Posted on 10/13/2013 12:01:40 PM PDT by matthewrobertolson
Expounding on the importance of our actions for salvation is, I suppose, my primary “thing.” I have been in so many informal debates over the issue that I have started to lose count of them. I have written about the topic many times. And often, I become angry (like God in 1 Kings 11:9-10) at the mere thought of sola fide (“faith alone”), because I know that it is completely contrary to “what the Lord [has] commanded.” But why?
“Faith alone” was, without a doubt, the primary reason that I left Protestantism. Even though I was ill-educated in theology at the time, I knew that it was illogical.
I like to think of sola fide in terms of criminal law. Imagine that someone went before a judge and was proven guilty of heinous crimes, but then pleaded to the judge that he believed in the judge's authority to convict him and so the judge should not do so – and had that as his only defense. Should the judge convict him – to any degree – or should the judge completely let him off, and then give him a reward?
Do you find the “faith alone” argument compelling in such an instance? I do not. Of course, a “faith alone”-r would say that there is some sort of significant difference between such a scenario in terms of temporal law and such a scenario in terms of eternal law, but there really is not. Protestant arguments for the belief simply do not stand in the face of such scenarios or substantial scrutiny.
I strongly believe that sola fide is at the heart of many Western problems. Self-professed Christians have used it as an excuse to not care for the disadvantaged, to engage in profane sexual activity, etc. – the list goes on and on.
Martin Luther told his followers to “sin and sin boldly” (among other things, as I have documented) because he taught that we are saved solely by our faith in the power of Jesus Christ, apart from our actions. This method of thinking has been adopted by millions of Protestants since his time. But is it supported by the Bible? No. See Hebrews 10:26-27:
“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
“Faith alone” has had a terrible impact on society. People often now shy away from discussing religion or morality with others, fearing conflict. Take, for example, something that transpired between a Lutheran family member and me. After I privately and politely informed her that she had committed a grievous sin (like we are called to do – see Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 6:1, and Ephesians 4:15), she immediately jumped to the “Who are you to judge?” defense and paired it with the “Jesus paid the price” line. I am sure that, for many Catholics, such occurrences are unfortunately familiar.
God has written in our hearts (Romans 2:15) that we should serve Him and others, not our selfish desires -- and we will be punished if we defy Him. The necessity of both good works and abstinence from grave sin gives our lives concrete meaning. If someone takes away the eternal significance of our actions, they rob us of any real purpose: we all just become random, faceless, unimportant beings.
Sola fide does not work either logically or practically; it fails on all counts. Now, you know why I hate it.
(All verses are from the NASB translation.)
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I would suggest that those with the required mental state will as a consequence have a very strong disposition toward doing good works and avoiding sin, but that possession of the required mental state does not guarantee perfection in either regard. Those who have their eyes properly set on the prize, and work as well as they can toward it, will find their reward even if in their earthy existence they stumble quite a bit. Conversely, those who set their eyes short of the prize, achieve those goals, and then consider them "sufficient", are apt to ultimately be found wanting.
I would further suggest that what is needed is a recognition that no matter how bad or good one has been in the past, salvation will depend upon one's striving to improve oneself going forward. Nobody is so bad that they cannot turn themselves around and achieve salvation, and nobody is so good that they no longer need to improve. Instead, people's salvation depends not on their past actions, but rather the extent to which they embrace the continuing need to improve.
If it takes 10 web sites and a million words to explain it there’s something wrong with “it”.
Mathew 11:25: At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Nonsense.
The comment I made is perfectly valid in the context here.
As for the rest of your advice, no sale.
Miriam Webster's definition reads like this:
(1) : an address (as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought...
God being a jealous god, all prayer and worship belong to Him. For a Christian, it would be heretical to address our prayers to anyone other than the eternal God.
So just remember that the next time you pray to Mary, you are robbing God of the worship due to Him alone.
However, in order to receive the Spirit of God in the first place (to get born again), FAITH ALONE is all that is required.
