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20) I suggest to the reader to consult pages 203-212 of Not By Faith Alone, which will explain in detail the healing of the paralytic and the prostitute who was saved. Suffice it to say that Dr. Horton is distorting these texts just as I have shown that he has done with our present texts.

In Luke 18:9, we find another one of those situations in which Jesus antagonized the religious leaders: "To some who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a day and give a tenth of all I get." 'But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."'" Notice the contrast Jesus makes here between these two people. First, the parable is told, says Luke, to "some who were confident in their own righteousness." To the extent that Rome even speaks of meriting justification, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the Pharisee in this parable and our friends in this debate.

21) Yes, if Rome spoke of merit in the same way that the Pharisees spoke of merit, Dr. Horton would have every right to condemn the Catholic Church. In fact, I would beat him to it. Unfortunately for Dr. Horton, making such an association is a lot easier than proving it. Perhaps there are some Catholics (actually I'm sure there are many), who believe in their own self-righteousness. Similarly, I'm sure there are many Protestants who believe in their own self-righteousness. But if Dr. Horton really understood what Catholic theology taught about "merit," he wouldn't make such conclusions. Or perhaps there is another agenda at work here. It is very possible that Dr. Horton does understand the merits of the Catholic theology of merit, but simply refuses to accept it no matter how plausible and logical it sounds, and would rather debate a straw man of his own choosing.

Well, regardless of what Dr. Horton may be thinking, the truth is that when Catholic theology speaks of "meriting justification" it is referring to a "gracious meriting," not a legal meriting such as was the case in Pharisaical theology. St. Thomas Aquinas, whose books were put on display at the Council of Trent so that the Tridentine divines could readily consult his works, taught that there were two kinds of merit: strict merit and condign merit. A third category is an offshoot of condign merit call congruent merit. Here's what Aquinas said concerning the major distinction between the two classes of merit:

"Note the difference between meritum de condigno and that which is said to be merit in strict sense. Even though both bespeak some right to reward, they do so in different ways. Merit in strict justice implies an absolute equality without any grace given to the person who merits. But merit de condigno involves an equality which arises from grace which has been given to the one meriting (Summa Theologica, I-II, Q. 114, a. 1, ad 3).

Ignoring these words from Aquinas, here is what Dr. Horton says regarding the Catholic concept of merit.

"Here, the Roman church distinguished between condign merit, which is an outright payment for that which is truly earned, and congruent merit, which is not really earned in the truest sense of the term, but which God graciously accepts 'as if' it had been merited truly" (Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Unites and Divides Us, p. 266, n. 9, cited on pages 628-629 of Not by Faith Alone).

Now we can understand precisely why Dr. Horton keeps undermining the Catholic doctrine of Justification - - because he has misunderstood one of its most fundamental concepts. Dr. Horton holds that condign merit is "an outright payment for that which is truly earned," and that congruent merit is "not really earned in the truest sense of the term."

Here's what Dr. Horton has done: He has: (a) ignored Thomas' classification of "strict merit"; and (b) confused the distinction between strict merit and condign merit to be a distinction between condign merit and congruent merit. Let's make this perfectly clear: Condign merit is not "an outright payment for that which is truly earned." That definition applies only to "strict" merit, as Thomas explains above. Strict merit is an equitable exchange of goods and services "without any grace" involved, whereas condign merit is an equitable exchange that "arises from grace." If it arises from grace, it is cannot be an "outright payment" nor is it "truly earned." Grace means it is not owed to the individual but is given to him as a gift or reward. Congruent merit also arises from grace, and the only thing that distinguishes it from condign merit is that it is given to Christians and non-Christians, whereas condign merit only applies to Christians.

For anyone interested, this topic is covered exhaustively in Appendix 3 of Not By Faith Alone.

"But," our friends will protest, "we attribute our inherent righteousness to God. It is his work in us." But the Pharisee, too, thanked God for this inherent righteousness. He pointed to his own spiritual disciplines--fasting, tithing, and so on, but he thanked God for it all.

