Why Sola Fide:

Martin Luther strove for salvation like no other did. Like Augustine before him, he was plagued by guilt and shame. He frequently confessed his sin more than once a day, which soon became insufficient. He loves the law of God but also hates it because in him he also loves sin.

His desparation led him to Rome, to see the center and capital of Christianity; and if anyone could help him, there will he find help. But help never came as he discovered corruiption instead of salvation.

Still plagued by guilt but now without hope, he returned to Germany, his country of birth, he taught scripture, and finally found a key to it all. In reading Romans 1:16:

" For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

THE AGE OLD TRUTH

Luther finally understood his utter inability and the answer to that problem. It is actually an age old truth that began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve fell; their inabiility to save themselves were sollved not by finding a new or correct way of pleasing God so that He could spare them, but God did it Himself as He killed an animal to cover their nakedness. It forshadowed the answer in the person of Christ

But God went about establish a standard of righteousness for man to live by and that would have been fine and perfectly doable if it weren't for one thing... man is a fallen creature. And it was not just the 10 commandments he must adhere to, but all 613+ commandments; not only were they difficult, God requires perfection.

But with every failure, a spotless creature sacrificed. Another forshadowing of Christ.

Nevertheless the people of whom God close to be His own tried but failed, and failed again; yet still He left them not. He chose them not out of any meritous value or redeeming quality, but by mere decision of His (Deuteronomy 7:7-9).

But in the midst of their wickedness which often led to exile, God said that He will put a new heart into them; they will walk in His statutes: they will be His people and He will be their God. It is not a statement of conditionality but a surety. They will have a new heart... they will obey His commandments... and He will be their God (Ezekiel 36:25-28).

When Jesus came, He began not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. The commandments were already difficult as it already is but He made it harder. It was an odd thing that a man who came to save made the path to salvation much more difficult but there was a point to it.

When the rich man turned away sad, because he was unwilling to part with his wealth for Jesus the disciples were appalled. to the Jews at the time. wealth was a sign of God's blessings as God blesses the righteous. If the rich man cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven... then who can? But Jesus answered with a profound statement:

"With man it is impossible; with God all things are possible."

Moreover, He also began to utter fantastical promises: "... He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath eternal life and will not come unto condemnation but hath passed from death to life" (John 5:24).

THE AGE OLD TRUTH REALIZED

Upon His death and resurrection, or before it, there was a realzation... Jesus came to free mankind from the Law, not to end it to liberate him from righteousness, but the consequences that came with it.

Peter and the original Apostles in Acts 15:1 & 10, and Paul in Romans 3:19-20 understood that salvation by the law is impossible. But why the law in the first place? It is to close every mouth and make all guilty of it. Therefore, Paul said. "... by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified for through the law comes the knowledge of sin".

And so what is the solution to the fallen man? By mere faith (Romans 3:23-26).

In Augustine's time the church was in agreement with him against Pelagius who forwarded that salvation is attainable because man is unincumbered by sin and so has the power to save himself, In Luther's time however, Rome has imposed more than the law as the means to salvation but by the sacraments and sales of indulgence as well.

He was deeply troubled by the abuse of the latter but still followed the commandments fearfully until he had read Romans 1:16 and realized that salvation is given and powered by God to save the person, and not the person himself.

WIth that rediscovery, and the nailing of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg door, the Reformation Movement began.

THE IMPORTANCE...

... of this doctrine cannot be stressed enough. Our own works cannot save us because to go to heaven, one must be perfect as God is. We are already condemned because of our sins but to live the law as a means of salvation only ensures it as stated in Romans 4:4.

And if there is only one way to heaven, that means there is only one Gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), and the Catholic church teaches a false gospel (Galatians 5:4).

The Reformation movement did not merely to reform the Catholic church for it's unbiblical traditions but to end the false gospel that can only condemn.

There are other churches that considered themselves as Protestant because they too protest the unblblical practices of the Roman Catholic church, but the same also teaches a false gospel. They are not Protestants.

Our mission as Protestants is to not only expose the errors of the Catholic church lovingly, but to share the true Gospel to them (as also those against Sola Fide). In fact, of all errors to be illuminated, the Gospel is the most important. They're not saved by casting out statues and Rosery beads, but by accepting Christ alone by faith alone.

