Justification

CRITICAL: оправдание is the standard Synodal rendering, but Russian Orthodox theology has no developed forensic-declaration doctrine analogous to Reformation justification; salvation is more commonly framed as a synergistic, lifelong process of theosis (обожение) cooperating with grace rather than a one-time legal verdict. Romans’ ‘declared righteous’ sense (a Protestant-shaped reading) must be explained rather than assumed; do not let оправдание quietly resolve into ‘forgiveness of sins’ (прощение грехов), which loses the forensic declaration entirely.