The latest data on Biblical literacy shouldn’t shock anyone who’s been paying attention and yet it still feels disturbing when you read the statistics. According to the 2022 State of Theology survey done by Ligonier, the majority of Americans don’t believe that the Bible is to be taken literally. And among Evangelicals, twenty-six percent agreed that the accounts in the Bible should be considered more like myths than historical record.

I think it would be safe to say that the rates of literacy are even lower when it comes to Church history. While Biblical scholars like Wesley Huff have garnered a lot of attention thanks to big name podcasters hosting them on their shows, one only needs to look at the comment sections of social media to recognize that there is a great deal of misinformation about historic Christianity and the Bible itself. I freely admit that despite attending church my entire life, and even attending a Christian university, I knew very little about how I even came to hold God’s Word in my hand.

If you’ve ever dipped a toe into the world of online theology conversations, you’ll immediately become aware of the debates surrounding the varying Councils held throughout history. And while you are more likely to hear about the Council of Nicaea (held in 325 A.D.), the Council of Trent (1545–1563 A.D.) is of particular interest to us as Protestants as it was a response from the Catholic church to the Reformation. Think of it as a counter-reformation. It was there that the doctrine of justification by faith alone (Sola Fide) was condemned as heresy by Catholics.

“If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema.”

One of the five “Solas” that defined the Reformation, Sola Fide is central to Christianity and distinguishes it from all other religions. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

The security we have in knowing that our salvation doesn’t depend on us, but on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, should be something that spills over into every area of our lives. As we are transformed into new creations, we will desire to follow God’s commands, which will be evident in the works we do here on earth.

Conforming our lives to look more like the life of Christ means that there won’t be a single aspect of our lives that isn’t impacted. Be it marriage, parenting, or living in a community, nothing remains untouched when we fully grasp what it means to be saved by faith alone.

How Faith Alone Impacts Everyday Life

The relationship between husband and wife is the earthly representation of Christ’s relationship to His bride, the Church. When husbands love their wives as Christ loves the Church, and wives submit to the leadership of their husbands, not only are they obeying the command for their marriage, but they are also providing an example to a watching world of this supernatural dynamic.

When we marry, we are putting our faith in our spouse as well as the institution itself. But it’s only when two individuals come together and commit their marriage to the Lord that they can display the kind of unity, forgiveness, selflessness, and commitment which transcend our fallen nature.

Perhaps no other love on earth is as unconditional as the love of a parent for their child. And no other relationship more directly exemplifies the love that God has for us. To have faith in God, our children must hear about Him. So, mothers and fathers who seek to follow the Biblical model for parenthood have the ultimate responsibility of discipleship.

Showing the love of Christ to a child means not demanding perfection but creating a grace-filled relationship and home environment. Understanding that we are justified before the Lord by faith, and not by works, helps us to show our children that their identity isn’t in their performance or achievements.

What will direct their behavior is a heart that is transformed by the gospel. Then, obedience to their parents becomes an extension of obedience to the Lord.

When we aren’t trying to earn God’s favor through works, we are able to live in community and friendship with others without keeping score. No one person will ever rank higher than another in terms of importance and worth.

John Calvin wrote in 1547, “I wish the reader to understand that as often as we mention Faith alone in this question, we are not thinking of a dead faith, which worketh not by love, but holding faith to be the only cause of justification (Galatians 5:6; Romans 3:22). It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone, because it is constantly conjoined with light.”

While we are saved individually by grace through faith alone, like the early church we are the most effective when we are in community rather than isolation.

To God Be the Glory

Faith alone can be one of the most challenging “Solas” to embrace. In our humanness, we want to control every outcome of our lives. And no other outcome is more important than eternity.

It’s easy to see the appeal of a system which claims that we can earn our way into a right standing before the Lord. Indulgences, rituals, and the like give a false sense of righteousness while the doctrine of faith alone gives God all the glory and keeps us from boasting in our own efforts.

Placing the emphasis where it should rightly be, which is on the grace of God and the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, we recognize that the work we do here on earth is not to earn our salvation but, rather, the result of our sanctification.

This truth should permeate every aspect of our lives and allow us to love and serve our spouses, children, friends, and neighbors in a way that reflects His goodness and grace.

“Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).