"Sola Fide"

“Sola Fide” Galatians 2:16—yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…” Another foundational belief of true Christianity is justification by faith alone (sola fide). Justification by faith alone is a very crucial doctrine that we must understand. Concerning this article of faith, Martin Luther said that it is “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls”. Before we look at “faith alone” lets look at justification. Justification is the act of God in which he pardons sinners and accepts them as righteous for Christ’s sake. Once this has taken place you are then declared justified. Just-if-I’d never sinned! This is incredibly important to believers because without this justification we will face the wrath of God. So if justification is this important, it is equally important that we know how one becomes justified. This is where faith alone comes in. James 2:24—You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Oh boy! What do we do with this verse? This seems to be an apparent contradiction, doesn’t it? One verse says faith alone, and one says works and faith. So what can we make of this? If “sola scriptura” (scripture alone) is how we discern the truth, what happens when we find these apparent contradictions? Well, this isn’t a contradiction. James 2:24 became the verse that Rome used to refute faith alone. Rome would have been right if that verse stood alone apart from any other idea or point--------but it didn’t. This is where most of us pick up bad theology. We read a verse, remove it from it’s context and then interpret it as literally as possible. Scripture must always be used in the context in which it is presented! Any other way will be spiritually devastating! To understand this verse we must look at James’ original reason for making this statement. James 2:14—What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? First of all, James is automatically implying that the faith that is not accompanied by works is not saving faith. We can only conclude by “can that faith save him?” that James does indeed believe that it is faith that saves. James is talking about a kind of faith that does not produce works. That faith is no faith at all. It is like the seed that fell on the shallow soil (Matthew 13:5,6). It appears to be faith and claims to be faith but is not saving faith. James is making clear that no one is justified by simply professing to have faith, but that justifying faith will always manifest itself in works. John Calvin wrote, “it is faith alone that justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone.” This belief has been deemed the “storm center of the Reformation”. This doctrine was arguably the beginning of the protestant faith. The Roman Church had believed and still believes that the combination of works and faith save a person. Let there be no mistake. Works necessarily follow saving faith. If you go to McDonalds and order a hamburger you will also get a bun, ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions. No one orders a hamburger and gets a plain patty. It’s the same way with faith. If faith is given it is accompanied by works. Faith saves all by itself, but it is not by itself.