I've been thinking about this alot lately - this supposed "divide" about whether our salvation rests on faith ALONE, or faith and something else. Personally, I think it's a false argument for the majority of Christians, who realize that faith is active. The implications, for those that take things to extremes on either side are what bother me. Faith vs. works. Do we simply BELIEVE and that's it?. Or do we simply DO SOMETHING and that's it? Actually, the resounding answer is NO. To both questions. Christ died for us, so that we might live eternally through His sacrifice. That's not something we deserved, not something we even come close to "earning". Having an active faith has nothing to do with wanting to "earn" anything. It's being obedient. This has become clear to me in two examples that have been popping up alot in my mind lately. First is this....
When God told Noah that He was going to flood the earth, and that He was going to save Noah and his family, Noah didn't say "I don't need to build an ark, because God is going to save me! I have faith and that's enough!" I feel like so many of today's Christians take this stance. "I have faith! Jesus saved me, so that's it! End of story! Anything I do is a 'work' and we don't earn our way to heaven." I have spoken to some who take this so far as to say that BAPTISM isn't necessary for salvation, that the Eucharist isn't necessary for salvation, because it constitutes a "work", and if we have to do ANYTHING, then we're trying to earn our way to heaven. Ridiculous. Utter nonsense. Jesus was extremely clear about the role of both, and it's necessity to enter to the kingdom (John 3:5, John 6:53). Because Noah had faith, he was OBEDIENT to what God told him to do. And God told him how to build an ark to save him and his family. God told him to act, in order to receive the salvation that He was offering. Very specifically. Here's the size of the boat, here's what it needs to look like, and here's what you're going to do with it. God, the author of creation, knows that we are of flesh and blood. He does not act merely spiritually in our lives. He has given us concrete tools to receive His grace - God the author of our senses, has used His creation in order for us to see, and feel, and TOUCH a way to receive His grace in our lives. Through water, bread, and wine. Not figuratively. REALLY. Concretely. Because He knows that WE are concrete, and need Him concretely. He has told us that faith is necessary for salvation, and He has given us more than one means to His grace in order to increase that faith. When we respond to that call, we are merely accepting the help and grace He offers us, and are by no means, in no way, trying to "earn" our way to heaven. I have heard it said that those partaking of daily communion are merely working their way to Heaven. Jesus is truly offering Himself to those that wish it, to live INSIDE, to strengthen the faith of those receiving the eucharist. Why would we NOT take Him up on that offer? Jesus is offering Himself to us, and we say "No thanks, as long as I pray, I don't need it?" By what arrogance would we EVER refuse the help and grace that Christ offers us in our faith journey? Why would we EVER want to do only "enough to get by"???
In my mind, then, I've always seen "sola fide" as incomplete, and felt like what TRULY should be our dogma was "faith and obedience". After all, the demons "believe" in the Lordship of Christ. I was reminded this morning that demons not only recognize and "believe" in Christ, they OBEY Him as well. When Christ demanded something of the demons, they cowered in fear and obeyed (Matthew 8:16, 31). Even the mention of Christ's name sends the evil ones scurrying away. So maybe faith and obedience aren't the full picture. What is, then? Faith ALONE is not enough, and obedience alone (following the law for the law's sake) is not enough. There goes the entire faith vs. works argument. It's kaput. It is a false divide. So then, what remains? What is the fufillment of the law (Luke 10:27)? What did the demons lack? What does Jesus call us to do? On what will be judged someday? What IS GOD? LOVE. God sees the content of our heart, instills in us His essence, which is LOVE. It's the key to everything. And too often, in our theological disputes and desire to be "right", we forget the most important thing of all. LOVE.
1 Corinthians tells us "faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is LOVE."
8 comments:
As usual, by and large I agree with you while disagreeing.
If we believe, we will behave in a manner which believes. If we don't behave in a believing manner there is a good chance we don't believe. The words that come our of our mouth as a confession are pretty meaningless unless they are rooted in our heart. We are not saved by the act of our confession, we confess because we are saved. We see the truth about ourselves and about God and speak what we truly see and understand.
Likewise with Baptism and the Lord's Table. We recognize that our old life was spiritually dead, and we bury it and rise again to a new life.
We recognize that our own efforts to sustain ourselves are futile and we confess that we need Christ to nourish and sustain us.
So 'obedience' by saying some words, or getting wet, or eating a cracker and a bit of wine can very well miss the point if it is not rooted foremost in faith.
The thief on the cross certainly was not baptized, and he never took communion, but he was promised him a place in paradise with Christ. I truly believe that the sacraments are a reflection of a deeper working going on between the spirit and the heart. It is God that convicts, it is God that baptizes with the Spirit, it is God that Sustains us, the sacraments when properly administered are a reflection of the deeper truth.
