At the beginning of the audience, Galatians 2:19-20 was read out to pilgrims in various languages.
The pope highlighted what he said was a “novelty” in St. Paul’s teaching: that justification comes through grace.
“The Apostle is always mindful of the experience that changed his life: his meeting with the Risen Jesus on the way to Damascus. Paul had been a proud, religious, and zealous man, convinced that justification consisted in the scrupulous observance of the precepts of the law,” he said.
“Now, however, he has been conquered by Christ, and faith in Him has completely transformed him, allowing him to discover a truth that had been hidden: we do not become just through our own effort, no, it is not us, but it is Christ, with his grace, who makes us just.”
But the pope said it would be wrong to assume that Paul therefore rejected the Law of Moses that had so profoundly shaped his life.
“We must not, however, conclude that the Mosaic Law, for Paul, had lost its value; rather, it remains an irrevocable gift from God. It is, the Apostle writes, ‘holy’ (Romans 7:12),” Francis noted.
“Even for our spiritual life, observing the commandments is essential — we have already said this many times. But even here, we cannot count on our efforts: the grace of God that we receive in Christ is fundamental.”
The pope’s comments were notable as his previous general audience remarks on Jewish law aroused controversy. Rabbis wrote to him following his audience address on Aug. 11, expressing concern that his words implied that Jewish law was obsolete.
Vatican Cardinal Kurt Koch replied to the Jewish leaders, assuring them that Francis’ remarks did not devalue the Torah.
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Continuing his explanation of justification, the pope recalled the words of the Apostle James, that “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).
He said that James’ teaching, which Reformation leader Martin Luther sharply criticized, complemented that of Paul.
“For both, therefore, the response of faith demands that we be active in our love for God and in our love of neighbor,” he said.
He continued: “Justification incorporates us into the long history of salvation that demonstrates God’s justice: before our continual falls and inadequacies, he has not given up, but he wanted to make us just and he did so through grace, through the gift of Jesus Christ, of his death and resurrection.”
He recalled that he frequently described “God’s style” in three words: nearness, compassion, and tenderness.
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