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How do I know Sola Fide is false when there is such compelling evidence towards us not needing the sacraments to be saved? and,
If we have true faith then we should just receive the sacraments. I recently conversed with some Protestants, and they brought up really good points and verses. I do not remember the verses but a lot of them iterated that by faith we were saved not by works.
Mike
{ How do I know Sola Fide is false when there is no support for needing the sacraments to be saved? }
Bob replied:
Dear Mike,
Thanks for reaching out.
On the surface Protestants present a compelling case for Sola Fide because it seems simple, logical and the Scriptures they quote seem to support it. Intuitively, the Gospel should be:
easy to understand,
demonstrate that God is in control, not men or anybody else, and
not require a complicated religion or Church to tell you what to do.
That’s the obvious appeal, and they are often very successful at convincing Catholics to leave the Church and go with a Bible-only centered worship community. The problem is that the underlying argument is wrong on almost every point.
First, they are disingenuously proof-texting to make their point (only showing you the texts that they want). For example, Protestants seldom start with the letter of St. James, particularly chapter 2, note the verse that I bolded:
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15. If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, 16. and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? 17. So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18. Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. 19. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. 20. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? 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 the works. 23. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.” 24. See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.25. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route 26. For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
The simple logic here is that 'actions speak louder than words', also appealing simple. Read Matthew 7:21-28 where Jesus drives home the point, (partially quoted here):
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven . . ."
The verses that a Protestant will typically quote from, (St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (i.e., Romans 3:28)) miss the point of Paul’s entire argument. Paul is arguing that both Jews and Greeks are equally saved by the gospel, not by following the old prescriptions of the Jewish law, but by faith in Christ, and actually, the “obedience of faith”, which he uses as the thesis in the opening of the letter, and it’s closing, as any good writer would do. The “works of the law”, (sometimes shortened to “works”) which Paul is constantly arguing against are the prescriptions of the Old Covenant, like circumcision, which was a major point of debate in the Early Church. Read his whole letter again and keep in mind these contextual points. He goes on to talk about good works, Baptism, and obeying the law of God all as components of salvation. Paul is arguing against a critical error at the inception of the Gospel, whether we must live like Jews of the Old Covenant to be saved.
His answer is “no”, and faith is the pivot point that levels the playing field for both Jews and Gentiles. He doesn't say that:
Baptism (and the Sacraments),
good works,
obeying the moral precepts,
the authority of the Church, and
everything else
is inconsequential. He argues for all those point in all of his other letters emphatically. Context is everything.
So, just for a start, read all of James letter, all of Romans, and compare the two. You can see that James is trying to disabuse errors that some folks already were taking from a misreading of Paul.
To show that errant practice was sometimes the case in the Early Church check out 2 Peter 3:15-16:
15 “and count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are somethings in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures”.
Proof-texting is a bad practice. Sola-fide is an error that contradicts sound doctrine, Scripture and the plain teaching of Christ. We will not be judged by simply how we believed but how we lived that out in obedience to Christ. There are many more extensive points to delve into on this topic, but start here and you will see the faults very quickly.
Just think of it this way, we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8, a Protestant favorite), but we must cooperate with the grace God gives us. We all own our own “yes”, and that is because God made us free. We don’t believe that God forces us to be saved, but He powers us to be, provided we allow Him to work in our lives. It is a process of faithfulness, obedience, cooperation, love in action (works). Elsewhere you have heard Paul say, “faith, hope love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Catholics call those the theological virtues, because they demonstrate the life of God in us, and that is how we are saved. God living in us, using us as his hands and feet, changing our hearts to love as He does, hoping in the saving grace of Christ poured out for us, hope like a grappling hook (the Early Church used an anchor as the symbol) thrown into heaven which pulls us up.
It’s all grace, and our “yes:” God working in man, who cooperates with His grace.
Peace,
Bob Kirby
Eric replied:
Hi, Mike —
A sacrament is not a "work". One who is baptized no more "earns" his salvation than Naaman the Syrian "earned" his healing from leprosy (2 Kings 5), no more than the blind man "earned" his sight by washing the mud and spittle off in the pool of Siloam, no more than the woman with the hemorrhage "earned" her healing by touching the hem of Christ's garment. The Protestant arguments may sound convincing, but ultimately they fall apart; "[Paul's] letters contain some things which are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:16)
A sacrament is a channel of grace; it's exercising a promise Christ has given us so that he will bestow his grace on us when we receive it. We always receive a sacrament; it is not something we "do", but something we (frankly) rather passively receive from the church. One never performs a sacrament on himself.
When Paul speaks of "works" he is referring to "works of Law" (ἔργων νόμου; Romans 3:20, for example), which is a technical term for things such as circumcision and the ceremonial aspects of the Law of Moses (Romans 2:25-28, 3:1, 3:30, 4:9). Note carefully that what Paul is trying to argue in Romans is that Abraham was justified before he was circumcised (Romans 4:9-12), in order to prove that he was not justified by his circumcision. He is not arguing against sacraments. He is not arguing against feeding the poor, or visiting the sick and those in prison, or clothing the naked. He is arguing against the Mosaic Law, specifically circumcision and the other ceremonial aspects.
