Faith Alone (Sola Fide)

Why faith alone? What is faith and what is the role of faith in the life of a believer?

(Continued from Introduction to the Five Solas)

Faith has always felt like an indefinable quality to me. How can I understand it, if I can’t even define it? My understanding of faith was confused by a world that doesn’t want me to have faith. In the vernacular, it’s a lie of the devil to say faith is undefinable.

The devil twists God’s word to make it confusing. For example, “Money is the root of all evil.” That’s not what the Bible says.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV

Notice the multiple differences. It’s not money, but the love of money. It’s not the root of all evil, but the root of all kinds of evil. The differences are huge and the application of this truth is entirely different than a vow of poverty. Although, many have taken the oversimplification, ridiculed it for its ignorance, and used it as license to love money. Perhaps that’s ironic, but it’s most definitely a lie from the devil.

Define Faith?

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Faith is not hope. Faith is assurance. Assurance gives confidence, not simply a good feeling. The world focuses on the ‘good feeling’ and makes faith out to be something more like a wish.

Someone, I think C.S. Lewis, once said, “A man is faithful to his wife not because he thinks she exists, but because he knows she exists.” Faith is based on reality, not imagination. When you have faith in someone it’s because they have proven themselves in other ways.

As Christians we hope for eternal life. Christ gives us faith to be assure us this hope is real. We can trust Christ because of His word, His miracles, including His death and resurrection. He has proven Himself profoundly in these ways, so we can trust His promise of eternal life.

What does ‘faith alone’ mean?

Sola Fide, or faith alone, refers to justification. Through faith we are made righteous before God.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21-26 ESV

We are not justified by the law because we are incapable of keeping the law. The sacrifices under the old covenant had to be repeated yearly because they could not permanently cover sin. Jesus is the final sacrifice, the perfect lamb, the “once for all” perfect sacrifice that fulfills the law.

Righteousness is through faith in Jesus Christ for believers. We are justified by the gift of grace through Christ’s redemptive work. Christ did the work, we have faith. We receive Christ’s work by faith. Christ is the justifier of all who have faith in Him.

Faith is the only qualifier. No work of the law will make us righteous. It is by faith alone.

Where does faith come from?

Faith is the work of God. Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae is perhaps the clearest statement on faith.

In [Jesus] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2:11-12 ESV

Baptism is a circumcision of the heart by Christ himself. We are buried with Christ in baptism (put under the water) and raised with him (brought out from under the water) through faith. Baptism through faith is the powerful working of God. This isn’t the only way we come by faith.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ

Romans 10:17 ESV

The word of Christ creates faith in us because Christ is the Word. Faith is not something we have and Christ builds upon. Christ builds it all, perhaps little by little, but as it says in Hebrews, he is the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2). Faith then is not the same as belief because even the demons believe (James 2:19).

We believe God, but it is the faith, and faith alone, God creates in us that justifies us before God and makes us righteous.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV

What are the objections to “faith alone”?

The main objection to faith alone is whether faith is alone, or is it accompanied by works. In other words, a Catholic will readily agree we are saved by grace through faith and that Jesus Christ is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Faith, however, is not alone and must be a living faith.

 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James 2:17 ESV

Various Popes and Councils have suggested there is a form of faith; charity, or good works. If faith without works is dead, then good works are what keep it alive, a living faith. In other words, the faith Christ creates in us must result in our doing works of charity in order to be justified before God. You can’t separate one from the other.

One of the major hurdles in this argument is in Ephesians 2:8-9 passage. We are justified through faith not works, for one particular reason; boasting. Boasting takes the glory away from Christ. He alone deserves the credit for our salvation. If we add works of charity back into the equation, even the most devote of Christian will ask the question, “Have I done enough?”

Are some works of greater value than others? What if I don’t have the opportunity to do enough of these works? Will the bad things I’ve done negate the good things I’ve done? The answer from the Catholic Church is purgatory. In purgatory, they say, imperfect charity is made perfect. This has brought solace to many faithful Catholics, but unfortunately the teaching isn’t biblical¹As for Purgatory, Luther said: “Purgatory is the greatest falsehood because it is based on ungodliness and unbelief; for they deny that faith saves, and they maintain that satisfaction for sins is the cause of salvation. Therefore he who is in purgatory is in hell itself; for these are his thoughts: ‘I am a sinner and must render satisfaction for my sins; therefore I shall make a will and shall bequeath a definite amount of money for building churches and for buying prayers and sacrifices for the dead by the monks and priests.’ Such people die in (that is, having) a faith in works and have no knowledge of Christ. Indeed, they hate Him. We die in (that is, having) faith in Christ, who died for our sins and rendered satisfaction for us. He is my Bosom, my Paradise, my Comfort, and my Hope” (LW Vol. 2).. To learn more about the Catholic view read Justification Sola Fide at Catholic.com.

Justified by Faith Alone

I hold with Martin Luther, and other Reformers, who have already countered the arguments from the Catholic Church in many writings. Simply put, we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Once justified we do works of charity out of gratitude and humanity. The question driving this conclusion is simple; Did Christ’s sacrifice accomplish our justification, or not?

In Hebrews it states plainly, “Any by [the will of God] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10 ESV)” Which the Catholics would agree with, but further we look to Galatians where Paul writes, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3 ESV). What Christ began we cannot complete.

Assurance of Faith

Faith is assurance. Faith alone justifies. Faith is a gift. And, thanks be to God, faith frees us from the burden of doubt. In faith we are free to serve God and do the works prepared for us in advance (Ephesians 2:10).

We’re human and doubts creep in simply because of the time elapsed from Christ’s resurrection to waiting for his return. We strengthen our faith when we abide in Christ and His Word, participate in the Lord’s Supper, remember our baptism, pray, worship, and yes, do acts of charity.

Now go live a life worthy of the Gospel.

Further reading

Sola Fide – Lutheran Reformation

Sola Fide: The Reformed Doctrine of Justification by J.I. Packer

Footnotes

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  As for Purgatory, Luther said: “Purgatory is the greatest falsehood because it is based on ungodliness and unbelief; for they deny that faith saves, and they maintain that satisfaction for sins is the cause of salvation. Therefore he who is in purgatory is in hell itself; for these are his thoughts: ‘I am a sinner and must render satisfaction for my sins; therefore I shall make a will and shall bequeath a definite amount of money for building churches and for buying prayers and sacrifices for the dead by the monks and priests.’ Such people die in (that is, having) a faith in works and have no knowledge of Christ. Indeed, they hate Him. We die in (that is, having) faith in Christ, who died for our sins and rendered satisfaction for us. He is my Bosom, my Paradise, my Comfort, and my Hope” (LW Vol. 2).