The fruits of justification

Friday of week 28 in Ordinary Time

Luke 12:1-7

St. Paul expounded on justification in the case of Abraham, who was justified, that is, made clean, not by his own action, but by his faith in God.  Faith or "pananampalataya" is a fruit of justification.

Second, another fruit of justification is conversion or "pagbabalik-loob".  A person changes simply because of God's goodness.

Third fruit of justification is righteousness or "pagiging matuwid".  It is a state when a person lives out the righteousness of God.

All these run counter with hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy defies faith; it is to give merit to oneself as the source of goodness.

Hypocrisy runs counter with conversion.  A hypocrite sees no need of conversion because he / she treats himself or herself as self-righteous.

Finally, his concept of righteousness is self-righteousness, a form of spiritual pride which is one of the seven capital sins.

Let our every thought, word, and action result from the faith God has given us.

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