The catechism of justification constitues the central element of Lutheran theology. Luther approached this problem while he was talking about S. Paul’s epistles, in particular those to the Romans, he found a sentence that struck him: "The just will live in faith". This catechism resolved the problem of the action that every single man has to take to be made just by God.

In Luther’s time in the church there wasn’t an official catechism of justification, approved by an ecumenical council. Luther’s idea was that good actions were unimportant towards justification: in this case God was active and human beings passive. The sinner’s justification was founded on God’s grace and it was received only by faith.

Many critics considered this idea outrageous, because it seemed to say that God despised morality and He wasn’t interested in good actions. What Luther meant was that good actions weren’t the cause of justification, but its aim. The believer did good actions out of gratitude to God, who had forgiven him, instead of trying to obtain His forgiveness. This was a moral of gratitude and not of calculation.

BACK