Justification by Faith and Justification by Works

[Gup20]

The justification in James 2 that James is referring to is a justification by works before man. (Perhaps a justification by faith plus works) The justification that Paul spoke about was by faith alone - before God. Now I may have missed a few things here - but it does draw the various parts together for me.

In 2:7 Paul stated that God would reward those who persevered "in well-doing" (lit., "in good work") by giving them eternal life or immortality (as well as glory and honor). But this is precisely what Paul says works of Torah will not get one because Torah does not give the power to deal with sin. (Thus there is a distinction in Paul's mind between "good work" and "works of Torah.")

Jam 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

Mat 22:37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Gal 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

These passages connect "works of charity" or "well doing" in together with 'works of the law'. In all three passages they are one in the same.

There are indeed many scriptures that say that man is not justified by works of the law. We are indeed "free from the law". But look what Galatians says:

Gal 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

It says yes -- you are now free from sin, and free from the law (if you have faith in christ), but don't use that as an excuse to sin. But rather, choose to follow God with your newfound freedom.

You see, properly understood one of the greatest gifts God has given man is the ability to choose Him. It's our free will. The scripture is saying, now that you are free from sin and death (through the justification of Faith), choose to serve the God who saved you.

Deu 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Gal 5:24
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

 

[James_Newman]

Please show us one verse that says we are justified by faith ALONE.

Romans 4:5
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

That is faith without works. Whether you think that something else may be added to faith I know not.

 

[Gup20]

Please show us one verse that says we are justified by faith ALONE.

Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

All of your verses from Revelation are talking to the churches about their conduct. This is where works come into play... in exorting one another in love. However, NONE of these verses in Revelation talk about being justified by your works. The only way to be justified (saved or counted righteous) is by faith.

 

[Faith alone]

Good stuff, Stan. Of course, we are saved by faith and not by works - any efforts which we could boast about, whether they be works of the Torah or some other sort of works.

But your point is well taken and makes sense when we realize that Paul is telling the Jews in Romans that relying on trying to obey "the 10 commandments" (as we would think of the Torah today) will not save anyone. The Jews are saved by faith as are the Gentiles. Abraham was the father of the Jews, and when he believed God before circumcision was even given, he was "justified" before God.

Ephesians 2:8, 9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this (salvation) is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast.

ERGON - translated works here. And Paul is writing to Gentiles in Ephesus. We are declared to be righteous and genuinely viewed as such by God through faith - it has always been so.

FA

 

[Faith alone]

I am saying that Works can only bear witness to one's faith, while the faith is what justifies. While a person CAN be justified by faith alone, one cannot be justified by works alone.

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]
[/FONT]Gup20,

I can buy that.

Thx,

FA

 

[Faith alone]

In response to mojoala - "faith alone"

Some will say, "Faith is an action."

Faith is not an action - it is an attitude, a description of our heart. There isn't anything we "do" to believe... either we believe or we don't. I can't "make" myself believe something. Now faith will certainly result in certain actions, but in-and-of-itself, it is an attitude, a description about how we are thinking and feeling - by definition of the word.

I looked up PISTEUO in the following lexicons: BADG, Liddell & Scott, & Louw & Nida (lexacon based on semantic domains), but didn't find much very helpful to us here. But there is another quite popular resource - Kittel. Here's what he said about the use of PISTEUO - "to believe" in the NT ->

D. The pistis Group in the NT.
I. Formal Considerations.
1. PISTEUO. Formally in the NT, as in Greek usage, PISTEUO denotes reliance, trust, and belief. We find similar constructions to those in the Greek world. Semitic usage produces some new ones, e.g., with EPI plus the dative or accusative, or with EN. Distinctive is the use of PISTEUEIN with EIS, which has the new and strong sense of “believing in” (FG -> VERY common in John, which is the book in the NT which expresses the gospel as its theme) and arises in the context of the church’s mission. Another fairly common sense of PISTEUEIN is “to entrust or commit oneself” (cf. Lk. 16:11; Jn. 2:24; also in the passive).
b. The Content of Faith. Paul states the content of faith in Rom. 10:9. It involves acknowledgment of the risen Christ. Faith in Christ means faith in his resurrection, and his resurrection implies his prior death for sin (1 Cor. 15:11; cf. Rom. 4:24; 1 Th. 4:14; Phil. 2:6ff.). KERYGMA and faith always go together (cf. Acts 2:22ff.), and the reference is always to Christ and what he has done
c. Faith as Personal Relation to Christ. Believing EIS (BD-"in") Christ involves a personal relation similar to the relation to God in the OT, although the NT tends to use different constructions for believing in God and in Christ. Acceptance of the gospel is acceptance of Christ as the Lord, for Christ and salvation history cannot be severed. Faith accepts the existence of Christ and its significance for the believer. It rests on the message, but as faith in the message it is faith in the person whom the message mediates. The personal aspect comes out in Rom. 10:9, 14; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:8.
d. Believing. Faith may be initial acceptance of the message, as in Acts 20:21, or it may be continuation in believing, as in 1 Cor. 2:5. Since believing is dynamic, it may be weak or strong (Rom. 12:3; 14:1), it may grow (2 Cor. 10:15) (cf. Jn. 20:31; 16:27; 14:10; 8:24; Rom. 6:8).
Kittel, Gerhard, and Friedrich, Gerhard, Editors, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) 1985.

