In Christian theology, justification is God's righteous act of removing the condemnation, guilt, and penalty of sin, by grace, while, at the same time, declaring the unrighteous to be righteous, through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice. The means of justification is an area of significant difference amongst the diverse theories of atonement defended within Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant theologies. Justification is often seen as being the theological fault line that divided Roman Catholicism from the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism during the Reformation.