1. James 2:14-18 Faith, if it does not have works, is dead
2. 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a
brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day,
16 and one of you says to them, Go in peace, keep warm, and eat
well, but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what
good is it? 17 So also faith of itself, if it does not have works,
is dead. 18 Indeed someone might say, You have faith and I have
works. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will
demonstrate my faith to you from my works. Copyrighted material
that appears in this article is included under the provisions of
the Fair Use Clause of the National Copyright Act, which allows
limited reproduction of copyrighted materials for educational and
religious use when no financial charge is made for viewing.
Catholic Lectionary. (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software.
3. Can we be saved by faith alone? No! Excerpts from The Holy
Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006),
with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.
4. Martin Luther The concept of being saved by faith alone,
began with Martin Luther in 1517. It was condemned by the Council
of Trent (1545-1563) because it clearly contradicted
Scripture.
5. Luther's "Open Letter on Translating" was written in 1530 In
his letter Luther attempts to defend his having added the word
"alone" to Romans 3:28. His defense is primarily his claim that
"faith alone" was clearly what St. Paul intended to say. So, Luther
says his translation simply clarifies St. Paul's thinking. Its
important to note that Luther claims that he knew exactly what St.
Paul's intention was. During the preceding 1500 years no one else
had even attempted to claim he knew what St. Paul wanted to say and
thus give themselves permission to change his words, only Luther
did that.
6. In this, as in all other matters of doctrine, Luther would
accept no authority except his own. In his letter on translating,
he told his followers how to respond to Catholics who criticized
him for adding the word "alone." "Tell them," he said, "Dr. Martin
Luther will have it so, and he says that a papist and a donkey are
the same thing. Again, later, he instructed his fellow believers to
say to his critics, "Luther will have it so, and he says that he is
a doctor [that is, theologian] above all doctors of the pope." He
was very adept at vilifying his Catholic critics. In attempting to
justify Luther's editorial handiwork, Lutheran apologists list
several writers before Luther's time who also inserted the word
"alone" as he did. But, of course, the errors of others could not
justify Luther's error.
7. The Epistle of Straw You may recall that Luther denied that
the Epistle of James as inspired Scripture. His reason: James 2:17
declares that "faith without works is dead." Read his own remarks
about this biblical book in his "Preface to the Epistles of St.
James and St. Jude," where he rejects the book's apostolic
authority and declares: "I will not have [this epistle] in my Bible
to be numbered among the true chief books." Apparently, Luther
would have liked to remove this "epistle of straw," as he termed
it, from the canon altogether, but did not quite dare.
8. St. James Again in St. James 2:26 he reaffirms what he said
in 2:17 faith apart from works is dead. Luthers concept of faith
was that all mans sins have been forgiven by God when Christ died
on the cross. If that were so why did St. Peter and others call for
a continuing need to turn away from sin and repent?
9. Christ & the Apostles taught Faith implies the
acceptance of all Gods revelation found in Gods word and eternal
damnation is in the Bible. Faith necessarily leads to doing good.
Jesus modeled His faith and good works His entire life on earth.
Think of it this way if all your sins had been forgiven when Christ
was on the cross then why cant you live any way you want without
fear of hell or eternal damnation? The Bible clearly says that hell
exists, but if all your sins are forgiven how then could anyone go
to hell?
