Reasons Why Faith Alone Is Not Enough
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Brother Bob Pellien: Are you trying to live a more faith-centered life? The Bible reveals you need more than that. You’re listening to the podcast version of God’s Message Magazine, and today’s topic is Membership In the True Church: An Inseparable Partner Of Faith.
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Brother Bob Pellien: The doctrine that we, Church Of Christ members, uphold regarding the need for a person to enter this Church in order to be saved is unwelcome to many. To begin with, people think that this doctrine was only concocted or made up by the ministers of the Church Of Christ. They dismiss its relevance to salvation by alleging that it’s unbiblical, and preachers of other religions denounce the Church Of Christ ministers for purportedly preaching another Savior, as though we were teaching or had ever taught that the Church is the Savior.
Those who condemn this fundamental religious doctrine are mostly staunch believers of the “faith alone” concept of salvation. They aver that membership in this Church and other churches for that matter, as well as fulfillment of Church membership requirements, have nothing at all to do with man’s justification and salvation. To them—and they are citing Bible verses as basis—justification and salvation is by faith alone.
By that, they mean that being justified is never dependent on anything that a person does, that good works, albeit important, do not justify man, that it is not by works but by grace that a person is saved; that a person does not merit God’s grace; that grace is not something merited or earned; that God gives it to whomever He wants; that man receives it at God’s own initiative and that therefore, good works play no role in the justification process. They’re simply irrelevant and unnecessary.
Their erroneous concept is allegedly drawn from the writings of Apostle Paul, primary of which are the following two citations:
For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
[Ephesians 2:8-9 New King James Version]
Therefore we conclude that it is by faith a man is justified and not by the works of the law.
[Romans 3:28 Lamsa Translation]
Brother Bob Pellien: So the Church Of Christ is absolutely not against any of the pronouncements contained in the foregoing verses as these are God’s teachings. In no way are we discounting the importance and necessity of faith. What we oppose and reject are the dangerously erroneous understanding and explanations of these verses by those who oppose and reject the need for membership in the Church Of Christ.
Their first error, evidently, is their use of their favorite word, “alone,” in conjunction with faith. We are vehemently opposed to it being connected with the word “faith,” because first and foremost, it’s not written in the aforecited verses. Why, it’s not even implied. As a matter of fact, nowhere in all of Apostle Paul’s letters can the term “faith alone” be found or deduced. Their usage of the word “alone” in explaining the necessity of faith for justification and salvation is obviously their conclusion alone. Just because Apostle Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9, does not mean that there’s nothing to do in order to be saved, nor does it mean that once a person is saved he is always saved no matter what.
The Bible is replete with passages about the things that people need to do in order to be saved. In the very succeeding verse, in Ephesians 2:10 for instance, Paul underscores the relevance of good works in God’s very purpose in creating people in Christ Jesus.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
[Ephesians 2:10 New King James Versio]
Brother Bob Pellien: Since Christians were created in Christ Jesus for good works, no one can use the grace of God as an excuse to commit sin. Apostle Paul immediately makes clear that his preceding statements do not mean that a person who receives the grace of salvation does not need to do anything at all and still can be saved, for the very grace he receives necessitates him to live holy in good works.
In Romans 3:28, Paul is not teaching the non-necessity of good works for which people were created in Christ Jesus and which the Christians are thus required to do. Some of these good works will be seen later in this article. He is not even referring to these works, rather he’s referring to the works of the law—the law that the Jewish people observed as handed down through Moses. Those works refer to the Old Covenant rituals and ceremonies such as circumcision, mentioned in Romans 4:9. It is the non-necessity in the Christian era of the Moseic rituals and ceremonies that Apostle Paul was referring to in Romans 3:28.
It is important and interesting to point out that the only time the term “faith alone” is used in the Bible is when another apostle, Apostle James, is condemning such a concept of salvation. Exactly half of his epistle’s second chapter is meant to rebuke the inherence of the “faith alone” concept, even mentioning the fact that demons also have faith:
You have faith and believe that there is one God. Excellent! Even demons have faith like that—and it makes them tremble.
[James 2:19 Revised English Bible]
Brother Bob Pellien: According to James, faith without works is not profitable for salvation, it is not a saving faith.
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?
[James 2:14 Revised Standard Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: Faith without works cannot save precisely because it is in itself dead.
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
[James 2:17 New Revised Standard Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: James is not saying that only works are necessary for salvation, nor is he intimating that works are more important than faith. What he is saying, very emphatically indeed, is that both faith and works are necessary, indispensable, and should always go together. You cannot rightly have one without the other. Indeed, James calls faith and works partners.
But someone may well argue, “You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can’t prove whether you have faith or not. But anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act.
[James 2:18 Living Bible]
Think of Abraham, our ancestor. Wasn’t it his action which really justified him in God’s sight when his faith led him to offer his son Isaac on the altar? Can’t you see that his faith and his actions were, so to speak, partners—that his faith was implemented by his deed?
