Objections to Sola Fide 2

The Light Shines in the Darkness...

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“Initial Justification”

All Scripture quotes are from the NASB (emphasis mine):

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

The Protestant would say, “There it is: sola fide, faith alone.” The Roman Catholic would object and say that this verse is only speaking about initial justification (Council of Trent). Further justification is required through works in order to become more holy in the eyes of God. These are the only two possibilities, and they are totally irreconcilable.

First, before I start quoting specific verses, the logical consequence of the judicial nature of justification must be brought forth. As has been proven before, justification is a legal declaration in which God as the judge has declared the repentant sinner ‘not guilty’ of all the sins that are on his account. If God has totally cleared the elect of their sins and the account of their life is perfect, what room is there for merit and satisfaction? If they are already considered holy and righteous, then there is no need to be made more righteous through merit, and there is no need to satisfy God’s wrath since Christ already satisfied God’s wrath on the Cross. Also, as shown previously, ‘works of the Law’ includes moral works, and the Scriptures deny that anyone will be justified by these works (Romans 3:20).

Aside from this, the Scriptures deny the Roman Catholic objection directly:

Romans 4:4

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.

Commentary:

Paul explains the nature of good works as they relate to God. He explains that they are in no way meritorious, but instead, they are what everyone owes God. In fact, everyone owes God a perfect life without any sin at all. Good works are merely what God expects of everyone at all times. The idea of meriting the expiation of sin would be like a motorist waving down a police officer on a motorcycle, informing the officer that he kept the speed limit, and asks the officer to cancel out the motorist’s past traffic violation.

Romans 4:5

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

Commentary:

Paul continues his argument in Romans 4 with a contrast from the one who works to the one who does not work. The one who does not work is credited righteousness to the account of his life because of his belief. One can now see the contrast between works and belief in the eyes of God. Works are what are expected, but God accepts faith in the place of righteousness. Faith alone is the cause and continuance of salvation.

Romans 4:6-8

“…just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

Commentary:

As I have discussed before, this passage explains that evil works will not be imputed to David’s account. Obviously, David had been a believer since he was a child (1 Samuel 16:7, 12-13), and this Psalm had probably been written about events when he was an adult (2 Samuel 11:1-12:14), long after he was initially justified. So, Paul is implying that no works, good or evil, will ever be imputed to a repentant sinner’s account after initial justification.

Romans 11:6

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Commentary:

Paul clearly excludes any faith plus works doctrine. Either it is by works or it is by grace but not both. One might well say, “But what about works done in grace?” That person’s argument is with Paul and not with me. Paul makes faith and works of a totally opposite character which destroys any possibility of merit.

Galatians 3:3

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Commentary:

Paul is asking the believers at Galatia (who were thinking about falling into the circumcision heresy) a very simple question: “If you began by receiving freely the forgiveness of sins by grace, why do you think that you can be perfected by human actions?” Again, Paul clearly eliminates any possibility of works done in grace.

Galatians 3:21

Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

Commentary:

Notice that Paul is saying that a law (i.e. any law) cannot impart life. In other words, no amount of any works of any kind can ever make someone better in the sight of God. No amount of good works can cancel out sin even if they were done using the grace of God. (It is worthy to note that the Catholic NAB translates it “…if a law…” also.)

Lastly, it should be noted that the Roman Catholic interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-9 is to say that Paul is talking about water baptism (since, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, water baptism is the way one is initially justified in the first place). However, according to Paul, no one is saved by works (which would include baptism). Roman Catholics and others object and say, “Baptism is not a work of man. It is a work of God,” with the purpose of trying to argue that it does not fall under the things excluded from the gospel in Ephesians 2:8-9. However, this is pure sophistry in trying to get around the text. If circumcision, an act which a priest does to a child shortly after birth, is called a work by Paul and is excluded from the gospel (Galatians 2:11-21), then baptism, which is an act done by a priest to a child shortly after birth (in the Roman Catholic Church), must also be a work, and thus, it is excluded by Paul from the gospel in Ephesians 2:8-9. If Paul were to express the belief that men are given initial justification by faith alone (not physical actions) apart from everything else, then how would he do so? He would say it exactly as he said Ephesians 2:8-9!

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Scriptural Objections

There are a number of Scriptural objections that Roman Catholics use to support their doctrine of works expiation (i.e. the expiation of the punishment for post-baptismal sins through good works). I will deal with most of them here:

Matthew 19:17

And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Commentary:

A Roman Catholic might well say, “See, you must do good works in order to merit your entrance into Heaven.” However, Jesus is not teaching that at all. What He is saying is that one may enter Heaven if they have never sinned (Leviticus 18:5, Galatians 5:3-4). However everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and thus, no one can be saved by doing the law (Galatians 3:10-14). The story of the rich man in the Gospel of Matthew goes on:

Matthew 19:25-26

"Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Commentary:

When Jesus said that it was impossible for the rich man to go to Heaven, the people were astonished because they understood the implications of what He said. By those standards, no one would ever enter Heaven. He explains Himself by telling them that any attempt to keep the Law in order to save your own soul, is impossible. The Law can only bring about condemnation (Romans 3:19-20, Galatians3:10) and not salvation (Galatians 3:21).

John 5:29

“…and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

Commentary:

This is a famous passage that was partially quoted in the Athanasian Creed:

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

-Athanasian Creed, Part 43

I believe that John Calvin put it best:

For Christ does not now treat of the cause of salvation, but merely distinguishes the elect from the reprobate by their own mark; and he does so in order to invite and exhort his own people to a holy and blameless life. And indeed we do not deny that the faith which justifies us is accompanied by an earnest desire to live well and righteously; but we only maintain that our confidence cannot rest on any thing else than on the mercy of God alone.

-John Calvin, Commentaries, Commentary on John 5:29

http://www.ccel.org/c/calvin/comment3/comm_vol34/htm/xi.v.htm

Romans 2:13

“…for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

Commentary:

My response is the same for this verse as it is for Matthew 19:17. This verse is talking to the Jews in Rome who believed that because they were the descendants of Abraham they would be saved. Paul points out that the only way to be justified by the Law is to keep the whole Law and never sin once (Leviticus 18:5, Galatians 5:3-4). This is obviously impossible to mankind because of the imputation of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:17).

James 2:14-26

[This passage will be dealt with in its own article.]

Revelation 20:12-13

“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”

Commentary:

This could refer to two things. First, it could refer to the fact that the degree of punishment in hell or the amount of reward in heaven are both determined by the works that man has done. Second, it could have the same meaning as John 5:29 (see above). Lastly, it could refer to both. Either way, the Roman Catholic interpretation of this passage contradicts other clearer passages of Scripture.

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Also, some helpful audio on this topic can be found at:

http://www.straitgate.com/webster/

http://www.christiantruth.com/realaudio.html (The Gospel of the Reformation, Tape #3)

Some helpful online reading can be found here:

http://members.aol.com/jasonte2/six.htm

http://members.aol.com/jasonte2/nograce.htm

http://aomin.org/NotByWorks.html

http://aomin.org/LDSGrace.html

http://aomin.org/empty.html