Sola fide

Five solae of the
Protestant Reformation
Sola scriptura
Sola gratia
Solus Christus
Soli Deo gloria
For broader coverage of this topic, see Justification (theology).

Sola fide, meaning faith alone or faith only, is a Protestant Christian belief that sinners are forgiven (declared "not guilty"[1]) by God's grace through faith[2]—not by their good works or religious deeds.[3][2][4]

This doctrine of salvation sets Lutheran and Reformed Protestant[5] churches apart from Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Methodist and Anabaptist churches.[6][7]

In Lutheran and Reformed theologies, good works show true faith but do not contribute to salvation.[8][9][10][11] Confessional Lutherans, for example, see justification as God's free forgiveness.[12] In contrast, Methodist doctrine teaches that while justification comes through faith, salvation also requires a life of holiness aimed at entire sanctification, maintained by continued faith and obedience.[10][13][14][15] Anabaptists reject sola fide, stressing a transformative journey where "justification [began] a dynamic process" helping believers grow to reflect Christ.[16][6][17]

The Catholic view holds to fides formata—faith formed by charity.[18] Unlike sola fide, the Catholic Church teaches that salvation requires not only faith, but also personal "merit" and the "observance of the commandments."[19][note 1] The Orthodox Church similarly teaches that salvation requires both faith and the sinner’s "own efforts."[22] Thus, various Christian churches believe that faith and good works are each necessary but not sufficient for salvation in the afterlife: they hold that both are required. They have often disparaged the idea that good works alone are enough, which they have often called legalism.

  1. ^ Multiple sources:
    • Keller, Brian R., Believe it or not: You are forgiven through Christ! Archived 2016-10-03 at the Wayback Machine, p7, "The Greek verb for 'justified' means that a judge declares people 'not guilty' of all charges. They are in a constant state of being declared not guilty, 'freely by his grace.'"
    • Strong's Greek: 1344. δικαιόω
    • Penninton, R., The Answer to All Your Questions about the book of Revelation, p117, "Justified - 'Declared not guilty' This means that we are considered not guilty in God's sight even through our sins were great."
    • WELS Topical Q&A: Witnessing to Roman Catholics, "God declares us 'not guilty' on the basis of Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the cross (justification), and that verdict becomes our personal possession through faith in Jesus (justification by faith, not by works)."
  2. ^ a b Epistle to the Romans:
    • 4:4, "Now to a person who works, his pay is not counted as a gift but as something owed. But to the person who does not work but believes in the God who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness."
    • 11:6, "Now if it is by grace, then it is not the result of works—otherwise grace would no longer be grace."
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LutherTranslating was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Epistles of Paul:
    • Ephesians 2:8-9, "Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves (touto ouk ex hymōn), it is the gift of God — not by works (ouk ex ergōn), so that no one can boast."
    • Galatians 3:3, "How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort (sarki epiteleisthe)?"
    • Galatians 2:16, "We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law."
  5. ^ Wisse, Maarten (2017). "Part I: Systematic Perspectives – Contra et Pro Sola Scriptura". In Burger, Hans; Huijgen, Arnold; Peels, Eric (eds.). Sola Scriptura: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Scripture, Authority, and Hermeneutics. Studies in Reformed Theology. Vol. 32. Leiden: Brill. pp. 19–37. doi:10.1163/9789004356436_003. ISBN 978-90-04-35643-6. ISSN 1571-4799.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Griffin2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Allen, Michael (2010). Reformed Theology. London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-567-03429-8.
  8. ^ WELS Topical Q&A:
    • Faith Alone, "The whole situation is summarized in Ephesians 2:8-10. Verses 8 and 9 say that justification (that is, forgiveness of sins is by grace through faith, not by works (in other words, it is by faith alone since all works are excluded). This excludes, for example, the Catholic teaching that we are saved by faith and works. Verse 10 goes on to say that every person who has faith will produce good works according to God's plan. These works, however, are not a cause of forgiveness but a result of forgiveness. Faith alone justifies but faith is never alone. It is followed by works."
    • Faith and Works, "The Bible teaches good works are a result of justification, not a cause. ...No Protestants that I am aware of say works don't matter. They do say that works do not have a role in obtaining forgiveness."
    • Ephesians 2:8-9, "The Roman Catholic church teaches that sinners are saved by a mixture of good works and faith in Jesus. ...Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches just the opposite. The word 'save' pictures God rescuing us from a situation in which we could do nothing to escape. The word 'grace' means an undeserved gift. So when Paul says that we are saved by grace, he is emphasizing that we could do nothing on our own, but our rescue is an undeserved gift that God gives us. He underscores this truth by saying 'this is not from yourselves' indicating that we contributed nothing to this 'salvation by grace.' To make the point even more emphatic he adds 'it is a gift of God' indicating God is the one who did it all. Then he adds a negative again 'not by works' to make sure we understand that it was not any effort on our part that brought this about. As a climax he adds 'so that no one can boast' - a final, clear statement that no one can stand before God and say, 'I helped with at least 1% of my salvation.' "
    • Use of the Word "Only", "By faith alone means we are saved by faith, not by works. There are many passages that use these exact words, for example, in Romans 3, Galatians 3, and Ephesians 2. The words 'not by works' exclude works from being joined to faith. By faith alone is just another way of saying by faith, not works. A person who is saved by faith will do good works, but these works are a result of forgiveness not a cause of forgivness."
    • Inaccurate teachings on Catholic salvation theology, "sins are entirely forgiven because of what Christ did for you, not by a combination of what Christ did and what you do. You do not join with Christ in producing your forgiveness. That is done by Christ alone. You only receive what he has done, and you receive it by faith."
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Preus2025 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Bucher2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Bray, Gerald (3 March 2021). Anglicanism. Lexham Press. ISBN 978-1-68359-437-6. The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the central teaching of the Lutheran Reformation and is fully accepted by Anglicans. Apart from anything else, it is a guarantee that everyone is saved equally—there is no special reward for those who do more (or better) works than others.
  12. ^ Ecumenical Discussions on Justification – the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, 2018, p5
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rhodes2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Joyner2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Elwell2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brewer2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Roth2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Akin, James. "Justification: 'By Faith Alone?'". EWTN Global Catholic Television Network.
  19. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992):
    • Paragraph 1814 "Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work(s) through charity."
    • Paragraph 1815: "The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But "faith apart from works is dead": when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body."
    • Paragraph 2010: "Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life."
    • Paragraph 2036: "The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is necessary for salvation."
    • Paragraph 2068: "The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians and that the justified man is still bound to keep them; The Second Vatican Council confirms: "The bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord . . . the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments"
    • Paragraph 2027: "we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods."
    • Paragraph 847: "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation."
  20. ^ Guyear, Nate, Baptism Is Not a Human Work, Catholic Stand, 2021
  21. ^ Harisson, B.R., Justification by Faith, EWTN, "St. Paul certainly does not regard Baptism as one of the human 'works of the law' which cannot justify us; rather it is a 'work' of God Himself, which completes the process of justification for one who has never previously been baptized."
  22. ^ Stavropoulos, Christophoros, Partakers of the Divine Nature, in Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader, p188, "The work of our theosis, our union with God, is not transmitted to us in some mechanical fashion. Our weakened human nature will not be transformed magically. The change will happen in conjunction with our own efforts. It will be realized with the cooperation of man and God. This subjective aspect of our union provides the way of theosis which we must follow."


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