You don't see any reference to believing as an act there. Anyway, that's how I see it. Faith references our heart. As a result of a change in our heart/mind, actions may occur. But the catalyst is the mind... the heart. Faith does not refer to actions, but to the catalyst - the impetus for those actions. To make it an action removes it of its power to save.

Some try to say that works are part of the concept of believing. But that is not the basic concept of faith, or believing, in the NT. Faith is an attitude, something taking place in our mind. It has nothing to do with anything we may or may not do. It is not doing. That is intrinsic to what it means to believe something. Kittel was very clear about that above.

I felt that I had to say something about this before addressing mojoala's claim that salvation is never taught in the Bible to be by faith alone. We must first be clear that faith is faith - reliance upon the death of Christ in our behalf to save us. Works and faith are diametrically opposed to one another. Some try to redefine faith so as to include works. I thought I'd cut 'em off at the pass first before looking at all the places in scripture in which Jesus, Paul, John and Peter make it clear that we are saved by faith alone.

Works has nothing to do with faith. They are opposites. Eitehr we rely upon God (faith) or we rely upon ourself (works). Anything else is a distortion of the meaning of believing in someone, of trusting in someone else.

mojoala, I realize that you may not object to anything I have posted above, but I felt that I needed to address it first. Because all the passages that teach salvation by faith alone are so extensive it would take several posts to include them all. I'll try to pick-n-choose the best texts in the next post, and try to fit it into a single post - so that people will actually read it.

FA

 

[Faith alone]

Salvation is by faith alone...

Now mojoala posted a bunch of scripture in which the word translated "alone" or "only" was used. (Either MONOS - an adjective or MONON - an adverb) I could post many more verses which show that we are saved by faith alone - over 100 - but I'll try to be selective...

Sorry, mojoala, couldn't do it. Had to break it up into two posts.


Notice that in the following references in John's gospel and elsewhere...
that believing is all that is needed IOT become God's children;
it is all that is needed IOT gain eternal life;
it is all that is needed IOT be assurance of not being condemned;
it is all that is needed IOT be assurance of possessing eternal life;
it is all that is needed IOT have crossed over out of death into life...

John 1:12, 13 But to all who have received him - those who believe in his name - he has given the right to become God's children - children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband's decision, but by God.

John 3:14-16 as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

John 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God's wrath remains on him.

John 5:24 "I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me, has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life."

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

John 6:35 - 47 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will not possibly thirst, ever. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. Now this is the will of the one who sent me: that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father: every one who looks on the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began complaining about Him because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," They said, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus replied, "Do not complain about me to one another. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me. (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God-he has seen the Father.)

"I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life."

John 7:38 let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, "From within him will flow rivers of living water."

John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man and said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

John 10:24 - 28 The Jewish religious leaders surrounded him and said, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

Jesus replied, "I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father's name testify about me. But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand."

John 11:25-27 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

She replied, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world."

John 12:36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light." When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them.

John 20:30, 31 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book. But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Acts 10:43 "About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Acts 15:9 and he made no distinction between them and us, cleansing their hearts by faith.

Acts 16:30, 31 He brought them outside and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household."

Rom. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Rom 9:33 just as it is written, "Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble and a rock that will make them fall, yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame."

OK, the condition for gaining eternal life is simply believing in Jesus Christ. It is so clear. And consider the following comments by Paul regarding faith and works. Several places in scripture Paul, and others, contrast faith with works.

