This forgiveness is known as "justification". In classical Lutheran and Reformed theologies, works are seen as crucial evidence of faith, but the works themselves do not determine salvation.[5] In contrast, Methodist doctrine affirms a belief in justification by faith that offers God's forgiveness, but holds that holy living with the goal of Christian perfection (entire sanctification) is essential for salvation; maintenance of sanctification is contingent on continual faith in and obedience to God.[5][6][7][8]Anabaptist theology categorically rejects the Lutheran and Reformed doctrine of sola fide, and instead emphasizes a "faith that works"; Anabaptists teach that "justification [began] a dynamic process by which the believer partook of the nature of Christ and was so enabled to live increasingly like Jesus."[9][2][10]
Origin of the term
1861 painting of Luther discovering the Sola fide doctrine at Erfurt
Luther
Martin Luther elevated sola fide to the principal cause of the Protestant Reformation, the rallying cry of the Lutheran cause, and the chief distinction of the Lutheran and Reformed branches of Christianity from Roman Catholicism.
Luther added the word allein ("alone" in German) to Romans3:28 controversially so that it read: "So now we hold, that man is justified without the help of the works of the law, alone through faith".[11] The word "alone" does not appear in the Greek manuscripts[12] and Luther acknowledged this fact, but he defended his translation by maintaining that the adverb "alone" was required by idiomatic German:[13]
I knew very well that the word solum ["alone" in Latin] is not in the Greek or Latin text (…) It is a fact that these four letters S O L A are not there (…) At the same time (…) it belongs there if the translation is to be clear and vigorous. I wanted to speak German, not Latin or Greek, since it was German I had undertaken to speak in the translation. But it is the nature of our German language that in speaking of two things, one of which is affirmed and the other denied, we use the word solum (allein) along with the word nicht [not] or kein [no]. For example, we say, 'The farmer brings allein [only] grain and kein [no] money.[14]
Luther further stated that sola was used in theological traditions before him and this adverb makes Paul's intended meaning clearer:
I am not the only one, nor the first, to say that faith alone makes one righteous. There was Ambrose, Augustine and many others who said it before me. And if a man is going to read and understand St. Paul, he will have to say the same thing, and he can say nothing else. Paul's words are too strong – they allow no works, none at all! Now if it is not works, it must be faith alone.[15]
Translations
Historically, expressions similar to —"justification by faith alone"— had appeared in a number of Catholic bible translations: the Nuremberg Bible (1483) in Galatians2:16 ("δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ... διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ") has "nur durch den glauben",[16][17] and the Italian translations of 1476, 1538, and 1546 have "ma solo per la fede" or "per la sola fede".[18][19] The official Italian Bible of the Catholic Church, La Sacra Bibbia della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana (2008), in Galatians 2:16, reads in part: "but only through faith in Jesus Christ" (ma soltanto per mezzo della fede).[20][21]
It is often argued that Clement of Rome is a witness to the doctrine of faith alone. However there is much controversy about his views
According to Protestant historian Philip Schaff faith alone was not clearly taught by most church fathers, except for Clement of Rome.[33] In contrast, the Catholic Encyclopedia indicates that Clement of Rome held works to be meritorious and holding works to be a part of justification.[35]
According to Baptist theologian Thomas Schreinersola fide can be found in some apostolic fathers. He contends that Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch and the Epistle to Diognetus viewed salvation as being God's work granted to those who exercise faith, which then causes works.[32] Clement's view on justification has caused much scholarly discussion, because Clement asserted: "we are not justified through ourselves, but through faith", but still emphasizing God's judgement upon wickedness. Some see Clement as believing in faith alone but that faith will lead into doing good works, while some others have argued that Clement held synergist views.[34]
Early literature
The Epistle to Diognetus talks much about the human inability to merit justification themselves by their own good works.[31]
The Shepherd of Hermas has a clear rejection of the faith alone doctrine, instead holding works to have merit. The Didache also appears to see works as meritorious, though not unambigiously.[31]
Thomas R. Schreiner argued that the Odes of Solomon taught that works do not justify a person, but instead faith, he also argued that the book supports imputed righteousness.[36]
Patristic statements
Jovinian has been argued to have taught similar views of justification as the Protestant reformers.
Thomas Schreiner asserted that because justification wasn't a big issue in the patristic period, "thus the theology isn’t always integrated or consistent", however Schreiner argued that people such as John Chrysostom, and Ambrosiaster had similarities to the views of justification as the reformers did:[32]
"By faith alone one is freely forgiven of all sins and the believer is no longer burdened by the Law for meriting good works. Our works, however, are demonstrative of our faith and will determine whether we are ultimately justified" —Ambrosiaster[32]
Schreiner observes that Augustine of Hippo differs from the reformers as he understood the word "justify" to mean make righteous and not declare righteous, and thus he denied imputed righteousness. He also saw salvation as a process, despite that he still held very grace-oriented views of salvation, having similarities to the views reformers later would believe.[32]Jovinian, who is often seen as a heretic by Catholics and as a forerunner by Protestants, has been argued to have been a very early witness to a Protestant view of justification.[37] It has been argued that Marius Victorinus and Hilary of Poitiers taught faith alone. Marius Victorinus wrote that our own merits do not justify us and that we are justified by faith alone, however works should follow from that faith.[31]Hilary of Poitiers seemed to have believed grace oriented views of salvation, which is by faith: as he declared "salvation is entirely by faith", Hilary often contrasts salvific faith and salvation by works, which leads to unbelief. He also believed salvation to be by grace in the Old Testament and he saw Abraham as a model for the Jews, who was justified by faith.[31]
Schreiner wrote that some statements made by Origen are consistent with the doctrine of faith alone, claiming that faith is the foundation of justification, but that he is not very clear on his view of justification.[36]
Clement of Alexandria taught that faith was the basis of salvation, however he also believed that faith was also the basis of "gnosis" which for him mean spiritual and mystical knowledge.[38]
Because Polycarp does not make enough statements on salvation, he could have been either believed sola fide or that both works and faith are needed, but it is unclear which one he believed from his few statements.[39]
Whoever dies in his sins, even if he profess to believe in Christ, does not truly believe in him; and even if that which exists without works be called faith, such faith is dead in itself, as we read in the epistle bearing the name of James” – Origen[40]
Paul, joining righteousness to faith and weaving them together, constructs of them the breastplates for the infantryman, armoring the soldier properly and safely on both sides. A soldier cannot be considered safely armored when either shield is disjoined from the other. Faith without works of justice is not sufficient for salvation; neither is righteous living secure in itself of salvation, if it is disjoined from faith – Gregory of Nyssa
Neither faith without works nor works without faith is of any avail, except, perhaps, that works may go towards the reception of faith, just as Cornelius, before he had become one of the faithful, merited to be heard on account of his good works. From this it can be gathered that his performance of good works furthered his reception of faith” – Gregory the Great[40]
When we hear, ‘Your faith has saved you,’ we do not understand the Lord to say simply that they will be saved who have believed in whatever manner, even if works have not followed. To begin with, it was to the Jews alone that he spoke this phrase, who had lived in accord with the law and blamelessly and who had lacked only faith in the Lord – Clement of Alexandria[40]
According to Ken Wilson, Augustine criticized unnamed individuals who held to a stronger view of faith alone as espoused by Free Grace theologians. The individuals Augustine criticized held that one is saved by faith alone and that God's future judgement for Christians only consisted of temporal punishment and reward; hell was out of question. Thus, they held that deeds such as repentance and good works were not necessary to enter heaven.[41][42]
Medieval
Early medieval thinkers whose statements on faith that have been interpreted as preceding Luther's include Gottschalk (c. 808 – 868 AD),[43]Claudius of Turin (8.–9. century AD)[44] Some have argued that Ildefonsus and Julian of Toledo believed that faith alone was sufficient for salvation, Julian of Toledo made statements such as "all effort of human argument must be suspended where faith alone is sufficient".[45]
Protestants also have claimed that the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux include the doctrine of justification by faith alone.[46]
Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples taught the doctrine of justification by faith alone before Martin Luther
Pre-Reformation
The doctrine of faith alone precedes Martin Luther in the theologies of many so-called proto-Protestant reformers: Wessel Gansfort (1419 – 1489),[48]Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (c. 1455 – 1536),[47] and possibly also in Johann Pupper (c. 1400 – 1475).[49] The doctrine of sola fide also seems to appear in the doctrine of John Wycliffe (c. 1328 – 1384), as he stated: "Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on his sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by his righteousness. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation.".[50] According to some historians Luther's view on the doctrine of sola fide was influenced by the Italian reformer Girolamo Savonarola.[51]
Centrality in the doctrine of the Protestant Reformation
The doctrine of sola fide asserts that God's pardon for guilty sinners is granted to and received through faith alone, excluding all "works" (good deeds).[52] Without God's input, mankind, Christianity asserts, is fallen and sinful, meaning its actions and omissions are afflicted by the curse and most if not all would face God's wrath due to the fall of man (which spelt the end of Eden).[52] God, the faith holds, sent his only Son in human form, to be reborn in all mankind so through Jesus Christ alone (solus Christus) sinners may receive pardon (justification), which is granted solely through faith.[52]
Christ's righteousness, according to the followers of sola fide, is imputed (or attributed) by God to sinners coming to a state of true, loving belief (as opposed to infused or imparted). If so God's verdict and potential pardon is from genuinely held Christian faith (or in a few more liberal sects, all of Christ's principles) rather than anything in the sinner. This contrasts with other supposed means of grace, such as priestly confession and rituals such as weekly taking of the sacrament.[52] See the ordo salutis for more detail on the doctrine of salvation considered more broadly than justification by faith alone.
