Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)
No. 1987:
The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us,
that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” and through Baptism:
But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will
never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death
he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to
God. So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin and alive
to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:8-11).
No. 1989:
The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion,
effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the
beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting
forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the
remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior
man.”
No. 1992:
Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of
Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and
pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement
for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament
of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us
inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and
of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from
law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put
forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This
was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance
he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time
that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in
Jesus (Rom. 3:21-26).
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