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Examined Doctrine
Salvation Justification

When God accepts a sinner, does he declare them righteous or make them righteous?

All three views say a sinner is put right with God by his grace. They split over what that is: a verdict that declares the sinner righteous, or a real change that makes them righteous, which the medieval writers describe as grace poured into the soul. That gives three views.

The 3 views side by side

Declared righteousForensic justificationMade righteous, not only declaredChanged by grace poured into the soulInfused grace
What happens when God justifies someone?

God declares them righteous, like a judge giving a verdict. Their sins are forgiven and Christ’s righteousness is counted as theirs.

From John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, John MacArthur, John Owen, R.C. Sproul, Westminster Confession, Second London Baptist Confession, Justin Peters, The Church of Eleven22 Statement of Faith

God actually makes them righteous, not only declares them so.

From Augustine of Hippo, John Chrysostom

God pours grace into the soul, and that grace really changes the person.

From Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham

Where do good works fit?

They follow as fruit and evidence. They are never the reason anyone is justified.

From Josh Howerton, George Whitefield, Huldrych Zwingli, Philip Melanchthon

Augustine calls eternal life a reward for good works, but says those works are gifts of grace too. Chrysostom says it is “not of works, but of faith.”

From Augustine of Hippo, John Chrysostom

Scotus and Ockham say a good act counts for what God freely accepts it as. Ockham adds that God owes no one anything.

From John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham

How does it reach a person?

Through faith alone, which receives Christ. Faith itself is not the righteousness.

From Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Westminster Confession, Jonathan Edwards, John MacArthur

Chrysostom places it at baptism: the baptized are “not only clean, but both holy and just.” Augustine pairs that first change with grace that keeps sustaining.

From John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo

Ordinarily through the sacraments.

From Thomas Aquinas

Where they differ among themselves

What exactly is credited. The 1689 Confession, Whitefield and Spurgeon name Christ’s obedient life as well as his death; Wesley calls justification simply “pardon.”

From Second London Baptist Confession, George Whitefield, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, John Wesley

Little between the two. Both sides of the Reformation quote Chrysostom, since he says God makes sinners “suddenly righteous” and that it is “not of works, but of faith.”

From John Chrysostom

Whether God is bound to it. Scotus and Ockham say God could accept a soul without it, though in the order he set up he works through it; what Ockham’s version amounts to is disputed.

From John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham

Key passage
Romans 4:51 Corinthians 6:11Romans 3:24
In their own words
“Thus we simply interpret justification, as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.”
John Calvin, Institutes III.xi.2 (Beveridge trans.)PRIMARY SOURCE
“So also is the declaring of His righteousness not only that He is Himself righteous, but that He doth also make them that are filled with the putrefying sores of sin suddenly righteous... Doubt not then: for it is not of works, but of faith.”
John Chrysostom, Homily 7 on Romans, on Romans 3:24-26 (NPNF1-11)PRIMARY SOURCE

Nobody holding this view is quoted on this map yet. Their positions are summarised from secondary sources; open one below to see why.

On this map
21 figures2 figures3 figures

Who holds which view

21
2
3
4
Declared righteousMade righteous, not only declaredChanged by grace poured into the soulNo stance
30 OF 36 FIGURES · 20 QUOTED · 4 WITHOUT A STANCE

6 other figures on the map have no entry on this doctrine. That means nobody has assessed them on it — not that they hold no view.

Declared righteous

Forensic — righteousness imputed, not infused

Huldrych Zwingli1484 – 1531AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJacobus Arminius1560 – 1609AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJohn Calvin1509 – 1564AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDMartin Luther1483 – 1546AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDPhilip Melanchthon1497 – 1560AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJohn Owen1616 – 1683AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJonathan Edwards1703 – 1758AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDSecond London Baptist Confession1689LEANS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDWestminster Confession1646AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDGeorge Whitefield1714 – 1770AFFIRMSPRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJohn Wesley1703 – 1791AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDCharles Haddon Spurgeon1834 – 1892AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDBilly Graham1918 – 2018LEANSPRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDGavin OrtlundlivingAFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJohn MacArthur1939 – 2025AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJohn Piperb. 1946AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJosh HowertonlivingAFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCEJustin PeterslivingAFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDR.C. Sproul1939 – 2017AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDThe Church of Eleven22 Statement of Faithundated (read 2026)AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDTim Keller1950 – 2023AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNT

Made righteous, not only declared

Includes being made righteous, not only declared

Augustine of Hippo354 – 430LEANS°PRIMARY SOURCEJohn Chrysostomc.347 – 407AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTED

Changed by grace poured into the soul

By infused grace, mediated sacramentally

John Duns Scotusc. 1266 – 1308AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTThomas Aquinas1225 – 1274AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTWilliam of Ockhamc. 1287 – 1347CONTESTED°DISPUTED READING

Figures who hold no stance here

These are not gaps in the table. Each group below says which kind of blank it is — searched and not found, held open on purpose, never framed in these terms, or deliberately unassigned because no stance fits.

NO STANCE FITS3 FIGURES

Researched, and deliberately unassigned — every available stance would misdescribe the figure.

NO POSITION FOUND1 FIGURE

Searched and not located. An honest gap in the map.

How to read a cell — sourcing tiers, blanks, and why some figures are never quoted
PRIMARY SOURCEread in a primary source
STANDARD ACCOUNTstandard scholarly account
DISPUTED READINGdisputed among scholars
NOT LOCATEDnot located in a source

A cell marked quoted carries the figure's own words — 359 of 518of them, about 69%. Where there is no quotation the claim is still sourced, and the tier says how far. 3 figures carry no quotation at all, for reasons that differ: a living author cannot be quoted at length under copyright where Calvin can, and a figure at the standard account tier has simply had no primary-source pass yet. 3 of them state their own reason on their page.

A state label ending in ° was read from the stance, tier and note rather than stated on the map. See themethodology.