Sola Fide. Those words, said by the famous Reformation father Martin Luther, describe how we are saved as Christians: by faith alone. This faith is often erroneously viewed as something to be proud of. However, as seen in Ephesians 2:8, faith is purely a gift. We deserve no accolades for being saved. This gift was given for the main purpose of bringing God, the Giver of the Gift, glory.

So what exactly is faith? Fortunately, this is not a definition that is much debated over. In fact, Scripture provides us with a very clear answer in Hebrews 11:1. There it states that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” This is as good a definition as we can ask for.

Why are we saved by faith alone? Romans 3:10-12 tells us that “there is no one who does good, not even one.” Because none of us can do a good work on our own, we cannot save ourselves. This leaves us completely dependant on God for our salvation. The fact that our faith in His ability to save us is not misplaced shows that He is a truly great God. This brings Him glory. So, really, the purpose in God’s setting up the salvation process so that it happens by faith alone is so that God is glorified by saving us.

So does this mean that good works have no place in our lives? No! Although we are not saved by works, that doesn’t mean that we should not do good works. Actually, our faith WILL cause us to perform good deeds. Like James 2:14-26 says, faith without deeds is dead. We cannot rightfully say that we have faith if it is not manifesting itself in our deeds. Steven Curtis Chapman reflects this very well in one of his songs (I can’t remember which). It has a line that says, “Faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine.” In other words, faith without deeds is utterly useless.

Look back at the rest of Hebrews 11. The body of the chapter consists of a long list of various people in the old Testament who had faith. That faith was the impetus to many works and, according to the chapter, was credited to many of them as righteousness. The works were not credited to them as righteousness; their faith was. But they were not paying God back. They could never do that, their works sprang from a grateful heart overflowing with gratitude to God. Works flow naturally from faith.

In summary, God is glorified through the process of us putting our faith in Him as well as by the works that spring from that faith. Just remember that we have neither the need nor the ability to repay God for His gift of faith and salvation. We can only praise Him as a great and powerful God!

~Jayan