Introduction. Ever since Luther challenged the Catholic dogma, Christians have been repeatedly confronted with their apparent lack of assurance of salvation, and challenged to embrace the notion that they should focus their attention exclusively at what Jesus did for them on the cross twenty centuries ago, instead of looking at what God was doing in them through the sanctifying work of the Holy spirit. This shift of emphasis has been trumpeted as the true good news of the gospel.
Back to Luther. This religious movement has recently gained a foothold within many denominations, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and it represents a powerful enticement to rediscover the essence of Luther’s Reformation theology, and the central dogma espoused by the Apostle Paul, which emphatically states that “The just shall live by faith.” When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis, Catholic dogma taught that penance and merits did ensure forgiveness and salvation. Said merits were supposed to entitle believers to forgiveness not only for past, but even for future sins. The price for such a coveted experience was—of course—gold and silver. There is no question but that there was a great need for a drastic reform. This was Luther’s opportunity, and he accepted this unusual challenge.
Luther’s Dilemma. Luther’s battle cry became “Sola Scriptura;” a movement away from Catholic tradition and back to Scripture. The Apostle Paul seemed to be on his side, but he encountered a serious obstacle: the epistle of James, which strongly emphasized a balance between faith and works, belief and behavior, theory and practice, religious dogma and individual responsibility, intellectual assent and personal faithfulness. Luther had no choice but to dump James. He labeled this inspired and canonical writing as the “straw epistle.” In doing so, he overlooked St. Peter’s warning stating that some of Paul’s writings were “hard to understand.” [1]
The Achilles Heel of Reformation. Had Luther remained faithful to his “Sola Scriptura” battle cry, all would be well, but he didn’t. He built the entire Reformation edifice on a single support: “The just shall live by faith,” without realizing perhaps that Paul was actually quoting the Old Testament, and probably unaware that in the original language the real meaning is rather, “The just shall live by faithfulness.”[2] There is a significant difference between faith (belief, or mental assent) and faithfulness, which encompasses both faith and behavior. This is clearly illustrated by the classic New Testament chapter of faith—Hebrews 11—which is actually introduced in the previous chapter with the significant expression: “Now the just shall live by faith.” [3]
This statement of faith is followed by a clear illustration of what living faith means. This chapter of faith talks about behavior, a behavior empowered by the Holy Spirit: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions … waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens …they were stoned, afflicted, tormented … and all these, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.” Is this a description of the incipient, untested faith of a new convert, or the strong faith of those who were willing to sacrifice their lives for their unbending conviction? Let us consider the following for a moment:
When Does God Declare a Sinner Righteous? Does God declare a sinner righteous the moment he believes? Perhaps he does, but the Biblical record does not support such a concept. A good example is found in the chapter we are considering right now—Hebrews 11: “By faith Enoch … before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Why did the Lord wait until Enoch was almost 365 years old before declaring him righteous? Maybe he had a good reason. Now lets look at the classic example of Abraham. We must bear in mind that Pauline’s main theological support is based on the argument found in Romans[4] where the inspired author states that Abraham believed and was declared righteous by God. What does the Old Testament say regarding this? Does the sacred record found in Genesis 12 through 15 support Paul’s claim? Was Abraham declared righteous the moment he believed? In chapter 12 we find evidence of Abraham’s strong faith: God ordered him to leave his native land and he obeyed ”not knowing whither he went.” [5] Such action required more than an incipient, untested , and immature faith.
Did God declare him righteous? Not yet. Abraham went on his pilgrimage to the land of Canaan; then moved from there to Egypt, due to famine, and returned when the crisis was over; he prospered greatly and had to part company with his nephew, Lot, because of their increased possessions; he rescued Lot from his enemies, and paid his tithe to Melchisedek. All this time, the Lord seemed to be testing the faith of the patriarch. Finally, when Abraham was probably ten years older,[6] and prior to his circumcision, the Lord declared him righteous.[7] Why did God wait so long to declare him righteous? If we are justified by faith alone, why didn’t the Lord declare him righteous the moment he first believed? If believers are justified solely on the basis of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, why is it that God waited so long before declaring both Enoch and Abraham righteous? Why is the behavior of the men and women of faith strongly emphasized in Hebrews 11? Why did Jesus stress behavior as the decisive factor for salvation in Matthew 25?
Paul’s Main Argument. What are we trying to demonstrate here? Are we trying to say that Paul was off the wall? Not necessarily. We need to understand Paul’s main argument. St. Peter did warn us that some of Paul’s writings were hard to understand; therefore we need to be careful, and the only reasonable way to accomplish this is to analyze Paul’s reasoning by comparing it to the source he is using—the Old Testament. We find Paul’s main argument in Romans 4:10, where he states that Abraham was declared righteous prior to the institution of the circumcision ceremony. Circumcision was fundamental for the Hebraic faith, and Paul wanted to establish the fact that Christians did not need to subject themselves to this ritual in order to be accepted by God. If Abraham was declared righteous prior to his circumcision, so could the Christian believers.
Of course, once Paul had demonstrated this fact, he proceeded to conclude that believers are justified by faith alone, which, as we have seen, is an unwarranted conclusion, unless we replace the term “faith” with its true meaning: “faithfulness,” which has the most logical connotation within the context of Scripture.[8] The Jews of Paul’s time were obsessed with circumcision, and could not tolerate the notion that God could accept the uncircumcised gentile Christians without said ceremony. Paul was determined to obliterate such a misconception. He succeeded, but he sacrificed in the process the God ordained balance between faith and works, belief and behavior, theory and practice. Jewish theology stressed the Law, and Paul moved the pendulum to Grace, which set the stage for today’s cheap Grace advocated by many popular preachers.
Conclusion. We conclude from the above that there are some bad news in the Bible for good news fans. The choice is not between faith and works, but rather between faith and faithfulness. Faithfulness includes both true, living faith, and correct behavior, which provides the basis for justification. Right behavior mirrors true faith. Luther was wrong in denigrating the Epistle of James, since in it we find a portrayal of what Jesus himself described in Matthew 25 when he made reference to the final judgment as being based not merely on faith, but rather on faithfulness—a faith authenticated by a correct behavior. He also stated that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” [9] And John the Baptist stated to some of his followers: “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” [10]
What is your opinion?
Nic Samojluk, February 7, 1995
Biblical References:
[1] 2 Peter 3:16.
[2] Habacuc 2:4.
[3] Id. 10:38.
[4] 4:3.
[5] 11:8.
[6] Compare Genesis 12:4 with 16:3.
[7] Id. 15:6.
[8] Remember Habakkuk 2:4 and Hebrews 11.
[9] Matthew 7:21.
[10] Matthew 3:8.
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