Problem w Faith Alone

There exists a problem among many Christians concerning the doctrine of salvation by "faith Alone" (sola fide). One of the great mysteries of Christian history is how such a simple concept as "faith alone" has been so difficult to grasp. For some it is a conscious difficulty expressed in the question: "How can salvation be that simple? Certainly, it takes more than just faith to be saved?" For others, it is not so conscious, but more inferred by the continual struggle with the assurance of salvation. For even those who say they are saved "by faith," there remains a struggle to confirm their salvation. It consists of a gnawing, persisting question: "How can I be sure that I am saved?"

I would like to address the latter problem first. The attempts to resolve this question have produced an expanding number of movements and denominations. These attempts have taken a variety of paths throughout history. Some groups have sought to resolve this question by looking to Christian behavior. If they show good works, the theory goes, they must be saved. If their works or behavior is not so good, their salvation may be in doubt. The first problem with this is that one can be moral without being saved. It does not appear to these that some of the most moral people in the world – by human standards and even by the Old Testament law – are Moslems. I know Hindus with impeccable character by human standards. Some of the most charitable and selfless people have been Roman Catholic missionaries (much to the dismay of some Protestants). The point is, if we begin to "measure" salvation by such external standards we open a Pandora's Box of theological problems which future generations can never reverse.

More importantly, we disarm the Gospel in the process. The second problem is that faith is placed in human works more than in the work of God in Christ. Admittedly, some groups who trust in good works as evidence of salvation would say they are works produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit, working through the believer. Still, the real problem remains. These in effect draw their confidence from how obedient and good they are. The person's contribution and the Spirit's part get mixed and confounded. The bottom line remains: to know if you are saved, you must look to what you have or have not done. It is works or behavioral righteousness which preoccupies their faith and determines their assurance (or lack of it). What Christ has done to bring them to salvation from "past sins" fades in the glare of the war with present sinful desires.

Other groups, following the Wesleyan tradition, emphasize seeking or acquiring a separate experience from conversion and faith alone. This is called a "second work of grace." The obstinate, persisting presence of the fallen, sinful nature - subsequent to conversion - undermines obtaining assurance of salvation. Their answer is to "believe" in a second, subsequent work of "perfection" where the heart is cleansed of all sin and then filled with the perfect love of God. The noble intent of this tradition has been frustrated by the failure of so many to reach this state. Wesley himself never claimed it. He was never confident enough to point to personal examples of those who had. There were leaders in this theology who struggled with "falling in and out" of perfection. History is littered with the vast number of failures. For the few who adamantly claimed "perfection alone," there were thousands who fell and gave up on the Christian faith. The history of the "burned-over district" in up-state New York is a powerful example. This area became the "greenhouse" for many cults and sects which plague people today.

A number within the Perfectionism movement changed into a very legalistic variety of perfection. They asserted that after conversion a believer could achieve or receive a second work of "entire sanctification." This consisted of a spiritual work whereby the fallen, sinful nature - inbred sin - would be completely removed. It would free the now sanctified believer to keep the Law of God fully. If one did not receive this second work and failed to obey God's law, it meant they were not truly saved. This notion shifted faith from Christ alone to their own sanctity and piety as the basis for their assurance of salvation.

As this tradition moved on through time, it had to redefine the second work into an understanding of "power" rather than of "cleansing from sin." They spoke of this second work as the Baptism of the Spirit. The stubborn insistence of the sinful nature forced many to abandon the idea of the total eradication of the sin nature. These looked, not for the work of the Spirit to remove the fallen nature, but the power to live above it. One would know that they were truly converted or saved when they received enough power from the Spirit to live a godly life. The sinful nature remained, but it was suppressed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Eventually, even this changed, and the emphasis of power to live a godly life faded to be replaced by the search for the power to do spiritual works, operate spiritual gifts, and to perform healings and the miraculous. At each stage and in each case, the problem of the "flesh" or sin nature persisted, and the efforts to find the appropriate "second work" to solve it, fell short.

This emphasis on a second work, separate from conversion, has continued for almost 200 years (in some ways it was longer than this). It came in such varieties that many were unsure how to determine when the "second work" was finally or fully acquired. Out of this impulse a certain group, like a number of others around the turn of the 20th century, looked through their Bibles asking, "How can we know when one is truly baptized with the Spirit?" Like the followers of Edward Irving in the 1830s, they saw that, in the Book of Acts, people spoke with tongues when the Spirit came. So they began to pray for this experience, which shortly followed. This was the birth of the Pentecostal movement.

Of course, this was not enough for some. They began to espouse a deeper experience beyond the one accompanied by tongues. Some advocated what they called "the power." Others, called the advanced experience "the fire." And there was even one called "the dynamite." Today this chronic craving for the next, higher, deeper, greater work of the Spirit urges believers toward "holy laughter," "soaking in the Spirit," ascending grades of "anointing," "blessing" of prosperity, and acquiring spiritual authority over "territorial demons." And these, lamentably, are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. To many, the "second work" of Spirit Baptism has flourished into a spiritual pyramid scheme of multiple, advancing levels of Spirit works. The rewards always go to those at the top.

The misfortune of all of this is that when Christian assurance is turned from the single work of Jesus Christ, to the inward or outward manifestation of the work of the Spirit through the believer, there is never enough to bring true and enduring assurance, both in the present and to future generations. Why? Because they do not truly understand the Biblical teaching of "faith alone." This leads multitudes into deeper doubt and confusion as to the nature of their salvation. Why? Because they do not understand salvation by Christ alone. This is the root of the problem. I can not be more emphatic about this point. This is a crucial problem in Evangelicalism as well as in the sects and cults. Those who do not understand what it means to be saved by Christ alone, will never understand why it is by faith alone. Let me explain.

These extreme examples only point to a larger problem. That is the looking to and trusting in a spiritual work second to justification for assurance and fulfillment as a Christian. Make no mistake in what I am saying. I do not believe the problem is the desire for the continued work of the Holy Spirit to renew, refresh, and equip the believer with the power to fulfill the mission of the Church. The geography of the Christian journey is frequently marked with divinely appointed oasis which are intended by God to reinvigorate our hearts, minds, and faith. Christ continues to fill his people with the Holy Spirit. Revival is possible and to be sought. Awakenings happen today. His people are to grow in grace. They are taught to live and walk in His Spirit. Sanctification is a vital part of the Christian life. We are to seek holiness and godliness. These all are necessary and vital. However, my argument is with those who make these the basis of the Christian's assurance, rather than Jesus' sacrifice two thousand years ago.

This is another part of the Gospel that is missed in the rejection of "faith alone." The Gospel is the historical action of God in real time and space. What Jesus did when he died, rose, and ascended, was not just to make salvation possible. He did not do his "half" and now waits on us to do our part - surrender, repent, consecrate, live holy, become spiritual. His work is not suspended or thwarted until we make up our minds to do something. He finished it himself! He made it actual. We do not have to wait until all the results of that salvation have been made perfect in our lives before we are saved. We are saved through the Cross and the Resurrection which happened two thousand years ago. What we believe in is not what we experience at conversion, but what Jesus did outside Jerusalem two millennia ago on a Roman death instrument. The only way we know what the Cross means is what God has announced through His Word. What we trust in is God's Work of promise that what He did in Jesus on his Cross is sufficient for our redemption. He said, "It is finished." I accept that.

This makes salvation something that happened outside of me in history. "Christ alone" does not mean "me and Christ alone." It does not mean "what Jesus does in me today." It means we go outside of ourselves to find our hope and confidence. In the Old Testament, every mom and dad, every little girl and boy had to bring sacrifices to the priests to have them offered to God for their sins. It was the acceptance of that lamb by God, in the place of that little boy or girl, which brought reconciliation. That sacrifice meant more to God than it ever could to the little Hebrew girl or boy. He accepted them and considered them sanctified because of the shed blood of that innocent lamb. The mother or father never would have said to their children, "Now Rachel or Jonathan, you can be assured you are saved when you invite the bullock into your heart." They would never have said, "You can always know God loves you when you feel the lamb moving around in your heart." That would have been total nonsense. These parents would not have taught their children that if they would now honor the lamb by keeping all the Law they would be forgiven. Their children knew that the lamb was there because of their breaking the Law. They knew that atonement was theirs when they saw the carcass of the lamb burning and smoking on the altar. They left the place of sacrifice knowing the mercy of God, because the lamb was on the altar and not them. Today, we teach children to look into their hearts for their assurance instead of to the Cross where the carcass of the Lamb of God "burned" in their place.

