“Faith Alone” is understood by your faith’s direction
1. To yourself: “Do what I command.”
2. To Him: “Give what You command.”
The Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run
to Him and are safe. His words of protection and safety before us today come
from Romans 3:27-31:
Romans 3:27-31 Where is boasting then? It
is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make
void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the
law.
Today, we merge the old with the new. We
take a timeless truth, a pillar of the Lutheran Reformation and our faith, and
we bring it together with the modern phenomenon of the meme. For those
unfamiliar with a meme, I offer the following definition: “a humorous image,
video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and
spread rapidly by Internet users.” A meme is a modern way to make a point.
For many years, opponents of Martin
Luther have argued that he maliciously added to the inspired Word of God. They
make this claim because in his German translation of the Bible, Luther added
the word “alone” to Romans 3:28. In the minds of the opponents, this error has
tainted the entire Reformation movement, as well as the Lutheran insistence of
a Roman Catholic error in the doctrine of justification. I could quote people
at length to explain the reasoning, but the meme really says it all.
It also uses satire to make its point;
harping on Luther’s use of faith alone using the helpful grammar paperclip from
older versions of Microsoft Word. It’s a funny point, no doubt, but how could
it be that well-intentioned Christians end up at so very different places in
their understanding of faith? And the end result of such different teachings is
no laughing matter.
The case could certainly be made that
Luther should have left the word “alone” out of the passage. In his defense, he
stated that he was trying to make the message of the verse as clear as possible
to his German parishioners. Luther fully admitted that “alone” was not in the
original text, but he wanted his readers to know absolutely, that no work was
needed for salvation with Christ. We could hardly fault him with this line of
thinking given the context of his day, when true, unadulterated justification
had been thrown to the wayside. Yet, in the end is translation has probably
created more controversy than confidence.
The passage itself is clear enough
regardless of Luther’s translation. Whether or not you think the word “alone”
fits, there is simply no room for teaching salvation by works. When God says, “we
are justified by faith, apart from the works of the law” He ends the
debate. But then why does this divide continue to exist today? Why do we still
see shots taken against Luther’s teaching, even with the modern day format of
memes? The answer is that not all faith is directed at the same location and
not everyone means the same thing when they say “faith alone.”
To recognize this
difference for ourselves we bring in the thoughts of another church father, one
who lived long before Luther. Augustine famously said of verse 27: The
principle of works says, “Do what I command.” The principle of faith says,
“Give what You command.” Augustine was referring to that phrase in our
text, “the law of faith.” At first glance that makes no sense and seems
to defeat this entire issue. The entire point of Paul’s words here is to show
the difference between the law and faith. What is this “law of faith”? Paul is
talking about a principle of faith, a basis upon which one believes. One’s
principle is either of the law or of faith. Obviously faith is not a law in the
sense of being a work we must accomplish. But, it is the principle, or basis,
of salvation in Christ.
There are ultimately
two ways in which people measure their faith; or in the words of Augustine;
there are two principles on which faith can rest – Us or Christ. Either faith
becomes a matter of what I do before God, namely how well I keep what He has
commanded; or it is a matter of what God gives me; namely how He blesses me in
Christ because He has kept the commands. This is precisely where the difference
rests in Luther’s use of the word “alone” in Romans 3:28 and what has separated
Christians on this issue for more than 500 years.
Part 1: To yourself:
“Do what I command.”
If faith is directed
at the person, their principle will be of works. They will base their hope on
upholding God’s Word. They will continually hear from God, “Do what I
command.” Paul was trying to defeat this idea when he wrote, “we
conclude that a man is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law.”
If people look at themselves when they use the phrase “faith alone” it becomes
a principle of the law. This is confusing because faith is not of the law; it
is produced by the Gospel.
It’s also confusing
because although someone may use the word faith in this way, as soon as it
becomes based on the law it stops being faith. True faith always looks to
Christ as the source and the power. Faith itself is simply trust. It doesn’t
necessarily define what or who is trusted. But, every context of saving faith in
the Bible is always directed at Jesus, not works. It’s precisely what Paul is
saying in these verses. He is trying to take the attention away from the
individual sinner and putting it squarely on the merits of Jesus. This is only
way to have confidence in our faith. When works of the law become the main
foundation, whatever we’re talking about ceases being true, Biblical faith,
even if it’s still called that.
Those who argue
against Luther in things like this meme, can say all they want about his choice
of translation. I can see the legitimate criticism in adding a word that isn’t
part of the text. That’s not really translation; it’s more of a paraphrase or
commentary. But, in the end, you have to get past Luther’s translation choice
and ask whether or not the teaching itself is Biblical. Namely, is “faith
alone” a valid teaching? Well, if faith is directed at the sinner, it’s not
valid. It’s not even faith. The real problem is that those who continue to
criticize Luther’s teaching and the confessions of our church today, continue
to emphasize this hollow, self-centered faith.
