As the
Protestant Reformation grew, so did the protestant heretical notion of sola fide, that is, by faith alone. Today many
protestants believe that just simple faith can save them and, if a protestant
has any Calvanistic leanings, they go so far as to say that your faith is Jesus is
enough to guarantee your eternal salvation – a doctrine that no church father
ever stated nor is this a concept that was seen in the first 1500 years of Christianity.
Therefore in honor of the 450th anniversary of the Council of Trent, which
laid out what actually justifies us before God, I will endeavor to use
Scripture in order to prove this point and firmly establish the Catholic point
and demonstrate how the protestant invention of “faith alone” goes against the
Bible itself. Indeed I will show that works and things you do are integral to
the economy of salvation. This will be a 4 part series of posts over the next 4
days, starting off with the first 4 Gospels and then the New Testament works.
This first post will deal with the Gospel of Matthew, tomorrow’s post will dive
into Mark and Luke, Friday’s post will be John, and Monday’s post will be on
the New Testament writers.
So, with
that being said, let’s see if Jesus and the New Testament writers teach the
Catholic point of view on justification or the protestant one. NOTE: all
Scripture passages are taken from the King James Version (KJV) and be bold, the scripture passage itself will
be italicized and the explanation
will be in normal font.
Matthew
5:29-30 states:
If your
right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members
perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes
you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more
profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to
be cast into hell.
This parable,
which is addressing sin, states that we must “cut off” those things that lead
us into offenses against God. However, this parable only has meaning if we
understand that sins and works are a part of salvation; we must deprive
ourselves of things, that is we must consciously avoid sin, in order to save
our soul. If man were justified by faith
alone, then this parable would have no meaning. (See also Mark
9: 42-48)
Matthew
6:14 states:
For if
ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Notice that
man is forgiven ONLY if he does the action of forgiveness and not by faith alone. Hence, faith alone is not sufficient for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew
7:21-23 states:
Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Here we see
that he who DOES the will of God will enter heaven, NOT those who simply
believe in Him, in other words, Christ emphasizes the fact that YOU MUST DO
what He says to be His.
Matthew
7:24-27 states:
Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell
not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every
one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Clearly, here again, Christ tells us that we must not only hear
his words but DO THEM.
Matthew
10:22 states:
And ye
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end
shall be saved.
Why do we have to “endure to the end” to be
saved? Why didn’t Christ state that all we need to be saved is faith alone? This verse totally
contradicts the Protestant notion that faith, in and of itself, saves. Christ
could not have been more clearer, YOU MUST be faithful until the end, if not,
you will not be justified before God, therefore, just because you believe now
doesn’t mean that you will be saved later on.
Matthew
12:36-37 states:
But I say
unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by
thy words thou shalt be condemned.
This verse proves faith
alone is not part of justification, if it were, why is that the words that
men speak shall be taken into account on the day of judgement? If faith alone already saves you, why does
Christ state that your words can condemn you? Additionaly, Christ states
EXPLICITLY that your words – an action, that you do - will justify you. This
verse totally refutes the view of justification by faith alone. (See also Luke
19:22)
Matthew
13:18-21 states:
Hear ye
therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom,
and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that
which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is
he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when
tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Here we see that a man can believe for a while and yet fall away.
This parable, The Parable of the Sower, is found in the other 2 synoptic
Gospels and they both state even more clearly that even though you once had
faith you can lose it and therefore lose your salvation, as noted in the Gospel
of Mark and in the Gospel of Luke, let's briefly look at these.
Mark
4:16-17 states:
And these
are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the
word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure
but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the
word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Luke
8:13 states:
They on
the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these
have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Christ refers to people who clearly believed for a time but
eventually fall away and are not saved. If they had faith and, faith alone is what is needed to be
saved, how is it possible that they are now not saved? Some of the more cynical,
sola fide believing Protestants will
state that the people spoken of in these parables never had faith to begin with,
to state this is to put yourselves above Christ Himself! Christ unambiguously
states that THEY HAD FAITH, not that they pretended or feigned faith in Him
but, that THEY HAD FAITH. This proves that faith
alone cannot save you and therefore refutes the false Gospel of Protestantism.
If we continue looking at Luke
chapter 8, the evangelist continues to hammer away at the fact that faith
alone does not save,
Luke
8:15 states:
But that
on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard
the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Notice that it is those who have heard the word and keep the word
and PRACTICE IT, are the ones who will bring fruit to eternal life.
Luke
8:21 states:
And he
answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the
word of God, and do it.
So, who are the bretheren of Christ? Those who solely have faith
in Him or, those who hear His word and DO IT? Continuing on with Matthew…
Matthew
13:41-42 states:
The Son of
man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Notice that it is those who DO iniquity that are condemned to
hell. In other words, God will judge you on your works to see if you’ve done
iniquity against Him. How can this be, if faith alone saves? Again, we see the
concept of sola fide at odds with
Scripture.
Matthew
16:27 states:
For the
Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he
shall reward every man according to his works.
Christ could not have been any more clearer: He will render judgment
upon man based on his works.
Matthew
18:12-14 states, in part:
…if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he
not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that
which is gone astray?... Even so it is not the will of your Father which
is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
In this
parable Jesus, in being our Good Shepherd, is calling us his sheep. However, he
is stating that even His sheep, that is, those who believe in Him, can go
astray and get lost. We know that Jesus is specifically talking about those who
believe in Him going astray because in Matthew
8:6, when he is talking about “these little ones” He EXPLICITLY states that
they believe in Him. Again, we see that just because you have faith, you can go
away from Jesus and be lost – not because Christ wills it – but, because you
willfully chose to distance yourself from Him, even though you have faith in
Him.
Matthew
19:16-17 states:
And, behold, one came and
said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal
life? And he
said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is,
God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Christ here
states that salvation is attained by keeping the Commandments, NOT by faith
alone.
Matthew
19:23-24 states:
Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
What one
does with the funds/treasures that God bestows upon them will affect their
salvation.
Matthew
25:15-30 states, in part:
And unto
one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one…he that had
received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other
five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained
other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth,
and hid his lord's money…And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five
talents… His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord…He also that had received two
talents came and said, Lord… His lord said unto him, Well done, good and
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee
ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord…
Then he
which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou
art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou
hast not strawed…His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful
servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have
not strawed…cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Here we see that God demands us TO USE our talents. What is
truly interesting is that the lord in this parable, who represents God, is said
to “reap where he has not sown,” this is an implicit indication that God
expects us to do and to produce our own works done with His Grace, if we do not
cooperate with His Grace to produce such supernatural works, and, are not able
to present such supernatural works before Him at the day of judgment, we will
cast into hell. This parable demolishes justification by faith alone and
distinctly establish the Catholic point that we are justified by faith AND
works.
Matthew
25:45-46 states:
Then shall
he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one
of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
We see, once
again, that what one does determines whether or not one has salvation.
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