The standalone sola fide justification of souls is a tenet of most Lutheran and Reformed churches but neither the Roman Catholic nor the Eastern Orthodox churches affirm it. These Protestant traditions exclude all human works (except the works of Jesus Christ, which form the basis of justification) from the legal verdict (or pardon) of justification.[52] According to Martin Luther, justification by faith alone is the article on which the Church stands or falls.[52] Thus, "faith alone" is foundational to Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity, and as a formula distinguishes it from other Christian denominations.
From 1510 to 1520, Martin Luther lectured on the Book of Psalms and the Pauline epistles to the Galatians, Hebrews, and Romans. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by the Roman Catholic Church in new ways (see Genesis15:6, Galatians3:1–7, Romans4:1–5). He became convinced that the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification—God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace.[52] Therefore, he began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace, attainable exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ.[52][53]
"This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification," insisted Luther, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness."[54] He also called this doctrine the articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae ("article of the standing and falling church"): "if this article stands, the Church stands; if it falls, the Church falls."[55] For Lutherans this doctrine is the material principle of theology in relation to the Bible, which is the formal principle.[56] They believe justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ's righteousness alone is the gospel, the core of the Christian faith around which all other Christian doctrines are centered and based.
Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work of God. When God's righteousness is mentioned in the gospel, it is God's action of declaring righteous the unrighteous sinner who has faith in Jesus Christ.[57] The righteousness by which the person is justified (declared righteous) is not his own (theologically, proper righteousness) but that of another, Christ (alien righteousness). "That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law," said Luther. "Faith is that which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ."[58] Thus faith, for Luther, is a gift from God, and "a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it."[59] This faith grasps Christ's righteousness and appropriates it for the believer. He explained his concept of "justification" in the Smalcald Articles:
The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans3:24–25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans3:23–25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us.... Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark13:31).[60]
—Martin Luther, "The Smalcald Articles" in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Part 2, Article 1
Traditionally, Lutherans have taught forensic (or legal) justification, a divine verdict of acquittal pronounced on the believing sinner. God declares the sinner to be "not guilty" because Christ has taken his place, living a perfect life according to God's law and suffering for his sins. For Lutherans, justification is in no way dependent upon the thoughts, words, and deeds of those justified through faith alone in Christ. The new obedience that the justified sinner renders to God through sanctification follows justification as a consequence, but is not part of justification.[61]
Lutherans believe that individuals receive this gift of salvation through faith alone.[62][63] Saving faith is the knowledge of,[64] acceptance of,[65] and trust[66] in the promise of the Gospel.[67] Even faith itself is seen as a gift of God, created in the hearts of Christians[68] by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word[69] and Baptism.[70] Faith is seen as an instrument that receives the gift of salvation, not something that causes salvation.[71] Thus, Lutherans reject the "decision theology" which is common among modern evangelicals.
For Lutherans, justification provides the power by which Christians can grow in holiness. Such improvement comes about in the believer only after he has become a new creation in Christ through Holy Baptism. This improvement is not completed in this life: Christians are always "saint and sinner at the same time" (simul iustus et peccator)[72]—saints because they are holy in God's eyes, for Christ's sake, and do works that please him; sinners because they continue to sin until death.
Faith and works
While salvation cannot be achieved through works (Titus3:5), faith being a unity with Christ in the Spirit naturally issues in love (Galatians5:6).[73][74] This was Martin Luther's emphasis likewise.[75]
In relation to sola fide, the place of works is found in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians: Justification is by grace through faith, "not from yourselves" and "not by works". In other words, it is by faith alone since all human efforts are excluded here (Ephesians2:8–9).[76] Ephesians goes on to say that every person who has faith is to produce good works, according to God's plan (Ephesians2:10). These works, however, are not a cause of forgiveness but a result of forgiveness. Faith alone justifies but faith is never alone. It is followed by works.[77][78] In short, works of love are the goal of the saving faith (1 Timothy1:5).[79]
Thirdly, James has spoken shortly before concerning regeneration, namely, that it occurs through the Gospel. For thus he says James 1:18: Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures. When he says that we have been born again by the Gospel, he teaches that we have been born again and justified by faith. For the promise concerning Christ is apprehended only by faith, when we set it against the terrors of sin and of death. James does not, therefore, think that we are born again by our works.[80]
In answer to a question on James2:24 ("you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone"), the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod has written: "In James 2, the author was dealing with errorists who said that if they had faith they didn't need to show their love by a life of faith (2:14–17). James countered this error by teaching that true, saving faith is alive, showing itself to be so by deeds of love (James 2:18, 26). The author of James taught that justification is by faith alone and also that faith is never alone but shows itself to be alive by good deeds that express a believer's thanks to God for the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ."[81]
According to the Defense of the Augsburg Confession again,
James, therefore, did not believe that by good works we merit the remission of sins and grace. For he speaks of the works of those who have been justified, who have already been reconciled and accepted, and have obtained remission of sins.[82]
[I]t is taught on our part that it is necessary to do good works, not that we should trust to merit grace by them, but because it is the will of God. It is only by faith that forgiveness of sins is apprehended[83]
Martin Luther, who opposed antinomianism, is recorded as stating, "Works are necessary for salvation but they do not cause salvation; for faith alone gives life."[84]
In his Introduction to Romans, Luther stated that saving faith is,
a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever...Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire![85]
"Faith alone justifies but a justified person with faith alone would be a monstrosity which never exists in the kingdom of grace. Faith works itself out through love (Gal. 5:6). And Faith without works is dead (James 2:17–20)."
"It is living faith that justifies and living faith unites to Christ both in the virtue of his death and in the power of his resurrection. No one has entrusted himself to Christ for deliverance from the guilt of sin who has not also entrusted himself to him for deliverance from the power of sin."[86][87]
Contemporary evangelical theologian R. C. Sproul writes:
The relationship of faith and good works is one that may be distinguished but never separated ... if good works do not follow from our profession of faith, it is a clear indication that we do not possess justifying faith. The Reformed formula is, "We are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone."[88]
This debate, therefore, is not over the question of whether God renews us and initiates a process of gradual growth in holiness throughout the course of our lives. 'We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone,' Luther stated, and this recurring affirmation of the new birth and sanctification as necessarily linked to justification leads one to wonder how the caricatures continue to be perpetuated without foundation.[89]
Works of the law
Many Catholics see the exclusion of "works of the law" as only referring to works done for salvation under the Mosaic law, versus works of faith which are held as meritorious for salvation.
Adherents of sola fide respond that Jesus was not instituting keeping a higher moral code as means of salvation, and tend to see the exclusion of "works of the law" (as the means of obtaining justification) as referring to any works of the Mosaic law, and by implication, any "works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus3:5) or any system in which one earns eternal life on the basis of the merit of works.
However, most understand that the "righteousness of the law" is to be fulfilled by those who are justified by faith (Romans8:4). The Mosaic law and the principles of the gospel (such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Judgment of Matthew 25) are seen as being in correspondence, with the latter fulfilling, clarifying, and expanding on the former, centering on God's love for us, and love to others. Thus a Lutheran or Reformed believer can claim that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good," (Romans7:12) harmonizing the two principles of the same Bible.
Christian theologies answer questions about the nature, function, and meaning of justification quite differently. These issues include: Is justification an event occurring instantaneously or is it an ongoing process? Is justification effected by divine action alone (monergism), by divine and human action together (synergism), or by human action (erroneously called Pelagianism[90])? Is justification permanent or can it be lost? What is the relationship of justification to sanctification, the process whereby sinners become righteous and are enabled by the Holy Spirit to live lives pleasing to God?
