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Salvation by Faith or Faith Only? John 3:16-18 Everyone claiming Jesus Christ as their savior agrees that belief or faith is essential to one's salvation. Hebrews 11:6 teaches us that without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is. We must have faith, we must believe in God and we must believe that Jesus Christ is His Son. Nobody I know of questions the fact that faith is essential for Salvation. But in the ranks of those who claim Jesus Christ as their savior there is disagreement as to whether anybody must do anymore than believe in order to be saved. Much of the denominational world believes and teaches that a person is saved when they only believe that Jesus is the Christ. They teach that salvation is by faith only. They teach that all that a person has to do to have the salvation that Jesus offers is just to believe in Jesus and to believe in Him for who He is. In fact many believe that is wrong to teach that salvation is dependant upon any act of obedience on their part. They teach this because they really do believe the Bible teaches that. And it is true that Jesus says in John 11:26 that whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And years later in Acts 16:31 Paul told the Philippian Jailor to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Now the question is, in the Biblical sense, what does it mean to believe? Those who think and teach that we are saved at the point of belief have concluded that "belief" in these verses means "belief only", or "faith only". When they read these verses and other ones similar to these they add in their minds the word "only". In their understanding they believe that John 3:16 means that "whosoever ONLY believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." When they read acts 16:31 what they hear in their mind is Paul saying "ONLY" believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your house shall be saved. The word "ONLY" is not there but that is how they understand those verses. But salvation by "faith" and salvation by "faith only" are two completely different things just like playing football with a "quarterback" and playing football with a "quarterback only" are two different things. All football teams play with a quarterback. But none of them play with a only a quarterback. There are other players on the field. Or similarly, a fisherman might go fishing with "worms", but does he use "worms only"? What about the fishing pole and the hooks and the other accessories? There is a big difference between fishing with "worms" and fishing with "worms only". There is a big difference between playing football with a "quarterback" and playing football with "only a quarterback". And, likewise, there is a big difference between being saved by "faith" or "belief" and being saved by "faith only" or "belief only". So the question now is, in the Bible, does "saved by faith" mean saved by "faith only"? You might be surprised how easily that question can be answered. Because that is a question we can put to the test. One of the rules of language interpretation is that when a word is properly defined, its definition can be substituted for that word in a sentence and the sentence would convey the same meaning and still make sense. For example, if I define a shoe as an article of clothing for the feet and then take the sentence "I sell shoes", then I should be able to substitute that definition for the word shoes. I could then say, "I sell an article of clothing for the feet". The sentence still communicates the same meaning and makes sense because a proper definition was substituted for the word. This is a very simple and effective means of putting the concept of salvation by "faith only" to the test. In Hebrews chapter 11 we read of the men and the women who displayed great faith during their lives. Hebrews chapter 11 is often referred to as the great hall of faith. The people listed in this chapter of Hebrews are the Biblical posterchildren of faith. Inspiration specifically named them as shining example for us to live by. If anybody throughout Biblical history could have been saved by faith only, surely it would have been this list of the heroes of faith. So if in the bible "faith" can be properly defined as "faith only" we should be able to substitute the word "faith" for the words "faith only" and the statements therein should still make sense and they should still mean the same thing they meant before. Let's start with the very first hero in the hall of faith. Hebrews 11, verse 4, reads, "by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain". Now if "faith" really means "faith only" then we should be able to read this verse as "by faith only, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain". Abel did not just think about that sacrifice and it happened. Abel did not simply believe and have his sacrifice just suddenly appear out of thin air. Abel had to kill and he had to prepare the sacrifice. We don't see inspiration handing out any accolades for Cain do we? Cain obviously believed in God yet his sacrifice was rejected. If Abel's sacrifice had not have been done properly, meaning "by faith" then he would not have appeared in Hebrews 11 as a great man of faith. He indeed offered his sacrifice by "faith" but he certainly did not offer that sacrifice by "faith only". The sentence no longer makes sense when you substitute the definition of "faith only" for the word "faith". How about Noah in verse 7? If faith really means faith only, then this verse would properly read "by faith only, Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his household. Does that make sense? If anything, this is worse than Abel's example. We know very well that the ark did not just appear there because of the faith of Noah. That ark required a lot of gopher wood, tools and a century of hard labor. It was not by faith only that the ark was built. What about the walls of Jericho in verse 30? If faith really means faith only then this verse would mean that by faith only the walls of Jericho fell down. But we know better than that. The walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about for seven days. If the Israelites would not have marched around the walls as God commanded then the walls would not have fallen. It was indeed by "faith" that the walls of Jericho fell but it certainly was not by "faith only". Let's look at Rahab in verse 31. If "by faith" means "by faith only" then this verse could say by "faith only" the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she received the spies and took care of them and protected them. From the story in the Old Testament we know that Rahab, at great personal risk, received those Israelite spies into her home. What prevented her from perishing with those who did not believe was more than just her belief. She was saved from destruction because of the care she took of those Israelite spies. Without the action she took towards those spies she would have died along with everybody else. Her salvation was not by "faith only". So "faith" in Hebrews chapter 11 does not mean "faith only" When we try to plug "faith only" into those sentences they cease to make sense. We're going to move onto other scriptures from Hebrews 11 for the time being, but keep your place marked there because we are going to come back later and develop another thought. So many passages in the Bible say we are saved by faith.