Practically, if I have a bad day today, that has no impact on my assurance. Jesus finished it two thousand years ago. The Lamb took my place. I walked away while he "remained" nailed to the "altar" of the Cross. I could not do it. I failed God and was condemned. But Jesus did it perfectly. He offered to God what He desired: a perfect life. And I cannot undo it by my bad day. If I stick one of the popular spiritual thermometers (promoted by popular T.V. ministers) in my soul, and it isn't "hot" enough, I don't need to despair. I know my Redeemer liveth! His grace is still just as powerful and true. His blood still reaches to the highest mountain and the lowest valley. He still is able to save to the uttermost, because He ever lives to make intercession for me.

I don't say this to excuse sin in the Christian life, or to give permission to sin "since it isn't such a big deal." If you think this, remember, every one of our sins drove the nails in our Lord. Our sins are a big deal. They cost him his life. He paid for it in blood. Never take sin lightly. The reason I say all of this is because we honestly struggle with the monster of sin stirring around in the depths of our human nature. It takes more than techniques, formulas, and twelve-step programs to conquer this beast (lusus naturae). You are not going to succeed with a do-it-yourself-with-the-Spirit kit. You need the "Arm of the Lord" revealed in Christ Jesus. You need the One who said: "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." You need Him of whom the writer said; "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15)

Faith is in Christ alone, because it is directed or focused on the completed and sufficient work of Jesus in his death, resurrection and ascension. Why? Because that is the time in history when redemption was accomplished. It is never directed or placed in the believer's spiritual temperature, experiences or performance. That is fickle and totally unstable. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Neither does Jesus need to be crucified over and over many times to assure us that we saved. He died once, for all time, for all His people, to provide a perfect salvation:

For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb 9:24-26)

As to salvation, we are perfect in the eyes of God through Jesus Christ, because by "faith alone" we trust in "Christ alone:"

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Heb. 10:10-14 NIV)

Those who think that it is too simple to be saved by faith alone simply do not understand what it means. They assume they do understand faith alone, and then reject their mistaken idea of what it means. Faith alone does not mean that one is saved because they have performed the mental act of believing something. Nor does it mean that they are saved because they have believed specific facts correctly. For example, a person may say, "I believe that Jesus was God incarnate, that he died for my sins on the Cross, and he rose again." This is not the real picture of faith alone. Salvation is not having faith in the right facts. It is about trusting in the One who had the right facts, who believed perfectly for us all, and who lived the right way. Jesus was God incarnate. Jesus was the perfect man. He was right in all ways. As a perfect man, he satisfied all of God's requirements in the Law. Nevertheless, out of immeasurable grace, he exchanged his righteousness for our sins on the Cross. Now we are counted as though we have Christ's righteousness as we place our faith in him.

Faith alone seems to be "easy," but it was not easy for Christ who paid the ultimate price. It appears easy if you assume that it is the sinner who must pay the price of redemption. But that is where the scandal of the Gospel shocks us. It tells us that it is God who pays the price. The price has been paid, friend! Those who say "faith alone" is too simple, or too easy, actually slander the Lord Jesus Christ, and the price he paid. They make light of his enormous sacrifice. These who question "faith alone" refuse God's way of bringing salvation. They want a salvation that is "Man's way." They say that the sinner has to pay the price. They really won't accept that Jesus paid the whole price for redemption, by himself. But this is indeed what Christ did. Saying that "faith alone" is not enough misses the whole biblical meaning of the Gospel! I think the problem some people have with faith alone, is that it does not allow them to "do enough." But the Gospel disarms us and leaves us to simply, desperately cling to the Cross of Jesus. Maybe this is the real problem some have with "faith alone."

I wish to emphasize that "faith alone" is in a unique category theologically. What I mean is, that all religions have a system of salvation which includes Humanity's works or actions as an essential component. But, the Christian faith is unique in that Christ did for us what we could not do. Having faith is not the thing that we do to gain salvation. Jesus' profound work on the Cross is what brings salvation. Faith alone means we recognize that nothing we can do will qualify us for acceptance with God, and consequently for Heaven. Faith alone means that we have nothing left but to accept what God has done to procure our salvation. It is not something that we reach up into our heads after figuring it out, or reaching down in our hearts and souls to dreg it up and offer it to God. Faith is giving up on all of that. It is a yielding; it is a capitulation; it is an acquiescence to God's work in Jesus. We ought not think we can bring before God what He requires of us. Instead, we should trust that what Jesus did for us is all sufficient to reconcile us to our Creator and fit us for Heaven. We can go on fighting the war of spiritual life and holiness, the battle of imperfection, sinful desire, temptations and failure when we know that our Mediator Jesus lives forever to intercede for us day and night. We overcome by our faith in Christ alone. Amen!