Discussion in the centuries since the Reformation and in some ways liberalising Counter-Reformation has suggested that the differences are in emphasis and concepts rather than doctrine, since Catholic and Orthodox Christians concede works are not the basis of justification nor relatedly salvation, and most Protestants accept the need for repentance and the primacy of grace (see §Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church and §Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission below). Further, many Protestant churches actually hold more nuanced positions such as sola gratia, sola fide or justification by faith (i.e. without the alone). According to a 2017 survey conducted in Western Europe by the Pew Research Center, "fewer people say that faith alone (in Latin, sola fide) leads to salvation, the position that Martin Luther made a central rallying cry of 16th-century Protestant reformers." Protestants in every country surveyed except Norway are more likely to say that both good deeds and faith in God are necessary for salvation.[91]
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), signed by both the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 1999 declares:
We confess together that good works – a Christian life lived in faith, hope and love – follow justification and are its fruits. When the justified live in Christ and act in the grace they receive, they bring forth, in biblical terms, good fruit. Since Christians struggle against sin their entire lives, this consequence of justification is also for them an obligation they must fulfill. Thus both Jesus and the apostolic Scriptures admonish Christians to bring forth the works of love.[92]
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), signed by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, says that "sinners are justified by faith in the saving action of God in Christ. ... Such a faith is active in love and thus the Christian cannot and should not remain without works." And later, "Good works – a Christian life lived in faith, hope and love – follow justification and are its fruits. When the justified live in Christ and act in the grace they receive, they bring forth, in biblical terms, good fruit. Since Christians struggle against sin their entire lives, this consequence of justification is also for them an obligation they must fulfill. Thus both Jesus and the apostolic Scriptures admonish Christians to bring forth the works of love."[92]
The Joint Declaration never mentions the expression Sola Fide and the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly teaches that salvation is obtained by a combination of both faith and good works, which are considered to be a human response to God's prior and continuing grace.[93][94][95][96][97]
Epistle of James and Pauline Epistles
Chapter 2 of the Epistle of James, verses 14–26, discusses faith and works, starting with verse 14, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" In verse 20 it says that faith without works is dead.
The Defense of the Augsburg Confession rejects the idea that the Epistle of James contradicts the Lutheran teaching on Justification.[98]
He who has faith and good works is righteous, not indeed, on account of the works, but for Christ's sake, through faith. And as a good tree should bring forth good fruit, and yet the fruit does not make the tree good, so good works must follow the new birth, although they do not make man accepted before God; but as the tree must first be good, so also must man be first accepted before God by faith for Christ's sake. The works are too insignificant to render God gracious to us for their sake, if He were not gracious to us for Christ's sake. Therefore James does not contradict St. Paul, and does not say that by our works we merit, etc.[99]
Confessional Lutheran theologians summarize James 2: "we are justified/declared righteous by people when they see the good works we do as a result of our faith and they conclude that our faith is sincere."[100]
In answer to another question on James 2:24 as well as Romans 3:23–24, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod replied:
Paul is writing to people who said that faith in Jesus alone does not save a person, but one has to also obey God's law in order to be justified (Gal 3:3, 5:4). To counter the false idea that what we do in keeping the law must be added to faith in what Christ did for us. Paul often emphasizes in his letters (esp. Galatians, Romans, Colossians) that we are saved by grace through faith alone. James is writing to people who felt that believing in Jesus saved a person, but that having faith did not mean that a person necessarily would keep God's commandments out of love for God (James 2:14, 17). To show that faith is not really faith unless it leads a person to thank God for salvation in a life of glad and willing obedience to God's holy will. James emphasized that a faith which did not show that it was living faith was really not faith at all.[101]
A Lutheran exegesis further points out that James is simply reaffirming Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:16,[102] and that in the tenth verse of the same chapter ("For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it"), James too denies works as a means to obtain forgiveness:
James here (verse 10) also shoots down the false doctrine of work-righteousness. The only way to be free of sin is to keep the law perfectly and in its entirety. If we offend it in the slightest, tiniest little way, we are guilty of all. Thank God that He sent Jesus to fulfill the Law in its entirety for us[103]
Lutheran and Reformed Protestants, as well as others, base the sola fide on the fact that the New Testament contains almost two hundred statements that appear to imply that faith or belief is sufficient for salvation, for example: "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." (John 11:25) and especially Paul's words in Romans, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)
"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:4–5)
The precise relationship between faith and good works remains an area of controversy in some Protestant traditions (see also Law and Gospel). Even at the outset of the Reformation, subtle differences of emphasis appeared. For example, because the Epistle of James emphasizes the importance of good works, Martin Luther sometimes referred to it as the "epistle of straw". Calvin on the other hand, while not intending to differ with Luther, wrote of the necessity of good works as a consequence or 'fruit' of faith. The Anabaptists tended to make a nominal distinction between faith and obedience.
A recent article suggests that the current confusion regarding the Epistle of James about faith and works resulted from Augustine of Hippo's anti-Donatist polemic in the early fifth century.[104] This approach reconciles the views of Paul and James on faith and works. Recent meetings of scholars and clergy have attempted to soften the antithesis between Protestant and Catholic conceptions of the role of faith in salvation, which, if they were successful, would have far reaching implications for the relationship between most Protestant churches and the Catholic Church. These attempts to form a consensus are accepted among many Protestants and Catholics, but among others, sola fide continues to divide the Reformation churches, including many Lutherans, Reformed, and others, from other denominations. Some statements of the doctrine are interpreted as a denial of the doctrine as understood by other groups.
In the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the Catholic Church cautioned against an extreme version of sola fide in canon XIV on self-righteousness and justification without repentance, declaring: "If any one says, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified, because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be anathema."[111]
Pope Benedict XVI summarized the Catholic position as "...Luther's phrase: "faith alone" is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life. ... St Paul speaks of faith that works through love (cf. Gal 5: 14)."
The following principles from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (labeled by paragraph number) are useful for understanding the Catholic view of justification.[112]
1989. Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.
1990. Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin.
1991. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.
1992. Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men.
1993. Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom. On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent.
1996. Our justification comes from the grace of God.
2007. With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man.
2010. Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.
2011. The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active love, ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merit before God and before men.
Thus the Catholic view could perhaps be interpreted as a progression or flow: first grace, then initial trust/repentance/conversion, then faith/hope/charity, combined with an emphasis that none of these elements should be isolated thus missing the package.
Further, the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist, and reconciliation relate to each: baptism for the removal of sin (in the case of an infant, original sin), Eucharist for the participation in Jesus' sacrifice, and penance for the confession of lapses of faith and charity and the assignment of prayers/actions to rejoin faith and charity. Sola fide is rejected only as far is it would ignore or reject grace or the New Commandment.
Grace
The Catholic view holds instead that grace, specifically, the form of grace known as "sanctifying grace", and which first floods the soul at baptism, which empowers one's ability both to believe and to perform good works, is essential as the gateway to salvation, but not the only element needed for salvation (Eph 2:8–10). God's freely given grace is offered and empowers one's ability to believe and to perform good works, both then becoming meritorious because they are joined to Christ's saving power of the Cross. (Phil 2:12–13) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1987–2029) A Christian must respond to this free gift of Grace from God given first, ordinarily, in Baptism (1 Pet 3:21) both by having faith and by living in the light of Christ through love (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 1:7) (Galatians 5:6) which perfects the Christian throughout his or her life (James 2:22). The Catholic position is best summed up in John 3:16, if one has the proper, contextual understanding of the word "believe". "Believe", in context and in ancient Judaism, meant more than an intellectual assent. "To believe" also meant to obey, which is seen, in context, in Jn 3:36, 1 Jn 2:3ff, and 1 Jn 5:1ff. Without our positive response to grace offered, salvation is not possible.
As expounded in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church's teaching is that it is the grace of God, "the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call", that justifies us,[113] a grace that is a prerequisite for our free response of "collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity".[114]
The Council of Trent sought to clarify the Catholic Church's teaching on justification and the manner in which it differed from that proposed by Lutheran and Reformed Christians. It stated: "Faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and to come to the fellowship of His sons; and we are therefore said to be justified gratuitously, because none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification."[117] "Faith, unless hope and charity be added to it, neither unites man perfectly with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body. For which reason it is most truly said that faith without works is dead (James 2:17–20) and of no profit, and in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by charity (Galatians 5:6)."[117] After being justified, "to those who work well unto the end and trust in God, eternal life is to be offered, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Christ Jesus, and as a reward promised by God himself, to be faithfully given to their good works and merits. ... Since Christ Jesus Himself, as the head into the members and the vine into the branches (John 15:1–6), continually infuses strength into those justified, which strength always precedes, accompanies and follows their good works, and without which they could not in any manner be pleasing and meritorious before God, we must believe that nothing further is wanting to those justified to prevent them from being considered to have, by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life and to have truly merited eternal life, to be obtained in its [due] time, provided they depart [this life] in grace".[117]
In its canons, the Council condemned the following propositions:
man can be justified before God by his own works, whether done by his own natural powers or through the teaching of the law, without divine grace through Jesus Christ (canon 1);
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 (canon 9);
the commandments of God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in grace, impossible to observe (canon 18);
the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works, but those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of its increase (canon 24);
the good works of the one justified are in such manner the gifts of God that they are not also the good merits of him justified; or the one justified by the good works that he performs by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit an increase of grace, eternal life, and in case he dies in grace, the attainment of eternal life itself and also an increase of glory (canon 32).