So many passages say that if we believe we will be saved. Many
people who teach we are saved by faith only make the claim that
if we are not saved by belief only then God lied to us. But
the difficulty with that is, if we are indeed saved by faith or
belief only then Jesus lied to us when He said in Matthew 7:21 that
only those who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of
Heaven. We know that Jesus cannot lie in either event so there
must be a relationship between belief and obedience in the Bible
that goes beyond faith only. And to illustrate that we are going
to start with a hypothetical story. And when this story is
finished, we are going to ask and answer three questions.
Now the three questions we want asked and answered are: 1) When I believed and said that I believed, was I rich? No I wasn't. I still had something I had to do. My belief in my son was worthless until I acted on that belief. So when I grabbed my box and headed out the door, it could be rightfully said that, "by faith" I grabbed my box and went outside to get the money. Just like the Biblical heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 acted by faith and not by faith only. I did not grab the box and head out the door by "faith only". If I had not gone outside with the box then I would not have gotten the money and it would have been because I did not believe my son. Keep that in mind, we are going to develop more on this later. 2) Did my son lie to me when he said "if you'll just believe me we'll be rich?" No he did not lie to me. In the story my son had the real expectation that if he could convince me that the man was outside and giving away money that I would then do what was required to get it. 3) Why wasn't that a lie? He said "if you'll just believe me and you'll be rich" I was not not rich when I just believed him, so why was that not a lie? It wasn't a lie because of the way we use the word believe. In the story my son had the reasonable understanding that if I believed him that I would take the necessary steps to get the money. My son knew the actions were easily within my capabilities. He knew the money was right outside and he knew the reward was enormous. Getting the money was easy, the difficult part was getting me to believe him. The conclusion anyone would reach is that if I could be made to believe then the required actions would immediately follow and I would be rich. That's the way my son used the word "believe" in the story when he said "if you'll just believe me, we'll be rich". In the stated need to believe, the taking of any necessary action is understood. Let's say that again like this. In the stated need to believe, the taking of any necessary action is implied. Action was implied by my son when he said it and action was understood by me when I heard it. That is exactly the way we use the word "believe" many times today. And it is exactly in that same way that we find the word "believe" used in the scriptures. With the enormous blessings that awaited and the relative ease of their attainment, those who preached the gospel knew that if they could get others to believe, and have faith, then they would readily and quickly do whatever they needed to do to lay hold on the promised salvation. Faith does not obtain the reward until it has taken the understood, the implied, actions. Just as it was in the case of getting the free money. Faith will obtain the reward, but only the right kind of "faith" will. "Faith only" will not. The faith that saves is the faith that does something. In Galatians 5:6, Paul says the faith that avails is the faith that works by love. By love means because of love. Jesus said "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). And now, let's go back and look some more at faith in Hebrews chapter 11. We have another thought to consider that is very significant. Everyone mentioned in the hall of faith did something to obtain their blessings. So when we try and go back and plug the words "faith only" in for the word "faith" it just does not make any sense. They did not get any kind of blessing the moment that they believed. Only when they obeyed "by faith". "By faith" means because of their faith. Their honor, their justification, their salvation came only when they obeyed God because of their faith and not before. For example, earlier we considered Rahab. Hebrews 11:31 says that by faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish. Rahab is also used as an example by James in chapter 2 verse 25. James explains Rahab's salvation in words that are difficult to misunderstand. In James 2:25, he said, "likewise was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works "when" she received the messengers and sent them out another way. The writer of Hebrews indeed said that Rahab was saved by faith, but James tells us "when" her faith saved her. Faith brought salvation when she acted and not a moment before. In a very similar way Paul says in Romans 4:9 that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness, but again James speaks of Abraham too. And James tells us exactly when that favorable accounting occurred. In James 2:21, James says, "was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the alter?" Faith produces salvation, there is no doubt about that, but the critical question which must be asked and answered is "when?". When is it that faith produces or brings salvation? And the answer is, "when" faith obeys. And not a moment before. The faith without works, the faith does not obey, is dead. And a dead faith will not produce a saved soul. And in opposition against those who would advance the "faith only" doctrine James says in chapter 2 and verse 19, "you believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. The demons believe, but they failed to take the necessary actions of obedience. The question is, do we want to spend an eternity with those people who only believed? And then so clearly James makes his point in verse when 24 when he says by inspiration, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." Some people are confused by that verse because the word works is used in the Bible in a number of different ways. Sometimes the word "works" is used to described things done under the law of Moses. Sometimes the word works is used to describe things that man might devise for himself to do. But sometimes the word works is used in the Bible to refer to acts of obedience to God's will. And it is in this way that James uses the word here, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." So as we did earlier, we can define the word "works" in James 2:24 as "obedience to God's will" and then substitute it in James 2:24 just like we substituted the words "faith only" for "faith" in Hebrews 11. And if the definition is correct then the sentence should still say the same thing and it should make perfect sense. "Ye see then how that by "obedience to God's will" a man is justified, and not by faith only." The difference between the substitution of faith only for faith in Hebrews 11 and the substitution we just did is that this one makes perfect sense, and there is scriptural support for it elsewhere in scripture. And what did the Hebrew writer teach by inspiration in chapter 5 and verse 9? "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." What did Peter say to Cornelius at his conversion as recorded by Luke in Acts 10:35? "But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." Paul says in Romans 6:17-18 that the Romans were set free from sin by their obedience to the doctrine. