Augustine Day by Day - October 19 - Faith Working Through Love

"You have before you Christ as your end. You have no need to go on looking anymore. The moment you believed, you already recognized it. But faith alone is not enough, unless works too are joined to it. 'Faith working through love,' says the Apostle! [Gal 5:16 -- EBB]"

-- Sermon 16A, 11

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: "We are saved by faith alone but not by faith that is alone." Classic hair-splitting theologumenon.

Is faith alone sufficient for salvation? Yes! Is faith alone sufficient for salvation. No!

We are saved by faith ALONE as much as I speak by grammar alone. Human speech is totally inadequate without grammar AND vocabulary; faith in God, likewise, is completely inadequate without assent AND obedience. Grace for believers, like cognition and human breath for speakers, is the basis for both. No new ground on my part, I admit, but I had to get it off my chest.

Prayer. Lord, my God, listen to my prayer, and may your mercy hear my desire.

-- Confessions 11, 2

October 19