According to the God-breathed writings, Christ in his post-resurrected heavenly exaltation possesses the name above all names:

“That is why God has now lifted him so high (hyperhypsosen), and has given him the name BEYOND ALL NAMES,” Philippians 2:9 J. B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Jesus’ exaltation places him far above all names and powers both in this present age and the age to come. I.e., Christ’s exalted status places him far beyond all creation, a position which he holds forever and ever!

“and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of the might of His strength, which He worked in Christ, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, FAR ABOVE ALL rule and authority and power and dominion, and EVERY NAME that is named, not only in this age but also IN THE ONE TO COME. And He put ALL THINGS in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head OVER ALL THINGS to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:19-23

Compare this with the following passage:

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14

The NT identifies Jesus as this very Son of Man that reigns forever over an indestructible kingdom and whom all nations must worship:

“… Again the high priest was questioning Him and said to Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Mark 14:61b-62

“Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.” 1 Peter 3:21-22

Remarkably, the status which Christ now has is that which the Hebrew Bible ascribes to YHWH alone:

“For thou art Lord most high over all the earth; thou art greatly exalted (hyperhypsothe) above all gods.” Psalm 96:9 LXX

Furthermore, since YHWH’s name is the only name that is exalted on high,

“Let them praise the name of Yahweh, For His name ALONE is set on high; His splendor is above earth and heaven.” Psalm 148:13

And since Jesus possesses the name above all names this essentially means that Jesus is YHWH Incarnate!

This is further reinforced by the fact that the blessed Apostle states that every created being must and will worship Jesus as Lord.

“so that at the name of Jesus ‘every knee shall bow’, whether in Heaven or earth or under the earth. And that is why, in the end, ‘every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ’ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11 PHILLIPS

Here’s another rendering:

“Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that ALL CREATED BEINGS in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.” The Message (MSG)

What may not be apparent is that Paul has attributed to the risen Christ the following monotheistic text, where YHWH swears that every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance to him, in recognition of his being the only just God who saves!

“Declare and draw near with your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has made this heard from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” Isaiah 45:21-23

Interestingly, John the Apostle sees a vision in which every created being in all of creation worships God and the Lamb Jesus Christ:

“And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ And EVERY CREATED THING which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and ALL THINGS IN THEM, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, AND TO THE LAMB, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, ‘Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” Revelation 5:8-14

Therefore, what Paul stated should and will eventually happen, the Apostle John actually saw taking place!

The fact that Jesus is distinguished from every created being in creation confirms beyond any reasonable doubt that he is not a mere creature according to the inspired Scriptures. Rather, the Holy Bible depicts Christ as being on the same side of the Creator-creature divide that the Father belongs to, which is precisely what Paul wrote in the following verse:

“Yet for us there is only one God. He is the Father. All things (ta panta) come from him. He is the one for whom we live. And there is only one Lord. He is Jesus Christ. He made all things (ta panta). He is the one who gives us life.” 1 Corinthians 8:6 Worldwide English (WE)

Note the way the following versions translate this text:

“yet for us there is only one God, the Father, FROM WHOM everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, THROUGH WHOM everything came into being and through whom we live.” International Standard Version (ISV)

“But for us, ‘There is only one God, the Father. Everything came from him, and we live for him. There is only one Lord, Yeshua Christ. Everything came into being through him, and we live because of him.’” Names of God Bible (NOG)

Seeing that all things, meaning all creation, were brought into existence by the Father through the agency of the Son, this means that both God and Christ are the one true Creator of all things. Moreover, since the Father and the Son brought all creation into being this also means that both God and Christ were existing from before creation itself, and therefore are both eternal and uncreated by nature.