So Faith and obedience do go hand in hand, however I do think it is dangerous to put too much emphasis on the obedience part - not because obedience is bad, but because if we take our eyes off of Christ, and we start looking to our resume of works for our assurance of salvation we loose the proper motivation for good works. Obedience is an act of worship and we worship out of faith.
Disobedience is rooted in either disbelief or forgetfulness of the Gospel. You don't tend to forget what you have your eyes fixed upon.
And as usual, I disagree with your disagreeing ;). Just kidding... only to a point.
If we believe ENOUGH, then, true we won't have to worry about it - we will be in line with God's will. Yes. But faith is a journey, and I would say that even those with faith struggle with our human frailities. If we recognize that we need Christ to nourish and sustain us, then we will take advantage of the means that HE SAYS He will sustain us. It's a whole lot more than a cracker and some wine. So, my point was and is the same as yours - we ask for help as the apostles did, "Lord, help my unbelief!" And Jesus replies - "Then do as I tell you". Obeying to obey without faith is nothing more than the demons do, you are right. I just feel like Christ must be saying over and over again "I am TRYING to help you!!! Here's how!" And we're too ignorant to accept it, waiting for an inner miracle, when maybe He's offering us something miraculous externally.
When I struggle most with my faith, or with my life, I go humbly in prayer to the Lord's Table, and ask that He infuse me with Himself, as He promised to be fully and truly there in the Eucharist. I ask for His strength, His grace. And I know that, whether I believe it or not, it is NOT just crackers and wine, because otherwise Paul would not have warned so drastically about the consequences of those who DISBELIEVE taking it. Whether it is REAL or not has nothing to do with my belief - it is the grace of God offered. It is Holy because of Him. It's a one-way street.
I am not sure we disagree at all really.. So long as our rituals are a means to worship and not the object of worship itself, It is a very powerful and meaningful experience.
I do think people can become too focused on the ritual and miss the point. The sacraments are powerful because they make us remember what Christ, and what he is doing in our life. They distract us from whatever lie we have been focused on and return our eyes to the truth.
And I do absolutely agree that trivializing the sacraments is very dangerous. It is kinda like building up a resistance to medicine. If you make it meaningless by acting like it is meaningless when you desire for it to be meaningful it will be trivial in your heart. They where meant to remind us of something very powerful.
Ooh, another good post on this topic today: http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/2011/02/easy-like-friday-afternoon-manifesto-on.html
So, here again we deal with semantics - wherein the "easy believer" defines faith as simply "belief", and the "hard believer" defines faith as "belief followed by a change of life, in which love is actively shown to the world, in accordance to the Will of God." Which, by that definition, is exactly what the Christian church has been teaching for 2000 years, although just prior to the reformation there may have been some who became too focused on the results rather than the cause of that belief. And from which the counter-reformation and Council of Trent sought to clarify. This is what the Catholic Church teaches, and has always taught for the 2000 years of it's history, as stated in the Catechism.... Sounds a whole lot like "hard belief" to me.
Section 1996 of the Catechism says:
Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. (Jn 4:14; 7:38-39.)
Sections 161-162 the Catechism says:
(161) "Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation ...therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification...(162) Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man...
The Catechism also talks about our response to faith, (sections 161-162 and 1997-2000) which is to go out into the world and do as Jesus would have us do. Which is what we call Charity. Another word for Charity is LOVE.
This is why I say that for the vast majority of Christians who understand this truth, this "debate" is really a false divide, based on misunderstandings on either sides. Unfortunately, maybe the people I have been talking to here are the "easy believers" - because it seems to me that they certainly have missed the WHOLE PICTURE.
I'm going to deal the the "Thief on the cross" comment in a later blog, because I hear that alot as justification for not doing what Jesus expressly told us to do in order to be "born again". Well, HE didn't do it,the argument goes, and he was obviously saved, so why should we? Blunt short answer... we're not in the physical direct presence of the Lord of the Universe at the moment of His physical death. HE can do anything He wants to do. That thief did not have a chance to come to belief prior to that time, so his faith in Christ saved him at the last moment. If the thief would've LIVED past that moment... having witnessed what he did, you better believe he would've been a full-on believer, following everything that Christ instructed during His sojourn on earth. If he DIDN'T do that,regardless of having professed the belief that he did at the time, then do you really think he had the kind of faith that saves? There is such a thing as "baptism by intent", just as there is a "baptism by blood".
OK. I obviously lied at the start of this comment, and blathered on about the thief on the cross here instead of a separate blog. :)
This is an EXCELLENT blog that summarizes, I think, what we both know as true...
http://wordincarnate.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/belief-and-faith/
Very timely!
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