How can anyone be in the right with God? How can we be assured of his ongoing acceptance? That he counts us as righteous, without sin? The Anglican Church has made this one of its big ideas. Here is a version of one of the 39 Articles of Religion (the Anglican Standard of Doctrine).
11. About the justification of Humans
We are accounted righteous before God, only because of the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not because of our own works or because of what we deserve. So the doctrine, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and full of comfort, as is expressed more fully in the Homily of Justification.
The biblical doctrine of justification describes the grounds on which God justifies sinners: that is declares them to be righteous. The Roman Catholic Council of Trent described justification not just as the forgiveness of sins but as the renewal and sanctification of the inner person that comes about by receiving God’s grace and gifts. This meant we had to be holy in practice.
The Anglican Article rejects the teaching of Trent. It says that justification means to be counted as righteous by God. The basis for it is the death of the Lord Jesus. It is not based on how good we are, or on what we do. We are all sinners who need forgiveness. It is a free gift from God which he promises in the gospel. The way we come to receive justification is by believing the promise of the gospel. We cannot earn it.
This doctrine is a wholesome doctrine, that is it brings spiritual health. It assures us that we have peace with God, and saves us from doing good just to prove we are good. It frees us to serve Christ for his sake. It is full of comfort because it forms the basis for holy living. It is not the reward for holy living, but rather the starting place. It encourages us to be holy for the sake of being like God, not in order to win his approval.
Dale