Here’s a helpful breakdown of the logical implications of the foregoing texts:  

1. Every created thing will give both God and Christ the exact same worship and for the exact same duration.
2. All creation came into being by God through Christ.
3. This means that both God and Christ are differentiated and distinguished from all of creation.
4. For God and Christ to be distinguished from every created thing in existence this means that neither God nor Christ is created.
5. The only Being that is uncreated is YHWH God Almighty.
6. Since Christ is uncreated, he must therefore be YHWH God Almighty that became a human being.
7. Christ is not the Father, who is also uncreated.
8. This, therefore, means that both God the Father and Christ the Son are the one true God YHWH.
9. Since the Father and the Son are not the same Person this means that YHWH God Almighty is not a singular divine Person but is, rather, an infinite multi-Personal Being.  

GOD BECOMES A SERVANT

The inspired Apostle helps us appreciate the reason why the Father would elevate his Incarnate Son to a status, which belongs uniquely to YHWH alone:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God (en morphe theou hyperchon), did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8 New International Version (NIV)

Christ has always been existing as God in nature who then willfully humbled himself to become a human being for the express purpose of dying on a cross.

Here are two additional renderings of this passage:

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.” MSG

“For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man.” Philippians 2:6-7 PHILLIPS

Hence, Jesus isn’t a mere man who was granted a status that he did not deserve, or which did not belong to him by divine right. Rather, Jesus is God that chose to be born as a human being who then later returned to the position and glory that he had already possessed, but which he voluntarily set aside. The only difference being is that Christ now exercises that authority as the Godman, being both truly divine and human. Whereas prior to his human conception and birth, the Son had been reigning as God and did not have a human nature.

FURTHER READING

How can Jesus be God if he is given the name Lord only at his exaltation?

Jesus said that all authority was given to him, … which means that Jesus cannot be God.

“The Form of a god”? The Translation of Morphē Theou in Philippians 2:6

Philippians 2:6 In Various English Translations

Carmen Christi: Worshiping Christ as God

Revisiting the Deity of Christ in Light of the Carmen Christi Pt. 1, Pt. 2

The following quotation is courtesy of William Albrecht. It is from a letter that Martin Luther wrote in the final years of his life, and provides further confirmation that this leading reformer held to the perpetual virginity of Mary. Luther even claims that this doctrine is based on inspired Scripture, and not merely on sacred tradition!

What makes Luther’s statements all the more remarkable is that he affirms the perpetual virginity even while lambasting the papacy and specific catholic teachings!

With that said, all emphasis is Albrecht’s and mine.

“After that, they come trotting in with examples and with the fact that the Church actually believes and must believe many things which are not written down. For example, John (21 [:25; 20:30]) says that Jesus did many signs which are not written in this book, and thinks that the world could not hold the books if everything was written down, etc. Now you go ahead and say that the papal ass is not a Christian. I think that he believes plenty. What does he believe? Listen carefully! He believes all the books which have not been written, which he has not heard or seen; yes, he believes the books which the world cannot hold! I call that a real faith! Now, the faith of the papal ass is that the books that have been written which people ought to believe, as John says (21 [20:31]), he does not believe, but is high above them and can change them. Such books teach us to become righteous without the Law and works, through faith. But the books which have not been written—and thus no one can know what might be in them—these he boldly and valiantly believes like a champion and a giant; such books he does not want to change or be above, but gladly is subject to them as to that which is nothing.

“Tell me what I should think about such a papal ass? | Is he blind, foolish, or crazy since he boasts that he believes what has not ever been written down? It is not enough for him to believe the passage that Christ did more signs than have been written, for such a passage has been written down and is believed, but who can believe the signs which have not been written down? Oh, give it up! Thus they also believe that in Christ there are two natures and one person; that MARY REMAINED A VIRGIN and is God’s mother; and that Christ is true God. Yet these things, they claim, are not in Scripture, but the Church has decided them against the heretics Sabellius, Arius, Helvidius, Nestorius, and the like. Dear ass, what will become of this? ARE SUCH POINTS NOT IN SCRIPTURE? On what basis, then, did the holy fathers and teachers contend about these things? If they invented these things or got them out of their own heads, then they should not be retained today. (To a friend in Freiburg CONCERNING BOTH KINDS IN THE SACRAMENT, Manuscript edition: WA 26:560)

