of justification, the author fixes the problematic positions to which Luther;s critical attention will be directed (grace as habitus infuses , the plurality of types of grace, justification as a joint action of God and man). The new meaning of the “righteousness of God” discovered by Luther becomes for the reformers a hermeneutic principle that changes the image of God. Luther’s difference is that he captures two kinds of God’s righteousness. In the Old Testament, this is condemning righteousness. In the New Testament - mercy and grace. Faith is the foundation of human righteousness for Luther. The difference in the understanding of faith was at the same time a difference in the understanding of Divine grace, which Luther perceives as the favor of God, which does not change the natural abilities of man. Faith saves because it is a real union with Christ. Luther’s recognition of one-stage justification raises questions about the possibility of a person’s gradual growth in God, which later in Protestantism led to the division into justification and sanctification, where the latter is understood as the activity of a justified person in the world. Salvation by faith raised the question of the status of good works. Doing good deeds is a necessary consequence, but not a cause of justification. Luther’s doctrine of justification led to the undermining of Catholic ecclesiology and to a rift between Catholics and Protestants.