Biblical exegesis
Catholic exegetes believe that St. James, to continue the thread above, had no other object than to emphasize the fact—already emphasized by St. Paul—that only such faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata) possesses any power to justify man (cf. Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 13:2), whilst faith devoid of charity and good works (fides informis) is a dead faith and in the eyes of God insufficient for justification (cf. James 2:17 sqq.)[118][119]
In response to sola fide, Robert Sungenis argues in his 1997 book Not by Faith Alone that:
Lutherans and Reformed Christians have devised many and varied explanations to neutralize the clear and unambiguous statement in Jm 2:24 that "man is justified by works and not by faith alone." Each of these explanations concludes that James is not teaching that man is justified by works in the same sense that Paul says man is justified by faith. Puzzled by James's language, Martin Luther even concluded that the epistle of James was a spurious book and should not be canonically authoritative for New Testament teaching.
Countering the Lutheran and Reformed Christian explanation of the epistle of James which states that James means that "men" witness Abraham's works, the Genesis text (Genesis 22) does not include any men as witness to Abraham's works, but only God himself.
Countering the Lutheran and Reformed Christian explanation of James which holds that the word "justified" as James uses the term refers to a "vindication," rather than to a salvific justification, as Paul uses the term, are the following arguments:
If James were teaching a concept of "vindication," he would have said, with the proper Greek word, "you see, a person is vindicated by works." Moreover, since James adds the clause "and not by faith alone" we know that he is correcting a false notion concerning the solitude of faith in justification, not suggesting that Abraham was vindicated by works.
If James were attempting to teach a vindication of Abraham, the specific argumentation he used would make sense only if James's opponents had claimed that Abraham was "vindicated by faith alone." In other words, if the vindication hypothesis were true, syntactical requirements would have forced James to use the meaning of "vindicated" in the first part of his argument (Jm 2:20–21) in order also to use it in the latter part (Jm 2:24). Since the grammatical structure of the verse would then require that the phrase "not by faith alone" have its referent in the phrase "is vindicated," this would force the meaning of the verse to be, "a person is vindicated ... not by faith alone"—a meaning that has no relevance to James's discussion.
The New Testament does not use the word "justified" in the sense of "vindicated" in contexts which are soteriological, i.e., contexts which discuss salvation or damnation. Moreover, such passages as Mt 11:19 where one could plausibly interpret the Greek word dikaioo as referring to a vindication do so only in a metaphorical sense; therefore they do not use dikaioo in the same way that James, and even Paul, use the term, which is historical and literal.
James's discussion of the events surrounding the justification of Rahab preclude assigning the meaning of "vindicated" to the word justified. Rahab's justification, as described in Jm 2:25, is a salvific justification, not a vindication, yet James specifies that Rahab was justified "in the same way" that Abraham was justified. Therefore, one cannot understand Abraham's justification as a vindication.
Since James and Paul use the same Greek noun dikaiosune ("righteous") in reference to Abraham, and interpret the word in the same way (cf. Gn 15:6, Rm 4:3, Jm 2:23), it would be totally incongruous for one of them to use a different meaning of its verbal cognate dikaioo in reference to Abraham.
The Lutherans and Reformed Christian position assumes that Abraham's justification is a once-for-all event. James's all important question "Can faith save him?" (Jm 2:14), however, includes Abraham within its purview. Hence we must conclude that if Abraham's works were not of the quality that James prescribes in the context (Jm 2:15), then Abraham would not be justified. Abraham could not be justified in a "once-for-all" event in Gn 15:6 and at the same time have that justification put in jeopardy by disobedience to James's requirement of works for justification. If this could happen, the question in Jm 2:14 would have no meaning.
Abraham's acts in Genesis 12, 15, and 22 were acts of faith and works. We should not misconstrue Paul's stress on Abraham's faith in his view of Gn 15:6 to say that Abraham performed no works of loving obedience to God at this time or prior, nor should we misconstrue James's view of works in Genesis 22 to say that Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Isaac was not a supreme act of faith. Similarly, Abraham's departure from his homeland in Genesis 12 also couples his faith and works in regard to justification. Throughout his life, in the periods recorded in Genesis 13–14, 16–21, and 23–25 which are between the times of his recorded faith and obedience in the New Testament, Abraham continued to live in faith and obedience, with only what we may call minor lapses along the way. Genesis 22's importance is its detailing of Abraham's quintessential act of the faith-and-works which allowed God to swear an oath of blessing to him and for all his future descendants. Abraham's act in Genesis 22, not Gn 15:6, was the most important act in Abraham's life. The act in Genesis 22 was just as much a crediting of righteousness to Abraham as that in Gn 15:6.
The entire context of the book of James concerns what one must do to be saved. He concentrates on obedience to the law as the means of salvation, and judgment for those who disobey that law.
James includes sins of commission as well as omission in his warning against disobedience to the law. The supreme law, or "royal law," that James has in view is the law of love.
James assumes that the audience to whom he writes already has faith in God. The main question that James poses to them is whether they have added works to their faith. James does not suggest that works will immediately or inevitably flow from one who has faith, even though he may have a greater disposition towards good works once he has faith. James teaches that one who has faith must make a daily, conscious decision to do good works, just as he must decide each day to refrain from sin. In fact, if he chooses not to do good works when the opportunity arises, he has sinned (Jm 4:17).
James does not support the Lutherans and Reformed Christian concept that one can be saved as long as he has "saving faith." James is not so much attempting to qualify the faith needed for justification as he is saying that one must consciously add works to faith in order to be justified. A person, to be justified, must persevere to his last breath in this conscious decision to add works to faith.
One of the most heinous in the catalogue of sins that James specifies is sin of the tongue. What is "said" to God and man is of the utmost importance to James and a major criterion on how the individual will be judged.
Both Paul and James speak of the works of love that one must add to his faith in order to be justified.
Like Paul, James concludes that if one chooses the system of law and desires God to evaluate him on that basis without the benefit of grace, he must then obey the whole law without fault. For one fault, the law will utterly condemn him.[120]
Anabaptist view
An Anabaptist Christian lady wearing a headcovering and cape dress in keeping with biblical and patristic teachings on headship and modesty
For early Anabaptists, sola fide muted the call to imitate Christ by excusing anti-Christian behavior generally, and justifying violence towards fellow Christians in particular. True fide, it was argued, takes Christ both as savior and example. That is, faith is directed not just to the soteriological work of Christ's death, but also towards his exemplary human life. Faith accepts that because Christ's earthly life pleased God, it is normative for proper human experience. Consequently, early Anabaptism expected an affirmative answer to two basic questions: 1) "Do you believe that Christ bore your sins?" and 2) "Do you believe that Jesus' human life, which pleased God, should be copied?"[2]
"The beginning of the Anabaptist path to salvation was thus marked not by a forensic understanding of salvation by 'faith alone', but by the entire process of repentance, self-denial, faith, rebirth and obedience. It was this process that was marked by the biblical sign of baptism."[121] After becoming a believer, Anabaptist theology emphasizes "a faith that works."[10]
... salvation by faith through grace, but such faith must bear “visible fruit in repentance, conversion, regeneration, obedience, and a new life dedicated to the love of God and the neighbor, by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[122]
To believe is to obey God's Word—be it unto death or life—in the sure confidence that it leads to the best. Hebrews 11:1[123]
Obedience to Jesus and other New Testament teachings, loving one another and being at peace with others, and walking in holiness are seen as "earmarks of the saved."[124] Good works thus have an important role in the life of an Anabaptist believer,[125] with the teaching "that faith without works is a dead faith" (cf. James 2:26) occupying a cornerstone in Anabaptist Christianity.[126] Anabaptists do not teach faith and works—in the sense of two separate entities—are necessary for salvation, but rather that true faith will always produce good works. Balthasar Hubmaier wrote that "faith by itself alone is not worthy to be called faith, for there can be no true faith without the works of love."[127]
Anabaptists "dismissed the Lutheran doctrine of justification, a dead faith as they called it, which was unable to produce Christian love and good works."[9]Peter Riedemann wrote:
These so-called Christians can be compared with the heathen who were led into the land of Israel by the Assyrian king and were settled in cities. The Lord sent lions among them to kill them, until a priest from Israel came and taught them the manner and practice of the law. Those heathen learned to serve the God of heaven. But they continued in their abominable practices. God was not pleased with their service, and their children followed in their footsteps. (2 Kings 17:18–34)
That is just what can be seen in the so-called Christians of today, especially the Lutherans. They continually profess to love and serve God and will not give up evil, sinful practices and the whole service of the devil. They continue to walk from generation to generation; as their fathers did, so do they, and even worse. John clearly states in what way they walk in truth! 1 John 2:4; 4:20[128]
Rather than a forensic justification that only gave a legal change of one's status before God, early Anabaptists taught that "justification begun a dynamic process by which the believer partook of the nature of Christ and was so enabled to live increasingly like Jesus."[129] Christians of the Anabaptist tradition (who teach salvation by "faith that works") have argued that being a disciple of Jesus by careful obedience to New Testament commands (such as the holy kiss, baptism, communion, headcovering, and feet washing), is "crucial evidence that an individual has repented, believed, and yielded to Christ."[130][131] The Anabaptist theologian Menno Simons rebuffed the Lutheran charge of legalism by referencing John 14:15:[130]
Because we teach from the mouth of the Lord that if we would enter into [eternal] life, we must keep the commandments; that the love of God is that we keep his commandments, the [Lutheran] preachers call us heaven-stormers and meritmen, saying that we want to be saved by our own merits even though we have always confessed that we cannot be saved by means of anything other than by the merits, intercession, death, and blood of Christ.[130]
Free Grace view
Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871 – 1952) who was a major influence upon many Free Grace theologians.
