What is the Orthodox view on the Sola ‎Fide?‎2 min read

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Sola Fide is the second of the five Solas. The doctrine of Sola Fide teaches that justification comes by faith alone. In classical Protestant doctrine, justification means being declared righteous by God and receiving imputed righteousness. To have righteousness imputed is to be regarded or seen as righteous by God because He has “put on” (rather than “put into”) or clothed the believer with Christ’s righteousness.

Yet there is no sense in which the believer is righteous in himself. Especially by Luther, faith alone is specifically contrasted with good works. In the Lutharian doctrine, good works have nothing to do with salvation other than being a sign or result of true faith. Lutherans and Presbyterians both stated that our churches, by common consent, teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works.  Rather, are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favour.  Furthermore, that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. (Augsburg Confession, 1530).

Sola fide was formulated primarily in response to the Roman Catholic insistence on good works (and the whole system of merit, satisfaction, purgatory, and indulgences). Luther was so insistent on this formulation of salvation coming by faith and not works that, when he was translating Romans 3:28 into German, he added the German word allein (“alone”). Then the verse would read: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law.” But the word alone is not present in the Greek text or even suggested by the context.

Luther was also so annoyed by the apparent opposition to his sola fide doctrine in the Epistle of James that he questioned its apostolic authorship because it is “flatly against” St. Paul and all the rest of Scripture. And so Luther concludes that, compared to other New Testament works, “St. James’ Epistle is really an epistle of straw, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it” (Luther’s Works, 35:362).

While Luther initially wanted to omit James from his canon, he eventually chose to leave the epistle in place. Luther had questioned the authority not only of James but also of the books of Jude, Hebrews, and Revelation. Is it a coincidence that the word “faith alone” exists only in the epistle of Saint James? “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” (James 2:24, NKJV).

 

The other articles on the “Sola’s” can be found at the links below:
What Is The Orthodox View On The Solus Christus Doctrine?
Orthodox View on Soli Deo Gloria
What is the Orthodox view of Sola Scriptura?‎
What Is The Orthodox View Of The Sola Gratia Doctrine?

 

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