[James 2:21 Phillips Modern English Bible]
Brother Bob Pellien: To stress the necessity and indispensability of works as commitment to faith in completing the justification process, James says:
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone
[James 2:24 Revised Standard Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: And those who would insist on possessing faith minus works, James has this to say:
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
[James 2:20 New International Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: It is no less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who is being defied by those who say that works are not necessary, but faith alone is for the attainment of salvation. In Matthew 7:21, Christ declares:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
[Matthew 7:21 New King James Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: This truth Christ emphasizes again in Matthew 19:16-17:
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So He said to him, “… if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
[Matthew 19:16-17 New King James Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: So according to our Lord Jesus Christ, he who wants to have eternal life must do something, he must keep the commandments. Another clear proof that Christ does not approve of the claimed sufficiency of “faith alone” is shown in John 8:31:
So Jesus said to those who believed in him, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples;
[John 8:31 Good News Translation]
Brother Bob Pellien: Here were the Jews who already believed in Christ and already had faith, and yet, he would not count them as His true disciples unless they obey His teaching. And obeying Christ’s teaching is, no doubt, good work.
“What is the point of calling me ‘Lord, Lord,’ without doing what I tell you to do?”
[Luke 6:46 J. B. Phillips New Testament]
Brother Bob Pellien: One of Christ’s teachings, obedience, which is an example of good work, is for a person who has faith to be baptized (Mark 16:16). Before a person is baptized, he is first required to repent (Acts 2:38). Another example of a good work: entering Christ’s church, a requirement for salvation. But are baptism and repentance the only requirements for salvation? Is entering the Church Of Christ also a teaching of Christ and a requirement for those who already have faith in order to be saved? Based on Christ’s own teaching, yes it is. He shows very explicitly the necessity and absolute relevance of entering or coming into His Church in order for one who has faith to be saved.
I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me will be safe.
[John 10:9 Revised English Bible]
Brother Bob Pellien: Going into the fold or flock as commanded by Christ is a requirement for salvation and another clear example of a good work. Indeed, His being a door alone obviously suggests the necessity of entrance. For if entrance or coming into the fold through Christ, the door, were not necessary, then what would His being a door be for? Certainly, entrance into the fold or flock through Him is a must, and the fold or flock being referred to by Christ wherein a person who desired to be saved must come, is introduced by Apostle Paul:
Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.
[Acts 20:28 Lamsa Translation]
Brother Bob Pellien: The flock is the Church Of Christ. Clearly, therefore, Christ commands a person who has faith to enter His Church to be saved. Church Of Christ membership alone, however, is not enough for a person who has faith to be saved. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself points out:
But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.
[Matthew 24:13 Douay-Rheims Bible]
Brother Bob Pellien: Perseverance is a good work. This the apostles, too, teach the members of the Church Of Christ.
For you have been given the privilege of serving Christ, not only by believing in him, but also by suffering for him.
[Philipians 1:29 Good News Bible]
Brother Bob Pellien: Suffering for Christ is another good work. Apostle Paul, who many quote for their faith alone minus works concept of salvation, exhorts the Church Of Christ members to work out their own salvation by continuing to obey. He says:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
[Philippians 2:12 Revised Standard Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: The Today’s English Version renders the latter part of the verse thus:
Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation,
[Philippians 2:12 Today’s English Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: The Lord is against those who fail to keep on working in His service, even those who just become inactive, those whose zeal and fervor in serving Him wane.
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. … You have persevered and have endured hardship for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
[Revelation 2:2-5 New International Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: And further attesting to the necessity of good works for the attainment of eternal life, Paul says,
[God] who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
[Romans 2:6-9 New King James Version]
Brother Bob Pellien: Another solid and unequivocal proof that good works are not only necessary for, but are really quite relevant to the inheritance of eternal life, is this instruction from Apostle Paul:
Tell them that they are to do good and be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share—this is the way they can save up a good capital sum for the future if they want to make sure of the only life that is real.
[I Timothy 6:18-19 Jerusalem Bible]
Brother Bob Pellien: With Apostle James’ mention of the demons who, having faith but unquestionably do not do works and will not be saved, we can safely conclude that the concept of the sufficiency of faith alone for justification and salvation is definitely not of God and not of Christ, but of the devil. The devil hates good works. This is why he is spreading the belief on the kind of faith that does away with good works. The devil wants people to disobey God’s teachings. That is why he is spreading the kind of faith that encourages disobedience. The devil does not want people to be saved.
Advocating and adhering to the faith alone concept of salvation, therefore, amounts to advancing the cause of the devil. Considering this, it becomes logical for members of the Church Of Christ to think that this concept is just an attempt to justify disobedience, to make an excuse for sin, which is in truth and in fact, the thinking of the devil.
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Brother Bob Pellien: To find more articles like these, get your copy of God’s Message Magazine from a member of the Church Of Christ. You can also find the podcast version on incmedia.org/podcasts or on iTunes or Google Play under incpodcasts. Thank you for listening. I’m Brother Bob Pellien. God bless.
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