The chief portion of
Scripture often used against “faith alone” is James 2. In that chapter James
writes of Abraham’s faith, “Do you see that faith was working together with
his works, and by works faith was made perfect? You see, then, that a man is
justified by works, and not by faith only.” (James 2:22,24) Who wouldn’t
naturally see a contradiction between James and Paul, and furthermore between
James and Luther? James pretty clearly condemns “faith alone” doesn’t he? Those
who deny “faith alone” champion James’ words. They see “faith alone” as a
teaching that allows a ‘cheap out’ of following God’s Word; a trite excuse
offered for sin. Truly, it would seem to put the proverbial nail in the coffin
of Luther’s teaching of “faith alone.”
But, when you take
the entire context of James’ letter, it’s clear that he actually condemns the
type of faith that is based on the law. James talks about the importance of
works as an effect of faith, but he does that to show the Christians he
was writing to that they were not beginning with Christ. James’ point is that
if your faith is not squarely based on Christ’s work for you, you won’t have
the fruits that give evidence of that faith. His words continue to be twisted
into a contradiction of Romans 3 even today but the truth exposes that position
as false.
Before James even
wrote the passages in chapter 2 he said this, “Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom
there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us
forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures.” That sounds pretty close to what Paul wrote in Romans 3. Gifts
coming from God alone. Being re-born by the Word of God. No partiality between
Jew and Gentile with God. All similar themes to Romans 3. There is no doubt
that James says the same as Paul; he just approaches it from a different
perspective. Life in Christ is produced by God working through the word. Works
or fruits are effects of that faith, or indications of how healthy and strong
that faith is. They are never the cause.
Part 2: To Him:
“Give what You command.”
At this point I
would also add a verse from our text for today that proves the same thing. What
Paul writes in verse 31 is really a summary of James’ letter, Do we then
make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish
the law. Our entire discussion has been about the proper use of the word
faith, especially when we talk about “faith alone.” But, the other side of that
coin is the proper use of the law. In order to explain faith, Paul tries to
better explain its complementary opposite, the law. Paul says, faith does not
destroy or abolish the law. Rather, it uses the law in the only proper way.
Therefore, the only correct way to use the law of God is to believe in Christ
by faith apart from the works of the law.
The great fear of teaching
“faith alone” is that it will somehow give a person a free license to sin. If
you allow a person to believe that their sins are paid for freely by Christ
(Faith Alone) and no additional effort from the person is needed; then they
will naturally do whatever they want. And so it is supposed that it is a
dangerous thing to teach “faith alone” and those who believe it will always
fall back into sin. It’s easy to see the logic in this premise. It not only
makes sense, but we experience it too, because so often we abuse God’s grace
and forgiveness. We have a tendency to treat it as a free pass to sin. This
always happens, in fact, it’s precisely the issue that James addressed.
But, human error
never overtakes God’s truth. It can obscure it to be sure, but it can’t defeat
God’s work. What Paul taught and Luther taught, that we are still saved by
faith alone apart from the law, is just as true as it has always been. Human
error cannot abolish that. In fact, human error proves it to be absolutely
true, because it shows us there is only one way. The fact that sinful humans
abuse this grace does not discredit its effectiveness. And to hammer down that
point, Paul made the stunning statement that faith apart from the works of the
law was the only path toward a proper use of the law. Teaching faith alone does
not destroy the law, rather it upholds the law and complements the true nature
of the law in a sinner’s life.
What faith destroys
is the curse of the law. Don’t take my words for it, listen to God’s: For
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse … Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is
written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree ") (Galatians
3:10,13). This is the principle of our faith. Christ was cursed on the tree
for us. That breaks the curse that hangs over our heads because we haven’t kept
the law. And we receive it by faith alone. If it came by any other means, it
would not be of Christ, and it would not be faith.
You can see now why
Augustine chose to word the proper foundation of faith as that which the sinner
speaks to God, “Give what You command.” Faith is not by works. It is a
given by God freely to all. But, faith also does not nullify that which God
commands. Rather, it upholds the law. Christ did not abolish the law when He
came to earth. He fulfilled it. He restored it and built it back up in our
lives in its proper sense so that we could serve God by faith. Faith gives us
what God commands because it blesses us with Christ’s merits. His righteousness
becomes ours. His keeping of the commandments is placed on our record. Jesus
destroyed the curse, by upholding the law.
Perhaps most important to state about
Martin Luther is that he understood true faith alone, regardless of his
translation of Romans 3:28 suffers. Luther wrote elsewhere, “A Faith without
love is not enough; it is in reality no faith at all but only appears to be
faith. Just so a face seen in a mirror is in reality no face but only appears
to be a face.” Faith that is based on us is hollow and unstable. If we boast of
this faith “alone” we are in a miserable spiritual state of life. Boasting of
this type is excluded, as Paul said.
But faith alone in Jesus is the one, true
foundation. It is the rock upon which the wise man built, which withstood the
storms of sin. And it is the absolute boast of the Christian’s confidence, for
through Christ we have died to the world and we live in Him. Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment