Chapter 4: The 5 Solas: Fide (Faith Alone)

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. James 2:21–23

When one begins to explore and doubt the foundations on which they were raised, it shakes the entirety of one’s being. for me, I realized how much of my life was formed around the theologies of the reformation. “Scripture Alone”, “Christ Alone”, “Grace Alone”, “Faith Alone” and “Glory to God Alone”. these ideas, whether I knew it or not, determined how I viewed God, the church, the bible, and every other aspect of faith. The first of these Solas that I began to both investigate and doubt was Faith Alone. If you my reader, are coming from a protestant background, this probably sounds scary and dangerous. You might be asking yourself, “are you saying salvation comes from works?”, Or maybe you are asking, “has he not read the bible? Salvation doesn’t come from works!”. Well my friend, let’s dive into Scripture and history, and find truth.

I think universally, christians have a tendency to associate works with salvation, whether that association is causation is a different story. If I claim Christ, and willfully turn away someone in need of food that I could supply to them, where than is my salvation? Let’s look at a passage of scripture.

“But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:17‭-‬18 RSV

As those in Christ, set apart as His Bride, the love of God abides in us. But as James points out in the scripture in the preface, and as we see in the scripture directly above, Faith without action, is dead, and is void of God’s Love.

The term “Faith Alone", one of the five Solas of the reformation, is used one time in scripture.

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. James 2:24‭-‬26 RSV

Very powerful and impactful imagery is used here. Not only is it saying that faith alone is not what saves us, it is also saying that faith and works are symbiotic. Just like the body and the spirit, one without the other is meaningless. But unified as God intended, they form a beautiful creation. It seems from what we see in scripture, that works working unison with our faith, is an interaction with the beautiful and free Grace of God. It is not our works that save us, nor is it our faith alone that saves us, but it is God who saves us, and the means by which we interact with this salvation is Faith expressing itself through love.

Martin Luther, the catalyst for the Protestant reformation, sought to take many of the canonized books of scripture OUT of the bible, including the Book of James, claiming that the book of James was non-canonical. His view that Faith saves us, and not works, seemed to be holy refuted by a book that was considered Canon by the Christian church.

After studying this aspect of the reformation, studying holy scripture, and having many conversations and prayer, I came to the conclusion that I reject the doctrine of faith alone. It is not a clear idea in Scripture that we are saved by faith alone, but rather that Faith expressing itself through love, and faith in unison with works, are the means by which man interacts with the grace of God.

Thank you for reading, as always Contact me with questions! God bless you.