Faith is relying upon what God has done. Works is relying upon what we have done. You cannot do both at the same time. That is obvious, hence Paul never needed to say "faith alone" since by definition that is what it means to trust in Him...

End of part I...

 

[Faith alone]

salvation by faith alone - part II

OK, let's look first at texts in which Paul made it very clear that alvation is by faith alone...

Romans 4:1-5 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter?
For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about (but not before God). For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.
(FA - Paul is contrasting relying upon works and relying upon faith. The idea of trusting in God for being credited with righteousness is all that Paul talks about. The idea of trusting in Him AND... just would not fit into any of the following texts and make any sense. Paul assumes that either we rely upon what Christ has done for us - FAITH, or we rely upon what we do - WORKS. How can Paul be more clear? There is the one who works and then there is the one who does not work, but instead relies upon Christ alone.)

Romans 10:3, 4 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
(FA - Again, righteousness is what is established "for everyone who believes." Paul is again contrasting those who try to establish their own righteousness [WORKS] with those who instead submit to God's righteoousness [FAITH])

Galatians 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
(FA - See the contrast: either rely upon our own efforts [WORKS] - or upon the works of the Law, or rely upon Jesus Christ - believe in Him and as a result be justified ["declared to be righteous"] WORKS add absolutely nothing to justification - it takes away from it.)

Galatians 3:1-14, 22, 26 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? Have you suffered so many things for nothing? - if indeed it was for nothing. Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?
(FA - Paul contrasts doing the works of the Law with believing what they heard. The only work referred to here is what God has worked.)

Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time,saying, "All the nations will be blessed in you." So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer.

For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law." Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree") in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
(FA - Those who rely upon doing works are under a curse. Hence to rely upon believing AND doing works places us under a curse... because we are not really relying upon Christ's work in our behalf, we think that helps but is not enough. We are actually then relying upon our own works.)
...

But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given - by faith in Jesus Christ - to those who believe.
...

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.

Ephesians 1:13, 14 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) - when you believed in Christ - you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 2:8, 9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not of works, so that no one can boast.
(See the contrast Paul makes between believing and working? If anything is required in addition to faith, then that is something about which we can boast. God's plan was one in which no one can boast.)

Philippians 3:9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
(FA - Paul desires to be found in Him. He contrasts having his own righteousness - based on the works of the Law - with that which is through faith in Christ. that we are not saved by faith alone, but that works are required?! When Paul says that we are saved by faith, and not by works, that is the same as saying that we are saved by faith alone. Only it is stronger language. There is a righteousness through faith and there is a righteousness through relying upon ourself - works. They are opposed to one another.)

I was wrong... this is going to have to be 3 posts... sorry about that.

Paul contrasts throughout hiswritings salvation "by faith" with salvation "by works." It's one or the otehr. You cannot mix them.

End of part II - In the 3rd and last post we'll look at what others, besides Paul, had to say about salvation by faith alone.

FA

 

[Faith alone]

salvation by faith alone - Part III

Now others in the NT had something to say about being saved by faith alone...

1 Peter 2:6, 7 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient [disbelievers], “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”
(FA - Notice that Peter says that those who believe on Jesus will "by no means" [very emphatic] be put to shame. If something else is required, then there is "some means" by which we might be out to shame.)

1 John 5:4, 5 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
(FA - It is not faith PLUS something else by means of which we overcome the world... it is simply by faith.)

1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn't have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
(FA - Can it be any more clear?! Eternal life is a gift. If we have to do works, then it is not a gift. If we have the Son, we have eternal life. John wrote that letter so that those who believe in Jesus Christ might KNOW that they already HAVE eternal life.)

As Jesus said in chapter 6 of John, in response to the Pharisees, "The one who believes has eternal life." (vs. 47) ... Did Jesus forget some other condition for eternal life? Either it is true that whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life or it is not. If it is true, then by basic logic we can categorically say that we are saved "by faith alone."

Here Jesus responded in that chapter to those who wanted to know what was needed to be done IOT be doing works which would please God:

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

What work do we need to do, beside believing, IOT please God? None, nada, zip. The only work we need to do is to believe. It is faith plus nothing. Paul, Peter and Jesus have made it so very clear. Those looking for the word "alone" are missing the trees for the forest. It's all over the place.


OK, let's summarize.

