Today is Part 3 of our 5 SOLAS series. 

WHAT IS SOLA FIDE?

 Sola Fide, Faith Alone, answers the question of ‘on what basis can sinful man be declared justified by a Holy God?’

 Sola Fide declares that a believer’s justification is through faith ALONE. As Galatians 2:16 says, man is “justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law”. In Philippians 3:9, Paul speaks of being found in Christ, “not having a righteousness of [his] own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”.

 Salvation has always through faith, even way back in Genesis when Abraham believed God and his belief was counted as righteousness (see Genesis 15:1-6 & Romans 4). “…Man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified”(Galatians 2:6)

Luther described Sola Fide as “the article with and by which the church stands and falls”. Indeed, Sola Fide is the doctrine which separates Christianity from the cults. Most every aberrant religion fails the test of sola fide, veering off the path of salvation through faith alone and adding works to the equation. Galatians 5:4 clearly speaks against this, stating that those who seek to justify themselves by obedience to the law are actually severed from Christ and have fallen away from grace. Salvation can only be given through faith.