faith vs works

• justification by faith

  paul's letter to the romans (romans 3-5)

  justification is eschatological. simply obeying the jewish law cannot justify humanity, only god can justify humanity
• jbf - romans 3:20-26

  "the righteousness of god through faith in jesus christ for all who believe ... there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god"

  - everyone is a sinner, nobody is saved through good morality
• jbf - romans 3:28

  "for we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law"

  faith>moral conduct
• jbf - romans 5:1-2

  "therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ. through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of god"

  faith allows access to god's kingdom
• understanding paul in romans

  - to justify means 'to count, or treat as, righteous'

  - 3:20-26, paul says no human will be justified in god's eyes by works of the law, because for humans to be counted as righteous doesn't mean they 'earn' righteousness. this is because all humans have sinned due to original sin, therefore to be judged righteous by god can only be a free gift. this free gift of grace is to redeem humanity through jesus sacrifice, whose death on the cross atones for human sin -

  
  

  if justification came just by peoples work in following the law, then everyone would be judged guilty by god. therefore, justification only comes through faith in jesus
• c.k barrett

  "justification is the verdict which faith, and only faith, can hear"
• understanding paul in romans - cont

  in 3:28, he says people are justified by faith apart from the law - faith, not works.

  4:2-5 on seperate card

  in 5:1-2, paul draws the chain of reasoning to its conclusion, when we have complete faith in god we can have peace (reconciliation) with god and confidently expect our final destiny to be with him

  we are therefore justified by grace and faith, not good moral conduct. good moral conduct is less important than having faith.
• romans 4:2-5

  "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath something of which to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
• romans 4:2-5 explained

  abraham lived before jesus' atonement so could not have been justified by god

  abraham can be justified by god through his faith

  genesis 22 - god tests abrahams faith by commanding him to kill his son isaac. before he does, god stops him because his obedience shows his faith

  'his faith is reckoned as righteousness' - god only tests his faith
• no one is righteous (romans)

  "there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks god ... through the law we become conscious of our sin"
• righteousness through faith (romans)

  "this righteousness is given through faith in jesus christ to all who believe ... the law that requires faith"
• abraham justified by his faith (romans)

  "if, in fact, abraham was justified by works,, he had something to boast about - but not before god. what does scripture say? 'abraham believed god and it was credited to him as righteousness"
• peace and hope (romans)

  "we who have been justified through faith, we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand ... whilst we were sinners, christ died for us"
• death through adam, life by christ (romans)

  "sin was in the world before the law was given ... receive gods abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, jesus christ"
• justification by works

  the belief that right relationship with God can be achieved by avoiding sin and atoning for any transgressions with good deeds
• justification by works continued

  the authors of the letter of james disagree with paul!

  'what does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but not works? can his faith save him? if a brother or sister is ill clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them 'go in peace, be warmed and filled', without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? ... faith apart from works is dead
• justification by works - abraham

  "was not abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son isaac upon the altar?"

  just as a body without a spirit is dead, faith without works is dead
• prioritising works

  some would accept james letter as clear ... 'faith apart from works is dead'

  even demons believe in god

  parable of the sheep and the goats is also important here - 'as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me ... i was hungry and you gave me food ... i was hungry and you gave me no food
• prioritising works cont

  parable of the sheeps and the goats continued - makes no mention at all of whether those who are sheep like or goat like are full of faith or lacking in faith

  sheep go to eternal life in gods kingdom just for doing good works and vice versa

  jesus is also emphatic about doing good works in the sermon
• prioritising faith

  ephesians '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'

  the best known advocate of justification by faith alone is martin luther and based his understanding on romans 1:16-17
• prioritising faith - romans 1:16-17