BTW: This meme is a Repost I've decided to include here for this stream

my heart has sunk by this,i try best to obey the commandments you show me,but i am a victim of temptation and i always was,i cant escape from it and it makes me break some of these rules and ik if i break them,i am a sinner and if im a sinner,i will forever taste the fires of hell.

Dear friend, not if you trust Christ alone for your salvation!

What you've seen now is the true nature of the commandments in that they're not the means for our salvation, but a light to show us we need a savior (Romans 3:19-26).

We are born in sin, we are sinners by nature, and God who is holy and just will not permit us to go unpunished which thus bars us from heaven, and our sentence is eternal damnation in hell.

Jesus was only person who've have kept the commandments perfectly

He as you know is God but came down to become man; He is fully God and fully man but though He is tempted at all points yet did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). He lived by the law perfectly but by that law He was condemned as guilty as He bore all our sins on the cross.

This he did for our salvation (2 Corinthians 5:20). And, as prophecied (Psalms 16:10 & John 2:19-21), He rose again from the dead proving once and for all that He is Christ our savior.

Prior to His death, we are bound to the law (by conscience & by letter), but after His death & resurrection, He freed us from the law so that if we come to Him in repentance and accept Him By Faith Alone, we will be saved (Mark 1:15)!

:

John 5:24 King James Version (KJV)
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Now what it means to believe/trust is akin to trusting in a well-made parachute. When you jump off a plane, you know that it will deploy, saving you from death. You have faith that it will work.

I want to add, that when we're saved we are eternally saved, that is, we'll never lose our salvation:

37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
- John 6:37-39

This is not a one time phenomena as salvation is a process.

The Bible says that that we're saved the moment when we believe (John 5:24). The Bible also says that God is working to save us (Galatians 2:20), & finally, God says that He will... save us (Romans 8:11).

If you've ever heard of this before "Perseverance of the Saints", that is a true name & doctrine, but it is true because it really the perseverance of the savior. Thus shall we be saved, all who believe in Him.

i believe in him, i always did, i knew a lot about him, but i did not know why he was on the cross until i saw "the passion of christ" i was shocked at how they treated him, but he showed no hate towards them but felt sorry for them, it shows me that you should not show hate for the people that hurt him, but makes you understand why he went through it, he didn't do it in vain but in faith.

thats why i cried at it, because of two things, 1:he did not insult nor or say anything against them
and 2: finally understanding that he saved us and passed his faith unto us through his suffering.

He was truly meek and innocent; who indeed hath not open his mouh in protest or return injury. but borne it all for our sins and salvation. Praise be to God!

WIth that, I do want to be sure of this. You've said that you've always believed in Him

1. When did you give your life to Christ

2. If you were to be in front of Jesus in heaven, and He asked you: "Why should I let you into my kingdom"? What would you say to him?

HI, thekidwiththegel206; how have you been? How's the Lord treating you?

pretty good

btw i dyed my hair green today

i originally wanted blue because it was my favorite color and green is my brothers but they didn't have it so i had green

Oh I see; so why the color blue your favorite?

The color blue is often associated with water and sky, which the former is soothing to feel, comforting to hear, and quenching of thirst and the latter gives a sense of calm (the opposite of storm).

On the otherhand, in the Bible, righteousness as the edge of the robe the priests wore are bordered with blue. We've also heard of the color, "Royal Blue", and arguably, Democracy if it is to have any color is blue

This is evidnt as in the western militaries, they identify themselves as "Blue" in soeak opposed to "Red" (and the color Green represents the host population).

This might have come during the Cold War as since the Soviets are so often associated with Red, also the chosen color of Communism (ex. the "little Red Book" written by Mao Zedong in China). Thus the other side, the side of Democracy, is blue

wow

Ah, why did you dye your hair green; what does the color mean to you?

to be honest i don't know why blue is my favorite color, its mysterious, its common, its unexplainable

green is my brothers favorite color because it has the letter of his first name

blue for some reason was always my favorite color

Does my description or explanation of the color blue resonated with you?

i guess so

color tells me lots of things

It certainly does.

BTW, since you're in tthis stream, have you any questions regarding scriptures or doctrine?

not really

Have you taken the time to look at the memes featuired in this stream?

Are there any of the doctrines that you've seen in this stream that is/are new to you?

yes