Justified, Saved, Redeemed By Faith

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live”; but the law does not rest on faith, for “He who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree”—that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:10-14

Salvation. Redemption.

These are important words to Christians. They are important words to me. They are at the very center of what it is for me to be “Christian”.

Being Christian means I believe that Jesus Christ was Crucified on the Cross at Calvary, that He suffered death and was Resurrected on the third day. Being Christian means I believe that through His sacrifice, as the ransom for many, we are all redeemed. Being Christian means I accept that He forgives us our sins, that we have only to embrace that forgiveness, accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and be born again into a new life of continual transformation and growth.

Being Christian means I believe these things are all I need do to be assured of salvation.

Or is it?

Is faith in God, faith in Jesus, really all that is needed?

The Apostle Paul certainly teaches that faith alone matters. He teaches this repeatedly, in addition to the passage in Galatians quoted above.

In Romans 3:28 Paul teaches “For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.”

In Galatians 2:16 he teaches “that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

We should pause here to take note of the term Paul uses in all of these passages: “justification”. In the original Greek, the term (δικαιόω) translates as “to declare righteous”. When Paul says we are “justified”, he is saying that God has declared us righteous. More precisely, Paul teaches God declares us to be righteous solely on the basis of our faith.

We are justified by our faith. We are saved by our faith. We are redeemed by our faith.

That it is our faith which occasions God to declare us righteous is a point Paul makes even when discussing the faith of ancients such as Abraham and Noah, pointing out in Hebrews 11:2 that it is through faith “the men of old received divine approval,” recalling how in Genesis 15:6 Abraham “believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Paul says straight away in Romans 5:1 that “therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul reiterates in Ephesians 2:8-9 the importance of faith in receiving the Grace of God, which is how He justifies us, stating “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast.”

In passage after passage, Paul teaches plainly that it is only by our faith that God declares us to be righteous. It is only by faith that we are justified.

We are justified by our faith. We are saved by our faith. We are redeemed by our faith.

If you tell that to any devout Catholic, you will likely get an argument, for the Roman Catholic Church adds additional ingredients besides faith as essential to justification.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches explicitly that “the grace-assisted works of the justified person have genuine value before God and contribute to their growth in holiness and their progress toward eternal life.” In the Roman Catholic view of justification, we must not only have faith, we must also have deeds—what Scripture calls “works”.

The Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on justification is one of the many things Martin Luther found objectionable in Catholic doctrine, and this disagreement on justification played a signature role in Luther’s excommunication and eventual establishment of the Lutheran tradition, setting off the Protestant Reformation.

The Roman Catholic Church has always been quite serious about this teaching. In 1547, after Luther broke with the Catholic Church, the Council of Trent was called specifically to rebut several Lutheran propositions, including Martin Luther’s principle of Sola Fide (Faith Alone). In Canon XI from the Sixth Session, the Council declared Sole Fide to be “anathema”—rejected, denounced, and within Catholicism, expelled from the Church and excommunicated.

If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema.

Quite simply, the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is that “faith plus works” is the basis for justification, and thence for salvation and redemption.

The Roman Catholic teaching is immediately problematic because it flies in the face of every teaching of Paul mentioned earlier. Paul’s letters are Scripture. For me, as a Christian, it is a matter of faith those letters are the Word of God. Every teaching of every Pope and priest must conform to Scripture or be itself anathema. If Roman Catholic teaching contradicts Paul, then Roman Catholic teaching is by definition in error.

Yet we must also remember to read all Scripture holistically. The proper understanding of Paul’s teachings mandates we reconcile those teachings with the teaching of Jesus in the four Gospels.

Certainly in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector from Luke 18, Jesus teaches that the humble tax collector, whose prayer is only for forgiveness, is the one justified before God, not the boastful and arrogant Pharisee, whose prayer was filled with recitation of all his wonderful works.

In Matthew 9, when Jesus called the tax collector Matthew to follow Him, He reminded the crowd what the Prophet Hosea preached centuries earlier: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” We need no great study of theology to apprehend that reads more as calling for faith alone, without regard to any man’s works and deeds.

