July 24, 1997 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - On July 18 we published an article "Promise Keepers Changes Doctrinal Statement to Appease Catholics." In response to this we received a question from a reader for further clarification on how the new Promise Keepers statement differs from the old one. The following is the question we received, and our reply—

QUESTION FROM READER: Would you please explain the change in the PK Statement of Faith Article 5, for those who are having difficulty understanding the difference between the phrase "only by faith" and "faith alone" in the context of each sentence.

OLD STATEMENT: "’We believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of sin, was alienated from God. That alienation can be removed only by accepting, through faith alone, God’s gift of salvation, which was made possible by Christ’s death."

REVISED STATEMENT: "We believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of sin, was alienated from God. Only through faith, trusting in Christ alone for salvation which was made possible by His death and resurrection, can that alienation be removed."

Thank you.

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ANSWER FROM BRO. CLOUD: I did explain this in my article. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by faith, but not by faith alone; by grace, but not by grace alone. They add the church and the sacraments. They redefine grace so that it does not mean a man is saved by grace alone as a free gift without works or sacraments. Even the old PK statement was murky and insufficient. If they wanted to clarify the Gospel in the present ecumenical climate, they would plainly state that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone because of the atonement of Christ alone without works and sacraments and priest craft. Even the old PK statement allowed room for false gospels. The new statement is even worse, allowing more room for false gospels such as the one preached by Rome. False gospels are not completely new gospels; they are the true gospel with a few "minor" changes, with new definitions. Every false gospel redefines grace to somehow include works or sacraments. This is what the Apostle Paul fought against in the book of Galatians.