Joint Declaration: 1. Biblical Message of Justification
Well, I see they refer to the Romans passage (Romans 3:23-25) which Luther and the Roman theologians argued over. It was a rather humorous debate (at least reading from Dr. Luther's letters). The Roman theologians accused Luther of adding "allein" (alone) to the Vulgate text, that the word wasn't in the Vulgate. Luther's response? Of course not! The Vulgate is written in Latin; "allein" is a German word. Of course it wouldn't be in there.
Notice, the passage above refrains from "sola fide" (by faith alone. Again, another instance when the wording is intentionally vague so that all parties can agree to something.
Notice that the New Testament is referred to as the Gospel portion of the Bible. Again, as stated earlier, an oversimplification.
10. Paul sets forth the Gospel as the power of God for salvation of the person who has fallen under the power of sin, as the message that proclaims that "the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith" (Romans 1:16-17) and that grants "justification" (Romans 3:21-31). He proclaims Christ as "our righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30), applying to the risen Lord what Jeremiah proclaimed about God himself (23:6). In Christ's death and resurrection all dimensions of his saving work have their roots for he is "our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:25). All human beings are in need of God's righteousness, "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 2:23; cf. Romans 1:18-3:22; 11:32; Galatians 3:22). In Galatians (3:6) and Romans (4:3-9), Paul understands Abraham's faith (Genesis 15:6) as faith in the God who justifies the sinner and calls upon the testimony of the Old Testament to undergird his gospel that this righteousness will be reckoned to all who, like Abraham, trust in God's promise. "For the righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; cf. Galatians 3:11; Romans 1:17). In Paul's letters, God's righteousness is also power for those who have faith (Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21). In Christ he makes it their righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Justification becomes ours through Christ Jesus "whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith" (Romans 3:25; see 3:21-28). "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This particular paragraph actually gets into
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