“For how can a man have this true faith, this sure trust and confidence in God, that by the merits of Christ, his sins be forgiven, and be reconciled to the favor of God, and to be partaker of the kingdom of heaven by Christ, when he lives ungodly, and denieth Christ in his deeds?” This is why we as Protestants always need to assert that justification by faith alone doesn’t mean that this justifying faith lives alone in us without true repentance, hope, love, and the fear of God.

In 1571, Queen Elizabeth I’s Reformed Church of England adopted its Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. Article 11 made its Protestant credentials clear on the doctrine of justification:

We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort; as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

What does that phrase “faith alone,” or, sola fide, mean? To understand this is “wholesome” or beneficial to our spiritual health and well-being. It’s also “very full of comfort” to us in our spiritual struggles.

How Can Sinners be Righteous?

First, we’re speaking of “faith alone” in relation to the doctrine of justification, which is that “we are accounted righteous before God.” How can we—sinners—be righteous before God, who is sinless and holy? This is one of the most ancient questions: “Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?” (Job 4:17). After all, the Apostle Paul later declared this universal truth: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The way sinners like you and me can be righteous before God is “imputation,” meaning, “we are accounted righteous before God” by God Himself!

The Merit of Jesus Christ

Second, how is it possible for a holy and righteous God to “account” us sinners as righteous? He can’t just sweep our sins under the rug and forget that they’re there, like a child cleans his or her room. He’s holy, just, and righteous; sin must be punished. The basis upon which God can make such a declaration is “only for [because of] the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” He fulfilled for us the law that we have broken; He shed His most precious blood to make a sacrifice and satisfaction for us; He turned away God’s wrath and indignation against us. In His infinite wisdom, God’s justice and mercy met on the cross of Christ. There, His justice condemned His own Son so that He won’t condemn us. There, His mercy delivered us from His wrath.

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