Faith Alone? No.

FAITH ALONE ? GRACE ALONE ? WHAT THE ORIGINAL CHURCH REALLY TAUGHT 

For centuries - far too long - Christians have debated how we are saved. 

Is it faith alone? 

Is it grace alone? 

Do good works matter? 

Sadly, none of this debate is neccessary, and surely, it cannot be pleasing to Our Lord. Lets explore why.

While the protestant reformation popularized slogans like “Sola Fide” (faith alone), and “Sola Gratia” (grace alone), many are surprised to learn that the original Church which Christ actually started, well, it had a much different view of salvation. That view was holistic, and not segmented into a this-or-that fracturing. It fully embraced ALL three qualities -  faith, grace, AND works -  in harmony.

Let’s begin with grace. The Catholic Church has always taught that salvation begins with grace. 

This is Gods gift to us...we cannot "earn" our way to Heaven through grace, on our own. As the Catechism says, “The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life” (CCC 1996). 

The early Church Fathers echoed this. St. Augustine emphasized that everything starts with GOD'S initiative. Without grace, we can do nothing good.

But does that mean our response doesn’t matter? Not at all. The original Church made it clear that we must cooperate with God’s grace through faith and obedience.

Take St. Clement of Rome, writing around A.D. 96, who said: “We are not justified by ourselves… but through faith.” HOWEVER, he also made it clear that we must, “walk in holiness," imitating Christ, and obeying God’s commandments. You dont just wave your hands around, call Jesus your "personal savior," and leave it at that.

No, faith was never seen as a mere belief — it was  virtual, "living trust," one that bears fruit in action....again, just as Jesus lived it

St. Irenaeus, in the 2nd century, taught that faith is essential — BUT also warned that those who disobey God will be judged. He spoke of salvation as a process involving faith, love, and obedience.

Then there’s James 2:24, where Scripture itself says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” While im not a fan of cherry-picking verses, this one directly refutes the idea that faith alone saves us in the sense of excluding works. The early Church Fathers understood this balance and preached it clearly.

The Council of Orange in 529 A.D., long before the reformation, affirmed that grace is necessary to begin and continue in the Christian life—but also emphasized that we must freely cooperate* with that grace.

* aka, take action, work, etc.

In short, the early Church, the one which Christ started, it did not reduce salvation to rhetoric and slogans. It saw salvation as a relationship with God—initiated by grace, received in faith, and lived out in love and good works. 

The reason we have split and divided, starts with the protestant abandonment of The Church, its subsequent roots in human pride and the zillion sects that came of that, each with its own "I'm right, you're wrong," arguments.

In short, salvation comes as a result of all 3 three things...

Faith

Grace

Works


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