Contra Sola Fide from The Readings March 2/2009
It struck me on hearing the readings on Monday that if we take them all combined, particularly in this period of Lent, there is a clear scriptural message here that bears witness against the idea of Sola Fide. When we read from James that faith without works is dead, it is the following that James is thinking of when he speaks of works.
| Leviticus 19: 1 - 2, 11 - 18 |
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| 1 | And the LORD said to Moses, |
| 2 | “Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy. |
| 11 | “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. |
| 12 | And you shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. |
| 13 | “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. |
| 14 | You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. |
| 15 | “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. |
| 16 | You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. |
| 17 | “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. |
| 18 | You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. |
| Psalms 19: 8 - 10, 15 |
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| 8 | the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; |
| 9 | the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. |
| 10 | More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. |
| Matthew 25: 31 - 46 |
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| 31 | “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. |
| 32 | Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, |
| 33 | and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. |
| 34 | Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; |
| 35 | for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, |
| 36 | I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ |
| 37 | Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? |
| 38 | And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? |
| 39 | And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ |
| 40 | And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ |
| 41 | Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; |
| 42 | for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, |
| 43 | I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ |
| 44 | Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ |
| 45 | Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ |
| 46 | And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” |
Jesus is very clear is he not? When the sheep and the goats are separated he doesn’t say that those who have accepted Jesus into their heart will be saved. I’m sorry, but he doesn’t say that. Perhaps that is a good description of what occurs on the personal subjective level when we initially have personal faith in Jesus Christ. But when it comes down to it he is looking for results in our life, is he not?
All across the nation there are Lenten retreats and Lenten missions happening, in parishes and dioceses, and they have the theme of repentance. Yes, we do need a change of heart. That is where it all begins. And the changing of our hearts is a response to the urgings of the Holy Spirit. That is how it happens. He speaks to our conscience, he speaks to our hearts and minds and as we are open to receive him he convicts of sin and we are to repent, confess our sin with a firm purpose of amending our lives, and then live it out in the world.
The point is that our lives must be a constant reconciliation with God. That is why they used to speak of very regular confession, as in once a week. The reason is simple. If we don’t wait too long, we don’t get as far away from him when we do fail him. In recent years there has been a movement away from weekly confession because it is recognized that the sacrament is not required if our only sin is venial. That is true, but it doesn’t remove the need for reconciliation with God, from our own hearts.
But back to the opening of this post. Lent is about prayer, fasting and almsgiving, all of which are directly out of New Testament scripture. The last two are about denying ourselves and giving to others. Now the Sola Fide proponent will say that true faith is not found without works, but the words of Jesus are very plain. He is saying that if there are no works there is no salvation. That is why the teaching of the Catholic Church is consistent with our Lord. Sola Fide Formata or formed faith, faith worked out in love, faith and works integrally combined. That is the way to salvation.