Sola Fide

The Protestant Reformation was born of 2 major beliefs: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) and Sola Fide (Faith Alone).  Sola fide is the belief that we are saved by faith alone – apart from anything else.  The only place in all of scripture where the words “faith alone” are found is in James 2:24 where it says we are not saved by faith alone.

You may have been told that all you have to do is to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” in order to be saved.  Or that if “you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior”, your eternity is secure.

On the contrary, simply believing is not enough.  We must be obedient and do what the Lord wills.  In the St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Rom. 1:5, 16:26), he speaks of the “obedience of faith” and “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).  He also says that says that love is greater than faith or hope (1 Cor. 13:13).  It is the greatest of all virtues.  James 2:14-26 speaks of the necessity of works and that “faith without works is dead.”  

In Mark 1:24, a demon cried out to Jesus, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? We know who you are--the Holy One of God!"  James 2:19 tells us, “You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. If “even the demons believe” – how do we differentiate ourselves from them?  We remain obedient to the will of God, and not our own will.

In Matt. 31-46, Jesus said that the reward of his faithful ones were rewarded with eternal joy in heaven.  Those who didn‘t were banished to eternal suffering.

Are we doing what the Lord wills of his faithful?  Or are we secure in the false notion that all we have to do is believe?