FAITH ALONEEphesians 2:8,9-“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast.” |
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ROME SAYSWe are often told by our Catholic friends that Martin Luther invented the doctrine of “Sola Fide” or faith alone. They ask, “Show me any verse in the Bible that states “by faith alone.” They often claim that Luther added the word “alone” to his translation of Romans 3:28-“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith (alone) without the deeds of the law.” According to Rome, the teachings of faith alone was no where to be found for the first fifteen hundred years of church history. Furthermore Catholics claim that “by faith alone” is a false premise used by the Reformers. The Catholic Church goes one step further and pronounces a curse on anyone who believes that salvation is by grace through faith alone. This is quite evident by the following statements that are found in the Council of Trent. This Council was the nineteenth general council of the Catholic Church and was convened from 1545 to 1563. Everything that was espoused in Trent was later reaffirmed in Vatican Council I (1870) and Vatican Council II (1962-1965). All of the major Catholic Catechisms quote heavily from Trent. SIXTH SESSION, JUSTIFICATION CANONS CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION Canon 9-If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema (excommunicated, cursed or damned to hell). Canon 12-If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy, which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema. Canon 14-If anyone says that man is absolved from his sins and justified because he firmly believes that he is absolved and justified, or that no one is truly justified except him who believes himself justified, and that by this faith alone absolution and justification are effected let him be anathema. Canon 15-If anyone says that a man who is born again and justified is bound ex fide (by faith) to believe that he is certainly in the number of the predestined, let him be anathema. Canon 24– “If anyone says that justice received is not preserved and also not increased in the sight of God through good works but that those same works are only the fruits and signs of justification received, but not a cause of its increase, let him be anathema.”
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Apostolic Constitution on the Revision of Indulgences, chap. 3, pp. 78, Vatican Council II, 1965 –“From the most ancient times in the Church good works were also offered to God for the salvation of sinners, particularly the works which human weakness finds hard.”
Council of Trent, SESSION VII, CANONS ON JUSTIFICATION, CANON IX – “If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema.”
THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Perseverance in faith 162 – “Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: ‘Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.’ To live, grow, and her serve in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be ‘working through charity’, abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the church.”
168 – “It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes, and sustains my faith. Everywhere, it is the Church that first confesses the Lord; ‘Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you,’ as we sing in the hymn ‘Te Deum’; with her and in her, we are one over and brought to confess: ‘I believe,’ ‘We believe.’ It is through the church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by Baptism. In the Rituale Romanum, the minister of Baptism asks the catechumen: ‘What do you ask of God’s Church?’ In the answer is: ‘Faith.’ ‘What does faith offer you?’ ‘Eternal life.'” 169 – “Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: ‘We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation.’ Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.” 171 – “The Church, ‘the pillar and bulwark of the truth,’ faithfully guards ‘the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints.’ She guards the memory of Christ’s words with him; it is she knew from generation to generation hands-on the apostles’ confession of faith. As a mother who teaches her children to speak in so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith.” |
THE BIBLE SAYSI am not interested in what Martin Luther had to say about “sola fide.” I am also not interested in what the Roman Catholic Church has to say about “sola fide” either. I am only interested in what the Bible has to say on the subject. I must concede that there are in fact no verses in the New Testament that specifically state the phrase “by faith alone.” However the doctrine of salvation by faith alone is clearly espoused in the New Testament. Following is a litany of verses that clearly teach the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.
Rom. 4:5-“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him thatjustifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Rom. 4:16-“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.”
Gal. 2:16-“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 3:11-“But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith.” Gal. 3:24-“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Gal. 3:26-“For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:8-9-“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph. 3:17-“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,” Phil. 3:9-“and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” By now you are probably asking yourself, why would the Catholic Church perpetrate such an obviously false teaching upon its followers? Why would Rome condemn anyone to hell (anathematize) anyone who believed in salvation or justification by faith alone? The answer my friend is really quite simple when you examine all the teachings and doctrines of Catholicism. Roman Catholicism is in all actuality a cradle to grave system of works based on a sacramental system that keeps its members in bondage to that system. When one does an in depth study of the sacramental system of Rome, one must conclude that Catholics are dependent on the sacraments for their salvation rather than on the finished work of Christ. Catholics must always be dong something to maintain their standing before God. There you have it my friends. It is so obviously clear that the Catholic Church proclaims a works based salvation rather than relying on the finished work of Christ. What does the Bible have to say about works apart from faith? Is. 64:6-“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all ourrighteousnesses are as filthy rags;”
Rom. 3:28-“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Rom. 10:3-4-“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Gal. 2:21-“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” II Tim. 1:9-“Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his won purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” Tit. 3:5-“Not be works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” I Timothy 1:19-“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning the faith have made shipwreck:”
Although we agree that a person can make shipwreck of their life, the above verse does not say that a person can lose their salvation. The church has absolutely nothing to do with a person’s faith or lack of it. Faith is certainly not received through the church. Faith is given solely by God. It is by God’s grace through our faith that we are saved (Eph. 2:8-9) Hebrews 11:1-“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Nothing in the above verse to indicate that the church has anything to do with faith. Faith is a gift from God and Him alone. |
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