  "it is the power of god that brings salvation to everyone who believe ... for in the gospel the righteousness of god is revealed ... the righteous will live by faith'

  luther proclaimed the doctrine of sola fide (justification by faith alone)
• prioritising faith - romans 1:16-17 continued

  god grants sinners justification through jesus atonement

  gods verdict on the sinner is not based on anything the sinner has done, passive not active, justification isnt brought about by human achievement or works but by what god brings about through jesus christ. the righteousness of christ is literally attributed to god to the believing sinner

  following luthers line, righteous works are the result of being justified by god and born again through the holy spirit
• prioritising faith - martin luther continued

  luther considered the doctrine of sola fide to be so important that to ignore it was literally to preach a false gospel

  there are five doctrines - sola fide, sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola christus, soli deo gloria
• faith AND works

  Catholic teaching that one's salvation is dependent on both faith and good works.

  Luther insisted grace was received passively, but the CC views it takes some human effort

  '...caused many catholics to accuse protestants of preaching an anitnomian gospel that minimised the importance of following jesus life and teachings ... in return, many protestants accused catholics of preaching a doctrine of justification by works, as though one could work ones way to heaven without the necessity of gods grace
• faith AND works cont

  grace comes to the individual through baptism in catholicism. baptism is the sacrament of faith, so faith is then developed in the context of the church

  belief is not just 'intellectual assent' to god's existence and jesus' sacrifice, because as the letter of james says, even the demons have that (1 john 2:3-6)
• faith AND works 1 john 2:3-6

  "he who says i know him but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his work, in him truly love for gof is perfected"

  
  

  without a positive response by works to grace, salvation is not possible
• predestination

  not a popular view point

  the view that all events have been willed by god. the view that fate of each individual, with regard to his or her place in the kingdom of heaven, has also been willed by god. this implies their conduct is morally good because god has willed that also, and this shows good moral conduct in human beings is less important than gods will - whatever god decided will happen

  - problem of evil
• predestination - what the bible says

  during the OT, there was a belief that yahweh was the god of history, particularly in god's election as israel as a chosen nation

  in the NT, it's much more explicit. romans 8:28-30 'for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son'.

  paul is suggesting that god predestined some people to be conformed to the image of his son, that is, to lead christ like lives

  this implies god predestines some people to good moral confuct and they lead christ like lives not through their own choice but gods

  - takes away free will
• who is justified through predestination?

  some argue paul taught all christians are justified, others believed in the salvation of all humans (seems unlikely)

  he also says in romans 6:23 'the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of god is eternal life in christ jesus our lord'. so perhaps paul thought those who were not predestined to eternal life may have died without entering god's kingdom
• omnipotence and omniscience with predestination

  the doctrine was developed from the view of these omniproperties

  - gods control of the world is complete, and therefore god must control all of history, and this in turn includes the lives of every being that he has created

  - problem of evil
• predestination and free will

  we are created in gods image and this includes the ability to be moral beings and the ability to reject god

  we can only be morally good by choosing to do good, if people do good works due to fear they are not acting freely

  
  

  the fate of those who reject jesus is showed in pauls epistles (hell is 'fiery torment' and a 'gloomy pit of darkness')

  if humans are gods children what human parent would offer their children such a choice and think it morally good?

  
  

  if we add to that that god predestines heaven and hell, god sucks so much! why should we do good if our fate is determined
• predestination - pelagius

  pelagius argued everything that god created was good, so god couldnt possibly have created humanity in a state of original sin. adams sin belongs to him alone. theres also the idea if we attribute sin to him we feel less responsible
• doctrine of double predestination

  -God appointed the eternal destiny of some to salvation by grace ("the elected"), while leaving the remainder to receive eternal damnation for all their sins (including their original sin)

  -God does not save everyone, and humans cannot control it with their free will. One can be saved only through the "irresistible grace of God"

  -It shows God's justice (damning sinners) and mercy (saving the elected)
• predestination - john calvin

  since, in adam, all are guilty before god, all deserve eternal damnation, and therefore it is no injustice in god if some are lost; rather, it is a sign of infinite love if some are saved

  
  

  unchangeable decree that freely saves some people (the elect) and condemns others (the reprobate)

  -so unfair... why