Did the Reformers Believe in a Justification by Works?

Only with careful distinctions, which they had to make, since James says, "a person is justified by works."

The early Reformed affirmed that God justifies us by faith through the imputed righteousness of Christ, and this righteousness alone constitutes the meritorious cause of our salvation. As Thomas Cranmer says, “Christ himself is the only meritorious cause of our justification” (The First Book of Homilies, 2021: 63).

And they also affirmed that God gifts us another righteousness, which they call inchoate and inherent righteousness or sometimes sanctification. As this righteousness follows upon Christ imputing his righteousness to us, John Calvin will see this righteousness as imperfect but covered by Christ.

And therefore, Calvin notes, “the good works done by believers are accounted righteous, or, what is the same thing, are reckoned as righteous” (ICR 3.17.8). That means, for Calvin, that both Christ’s righteousness imputed to us and our subsequent good works are (in two different modes) reckoned as righteous, not because of our goodness or merit but entirely because of Christ. Calvin is not alone in this estimation, as I have argued elsewhere.

Nothing here suggests that the Reformed held to a justification by works. Except, of course, the sticky part of history where many did just that! For example, Herman Witsius points out that our inherent righteousness can be thought of as a justification by works subsequent to our justification by faith. This latter justification amounts to being “declared to be truly regenerated, believing, and holy; behaving as becomes those who are regenerated, believing and holy” (Covenants, §3.25).

The distinction here matters: the word justification takes on more than one sense. We can say that Christ perfectly obeyed the law in his whole life, and thus merits righteousness; and this perfect righteousness becomes ours by faith through our partaking of Christ via the Spirit. But then we can speak of justification in another sense, as demonstrating or testifying to our righteousness. That is the kind of thing that Witsius thinks of when he speaks of being “justified by his works” which he immediately takes to mean “declared to be truly regenerated, believing and holy” (Covenants §3.8.25).

Why use such language? Because Witsius, along with many others, felt bound by the biblical language used in James 2:21 and 24, the latter saying, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” For Witsius, this passage speaks about being justified by works since James literally says that. But this does not contradict Paul, who speaks about being justified by faith, for Paul speaks about Christ’s imputed righteousness, while James refers to demonstrating or testifying to the reality that one is “declared to be truly regenerated, believing and holy.”

If these arguments seem unusual, let me try to clarify them in two ways. First, by showing this view differs from 16th and 17th century Roman Catholic arguments; and second, how the above argument fits into the general argument for justification.

Roman Catholic View

The Reformed objected to a then-present view of Romanists who argued for an initial and subsequent justification. The first is of grace, and the second increases justification by Spirit-wrought works that merit a reward. That subsequent justification, which is meritorious, the Reformed as a whole rejected.

Instead, they claimed that Christ’s righteousness, merited by his whole incarnate life, is imputed to us by faith. This alone is the cause, power, and merit of our justification before God’s tribunal. Nothing else can justify us before God. Even our good works and inherent righteousness are imperfect, weak, and non-meritorious.

They cannot justify us before God. They can, however, show that God has imputed his righteousness to us and that we have subsequently become holy and just. This latter righteousness is imperfect but real; it is consequent to Christ’s imputed righteousness and testifies to it and to our inherent righteousness. But it could never justify us before God due to human sin and our weakness.

So James’s justification by works is not a secondary justification that shows our works do in fact merit God’s favour. Rather, this latter righteousness or justification demonstrates or shows that one is regenerate, for without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).

General View of Justification, Imputation, and Good Works

Let me walk through a general theory of justification in Reformed thinking, at least in the 16th century, to further clarify what a justification by works might mean.

First, Christ’s merit is his whole life (so Ursinus). Christ’s merit is imputed to us by faith. This imputation comes to us by union with Christ.

Second, God gives the gift of inherent righteousness after imputing Christ’s righteousness; inherent righteousness is inchoate and imperfect. Inherent righteousness is also called sanctification; it means we can do and necessarily do good works.

Third, these good works are not meritorious because they are imperfect and marred by sin in this life; this inherent righteousness which leads to good works differs from Christ’s perfect and meritorious righteousness, which does not inhere in us; it is outside of us and thus imputed.

Fourth, good works do not justify us before God’s tribunal; and our habit of good works does not increase our merit before God. Christ’s righteousness alone is the sole ground of justification before God. We have an interest in his blood, since our righteousness can never justify us before God. Yet these good works necessarily accompany living faith, follow upon Christ’s imputed righteousness, and flow from the divine gift of inherent righteousness.

Fifth, good works are necessary therefore as a way of life, but they do not grant a right to eternal life. They point out the way we should walk in; but only Christ’s merit grants us a right to eternal life. That right comes by way of faith and Christ’s imputed righteousness.

So in justification by faith, God pardons our sin and imputes Christ’s righteousness to us. Justification by works shows our righteousness, testifying to its presence and reality, but does not have any meritorious function. This righteousness’s inherence in us is evidence of a prior imputation and impartation of an inchoate righteousness. The former is extra nos, the latter intra nos.

Conclusion

Reformed theologians have tackled passages like James 2 head-on. They found language to explain what John meant when he said, “Whoever practices righteousness is righteous” (1 John 3:7). They could affirm that both Zechariah and Elizabeth “were both righteous before God” (Luke 1:6).

To do so, they not only defined what Paul meant by justification by faith, but also what James meant by justification by works. They did not shy away from the biblical language, but they made careful distinctions so that we might be both biblical in language and able to promote the doctrine upon which the whole church stands: that God justifies us by faith in Christ Jesus, solely on the merits of Christ and not by our works, lest any should boast.

To read more on this topic, see my longer article at The Gospel Coalition Canada by clicking on the image below.

Consider also reading my article on good works as a continuation of justification and way to life in Petrus van Mastricht.