this belief in faith as the only way to be saved was a principle of the protestant reformation of the reformer of the catholic church martin luther and is a principle of protestants today (see five solas). some groups like the catholic and eastern orthodox christians believe jesus died to bridge the gap between god and people, but they must also try to be good people in order to get salvation. protestants also believe that christians need to do what is right, but their salvation only depends on their faith.