SOLA FIDE

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God -- not the result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9 NRSV)

The greatest minds in church history have identified this one biblical truth as the foundation of our faith. John Calvin declared it to be "the main hinge" on which the true Christianity swings. They are describing the doctrine of justification by faith alone -- or as the reformers called it, Sola Fide.

Of the importance of this foundational truth Martin Luther wrote: "This doctrine is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot last for one hour." It’s no wonder that Luther called justification by faith alone "the article by which the church stands or falls." Because there are only two kinds of righteousness: a human righteousness based on human effort, and what he called "the passive righteousness" that comes from Christ. There is the righteousness of God and your own righteousness. There is no middle ground; you embrace one or the other.

-- Sola Conference 2009


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