Back in 1517, Martin Luther caused an eruption within the Catholic Church. His primary grievance zeroed in on his phrase, “sola fide”, “by faith alone”. What was Dr. Luther’s agenda? He was merely seeking to “reform” the Church he loved; hence the “Reformation”. However, his protest got the PROTESTant Church-ball rolling.
Six centuries later, Faith Family Fellowship exists under the Protestant umbrella. If you were to check out our Doctrinal Statement as articulated in our Church Constitution, here’s what you’d read: “… [a] person must believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead as the confirmation that the payment for sin was sufficient. Belief in these two historic events alone secures reconciliation with God.”
But just to ensure that I am being unmistakably clear about what our local church believes, we had added, “Relying on one’s own religious heritage and/or good works and/or religious rituals can never attain the perfection God requires to appease His hatred for men’s sins.”
So we’re clear, right? We’ve declared exactly what we affirm, right? This is what we believe.
“Hey, I really like being a Protestant because all I need to do is believe and I’m in. I’ve got my meal ticket for Heaven already punched. So I can sit back, spiritually chill and live any way I want.” Now I know that few Protestants would ever voice such presumption. But perhaps our lives are speaking a lot louder than our lips.
If you’d like to hear more on this subject, please come this Sunday as we consider the question “Does Your Faith Work?”