Faith Only 1

Return to More Sermons Return to Faith Only main page

Presented, November 20, 2005

IS OUR SALVATION BY “FAITH ONLY”? (1)

This morning I want us to examine a popular denominational doctrine that I fear is going to cause many to be lost. It is a doctrine that, while based upon very sound Biblical principles, neglects a major element of God’s instructions to be saved. It is a doctrine that gives a FALSE HOPE to those who believe it, whether intentionally or in ignorance. It is also a foundational doctrine upon which other tenets of denominationalism are based – including the very concept of denominationalism (one goal with many different routes), unity in diversity (it really doesn’t matter what you believe as long as we agree on certain key concepts including “faith only”), and “once saved, always saved.” This morning we begin a study of this subject. We want to examine the doctrine of “faith only.” Why is this a false doctrine? How does the Bible teach we are saved? What does the Bible say about obedience and baptism? What about the various arguments made to support this doctrine? (Next week)

NOTE: In this study, I am going to present more passages than normal with various points. My reason is to help equip us to adequately answer those who believe this doctrine. This is a complex doctrine that is based on many Biblical truths (i.e. – the need for faith, God’s grace, belief, obedience, the fact that the thief on the cross was saved, etc.) and passages, but these truths are not placed in context and/or reconciled with other passages and the whole of God’s word and thus they lead to this false conclusion. To answer them we need to be fully equipped. TATJR.

I. The doctrine stated

a. Defined, the doctrine of “faith only” teaches that all one has to do in order to be saved is believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Usually, they will attach the need to pray a “sinner’s prayer” and resolution within one’s heart to make Him lord of your life. But they call that a part of your faith. In reality, the point of this doctrine is often simply to REJECT the purpose and need for baptism to secure our salvation.

b. The doctrine is stated by various denominations this way:

"Wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort" - The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 1972 Edition, p. 55.

"Baptism is not essential to salvation, for our churches utterly repudiate the dogma of ‘baptismal regeneration;” but it is essential to obedience, since Christ has commanded it. It is also essential to a public confession of Christ before the world, and to membership in the church..." – Edward T. Hiscox, Standard Manual for Baptist Churches, p. 21.
NOTE: As I understand it, the main premise of “faith only” is to deny the need for baptism in order to be saved.

"It is most likely that in the Apostolic age when there was but 'one Lord, one faith, and one baptism,' and no differing denominations existed, the baptism of a convert by that very act, constituted him a member of the church, and at once endowed him with all the rights and privileges of full membership. In that sense, 'baptism was the door into the church.' Now it is different…." - Hiscox (Standard Manual for Baptist Churches, pg. 22).

Via, http://www.bibletruths.net/Quotes/

II. Are we saved by faith?

a. The answer is a clear YES! Without faith, one CANNOT be saved. We just finished a series of lessons pointing out the importance of faith in our lives – OBEDIENT faith. Consider Hebrews 11:6.

b. John 3:16 – “Whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

c. Romans 5:1, 2 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

d. Ephesians 2:8-9 – “By grace you have been saved through faith…” (More on this later in this study)

e. Acts 16:31 – the Philippian jailer was told to believe

f. The question is NOT whether or not we are saved by faith, but are we saved by “FAITH ONLY” as defined above.

III. What type of FAITH saves us?

a. What is faith? Before we proceed any further we need to define some terms.
Faith is defined as “firm persuasion, conviction, belief in the truth” (WS Dictionary). We have been defining it as one who trusts God to the point that he is willing to do whatever he is commanded to do. It is usually written in noun form meaning that the word is describing a state or condition that we are in as opposed to an action.
Belief is a derivative of the same word. It is defined as, “to believe, have faith in, trust” (WS Dictionary). Thayer defines it as “to think to be true; to be persuaded of; to credit, place confidence in.” It is usually a verb meaning it is an action.
The problem with faith only is equating the state of faith with the act of believing. But as we have seen in our previous study, while faith involves belief there are many other acts associated with it in God’s word – (esp. Heb. 11).

i. Hebrews 11:4 - By faith Abel offered…

ii. Hebrews 11:8 - By faith Abraham obeyed…

iii. Hebrews 11:24 - By faith Moses…refused.

b. Obedient faith. Saving faith calls for obedience. It is the fact that we not only believe in God but that we BELIEVE GOD to the point that we are willing to obey Him completely.

c. Belief alone CANNOT save anyone. Consider these verses –

i. John 12:42, 43 – many following Jesus believed, but for fear of the Jews they refused to confess Him because they loved the praise of men more than God.

ii. James 2:19, 20 – even the demons believed. Consider Luke 8:26-39 which tells of an occasion when Jesus cast several demons out of a man. When the possessed man saw Jesus, the demons said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (28). Later they pleaded with Jesus to not be condemned to the abyss. Jesus permitted them to enter a herd of swine which extended their rule for only a few more moments. NOTE they believed - but Are they saved?

iii. James 2:24 – after dealing with DEAD faith, he concludes that “by works is a man justified and NOT BY FAITH ONLY.” The ONLY time in all the New Testament where this expression is used (Jesus did on one occasion say, “only believe” [Mark 5:36] – but that had to do with healing, not salvation.

iv. James 2:26 – “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” In reality this verse points out that you CANNOT separate TRUE faith from works (what type of works – we will discuss later).

v. Galatians 5:6 – “faith working through love” – we need love along with our faith.

