Sola Fide proven in scripture?

[excalvinist]

Was reading my bible this morning and came upon this passage.

Luke 7:41-50

41"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were at table with him began to say among[a] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This passage seems to support the protestant position of Sola Fide. It does not mention works, or charity, or any of the other Catholic dogmas. Verse is very strong is saying that faith saved this woman from her sins. What is the Catholic response to this? I am trying fully understand the Catholic concept of justification, so any feedback on how Catholics interpret this scripture would be great. Thanks.

 

[Pax]

I had an email exchange with a Calivinist on this very passage and this is how I responded:

I went over this at great length and demonstrated that you were attempting to do exactly what the apostle, James, says that you cannot do. You cannot separate what the woman did from her faith. You cannot separate her sorrow and repentance from her faith. Naturally, her sincerity, worship, sorrow, faith, and repentance are “all” by the grace of God through the merits of Jesus Christ. In Mark 2 we read about the curing of the paralytic. In verse 2 it says, “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Then in verse 11 Jesus says, “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” This same miracle is described in the gospel of John with an added note. In John 5:14 we read, “Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.”

In John’s gospel we also read about the woman caught in adultery that was brought to Jesus. In John 8:10-11 Jesus says, “Has no one condemned you?" She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”

It is important to note that we have two incidents in which there exists faith, repentance and forgiveness. These incidents are similar in nature to the example you used of Mary and Jesus where Jesus says “your faith has saved you go in peace.” Please notice how all of these narratives work together to give a more complete picture of the message of the gospel. Notice that those who put their faith in Jesus are not to sin again. In the instance of the paralytic, Jesus even warns him not to sin again lest something worse befalls him. We cannot simply believe that Jesus is our savior. Jesus is both our Lord and Savior. To believe in Jesus is to believe everything he taught us including this admonition from Matthew 4:4 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” To “live” means to be in Christ and to be saved. In order to live and be saved we must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That kind of belief in Jesus is a whole lot more than merely believing that we are saved by faith alone.

There is one other thing to consider about the passage. Was the purpose of the passage to teach the doctrine of sola fide? I personally don’t see that as the intention of the passage. Moreover, we must look at the entirety of scripture in order to determine the answer to such questions that have this level of doctrinal importance.

I hope this helps.

 

[VociMike]

But it was her loving much that caused her sins to be forgiven. And love, lived out, is exactly the work we are all called to do. This passage is very much in support of faith acting out in love (works).

 

[puzzleannie]

This passage seems to support the protestant position of Sola Fide. It does not mention works, or charity, or any of the other Catholic dogmas. Verse is very strong is saying that faith saved this woman from her sins. What is the Catholic response to this? I am trying fully understand the Catholic concept of justification, so any feedback on how Catholics interpret this scripture would be great. Thanks.

this story very beautifully illustrates the Catholic position, enunciated so well by St James, that faith without works is dead. Not content to keep her faith and love locked in her heart, Mary acted upon her faith and demonstrated her love for Jesus in a real, concrete physical way, in humility, in perfect confidence and trust in Him. Her action did not save her, but her action demonstrated her faith in Jesus, who explained exactly how she is saved.

 

[sterryfamily]

Was reading my bible this morning and came upon this passage.

Luke 7:41-50

41"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were at table with him began to say among[a] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This passage seems to support the protestant position of Sola Fide. It does not mention works, or charity, or any of the other Catholic dogmas. Verse is very strong is saying that faith saved this woman from her sins. What is the Catholic response to this? I am trying fully understand the Catholic concept of justification, so any feedback on how Catholics interpret this scripture would be great. Thanks.

It’s simple: The Bible points, in many places, to the necessity of faith for salvation. In many other places it points to love, or “works”, and in others to grace. The Church has never had a problem synthesizing all of these; We are saved by grace through faith working itself out in love.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Was reading my bible this morning and came upon this passage.

Luke 7:41-50

44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were at table with him began to say among[a] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This passage seems to support the protestant position of Sola Fide. It does not mention works, or charity, or any of the other Catholic dogmas. Verse is very strong is saying that faith saved this woman from her sins. What is the Catholic response to this? I am trying fully understand the Catholic concept of justification, so any feedback on how Catholics interpret this scripture would be great. Thanks.

