The God of Sola Fide

The doctrine of justification by faith may be taken as a 'given' for many protestant Christians. I used to be one of them. Sure, we all probably get taught the basics of what it means - that we can't earn our salvation.

Here's a quote from Martin Luther about it, from the Smalcald Articles: (English translation from the Lutheran Book of Concord. Article shortened by me.)

1] That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification, Rom. 4:25.

2] And He alone is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, John 1:29; and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all, Is. 53:6.

3] Likewise: All have sinned and are justified without merit [freely, and without their own works or merits] by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood, Rom. 3:23f

4] Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be otherwise acquired or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us as St. Paul says, Rom. 3:28: For we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law. Likewise 3:26: That He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Christ.

5] Of this article nothing can be yielded or surrendered [nor can anything be granted or permitted contrary to the same], even though heaven and earth, and whatever will not abide, should sink to ruin. For there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved, says Peter, Acts 4:12. And with His stripes we are healed, Is. 53:5. .

(Quote's over now, in case you didn't catch that) Ok, so it's an important doctrine, right? Well, yes, but also it means a whole different way of looking at God. Sola Fide may not have been something new, but realizing its implications certainly was.

If we take the idea of monergism, that God does all the work, as true, all of a sudden you have every indication for God outside of scripture pointing directly here. No one argues that man isn't perfect. No one rational argues that man can become perfect. So if you look with your reason for a God, the only God you can find is the one who, if He has contact with man at all, initiates the contact and does all the work. "You can't be good enough on your own" isn't just scriptural, its logical.

Then, in a nutshell, when you go looking for a God who does all the work of initiating the relationship, the only one you find is Christ. The theological doctrine of Sola Fide unites what we believe to be true with that which we can logically grasp - because every other possibility outside of the God of Sola Fide, every possibility out there besides Christ, is logically indefensible.

And the best thing about it? We didn't find this God by our reason - He found us, and gave us faith. This isn't philosophy guiding theology, but rather philosophy pointing clearly at its own limit, and showing that the only answer lies in Christ.

This post raises a lot of questions, so here's a sneak peek at the title of what I'll be writing next: Why I reject synergism, and accept monergism.