Posted on 06/04/2017 12:29:15 PM PDT by ealgeone
Question: "Why is sola fide important?"
Answer: Sola fide which means "faith alone" is important because it is one of the distinguishing characteristics or key points that separate the true biblical Gospel from false gospels. At stake is the very Gospel itself and it is therefore a matter of eternal life or death. Getting the Gospel right is of such importance that the Apostle Paul would write in Galatians 1:9, “As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” Paul was addressing the same question that sola fide addresses—on what basis is man declared by God to be justified? Is it by faith alone or by faith combined with works? Paul makes it clear in Galatians and Romans that man is “justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law” (Galatians 2:16), and the rest of the Bible concurs.
Sola fide is one of the five solas that came to define and summarize the key issues of the Protestant Reformation. Each of these Latin phrases represents a key area of doctrine that was an issue of contention between the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church, and today they still serve to summarize key doctrines essential to the Gospel and to Christian life and practice. The Latin word sola means “alone” or “only” and the essential Christian doctrines represented by these five Latin phrases accurately summarize the biblical teaching on these crucial subjects: sola scriptura—Scripture alone, sola fide—faith alone, sola gratia—grace alone, sola Christus—Christ alone, and sola Deo gloria—for the glory of God alone. Each one is vitally important, and they are all closely tied together. Deviation from one will lead to error in another essential doctrine, and the result will almost always be a false gospel which is powerless to save.
Sola fide or faith alone is a key point of difference between not only Protestants and Catholics but between biblical Christianity and almost all other religions and teachings. The teaching that we are declared righteous by God (justified) on the basis of our faith alone and not by works is a key doctrine of the Bible and a line that divides most cults from biblical Christianity. While most religions and cults teach men what works they must do to be saved, the Bible teaches that we are not saved by works, but by God’s grace through His gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Biblical Christianity is distinct from every other religion in that it is centered on what God has accomplished through Christ’s finished work, while all other religions are based on human achievement. If we abandon the doctrine of justification by faith, we abandon the only way of salvation. “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Romans 4:4-5). The Bible teaches that those that trust Jesus Christ for justification by faith alone are imputed with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), while those who try to establish their own righteousness or mix faith with works will receive the punishment due to all who fall short of God’s perfect standard.
Sola fide—the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works—is simply recognizing what is taught over and over in Scripture—that at some point in time God declares ungodly sinners righteous by imputing Christ’s righteousness to them (Romans 4:5, 5:8, 5:19). This happens apart from any works and before the individual actually begins to become righteous. This is an important distinction between Catholic theology that teaches righteous works are meritorious towards salvation and Protestant theology that affirms the biblical teaching that righteous works are the result and evidence of a born-again person who has been justified by God and regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit.
How important is sola fide? It is so important to the Gospel message and a biblical understanding of salvation that Martin Luther described it as being “the article with and by which the church stands.” Those who reject sola fide reject the only Gospel that can save them and by necessity embrace a false gospel. That is why Paul so adamantly denounces those who taught law-keeping or other works of righteousness in Galatians 1:9 and other passages. Yet today this important biblical doctrine is once again under attack. Too often sola fide is relegated to secondary importance instead of being recognized as an essential doctrine of Christianity, which it certainly is.
“Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Galatians 3:6-11).
But Ephesians 2 says, “That we are “saved by grace through faith,” and that is “not of ourselves,” but is “the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should glory.”
Immediately after that, it gives the place for works:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Romans 14:23 says this, “...whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Christians who believe that we’re saved by faith alone do believe that we should live Godly lives. The point is who do we credit for our salvation - God, ourselves, or both. To me, it makes a lot of sense to take Ephesians 2:8-9 very, very seriously. The Catholic Douay-Rheims translates “boast” as “glory.” Does someone really want to risk glorying in themselves against the will of God? Satan did that. We are instructed in Ephesians that we are saved by God’s grace, not by our own works, lest we take pride in ourselves. If we truly believe and accept that, then we will still do works. People of faith will have works in due time, and people without it won’t.