Free Grace theology, which is held by authors such as Zane Hodges, Jody Dillow, Charles Ryrie, David R. Anderson and others,[133] is distinguished from other traditions by holding an especially strong version of the doctrine of faith alone. It holds that things such as turning from sin, baptism or perseverance in the faith are necessary for salvation, but instead hold that these things are necessary for eternal rewards.[134] It holds eternal security, and denies that every believer will necessarily persevere.[132] Thus, they hold that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will go to heaven regardless of any future actions—including future sin, unbelief, or apostasy—though Christians who sin or abandon the faith will face God's discipline. For example, Robert Thieme states “Although the believer can never lose his eternal life, he can be in danger of destroying his spiritual life and losing all the blessings that “God has prepared for those who love him”.[135][136] This view is primarily taught by Southern Baptist, Independent Baptist, Plymouth Brethren, Non-Denominational and Calvary Chapel churches, although it is not a majority within them.[137][138]
Free grace theology is distinguished by its treatment of the words "salvation" and "save" in the Bible. These theologians argue that there are many ways believers can experience "salvation", not necessarily referring to salvation from hell. This view cites verses such as Acts 27:34, where the Greek word σωτηρῐ́ᾱsōtēríā – typically translated as 'salvation' – is translated "health" or "strength" because food will assist their deliverance from physical death. Spiritually, salvation is seen as referring to deliverance from the eternal penalty of sin (justification), the current power of sin over the Christian (sanctification), the removal of any possibility to sin (glorification), and being restored to stewardship over the world as God intended for humankind at creation (restoration to rule).[139] Most Free Grace theologians such as Bob Wilkin, Zane Hodges, and Joseph Dillow, among others hold that the one who possesses "dead faith" – as mentioned James 2:17 – is not a false convert, in this view the word "dead" refers to a faith that is not profitable in this life nor in the judgement seat of Christ, but does not imply false conversion. Thus, when the epistle of James says "can that faith save him", it is either understood as salvation from temporal consequences of sin (as with Hodges), salvation from a loss of reward (as with Bing), both (as with Dillow), or as the physical salvation of the poor person described in the chapter (as with R. T. Kendall).[140][141][142]
There are some differences among free grace theologians on the issue of fruit in a Christian life. More moderate free grace theologians still affirm that faith will necessarily lead into good works, although it may not be outwardly evident or last to the end of one's life. However, those who hold to a more strong form of free grace theology deny that every Christian will bear fruit in their life.[143]
Methodism affirms the doctrine of justification by faith, but in Wesleyan–Arminian theology, justification refers to "pardon, the forgiveness of sins", rather than "being made actually just and righteous", which Methodists believe is accomplished through sanctification.[8][144]John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Churches, taught that the keeping of the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments,[145] as well as engaging in the works of piety and the works of mercy, were "indispensable for our sanctification".[146]
"It is incumbent on all that are justified to be zealous of good works," says Wesley, "And these are so necessary that if a man willingly neglects them, he cannot reasonably expect that he shall ever be sanctified."
—"The Scripture Way of Salvation" in Sermons II [vol. 3; ed. A.C. Outler; Abingdon, 1985], 164).[146]
Methodist pastor Amy Wagner has written:
Wesley understood faith as a necessity for salvation, even calling it "the sole condition" of salvation, in the sense that it led to justification, the beginning point of salvation. At the same time, "as glorious and honorable as [faith] is, it is not the end of the commandment. God hath given this honor to love alone."
—"The Law Established through Faith II", §II.1
Faith is "an unspeakable blessing" because "it leads to that end, the establishing anew the law of love in our hearts".
—"The Law Established through Faith II", §II.6
This end, the law of love ruling in our hearts, is the fullest expression of salvation; it is Christian perfection.
Methodist soteriology emphasizes the importance of the pursuit of holiness in salvation.[7] Thus, for Wesley, "true faith... cannot subsist without works".[146] Bishop Scott J. Jones in United Methodist Doctrine (2002) writes that in Wesleyan theology:
Faith is necessary to salvation unconditionally. Good works are necessary only conditionally, that is if there is time and opportunity. The thief on the cross in Luke 23:39–43 is Wesley's example of this. He believed in Christ and was told, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." This would be impossible if the good works that are the fruit of genuine repentance and faith were unconditionally necessary for salvation. The man was dying and lacked time; his movements were confined and he lacked opportunity. In his case, faith alone was necessary. However, for the vast majority of human beings good works are necessary for continuance in faith because those persons have both the time and opportunity for them.[148]
Bishop Jones concludes that "Methodist doctrine thus understands true, saving faith to be the kind that, given time and opportunity, will result in good works. Any supposed faith that does not in fact lead to such behaviors is not genuine, saving faith."[148] Methodist evangelist Phoebe Palmer stated that "justification would have ended with me had I refused to be holy".[149] While "faith is essential for a meaningful relationship with God, our relationship with God also takes shape through our care for people, the community, and creation itself."[150] Methodism, inclusive of the Holiness movement,[151] thus teaches that "justification [is made] conditional on obedience and progress in sanctification",[149] emphasizing "a deep reliance upon Christ not only in coming to faith, but in remaining in the faith".[152] The believer who is entirely sanctified (cleansed "from all inward sin and empowered for service") maintains his/her salvation by "faith and obedience" to God.[6]
Richard P. Bucher contrasts this position with the Lutheran one, discussing an analogy put forth by John Wesley:
Whereas in Lutheran theology the central doctrine and focus of all our worship and life is justification by grace through faith, for Methodists the central focus has always been holy living and the striving for perfection. Wesley gave the analogy of a house. He said repentance is the porch. Faith is the door. But holy living is the house itself. Holy living is true religion. "Salvation is like a house. To get into the house you first have to get on the porch (repentance) and then you have to go through the door (faith). But the house itself—one's relationship with God—is holiness, holy living.
The position of the Mennonite Church USA is set out in the pamphlet Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995). The commentary to Article 8 of the Confession emphasizes both faith and obedience as normative for salvation:
This confession uses a variety of expressions for salvation. For example, salvation is often expressed as "justification by faith". The justification that is "reckoned" to us as salvation (Rom. 4:1–12) is experienced as a covenant relationship with God. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. God offers the relationship. The just, or righteous, person has received the offer, lives according to the covenant, and trusts in God's faithfulness. Justification by faith and faithful obedience to the covenant relationship are inseparable (Heb. 11).[153]
Anglicanism
The Anglican position is set out in the Thirty-nine Articles, specifically Article XI "Of the Justification of Man":
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort; as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
Our churches by common consent... teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.
Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.
We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare that man blessed to whom God grants righteousness apart from works.
And the same apostle says that we are justified "freely" or "by grace" through redemption in Jesus Christ. And therefore we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in him.
That is enough to cover all our sins and to make us confident, freeing the conscience from the fear, dread, and terror of God's approach, without doing what our first father, Adam, did, who trembled as he tried to cover himself with fig leaves.
In fact, if we had to appear before God relying—no matter how little—on ourselves or some other creature, then, alas, we would be swallowed up.
Therefore everyone must say with David: "Lord, do not enter into judgment with your servants, for before you no living person shall be justified."
—Article 23: "The Justification of Sinners", Belgic Confession, 1561 (French revision, 1619)
Question 86: Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?
Answer: Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he may be praised by us; also, that every one may be assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly conversation others may be gained to Christ.
Question 87: Cannot they then be saved, who, continuing in their wicked and ungrateful lives, are not converted to God?
Answer: By no means; for the holy scripture declares that no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
—Heidelberg Catechism, 1563
Presbyterian
I. Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.
