Editing Reformed Christianity (section)

=== Salvation ===
{{see also|Sola fide|Justification (theology){{!}}Justification|Sanctification in Christianity{{!}}Sanctification}}
[[File:Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn - Return of the Prodigal Son - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Parable of the Prodigal Son]], depicted in a portrait by [[Rembrandt]], illustrates forgiveness.]]
Reformed theologians, along with other Protestants, believe salvation from punishment for sin is to be given to all those who have [[Faith in Christianity|faith]] in Christ.{{sfn|Allen|2010|pp=77–78}} Faith is not purely intellectual, but involves trust in God's promise to save.{{sfn|McKim|2001|p=114}} Protestants do not hold there to be any other requirement for salvation, but that [[faith alone]] is sufficient.{{sfn|Allen|2010|pp=77–78}} However, this faith in the Lord Jesus is understood as one that effects obedience. In a commentary on Ezekiel 18, Calvin stated:  "faith cannot justify when it is without works, because it is dead, and a mere fiction...Thus faith can be no more separated from works than the sun from his heat."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christ |first1=T. Michael |title=A New Creation in Christ: Walter Marshall's Theology of Sanctification |date=8 August 2024 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=979-8-3852-0257-7 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_gkZEQAAQBAJ&dq=Therefore+faith+cannot+justify+when+it+is+without+works,+because+it+is+dead,+and+a+mere+fiction.+He+who+is+born+of+God+is+just,+as+John+says+(1+John+v.+18).+Thus+faith+can+be+no+more+separated+from+works+than+the+sun+from+his+heat:&pg=PR13 |access-date=1 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Justification (theology)|Justification]] is the part of salvation where God pardons the sin of those who believe in Christ. It is historically held by Protestants to be the most important article of Christian faith, though more recently it is sometimes given less importance out of [[ecumenical]] concerns.{{sfn|Allen|2010|p=80}} People are not on their own able to fully [[Repentance in Christianity|repent]] of their sin or prepare themselves to repent because of their sinfulness. Therefore, justification is held to arise solely from God's free and gracious act.{{sfn|McKim|2001|p=113}}

[[Sanctification in Christianity|Sanctification]] is the part of salvation in which God makes believers holy, by enabling them to exercise greater love for God and for other people.{{sfn|Allen|2010|p=84}} The [[good works]] accomplished by believers as they are sanctified are considered to be the necessary outworking of the believer's salvation, though they do not cause the believer to be saved.{{sfn|McKim|2001|p=114}} Sanctification, like justification, is by faith, because doing good works is simply living as the child of God one has become.{{sfn|Allen|2010|p=85}}