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THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION

by Marion Clark

Scripture: Romans 3:21-26


The Doctrine of Justification
Marion Clark
Romans 3:21-26


Introduction

Who knows what a year will bring? Five hundred years ago, an obscure monk had no idea that he would be used by God to bring about the most momentous impact on the church since it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, 1,200 hundred years earlier. On October 31, All Hallows' Eve, the Augustinian monk and professor at the university in Wittenberg nailed 95 theses on the door of the church. They were written in Latin for the purpose of debate among church scholars. They were written to address a specific corrupt practice - that of selling indulgences, which were being sold to raise money for the building of St. Peter's basilica in Rome. The lead marketer had gone beyond the bounds of integrity, promising immediate release of relatives in purgatory to any who put money in the coffers. Other than scholarly debate with colleagues, Luther expected little reaction. Instead, someone took down the document, translated it into the common language, and distributed it throughout the land. It was the original social media viral event, and so began the Reformation.

That was the beginning of the chain of events which culminated in the break within the Roman Catholic Church and birthed the Protestant Church. But the selling of indulgences was not at the heart of what led to the division in the church. What became the central issue and the central doctrine over which the two branches of the Christian faith remain divided is that of justification. What does it mean to be justified before God and how does one become justified - it is the understanding of that doctrine which divides us to this day. It is this doctrine that the Reformers proclaimed that the Church stands or falls.

For the next five weeks we will take a look at five doctrines that are identified as the central tenets of the Protestant faith. They are referred to as the five soli, Sola is Latin for ''sole'' or ''only.'' The ...

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