XXVIII. That those which have union with Christ, are justified from all their sins, past, present, and to come, by the blood of Christ; which justification we conceive to be a gracious and free acquittance of a guilty, sinful creature, from all sin by God, through the satisfaction that Christ hath made by his death; and this applied in the manifestation of it through faith.
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.
We believe good works are the necessary fruits of faith and follow regeneration but they do not have the virtue to remove our sins or to avert divine judgment. We believe good works, pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, spring from a true and living faith, for through and by them faith is made evident.
We believe in... the Salvation of lost and sinful man through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith apart from works, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit...
The New Testament makes it clear that the gift of salvation is received through faith. "By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). By faith, which is also the gift of God, we repent of our sins and freely adhere to the gospel, the good news of God's saving work for us in Christ. By our response of faith to Christ, we enter into the blessings promised by the gospel. Faith is not merely intellectual assent but an act of the whole persons involving the mind, the will, and the affections, issuing in a changed life. We understand that what we here affirm is in agreement with what the Reformation traditions have meant by justification by faith alone (sola fide).
Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church
4.3 Justification by Faith and through Grace
25. We confess together that sinners are justified by faith in the saving action of God in Christ. By the action of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, they are granted the gift of salvation, which lays the basis for the whole Christian life. They place their trust in God's gracious promise by justifying faith, which includes hope in God and love for him. Such a faith is active in love and thus the Christian cannot and should not remain without works. But whatever in the justified precedes or follows the free gift of faith is neither the basis of justification nor merits it.
In the preamble , it is suggested that much of the debate on sola fide has been based on condemnations of caricatured positions not actually held: "The teaching of the Lutheran Churches presented in the Declaration does not fall under the condemnations from the Council of Trent. The condemnations in the Lutheran Confessions do not apply to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church presented in this Declaration."
Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission
5. Regarding the way in which salvation is appropriated by the believers, Lutherans, by teaching that justification and salvation are by grace alone through faith (sola gratia, sola fide), stress the absolute priority of divine grace in salvation. When they speak about saving faith they do not think of the dead faith which even the demons have (cf. James 2:19), but the faith which Abraham showed and which was reckoned to him as righteousness (cf. Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3,9). The Orthodox also affirm the absolute priority of divine grace. They underline that it is God's grace which enables our human will to conform to the divine will (cf. Phil 2:13) in the steps of Jesus praying, "not as I will but as You will" (Matthew 26:39), so that we may work out our salvation in fear and trembling (cf. Phil. 2:12). This is what the Orthodox mean by "synergy" (working together) of divine grace and the human will of the believer in the appropriation of the divine life in Christ. The understanding of synergy in salvation is helped by the fact that the human will in the one person of Christ was not abolished when the human nature was united in Him with the divine nature, according to the Christological decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. While Lutherans do not use the concept of synergy, they recognize the personal responsibility of the human being in the acceptance or refusal of divine grace through faith, and in the growth of faith and obedience to God. Lutherans and Orthodox both understand good works as the fruits and manifestations of the believer's faith and not as a means of salvation.[156]
Protestant Controversies
Some scholars of Early Christianity are adherents of the New Perspective on Paul and so believe sola fide is a misinterpretation on the part of Lutherans and that Paul was actually speaking about laws (such as Circumcision, Dietary laws, Sabbath, Temple rituals, etc.) that were considered essential for the Jews of the time.[157]
1 2 3 4 Griffin, David Graham (16 May 2016). The Word Became Flesh: A Rapprochement of Christian Natural Law and Radical Christological Ethics. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p.108. ISBN978-1-4982-3925-7.
↑ Allen, Michael (2010). Reformed Theology. London: Bloomsbury Academic. p.77. ISBN978-0-567-03429-8. With regard to sola fide, a contrast is being made with Rome's doctrine that faith must be formed by love (fides formata). The Reformed and Lutheran churches said that Rome essentially required faith and works for justification.
1 2 3 Bucher, Richard P. (2014). "Methodism". Lexington: Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Also, for Methodists full salvation involves not only justification by faith, but repentance and holy living as well. Whereas in Lutheran theology the central doctrine and focus of all our worship and life is justification by grace through faith, for Methodists the central focus has always been holy living and the striving for perfection. Wesley gave the analogy of a house. He said repentance is the porch. Faith is the door. But holy living is the house itself. Holy living is true religion. "Salvation is like a house. To get into the house you first have to get on the porch (repentance) and then you have to go through the door (faith). But the house itself--one's relationship with God--is holiness, holy living" (Joyner, paraphrasing Wesley, 3).
1 2 Rhodes, Ron (1 March 2015). The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: Understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences. Harvest House Publishers. p.307. ISBN978-0-7369-5292-7. Entire sanctification is that work of the Holy Spirit, subsequent to regeneration, by which fully consecrated believers, upon exercise of faith in the atoning blood of Christ, are cleansed in that moment from all inward sin and empowered for service. The resulting relationship is attested by the witness of the Holy Spirit and is maintained by faith and obedience. Entire sanctification enables believers to love God with all their heart and love their neighbors as themselves.
1 2 Joyner, F. Belton (2007). United Methodist Answers. Westminster John Knox Press. p.80. ISBN9780664230395. Jacob Albright, founder of the movement that led to the Evangelical Church flow in the United Methodist Church, got into trouble with some of his Lutheran, Reformed, and Mennonite neighbors because he insisted that salvation not only involved ritual but meant a change of heart, a different way of living.
1 2 Elwell, Walter A. (1 May 2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library). Baker Publishing Group. p.1268. ISBN9781441200303. This balance is most evident in Wesley's understanding of faith and works, justification and sanctification. ... Wesley himself in a sermon entitled "Justification by Faith" makes an attempt to define the term accurately. First, he states what justification is not. It is not being made actually just and righteous (that is sanctification). It is not being cleared of the accusations of Satan, nor of the law, nor even of God. We have sinned, so the accusation stands. Justification implies pardon, the forgiveness of sins. ... Ultimately for the true Wesleyan salvation is completed by our return to original righteousness. This is done by the work of the Holy Spirit. ... The Wesleyan tradition insists that grace is not contrasted with law but with the works of the law. Wesleyans remind us that Jesus came to fulfill, not destroy the law. God made us in his perfect image, and he wants that image restored. He wants to return us to a full and perfect obedience through the process of sanctification. ... Good works follow after justification as its inevitable fruit. Wesley insisted that Methodists who did not fulfill all righteousness deserved the hottest place in the lake of fire.
1 2 Brewer, Brian C. (30 December 2021). T&T Clark Handbook of Anabaptism. Bloomsbury Publishing. p.87. ISBN978-0-567-68949-8.
↑ "Romans 3:28", Testament, 1522, So halten wyrs nu, das der mensch gerechtfertiget werde, on zu thun der werck des gesetzs, alleyn durch den glawben (emphasis added to the German word for 'alone.').
↑ New testament (in Greek), York, archived from the original on 2 July 2008, retrieved 5 December 2017, λογιζόμεθα γάρ δικαιоῦσθαι πίστει ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου ("for we reckon a man to be justified by faith without deeds of law").
↑ Martin Luther, On Translating: An Open Letter (1530), Luther's Works, 55 vols. (St. Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press), 35:187–189, 195; cf. also Heinz Bluhm, Martin Luther Creative Translator (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1965), pp. 125–137.
↑ Küng, Hans, Justification: The Doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Reflection, p249, "The formula sola fide can be taken for orthodox since the 'alone' may be understood as a plausible way of making clear the statement in Romans 3:28. This much is certain - the 'alone' in the translation is not Luther's invention. Even before the Reformation there were already such translations. According to Lyonnet...the German Bible's reading of Gal 2.16 is 'gerechtfertigt...nur durch den Glauben.'"
↑ George, Timothy, Theology of the Reformers, p. 71, n. 61, "Luther did not, of course, invent this phrase. The German Bible published at Nürnberg in 1483 translated Gal 2:16 as "gerechtfertigt ... nur durch den Glauben". Further, the term sola fide was well established in the Catholic tradition, having been used by Origen, Hilary, Chrysostom, Augustine, Bernard, Aquinas, and others but without Luther's particular nuances."
↑ Lyonnet Stanislas, Etudes sur l'Epître aux Romains, p. 118
↑ Hodge, Charles, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, p. 100
↑ "A Defense of Free Grace Theology". Grace Theology Press. Retrieved 3 September 2023. There were Christians in good standing with the church c.AD 400 who held the doctrine that a person received salvation by faith alone without repentance or good works. Much to Augustine's ire, baptism was practiced immediately if one of them believed in Christ, without first entering prolonged education in Christian faith and morals as a catechumen. For those early Christians, God's future judgment consisted only of payment (reward) or punishment (temporary) for how those Christians lived their lives before God—heaven or hell was not in question.