Unless of course, you consider actually getting up out of your seat and going to the altar an act of works ..?? But then, you would have to account for the weak and infirm who only called the name of Jesus. Which I suppose could be considered an act of works ..??
Certainly, after being saved (saved by grace - which doesn’t require works), there were no earthly WORKS which could save you.
So .. it seems that it is FAITH ALONE which saves.
However, when we have been saved and begin to learn the teachings of Jesus, then and only then are we accountable for our “works”. Our works validate our faith.
I have always believed that “works” meant doing something for someone else .. while salvation is doing something for ourselves.
Thus there are three main "paths" to God in the Sanatan Dharma - action, wisdom, and devotion. From these, there are finer and finer branches that represent deeper and deepr focus.
So, from the Hindu point of view, the difference between "faith alone" and taking refuge in saints and sacraments is merely one of a person's chosen path. Jesus even said in Matthew 13:11-13, "To you [disciples] it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."
In other words, Jesus spoke to the people in parables because that's what worked with them - that's what they could understand. If He spoke to them plainly, as He did to the disciples, they wouldn't understand. And worse, they'd get confused and misunderstand, and therefore "from the one who has not [understanding], even what [understanding]he has will be taken away." But to the disciples, He spoke plainly, and He no doubt spoke to them without words, through direct spiritual experience.
But Jesus never, ever said one was superior to the other, that one mode of learning should be accepted and the others destroyed. And also, think about what a parable accomplishes - it is a story many people hear and each takes away from it what it says to them. Does Jesus belabor his parables with strict instructions as to what they mean? No - His power is that when a person contemplates one of His parables, he reaches out to them and gives them the understanding they need through it.
That difference in need for the form of spiritual teachings and practice is what the Sanatan Dharma acknowledges. One is not better or worse than another, as long as all are focused on reaching God, and all are respected. But the Sanatan Dharma also teaches that one must be extremely careful in how one treats another's path. For if the other person is genuinely trying to reach God, one who interferes with them will receive damage to their own path, and their own ability to open up to God's love. Again, Jesus spoke of this when he said in Matthew 18:6 "If anyone causes one of these little ones - those who believe in me - to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
And look at the author of this article. After stating how "Self-professed Christians have used [sola fide] as an excuse to not care for the disadvantaged, to engage in profane sexual activity, etc. – the list goes on and on" - in other words, completely gutting the entire legitimacy of every Protestant as a Christian in the entire world, he then hypocritically states "If someone takes away the eternal significance of our actions, they rob us of any real purpose: we all just become random, faceless, unimportant beings."
There are two modes of thought on this kind of behavior - either the author knows this is exactly what he just did, and is hypocritically declaring his victims have done what he just did to them in order to hide his actions against them through cognitive dissonance, or he has become so blind to his own hypocrisy that he can no longer see it (personally, I believe there's a third mode of sociopathy that combines both of these explanations).
In any event, erasing the "eternal significance of [someone's] actions... robbing [them] of any real purpose" is profoundly hateful, and this driving emotion is confirmed by the final statement of the author: "Now, you know why I hate it."
And yet, though the hate is admitted, its reason is not. The real reason for hate is that Christianity has devolved into not merely separate beliefs about the teachings of Jesus - but the dependency of each mode of Christianity to exist alone, and to negate, destroy or defeat any other beliefs about the teachings of Jesus. This isn't about faith - it's about politics. It's about getting enough votes for your religion to "beat" the other religions, and gain the most world power through the number of your believers. And it's wrong.
And I believe God is punishing Christians, and American Christians especially, because of this nonsense. Yes, punish - the steady march of socialism and now parts of communism is punishment. The election of an openly communist president is a punishment. The destruction of our school systems and the encroachment of murderous sharia law is an punishment. The stomping of our economy through the manipulations of corporate communism is a punishment.