It has been revised. The current edition, available on the Vatican website, is the Nova Vulgata. The older Clementine edition translated the verse:
inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum et semen illius ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eiusThe present Nova Vulgata:
Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum et semen illius; ipsum conteret caput tuum, et tu conteres calcaneum eius.
We are justified by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (faith)...
No works can redeem us for we are like filthy rags... None are righteous, no not one.
You know Greek and Hebrew?
I don't.
The original one I read was KJV. You read that one too? There's hope for you yet.
When I was a Catholic, I was told that I shouldn't read the Bible cause I couldn't understand it, so I didn't. I NEVER read the Bible as a Catholic. I didn't even want to read it until I got saved and then God put a hunger in my heart for His Word.
Look at that.
There you go again, throwing in all those pesky facts.
You go, girl!
How about putting that in English.
And yes...original sin does matter. For we are all born as sinners.
If you don't think little children break the Ten Commandments you've not been around little children. And remember...if you break one it's as if you've broken each and every one.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. James 2:10 NASB
And Roman Catholics might want to read the second one regarding their idols of Mary.
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:16
Seems like you can just used certain Scripture to believe what you believe, and ignore the rest!
Fine, if you want to appeal to Scripture, let's quote the WHOLE discourse.
Here it is.
Mark 16:14-20 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
A few things to consider.
First off, it doesn't say that baptism saves. It says believing saves. Because baptized or not, if you don't believe, you aren't saved. Therefore, the BELIEF saves, not the baptism.
Second, if you are going to appeal to this passage to support your doctrine, the WHOLE discourse that Jesus spoke applies.
That means that Catholics must be going out into all the world and preaching the gospel. Are you doing that?
"And these signs will accompany those who believe:"
Catholics claim they believe.
Do Catholics cast out demons?
Do Catholics speak in new tongues?
Do Catholics snake handle?
Do Catholics drink poison and live?
Do Catholics lay their hands on the sick and see them healed.
After all, Jesus said that those signs WOULD follow those who believe.
Why are Catholics not practicing them then? Because I have yet to meet ONE Catholic who has ever done any of that stuff, much less believes in it.
Also, right here it says that Jesus is in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father while Catholicism tries to tell us He's being eternally killed for our sin.
If you're going to take one part of the passage as requirement, consistency demands that the entire discourse be taken that way.
If you're going to reject parts of it, reject the whole thing.
But don't hypocritically pick and choose, aka cherry pick, just what you like to hear out of a passage and ignore the rest.
That's doing the very thing y'all condemn in others.
OOOoooohh because only people like you are Godly... right?
How Christian of you.
You remind me of my next door neighbor growing up. She would scream and yell and act miserable all week- then sing the loudest in the front row at church, showing everyone how pious she was. No one else was saintly except her. She poisoned our dog.
Jesus had to explain this once; too.
Certain men asked Him a DIRECT question. Jesus them gave them a DIRECT answer.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
You really need to get over this anti-Catholic thing. It is not about denominations is is about individuals. No church is going to stand before Jesus in about 108 days to have their works judged of their reward. It is an individual salvation, and an individual reward. There are victors in every one of the seven churches. The rest get left behind. A multitude of those left behind will be saved. The rest are lost. That is the way it is written and that is what will happen.
HMMMmmm...
I'd think that having MARY descend from heaven numerous times to ADD TO the teaching of the One TRUE Church would instill some humility in those to adoringly venerate her!
This thread is going down.
I know it’s about individuals and not denominations.
That’s why I am anti-religion or denomination.
As long as Catholics tell people that they have to be Catholic to be saved, I’ll tell them they don’t.
Did you read my whole post? The work we are justified by is the work of Christ not anything we have done
108 days? What's that about?
Sorry... just confirming/supporting what you said. It is clear in the Bible we are not saved by any form of works... they are the fruit of the spirit.
Honestly, the thief on the cross tells us all we need to know... He was saved by his faith in Christ... he did nothing other than believe....
Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.