22) Again, Dr. Horton gets himself into trouble because he doesn't pay attention to the details in the text. He keeps dealing with universal concepts and tries to plug Catholicism into them. I suggest that he get his concepts correct first, which can only be done by looking at the details the parable gives. It is stated clearly in Luke 18:9 that, in using the Pharisee as an example, Jesus was referring to people who "trusted in THEMSELVES that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt," not to people who attribute their inherent righteousness to God. In fact, did the Pharisee say, "God I thank you for attributing your righteousness to me"? No, not at all. He only thanked God for not being like the tax-gatherer and pretending that he had no sins.

Is that what faithful Catholics do? No. When a Catholic says that he attributes his righteousness to God he is neither trusting in HIMSELF, nor is he putting anyone else down. He trusts in God who gave him remission of sin through Baptism and Confession, and sustains him through the Holy Eucharist.

If we were to take Dr. Horton's criticism to its logical conclusion, then there would be no one who could say that they are righteous because of God. Men such as Joseph (Mt 1:19); John the Baptist (Mk 6:20); Simeon (Lk 2:22); Lot (2 Pt 2:7-8); Elizabeth and Zechariah (Lk 1:6); Noah (Gn 6:9); Job (Jb 1:1); Abel (Mt 23:35); Enoch (Gn 5:24); Abraham (Gn 17:1); David (Ac 13:22); Daniel (Ez 14:14), and many others who the Bible says are "righteous," could not be called such merely because people like the Pharisees abuse the privilege. No, I'm afraid Dr. Horton has tried to make the single case of the Pharisees represent a much larger case than they were intended to serve, and Scripture simply won't allow it.

This, however, seems to have meant nothing, as Jesus sets his example beside that of a notorious sinner. Even before this tax-collector could have begun to fast, tithe, or engage in spiritual duties, he was already declared righteous. And how? He simply acknowledged his own helplessness and cried out for God's mercy. Mercy, not merit, was this man's plea. And what is the point of Jesus' story? He concludes, "I tell you that his man [the tax-collector] rather than the other, went home justified before God."

23) For those who want further information, you will find a detailed explanation of this passage on pages 192-198 of Not By Faith Alone.

Jesus even insisted that the faith itself with which we claim the righteousness of Christ is a gift of God, since "no one can even come to Me unless it is given by the Father" (Jn.6:44). He declared repeatedly that he did not come to save the righteous, but sinners. In his High Priestly Prayer, with the Crucifixion just over the horizon, Jesus prayed concerning his people, "For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." He fulfilled all righteousness, not in order to save himself--for he was sinless, but in order to merit for us salvation by his obedience to the Law. He sanctified himself--he perfectly obeyed the Law and satisfied God's righteous requirements, so that we too may be acceptable to God in him.

24) This paragraph will receive no argument from me, as it stands. The problem comes in when Dr. Horton starts applying it to his Calvinistic theology and ends up distorting these precious truths.

This is why, especially in John's writings, we are told, "I write these things to you who believe in he name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 Jn.5:13). And Jesus stated, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life" (Jn. 5:24). It is just this confidence that is denied by the Roman system and by all gospels of works-righteousness.

25) No, we don't deny confidence, we deny presumptuousness. Please read pages 501-505 in Not By Faith Alone for an explanation of this.

Ask our friends today if they can know that they have eternal life, and they will answer that they can only know that they are now in a state of grace, but cannot be certain about whether they will be condemned in the end. Jesus declared, speaking of himself in the third person, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

26) Again, Dr. Horton will be trapped by his own verses. Granted, the passage says, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned," but that means that if a believer stops believing, and thus becomes an unbeliever, then he will be condemned, for the passage only guarantees that he will not be condemned if he believes. (John 3:18).

