To Be Just Is To Be With Christ
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Faith on Thursday, November 20, 2008 8:00 PM
The cast of light on that column makes the Pope appear to welcome an angel to the proceedings at yesterday’s Audience, doesn’t it?
“Gabriel, Old Friend, come in and sit down!” he seems to be saying.
But to business. How is a man just in the eyes of God?
“Justification” has roiled Christianity for centuries, but our fearless leader took up the matter from St. Paul’s point of view.
He begins where he’s left off the past several sessions: Paul’s personal experience of Christ. We know Saul’s history as a righteous Pharisee, scrupulous in keeping every jot and tittle of the law. Once Paul experiences Christ, however, he ceases thinking of his life in terms of personal perfection—even religious perfection. The Damascus experience is one of surprising and unmerited grace. From that moment on, Paul’s entire being is focused wholly on the goal of running as hard and fast as he can to be with Christ, who is his happiness.
Luther, of course, took Paul’s teaching in Romans 8 that “we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law” to mean that we are justified “by faith alone.” The Pope will get to that, but first a few matters have to be clarified.
For example, what do we mean by the law? How can we be free from the law? Does that mean ordinary ethics aren’t binding on Christians? Obviously not: we’re not free from doing good! What we are free from is the ritual and cultural observances of the Torah, designed to establish and protect the identity of the Chosen People against all comers. Speaking of the over-arching Hellenism of Christ’s time, the Pope teaches:
Against this cultural pressure, which not only threatened Jewish identity but also faith in the one God and his promises, it was necessary to create a wall of distinction, a defense shield that would protect the precious inheritance of the faith; this wall would consist precisely of the Jewish observances and prescriptions. Paul, who had learned these observances precisely in their defensive function of the gift of God, of the inheritance of the faith in only one God, saw this identity threatened by the freedom of Christians: That is why he persecuted them. At the moment of his encounter with the Risen One he understood that with Christ’s resurrection the situation had changed radically. With Christ, the God of Israel, the only true God became the God of all peoples.
The wall—so says the Letter to the Ephesians—between Israel and the pagans was no longer necessary: It is Christ who protects us against polytheism and all its deviations; it is Christ who unites us with and in the one God; it is Christ who guarantees our true identity in the diversity of cultures; and it is he who makes us just. To be just means simply to be with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Other observances are no longer necessary.
Isn’t that last paragraph beautiful? So Luther, understood in the right light, was correct. We don’t save ourselves: Christ saves us.
Faith saves us if it is united to charity: Faith is to look at Christ, to entrust oneself to Christ, to be united to Christ, to be conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence, to believe is to be conformed to Christ and to enter into his love. That is why, in the Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul develops above all his doctrine on justification; he speaks of faith that operates through charity (cf. Galatians 5:14).
Paul knows that in the double love of God and neighbor the whole law is fulfilled. Thus the whole law is observed in communion with Christ, in faith that creates charity. We are just when we enter into communion with Christ, who is love. We will see the same in next Sunday’s Gospel for the solemnity of Christ the King. It is the Gospel of the judge whose sole criterion is love. What I ask is only this: Did you visit me when I was sick? When I was in prison? Did you feed me when I was hungry, clothe me when I was naked? So justice is decided in charity. Thus, at the end of this Gospel, we can say: love alone, charity alone. However, there is no contradiction between this Gospel and St. Paul. It is the same vision, the one according to which communion with Christ, faith in Christ, creates charity. And charity is the realization of communion with Christ. Thus, being united to him we are just, and in no other way.
Take home message?
we can only pray to the Lord so that he will help us to believe. To really believe; belief thus becomes life, unity with Christ, the transformation of our life. And thus, transformed by his love, by love of God and neighbor, we can really be just in the eyes of God.
Previous Sessions:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 13
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