It may seem tedious to have several posts on sola fide. Even more ridiculous, some would say, would be to spend much time on the word “by” in the phrase of justification by faith alone. I recognize the absurdity of it all in our modern day, but the spiritual reality of the day is that the Gospel of grace alone is being denied by many under the guise of justification by faith alone. I am not arguing that justification by faith alone is incorrect, but that what is being said about it today is different than what was taught about it in the Reformation and, more importantly, Scripture. We live in a day where the truth of the Gospel has been hidden using the historical language of the Gospel.
If we are going to hold to the doctrine of justification by faith alone as taught by Scripture, then we cannot allow for faith to be a work in the slightest way. The Scriptures tell us over and over that the Gospel allows man no room for boasting at all. The Scriptures tell us that we are justified by grace and not by works so that there would be no room for boasting (Ephesians 2:8-10). In all ways and at all times faith must not be a work. There is an analogy of this to a point in what is called the spiritual disciplines. We are told that the spiritual disciplines are things we must discipline ourselves to do. While I would argue that I Timothy 4:7 should not be used to justify what is called spiritual disciplines and it is exegetically improper to do so, that is not the point here. The means of grace are exactly that. They are means of grace. Grace is never merited or earned in any way, shape, form or fashion by any one other than Christ. Reading the Bible does not in and of itself bring grace to me or anyone else no matter how much anyone does it. Prayer does not in and of itself bring grace to me or anyone else no matter how much anyone does it. Grace only comes when God gives it and it is always based on Himself and nothing a human being does. Grace is always the prerogative of God and man can do nothing to even make it more likely that God would give grace. Grace is always based on God’s love for Himself within the Trinity.
If we try to teach that we should discipline ourselves in the modern sense of the word so that we may have grace, we have just taught a system of works. We should study Scripture and we should pray, but we must realize that it is God who teaches us spiritual things and gives Himself by grace in the study of Scripture. We do not go to Scripture to earn or make it easier for God to give grace; we go to Scripture to receive grace if God so chooses. We do not go to prayer in order to earn something from God; we go to plead with God for His sake to revive us again. It is in prayer that we receive grace rather than earn it. Grace is always optional with God at all times or it is not grace. We are to go to the throne of grace to receive grace and nothing but grace. If we go to prayer thinking we can get something because we pray, we are throwing ourselves back into a system of works. If we try to be holy in order to earn something or obtain something from God, we are throwing ourselves into a system of works. If we practice the sacraments or ordinances because we are trying to get something from God, we are throwing ourselves back into a system of works. Grace is always and only given because of Christ and in His name.
In order to get the issue of justification by faith alone drilled into our souls, we must always keep in mind that grace is never earned or merited in the slightest way. Our using the means of grace does not make it more likely that God will show grace, or grace is no longer grace. When we go to the means of grace we must always keep in mind that God has no obligation to show us grace because of our efforts. He does give grace through the means of grace but He is not obligated to do so. We only have Bibles because of grace and we only desire to study them if we desire to study them out of love for Him because of grace. If we desire to study them for selfish reasons, then we are trying to use the Bible to manipulate God for our own self-centered purposes.
I really am still discussing faith alone. I am trying to make the point that we have moved far from the truth of grace alone in Reformed circles too. We have many that have moved from baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Bible study, and prayer as means of grace where God may show grace if He pleases to being channels of grace at man’s disposal. That is Roman Catholicism, which believes it is the true Church and it has grace to dispense as it pleases. That is, when a person practices what Rome says, that person then receives grace. While many Protestants may not use Rome’s system, the same thought is present and many have forgotten that grace is always sovereign because it is God who shows it as He pleases. In justification by faith alone we must always remember that the reason it is by faith is in order that it would be to the praise of the glory of His grace which is always sovereign. A grace at our disposal is a grace that comes by the works of man. When we use the word “by” in justification, we are heretics unless we use it to set out the glory of a free grace that is not earned in any way by human effort but is in the hands of God to give.
God Loves... Himself 
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