You see, either we rely upon what Christ did in our place, or we rely upon - even to a degree - what we do. If we say that we must believe PLUS anything, then we are no longer believing that Christ paid the entire penalty. We are saying that Christ's death in our place was necessary... but it was not enough. Christ's death in our place was not only required, due to our sin, but it was sufficient. If something other than faith alone is required IOT be declared to be righteous in His sight, then it was not enough. Can't have your cake and eat it to. It's one or the other. Was Christ's death sufficient? Then we are saved by faith alone.

Either we rely upon Him or we are relying upon ourself. As soon as we add any works to grace, the whole thing becomes works. Paul said precisely that here...

Romans 11:6 Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.

Did you catch that? It is either a gift - "by grace" - or it is on the basis of works. As soon as we add in works, instead of making grace stronger, we turn grace into works. If someone tells you that you will receive a gift of a free Ginza knife, you believe it to be a gift. But if they then say that you need do nothing, justs send ina check for $19.95 to cover shipping and handling... that knife is no longer a gift. As soon as we have to do anything more than simply believe salvation is no longer by grace.

FA

 

[Faith alone]

Romans 4:5
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

That is faith without works. Whether you think that something else may be added to faith I know not.

Amen. It is. And much more concise than my past 4 posts! You hit the nail square on the head, JN.

FA

 

[BobRyan]

Jam 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

Mat 22:37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Gal 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

These passages connect "works of charity" or "well doing" in together with 'works of the law'. In all three passages they are one in the same.

There are indeed many scriptures that say that man is not justified by works of the law. We are indeed "free from the law". But look what Galatians says:

Gal 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

It says yes -- you are now free from sin, and free from the law (if you have faith in christ), but don't use that as an excuse to sin. But rather, choose to follow God with your newfound freedom.

You see, properly understood one of the greatest gifts God has given man is the ability to choose Him. It's our free will. The scripture is saying, now that you are free from sin and death (through the justification of Faith), choose to serve the God who saved you.

Deu 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Gal 5:24
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Good points made from the Word of God.

 

[Faith alone]

Just curious. Why is it that some threads are ended after 5 pages, and this one has gone on for 11 pages and it hasn't been ended? (I noticed that on some past threads they had to be continued several time.)

Thx,

FA

 

[BobRyan]

20 Pages seems to be the normal "stopping point"

 

[stan the man]

Do Catholics believe in justification by faith alone

I want to talk about Catholics and the phrase "by faith alone." I have heard this question asked countless times, "Why don’t Catholics believe in justification by faith alone." As I suspect, many people today realize that look at adhere to two of the important "solas" related to salvation sola gratia (by grace alone) and solo Christo (by Christ alone) but fewer are aware that Catholics can also accept the formula of justification sola fide (by faith alone), provided this phrase is properly understood.

The term pistis is used in the Bible in a number of different senses, ranging from intellectual belief (Romans 14:22, 23, James 2:19), to assurance (Acts 17:31), and even to trustworthiness or reliability (Romans 3:3, Titus 2:10). Of key importance is Galatians 5:6, which refers to faith working by charity. In Catholic theology, this is what is known as fides formata or faith formed by charity. The alternative to formed faith is fides informis or faith unformed by charity. This is the kind of faith described in James 2:19, for example.

Whether a Catholic rejects the idea of justification by faith alone depends on what sense the term faith is being used in. If it is being used to refer to unformed faith then a Catholic rejects the idea of justification by faith alone (which is the point James is making in James 2:19, as every non-antinomian Evangelical agrees; one is not justified by intellectual belief alone).

However, if the term faith is being used to refer to faith formed by charity then the Catholic accepts the idea of justification by faith alone. In fact, in traditional works of Catholic theology, one regularly encounters the statement that formed faith is justifying faith. If one has formed faith, one is justified. Period.

A Catholic would thus reject the idea of justification sola fide informi but wholeheartedly embrace the idea of justification sola fide formata. Adding the word formed to clarify the nature of the faith in sola fides renders the doctrine completely acceptable to a Catholic.

 

[stan the man]

Do Catholics believe in justification by faith alone

Some might say, why, then, do Catholics not use the formula faith alone in everyday discourse? There are two reasons:

First, whenever a theological tradition is developing, it must decide which way key terms are going to be used or there will be hopeless confusion. For example, during the early centuries it was decided that in connection with Jesus identity the term God would be used as a noun rather than as a proper name for the Father. This enables us to say, Jesus is God and be understood. If the term God were used as a proper name for the Father in this regard, we would have to say, Jesus is not God. Obviously, the Church could not have people running around saying Jesus is God and Jesus is not God, though both would be perfectly consistent with the Trinity depending on how the term God is being used (i.e., as a noun or a proper name for the Father). Hopeless confusion (and charges of heresy) would have resulted in the early centuries if the Church did not specify the meaning of the term God when used in this context.