FURTHER READING

Luther & Mary’s Perpetual Virginity: More Context

LUTHER’S PRAISE OF MARY

FRANCIS TURRETIN ON THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF MARY

THE REFORMERS ON MARY’S PERPETUAL VIRGINITY

PROTESTANT SCHOLAR ON MARY’S VIRGINITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH

REFORMERS ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION

The following quotation is courtesy of William Albrecht. It is a reference from a semi-Arian writer from the 4^th century who refutes an Arian heretic named Eunomius for denying Mary’s perpetual virginity. This shows that the attack on the perpetual virginity essentially stemmed Arian heretics, individuals who denied the full, essential Deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit. All emphasis is from Albrecht himself.

“But he knew her not until she had given birth to a son.”

Truly he did not know her beforehand, that is, what honor she had been given, who had been made the mother of the only-begotten God. But after she gave birth, then he knew her because she was made more splendid and noble than the entire world. She alone received in the narrowest chamber of her womb him whom the whole world could not lay hold of and him whom the world did not deserve to receive.

Joseph saw that she remained a virgin after her birth. He saw how the mystery of the star stood above the boy’s head and showed the lad to the coming magi. It gave witness by standing still because it could not talk. He saw the magi come at last, worshiping him and offering him their divine gifts. He heard their tales, how they had come from the east to Jerusalem, as the star led them, which did not scorn to serve human beings that it might reveal God’s glory. Therefore, his incomparable birth, which exceeded the measure of all human birth, showed to Joseph both the divinity of the child who was born and the honor of Mary who gave birth to him. Therefore he said, “But he knew her not until she had given birth to a son.” He knew who she was after his birth.

From this statement, some people, following Eunomius, think that until Mary gave birth Joseph did not have carnal relations with her, but afterwards he knew her and she gave birth to children. For this reason he calls Christ the firstborn because we call him firstborn whom other siblings follow. A mad person does not think that anyone is sane; because they dared to say this about her, they also think that Joseph dared to do it. The evangelist, you see, says that which could have been done was not done, but why would he have thought that it was necessary to say about that which was not able to be done, “It was not done”? Let me give you a couple of examples. A certain individual quarreled with another and, as long as he lived thereafter, he did not speak to him. When I said, “as long as he lived, he did not speak to him,” did I imply that after his death he spoke to him, a deed that cannot be done? So it was also believable that Joseph would have known her before she gave birth, because he did not yet know the full splendor of the mystery. But after he learned that she had been made the temple of the only-begotten God, how could he have taken possession of this temple? Is it that previously, as a religious man, he had not wanted to do this because he expected that he would do it after the marriage, so that he could defile the dwelling place of God with his carnal desires?

Now I have argued these things merely according to common sense. But let us turn to the authority of the Scripture. In accordance with the example of the prophet, the apostle says about Christ: “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

Now does Paul mean that Christ will reign only until all things have been put under his feet but that afterwards he will cease to reign?

What a foolish idea! He who reigned before all things were subjected to him will reign all the more also after all things have been subjected to him. Again, he says elsewhere, “Till I come attend to the public reading of Scripture.”

He does not mean “Til I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, but when I come, neglect it,” does he?

Now as to the fact that he is “the firstborn,” as I have been talking about, it is the usage of the Scriptures to not only call the one who is born the firstborn, but also him who an old child, When the Lord says to Pharaoah, “Israel is my firstborn son,” it cannot mean that there is another people, can it? But if you can say that he was saying that he was calling the Jewish people the firstborn according to his foreknowledge since he knew that he would make another people out of the Gentiles, I would say to you that he has always had two peoples as far as his foreknowledge is concerned, but he would have one people from the Jews and from the Gentiles alike, just as also he now has. (Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum Homilia I on Matthew 1:25)

Note about Eunomius from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“The sect of Arian extremists became known as Aetians, and later as Eunomians and Anomoeans.”

FURTHER READING

What the Early Church Believed: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary

Church Fathers on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity

“The Greek ‘heos hou’ in Matthew 1:25 disproves Mary’s Perpetual Virginity”?