That verse 50 supports Faith Alone 100% because its that verse alone which they are considering…however the story (ie context) is so clear its undenyable that its anything but the protestant notion of faith alone…infact its the type of faith Paul preached about in Gal 5:6

It does not mention works, or charity, or any of the other Catholic dogmas.

ITS NOTHING BUT CHARITY!!!

Verse is very strong is saying that faith saved this woman from her sins. What is the Catholic response to this?

It says EXPLICITLY that her LOVE for Jesus, in otherwords CHARITY led to her forgiveness in v47

I am trying fully understand the Catholic concept of justification, so any feedback on how Catholics interpret this scripture would be great. Thanks.

Just read the passage in context brother, us Catholics are preaching the correct Gospel, anything that reduces this amazing act of charity into a quick faith alone prayer is sadly missing the boat.

 

[jimmy]

Was reading my bible this morning and came upon this passage.

Luke 7:41-50

41"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were at table with him began to say among[a] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This passage seems to support the protestant position of Sola Fide. It does not mention works, or charity, or any of the other Catholic dogmas. Verse is very strong is saying that faith saved this woman from her sins. What is the Catholic response to this? I am trying fully understand the Catholic concept of justification, so any feedback on how Catholics interpret this scripture would be great. Thanks.

No it doesn’t. In fact, contrary to what you noticed it does mention charity. As Jesus said in that passage it was her love that saved her. He did not say she had great faith, He said, 'her sins, which are many, are forgiven-because she loved much. This whole passage is simply a statement of what she did and what the pharisee did not do. She loved, he did not.

I don’t see how anyone could ever read this and see faith alone. You have to ignore every verse except for the last to get that interpretation. If you remove that last verse all you would see is the love of the woman. In verse 47 Christ clearly says that her sins are forgiven, because she loved much.

 

[excalvinist]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I’m protestant considering converting to catholicism, and verse 50 really ignited my protestant sola fide nerve, but I feel that looking at the whole passage and the rest of the Bible this aligns with the Catholic position.

 

[Iraneaus]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I’m protestant considering converting to catholicism, and verse 50 really ignited my protestant sola fide nerve, but I feel that looking at the whole passage and the rest of the Bible this aligns with the Catholic position.

As someone who was not that long ago in your shoes, I think you will almost always find that to be the fact. (aligns with the Church) It takes awhile to get rid of that sola fide nerve, as you put it. lol

May God bless you, and guide you on your journey. I look forward to welcoming you into the Church.

 

[NickB]

Yes, as Catholics we believe that we are justified through faith in Jesus Christ, but not by faith alone, and this is scriptural, but specific scripture that say’s a person is saved or justified by faith alone, the only place it say’s that in scripture is in James 2:24, “See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”. Hear are a few other means by which scripture say’s we can gain salvation, eternal life, new birth, justification.

By believing in Christ (Jn 3:16; Acts 16:31)?

By repentance (Acts 2:38; 2 Pet 3:9)?

By baptism (John 3:5; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet 3:21; Titus 3:5)?

By the work of the Spirit (Johnn 3:5; 2 Cor 3:6)?

By declaring with our mouths (Luke 12:8; Rom 10:9)?

By coming to a knowledge of the Truth (1 Tim 2:4; Heb 10:26)?

By works (Rom 2:6, 7; James 2:21, 24-25)?

By grace (Acts 15:11; Eph 2:8)?

By his blood (Rom 5:9; Heb 9:22)?

By His righteousness (Rom 5:17; 2 Pet 1:1)?

By His cross (Eph 2:16; Col 2:14)?

Can we cut any one of these out of the list and proclaim it alone as the means of salvation? Can we be saved without faith? without God’s grace? without repentance? without baptism? without the Spirit? These are all involved and necessary; not one of them can be dismissed as a means of obtaining eternal life. Neither can one be emphasized to the exclusion of another. They are all involved in salvation and entry into the Church. The Catholic Church does not divide these various elements of salvation up, overemphasizing some while ignoring others; rather she holds them all in their fullness.[Quoted from Stephen Ray]