Of course, the Bible uses the term God in both senses, but to avoid confusion (and heretical misunderstandings on the part of the faithful, who could incline to either Arianism or Modalism if they misread the word God in the above statements) it later became necessary to adopt one usage over the other when discussing the identity of Jesus.

A similar phenomenon occurs in connection with the word faith. Evangelical leaders know this by personal experience since they have to continually fight against antinomian understandings of the term faith (and the corresponding antinomian evangelistic practices and false conversions that result). Because faith is such a key term, it is necessary that each theological school have a fixed usage of it in practice, even though there is more than one use of the term in the Bible. Evangelical leaders, in response to the antinomianism that has washed over the American church scene in the last hundred and fifty years, are attempting to impose a uniform usage to the term faith in their community to prevent these problems. (And may they have good luck in this, by the way.)

 

[stan the man]

Do Catholics believe in justification by faith alone

This leads me to why Catholics do not use the formula faith alone. Given the different usages of the term faith in the Bible, the early Church had to decide which meaning would be treated as normative. Would it be the Galatians 5 sense or the Romans 14/James 2 sense? The Church opted for the latter for several reasons:

First, the Romans 14 sense of the term pistis is frankly the more common in the New Testament. It is much harder to think of passages which demand that pistis mean faith formed by charity than it is to think of passages which demand that pistis mean intellectual belief. In fact, even in Galatians 5:6 itself, Paul has to specify that it is faith formed by charity that he is talking about, suggesting that this is not the normal use of the term in his day.

Second, the New Testament regularly (forty-two times in the KJV) speaks of the faith, meaning a body of theological beliefs (e.g. Jude 3). The connection between pistis and intellectual belief is clearly very strong in this usage.

Third, Catholic theology has focused on the triad of faith, hope, and charity, which Paul lays great stress on and which is found throughout his writings, not just in 1 Corinthians 13:13 (though that is the locus classicus for it), including places where it is not obvious because of the English translation or the division of verses. If in this triad faith is taken to mean formed faith then hope and charity are collapsed into faith and the triad is flattened. To preserve the distinctiveness of each member of the triad, the Church chose to use the term faith in a way that did not include within it the ideas of hope (trust) and charity (love). Only by doing this could the members of the triad be kept from collapsing into one another.

Thus the Catholic Church normally expresses the core essences of these virtues like this:

Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us . . . because he is truth itself. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1814)

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. (CCC, 1817)

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. (CCC, 1822)

 

[stan the man]

Do Catholics believe in justification by faith alone

In common Catholic usage, faith is thus unconditional belief in what God says, hope is unconditional trust in God, and charity is unconditional love for God. When we are justified, God places all three of these virtues in our hearts. These virtues are given to each of the justified, even though our outward actions do not always reflect them because of the fallen nature we still possess. Thus a person may still have the virtue of faith even if momentarily tempted by doubt, a person may still have the virtue of trust even if scared or tempted by despair, and a person may still have the virtue of charity even if he often selfish. Only a direct, grave violation (mortal sin against) of one of the virtues destroys the virtue.

As our sanctification progresses, these virtues within us are strengthened by God and we are able to more easily exercise faith, more easily exercise trust, and more easily exercise love. Performing acts of faith, hope, and charity becomes easier as we grow in the Christian life (note the great difficulty new converts often experience in these areas compared to those who have attained a measure of spiritual maturity).

However, so long as one has any measure of faith, hope, and charity, one is in a state of justification. Thus Catholics often use the soteriological slogan that we are saved by faith, hope, and charity. This does not disagree with the Protestant soteriological slogan that we are saved by faith alone if the term faith is understood in the latter to be faith formed by charity or Galatians 5 faith.

One will note, in the definitions of the virtues offered above, the similarity between hope and the way Protestants normally define faith; that is, as an unconditional placing our trust in Christs promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. The definition Protestants normally give to faith is the definition Catholics use for hope.

However, the Protestant idea of faith by no means excludes what Catholics refer to as faith, since every Evangelical would (or should) say that a person with saving faith will believe whatever God says because God is absolutely truthful and incapable of making an error. Thus the Protestant concept of faith normally includes both the Catholic concept of faith and the Catholic concept of hope.