After analyzing Early Church evidence, Protestant Matthew Thomas concludes:
"The law in question is the Mosaic law, which was delivered to the hard-hearted nation of Israel following the apostasy at Sinai. The principal works of this law that come into focus are circumcision, Sabbath and other Jewish calendar observances (such as new moons, feasts and fasts), sacrifices, and laws regarding food, with a focus on the temple and Jerusalem occasionally noted as well. The practices of the Mosaic law are consistently distinguished from good works more broadly, whether these be the natural and universal pious deeds that were performed by Abraham and the righteous patriarchs, the works of the Decalogue, the acts of mercy enjoined by the prophets, or the commandments of Christ and works of his covenant, such as Baptism and keeping the Lord’s day."
Scripture is clear: Baptism saves you (1 Peter 3:18-22), forgives your sins (Acts 2:38), and washes your sins away (Acts 22:16). It washes us with the Word (Ephesians 5:26). It makes us part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13) and gives us a share in Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6:2-10). It clothes us with Christ (Galatians 3:27). You have to go through great contortions to interpret these verses if you decide that Baptism is a "work" and the kind of "work" Paul condemns.
And this is what the early Christians believed. From a martyr of the 2nd century:
"I will also explain the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we were made new through Christ, since if we left this out in our exposition we would seem to falsify something. As many as are persuaded and believe that the things we teach and say are true, and undertake to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and ask God with fasting for the remission of their past sins, while we pray and fast with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are born again in the same manner of rebirth by which we ourselves were born again, for they then receive washing in water in the name of God the Father and Master of all, and of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. For Christ also said, "Except you are born again, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven." Now it is clear to all that it is impossible for those who have once come into being to enter into their mothers' wombs. And it is said through Isaiah the prophet, as we wrote before, in what manner those who have sinned and repent shall escape from their sins. He thus spoke: "Wash, become clean, put away evil doings from your souls, learn to do good, judge the orphan and plead for the widow, and come and let us reason together, says the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool, and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if you will not listen to me, a sword will devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." And we have learned from the Apostles this reason for this [rite]. Since at our first birth we were born of necessity without our knowledge, from moist seed by the intercourse of our parents with each other, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked behavior; in order that we should not remain children of necessity and ignorance, but of free choice and knowledge, and obtain remission of the sins formerly committed, there is named at the water over him who has chosen to be born again, and has repented of his sinful acts, the name of God the Father and Master of all; they who lead to the washing the one who is to be washed call on this [name] alone. For no one can give a name to the ineffable God; and if anyone should dare say there is one, he raves with a hopeless insanity. And this washing is called illumination, as those who learn these things are illuminated in the mind. And he who is illuminated is washed in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets foretold all the things about Jesus."
St. Justin Martyr [mid-2nd century]. (1997). St. Justin Martyr: The First and Second Apologies, I.61. (W. J. Burghardt, J. J. Dillon, D. D. McManus, & L. W. Barnard, Eds., L. W. Barnard, Trans.) (Vol. 56, pp. 66-67). New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Eric
Mike replied:
Dear Mike,
You said:
How do I know Sola Fide is false when there is such compelling evidence towards us not needing the sacraments to be saved.
You ask us this question because your Protestant friends do not accept the Scriptural basis for Oral Tradition.
The Holy Bible aloneor the Holy Bible plus Oral Tradition?
Paul's letters can be difficult to grasp and interpret.
St. Athanasius (360 A.D.)
Let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave, was preached by the Apostles, and was preserved by the Fathers. On this was the Church founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is nor any longer ought to be called a Christian. (Four Letters to Serapion of Thmius 1, 28)
Origen (230 A.D.)
"The teaching of the Church has indeed been handed down through an order of succession, from the Apostles, and remains in the Churches even to the present time. That alone is to be believed as truth which is in no way in variance with ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition." (Fundamental Doctrines 1, preface, 2.)
Interested in what other Christians in the Early Church thought, taught, and died for?
A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ that gives grace. The primary sacrament to enter the Church is Baptism and is implemented through a program called RCIA. Some have a clear Biblical basis; others have more of an Oral Traditional basis to them. Weather Biblical or Oral we believe them because Jesus told us so. (Based on history and faith.)
You may ask why go to Mass . . . where we receive the Eucharist: the premier sacrament?
When we attend Sunday Mass "by faith" and "in reality" we enter into that one Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross for our sins and receive the graces from Calvary when Jesus died on the Cross for us. Since God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are in the Eternal Now, that one sacrifice is in the eternal now. Our Lord is not being re-crucified!! These graces allow Catholic Christians to see the issues of the world with proper Christian lens. This RE-presentation of that one sacrifice can only happen in one place: at Catholic parishes with a Catholic priest saying the liturgy.
For short, the sacraments of the Church are key to our salvation and getting to Heaven. Whoever told you otherwise was probably an un-catechized or poorly catechized Catholic.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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