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Apologetics Working Your Way to Heaven (part 2)
Apologetics Working Your Way to Heaven (part 2)
| Working Your Way to Heaven (part 2) |
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The Protestant View of Justification by John Zamboni Since the Reformation, Protestants have held to the belief that justification is by faith alone. Although works are important to the believer, they do not help justify. This type of justification is more of a legal declaration in which God declares us righteous at the moment we believe in him. This declaration is not dependent on anything we do, therefore, good works are not necessary to be justified. The faith alone doctrine has a minefield of problems, not the least of which is that the belief itself is unbiblical. In other words, the Bible no where teaches that we are justified by faith alone. The Bible does not even imply the belief. Protestants, however, base their belief of justification by faith alone primarily on Romans 3:28, "For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law." They believe that Paul was discounting good works and saying that we are saved by faith alone. Looking back at the passage, there are two things wrong with this interpretation. First, Paul does not say we are justified by faith alone. The word 'alone' does not even appear in the verse. Paul used the word 'alone' in many of his writings, but he never used it in conjunction with 'faith.' Secondly, the 'works' that he is referring to are not "good works." If you read the verse in context you will see that Paul is referring to "works of the law." What law? The Jewish law in which the Jewish people observed in the Old Covenant. These works refer to the Old Covenant rituals, ceremonies, animal sacrifices, and dietary regulations. These were all part of the "law." Paul is saying that the old law (for example circumcision) does not save. This is evident because if you read Romans 3:28 in context you see that people who are not under the law (the Gentiles) are now saved. In the next verse (Romans 3:29) Paul says, "Does God belong to Jews alone? Does he not belong to Gentiles, too? Yes, also to Gentiles," An example of the "works of the law" is circumcision which is stated in the next chapter. Romans 4:9 says, "Does this blessedness apply only to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? Now we assert that "faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness."" Here Paul is stressing the non-necessity of circumcision. Paul stresses this point in much of his writings. In Galatians 5:6 Paul says, "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." Faith working through love does not sound like a "faith alone" concept. Love is most certainly "works" and "working" is most certainly a term used to describe something that is ongoing. If Paul meant that works were not important why would he add, "faith working through love?" The bottom line is that in Romans 3:28 Paul is not saying that good works are unimportant. He is saying that "works of the law" are no longer effective. The fallacy of the faith alone belief can be exposed by studying all of Paul's writings. If Romans 3:28 taught the faith alone doctrine, then it would be in direct contradiction with other writings of Paul in which is links works with faith and salvation. Here are just a few examples: In reference to judgement, Paul says that God will "repay everyone according to his works: eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through in good works" (Romans 2:6-7). In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that love, not faith, is the greatest. 1 Cor 13:13, "So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." If works were not critical for salvation, Paul would not have said in Philippians 2:12, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" If faith is all that is necessary, why does Paul use the words "work", "fear", and "trembling?" In order to counter these verses, Protestants typically point to several verses that say the our own works can not save us. This type of argument is faulty since the Catholic Church also condemns the idea that we can save ourselves. Therefore, those who support the faith alone position do not prove their position based on texts that imply salvation through faith alone. Rather, they support their position based on a multitude of verses that say that we can not save ourselves and that salvation is a gift. For example, a commonly used verse used against the Catholic belief is Titus 3:4-5, "But when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the holy Spirit." Notice that this passage does not deal with how we are justified, but it explains God s reason for giving us salvation. Once again, the Catholic Church agrees with Titus 3:4-5 and teaches that salvation is a free gift of God s mercy. Another verse used by Protestants to support the "faith alone" doctrine is Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast." Protestants often use this verse to prove that we are not saved by works. The fact is, the Catholic Church agrees. This passage clearly states that we are saved by grace. Paul is not comparing works against faith. He is comparing works against grace. Paul is not trying to explain justification, rather he is emphasizing the free gift of God s grace. The Protestant who uses this verse to prove that works are unimportant to justification is simply not reading the passage clearly. Another reason Protestants hold to the faith alone belief is because of many passages in Scripture that say that we are justified by faith. For example, Romans 3:28, "For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law" and Romans 5:1, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." These types of passages are numerous in the New Testament. The Protestant observes all the passages and says, "These passages do not mention anything about works. They do not say faith and works, but just faith. If works are important at all why do these passages not include works?" With this form of reasoning, the Protestant derives the justification by faith alone doctrine. This interpretation, however, has a minefield of problems. The Protestant should note the following things when interpreting these passages. 1. Notice that the word alone does not follow the word faith in any of these passages. The Protestant who believes that was what Paul meant is making a huge assumption. It is an interesting fact that Paul used the words "alone" or "only" more than any New Testament author, but he never used these words coupled with the word 'faith.' 2. The thought that Paul taught justification by faith alone violates the consistency of Scripture. It is interesting to point out that the only time that the words faith alone are used in the New Testament is when James is condemning the belief. James 2:24 states, "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." Since we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, we know that it does not contradict itself. On these grounds, we know that just because Paul does not specifically mention works does not mean he was stating that we are justified by faith alone. For if that were true, he would be contradicting James (which we know is not possible if we believe the Bible is the Word of God). The context of James 2:24 reveals that James is teaching that works must be intentionally added to faith to complete the justification process. Since this verse clearly contradicts the faith alone doctrine, Protestants have offered many explanations to discount James' inclusion of works. Protestants typically try and prove that James and Paul meant something different by the term justification. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Paul and James used the term justification differently. In fact, the Greek term for 'justification' is the same for both Paul and James' writings. Martin Luther himself did not even try to support his belief in faith alone by asserting that Paul and James had different types of justification in mind. He took a much more drastic approach. Instead of trying to reconcile the writings of Paul and James, Martin Luther wanted to remove the book of James from the Bible referring to it as an 'epistle of straw.' 3. Just because Paul only uses one word (faith) when preaching about justification, that does not automatically imply that everything else is excluded. The necessity of works coupled with faith is present throughout Paul's writings. For example: Paul opens and closes Romans speaking of the 'obedience of faith' (Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26), he says that eternal life will be granted based on our works (Romans 2:7), and he says that faith must work in love (Gal 5:6). To assert that Paul means that we are justified by faith alone based on the fact that Paul mentions that we are justified by faith is faulty reasoning. Not only does it fail to consider all of Paul's writings, it fails also on a practical level. For example, if I were to tell you that I love my wife because she has a sense of humor, I am not implying that her sense of humor is the only thing I love her for. I might love her for many reasons including spiritually, intelligence, and moral values. Therefore, by assuming Paul meant 'alone' when discussing faith is bad reasoning. The above interpretation also explains why James says, "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). Catholics recognize that James was not saying that only works are important, but that works are part of justification. Consequently, Protestants have difficulty reconciling James 2:24 with Romans 5:1 because of the exclusivity of the faith alone doctrine. John Zamboni is a Catholic apologist and the founder of Gospel Truth Ministries (www.flash.net/~truth) in Texas, U.S.A. The mission of Gospel Truth Ministries is to bring people closer to the Lord Jesus Christ through study of His Word and obedience to His Church. This is done by presenting the truth of the Catholic Faith through the use of books, tapes, articles, and seminars. Gospel Truth Ministries is dedicated to presenting the truths of the Catholic Faith with charity, while being completely obedient to the Magisterium. |
