Faith, Love, and Justification in Orthodox Christianity

Start off by reading Galatians 2:16-20.

When Christians hear the word “justification,” many imagine a legal setting: a judge declaring a guilty person “not guilty.” This was the understanding at the heart of the Protestant Reformation, where the doctrine of sola fide — justification by “faith alone” — became central.

Orthodox Christianity, however, sees justification not as a cold legal act but as a living transformation. To be justified is to be restored to communion with God, to begin a new life in Christ, and to set out on the journey towards theosis, deification. St Paul makes this clear when he writes, “Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Justification, in the Orthodox vision, is not merely being acquitted of guilt, but entering into a relationship of peace and communion with God.

Abraham and the Old Testament Foundations

The story begins with Abraham. Genesis tells us: “And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham trusted God’s promise even when it seemed impossible, and this faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. St Cyril of Alexandria explains: “Abraham was justified before the Law, not by works, but by faith, that he might be the father of all who believe” (PG 74:953). Faith here is not an abstract belief, but a living trust that is proved in obedience, as when Abraham offered Isaac (Genesis 22).

The Law given through Moses was a step on this journey. It guided the people, but it could not, by itself, make them righteous. St Paul teaches that “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). St John Chrysostom comments: “The Law did not justify, but it restrained, it showed sin, it prepared the way for faith” (Homilies on Galatians, Homily 3).

The prophets promised something greater still. Jeremiah proclaimed, “I will make a new covenant… I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:31–33). Ezekiel announced: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). From the beginning, justification was not about rules but about transformed hearts.

Christ and the New Testament Fulfilment

All of this finds fulfilment in Christ. Paul insists, “A man is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). Yet he also insists that “the only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). James complements this teaching when he writes: “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17), and again, “A person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).

Jesus Himself ties love to obedience: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). For Orthodoxy, then, justification is never about faith in isolation. It is about faith alive with love, fulfilled in obedience to Christ, and sustained in the Church.

The Fathers of the Church

The Fathers of the Church consistently reject the idea of a bare faith. St John Chrysostom preached: “By faith we have been freed from our sins, and have received righteousness and sanctification. But this is not apart from works, but in order to be accounted worthy of justification, we must also show forth a right life” (Homily on Galatians 2).

St Cyril of Alexandria calls faith “the root of all justification, the foundation of all sanctification,” yet insists that it is “made perfect by love and works of virtue” (Commentary on Galatians, PG 74:953). St Maximus the Confessor deepens the thought: “Faith is the beginning of our salvation and the root of all good; but it is made active by love. For the work of faith is love, and the completion of love is the indwelling of God” (Philokalia, vol. 2). St Gregory Palamas is equally clear: “We are justified not by faith alone, but by faith which is made alive through love for Christ and the keeping of His commandments” (Homily 31, On Faith).

The imagery is consistent: faith is the seed or the root, but it must grow into love, virtue, and obedience, or it is lifeless.

Orthodox Theology Today

Modern Orthodox theologians continue in this same vein. Georges Florovsky described justification as “the restoration of man to communion with God… not only acquittal, but the new creation of man in Christ” (Bible, Church, Tradition, p. 105). John Meyendorff emphasised that “faith is not mere belief but total commitment, participation in Christ, who is Himself our righteousness” (Byzantine Theology, p. 163).

Dumitru Stăniloae stresses that “justification is only the first step; it opens into sanctification and theosis. Faith is active in love and nourished in the mysteries of the Church, making us sons in the Son” (Dogmatic Theology, vol. 2, p. 81). For Vladimir Lossky, justification cannot be separated from deification: “To be justified is to begin to be deified” (Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, p. 115). John Romanides interprets justification in therapeutic terms: “Justification is not a legal state but the healing of man’s nous. Faith is the noetic vision of God restored through purification, illumination, and deification” (The Ancestral Sin, p. 85).

Here too Scripture supports this vision. Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Peter adds that through Christ’s promises we may “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Orthodox and Protestant Contrasts

The difference with Protestant teaching lies not in the importance of faith, but in its isolation. The Reformers spoke of justification as a legal declaration, where Christ’s righteousness is imputed to the believer by faith alone. The Orthodox Church insists that while faith is indeed central, it is never alone. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Faith must be alive with love, empowered by the sacraments, and growing into holiness.

Paul exhorts Christians: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you” (Philippians 2:12–13). This synergy — cooperation between divine grace and human freedom — is at the heart of the Orthodox understanding.

Living Justification in the Church

Justification is not abstract but sacramental. It is lived and experienced in the Church. Baptism is described by Paul as “the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). In the Eucharist, Christ Himself says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:51). In confession, James tells us to “confess your sins to one another… that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

Thus justification is not simply a status but a way of life, sustained by prayer, fasting, charity, and the sacraments.

Conclusion: Justification and the Kingdom

Justification, then, is not of this world. It is the beginning of the life of the Kingdom. Paul reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Jesus Himself commands us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

St Symeon the New Theologian captured this vision when he wrote: “He who is justified has already begun to shine with the light of the Kingdom” (Hymns of Divine Love).

In the Orthodox vision, justification is not a single legal act, but the beginning of transfiguration. Faith opens the door, love proves its reality, and the sacraments nourish it. To be justified is to begin to be deified, to live even now as citizens of the heavenly Kingdom.

Bibliography

Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation. Translated and edited by A Religious of CSMV. New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996.

Chrysostom, John. Homilies on Galatians. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 13. Edited by Philip Schaff. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.

Cyril of Alexandria. Commentary on Galatians. PG 74. Paris: Migne, 1864.

Florovsky, Georges. Bible, Church, Tradition: An Eastern Orthodox View. Belmont, MA: Nordland, 1972.

Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies. Translated by Dominic J. Unger. New York: Paulist Press, 1992.

Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. Translated by members of the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997.

Maximus the Confessor. Philokalia, vol. 2. Translated by G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware. London: Faber and Faber, 1981.

Meyendorff, John. Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes. 2nd edn. New York: Fordham University Press, 1983.

Palamas, Gregory. Homily 31: On Faith. In The Homilies. Translated by Christopher Veniamin. South Canaan, PA: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2009.

Romanides, John. The Ancestral Sin. Ridgewood, NJ: Zephyr, 2002.

Stăniloae, Dumitru. Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 2. Translated by Ioan Ionita and Robert Barringer. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2000.

Symeon the New Theologian. Hymns of Divine Love. Translated by George A. Maloney. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1995.