Sola Fide - the battle cry of the
protestant. Certainly, it is impossible to build a Biblical case to
believe in the Catholic's work based salvation and abandon the justified-by-faith-alone
pillar of the protestant church.
First, I should say that this is a super long debate that I cannot possibly begin to cover adequately. This debate hardly ends at the Catholic/protestant divide - it's a favorite past time when 2 or more believers are gathered to debate who has added onto the "alone" of faith. It is also my opinion that much of this debate is semantics. At some level, at some point in the life of a believer, faith and salvation should effect some "change" in that person's life. Change is work - I'm not making a theological statement there, just an observation of what change is. To me, the question is who is doing the work, and for what purpose. Is God doing the work, or am I? Is the work done to produce faith, or is the work the natural consequence of faith?
For this post only, I will not reference the books of Hebrews, James, Jude or Revelation. Luther believed them to be unhelpful in answering questions regarding faith.
I did a quick search in the ESV for verses that contain both "faith" and "alone", or "faith" and "only". I realize this is not an exhaustive study of faith, but it's a good place to start. There's only 1 result for "faith" and "alone", and it's James 2:24 which I am not quoting in this post. For "faith" and "only", there's several results, but only 1 where "only" is describing "faith".
Galatians 5:6 - For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Of course, "working" is the next word. You might be curious about Romans 3:28, as I am.
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
This is the verse where most people think they will find the word "alone". It's not there - I tried several translations and couldn't find it. The same point is being made here as in Galatians - justification by faith is available to Jews and gentiles apart from the Law of Moses. So, right about now my protestant brain is saying - amen and amen, justification is by faith. Period, end of story. And I agree with that protestant position. But what does the Catholic Church teach about justification?
Catechism of the Catholic Church
PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION ONE
MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
CHAPTER THREE
GOD'S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE
ARTICLE 2
GRACE AND JUSTIFICATION
I. JUSTIFICATION
1987 The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism:34
But if we have died
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that
Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has
dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life
he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.35
1988 Through the power
of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ's Passion by dying to sin, and in his
Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is
the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself:36
[God] gave himself
to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become
communicants in the divine nature. . . . For this reason, those in
whom the Spirit dwells are divinized.37
1989 The first work of
the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in
accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel:
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."38 Moved by
grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high.
"Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification
and renewal of the interior man.39
1990 Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.
1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. 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. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:40
1990 Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.
1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. 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. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:40
But now the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and
the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as
an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's
righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that
he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.41
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:
When God touches
man's heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not
inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet,
without God's grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice
in God's sight.42
1994 Justification is
the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and
granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that "the
justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and
earth," because "heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation
and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away."43
He holds also that the justification of sinners surpasses the creation of the
angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.
1995 The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the "inner man,"44 justification entails the sanctification of his whole being:
1995 The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the "inner man,"44 justification entails the sanctification of his whole being:
Just as you once
yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now
yield your members to righteousness for sanctification. . . . But now
that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return
you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.45
34 Rom
3:22; cf. 6:3-4.
35 Rom 6:8-11.
36 Cf. 1 Cor 12; Jn 15:1-4.
37 St. Athanasius, Ep. Serap. 1,24:PG 26,585 and 588.
38 Mt 4:17.
39 Council of Trent (1547): DS 1528.
40 Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529.
41 Rom 3:21-26.
42 Council of Trent (1547): DS 1525.
43 St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 72,3:PL 35,1823.
44 Cf. Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16.
45 Rom 6:19,22.
Ok, so there's a lot there, and I'm going to say very little about it. That's the whole section of the Catholic catechism on justification. I put it all there so you can see yourself what the Church teaches. Line 1992 is the best summary in my opinion - justification is merited by Christ's blood and transferred to a person by the sacrament of faith, Baptism. So, justification is God's work and it is available to us by faith.
