Sola fide
Luther added the word allein ("alone" in German) to Romans 3:28 controversially so that it read: "So now we hold, that man is justified without the help of the works of the law, alone through faith".
[15]Historically, expressions similar to —"justification by faith alone"— had appeared in a number of Catholic bible translations: the Nuremberg Bible (1483) in Galatians 2:16 ("δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ... διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ") has "nur durch den glauben",[16][17] and the Italian translations of 1476, 1538, and 1546 have "ma solo per la fede" or "per la sola fede".
Thomas Schreiner asserted that because justification wasn't a big issue in the patristic period, "thus the theology isn’t always integrated or consistent", however Schreiner argued that people such as John Chrysostom, and Ambrosiaster had similarities to the views of justification as the reformers did:[32]"By faith alone one is freely forgiven of all sins and the believer is no longer burdened by the Law for meriting good works.
The individuals Augustine criticized held that one is saved by faith alone and that God's future judgement for Christians only consisted of temporal punishment and reward; hell was out of question.
[41][42] Early medieval thinkers whose statements on faith that have been interpreted as preceding Luther's include Gottschalk (c. 808 – 868 AD),[43] Claudius of Turin (8.–9.
[46] The doctrine of faith alone precedes Martin Luther in the theologies of many so-called proto-Protestant reformers: Wessel Gansfort (1419 – 1489),[48] Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (c. 1455 – 1536),[47] and possibly also in Johann Pupper (c. 1400 – 1475).
[51] The doctrine of sola fide asserts that God's pardon for guilty sinners is granted to and received through faith alone, excluding all "works" (good deeds).
[52] Christ's righteousness, according to the followers of sola fide, is imputed (or attributed) by God to sinners coming to a state of true, loving belief (as opposed to infused or imparted).
If so God's verdict and potential pardon is from genuinely held Christian faith (or in a few more liberal sects, all of Christ's principles) rather than anything in the sinner.
He became convinced that the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification—God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace.
"[88] Michael Horton concurs by saying: This debate, therefore, is not over the question of whether God renews us and initiates a process of gradual growth in holiness throughout the course of our lives.
Discussion in the centuries since the Reformation and in some ways liberalising Counter-Reformation has suggested that the differences are in emphasis and concepts rather than doctrine, since Catholic and Orthodox Christians concede works are not the basis of justification nor relatedly salvation, and most Protestants accept the need for repentance and the primacy of grace (see § Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church and § Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission below).
According to a 2017 survey conducted in Western Europe by the Pew Research Center, "fewer people say that faith alone (in Latin, sola fide) leads to salvation, the position that Martin Luther made a central rallying cry of 16th-century Protestant reformers."
[92] The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), signed by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, says that "sinners are justified by faith in the saving action of God in Christ.
"[92] The Joint Declaration never mentions the expression Sola Fide and the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly teaches that salvation is obtained by a combination of both faith and good works, which are considered to be a human response to God's prior and continuing grace.
"[100] In answer to another question on James 2:24 as well as Romans 3:23–24, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod replied: Paul is writing to people who said that faith in Jesus alone does not save a person, but one has to also obey God's law in order to be justified (Gal 3:3, 5:4).
(Romans 4:4–5) The precise relationship between faith and good works remains an area of controversy in some Protestant traditions (see also Law and Gospel).
A recent article suggests that the current confusion regarding the Epistle of James about faith and works resulted from Augustine of Hippo's anti-Donatist polemic in the early fifth century.
God's freely given grace is offered and empowers one's ability to believe and to perform good works, both then becoming meritorious because they are joined to Christ's saving power of the Cross.
[117] The Council of Trent sought to clarify the Catholic Church's teaching on justification and the manner in which it differed from that proposed by Lutheran and Reformed Christians.
"[117] "Faith, unless hope and charity be added to it, neither unites man perfectly with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body.
"[127] Anabaptists "dismissed the Lutheran doctrine of justification, a dead faith as they called it, which was unable to produce Christian love and good works.
"[9] Peter Riedemann wrote: These so-called Christians can be compared with the heathen who were led into the land of Israel by the Assyrian king and were settled in cities.
"[129] Christians of the Anabaptist tradition (who teach salvation by "faith that works") have argued that being a disciple of Jesus by careful obedience to New Testament commands (such as the holy kiss, baptism, communion, headcovering, and feet washing), is "crucial evidence that an individual has repented, believed, and yielded to Christ.
"[130][131] The Anabaptist theologian Menno Simons rebuffed the Lutheran charge of legalism by referencing John 14:15:[130] Because we teach from the mouth of the Lord that if we would enter into [eternal] life, we must keep the commandments; that the love of God is that we keep his commandments, the [Lutheran] preachers call us heaven-stormers and meritmen, saying that we want to be saved by our own merits even though we have always confessed that we cannot be saved by means of anything other than by the merits, intercession, death, and blood of Christ.
[130]Free Grace theology, which is held by authors such as Zane Hodges, Jody Dillow, Charles Ryrie, David R. Anderson and others,[133] is distinguished from other traditions by holding an especially strong version of the doctrine of faith alone.
More moderate free grace theologians still affirm that faith will necessarily lead into good works, although it may not be outwardly evident or last to the end of one's life.
[148]Bishop Jones concludes that "Methodist doctrine thus understands true, saving faith to be the kind that, given time and opportunity, will result in good works.
And therefore we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in him.
Answer: By no means; for the holy scripture declares that no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God.I.