Thus if a Protestant further specifies that saving faith is a faith which works by charity then the two soteriological slogans become equivalents. The reason is that a faith which works by charity is a faith which produces acts of love. But a faith which produces acts of love is a faith which includes the virtue of charity, the virtue of charity is the thing that enables us to perform acts of supernatural love in the first place. So a Protestant who says saving faith is a faith which works by charity, as per Galatians 5:6, is saying the same thing as a Catholic when a Catholic says that we are saved by faith, hope, and charity.

I will put the relationship between the two concepts as follows:

Protestant idea of faith = Catholic idea of faith + Catholic idea of hope + Catholic idea of charity

The three theological virtues of Catholic theology are thus summed up in the (good) Protestants idea of the virtue of faith. And the Protestant slogan salvation by faith alone becomes the Catholic slogan salvation by faith, hope, and charity (alone).

 

[stan the man]

Do Catholics believe in justification by faith alone

Protestant idea of faith = Catholic idea of faith + Catholic idea of hope + Catholic idea of charity

The three theological virtues of Catholic theology are thus summed up in the (good) Protestants idea of the virtue of faith. And the Protestant slogan salvation by faith alone becomes the Catholic slogan salvation by faith, hope, and charity (alone).

This was recognized years ago in The Church’s Confession of Faith: A Catholic Catechism for Adults, put out by the German Conference of Bishops, which stated:

Catholic doctrine . . . says that only a faith alive in graciously bestowed love can justify. Having mere faith without love, merely considering something true, does not justify us. But if one understands faith in the full and comprehensive biblical sense, then faith includes conversion, hope, and love and the Lutheran formula [by faith alone] can have a good Catholic sense. According to Catholic doctrine, faith encompasses both trusting in God on the basis of his mercifulness proved in Jesus Christ and confessing the salvific work of God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Yet this faith is never alone. It includes other acts turning away from sin and turning toward God . . . hope in God, and love for God. These are not external additions and supplements to faith, but unfoldings of the inner essence of faith itself. (The Church’s Confession of Faith: A Catholic Catechism for Adults [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987], 199-200. Emphasis in original.)

The same thing was recognized in a document written a few years ago under the auspices of the (Catholic) German Conference of Bishops and the bishops of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (the Lutheran church). The purpose of the document, titled The Condemnations of the Reformation Era: Do They Still Divide?, was to determine which of the sixteenth-century Catholic and Protestant condemnations are still applicable to the other party. Thus the joint committee which drafted the document went over the condemnations from Trent and assessed which of them no longer applied to Lutherans and the condemnations of the Augsburg Confession and the Smalcald Articles, etc., and assesses which of them are not applicable to Catholics.

When it came to the issue of justification by faith alone, the document concluded:

Today the difference about our interpretation of faith is no longer a reason for mutual condemnation . . . even though in the Reformation period it was seen as a profound antithesis of ultimate and decisive force. By this we mean the confrontation between the formulas by faith alone, on the one hand, and faith, hope, and love, on the other.

We may follow Cardinal Willebrand and say: In Luther’s sense the word faith by no means intends to exclude either works or love or even hope. We may quite justly say that Luther’s concept of faith, if we take it in its fullest sense, surely means nothing other than what we in the Catholic Church term love (1970, at the General Assembly of the World Lutheran Federation in Evian).

If we take all this to heart, we may say the following: If we translate from one language to another, then Protestant talk about justification through faith corresponds to Catholic talk about justification through grace; and on the other hand, Protestant doctrine understands substantially under the one word faith what Catholic doctrine (following 1 Cor. 13:13) sums up in the triad of faith, hope, and love. But in this case the mutual rejections in this question can be viewed as no longer applicable today that is, canons 9 and 12 of the [Council of Trent’s] Decree on Justification and the corresponding condemnations in the [Lutheran] Formula of Concord SD [Solid Declaration] III, first group of rejections 1-2 (BC [Book of Concord] 547f.); cf. HC [Heidelberg Catechism], esp. 20.

