Is this why Baptists believe in Luther's false doctrine of ';Faith alone';?

';See how a person is justified by works and NOT BY faith alone.'; - James 2:24Is this why Baptists believe in Luther's false doctrine of ';Faith alone';?
I don't believe Luther's doctrine of ';Faith alone is false';.


We are saved by faith (and grace) alone, but faith should never be alone! Let me explain:


For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.Ephesians 2:10





Now this verse may seem like it condrdicts James 2:24, it does not but you need to understand the context of the James verse. James is saying that it is faith in God that saves us, but works accompies faith. In other words works are proof that there is genuine faith. It is not enough to say that I have faith in God and yet hate my neighbor. James says eailer in this chapter ';Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and dail food. If one of you (who has faith in God) says to him, Go, I wish you well,; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?';


Good works are there to back up, give proof to faith. If a person is saved (by faith alone) then they will want to do works not for salvation but to give evidence that their life has changed.


We will always be saved by grace through faith, it is a gift from God.


Jesus said himself ';by their fruit you should know them'; (Matthew 7:20) That fruit is the works that James was talking about in this passage.


James audience is to believers (people who have already been saved by faith). Some of them however laked the evidece of that faith. He is urgeing them (and believers today to live out that faith).Is this why Baptists believe in Luther's false doctrine of ';Faith alone';?
If you have faith and you are a Christian you will have works. One follows the other.
here is what Christ said:





'truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life'-john 5:24





'for God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life'-john 3:16





'Jesus answered and said to them, ';this is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He has sent'; '-john 6:29





'Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. do you believe this?'; '-john 11:25-26





i'm only putting out what Christ Himself said-OF COURSE, if we are truly Christians we will strive to follow His commandments and do His work here on earth...but if salvation by faith alone is a 'false doctrine', then it is Christ's 'false doctrine'...whenever ANY particular Christian denomination/sect starts placing the emphasis on the rules they have themselves developed, and gets away from the simple teachings of Christ, there will be stumbling...this is one thing that always baffles me-Christ did not beat around the bush, and yet we have a cottage industry of 'theologians' and 'religious scholars' having endless debates over things that the average middle school student can understand instinctively


(EDIT)


another thing that baffles me is that this discussion is going on with nearly no refererence to what Christ said-remember Him, folks?
It is by faith!





This is perhaps the most important question in all of Christian theology. This question is the cause of the Reformation - the split between the Protestant church and Catholic church. This question is a key difference between Biblical Christianity and most of the ';Christian'; cults. Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works? Am I saved just by believing in Jesus, or do I have to believe in Jesus and do certain things?





The question of faith alone or faith plus works is made difficult by some hard-to-reconcile Bible passages. Compare Romans 3:28, 5:1 and Galatians 3:24 with James 2:24. Some see a difference between Paul (salvation is by faith alone) and James (salvation is by faith plus works). In reality, Paul and James did not disagree at all. The only point of disagreement some people claim is over the relationship between faith and works. Paul dogmatically says that justification is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) while James appears to be saying that justification is by faith plus works. This apparent problem is answered by examining what exactly James is talking about. James is refuting the belief that a person can have faith without producing any good works (James 2:17-18). James is emphasizing the point that genuine faith in Christ will produce a changed life and good works (James 2:20-26). James is not saying that justification is by faith plus works, but rather that a person who is truly justified by faith will have good works in his life. If a person claims to be a believer, but has no good works in his life – then he likely does not have genuine faith in Christ (James 2:14, 17, 20, 26).





Paul says the same thing in his writings. The good fruit believers should have in their lives is listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Immediately after telling us that we are saved by faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9), Paul informs us that we were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). Paul expects just as much of a changed life as James does, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17)! James and Paul do not disagree on their teaching on salvation. They approach the same subject from different perspectives. Paul simply emphasized that justification is by faith alone while James put emphasis on the fact that faith in Christ produces good works.
Luther sought to reform the Church by challenging the doctrines rather than by changing the sinful individuals.





Luther's ';Reformation'; was at first not principally about theology; his early concern was visible morality; only later did he develop doctrinal errors. In the sixteenth century, this devout Augustinian priest tried to make himself more pious through acts of mortification (i.e., fasting). But the more he tried, the more he felt unacceptable to God (cf Rm. 7:15 ff) . During this time, he desired to 'purify' the Catholic Church whose leaders were, he thought, predominantly morally bankrupt. Luther traveled to Rome during the papacy of Pope Alexander VI, a papacy wrought with political intrigue and illegitimate children. When Luther went back to Germany, he saw priests with vows of poverty and chastity living in illicit relationships and profiting from the sale of indulgences; he witnessed lay Catholics living immoral lives as well. Luther was scandalized, and heartbroken. St Paul exhorts us, for this reason, even amidst abounding sin: ';Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her, to sanctify her'; (Eph 5:25).





Widespread immorality within Christendom, coupled with Luther's noble inclination toward self-mortification, led him to interpret Romans 4:5 in a new way ';But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness';. The more he tried to 'earn' Heaven, the more he realized that faith was necessary. So much did Luther interpret faith apart from works that he could not reconcile the remainder of the text. Luther stated, ';';Be a sinner and sin on bravely. Do not for a moment imagine that this life is the abiding place of justice: sin must be committed. The sin cannot tear you away from him, even though you commit adultery a hundred times a day and commit as many murders.'; False doctrines lead to bad assumptions which lead to disastrous consequences!





There is faultiness with this modernist thinking as with Luther's. How could he possibly reconcile his quote above with the Pauline text: ';You are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness.'; (Rm. 2.5-8)? Neither Luther nor predominant Lutheran doctrine today reflects St. Paul's view of faith and works cited here. Luther's attempt to reconcile his false doctrine of ';faith alone'; (for salvation), with the Bible teaching, ';You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone'; (Jas 2:24), excluded it from his translation of the Bible. To further his new doctrines, Luther also added the word 'alone' after the word 'faith' in Romans 2:28. He also omitted the seven so-called ';Apocrypha'; or deutero-canonical books from the Old Testament.





Luther's ';false view of justification'; led to another equally false view: that man has become, in consequence of Original Sin, incapable of willing or doing anything good. All his acts are sins and cannot bear good fruit (St Paul says: ';Where sin abounded grace abounded more';-Rm.5:21). These doctrines, which Luther believed he had found in the Epistles of St. Paul, and which became the fundamental dogmas of the ';new gospel'; according to Luther, were publicly taught by Luther in his lectures at Wittenberg as early as 1516.';
You show your faith BY your works. Works alone without faith is of no value, with out faith, it is impossible to please God.





Luther was whack on alot of points.





We are saved by GRACE thru FAITH.


Once you have faith, you will produce works.
James is talking to believers not unbelievers.








Jesus said believe in me... AND do this or that. He just said believe.
It is not 'false', it is just taken out of context. This is one of the easiest point to find counterdicting scripture. Both faith and works function together, not apart. Our salvation is through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and not by our own power. If we are without charity Jesus has warned us that it will not matter how much we call him Lord, Lord. Let us follow all the scripture. Let us be glad for God's grace, and let us strive to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect.
the good works of Jesus himself is clear evidence that God asks for a Christian to have more attributes than faith alone. one must model and demonstrate Christian ethics and compassion for his fellow human beings - simply think that these are a good idea doesn't work.