Can we say that we are saved through grace alone and not by faith alone?

[ianskielem]

I mean, faith do comes from grace right? I have been searching for the right tract concerning sola fide but haven’t found the direct tract concerning it.

How is Ephesians 2:8 understood? that grace of God came because of faith? or it’s the other way around? because by grace you are saved through faith. so faith is required for Grace to come. As I understand, the Catholic teaching is that it is by the Grace of God that we have faith. Though I cannot find the right tract and verses that deal with it.

 

[Father_Read]

I mean, faith do comes from grace right? I have been searching for the right tract concerning sola fide but haven’t found the direct tract concerning it.

How is Ephesians 2:8 understood? that grace of God came because of faith? or it’s the other way around? because by grace you are saved through faith. so faith is required for Grace to come. As I understand, the Catholic teaching is that it is by the Grace of God that we have faith. Though I cannot find the right tract and verses that deal with it.

In my opinion, it’s probably better to say that we are ultimately saved by the grace of God, rather than saying that we are saved by grace “alone.” Faith, after all, has a part to play in God’s plan of salvation for us. I recommend reading this linked page from the Catechism on Grace and Justification for an overview on the Church’s teaching on this subject.

 

[Faxero]

In my opinion, it’s probably better to say that we are ultimately saved by the grace of God, rather than saying that we are saved by grace “alone.” Faith, after all, has a part to play in God’s plan of salvation for us. I recommend reading this linked page from the Catechism on Grace and Justification for an overview on the Church’s teaching on this subject.

That is not your opinion, that is a fact.

 

[Father_Read]

That is not your opinion, that is a fact.

Well, that’s good to know. But keep in mind that things tend to get hashed out on CAF in great detail, and some may debate over what exactly “alone” means in this regard. That’s why I recommend not using the term to begin with (hence, the opinion I was referring to).

 

[fhansen]

The following are excerpts from the Council of Trent session 6, on justification. The first is a snippet from chap 7. The second is all of chap 8:

**CHAPTER VII

For faith, unless hope and charity be added thereto, neither unites man perfectly with Christ, nor makes him a living member of His body

CHAPTER VIII.
In what manner it is to be understood, that the impious is justified by faith, and gratuitously.
And whereas the Apostle saith, that man is justified by faith and freely, those words are to be understood in that sense which the perpetual consent of the Catholic Church hath held and expressed; to wit, that we are therefore said to be justified by faith, because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation, and the root of all Justification; without which it is impossible to please God, and to come unto the fellowship of His sons: but we are therefore said to be justified freely, because that none of those things which precede justification-whether faith or works-merit the grace itself of justification. For, if it be a grace, it is not now by works, otherwise, as the same Apostle says, grace is no more grace.

 

[JM3]

I mean, faith do comes from grace right? I have been searching for the right tract concerning sola fide but haven’t found the direct tract concerning it.

How is Ephesians 2:8 understood? that grace of God came because of faith? or it’s the other way around? because by grace you are saved through faith. so faith is required for Grace to come. As I understand, the Catholic teaching is that it is by the Grace of God that we have faith. Though I cannot find the right tract and verses that deal with it.

In Father Read’s link to the Catechism, you will find this:

2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church.

Ephesians 2:8 - For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;

From the CCC:

III. The Characteristics of Faith

Faith is a grace

153 When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come “from flesh and blood”, but from “my Father who is in heaven”.24 Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. "Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’"25

As I understand it, others receive the grace of faith, and salvation, by our faith. God works through us to bring the grace of faith to others, thus we collaborate with their salvation. I believe that’s why Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you”. It is not by their faith that they received the grace of salvation, but from God, through our faith.

So, to answer you question, as Father Read said, we are saved by grace (since faith is a grace). I agree with Father Read that ‘alone’ is problematic and should not be used.

 

[Wesrock]

Ephesians 2: 8 must also be understood in light of the context around it, particularly verses 2: 5-6. Paul is specifically speaking about the miracle of Christian baptism in the opening to chapter 2.