We Have Been Saved by Faith, and We Shall Be Saved by the Good Works (Which Are a Product of That Faith)
I found this website "http://www.christian-history.org/sola-fide.html#leap" dealing with christian history. This guys deals with a lot of things concerning Roman Catholicism, yet I find his definition of sola fide concerning.
How Can Faith Only and Not Faith Only Both Be True?
Ah, finally. To the point.
Paul divides salvation into two stages.
One, we are delivered from the world and from our bondage to sin. We are born again, and made into new creatures in Christ. That happens by faith, apart from works.
Two, we live our lives as Christians. The grace of God enables us to overcome sin (Rom. 6:14). The Spirit of God enables us to put our flesh to death (Rom. 8:13). Then we die, and we are judged …
… by works apart from faith.
Does Paul really distinguish like that?
Consistently.
But let's look at the place where he most clearly distinguishes between our salvation from the world and our entrance into eternal life:
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Rom. 5:9-10)
Faith and works are not specifically mentioned here. We'll look at those in a moment.
But look at how much is mentioned:
past tense: In the past tense, Paul says we were reconciled and justified. He also says that this was done by Jesus' death and by his blood.
future tense: In the future tense, Paul says that we will be saved from wrath. This will happen by his life, rather than by his death.
Jesus' death and blood are tied to our justification in the past. Similar words are used to refer to our experience in the past. We die to our old life, and in baptism we are buried with Christ. Our salvation, in the sense of our entrance into Christ, happens purely by faith, apart from works. We can never work ourselves into being born again or into becoming new creatures.
Once that happens, however, we are told not to grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9). We are told that we must live by the Spirit and put to death the deeds of body (Rom. 8:13). This happens by Christ's life rather than by his death. While the power belongs to Christ, the choice belongs to us. If we live according to the flesh, we will die, we are told, but if we put to death the deeds of the body, then we will live.
We can only put the deeds of the body to death by the Spirit. We do not have the power otherwise. But the choice to live by the Spirit is ours, and we are commanded repeatedly (especially in Rom. 8 and Gal. 5) to do so.
As Paul says, if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, then (and only then) we will live. In Galatians 6:8-9, Paul ties this to good works ("doing good"). If we don't grow weary in doing good, then we will reap. The context makes it clear he is talking about reaping eternal life at the judgment.
Is it a good definition?
I found this website "http://www.christian-history.org/sola-fide.html#leap" dealing with christian history. This guys deals with a lot of things concerning Roman Catholicism, yet I find his definition of sola fide concerning.
How Can Faith Only and Not Faith Only Both Be True?
Ah, finally. To the point.
Paul divides salvation into two stages.
One, we are delivered from the world and from our bondage to sin. We are born again, and made into new creatures in Christ. That happens by faith, apart from works.
Two, we live our lives as Christians. The grace of God enables us to overcome sin (Rom. 6:14). The Spirit of God enables us to put our flesh to death (Rom. 8:13). Then we die, and we are judged …
… by works apart from faith.
Does Paul really distinguish like that?
Consistently.
But let's look at the place where he most clearly distinguishes between our salvation from the world and our entrance into eternal life:
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Rom. 5:9-10)
Faith and works are not specifically mentioned here. We'll look at those in a moment.
But look at how much is mentioned:
past tense: In the past tense, Paul says we were reconciled and justified. He also says that this was done by Jesus' death and by his blood.
future tense: In the future tense, Paul says that we will be saved from wrath. This will happen by his life, rather than by his death.
Jesus' death and blood are tied to our justification in the past. Similar words are used to refer to our experience in the past. We die to our old life, and in baptism we are buried with Christ. Our salvation, in the sense of our entrance into Christ, happens purely by faith, apart from works. We can never work ourselves into being born again or into becoming new creatures.
Once that happens, however, we are told not to grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9). We are told that we must live by the Spirit and put to death the deeds of body (Rom. 8:13). This happens by Christ's life rather than by his death. While the power belongs to Christ, the choice belongs to us. If we live according to the flesh, we will die, we are told, but if we put to death the deeds of the body, then we will live.
We can only put the deeds of the body to death by the Spirit. We do not have the power otherwise. But the choice to live by the Spirit is ours, and we are commanded repeatedly (especially in Rom. 8 and Gal. 5) to do so.
As Paul says, if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, then (and only then) we will live. In Galatians 6:8-9, Paul ties this to good works ("doing good"). If we don't grow weary in doing good, then we will reap. The context makes it clear he is talking about reaping eternal life at the judgment.
Is it a good definition?