Sola Fides, Can It Work?

Many protestant sects teach that all that is needed for salvation of their souls is Faith Only...

All they need is to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior and no matter what they do after, they are assured they will go straight to heaven. Jesus Christ paid the price for all sins, past, present, and future. Jesus Christ took the test for us all and gave each of us a grade of 100%. Now doesn't that sound good? Just think, you can do anything you want for the rest of your life and your irrevocable ticket to heaven was paid for with the blood of Christ almost 2000 years ago. What a gift! What a great blessing! What nonsense!!!

The primary error here, has its roots in the fact that protestant churches are built on the wrong foundation, therefore no matter how much work they do to their church, it will not help if the foundation is faulty. Which Church is built on 'rock' (Mt 16:18), and which Church is guided by the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17)?

Fundamentalists look to Jn 5:24, "...he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has life everlasting, and does not come to judgment, but has passed from death to life." They use Gal 2:20, "And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of GOD who loved me and gave Himself up for me." There are other verses which they use as well, such as Rom 4:4-8, and Eph 2:8-10.

These verses are all good, but the foundation upon which the interpretation of them is built, is faulty. The fault lies in the fact that there are two very different kinds of salvation, not one. This is stated very clearly in Jn 5:24 by the word 'AND' which makes that verse conditional on two fronts, not one. We have to 'Hear' His word, AND we have to 'Believe' in Him.

The error is in NOT 'hearing' the word, which means 'doing' the will of GOD. Fundamentalists accept the second part and ignore the first. The Bible is filled with verses about 'doing' the will of GOD. Those other verses I quoted are from the first kind, or 'Objective Salvation. Jesus Christ did in fact redeem all men by his sacrifice on the cross. He paid for the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future with His blood. He did His part, but He did not buy each of us a guaranteed foolproof, irrevocable 'ticket' to Heaven as some churches teach. He redeemed us and opened the gates of Heaven and gave us free will to decide for ourselves where we will spend eternity. He fulfilled 'Objective Salvation'. Now we all have to do our part which is called 'Subjective Salvation'. We must DO the will of GOD, and that is called 'Works'. This is spelled out so clearly in Scripture.

Let us start with Phil 2:12, "...Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." How can anyone respond to that one except subjectively? Did Jesus Christ really work it out for you? How about Rom 11:22, "See, then, the goodness and the severity of GOD: His severity toward those who have fallen, but the goodness of GOD toward you if you abide in His goodness, otherwise you also will be cut off." That says keep GOD's commandments or you will not make it to Heaven, and will be cut off. Then see 1Cor 9:27, "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps after preaching to others I myself should be rejected." Paul himself, teaching that even he, with all of his faith, could still be rejected.

Look at Lk 6:46, "But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say? Doing the things which Jesus Christ says to do is 'works'.

Rev 2:26, "And to him who overcomes, and who keeps my works unto the end, I will give authority over the nations."

Open your Bible to Acts 5:29-32... But Peter and the Apostles answered and said, "We must obey GOD rather than men...(32) and we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom GOD has given to all who obey him." Those verses are unmistakable that we have to do our part by obeying the commandments of GOD.

Then there is the dreaded (by Protestants) Jam 2:14-26 which starts with (14) "What will it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but does not have Works? Can the faith save him?...(17) So faith too, unless it has Works, is dead in itself...(20) Faith without Works is useless...(21) Was not Abraham our father justified by Works when he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? (22) Do you not see that Faith worked along with his Works, and by the Works the faith was made perfect?...(24) You see that by Works a man is justified, and not by faith only....(26) For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so, Faith also without Works is Dead." 'Subjective Salvation' in action, is shown for that whole section written by St. James. I could go on and on with verses like this, and could ask questions such as, why is there a need for the ten commandments, since we are 'automatically saved'? I think you get the message from what I have shown.

Read Matt 25:31:46. It is all about doing good works in this life. Then there is Rev 14:13, "And I heard a voice from Heaven saying, 'Write: blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them.'" Is that clear enough that works are needed in addition to faith? Still not convinced? Then how about another crystal clear verse? Rev 22:12, "Behold, I come quickly! And My reward is with Me, to render to each one according to his works."