↑ "CHURCH FATHERS: City of God, Book XXI (St. Augustine)". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 1 December 2023. But, say they, the Catholic Christians have Christ for a foundation, and they have not fallen away from union with Him, no matter how depraved a life they have built on this foundation, as wood, hay, stubble; and accordingly the well-directed faith by which Christ is their foundation will suffice to deliver them some time from the continuance of that fire, though it be with loss, since those things they have built on it shall be burned.
↑ Milner, Joseph. The History of the Church of Christ Volume 3. A comment on the epistle to the Galatians, is his only work which was committed to the press. In it he every where asserts the equality of all the apostles with St. Peter. And, indeed, he always owns Jesus Christ to be the only proper head of the church. He is severe against the doctrine of human merits, and of the exaltation of traditions to a height of credibility equal to that of the divine word. He maintains that we are to be saved by faith alone; holds the fallibility of the church, exposes the futility of praying for the dead, and the sinfulness of the idolatrous practices then supported by the Roman see. Such are the sentiments found in his commentary on the epistle to the Galatians.
↑ "The forms of communication employed by the Protestant Reformers and especially Luther and Calvin"(PDF). Pharos Journal of Theology. 98. 2016. John of Wessel was one member in the group who attacked indulgences (Reddy 2004: 115). The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the teaching of John of Wessel (Kuiper 1982: 151). He rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation where it is believed when the priest pronounces the sacraments then the wine and bread in turned into the real body and blood of Christ
↑ Wriedt, Markus. "Luther's Theology," in The Cambridge Companion to Luther. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 88–94.
↑ Selected passages from Martin Luther, "Commentary on Galatians (1538)" as translated in Herbert J. A. Bouman, "The Doctrine of Justification in the Lutheran Confessions," Concordia Theological Monthly 26 (November 1955) No. 11:801. ctsfw.eduArchived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
↑ In XV Psalmos graduum 1532–1533; WA 40/III.352.3
↑ Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann, eds., Luther's Works, 55 vols. (St. Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press, 1955–1986), 34:337
↑ Luther, Martin. "The Smalcald Articles," in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, 289, Part two, Article 1.
↑ "The Augsburg Confession". bookofconcord.org. Article XX, 'Of Good Works'. Retrieved 19 May 2023. It is only by faith that forgiveness of sins is apprehended
↑ The Defense of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV: Of Justification, "We also say that love ought to follow faith, as Paul also says, Gal. 5:6: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love."
↑ The Epitome of the Formula of Concord, III. The Righteousness of Faith Before GodArchived 20 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine , "We believe, teach, and confess that, although the contrition that precedes, and the good works that follow, do not belong to the article of justification before God, yet one is not to imagine a faith of such a kind as can exist and abide with, and alongside of, a wicked intention to sin and to act against the conscience. But after man has been justified by faith, then a true living faith worketh by love, Gal. 5:6, so that thus good works always follow justifying faith, and are surely found with it, if it be true and living; for it never is alone, but always has with it love and hope."
↑ Richardson, A., Bwoden, J. (ed.), A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, p. 208
↑ Augsburg Confession, Article 20: Of Good Works, "First, that our works cannot reconcile God or merit forgiveness of sins, grace, and justification, but that we obtain this only by faith when we believe that we are received into favor for Christ's sake, who alone has been set forth the Mediator and Propitiation, 1 Tim. 2:5, in order that the Father may be reconciled through Him. Whoever, therefore, trusts that by works he merits grace, despises the merit and grace of Christ, and seeks a way to God without Christ, by human strength, although Christ has said of Himself: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John 14:6. This doctrine concerning faith is everywhere treated by Paul, Eph. 2:8: By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of your selves; it is the gift of God, not of works, etc. And lest any one should craftily say that a new interpretation of Paul has been devised by us, this entire matter is supported by the testimonies of the Fathers. For Augustine, in many volumes, defends grace and the righteousness of faith, over against the merits of works. And Ambrose, in his De Vocatione Gentium, and elsewhere, teaches to like effect. For in his De Vocatione Gentium he says as follows: Redemption by the blood of Christ would become of little value, neither would the preeminence of man's works be superseded by the mercy of God, if justification, which is wrought through grace, were due to the merits going before, so as to be, not the free gift of a donor, but the reward due to the laborer."
↑ The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article 4: Of Good Works, "First, there is no controversy among our theologians concerning the following points in this article, namely: that it is God's will, order, and command that believers should walk in good works; and that truly good works are not those which every one contrives himself from a good intention, or which are done according to traditions of men, but those which God Himself has prescribed and commanded in His Word; also, that truly good works are done, not from our own natural powers, but in this way: when the person by faith is reconciled with God and renewed by the Holy Ghost, or, as Paul says, is created anew in Christ Jesus to good works, Eph. 2:10."
↑ "Luther, An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans". Luther's German Bible of 1522 by Martin Luther, 1483–1546. iclnet.org. 14 September 2020. Translated by Rev. Robert E. Smith from Dr. Martin Luther's vermischte deutsche Schriften. Johann K. Irmischer, ed. Vol. 63 (Erlangen: Heyder and Zimmer, 1854), pp.124–125. [EA 63:124-125] August 1994
↑ Catechism of Catholic Church, Paragraphs 2068, "all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments."
↑ Catechism of Catholic Church, Paragraphs 2010, "Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life."
↑ Catechism of Catholic Church, Paragraphs 2027, "we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods."
↑ Catechism of Catholic Church, Paragraphs 2036, "The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is necessary for salvation."
↑ "Salvation by Works Questioned – Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)". wayback.archive-it.org. Archived from the original on 27 September 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2023. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear in stating that we merit salvation in part by our works. Read paragraphs 1987 through 2029, note especially 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2027.
↑ Moore, James. "When You're a Christian...The Whole World Is From Missouri". James talks as if he were from Missouri, "Show me!" He says to the objector, "I can show you faith by my works". His works proved that his faith was active. But can the objector show faith without works? James knew what Matthew had said in the seventh chapter, "Ye shall know them by their fruits".
↑ Wilson, Kenneth (2020). "Reading James 2:18–20 with Anti-Donatist Eyes: Untangling Augustine's Exegetical Legacy". Journal of Biblical Literature. 139 (2): 389–410.
↑ Olson, Roger E. (6 September 2002). The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity & Diversity. InterVarsity Press. p.281. ISBN9780830826957. Two examples of Christian synergism are the Catholic reformer Erasmus, who was roughly contemporary with Luther, and the seventeenth-century Dutch theologian Arminius. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist tradition, was also a synergist with regard to salvation.
↑ Pinson, J. Matthew (2002). Four Views on Eternal Security. Harper Collins. p.18. ISBN9780310234395. While for Arminius loss of salvation came only through ceasing to believe in Christ, Wesleyans held that it could result from eiter unbelief or unconfessed sin. ... Anabaptists (e.g., Mennonites, Brethren) and Restorationists (e.g., the Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, Disciples of Christ) have traditionally tended towards doctrines of salvation similar to that of Wesleyan Arminianism--without affirming a "second blessing" and entire sanctification. There have always been some in these groups, however, who has espoused a view more akin to Reformed Arminianism. Many traditional Lutherans also affirm the possibility of apostasy and reconversion.
↑ Robinson, Jeff (25 August 2016). "Meet a Reformed Arminian". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 16 June 2019. Reformed Arminianism's understanding of apostasy veers from the Wesleyan notion that individuals may repeatedly fall from grace by committing individual sins and may be repeatedly restored to a state of grace through penitence.
↑ Lindström, Harald. "Chapter Three: Sanctification and the Order of Salvation". Retrieved 4 April 2021. In the former sense Wesley can use it to embrace the whole range of Christian salvation proper, both present and final salvation: salvation in its inception, continuation, and conclusion; usually, however, he confines it to present salvation, which comprises justification and sanctification, and the emphasis may be laid on sanctification.
↑ Stamoolis, James J. (5 October 2010). Three Views on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism. Zondervan. p.138. ISBN9780310864363. A further concession is made, one that could easily be made by an Arminian Protestant who shared the Orthodox understanding of synergism (i.e., regeneration as the fruit of free will's cooperation with grace): "The Orthodox emphasis on the importance of the human response toward the grace of God, which at the same time clearly rejects salvation by works, is a healthy synergistic antidote to any antinomian tendencies that might result from (distorted) jurdicial understandings of salvation.
↑ Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 1992. Vatican City-State. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith.
↑ Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 1446. The Vatican. Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace."
↑ Sungenis, Robert A. (1997). Not By Faith Alone The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification. Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship Publishing. pp.172–175. ISBN1-57918-008-6.
↑ Sheldrake, Philip (1 January 2005). The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Westminster John Knox Press. p.104. ISBN978-0-664-23003-6.
↑ Hauerwas, Stanley (2015). The Work of Theology. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p.63. ISBN978-0-8028-7190-9.
