Quote from Forum Archives on January 9, 2008, 12:20 pm

Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>

Forthright Magazine
www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross

COLUMN: Reality Check

Justification by Faith Alone
by Stan Mitchell

Martin Luther wrote volumes on the subject of
"Justification by faith alone." It was clear to
him that salvation could not be attained by
keeping all the demands made by the church of his
day.

Many church leaders today are enamored with the
idea of "Justification by faith alone," too. They
pour over the writings of the Apostle Paul,
developing and refining their understanding of
God's grace and mercy.

Yet Paul never used the phrase.

Not in Romans, his great treatise on grace, not in
Ephesians, nor Colossians.

Paul simply never used the term.

But James did.

"You see that a person is justified by what he
does, and not by faith alone" (James 2:24).

So James uses the phrase "justified ... by faith
alone." But it should be noted that he uses the
term in order to refute, not support the concept.

You know the passage. It is the one where he
depicts the devils (a little humorously) as
"believing (God) and trembling" (2:24). Have you
felt the ground under you tremble lately? Maybe
it's the little red-suited guys trembling in their
boots!

James says, very clearly, that our salvation is
not a matter of faith alone. Neither is it of
works alone. Neither James nor Paul ever claimed
that it was. The dilemma between faith and works
was Luther's, and ours, not scripture's, and
scripture, not theologians, should shape our
theology.

"What good is it," James asks, "if a man has
faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”
(2:14).

The answer, clearly, is "No". We are indebted to
Luther for his courage in standing up to the
religious corruption of his day, but we are
indebted to scripture alone for our understanding
of God's will.

In Luther's own words, we should be bound by sola
scriptura (scripture alone), and not sola fide
(faith alone).

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