IV. We must obey God

a. Numerous passages demand that we obey God

i. Matthew 7:21-23 – “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…”

ii. Matthew 7:24-27 – illustrated, building upon the rock instead of the sand. He hears and does…”

iii. Hebrews 5:9 – “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him”

iv. 1 Peter 1:22 – “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth…”

v. Romans 1:5 – “obedience to the faith”

vi. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 speaks of the fate of the who “do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

b. We must obey ALL that God commands – we cannot chose which commands we want to obey.

i. Proverbs 30:6 says, “Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar”

ii. Revelation 22:18,19 – don’t add to or take away from His word

iii. Matthew 4:4 – man shall live by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”

iv. James 2:10 – to stumble in one point is to be guilty of all

V. Works and our salvation

a. The fact that our salvation is by faith does not mean that we do not do anything. There are many things we are called upon to do that are involved in our salvation. Consider some of them.

i. We are saved by God’s grace – Ephesians 2:8

ii. We are saved by calling on the name of the Lord – Romans 10:13, Acts 2:21

iii. We are saved by acts of obedience – Philippians 2:12-13

iv. We are saved by enduring to the end – Matthew 24:13

v. We are saved by obeying the gospel – more on this in a moment

vi. Each of these factors contradict the doctrine of “faith only”

b. The work of faith

i. There are many passages that refer to faith (and belief) as a work

1. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 – “work of faith”, 2 Thessalonians 1:11

2. John 6:28, 29 - Jesus said, “this is the work of God…

3. 1 John 3:23 – this is His commandment that we should believe…

ii. How is faith a work? Actually faith is an attitude that acts or OBEYS. And you cannot separate the attitude from the action. When one refuses to obey a command, he has no faith in it.
It is like one who goes to a doctor with an ailment – but when he is given instructions to follow, while he believes they will work he still doesn’t follow them. He doesn’t really have faith in the remedy – that is, he is not firmly persuaded that it will work TO THE DEGREE that he will act on the instructions. That is why you cannot separate TRUE faith from works.

c. Works and our salvation?

i. Ephesians 2:8,9 says that our salvation is “not of works, lest anyone should boast”, but James 2:24 says we are justified by works and “not by faith only”. These verses do NOT contradict one another. In fact, when put in context, they compliment each other. Because our salvation involves BOTH faith and works. But what type of works? (More on this verse next week)

ii. There are different types of works.

1. Works of the flesh – Galatians 5:19-21

2. Works of the Old Law – Galatians 2:16 (Note: This is one area where confusion enters the picture with faith only. Some equate the works of the Old Law that no longer saves with doing any physical act whatsoever)

3. Good works or the good things we are expected to keep doing as Christians – Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:14, James 2:14-26 – NOTE: the actual context of James 2 is dealing with living your life as a Christian doing good works (helping others, studying, etc.). Our justification before God comes with such things BECAUSE WE HAVE OBEDIENT FAITH.
With such works we must be careful to not equate them with earning our salvation – which we CANNOT do (cf. Luke 17:10)

iii. Works associated with obtaining our salvation (i.e. obeying the gospel) – our faith. These are the various things God commands us to do in order to be saved. They include:

1. Belief – Mark 16:16

2. Repentance – 2 Corinthians 7:10, Acts 2:38

3. Confession – Romans 10:9, 10

4. Baptism – Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:20-21 – this passage explains it, “(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” In other words, baptism is a PRODUCT of our faith – we believe God and we obey Him.

iv. Thus we can see that God expects us to do something to be saved.

Thus we can see that “faith only” is NOT “a most wholesome doctrine” as far as God’s word is concerned. In all honesty, most knowledgeable Bible students who teach “faith only” don’t really believe that all you have to do is believe anymore than we believe in “works only.” They call upon you to do something – say “the sinner’s prayer”, confess Jesus as your Lord and savior, call upon the name of the lord, repent of living for the world, etc. As I understand it, the doctrine of “faith only” is not really about simply believing, but denying the necessity of baptism or some other similar physical act for one’s salvation. But we have seen that God’s word calls for a faith that will act based upon His instructions. Think about that.

One consequence of teaching this doctrine is there are many uniformed people who DO reason that “all you have to do is believe” and their lives prove it. I know of professing believers who use profanity, live worldly lives and NEVER darken the door of a church building but they believe they are saved because they believe in God (some say ANY GOD) and Jesus. They have accepted what the majority of the denominational world says on the surface, reasoning that since once you are saved you cannot be lost, what is the incentive to search the scriptures and find the truth other than if you want to. How tragic that many will be damned to hell because they “believed the lie.” Next week, we will continue our study of this subject noting some of the arguments presented supporting this doctrine.

What about you? Have you done what the Lord calls upon you to do by faith in order to be saved? If not, let me exhort you to do what you need to do this morning while you still have opportunity.