Salvation by Grace through Faith Alone                                                            

by   A. C. Smith                                                                                                                                               Vol. IX, No. 3, March 1996

     The doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, not of works (Eph. 2:8-9) is one of the primary reasons for the Reformation and the existence of all Protestant bodies: Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc.

     Yet in our day many evangelical believers feel that with the onslaught of secularism they must amalgamate historic belief with Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately, some Protestants, including some Southern Baptists, hold to a Roman view of salvation, that the believer cooperates with God in creating a justification.

     R. C. Sproul, in his book, Faith Alone, cites Glenn Hinson, formerly of Southern Seminary [and now at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond], as a Protestant who is more in line with medieval Roman Catholicism than the historic, biblical view of Reformation Christianity )p. 193).

     Roman Catholic theology teaches that righteousness is infused. At the Roman Catholic Council of Trent [1545-1563] their theologians declared "that without this infusion the good Works of the believer could not 'in any manner be pleasing and meritorious before God’” (Ibid., p. 126). Roman Catholics see faith as a foundation for salvation, but works and human effort must be added to accomplish this salvation. It's not that Roman Catholics deny salvation by grace through faith. They believe salvation is by grace through faith plus the works of man.

     Protestants, on the other hand, have historically believed that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, not of works. The works of a believer are an evidence that faith exists. As John Calvin said, "The faith that saves is never alone."

     Sproul states that one's view of justification, whereby the believer takes on the righteousness of Christ by grace through faith, is an essential doctrine which is not to be compromised. Protestants have historically believed that righteousness is imputed, that is, God declares the believer righteous by a legal act.

     James P. Boyce, the founder of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, believed the same: "No doctrine of Scripture is more important than that of justification. It involves the whole method of the salvation of sinners. It is vitally connected with all other fundamental doctrines. A correct conception of it cannot exist when other truths are ignored, or only partially received" (Abstract of Systematic Theology, p. 394).

     Boyce held the historic Protestant view that justification is totally an act of God: "The declaration of the judge sets the sinner free from all demands of the law, and confers upon him all the blessings appertaining to this new condition." Boyce's view contrasts with the Roman Catholic view that justification is partly a work of human merit. Boyce addressed this: “This usage has given rise to the opinion of some that justification is not simply a judicial act, but that it involves holiness in the one justified, and in the case of justified sinners an infusion of holiness in the act of justification. But that this is an error is obvious..." (Ibid. p. 396).

     Boyce further stated: "It is manifest from what has already been said that the justification of the sinner must depend on something not personally his own. The Scriptures teach that it is due not to his own good works but to the meritorious work of Christ which is imputed to him, or put to his account" (p. 397).

[A. C. Smith is pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church, Evergreen, VA.]