According to [Lutheran] Protestant interpretation, the faith that clings unconditionally to God's promise in Word and Sacrament is sufficient for righteousness before God, so that the renewal of the human being, without which there can be no faith, does not in itself make any contribution to justification. Catholic doctrine knows itself to be at one with the Protestant concern in emphasizing that the renewal of the human being does not contribute to justification, and is certainly not a contribution to which he could make any appeal before God. Nevertheless it feels compelled to stress the renewal of the human being through justifying grace, for the sake of acknowledging God's newly creating power; although this renewal in faith, hope, and love is certainly nothing but a response to God's unfathomable grace. Only if we observe this distinction can we say but we can then say in all truth: Catholic doctrine does not overlook what Protestant faith finds so important, and vice versa; and Catholic doctrine does not maintain what Protestant doctrine is afraid of, and vice versa. (The Condemnations of the Reformation Era: Do They Still Divide?, Lehmann and Pannenberg., ed.s, [Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990], 49-53.)

In addition to concluding that canons 9 and 12 of the Decree on Justification did not apply to modern Protestants, the document also concluded that canons 1-13, 16, 24, and 32 do not apply to modern Protestants (or at least modern Lutherans).

 

[Faith alone]

Stan,

I have no doub that often Catholics have been misunderstood, but in the issue of justification, they do not teach justification by faith alone. Let's look at what they say (CARM):

Roman Catholic doctrine denies justification by faith alone and says:

• "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema"
  (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9).​

• "If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified, because 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."
  (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 14).​

Roman Catholic theology pronounces a curse of excommunication if you believe that you are saved by grace through faith alone in Christ.
​

Now the Roman Catholic Church does not specifically state that we are "saved by grace PLUS works." But, when the Roman Catholic Church negates justification by faith alone in such strong language, it necessarily implies that we must do something in order to be justified... "faith plus something." And it refers to this something as "works."

​

Now we should acknowledge that the RCC does deny that it teaches faith plus works for justification. (Though their logic doesn't work.) But they also clearly teach that we are not justified by faith alone, and we cannot ignore that either.

Now we are all probably aware of the extreme abuses by the RCC regarding penance just before the Protestant Reformation, and the RCC has made some changes since then... but we should not assume that penance is no longer required by the RCC...

The Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, c. i) declared regarding Penance:

• "As a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin...
  

To be more specific they speak of infused grace.

• "Sanctifying grace is the gratuitous gift of his life that God makes to us; it is infused by the Holy Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it" (CCC, par. 2023).​

How do Protestants express their understanding of justification? As follows:

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, apart from good works.


The RCC position is essentially:

We are saved by grace alone, through faith-infused works.


The RCC does not teach that we are saved by faith alone. You see though, the RCC would agree that the initial justification is by grace alone through faith alone... They attach this initial step to baptism, but they still view the initial justification as being by grace alone through faith alone. One problem though, they say that we must maintain ourselves in that position of justification by "faith infused works." IOW, they teach that out initial justification is by faith alone - God does it. But final justification requires works.

The difference here is very subtle. Most Protestants see justification as a single act at a point in time, in which we accept what has already been done in Christ on the cross. Catholics see the initial step as being by faith alone, but that works are required IOT maintain that state of being justified. The RCC says that God is the Initiator of salvation and the One who brings the work to completion. They would even say that it is a free gift... but works are required IOT be finally justified - that is the issue.

Protestants see faith as being necessary and sufficient for justification. The RCC sees faith as being necessary, and all that is required to initiate salvation, but it is not enough to justify alone. For them it is necessary but not sufficient.

You see, Catholics see justification as not something which occurs at a "point-in-time," as most Protestants do, but as a process, initiated by faith alone, but consummated by works brought about by the Spirit. God initiates it based on our faith, and we respond to the work of the Spirit by faith and works. Christ's death on the cross made this all possible to them, but it was not sufficient. That's why I refer to myself as having been saved by Christ's death "in my place" rather than by Christ's death "for me." His death was not only necessary but sufficient. Hence, I need only believe.

So while I agree that we Protestants tend to not be fair in their assessment of the RCC, yet it cannot be said that the RCC teaches that we are fully justified by faith alone.

Now Protestants refer to our justification as "imputed" - credited to our ledger by faith alone. Catholics refer to it as "infused." For the Protestant justification is a legal forensic declaration in which God declares us to be righteous and treats us as if we were genuinely so. For the Catholic, justification is being made righteous - it is a process of becoming a person who acts just. This comes from RCC web sites. (Again, some Protestants hold to justification as being made righteous as well, instead of being declared righteous.)

Now I should add that some Protestants would say that we are not justified by faith alone. Sometimes they express it as...

"We are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is not alone."

