Justification by Faith Alone (The Heresy of Protestantism) In the first century, the apostles of Jesus Christ warned of an apostasy, or falling away, of many Christians. In Acts 20:29-30, Paul warned the Ephesian elders, "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves." In 1 Timothy 4:1-3, Paul also warned Timothy, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." The apostle Peter also foretold of the motives of the false teachers who were to soon come. In 2 Peter 2:1-3 he wrote, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies... And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not." The apostasy can be seen in history as the church became corrupted by men after the close of the first century. The corruption grew rapidly after the time of Constantine in the fourth century when he made Christianity a socially acceptable religion. The organization and doctrine of the early church was ignored as men invented their own schemes to "improve" the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They even began to practice the doctrines of demons prophesied by the Spirit by commanding men not to eat meat on certain days and forbidding priests and nuns to marry (they didn't even care that their system of priests and nuns was not found anywhere in the Bible). Paul accurately described these times when he wrote, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13). By the 1500's, the corruption was so great that the churches of Europe were lead by men who justified adultery and murder. They were as wicked as the rebellious Jews who murdered Je sus. It was in the midst of this religious corruption that various men began to protest the wickedness that was so prevalent in the Catholic church. Their courageous stand on what they believed altered the course of history. The movement begun by their teaching is now known as the "Protestant Reformation". They were called "Protestants" because they were protesting the corruption of the Catholic church. One of their greatest mistakes was that they were content to be reformers rather than restorers. Their goal was to merely reform the abuses of the Catholic system when they should have been trying to restore the Lord's church as it is revealed in the New Testament. When the Protestants' efforts to reform the Catholic church were rejected by the Catholic leaders, the Protestants began to organize themselves in their own churches. Instead of simply following the Scriptures completely for their teaching and practice, the different Protestant groups selected certain passages in the Bible t hat were their favorites and ignored others they did not accept. Many examples of this could be given, but one of the most influential is that of Martin Luther's teaching on justification by faith alone. Martin Luther began as a priest in the Catholic church, but he correctly recognized the error of the Catholic teaching that man must earn his salvation by good works. The Bible clearly teaches that once a man becomes a sinner, all the good works he may do will not restore fellowship with God. A way of forgiveness for mankind had to be provided by the grace of God. After Luther realized this, he rejected the Catholic error of salvation by works and went to the opposite extreme by saying that justification is by faith alone. If Luther had been content to only teach what the Bible says, he would have taught that we are justified by faith. This is absolutely true. Many verses in the Bible teach that we must have faith to be justified before God, but the Bible never says we are justified by faith alone. Romans was Luther's favorite book. In this book, he found the teaching of justification by faith, and jumped to the conclusion that we are justified by faith alone, which Romans never teaches. It is true that Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". But only a few verses later, we are told in Romans 5:9 that, "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." Earlier, in Romans 3:24, Paul wrote, "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." If the book of Romans teaches that we are justified by faith, His blood, and God's grace, why did Luther teach we are justified by faith alone? Luther made another great error. He misunderstood what the apostle Paul meant when he taught how we are not justified by the works of the Law in the books of Romans and Galatians. For anyone to be justified by Law, they would have to earn their salvation by good works. This is what Romans 4:4 is referring to when it says, "Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due." God does not give us salvation because we have earned it. We all have sinned and stand condemned before God. By His grace, God has provided a way that we can be forgiven through the sacrifice of His Son. However, this does not eliminate the need of our continued obedience! Romans begins and ends with the need of the "obedience of the faith", (Romans 1:5, 16:26). It rebukes those who "do not obey the truth", (Romans 2:8). The Christians in Rome were freed from sin because they "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Romans 6:17-18). One of Paul's greatest accomplishments was to bring about "the obedience of the Gentiles" (Romans 15:18). Because of his misunderstanding of how we must be obedient although we cannot earn our salvation, Luther rejected the book of James and called it a "straw epistle" that did not belong in the Bible. He concluded this because James 2:24 says, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." This contradicted what Luther believed, so instead of changing what he believed, Luther rejected James, the brother of Jesus! Since Luther began his false teaching, nearly every Protestant denomination has followed his doctrine. Carefully read the following quotes from the various Protestant creed books and compare them to the Bible. Luther's Catechism teaches, "We are justified and saved by faith alone, without works... Our own works have nothing to do with our justification." Following Luther, The Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual says, "We believe the Scriptures teach that the great gospel blessing which secures to such as believe in Him is justification; that justification includes the pardon of sin, and the promise of eternal life on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed... solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood. " Following the same error, The Larger Catechism of the Presbyterian Church, states, "Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins... and received by faith alone. " In their Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopalians teach, "Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort." Not to be outdone, the Methodists, in their Discipline, also say, "Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort." What's the difference in the error of the Catholics by their teaching that we should have a pope over the church, which the Bible says nothing about, and the Protestants teaching that we are justified by faith alone, which the Bible never says? Both systems reject the Word of God, just in different ways. Rather than stand on the teachings of the Pope or Luther, or Calvin or any other man, why don't we simply repeat what the Bible says and be content with that? Remember the warning of 2 John 9-11; "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." Wayne Wells Why Do Protestants Teach We Are Justified by Faith Alone? Romans 3:24 "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Romans 5:1 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:9 "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." James 2:24 "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. " Wayne Wells wayneliz@twave.net http://users.twave.net/ncc