04-26-2016, 03:41 PM
(04-26-2016, 03:21 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: It's core doctrine for Protestant Christianity. It is the belief that we are tainted by sin and, therefore, cannot receive God's grace unless we recognize the divine nature and sacrifice of Jesus.
Among most Protestant churches, it is the initial part of the process for salvation: 1) Justification - confessing that you have sinned and recognizing Jesus as divine frees you from the penalty of sin, 2) Sanctification - recognizing and heeding the Holy Spirit's guidance within you to free yourself from the power of sin, and 3) Glorification - being removed from the presence of sin during the Second Coming of Christ. Acts (generosity, kindness, mercy, etc.) are generally believed to be not recognized by God from someone who has not gone through Justification. Someone going through the second phase of Sanctification is expected to be moved to perform Acts by the working of the Holy Spirit within them (i.e. you still don't get any browny points for doing them).
Catholic and Orthodox theology differs, but I should let someone of those beliefs speak on that.
Do I believe this? Yes and no. I believe it applies to me. I'm not sure that it applies to everyone. As you noted above, some sections of the Bible go against this. If you go to just about any dyed-in-the-wool Baptist church and ask if there will be non-Christians in Heaven (i.e. people who have not recognized Christ as their savior), you will overwhelming get a response of "yes". This is what they have been taught, from the preachers on down. If you then ask them "What is the only way to get to Heaven?", you will inevitably receive a response about recognizing Jesus as your savior.
Why the contradictory beliefs? If you ask me (and even if you didn't), I believe it goes to the very root of the problem with how Christianity is practiced in modern times: it is meant to be a belief set adopted by an individual and applied to their own life, not everyone else around them. Why? Because if you are busy pointing out other people's failings, you aren't spending enough time recognizing and correcting your own failings.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Thanks for the well thought out response. It's interesting, because I have been learning that it is the core of Protestant theology, however it's not something that was really taught to me in my Anabaptist upbringing.
I was having a discussion about this on Reddit and someone asked me if I, personally, believed in sola fide. I told them, pretty much what you said, that it makes sense to me in my personal relationship with God. I think it's important to recognize that you are not perfect and that what you do is often not in line with the teachings, so I see it as an active faith. So again, much like you have said already.
I guess this is something that was spoken of in very broad and ambiguous terms with my upbringing, but now in a church that is more structured it takes on different airs.