People love to refer to Jesus as "infinite." But they also love to hate - literally hate, in Jesus's name - another person who actually believes that Jesus, in all of His infinitude, might be reaching out to them in a different way. Not in an unAmerican way. Not in a lawless way. Not in an abusive or murderous way. Just differently then them. Infinitely powerful Jesus couldn't and wouldn't do such a thing. So - hate.
And as these Christians argue and fight, the liberals and Leftists and treacherous muslims and illegal Mexicans and communists and Democrats and RINOs laugh, and laugh, and laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
And Jesus weeps.
>> Everything depends upon what is meant by “faith”. &etc
A profitable and well-written post. Thank you!
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[e] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
So if we take this whole portion in context. A change in heart (faith) preceded the deeds of those who believed. Belief comes (and not just belief), but a saving faith that leads to repentance and doing God’s will (which can only come about by being “born of water AND the spirit”).
Bottom line: only God can draw us to Himself by convicting us of your sin (which we are totally wicked Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”), that we need a savior and need to God to cause us to be “born again” and to submit to His lordship and then receiving salvation.
We are saved by Grace through Faith. And it doesn’t contradict James 2:14-25. We know that God never lies (unlike us) so He cannot contradict Himself.
-JS
You’re exactly right, but WE need to pray for those who are confused and blinded that God would open their eyes, not condemn them.
Let’s love this fellow ;)!
That is a misunderstanding of what "faith alone" means. I mean, it depends what is the object of your faith. To use your analogy, the criminal would not use "belief in the judge's authority" as a defense, but rather belief that somebody else had paid the penalty for his crimes.
After I privately and politely informed her that she had committed a grievous sin (like we are called to do – see Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 6:1, and Ephesians 4:15), she immediately jumped to the “Who are you to judge?” defense and paired it with the “Jesus paid the price” line.
Read 1 Cor. 3:12-15 --> "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." To me, this passage is telling me that all my actions will be judged and that, depending on how they are judged, I will earn or lose rewards. But my salvation was assured the moment I placed my faith in Jesus and what He did at the cross. If I don't do any works that will survive the fire (judgment) Paul says that I "will suffer loss (of rewards) but I will be saved yet so as through fire".
This is stupid. The point of “faith alone” is NOT that some judge is giving them unwarranted mercy. Rather, it is that THE judge, as not only judge but as Creator of the world, has declared what is of supreme importance, and it is something ABOVE criminal justice.
You're welcome. I think that the Catholic Church's concept of purgatory is a good one, from the standpoint that it ensures that mostly-good people and mostly-bad people alike will be rewarded for doing good and punished for doing evil. Without such a concept, the only people who will benefit from doing good will be those who would otherwise be "almost" good enough. Anyone who was either already good enough, or nowhere near good enough, may as well not bother.
My own philosophy is that Judgment will consist not of God's reading through the book of each people's lives, tallying up a score, and seeing whether that yields a passing grade, but rather in putting each person to a test (or series of test) which they must pass to achieve salvation. Those of pure heart will pass it easily. Those who are evil at heart will fail the test, no matter how many times they take it, unless or until they cleanse the evil from their hearts through repentance. Sinful behavior is an obstacle not to salvation not because it will affect God's final tally, but rather because it will harm a person's character in ways that will make the final test more difficult.
In my view, what matters is not whether one has sinned, but rather the extent to which one is prone to sin. Past sin is mainly significant because someone who "gets away with" sinful behavior will as a consequence be disposed to engage in more of it, thus making the final Test more difficult.
Many people see Catholics using "confession" as the same type of excuse mechanism for the same types of things. In fact, confession is explicitly for such issues, while your link between them and sola fide is argumentatitve at best.
I wonder if creating cognitive dissonance around this issue is the real purpose behind this article.
What do you need Belloc for? Isn't that the bottom line of the Catholic faith?
Reading the title makes it sound like you’ve received a spirit that makes you hate people of faith.