We are justified by our faith. We are saved by our faith. We are redeemed by our faith.

A common Catholic rebuttal is to point out what the Apostle James teaches, that “faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Yet James must also reconcile to Jesus if we are to have proper understanding of his teachings. There can be no conflict between James’ teaching and the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. There can be no disagreement between James and Jesus reminding the crowd of Hosea’s call for mercy rather than sacrifice.

Both James and Paul must likewise reconcile to Jesus’ teachings regarding “works”—what we actually do when we put faith into practice.

Neither James nor Paul can contradict Jesus’ teaching during the Sermon on the Mount to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” On that teaching alone we do see that “works” have significance.

The importance of what we do—of works—is again highlighted in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, also known as the Judgment of the Nations, where Jesus gives special importance to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to the sick, and giving grace to those who are imprisoned. The failure to do these things Jesus teaches is sufficient to warrant eternal damnation.

Jesus clearly teaches that our works are important—teachings which would seem to have been reiterated by James. At first glance that would seem to support Catholic teaching moreso than Lutheran Sola Fide.

However, we must also remember that God does not argue with Himself. Given that both Paul and James find good support within the Gospels, we cannot stop simply at separately reconciling Paul and James to Jesus. Before we conclude that Paul and James take different stances on justification, we must reconcile Jesus’ teachings to each other.

We must take note of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:1, “beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” Rather, Jesus teaches to practice charity “in secret” and without fanfare. Our works do matter, but even within our works intention counts.

It is not enough to simply do good works. If we do good works so that people will think we are ourselves good, then our works are not good before God. This is a point the Apostle John reiterates when he teaches that “he who does not love does not know God; for God is love.” If what we do does not proceed from a spirit of love and compassion—does not proceed from faith—then neither our works nor ourselves are at all righteous.

How can we discern when our works are good before God? Mainly by recognizing our own mindset about such works. This is a subtle point that Paul makes in Romans 3:31 when he points out that actions instigated by faith invariably uphold God’s Law.

What Paul points out is that if we do what the Law commands because the Law commands—which is the essence of being under the Law—then our actions are not instigated by faith. However, if our faith impels us to do the right thing in all things, then we invariably will end up doing what the Law commands.

When we act under the Law we do the right thing because we have to. When we act through faith we do the right thing because we want to.

Jesus calls us to faith, and calls us to act through faith. That is made clear in Matthew 8, when the centurion declares his profound faith in Jesus, that Jesus need only say the centurion’s servant would be healed and it would be so.

When we consider the call to act through faith, we see that James is making an easily understood point: how much faith can any of us really have if our actions do not show it? How much faith can any of us have if we hide that faith—our “light”—and do not let it shine into a darkened world, to the greater glory of God?

In the Judgement of the Nations, both the sheep on the right and the goats on the left had faith in Jesus, but only the sheep were moved to act by that faith, and it is only the sheep which are saved.

We are justified by our faith. We are saved by our faith. We are redeemed by our faith.

We are also revealed by our faith, for we also act by our faith. Our greatest testimony of faith is always that which we do. When faith is sincere, we are impelled to act in accordance with God’s Law. When faith is insincere, we are impelled to hypocrisy, and invariably act in defiance of God’s Law.

My prayer on every day is that God will strengthen and enlarge my faith, that it will daily grow stronger, and daily lead me closer to God. My prayer on every day is that my faith will shine brightly into the darkened world, to the greater glory of God. My prayer on every day is that my faith will impel me to act, to do the right thing in all things, and so uphold God’s Law.

My prayer for you on every day is that God will strengthen and enlarge your faith, that it will daily grow stronger, and daily lead you closer to God. My prayer for you on every day is that your faith will shine brightly into the darkened world, to the greater glory of God. My prayer for you on every day is that your faith will impel you to act, to do the right thing in all things, and so uphold God’s Law.

When we act under the Law we do the right thing because we have to. When we act through faith we do the right thing because we want to.

Jesus calls us to faith. Jesus calls us to act through faith.

We are justified by our faith. We are saved by our faith. We are redeemed by our faith.