Justification by Faith Alone: Affirming the Doctrine by Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls

by Joel R. Beeke, Gerstner, John, MacArthur, John, et al.

Book Overview

Luther said that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is "the article upon which the church stands or falls." R. C. Sproul follows Luther's lead in his concise and compelling work, now... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 187761193X
• ISBN13: 9781877611933
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Soli Deo Gloria Ministries
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Possibly the Best Recent Treatment of the Protestant Doctrine in Print

Soli Deo Gloria's Justification by Faith Alone (1st edition 1995, 2nd edition 2003), edited by Don Kistler, covers its subject matter thoroughly and effectively. Originally written in response to the Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) document of 1994, Justification by Faith Alone contains five essays designed to defend the Protestant understanding of justification as something that is essential to the Christian faith: *As an introduction, John MacArthur tackles Jesus' view of justification to provide a fundamental Scriptural basis. *The next four essays cover the implications of each word in the phrase "justification by faith alone": R.C. Sproul covers "justification"; Joel Beeke tackles "by"; John Gerstner looks at "faith"; and John Armstrong examines "alone." *An appendix contains John Gerstner's response to the book Rome Sweet Home, an account of the conversion of well-known Roman Catholics Scott and Kimberly Hahn from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. While writing an individual essay on each word in "justification by faith alone" might seem to constitute a dauntingly intellectual approach to an already heady subject, most of the authors write quite simply and effectively. (The highly analytical examinations of Greek terms by Armstrong and, particularly, Beeke, make those essays somewhat more difficult to wade through than the ones by MacArthur, Sproul, and Gerstner.) The two best essays come from Sproul and his mentor Gerstner. "The Forensic Nature of Justification" (Sproul) states the arguments for the Protestant understanding of justification very clearly and is very fair to the Roman Catholic position. (As a side note, it's interesting to find Sproul disagreeing with esteemed Anglican theologian Alister McGrath at one or two points.) "The Nature of Justifying Faith" (Gerstner) focuses on how faith should be defined. More than any other author in this book, he most strongly states his positions. The other essays are still very good, but less successful. MacArthur's "Jesus and the Doctrine of Justification" only actually gets to the subject matter promised by the title three-quarters of the way into the essay. The preceding material provides strong arguments in favor of the Protestant doctrine; unfortunately, MacArthur is somewhat less convincing in arguing that Luke 18:9-14 presents an imputed righteousness view of justification. Beeke and Armstrong provide the most intellectual essays; some readers may find their discussions of Greek prepositions overly challenging. Some readers complain that the essays are overly repetitive. That's a fair criticism, but on the other hand, the fact that each writer looks at the topic from a different angle provided enough variety for this reviewer. Also, some readers may benefit from reading the same points made by different authors. Given these flaws, why give the book five stars? Because, in the end, the book serves as an excellent resource regarding its subject matter. You can disa

A very good introductory work on a critical doctrine

Soli Deo Gloria publications has put out a very good compilation effort here that strongly affirms a central Protestant doctrine that continues to divide Rome and Protestantism.Similar to the compilation effort 'Sola Scriptura', this book provides a solid introductory framework upon which beginners can clearly see why the doctrine is important, what Roman Catholicism and Protestantism both say about the issue, and that the difference in viewpoints on this doctrine are immensely important. The Protestant view is that human beings are justified in the sight of God on the basis of faith alone in Jesus Christ. Nothing else can add to this legal status that believers have with God - not good works, not penance, not sacramental exercises, or anything else. Roman Catholicism has anathemized such a view, affirming that while faith is necessary for salvation, it is not sufficient by itself and needs to be augmented by sacramental observances, good works, etc. At issue here is a fundamental disagreement over the nature of salvation. Is salvation a monergistic effort, meaning that God does the work because we are so completely dead in our sins that we are incapable of choosing the spiritual good absent a work of God, or is salvation a synergistic effort where man cooperates with God on an ongoing basis to ensure salvation. The Protestant, or at least the Reformed view, is that the act of justification is totally an act of God by which in His immense grace, He chooses us, bestows efficacious grace on us, and saves us from our sin. The act of ongoing obedience to God and being conformed to the image of Christ is the process of progressive sanctification, which is a separate work and does not have anything to do with one's legal standing before God (justification). Rome's view has long mixed justification and sanctification together so that the work of sanctification becomes part of one's legal standing before God, rather than an independent work of God in the life of a believer who has already been declared legally righteous before God through faith. I thought this book did an outstanding job of sufficiently getting into the nuances of thought here in order to shine a very bright light on exactly what the differences are and why they are important. Clearly, a person's view on this issue makes a very big difference in terms of how they view themselves, God, the Church, the afterlife, and a host of other things. I felt that Armstrong's chapter on why justification is through faith ALONE was the highlight of the book. The Protestant view is very defendable in light of Scripture, and I would certainly agree with the authors that this view is decidedly more faithful to a good contextual reading of Scripture than Rome's position. I also felt that Rome's misunderstanding of the Protestant doctrine (that this doctrine leads to antinomianism or unholy and inconsequential living) was well refuted here.In summary, this text is an introductory work, but very

Excellent Work From America's Greatest Theologian

Jonathan Edwards is best remembered for his role in the first Great Awakening in the United States and being Yale University's first president but he is also probably the greatest theologian America has ever produced. His heart and his passion were in preaching the word of God and secondly in teaching it. This book does a bit of both.I greatly appreciated Edward's desire to exegete major passages of Scripture dealing with justification. While Edwards does a good job in presenting strong biblical arguments for justification by faith alone he also provides a great deal of warning to those who desire to live a life of sin and indifference. He offers sinners the grace of God and he offers Christians the holiness of God.This book is worth the purchase. If you have not read or studied the works of Jonathan Edwards, I would encourage you to begin here. His knowledge of the Bible was incrediable but his heart is best shown in this book that deals with a doctrine he faithfully preached and loved.

We Are Saved By Faith That Works!

A powerful, much needed book to help the Whole Church carry the Whole Gospel to the Whole World. We are saved by 100% Grace and also 100% Faith. Unbelieved grace, or believed pseudo-grace are equally deficient, both of which are rampant in the church today. This helpful volume gets to the root of the confusion and marshalls a full battery of Biblical ammo to attack all humanistic competition to the true Gospel of Jesus. The true Gospel must afflict the comfortable before it can comfort the afflicted. Repentance is critical to saving faith, without which no one can inherit the Kingdom. Mathematically, the Biblical formula is NOT: Faith+Works=Salvation; rather it is: Faith=Salvation+Works. The Root of Faith in Christ can't help but produce Fruit of Grace through Christ. No Fruit? No Root. Root? Then Fruit. This book belongs in every thoughtful Christian's library and as a witnessing tool for unsaved loved ones. Buy two books and pass one on to a friend!

A must read for those new in the Christian faith.

Of all the theological books I have read on the topic of justification by faith, this book is an excellent synopsis of them all. The authors are clear and concise in their understanding of the related scriptures. It states clearly we have no part in our salvation, it is all of God or not of God. Their argument based on scripture is that Christ's righteousness is what we need for salvation and eternal life. Christ's righteousness is imputed to those God has chosen. The book clearly goes over the differences between biblical faith and the Catholic faith plus works system. A must read for Catholics whose faith is undermined by the teachings of their church. The book is also a quick journey through church history and the Catholic church history. There is truth and the truth is out there, the truth of the scriptures and that truth is reiterated in this book which looks to Christ and Christ alone for salvation, an excellent book.