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:22 that the Christians had purified their souls by obeying the truth. Time after time in the scriptures we are taught that salvation is dependant upon obedience. We cannot be saved without obedience. Our salvation is indeed by faith, but that word "faith" in the Bible does not mean "faith only". There is no verse that says that and there have been a number of scriptures presented so far that demonstrate that it does not mean that in any way. Faith saves, but when does faith save? Faith saves when faith obeys. Remember the hypothetical story where I got rich when I believed my son? Remember that I said if I had not gone outside with the box that I did not believe my son? Does the Bible contrast obedience and belief in that fashion? Does the Bible ever say someone who does not obey did not believe? Peter wrote of belief and obedience in 1 Peter 2:7-8, "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed". Peter draws a contrast between those who believe and those who do not by being disobedient. Peter equates Belief as the opposite of disobedience, therefore Peter had the reasonable understanding that those who believed would take the necessary steps to get salvation. This lesson was introduced with John's famous scripture on belief. John wrote in 3:16 that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" and in a few sentences later, he wrote, "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36, ASV). Just like Peter, John contrasted believers and those who are disobedient. It is clear from a Biblical perspective that John had more in mind than simple belief in the facts. In John's stated need to believe, the taking of any necessary action is understood, it is implied. A study of Hebrews 4:9-11 reveals some insight as to the nature of Biblical belief; "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." The Greek word for unbelief is "apeitheia" which means "rebellious disbelief". We see that those whom the Hebrew writer is addressing are instructed to labor lest they fall into an example of unbelief. So we see from this example it requires effort, or a commitment of oneself in order to avoid Biblical disbelief, it also requires the same to believe. Simply stated, those who labor are true believers and those who fail to labor fail to believe. Those who fail to act fail to believe. In the hypothetical story we used as an illustration, I believed my son and acted. If I had not acted it is obvious that I would not have believed him. In the same sense today if we believe Jesus Christ and act we will obtain the blessings. If we fail to act then we have failed to believe. If we are going to believe Jesus, if we are going to believe in Jesus Christ, then we are going to have to believe His teachings. If we are going to believe Jesus Christ then we have to believe it all. We can't pick and choose what we want to believe and what we don't want to believe. We can't accept Jesus as our savior and king but refuse His teachings. Jesus Christ said Himself "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord , and do not the things which I say"? Then He went on to teach the parable of the foolish builder who failed to obey, thus building his house on a sandy and uncertain foundation and the wise builder, who because of obedience had built his house on rock. I still remember from the Bible lessons of my youth the story of the wise and the foolish builders. I remember the Godly women, some of whom are with us today who used a little song to illustrate the principle of obedience to God's will. I cannot remember the song but I remember the story and I remember hammering my fists together in step with the song as we imitated the wise builder who through obedience to God's will, built his house on rock. Luke 6:47-49 And Jesus taught in the parables of the wise and foolish builders that only those who do His will have built their houses on Rock. Jesus said that. Do you believe Him? Do you believe He meant what He said in Matthew 7:21? "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord , shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father". If you do not believe that, then you are guilty of unbelief. Jesus taught in John 3:18 "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already , because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God". Do you believe Him. Do you believe Jesus taught that? If anyone rejects this teaching of Jesus then they are guilty of unbelief. Jesus taught in Matthew 10:32-33, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Do you believe we must confess Jesus before men in order to be confessed by Jesus before God the Father? Do you believe that Jesus meant that when He said it. If you do, then you cannot believe in salvation by faith only because faith only has no room for any act of obedience whatsoever. Salvation by faith only is either salvation without nothing but faith or belief, or it isn't. There's no middle ground. Either you believe Jesus requires the act of confession or you don't. And if you don't believe confession is required then you do not believe something Jesus taught and are therefore guilty of unbelief. Jesus taught in Luke 13:3, "I tell you,
Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
Do you believe we must repent in order to be saved? Can we
continue in our sinful lives and live without repentance and expect
a home in heaven? If you believe we must repent then salvation
cannot be by faith only. Because salvation by faith only has
no room for action. Repenting is doing something. If we
are saved by faith only then we can be saved without repentance.
