The guardians of ‘free-will’ have exemplified the saying: ‘out of the frying-pan, into the fire.’ In their zeal to disagree with the Pelagians they start denying condign merit, and by the very form of their denial they set it up more firmly! By word and pen they deny it, but really, in their hearts, they establish it, and are worse than the Pelagians upon two counts. In the first place, the Pelagians confess and assert condign merit straightforwardly, candidly and honestly, calling a spade a spade and teaching what they really hold. But our friends here, who hold and teach the same view, try to fool us with lying words and false appearances, giving out that they disagree with the Pelagians, when there is nothing that they are further from doing! ‘If you regard our pretences, we appear as the Pelagians’ bitterest foes; but if you regard the facts and our hearts, we are Pelagians double-dyed.’ (Luther, Bondage of the Will)
‘Justification by faith only’ is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of sola fide is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of sola gratia. (“Historical and Theological Introduction” to Bondage of the Will)
While it is easy to think that all who agree to the words “justification by faith alone” are orthodox in their view of justification, this is simply not the case. Not only is it not the case in the modern day, but it would seem that the vast majority of those who hold to the words seem to deny the true meaning of the phrase as set out by the Reformers. Whatever else we do we must never deviate from a justification that is by grace alone. It must be more than just the words alone, but it must be a true Gospel that sets out the sovereign grace of God alone that saves. It is not that God’s grace saves in a vacuum, but it is God saving sinners apart from any merit or work that they have done, will do, or can do. The biblical justification teaches that sinners are saved by what God does and what they do has nothing to do with their justification. The faith that sinners are said to be saved by really means that sinners are saved through faith and that the faith itself is a gift of God rather than an action of the will of the sinner.
The teaching of Scripture as set out by Luther and the Reformers is that sinners are saved by faith in order that it may be by grace (Rom 4:16). So the biblical reason that sinners are declared justified is changed when people change the concept of faith or grace. The Bible sets out to destroy and hope that man may have in himself and his own merits, works, or will. The Bible leaves man utterly helpless in sin and without the slightest hope that man can do anything to save himself or move God to save him. Man is utterly dependent on grace to save him which is to say that man is utterly dependent on God and His sovereign grace to save if He is pleased to do so.
In the modern day sinners are said to be saved if they have faith, or perhaps to be more accurate they are said to be saved if they make a profession of faith or agree that a sinner is saved by faith alone. If faith is the gift of God so that sinners can be saved by grace alone, then assuredly it is to be like the devil to tell people that they are saved by faith alone and interpret that to mean that man can come up with their own faith and that they can do it as they please. Indeed, to tell men that they are saved by works is dangerous, but to tell them (in accordance with the Bible) that they are saved by faith alone and then change the meaning of the Bible as to the nature of faith and its origin is to be even more dangerous. Perhaps it is to be “Pelagians double-dyed.”
Justification by faith alone is a phrase that needs a lot of interpretation because sinners are so prone to look to themselves for some little something in order to save themselves or at least help in salvation. Any teaching of a true teaching of justification by faith alone must always set out the fact that sinners are saved by grace alone. For that teaching to be taught, sinners must be taught that they have no help in themselves and no ability to come up with faith either. In other words, for the truth of justification by faith alone to be taught it must be seen as fitting with justification by grace alone and the truth of the sovereign grace of God must never be given up so that the truth of justification by faith alone can be taught in truth. On the other hand, the other side of grace alone must be taught and that is the utter helplessness and inability of sinners in sin. So justification by faith alone has two necessary truths that go with it in order for it to be interpreted correctly. When a person does not teach the sovereign grace of God and the utter helplessness and inability of sinners, that person is not teaching the true doctrine of justification by faith alone and so has not interpreted it correctly. Whether the person intends to do so or not, that person is fooling others with lying words and false appearances. Oh how the Gospel of grace alone can be distorted and lost with orthodox words.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment