Let's not be mean to each other; that's not what the Lord wishes!
If baptism is taken as the instrumental cause, then Paul contradicts what he had established before, namely that justification is by faith, not baptism. *Hermeneutics.
According to Catholic teaching, while justifying righteousness is the righteousness of God because it comes from God and is Christ’s gift and merit won on the cross: “The causes of this justification are:
the final cause is the glory of God and of Christ and life everlasting;
the efficient cause is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies…
the meritorious cause is… our Lord Jesus Christ…
the instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of faith, without which no one was ever justified,
the single formal cause is the righteousness of God, not that by which He Himself is righteous, but that by which He makes us righteous, that, namely, with which we being endowed by Him, are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and not only are we reputed but we are truly called and are righteous, receiving righteousness within us, each one according to his own measure, which the Holy Ghost distributes to everyone as He wills, and according to each one’s disposition and cooperation.” (Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, Chap. 7); it also represents the dynamic relationship between the person and Jesus Christ and thus can be impacted by the person’s actions, choices, obedience, disobedience, sins, etc., and can grow or be lost altogether through grave sin: “I warn
you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21, D-R).
We all agree that being born again exists: “Amen, Amen, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (GREEK: Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι,
ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ); but I would assume that you, being reformed, also admit that regeneration [or being born again] changes the person interiorly (I get this from the Reformed Protestant confessions of faith which explicitly declare that regeneration creates a new heart and a new spirit in man. From the
1646 Westminster Confession of Faith, The 1658 Savoy Declaration, and The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 13 on Sanctification: “They, who are once effectually called, and
regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them.”), but divide regeneration from justifying righteousness [the formal cause of justification], which is a huge issue.
Prior to the reformation, no one had distinguished the effects of regeneration and justification in the way reformed scholars did, as it was universally recognized and believed that regeneration and justification do things vice-versa: “. . . by the
washing [λουτρόν] of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5, D-R); because of the Biblical teaching that you are regenerated or born again to a new status before God. Therefore, if one can prove that justification does regenerate or regeneration does justify, that contradicts the position of reformed scholars. So, while the aforementioned
Reformed Confessions of Faith acknowledged that regeneration creates a new heart and a new spirit in man, it simultaneously insists that when God justifies, He does not regenerate or infuse righteousness [as you said, "public proclamation of one's inward spiritual relation to Christ attained before the baptism"], this is coagulated through the aforementioned
Reformed Confessions of Faith:
- Chap. 11 on Justification: “Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone.”
- Chap. 13 on Sanctification: “They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them.” (The 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith, The 1658 Savoy Declaration, and The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith)
However, the problem lies in the insistence that God’s declaration of righteousness is not based on His work of regeneration or that which is wrought in the individual. Moreover, you mentioned that '
sola fide' is the instrumental cause, which in table form would look something like this:
| Causes of Justification: | Protestant View | Catholic View |
| The Efficient Cause: | God | God “who washes and sanctifies” |
| The Formal Cause, i.e., Justifying Righteousness: | The alien righteousness of Christ; it does not change you or reside in you. | Sanctifying grace in the soul (regeneration or the new birth) |
| The Instrumental Cause, i.e., the means to appropriate Justifying Righteousness: | Sola fide (faith alone) | The Sacrament of Baptism (which infuses faith, hope, and charity) |
Yet Robertson is incorrect, as in Catholic teaching, God uses the instrument [aka the means of baptism] to regenerate the soul and infuse it with faith and sanctifying grace, thus is the formal cause of justification:
- “And Peter said to them: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38, D-R)
- “… having been buried with him in baptism, by which you were also raised with him through the faith.” (Colossians 2:12, D-R)
- “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through the faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27, D-R)
- “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you…” (1 Peter 3:21, D-R)
As we talked about earlier in this thread, someone who does not have the use of reason, such as an infant or an elderly individual, even though that person cannot make an act of faith, the habit/disposition of supernatural/justifying faith is infused into their soul along with hope, charity, and sanctifying grace in Baptism:
- “For you are all the children of God by faith, through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως]. For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27, D-R)
- “Buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως] of the operation of God, who hath raised him up from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12, D-R)
- “For by grace you are saved through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως], and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God;” (Ephesians 2:8, D-R)
These infused virtues make the baptized child or elderly individual one of Christ’s faithful, even though the person cannot yet make an act of faith. In the case of adults or those with the use of reason, they must actively possess an initial belief in the preaching of the Gospel and the Christian faith, which moves them to approach baptism (Mark 16:16 and Acts 8:37). Their initial act of belief in the preaching of the Gospel, however, does not become justifying faith and serve as the root and foundation of justifying righteousness in the soul
until they receive baptism. Baptism infuses it, and that’s how they become Christ’s disciples (Matthew 28:19). Many verses in the New Testament show that receiving baptism is how one enters Christ’s body [i.e., ‘
dia tēs pisteōs‘ (through faith)]:
- “For you are all the children of God by faith, through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως]. For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27, D-R)
- “Buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως] of the operation of God, who hath raised him up from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12, D-R)
That’s because, just like Galatians 3:26-27 and Colossians 2:12, Ephesians 2:8 describes how converts receive initial salvation and forgiveness of sins in water baptism: “For by grace you are saved
through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως], and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, D-R); it’s also why Scripture clearly and repeatedly connects entering Christ Jesus’ body with receiving baptism, which is how one enters Christ through the faith (see Galatians 3:26-27 and Colossians 2:12). In the Catholic perspective, there’s nowhere for those who proclaim
'sola fide' to put regeneration. So, the
Reformed Confessions of Faith contradicted itself in saying that faith alone [which does not change the person and is not located within him] is the formal cause or basis of justification.
Yet they simultaneously teach that God changes the status of, saves, and forgives man through regeneration. This is hypocritical. See James White as an example: “The elect, until they are
regenerated, are fallen sons of Adam as are all others” (James White,
The Potter’s Freedom, p. 252). White, here, admits that regeneration justifies and, therefore, does not follow the Reformed position on justification. Thus, when Reformed scholars say that regeneration or being born again saves, that contradicts
‘forensic’ justification because regeneration is not a cause of justification in any way. Regeneration can’t be the ‘formal cause’ of justification
because they teach that the ‘
formal cause‘
is the alien righteousness of Christ that does not regenerate or change the person. And it can’t be the ‘instrumental cause’ because that’s faith alone, and regeneration is definitely distinct from faith in Reformed theology.
| CAUSES OF JUSTIFICATION: | Protestant View | Catholic View |
| The Efficient Cause: | God | God “who washes and sanctifies” |
| The Formal Cause, i.e., Justifying Righteousness: | The alien righteousness of Christ; it does not change you or reside in you. | Sanctifying grace in the soul (regeneration or the new birth) |
| The Instrumental Cause, i.e., the means to appropriate Justifying Righteousness: | Sola fide (faith alone) | The Sacrament of Baptism (which infuses faith, hope, and charity) |
This is, of course, a huge problem and, to my knowledge, has not been patched up by Reformed scholars of the present day.