The astute observer might wonder if I'm ignoring the fact that Baptism plays a critical role here according to the catechism. Yes, it does - as the sacrament of faith. I'd rather save a fuller analysis of that for another time, but I think a couple points might be in order. Do protestants consider Baptism necessary for salvation? Some do. What were Jesus' instructions to the Apostles at the Great Commission? What do we see in the early church regarding those who believed the Gospel?
Perhaps the protestant still takes issue with something and believes the Catholic teaching on justification is just not quite right. Well, these protestants have agreed with the Catholic teaching on justification: Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed, Anglican. Of course, the first thing that happens when names like that are tossed around is something like "that's this Methodist branch, or that Presbyterian church, not the one I belong to." Well, that may very well be true, and it is correct that even as a life long protestant I cannot begin to unravel the network of association and disassociation between protestant churches. But clearly the gulf between Catholic and Protestant on justification is not as wide as I had thought.
Another common objection is that while the official Catholic teaching on justification may be ok, the average Catholic parishioner believes something else, possibly even that they are earning justification by works.
35 Rom 6:8-11.
36 Cf. 1 Cor 12; Jn 15:1-4.
37 St. Athanasius, Ep. Serap. 1,24:PG 26,585 and 588.
38 Mt 4:17.
39 Council of Trent (1547): DS 1528.
40 Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529.
41 Rom 3:21-26.
42 Council of Trent (1547): DS 1525.
43 St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 72,3:PL 35,1823.
44 Cf. Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16.
45 Rom 6:19,22.
Ok, so there's a lot there, and I'm going to say very little about it. That's the whole section of the Catholic catechism on justification. I put it all there so you can see yourself what the Church teaches. Line 1992 is the best summary in my opinion - justification is merited by Christ's blood and transferred to a person by the sacrament of faith, Baptism. So, justification is God's work and it is available to us by faith.
The astute observer might wonder if I'm ignoring the fact that Baptism plays a critical role here according to the catechism. Yes, it does - as the sacrament of faith. I'd rather save a fuller analysis of that for another time, but I think a couple points might be in order. Do protestants consider Baptism necessary for salvation? Some do. What were Jesus' instructions to the Apostles at the Great Commission? What do we see in the early church regarding those who believed the Gospel?
Perhaps the protestant still takes issue with something and believes the Catholic teaching on justification is just not quite right. Well, these protestants have agreed with the Catholic teaching on justification: Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed, Anglican. Of course, the first thing that happens when names like that are tossed around is something like "that's this Methodist branch, or that Presbyterian church, not the one I belong to." Well, that may very well be true, and it is correct that even as a life long protestant I cannot begin to unravel the network of association and disassociation between protestant churches. But clearly the gulf between Catholic and Protestant on justification is not as wide as I had thought.
Another common objection is that while the official Catholic teaching on justification may be ok, the average Catholic parishioner believes something else, possibly even that they are earning justification by works.
Alright, for argument sake let's allow that it
could be true. So, the solution for the average Catholic would be to
understand official Catholic teaching - would that help? Oh...no.
They need to go to a protestant church where these things are made clear,
right? Well, as of Aug 2017:
...nearly half of U.S. Protestants today (46%) say faith alone is needed to attain salvation (a belief held by Protestant reformers in the 16th century, known in Latin as sola fide). But about half (52%) say both good deeds and faith are needed...
Oops. Actually, I apologize for that. I don't really think it proves anything or adds anything to the conversation one way or another to talk about what "most average people" believe or don't believe. What I'm interested in is what they should believe if they are listening. And I think the answer is that both Catholics and protestants should rightly understand that they are justified by faith.
...nearly half of U.S. Protestants today (46%) say faith alone is needed to attain salvation (a belief held by Protestant reformers in the 16th century, known in Latin as sola fide). But about half (52%) say both good deeds and faith are needed...
Oops. Actually, I apologize for that. I don't really think it proves anything or adds anything to the conversation one way or another to talk about what "most average people" believe or don't believe. What I'm interested in is what they should believe if they are listening. And I think the answer is that both Catholics and protestants should rightly understand that they are justified by faith.
Love,
Paul
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