It is Jesus himself who employs the legal language of justification and condemnation, acquittal and judgment. In fact, he adds, "This is the verdict." From our Lord's own mouth, we are repeatedly told that everyone who believes is justified and everyone who does not believe is condemned. Works flow from faith, but it is faith alone that leads to acquittal.

27) Sometimes I feel I'm debating someone who really doesn't know the Greek language. Perhaps Dr. Horton's NIV Bible says "verdict," but the Greek says krisis, which refers to judgment, a decision of the mind between two alternatives. Jesus uses the same word in John 5:30 and 8:16 of his own thinking process. Yet notice how Dr. Horton desperately tries to latch on to anything that will give him some semblance of forensic justification.

And as for Dr. Horton's claim that "faith alone that leads to acquittal," all we need do to refute this is drop down to John 3:21 where it says, "But he who PRACTICES the truth comes to the light, that his DEEDS may be manifested as having been wrought in God." Obviously, if his works are involved, then it can't be by faith alone.

In Acts 13:39, we read, "Through Christ everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses." In Acts 15:9, we are told that "he purified their hearts by faith." But we have not even yet given our attention to the teaching of St. Paul, whose letters were written especially to oppose false gospels and confirm believers in the Gospel of free grace. Where is the addition of "alone" necessary when Paul so clearly declares, "For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The just by faith shall live'"? If it is by faith "from first to last," it is by faith alone.

28) First, may I suggest that Dr. Horton not depend on his NIV Bible so much, for the translation is very poor in many places. The more literal translations will either have "from faith to faith," or "from faith unto faith." Many of the other translations tend to convey the concept of starting with faith and finishing with faith, but this is an interpretation of the text rather than a translation. The Greek word ek usually means "out of" or "from," while the Greek word eis usually means "to" or "for," thus the phrase "from faith to faith" is probably the most accurate. Paul says that the gospel of salvation is given first to the Jew, and then to the Greek. This may be the reason Paul then says, "from faith to faith" in verse 17. In this case, the first use of "faith" would represent the Jews, while the second use of "faith" would represent the Greeks, and thus the gospel goes "from faith to faith" or "from Jew to Greek," or "from one people of faith to another people of faith," or "from OT faith to NT faith."

The point is that God's gospel has always been about faith. This is supported by Paul's appeal to the OT book of Habakkuk. Paul quotes Hab 2:4: "He who through faith is righteous shall live," or simply "The righteous shall live by faith." This is the story about the Jewish prophet, Habakkuk, showing that faith first came to the Jews of the OT. The Jews had the first opportunity to hear the gospel; now it is the Greeks turn. Thus, God's "gospel" is always being "revealed" and the "righteousness of God" is displayed among Jews first and then among Greeks. Whatever "from faith to faith" means, it doesn't mean "faith alone," although Dr. Horton is desperate to see "faith alone" in every mention of the word faith.

Let me explain further by an exegesis of Romans 3:28 "we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Could one not argue that the phrase "apart from" is in fact a synonym of the word "alone," and thus conclude that Paul really did teach that faith was alone in justification?

To answer this, we must first point out that "justified by faith alone" does not mean the same thing as "justified by faith apart from works of the law." On a purely grammatical basis, the phrase "faith alone" denotes that faith is the only instrument for justification, while the statement "faith apart from works of the law" merely means that "works of the law" are the only thing that cannot be coupled with faith for justification. In other words, "faith alone" excludes anything from being added to faith, while "faith apart from works of the law" excludes only "works of the law" from being added to faith. From this distinction one may infer that either something may be added to faith that is not considered "works of the law," or, we could implicitly understand "faith" as being inseparably related to other virtues that are not technically associated with "works of the law."

