Does modern protestantism have any deviations from sola fide?

Upvote:-1

Sola fide or faith alone is a key point within Reformed Protestantism. Sola fide—the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works—teaches that righteous works are the result and evidence of a born-again person who has been justified by God and regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sola fide is so important to a biblical understanding of salvation that Martin Luther described it as being “the article with and by which the church stands.” The teaching that we are declared righteous by God (justified) on the basis of our faith alone and not by works is a key doctrine of Reformed Protestantism.

There are some modern Protestant denominations that insist works are necessary in addition to faith although you would be hard-pressed to find any overt declaration to that effect. One clue is whether or not that denomination is “performance oriented.” They may place great emphasis on performance-related works—attending every meeting; volunteering to help at local, regional, and national events; and devoting required minimum amounts of time to proselytizing. Everyone must do more in the advancement of “God’s work.” The dedication of each member is tracked and measured by the amount of time, effort, and money they give to the cause. If an individual’s efforts begin to slip below expectations, it will be noticed, questions will be asked and privileges withheld.

To establish whether or not a Protestant denomination deviates from sola fide and proposes that justification can be achieved other than by faith alone, one would have to examine their doctrinal basis of belief with regard to their position on Calvinism and Arminianism. It boils down to whether or not the denomination subscribes to Calvinistic soteriology or not, namely:

“that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen.” (J. I. Packer, “Introductory Essay,” p. 6)

“God’s choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in His own sovereign will... God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected... Thus God’s choice of the sinner, not the sinner’s choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.” (The Five Points of Calvinism by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas, by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing in 1963 – pages 16-17)

“All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, is he pleased in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.” (The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 1)

In other words, we are justified not by anything we do, but entirely by what God has done, which includes giving us faith. Some Protestant denominations have deviated from this original position but it is very difficult to pin down any declaration as to whether they are with Luther and Calvin or whether they are in the Arminian camp.

I have first-hand experience of one fairly new (out of the late 19th century revival) denomination that insists upon good works in addition to faith being necessary to salvation, yet their official web site would lead you to believe otherwise. And no, I’m not about to name them because Christianity Stack Exchange is not in the business of calling out individual denominations. The only way to establish what a church really thinks about the Reformed Protestant position on sola fide is to examine how they operate and whether they are “performance orientated” or not.

Edit: The article in this link (provided by One Face) may be relevant to the question being asked: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Declaration_on_the_Doctrine_of_Justification

More post

Search Posts

Related post