It’s been said that I reject Grace alone and faith alone by Christian Anarchist and his friends. This is another false charge of “Spiritually Dishonest Ministries”. Anarchist has had a problem with me and now wishes to move from attacking my character to that of attacking my doctrine. Just not on an issue of mere simple doctrine , but on the heart of the Gospel. In leveling these charges he attacks my place before God. Which is something I take seriously. While he supports sodomy he condemns me as unorthodox. I think he needs to read up.

The questions now turn to what I believe. If he had asked me or actually read anything I’ve written he would know. But he has not touched anything I’ve written.

First, we must ask “What do these protestant sayings actually mean?”. From a popular website, I will see what they say about it.

“As it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” It is the acknowledgment that salvation from the wrath of God is based on God’s grace and mercy and not on anything good in us. ”
https://www.gotquestions.org/amp/sola-gratia.html

“Sola Fide—the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works”
https://www.gotquestions.org/amp/sola-fide.html

That may not be historical enough for us so I will quote 3 chapters from the Westminster confession of faith on justification.

“1. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness, by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.
3. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to his Father’s justice in their behalf. Yet, inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them; and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead; and both, freely, not for anything in them; their justification is only of free grace; that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners.
4. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them.”

I’ve argued for a few propositions.
1. We are saved by Christ’s work on the cross.
2. We are justified (declared righteous) by Faith alone.
3. We are saved by Grace through Faith.
4. Faith in and of itself does not save us.
5. Christ died for all our sins on the cross.

B.B. Warfield said,

“The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests.”

Outside of Christ, we would never be saved. It’s in him we have hope. Which he has given us by his Grace. The position I contend isn’t an unknown view. It is maintained by many other Christians. It’s the inescapable conclusion of limited atonement that Christ dealt with our sins on the cross. They would object to this as entailing that we are born saved. The issue is these individuals have no concept of the “now and not yet”. Do these individuals believe Jesus didn’t pay for their sins for 2000+ years? I think they don’t understand in Christ alone. They hear me say “faith doesn’t save you” and they jump off the wagon. We are declared righteous on the basis of Faith. They don’t understand by faith alone. It’s not only me who believes this.

Even Josh McDowell understands this point.

An eminent New Testament scholar possesses the same view. When I said to him “In Calvinism, Christ atonement saves us and not faith”. He said:

“Dear Vincent,
History is real. We are under God’s wrath until the time when God unites us to Christ through faith. God loves us in Christ before the foundation of the world, in terms of his purposes for the whole of history. But there is also a segment of history, before we are united to Christ, during which we are still alienated from him, and this segment is also planned by God.
Christ saves us, not faith in itself. But that is consistent with faith being a means that God uses in uniting us to Christ.
Blessings,”

Steve Hays has a degree from Reformed Theological Seminary and was an assistant of Dr. John Frame. A philosopher and theologian in his own right. I think he might be able to speak on this issue and he has said:

“i) And an Arminian might say to an Amyraldian that if unconditional election is true, then the elect are born saved and faith is unnecessary. So that objection either proves too much or too little.
ii) In Calvinism, there are several necessary conditions for salvation, viz. election, redemption, regeneration, justification. Although having anyone of those guarantees salvation, it doesn’t guarantee salvation apart from the other conditions. Rather, having any one of those conditions guarantees possession of the other conditions.
iii) Theoretically, God could save people apart from faith. That’s a contingent requirement.
iv) As a rule, faith is a prerequisite for salvation. But that needs to be qualified. People who die before the age of reason can be saved. Retarded people can be saved. People with senile dementia can be saved.

“Is it wrong to say that the elect are born saved?”

“Salvation” can mean more than one thing. It doesn’t mean the elect are necessary (or probably) born regenerate or justified.

They are “saved” in the proleptic sense that their salvation is assured. However, that doesn’t mean they are regenerated, justified, sanctified, glorified, &c., all at once. Although the outcome is a foregone conclusion, there are chronological stages in the application of the atonement. For instance, you have to be sanctified before you can be glorified. You have to be regenerated before you can be sanctified. There are different phases, which must sometimes happen in a particular order. Likewise, some saving graces overlap, viz. justification, adoption. ”

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2016/08/happy-talk-arminians.html?m=1

Once A. W. Pink wrote this:

“Let it be said in conclusion that the justification of the Christian is complete the moment he truly believes in Christ, and hence there are no degrees in justification. The Apostle Paul was as truly a justified man at the hour of his conversion as he was at the close of his life. The feeblest babe in Christ is just as completely justified as is the most mature saint. Let theologians note the following distinctions. Christians were decretively justified from all eternity: efficaciously so when Christ rose again from the dead; actually so when they believed; sensibly so when the Spirit bestows joyous assurance; manifestly so when they tread the path of obedience; finally so at the Day of Judgment, when God shall sententiously, and in the presence of all created things, pronounce them so.”- A.W. Pink, The Doctrine of Justification

Dr. Tom Schreiner is the New Testament professor from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Tom Schreiner has recently said in a review of the following statement:

“Faith alone, as we saw in Ephesians 2, highlights grace alone. God’s grace and kindness save us through the atoning work of Jesus as our crucified and risen Lord. But how does our faith save us? We aren’t saved by our faith per se. Faith saves us because of its object—because through faith we’re united to Jesus Christ, and his righteousness becomes ours.
In other words, faith alone implies Christ alone! And if, by grace, the hands of faith receive Christ for righteousness, then all the glory goes to God for salvation. We’re saved by grace alone through faith alone on account of the work of Christ alone to the glory of God alone. And, of course, we derive these truths from Scripture alone.”

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/book-review-salvation-by-allegiance-alone

That might not satisfy those who can’t understand the difference that it isn’t faith that saves us, but the object of that faith. Someone who has a stronger faith isn’t more saved.

Is Anarchist saying me, Hays, Schreiner, Poythress, McDowell, A. W. Pink, D.A. Carson, and the Westminster Divines don’t understand the doctrine of justification by faith alone?
Clearly, Anarchist continuously speaks out of place on issues he doesn’t know anything about.