IMO that is double-talk. That is essentially re-defining faith. Now they would insist that they believe in salvation by faith alone. But many Catholics would say the same as well.

Here's what the Roman Catholic Church says on justification...

As regards those who, by sin, have fallen from the received grace of Justification, they may again be justified...through the sacrament of Penance...For, on behalf of those who fall into sins after baptism, Christ Jesus instituted the sacrament of Penance...and therein are included not only a cessation from sins, and a detestation thereof, or, a contrite and humble heart, but also the sacramental confession of said sins...and sacerdotal absolution; and likewise satisfaction by fasts, alms, prayers, and the other pious exercises of the spiritual life...for the temporal punishment, which...is not always wholly remitted.[SIZE=+1]

If any one saith that he who has fallen after baptism...is able to recover the justice which he has lost...by faith alone without the sacrament of Penance...let him be anathema [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]
The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Canon XXIX. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]

One final quote of a RCC theologian on justification...
[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+1]Justification is the declaration of the righteousness of the believer before the judgment seat of Christ...The Council of Trent teaches that for the justified eternal life is both a gift or grace promised by God and a reward for his own good works and merits... According to Holy Writ, eternal blessedness in heaven is the reward...for good works performed on this earth, and rewards and merit are correlative concepts [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]
Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma (Rockford: Tan, pp.254, 264. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]

I want to talk about Catholics and the phrase "by faith alone." I have heard this question asked countless times, "Why don’t Catholics believe in justification by faith alone." As I suspect, many people today realize that look at adhere to two of the important "solas" related to salvation sola gratia (by grace alone) and solo Christo (by Christ alone) but fewer are aware that Catholics can also accept the formula of justification sola fide (by faith alone), provided this phrase is properly understood.

Incidently, I discussed earlier the idea that James 2 does not talk about the kind of faith, but the kind of justification - whether before God by faith alone, or before man by works.

FA

 

[stan the man]

Do Catholics believe in justification by faith alone

(This is a continuation from my last post.)
Before the joint commission met, Cardinal Ratzinger and Lutheran Bishop Eduard Lohse (head of the Lutheran church in Germany) issued a letter expressing the purpose of the document, stating:

"Our common witness is counteracted by judgments passed by one church on the other during the sixteenth century, judgments which found their way into the Confession of the Lutheran and Reformed churches and into the doctrinal decisions of the Council of Trent. According to the general conviction, these so-called condemnations no longer apply to our partner today. But this must not remain a merely private persuasion. It must be established in binding form."

I say this as a preface to noting that the commission concluded that canon 9 of Trent’s Decree on Justification is not applicable to modern Protestants (or at least those who say saving faith is Galatians 5 faith). This is important because canon 9 is the one dealing with the faith alone formula (and the one R.C. Sproul is continually hopping up and down about). It states:

"If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, so as to understand that nothing else is required to cooperate in the attainment of the grace of justification . . . let him be anathema."

The reason this is not applicable to modern Protestants (Aside from the facts that [1] the term anathema in ecclesiastical documents is used to refer to the canon law penalty of solemn excommunication and that Protestants cannot be excommunicated from the Catholic Church because they are already not part of it and [2] the canon law penalty of anathema or solemn excommunication was abolished in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, leaving only ordinary excommunication in place.) is that Protestants (at least the good ones) do not hold the view being condemned in this canon.

Like all Catholic documents of the period, it uses the term faith in the sense of intellectual belief in whatever God says. Thus the position being condemned is the idea that we are justified by intellectual assent alone (as per James 2). I might rephrase the canon:

"If anyone says that the sinner is justified by intellectual assent alone, so as to understand that nothing besides intellectual assent is required to cooperate in the attainment of the grace of justification . . . let him be anathema."

And every non-antinomian Protestant would agree with this, since in addition to intellectual assent one must also repent, trust, etc. (The term cooperate should not be distracting. It does not mean do something by our own strength or contribute our effort to what God does in us. Indeed, the Catholic Church teaches that prior to justification and after justification man is completely unable to do any supernatural act by his own strength. In order to make an act of faith, hope, or charity, one must receive God's grace because human nature, before or after justification, is unable to do these things and must have God's grace produce these acts in us. The reason the canon includes the word cooperate is to express the fact that, even though it takes God's grace to produce supernatural acts such as repenting, believing, and trusting, they must still be done. Thus our cooperation is produced by God's operation. God's operation produces our operation, and thus we co-operate under the impetus of God's grace.)