Sola Fide, articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae
"the doctrine by which the church stands or falls" - Martin Luther
Romans 3:23-28
(23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (27) Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. (28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Faith alone, brings us to justification. As Luther said, it is a pinnacle doctrine, one that determines how we understand much of what we claim to believe.
Ephesians 2:8-9
(8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Faith alone saves, and God alone gives the gift of Faith. Through this, He is given all the glory, all the honor. There is none for us to selfishly grasp and claim, "I did this to myself", "I participated in my salvation through obedience."
Galatians 2:16
(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.
John 1:13
(13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
For obedience is a work nonetheless. Contrary to popular thought, there is no pedestal of obedience next to God's Holy throne for us to clamber atop and bask in glory of our deeds. We are justified and we believe with the faith of JESUS CHRIST. Not our faith but God's. Not of the will of man, or his flesh, or earthly inheritance, but solely and completely on the perfect Will of God.
Works, while they are the fruits of redemptive life, the evidence of the spiritual shift, they themselves hold nothing over our eternal destination.
Many Christians will say they emphatically agree with this, that their works are "filthy rags" on God's Holy altar, but is that what they truly believe? Those who adhere to the ridiculous notion of a hierarchical Heaven, where we boast our crowns of evangelism/faith/righteousness/tithing. Who look sideways at their fellow brethren and think "I am closer to God then they", who gossip and slander behind the backs of the unaware.
Isaiah 64:6-8
(6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (7) And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. (8) But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
The notion that our works lead to our redemption is based on the thought that we, apart from God, can suffer our selves to do ANYTHING without selfish motive. Can man honestly do anything righteous, apart from the Father? Or is even the notion of good deeds thought with the conscious motive of self gain, or self preservation in mind?
Nay, I see no such merit in man, who according to the Holy Word, are no more righteous than the devil himself, without Christ.
No, it is by Faith in Jesus Christ, risen and alive that we are declared justified by our Holy Father in Heaven. The honor and praise are received by Him and Him alone, for He is perfect and Holy and has willed it this way.
God Bless
8 years ago
