This journey all started about five years ago. A dear friend and I were having a conversation that went something like this:
Me - You are so right! We all serve the same God and believe in the same Jesus Christ.
Friend - Yes! And I love the importance that the Catholic Church places on the human right to life. It's just a shame that you believe that you have to earn your way into heaven by the works you do.
Me - Yes, we truly believe that life begins...wait, what? We don't believe that!
Friend - Actually, that's what Catholics believe. You might want to check that out.
I had some major soul-searching to do. So that meant doing one of my favorite things: research!
Sola fide is the stance that we receive eternal salvation through "faith alone". Growing up, this was what was taught. Through scriptures such as John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8, and Acts 4:12, we know that salvation is by grace and through Christ alone. We aren't required to perform outrageous acts to earn our way into heaven, nor do we have to prove our faith in our works.
To answer that, let's first talk about what James means. He isn't saying that salvation comes through our actions. He is saying that the hallmark of a deep and abiding faith is the love we show others through our works. Salvation cannot come through anything but belief in Christ Jesus. And when He lives within you, you cannot help but show your faith by acting upon it.
James is not the only one who spoke on this. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells us that we are created to do good works. He further emphasizes that we alone cannot do these works, that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come," in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Okay, so this makes sense to me. My faith does make me want to shout from the rooftops and adopt all the little children and run soup kitchens. But I can't do all of these things, not in just one lifetime. What works can I do, then?
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7:
"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit."
I now understand that this is not a matter of the definition of faith, but the definition of works. Works don't have to be grandiose acts. They just need to feed our souls in order to better worship God.
So #grateful that he Spirit opens our eyes slowly so as not to overwhelm and scare us!
Amy