Both. I think you missed the quote from St. Augustine at the end.
The doctrine of Justification is what separates Protestants from the churches at Rome and their Orthodox cousins
Thank God! I wish the Protestants would realize their grave error and return to the Church. The Protestant teaching that Christ's perfect righteousness is imputed in some completely escaped even the earliest Christian theologians.
Yet, despite numerous heresies that popped up in the first 1,500 years of Christianity, none was even close to Protestant "imputation" theology.
I suppose, the Protestants would quip that none of the Fathers knew the Bible as well as Luther or Calvin, or that God simply decided to wait 1,500 tears to create His 'real' church. LOL!
The basis for righteousness is in repentance that comes from the heart. The Lord's Prayer makes it clear that we cannot expect forgiveness unless we have forgiven those who are indebted to us.
There is nothing "imputed" in the Lord's Prayer. It tells us what we must do in order to ask for forgiveness. To those who sincerely repent, to those who fit the Beatitudes the rewards are rich in the heavens. Are you poor in spirit? Are you merciful? Are you pure in heart?
God erases our disobedience and makes us righteous; our imperfect obedience to the Commandments is made perfect with God's mercy. To the Orthodox, justification is no different than sanctification. The more just we are, the more sanctified we are, and vice versa.
But we don't know that we are made perfect until the end. That's why the Beatitudes are in the future tense, in case you didn't notice.
You need to lift the veil over your eyes and see the message clearly in its proper context – and tense.
I guess you would not include the Apostle Paul in your list of early Christian Theologians, huh?
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:5-7 KJV)