God's mercy is subject to a paradox much like earthly charity: if someone who attempts to live prudently and make preparation for things that might go wrong, gets caught by misfortune beyond what he could reasonably have anticipated, the granting of assistance to such a person may benefit both the giver and recipient. On the other hand, an expectation that relief will be available in case of calamity, thus obviating any need to prepare oneself, is highly toxic. The ideal behavior for an earthly charity would often be to prioritize relief based upon the extent to which people strive to avoid needing it. Earthly charities often find it hard to measure such things, but God will not. Those who seek to avoid needing his forgiveness while recognizing that their efforts may be insufficient, will receive it; those who expect to rely upon it his forgiveness unless or until they realize such reliance as being a major sin in and of itself.
Yes. Saved by Grace through Faith. But NOT Faith alone. That belief does directly contradict Scripture.
For anyone interested:
The gospel (good news) of eternal salvation:
The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who died on the cross as our substitute.
He paid the penalty for our sins.
He took the punishment that we deserve.
God’s provision of eternal salvation is a free gift.
God, through Jesus Christ, did everything.
All you do is accept that free gift.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
The Bible explains how we, undeserving sinners, can receive the free gift of eternal salvation from a just and holy God:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVES in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:18
He who BELIEVES on him is not condemned: but he who does not BELIEVE is condemned already, because he has not BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, “WHAT MUST WE DO TO DO THE WORKS GOD REQUIRES?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one he has sent.”
John 6:47
(Jesus Christ said) He who BELIEVES in me has everlasting life.
John 11:25-26
(Jesus Christ said) I am the resurrection and the life. He who BELIEVES in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and BELIEVES in me will never die. Do you BELIEVE this?
John 20:31
But these have been written that you may BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that BELIEVING you may have life in His name.
Acts 10:43
Every one who BELIEVES in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Acts 16:30-31
… WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
And they said, BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved
Romans 3:28
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by FAITH without the deeds of the law
Romans 4:5
But to the one who does not work, but BELIEVES in Him who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH is reckoned as righteousness
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 5:2
Through him we have also obtained access by FAITH into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Ephesians 1:13
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also BELIEVED, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast
_____________________________________________________
Christians may foolishly try to use the grace of God as an excuse for licentiousness and antinomianism, but they’re just shooting themselves in the foot, ruining their opportunity to receive eternal rewards from the Lord Jesus Christ at the future Bema Seat evaluation.
Romans 6:1-2A
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!
For anyone interested:
The gospel (good news) of eternal salvation:
The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who died on the cross as our substitute.
He paid the penalty for our sins.
He took the punishment that we deserve.
God’s provision of eternal salvation is a free gift.
God, through Jesus Christ, did everything.
All you do is accept that free gift.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
The Bible explains how we, undeserving sinners, can receive the free gift of eternal salvation from a just and holy God:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVES in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:18
He who BELIEVES on him is not condemned: but he who does not BELIEVE is condemned already, because he has not BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, “WHAT MUST WE DO TO DO THE WORKS GOD REQUIRES?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one he has sent.”
John 6:47
(Jesus Christ said) He who BELIEVES in me has everlasting life.
John 11:25-26
(Jesus Christ said) I am the resurrection and the life. He who BELIEVES in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and BELIEVES in me will never die. Do you BELIEVE this?
John 20:31
But these have been written that you may BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that BELIEVING you may have life in His name.
Acts 10:43
Every one who BELIEVES in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Acts 16:30-31
… WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
And they said, BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved
Romans 3:28
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by FAITH without the deeds of the law
Romans 4:5
But to the one who does not work, but BELIEVES in Him who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH is reckoned as righteousness
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 5:2
Through him we have also obtained access by FAITH into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Ephesians 1:13
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also BELIEVED, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast
_____________________________________________________
Christians may foolishly try to use the grace of God as an excuse for licentiousness and antinomianism, but they’re just shooting themselves in the foot, ruining their opportunity to receive eternal rewards from the Lord Jesus Christ at the future Bema Seat evaluation.
Romans 6:1-2A
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!
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