The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Roman Catholicism and salvation

Well, I will admit most willingly that you do have the age-old Roman Catholic practice of "rope-a-dope". Not that I expected anything other.

So, if I am understanding you right, at this point, when you and Rome, which you are adamant to maintain are espousing the same dogma, the "justification" you are speaking of is that which occurs at the very end of one's life and not during one's life. If that is true, then the charge that you and Rome teach a "faith+works" salvation are incontrovertibly true. For, all that a person does during his/her life contributes to that "final justification".

There is an incredible amount of biblical evidence to support the Reformed doctrine of "Sola Fide" and the concept of a "forensic/alien righteousness". Some of which can be found on The Highway website here: Sola Fide

As to your consternation over "Sola Fide" and the many passages which mention "persevering to the end", it is easily understood when one realizes that all such texts are stressing the responsibility of man and not the eternal decree of salvation. That is why the formulation is most often referred to as the "Perseverance/Preservation of the Saints". Because of the inherent remnant of the old nature in man which wars against the new spirit (nature) created at regeneration, it is incumbent upon all those who profess to have faith in the Lord Christ that they endure to the end, fighting against those sinful tendencies. Those who fail to persevere to the end reveal that their "faith" was ingenuous. This is the emphasis which James speaks when he says, "faith without works is dead".