THE REFORMERS ON MARY’S PERPETUAL VIRGINITY

FRANCIS TURRETIN ON THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF MARY

Ignatius and Polycarp were two holy martyrs of Christ who were personally trained by the Apostles and therefore learned the faith directly from the very eyewitnesses of our risen Lord. These men were given the privileged and meeting with and learning directly from Apostles such as Peter, Paul and John. As such, their understanding of salvation, and specifically justification, becomes vitally since they would have learned these doctrines directly from the very Spirit-filled men whom Christ appointed to preach the Gospel and build his Church on earth.  

The readers are about to discover that neither one of these men taught Sola Fide, the doctrine of justification first foisted upon the church by Martin Luther and his contemporaries in the sixteenth century. This immediately raises a major problem for Protestants since the very men trained by the Apostles themselves, and those who subsequently followed them, being the very ones whom the Spirit empowered to both preserve the sacred writings and explicate them, did not believe in nor proclaim the doctrines which Luther and the other reformers foisted upon the Church.

As we are now about to see these very eyewitnesses of the Apostles of the risen Lamb of God, who boldly died as martyrs for the glory of Christ, taught that salvation is a process that is received and maintained by obedience to the commands of God.  

IGNATIUS

Ignatius warns Christians against succumbing to the temptation of seeking to be justified by keeping the Law of Moses, such as Sabbath observance. He further exhorts them to remember that the deeds which believers perform can never be sufficient enough to earn the right to immortality, which is why salvation depends on the kindness and grace of God.

At the same time, however, Ignatius is clear that this grace of God is received by faith and maintained by living in obedience to God’s will:

Chapter 9. Let us live with Christ

If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death — whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master — how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, having come, raised them from the dead. Matthew 27:52

Chapter 10. Beware of Judaizing

Let us not, therefore, be insensible to His kindness. For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be. Therefore, having become His disciples, let us learn to live according to the principles of Christianity. For whosoever is called by any other name besides this, is not of God. Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven, and be changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savour you shall be convicted. It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believes might be gathered together to God. (Epistle to the Magnesians)

Ignatius writes elsewhere that the eucharist is given as medicine for immortality, curing us from death, and also exhorts Christians to continue doing what is commanded, such as submitting to the Bishop, in order to receive their wages from God:

Chapter 20. Promise of another letter

If Jesus Christ shall graciously permit me through your prayers, and if it be His will, I shall, in a second little work which I will write to you, make further manifest to you [the nature of] the dispensation of which I have begun [to treat], with respect to the new man, Jesus Christ, in His faith and in His love, in His suffering and in His resurrection. Especially [will I do this ] if the Lord make known to me that you come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that you obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ. (Epistle to the Ephesians)

Chapter 6. The duties of the Christian flock

Give heed to the bishop, that God also may give heed to you. My soul be for theirs that are submissive to the bishop, to the presbyters, and to the deacons, and may my portion be along with them in God! Labour together with one another; strive in company together; run together; suffer together; sleep together; and awake together, as the stewards, and associates, and servants of God. Please Him under whom you fight, and from whom you receive your wages. Let none of you be found a deserter. Let your baptism endure as your arms; your faith as your helmet; your love as your spear; your patience as a complete panoply. Let your works be the charge assigned to you, that you may receive a worthy recompense. Be long-suffering, therefore, with one another, in meekness, as God is towards you. May I have joy of you for ever! (Epistle to Polycarp)

These statements from Ignatius show that he clearly did not believe in Sola Fide!

POLYCARP

Polycarp’s testimony is interesting since he quotes Ephesians 2:8-9, which is a text often cited in defense of Sola Fide, but explains it in a way that goes against this protestant doctrine.

