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).
Sorry buddy; I’m not playing your gotcha question game.
You KNOW the difference; I’m not going to let you lead me around with your boring and over-used talking points.
For pity’s sake, do you all take a class to repeat the same dozen stupid arguments over and over?
Yes, yes, go sleep.
But I still think it would be a good idea not to play the gotcha question game.
If you’d like to know how we view the importance of works, you can ask. But snarky questions with no right answer don’t help anyone.
Well, he DID write a second letter to the Corinthians. ;o)
Apparently, some people are taught that they shouldn't "bother" Jesus unless it's a really big problem. He might get irritated if they do. Mary and the "Saints" are there to handle the small stuff so God is freed up to work on the big stuff. (Really...that IS what they are led to believe.)
Since I KNOW that we are saved by grace THROUGH faith and not by our works, then I can go through that entire list you posted and see them in a different way. Here's a test...reread each one and meditate on what the verses are teaching in context and harmonized with all of Scripture and with the idea that our works do not merit salvation for us but are done out of gratitude, love and obedience and God will reward us in heaven. Why don't you try? If I read them according to how Catholicism or other works-based religions do, then I would have to redact a LOT of verses out of my Bible, and I know that would be a dishonest thing to do, not to mention a risk to my immortal soul for rejecting the grace of God.
Didn't the Mormons massacred hundreds of emigrants at places like Mountain Meadows? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre) Oops!
“Can you post the rule where this is required?”
It’s an unwritten “rule” for the standard of reasoned debate.
Thanks for complying.
Absolutely baptism is commanded for believers.
It just doesn’t save them.
And yes, our own works. Because if baptism were a work of God, given by God for salvation, then the OT Law, also qualifies as that. The OT Law was given by God so that would also qualify as the works of God. And they don’t save. No reason to think that any additional works save.
The reason they don’t save is because we already broke the law and it’s not a matter of judging our good works vs bad works and seeing which outweighs the other.
The wages of sin is death and THAT is the penalty that has to be paid. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Without the death of Christ, satisfying the justice of God, there is no forgiveness. And forgiveness is the ONLY way to have that debt removed.
Water baptism wets the body but cannot touch the soul or the spirit, and physical religious works, activities, duties, whatever, do not cause spiritual reality to happen.
If water baptism saved, then it would save regardless of whether the person believed or not. If it were to bring about spiritual reality, it would HAVE to work, all the time.
Jesus plus anything means that you (plural) are trusting the other thing cause you (plural) don’t think Jesus alone is enough to save. So the person who is trusting Jesus plus baptism/communion/works is relying on the baptism/communion/works and not Jesus because in their minds, Jesus alone is inadequate.
John 3:14-18 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Romans 4:1-25 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Galatians 2:15-21 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Galatians 3:1-29 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
YES!!!!!
We ALL persist in our sins and will as long as we inhabit these bodies here on earth.
If you think that believers don't sin any more you are sadly mistaken.
And if you think that believers are even capable of not sinning any more, you are just as mistaken.
Some Catholics talk as if they can live life and go without sinning.
Man alive, we sin constantly. everyone of us.
Because it's not just the actions that are the sin, it's the heart. Remember lust = adultery and hatred = murder. Respecting of persons is a sin, not delineated in the Law that I can recall, but mentioned in James.
And John tells us this....
1 John 1:7-10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
If living a sin free life were a requirement then nobody could be saved because it's already too late once we sin one time.
Wait. Just who answers to whom here?
This is a historical fact that has been posted on this forum many times over the years.
Well, I have never seen or heard it before and I've been on the RF many years.
And since I haven't, I'm taking a guess that others haven't either.
You know, y'all Catholics seem to have this idea that someone can be genuinely saved and just continue on wantonly in sin without reserve.
There are several problems it demonstrates.
First is that y'all don't really understand the new birth, what a regenerated spirit is like.
Nobody who is born again would ever have that attitude. And for anyone who does have that attitude, that attitude would be a good indicator that that person wasn't really born again.
Also, every single person on the planet has some sin that they are themselves especially prone to commit. It's the sin that so easily besets us and it's different for each one of us. Some people struggle with pride, some with jealousy, some with lust, etc. It's their particular weakness and they sin continually and easily in that area.
Additionally, the believer, having the Spirit of God dwelling in then, is not a lone wolf. The Spirit is there, constantly present, being his conscience. Leading him to do what is right and convicting him of when he does wrong.
If you think that that person can sin wantonly, then I would guess you have no idea what having the Spirit dwelling in you is like. It's that voice that you CANNOT ignore.
God will NOT let you continue in sin. He will convict your conscience. He doesn't let you just go on your merry way, sinning without reserve without someone trying to bring that person back.
And if the conscience doesn't work, God brings discipline into the person's life to correct them and turn them back to a life of righteousness.
We are not abandoned by God to struggle alone on our own. He's there with us ever step, encouraging, nurturing, comforting, forgiving, picking us up again and again when we stumble and fall.
God WANTS to save us and works towards that end in our lives. It's not all up to us and we can't even come to Him without His Spirit drawing us.
Salvation is His work in our lives, beginning to end. If you think it's something you can do or it was your idea, you are wrong.
Snarkiness is uncalled for.
If you are making a claim, it's your responsibility to back it up, not the other person's responsibility to do your work for you and prove your point to them.
Don't be lazy.
Post the link yourself, like the rest of us do.
Have you ever read Corinthians?
Like any of our stuff is big in God's eyes?
To Him ALL our stuff is little things.
I saw on a church sign once that all that's hanging over our heads is still under God's feet.
You probably have to define "believe" It might mean something different to you, than it does to people who belong to works based religions. 😀
Ah...
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