Justification by Faith Alone: Affirming the Doctrine by Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls (Reformation Theology Series)

Plot

A compilation of essays on the doctrine upon which the church and the individual stands or falls. There can be no other doctrine that is more important than the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Soli Deo Gloria publications has put out a very good compilation effort here that strongly affirms a central Protestant doctrine that continues to divide Rome and Protestantism.
Similar to the compilation effort 'Sola Scriptura', this book provides a solid introductory framework upon which beginners can clearly see why the doctrine is important, what Roman Catholicism and Protestantism both say about the issue, and that the difference in viewpoints on this doctrine are immensely important. The Protestant view is that human beings are justified in the sight of God on the basis of faith alone in Jesus Christ. Nothing else can add to this legal status that believers have with God - not good works, not penance, not sacramental exercises, or anything else. Roman Catholicism has anathemized such a view, affirming that while faith is necessary for salvation, it is not sufficient by itself and needs to be augmented by sacramental observances, good works, etc. At issue here is a fundamental disagreement over the nature of salvation. Is salvation a monergistic effort, meaning that God does the work because we are so completely dead in our sins that we are incapable of choosing the spiritual good absent a work of God, or is salvation a synergistic effort where man cooperates with God on an ongoing basis to ensure salvation. The Protestant, or at least the Reformed view, is that the act of justification is totally an act of God by which in His immense grace, He chooses us, bestows efficacious grace on us, and saves us from our sin. The act of ongoing obedience to God and being conformed to the image of Christ is the process of progressive sanctification, which is a separate work and does not have anything to do with one's legal standing before God (justification). Rome's view has long mixed justification and sanctification together so that the work of sanctification becomes part of one's legal standing before God, rather than an independent work of God in the life of a believer who has already been declared legally righteous before God through faith. I thought this book did an outstanding job of sufficiently getting into the nuances of thought here in order to shine a very bright light on exactly what the differences are and why they are important. Clearly, a person's view on this issue makes a very big difference in terms of how they view themselves, God, the Church, the afterlife, and a host of other things.
I felt that Armstrong's chapter on why justification is through faith ALONE was the highlight of the book. The Protestant view is very defendable in light of Scripture, and I would certainly agree with the authors that this view is decidedly more faithful to a good contextual reading of Scripture than Rome's position. I also felt that Rome's misunderstanding of the Protestant doctrine (that this doctrine leads to antinomianism or unholy and inconsequential living) was well refuted here.
In summary, this text is an introductory work, but very valuable as a standard reference on this foundational doctrine. It is well documented and easy to read, which makes it very accessible to the beginner but also intellectually satisfying to the more experienced reader.