For example, Paul never says, "a man is justified by faith apart from love," or "man is justified by faith apart from obedience" or "man is justified by faith apart from hope." In fact, in reference to justification, Paul, in Galatians 5:6, seems to make an inseparable bond between faith and love by the statement "faith working through love." By the same token, Paul never says "faith working through works of the law." Hence, with regard to justification, although we must give due justice to Paul's dictum that faith must be apart from "works of the law," we see from Scripture that this does not necessarily mean that faith is completely alone, especially from other virtues like love and obedience. According to certain Scriptures, there is something about the concept of "works of the law" which forces Paul to separate it from his concept of faith, yet dissimilar Scriptures which allow other virtues which are not necessarily associated with "works of the law" to be connected to faith for the purposes of justification.

Like Jesus, Paul first confronts his readers with the Law's demands and concludes that Jew and Gentile alike are unrighteous and helpless. "No one is righteous, no not even one," he declares, not even the person who is attempting to obey God. This is especially interesting in the light of Vatican II's pronouncement that all who seek to obey God, even apart from Christ, will be saved.

29) Its easy to see why Dr. Horton is so vociferous against the Catholic Church -- because is so often misunderstands it. As Fulton Sheen once said: "I don't know anyone who hates the Catholic Church, but I know thousands who hate what they mistakenly believe the Catholic Church to be." If the above is what Dr. Horton believes the Catholic Church to be, then his knowledge of Catholic truth is worse than a catechumen in Catholic RICA classes. The simple fact is that before God's grace is given, no one either seeks or obeys God. In Adam we are all under law and condemned by the law. Under law we can do nothing worthy, and we will be condemned for the slightest sin.

But after God gives His grace, then man starts seeking and he has the responsibility to respond, just as Cornelius, the Roman centurion, responded in Acts 10:1-4 with prayers, alms and good deeds. Accordingly, Paul says that God is no respecter of persons, and thus whosoever, Jew or Gentile, seeks to do good and strives for immortality will be given justification and eternal life (Romans 2:5-13). But either Dr. Horton is ignorant of these facts in Catholicism, or he just chooses to ignore them and would rather make inept comparisons as he has done above.

Furthermore, like Jesus, Paul contrasts a righteousness that is by faith and a righteousness that is by works: "But now a righteousness from God, apart from Law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Rom.3:21). Notice what Paul says: It is a righteousness that comes to us as a gift, not as an infused disposition; further, it is a righteousness that is received by faith, apart from Law. The two ideas are diametrically opposed.

30) Perhaps Dr. Horton thought he could say such things without undergoing the scrutiny of someone who knows better. Again, Catholicism teaches that righteousness is gained apart from the Law. Here's Canon 1 of the Council of Trent: "If anyone shall say that man can be justified before God by his own works which are done either by his own natural powers, or through the teaching of the Law, and without divine grace through Christ Jesus: let him be anathema." Now let's deal with Horton's statement: "Notice what Paul says: It is a righteousness that comes to us as a gift, not as an infused disposition." How did "infused disposition" get into the fray? Have Catholics ever claimed that infusion of grace is not a gift of God? No. So why is Dr. Horton making a polarity of these two components?

In Romans 4, Paul reaches the heart of his argument, appealing to the example of Abraham. "What then shall we say that Abraham our forefather discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." In other words, a salary isn't a gift; the company owes it to you. Rome actually argues that we merit (de congruo) justification by cooperating with grace. But merit is precisely what Paul is excluding here. "However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." In one fell swoop, Paul destroys every plank in the Roman doctrine of justification. Rome says that justification is merited; Paul says it is a gift.

31) Can you see how Dr. Horton's misunderstanding of strict, condign and congruent merit always gets in the way of allowing him to see the truth of this matter? Here it is again. Dr. Horton wants to make you believe that every time you see the word "merit" in Catholicism it refers to something that is paid, not gifted. He couldn't be more wrong. The sad thing about this is that Dr. Horton has had this explained to him before, by me personally, but he refuses to acknowledge it, let alone deal with it. I guess he figures it is better to keep stoking the anti-Catholic machine than it is to get to the real truth of this matter.

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