Saved By Faith Alone
Thought it was interesting reading
Tom Flannery
Monday 30 October 2006, by Alain
Biblical Christianity teaches that we are sinners both by nature and by practice who can never be good enough to earn or merit salvation. The Bible tells us that "the best of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6). It reveals of mankind that "there is none who does good, no not even one" (Ps. 14:1-3). It declares that no flesh shall ever glory in God’s presence (I Cor. 1:29). It makes clear that we have nothing to boast of concerning salvation except about what Jesus did for us on the cross (Gal. 6:14). It says we have all gone astray and turned, every one, to his own way (Isa. 53:6). It declares that we have "all turned aside and together become unprofitable" (Rom. 3:12).
Thus, in and of ourselves, we have nothing whatsoever with which to commend ourselves to God, to merit his favor, or to work ourselves into His good graces. Like it or not (and human pride recoils at the thought), the Bible teaches the total depravity of man and our complete hopelessness apart from Christ of ever being saved or doing any good works whatsoever.
We can only be saved by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ and we can only do good works when God begins working in and through us for His glory after we’re saved. Our "good works" apart from Christ are all corrupted in one way or another (tainted by impure motives, done for our own advancement or glory, carried out in the service of false religion, etc.).
Ephesians 2:8-9 assures believers: "For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast."
This verse is a five-fold declaration of the gospel. It tells us that 1) we can only be saved by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ’s completed work on the cross; 2) salvation is not of ourselves in any way or to any degree; 3) salvation is a free gift from God; 4) salvation is not of works; and 5) because salvation is freely given to us by God’s grace and works are not involved whatsoever, we have nothing to boast of concerning our salvation.
Salvation is all Christ’s doing, which is why He is identified in Hebrews 12:2 as "the author and finisher of our faith" (He alone is responsible for the work of salvation, beginning to end). Titus 3:5-7 explains that "it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us...that having been justified [made just in God’s sight] by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Scripture assures believers that we have been "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," and therefore the apostle writes "we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:24, 28). And Romans 5:1: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
And Rom. 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death [eternal separation from God] but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Salvation is a free pardon purchased for each one of us by Christ on the cross, where He paid our sin debt in full, suffering "once for all" (Rom. 6:10, Heb. 7:27, Heb. 9:28, Heb. 10:10), "the just [dying] for the unjust" (I Pet. 3:18). As such, salvation cannot be earned or merited or even deserved; it can only be accepted or rejected. It is a free gift (Rom. 5:15-21).
All of the world’s religions teach that salvation is based, either in whole or in part, upon man doing enough good works to be allowed into heaven.
This is the message of religion, but biblical Christianity is not a religion. It’s a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ. That’s why many at the Great White Throne Judgment will hail Jesus as "Lord, Lord" and talk about all the religious works they’ve done in His service trying to merit salvation, and He will reply to each one of them: "Depart from Me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you" (Matt. 7:22-23).
We simply cannot be saved, in any way or to any degree, by works. That’s the reason God gave the law in the Old Testament, a set of 613 perfect and holy deeds that men could use to earn their salvation — if that were even possible. If any works could save us, it would be the works of the law (God’s standard for goodness), but man has shown throughout human history incapable of keeping the law.
For one thing, since God is perfectly holy and cannot have fellowship with anyone tainted by the slightest stain of sin, the law must be kept perfectly at all times and in all ways. This is God’s standard for any works-based system — absolute perfection. Therefore, James 2:10 tells us that if we fall short in any minor point of keeping those 613 laws perfectly at all times, we are guilty of violating the law in its entirety!
Jesus took it even a step further when confronting religious leaders who foolishly believed that they could be saved through their works. Jesus pointed out that they must not only keep the law perfectly in their deeds, but in their thoughts also (Matt. 5). So if we hate someone in our hearts or minds, we are guilty of a form of murder in God’s eyes, and so on.
The law was given as a mirror so we could see how helplessly lost we are apart from Christ — it’s "a tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24). In short, to show us we can only be saved by God’s glorious grace, by believing in Christ (trusting in Him alone to save us through His completed work on the cross).
When people asked Jesus what works they had to do in order to be saved, Jesus replied: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent [Christ Himself]" (John 6:28-29).
Just as "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness" (Gal. 3:6), and just as all of the other Old Testament saints believed God (trusted in Him alone) and were saved through Christ’s substitutional sacrifice (as foreshadowed in the substitutional animal sacrifices God instituted under the Old Testament system), so too are we saved by believing. And by "believing," the Bible does not mean merely mental assent, but placing one’s complete trust in Christ for salvation and entrusting yourself eternally — soul, body, being — to Him.
Thus, we keep seeing the same truth repeated throughout Scripture, in verses such as these....
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:36: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
In John 5:24, Jesus declares: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."
In Jn. 11:25-26, He states: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live."
The so-called "works verses" which false religions use to try to claim works are a part of salvation, such as Phil. 2:12 and in James 2, make perfect sense in light of the true gospel since we are saved not by works but for works (Eph. 2:10), and those works will always follow true salvation. Conversely, if these or any other verses truly taught that works were needed for salvation, there is no way to reconcile them with such verses as Eph. 2:8-9 and the many other verses which confirm plainly in clear, unambiguous language that salvation is by faith alone and works are not involved at all. This would necessarily mean that the Bible contradicts itself time and again, so such a position is ultimately unsustainable (unless you discount the Bible’s claim of being the infallible, authoritative Word of the living God).
So where do you stand? Salvation by faith alone, or by works of some kind also? Those are the only two faith systems the world has ever known, and the one you choose to accept will determine where you spend eternity.
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P.S.
Mr. Flannery writes a weekly political column entitled "The Good Fight" and a continuing religious column called "Why Believe the Bible?" for a hometown newspaper in Pennsylvania. His opinion pieces have appeared in publications such as Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, MovieGuide, Christian Networks Journal, and on WorldNetDaily. He is a past recipient of the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism from News Corp/The New York Post and has won six Amy Awards from the Amy Foundation for his work.
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