{"id":9072,"date":"2016-09-29T14:02:17","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T19:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/?p=9072"},"modified":"2016-09-29T14:02:17","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T19:02:17","slug":"can-faith-alone-save-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christiancrier\/2016\/09\/29\/can-faith-alone-save-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Faith Alone Save You?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Can faith alone save a person? Is that all there is to being saved?<\/p>\n

Public Profession<\/span><\/h2>\n

Whoever has been saved won\u2019t be able to keep it a secret, and in fact, a silent, underground Christian is an irreconcilable thing as far as the Bible is concerned. The words of Jesus plainly show that no one can be saved and keep silent about their profession before others as He said, \u201ceveryone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven\u201d<\/em> (Matt 10:32), however \u201cwhoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven\u201d<\/em> (Matt 10:33). Elsewhere, Jesus said \u201cthe one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God\u201d<\/em> (Luke 12:9), but even more so, \u201cwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels\u201d<\/em> (Luke 9:26), so it\u2019s not just denying Christ but denying the words He spoke. Denying Christ is a sin of omission by omitting to share the faith with the lost as we\u2019ve been commanded to do. The Apostle Paul added \u201cI am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes\u201d<\/em> (Rom 1:16), so if someone denies Him by their silence and denial of His words as revealed in Scripture, cannot claim to be a true follower of Christ, because they cannot help but speak of Christ. Paul said it the \u201cnecessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel\u201d<\/em> (1st Cor 9:16)!<\/p>\n

Saved by Faith<\/span><\/h2>\n

We are not saved by our works as Paul said, but it is only \u201cby grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast\u201d<\/em> (Eph 2:8-9). Works can\u2019t save us anyway, but just because we\u2019re not saved by works doesn\u2019t mean we will do no works. In fact we\u2019re saved to do good works as it says in Ephesians 2:10 where Pau wrote that \u201cwe are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.\u201d<\/em> The way God looks at our human works is described by Isaiah that \u201cWe have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away\u201d<\/em> (Isaiah 64:4), \u201cSo then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy\u201d<\/em> (Rom 9:16), and \u201cby God\u2019s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time\u201d<\/em> (1st Pet 1:5), however just because we cannot be saved by works doesn\u2019t works are not important. Yes, we are only \u201cjustified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus\u201d<\/em> (Rom 3:24) but it is faith that produces works as a byproduct of God\u2019s Spirit, but it is only in \u201cHim we have redemption through His blood\u201d<\/em> (Eph 1:7) and only in Christ \u201cin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins\u201d<\/em> (Col 1:14).<\/p>\n

\"For-by-grace-you-have<\/a><\/p>\n

Works and Salvation<\/span><\/h2>\n

James wrote that a faith without works is a dead faith, or not really genuine, saving faith. James asks the rhetorical question, \u201cWhat good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him\u201d<\/em> (James 2:14)? No, of course not, as he wrote, \u201cShow me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works\u201d<\/em> (James 2:18). It\u2019s not just enough to say you believe because even the demons believe and that certainly doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re saved (James 2:19). James used Abraham\u2019s example by writing. \u201cAbraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar\u201d<\/em> (James 2:21), so \u201cYou see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works\u201d<\/em> (James 2:22). James is not saying that works save us but saved people do works or their profession of faith is false as \u201cAbraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness\u201d<\/em> (James 2:23). We are not saved by works but for works, as Paul wrote, \u201cwe are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them\u201d<\/em> (Eph 2:10), so we\u2019re not saved by works but saved to walk in or do these works for God\u2019s glory. That\u2019s a huge difference\u2026the difference between a person being saved and being a false convert.<\/p>\n

Expressing your Faith<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Apostle Paul wrote that he was not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16), meaning he publically expressed it by his missionary work and evangelism to the areas of Asia-minor and places around the Mediterranean Sea. That\u2019s clear by his writing where he wrote that \u201cif you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved\u201d<\/em> because it\u2019s \u201cwith the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved\u201d<\/em> (Rom 10:9-10). Anyone that\u2019s been saved won\u2019t keep it to themselves and they are not supposed to because the disciples understood that the Great Commission was that they were to go to the nations around them and to make disciples of others by teaching them the very same things that Jesus taught them (Matt 28:19-20), and so words are absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n

We have seen that we\u2019re not saved by good works, but saved to do good works, and that\u2019s a major difference. Not being saved by works doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t do works. Our faith should produce good works as a byproduct of the Holy Spirit and out of a devotion to Christ for what He has done for us, so although we\u2019re not saved by works, we\u2019re saved to do works and for the glory of God. We\u2019re saved by faith alone but by a faith that\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n

Article by Jack Wellman<\/span><\/h4>\n

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer\u2019s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can faith alone save a person? Is that all there is to being saved? Public Profession Whoever has been saved won\u2019t be able to keep it a secret, and in fact, a silent, underground Christian is an irreconcilable thing as far as the Bible is concerned. The words of Jesus plainly show that no one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13,10,1239,11],"class_list":["post-9072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-answers","tag-faith","tag-salvation","tag-saved","tag-works"],"yoast_head":"\nCan Faith Alone Save You?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can faith alone save a person? Is that all there is to being saved? 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