Note what this beloved saint of Christ says:

Chapter 1. Praise of the Philippians

I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord Jesus Christ, because you have followed the example of true love [as displayed by God], and have accompanied, as became you, those who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments of saints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord; and because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in days Philippians 1:5 long gone by, endures even until now, and brings forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered even unto death, [but] whom God raised from the dead, having loosed the bands of the grave. In whom, though now you see Him not, you believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; 1 Peter 1:8 into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that by grace you are saved, not of works, Ephesians 2:8-9 but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2. An exhortation to virtue

Wherefore, girding up your loins, 1 Peter 1:13; Ephesians 6:14 serve the Lord in fear and truth, as those who have forsaken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude, and believed in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory, 1 Peter 1:21 and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things 1 Peter 3:22; Philippians 2:10 in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead. Acts 17:31 His blood will God require of those who do not believe in Him. But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise us up also, IF WE DO HIS WILL, AND WALK IN HIS COMMANDMENTS, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, 1 Peter 3:9 or blow for blow, or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord said in His teaching: Judge not, that you be not judged; Matthew 7:1 forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you; be merciful, that you may obtain mercy; Luke 6:36 with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again; Matthew 7:2; Luke 6:38 and once more, Blessed are the poor, and those that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Chapter 10. Exhortation to the practice of virtue

Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, 1 Peter 2:17 and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another, and despising no one. When you can do good, defer it not, because alms delivers from death. Tobit 4:10, Tobit 12:9 Be all of you subject one to another 1 Peter 5:5 having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles, 1 Peter 2:12 that you may both receive praise for your good works, and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed! Isaiah 52:5 Teach, therefore, sobriety to all, and manifest it also in your own conduct. (Epistle to the Philippians)

Remarkably, Polycarp interprets Ephesians 2:8-9 in a consistent fashion with the Orthodox and Catholic views of salvation and justification. He understands this passage to refer to God’s graciously willing for all individuals to be saved through Christ, not that salvation comes by faith alone.

Polycarp is clear that this salvation is given to those who do God’s commandments, and even quotes from the deuterocanonical book of Tobit to prove that charity makes atonement for sins!

Here are the verses which this holy martyr references:

“Remember the Lord our God all your days, my son, and refuse to sin or to transgress his commandments. Live uprightly all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of wrongdoing. For if you do what is true, your ways will prosper through your deeds. Give alms from your possessions to all who live uprightly, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. For charity delivers from death and keeps you from entering the darkness; and for all who practice it charity is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High.” Tobit 4:5-11

“Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness of life;” Tobit 12:8-9

Hence, not only does Polycarp teach that believers are saved by their obedience to God’s commandments, he even accepted the canonicity of the book of Tobit, a writing which Protestants reject as inspired Scripture!

The foregoing presents insurmountable problems for the Protestant doctrine of Sola Fide and the Protestant canon. After all, if two of the very eyewitnesses of the Apostles did not believe that a person is justified by faith alone, but by doing the will of God in obeying his commandments, then this either means that the Apostles misled their disciples since they failed to properly catechize them. Or it means that the very men whom the Spirit appointed through the Apostles to shepherd the Church became corrupt and apostate since they perverted the Gospel which they received from the eyewitnesses of the risen Lord.

The problem is that either one of these views would entail a blasphemy against God’s faithfulness and integrity, since it essentially means that God failed to preserve his Church from false teachers and their false teachings, and therefore nullifies the promises given in inspired Scripture that the Church is preserved by the Spirit who is sent to guide it into all truth (Cf. Matthew 16:18-19; 18:17-18; John 14:26; 16:12-13; Acts 20:25-35; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2).  

The only plausible conclusion is that it was Martin Luther and his contemporaries who got it wrong by introducing novel doctrines unheard of in the Church prior to the Protestant Reformation, and therefore they are the ones who perverted the true and pure Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s simply no way of getting around this fact if we are to be faithful to the testimony of inspired Scripture.

Therefore, it is time for Protestants to look elsewhere for the true and correct understanding of the Faith since doctrines such as Sola Fide are both unbiblical and unhistorical when it comes to what the Christians of the first centuries actually taught and believed.

FURTHER READING

SOLA FIDE IN CLEMENT?