↑ Janzen, Rod (4 May 2009). Paul Tschetter: The Story of a Hutterite Immigrant Leader, Pioneer, and Pastor. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p.9. ISBN978-1-7252-4463-4.
↑ Klassen, W., ed. (1981). Anabaptism in Outline. English. Herald Press. p.44. ISBN0-83611241-5.
↑ Riedemann, P., Friesen, John J. (1999). Peter Riedemann's Hutterite Confession of Faith: Translation of the 1565 German Edition of "Confession of Our Religion, Teaching, and Faith By the Brothers Who Are Known as the Hutterites". Herald Press. p.169. ISBN0-8361-3122-3.
↑ Dyck, C. J., Keeney, W. E., Beachy, A. J., eds. (1 February 1992). The Writings of Dirk Philips. Herald Press. p.40. ISBN0-8361-3111-8.
1 2 3 Klaassen, Walter (1985). "Anabaptism: Neither Catholic Nor Protestant". Christian History Institute. Retrieved 29 May 2022. Because of their emphasis on Christ-like living, Anabaptists have repeatedly been subject to the charge of legalism. Luther was one of the first. When Anabaptists emphasized that faith is visible and genuine only if expressed in action, Luther saw nothing but a new system of righteousness by works.
↑ Robinson, Jeff (25 August 2015). "Meet a Reformed Arminian". TGC. Retrieved 19 July 2017. Reformed Arminianism's understanding of apostasy veers from the Wesleyan notion that individuals may repeatedly fall from grace by committing individual sins and may be repeatedly restored to a state of grace through penitence.
↑ Campbell, Ted A. (1 October 2011). Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials, 2nd Edition. Abingdon Press. pp.40, 68–69. ISBN9781426753473.
In Western Christian theology, grace is created by God who gives it as help to one because God desires one to have it, not necessarily because of anything one has done to earn it. It is understood by Western Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to people – "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" – that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, grace is the uncreated Energies of God. Among Eastern Christians generally, grace is considered to be the partaking of the Divine Nature described in 2 Peter 1:4 and grace is the working of God himself, not a created substance of any kind that can be treated like a commodity.
In Christian theology, "legalism" is a pejorative term applied to the idea that "by doing good works or by obeying the law, a person earns and merits salvation." The term has been criticized by certain Christian traditions, such as Conservative Anabaptists who have said that being a disciple of Jesus means being obedient to New Testament commands, and the same is "crucial evidence that an individual has repented, believed, and yielded to Christ."
The five solae of the Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of Christian theological principles held by theologians and clergy to be central to the doctrines of justification and salvation as taught by the Lutheranism, Reformed and Evangelical branches of Protestantism, as well as in some branches of Baptist and Pentecostalism.
In Christianity, salvation is the saving of human beings from sin and its consequences—which include death and separation from God—by Christ's death and resurrection, and the justification entailed by this salvation.
In Christian theology, justification is the event or process by which sinners are made or declared to be righteous in the sight of God.
In Christian theology, synergism refers to the cooperative effort between God and humanity in the process of salvation. Before Augustine of Hippo (354–430), synergism was almost universally endorsed. It characterized the so-called Semi-Pelagian position. It also characterized the position of the Second Council of Orange (529), often referred to as Semi-Augustinian. Synergism is affirmed by both the Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodoxy. It is also present in various Protestant denominations, such as Anabaptist Churches, and is particularly prominent in those influenced by Arminian theology, such as the Methodist Churches.
In Christianity, sanctification literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred. Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart, i.e. "made holy", as a vessel, full of the Holy Spirit. The term can be used to refer to objects which are set apart for special purposes, but the most common use within Christian theology is in reference to the change brought about by God in a believer, begun at the point of salvation and continuing throughout the life of the believer. Many forms of Christianity believe that this process will only be completed in Heaven, but some believe that entire sanctification is possible in this life.
The Cambridge Declaration is a statement of faith written in 1996 by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, a group of Reformed and Lutheran Evangelicals who were concerned with the state of the Evangelical movement in America, and throughout the world.
As a general term in theological use, assurance refers to a believer's confidence in God, God's response to prayer, and the hope of eternal salvation. In Protestant Christian doctrine, the term "assurance", also known as the Witness of the Spirit, affirms that the inner witness of the Holy Spirit allows the Christian disciple to know that they are justified. Based on the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, assurance was historically an important doctrine in Lutheranism and Calvinism, and remains a distinguishing doctrine of Methodism and Quakerism, although there are differences among these Christian traditions. Hymns that celebrate the witness of the Holy Spirit, such as Fanny Crosby's "Blessed Assurance", are sung in Christian liturgies to celebrate the belief in assurance.
The Five Points of Calvinism constitute a summary of soteriology in Reformed Christianity. Named after John Calvin, they largely reflect the teaching of the Canons of Dort. The five points assert that God saves every person upon whom he has mercy, and that his efforts are not frustrated by the unrighteousness or inability of humans. They are occasionally known by the acrostic TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.
Imputed righteousness is a concept in Christian theology proposing that the "righteousness of Christ...is imputed to [believers]—that is, treated as if it were theirs—through faith." It is on the basis of Jesus' righteousness that God accepts humans. This acceptance is also referred to as justification.
The "New Perspective on Paul" is a movement within the field of biblical studies concerned with the understanding of the writings of the Apostle Paul. The "new perspective" was started with scholar E. P. Sanders' 1977 work Paul and Palestinian Judaism. The old Protestant perspective claims that Paul advocates justification through faith in Jesus Christ over justification through works of the Law. After the Reformation, this perspective was known as sola fide; this was traditionally understood as Paul arguing that Christians' good works would not factor into their salvation – only their faith would count. In this perspective, first-century Second Temple Judaism is dismissed as sterile and legalistic.
Lutheranism as a religious movement originated in the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church. The movement originated with the call for a public debate regarding several issues within the Catholic Church by Martin Luther, then a professor of Bible at the young University of Wittenberg. Lutheranism soon became a wider religious and political movement within the Holy Roman Empire owing to support from key electors and the widespread adoption of the printing press. This movement soon spread throughout northern Europe and became the driving force behind the wider Protestant Reformation. Today, Lutheranism has spread from Europe to all six populated continents.
The theology of Martin Luther was instrumental in influencing the Protestant Reformation, specifically topics dealing with justification by faith, the relationship between the Law and Gospel, and various other theological ideas. Although Luther never wrote a systematic theology or a "summa" in the style of St. Thomas Aquinas, many of his ideas were systematized in the Lutheran Confessions.
In Christian theology, good works, or simply works, are a person's (exterior) actions and deeds that align with the moral teachings, emphasizing compassion, charity, kindness and adherence to biblical principles, in contrast to inner qualities such as grace or faith. Rooted in the belief that faith should manifest in positive actions, the concept underscores the importance of living out one's faith through generosity. Adherents emphasize the significance of engaging in altruism as a demonstration of their devotion to God. These actions, guided by the moral and ethical teachings of the Bible, are viewed as tangible expressions of love, obedience and righteousness within the framework of the Christian worldview. The concept of good works is intricately linked to the theological belief in salvation through faith rather than a means of earning salvation, as Christians seek to manifest their gratitude for God's grace by actively participating in acts of service to others. This theological perspective places significance on the transformative power of good works in fostering a life reflective of Christian values. Christians are often encouraged to love their neighbors, care for the unfortunate, and promote moral values in their communities.
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that identifies primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 1517. Lutheranism subsequently became the state religion of many parts of Northern Europe, starting with Prussia in 1525.
Sola gratia, meaning by grace alone, is one of the five solae and consists in the belief that salvation comes by divine grace or "unmerited favor" only, not as something earned or deserved by the sinner. It is a Christian theological doctrine held by some Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, propounded to summarise the Protestant Reformers' basic soteriology during the Reformation. In addition, salvation by grace is taught by the Catholic Church: "By the grace of God, we are saved through our faith; this faith entails by its very nature, good works, always enabled by prior grace, without which this faith is dead."
The two kinds of righteousness is a Lutheran paradigm. It attempts to define man's identity in relation to God and to the rest of creation. The two kinds of righteousness is explicitly mentioned in Luther's 1518 sermon entitled "Two Kinds of Righteousness", in Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), in his On the Bondage of the Will, Melanchthon's Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and in the third article of the Formula of Concord. It is also the implicit presupposition governing Luther's On the Freedom of a Christian as well as other works.
Criticism of Protestantism covers critiques and questions raised about Protestantism, the Christian denominations which arose out of the Protestant Reformation. While critics may praise some aspects of Protestantism which are not unique to the various forms of Protestantism, Protestantism is faced with criticism mainly from the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Protestant denominations have also engaged in self-critique and criticized one another. According to both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, many major, foundational Protestant doctrines have been officially declared heretical.
Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, the Holy Trinity, salvation, sanctification, charity, evangelism, and the four last things.
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