Do you believe Jesus' teaching that we must repent? If you do
not and you insist that our salvation is by faith only then you do
not believe something Jesus instructed and are therefore guilty of
unbelief. Jesus isn't done instructing us yet. Salvation is not by faith only. Salvation requires belief, repentance, confession and baptism. That is not faith only. Faith only salvation, if it were true, would come without any of the above mentioned acts of obedience from the mouth of Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus has more instruction to give. We saw in Matthew 28:19 that Jesus commanded baptism for every man on earth, he wasn't finished. He had another instruction on the heels of baptism. Jesus went on to say, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (V20). If obedience is commanded surely it is expected. When Jesus addressed the church in Smyrna He gave this instruction, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). If any Christian in any church anywhere in the first century had to remain faithful unto death, then they all did. And if they did, we must be faithful unto death today. John taught that "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). This is a conditional statement. John began it with the word if. In a conditional statement if the condition is not true then the results will not be forthcoming. If we do not walk in the light, live faithfully, there will be no fellowship with God. There will be no ongoing cleansing of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. What this means is that salvation is not by faith or belief only. With all this talk about faith and works, we need to give attention to what Paul wrote about Grace. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul wrote, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." So is Paul saying here that we do not have to be obedient to God? Is he saying God's grace makes obedience unnecessary? Of course not. What Paul is saying is that our works will never be sufficient to earn our salvation. We can never rest on our works and boast that God owes us anything. There is no way we as Christians could possibly hope to repay God what it cost Him to offer us salvation. He was under no obligation to send His Son down here to die for us and He would have been perfectly well within His rights to let us perish. Neither was Jesus under any obligation to die for us. What He did for us, He did of His own free will and we can't earn it with our works. But this fact does not make obedience to God unnecessary. Saved by "grace" does not mean saved by "grace only" any more than saved by "faith" means saved by "faith only". And this is just as easy to put to the test as saved by faith was. If we are saved by "grace only" then no act of obedience whatsoever would be required for our salvation and we know better than that because we have to believe and belief is a conscious decision we make and is therefore a work of righteousness on our part. If any level of obedience to God whatsoever is necessary to be saved, then we cannot be saved by "grace only". It's just that simple. The Hebrew writer taught that grace was something that we could fail if we were not diligent in chapter 12 and verse 15. If grace were not conditional, then it would not be possible to fail it. If it were not possible to fail it, inspiration would not have warned against it. And since it is possible to fail of God's grace then salvation is not by "grace only". Faith saves, no doubt about it. Those who believe are saved, no doubt about it. But not until that faith or belief has resulted in obedience to God. Faith saves when and only when faith obeys. Grace saves, no doubt about it, but grace does not save until faith obeys. If there is anyone here who believes but has not obeyed then you are not saved. By faith the heroes in Hebrews 11 obeyed and they received the blessings when they obeyed and not a moment before. By faith, each and every one of YOU must hear, YOU must listen to the word of God. By faith YOU must repent of your sins and turn to Christ. By faith YOU must confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God before men. By faith YOU must submit to baptism into Jesus Christ in the watery grave of baptism for the remission of YOUR sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. By faith YOU must live an obedient, faithful life, walking in the light as Jesus walked, remaining faithful until our last accountable breath of life on earth. These instructions came directly from the mouth of Jesus, if you do not believe these instructions then you do not believe Jesus. Do you believe Him? Do you believe in Jesus, in what He said and in what He taught. Do you believe Him? If you are and you have not been baptized into Jesus Christ or if you have and you have not walked in the light, faithfully and you need the prayers of the congregation then I urge you now to take this opportunity to Believe in Jesus Christ. If you are here and you have not believed in and obeyed the gospel, then why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized now. If not at this invitation, then please stay after services and let your need be known. Behold here is water, what doth hinder you to be baptized? Today is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation. Whatever your need is at this time, please let it be known. Your friends, your loved ones stand ready and eager to assist you. Come now as we stand and sing.
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