•1:19 PM
The Scripture says, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11).
Welcome to our series of lessons titled “Answering Denominational Doctrines.”
In this lesson we will be looking at the doctrine of “salvation by faith alone.”
Is faith by itself all that a person has to have to be saved?
Are we saved at the point that we mentally accept and recognize Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world?
Multiplied millions of people believe this idea.
They believe that at the point of belief alone, a person is saved.
Is that what the Bible teaches?
First, let’s represent this doctrine fairly by quoting some of the famous believers and teachers of this doctrine to see exactly what they have to say concerning it.
For example, Martin Luther said concerning faith alone: “Our salvation is through faith alone. We only need to believe that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, Who died to redeem us.” One of the famous proponents of this doctrine was Martin Luther, who said that it is only by faith alone that we are saved. This means that all a person has to do is believe that Jesus died for his sins, and accept Him as Savior. But Luther is not the only one who believes that.
In the Methodist Book of Discipline we read, “We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort.”
Whether or not such a concept is comforting, we want to ask the question, “Is it of God?”
Is such a teaching biblical?
Some people believe that at the moment they mentally accept Jesus, they are saved.
Is that what the Bible says?
Please understand as we begin this lesson that we are not denying that a person must believe in Jesus to be saved. There is no doubt that the Scripture clearly teaches that a person must have faith. “Without faith, it is impossible to believe God” (Heb. 11:6). Jesus Himself said, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will surely die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). As Philip was teaching the Ethiopian eunuch, they came to a certain water and the eunuch said, “Here is water. What hinders me?” Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may” (Acts 8:36-39).
We are not denying that a person must believe.
But is belief all that a person must do?
Are we saved the second we believe Jesus is the Son of God?
Like the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” (which says that a person cannot fall from grace), it is the case that in the exact language of false teachers, God has said that we are not saved by faith alone.
James 2:24 is such a powerful passage that discusses true faith versus a faith that will not save. Notice what James said: “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
When we hear about the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, it is almost as if the doctrine is found on practically every page of the Bible.
“Just have faith only!”
Do you know how many times in Scripture “faith only” or “faith alone” is mentioned?
It is mentioned only one time in the Bible.
We hear it as if it was in every conversion account, yet it is mentioned only once in the Bible. The only time that God uses faith alone, He says the exact opposite of what millions are saying, what Martin Luther and the Methodist Book of Discipline teach, and what multiplied millions of people believe concerning that “all a person has to do to be saved is have faith alone.”
God mentions “faith only” one time, and there He says that a person is not justified by faith alone! The concept of being “justified” means “just as if I had never sinned.” But a person is not forgiven, is not a child of God, and is not redeemed at the point of faith alone!
So while such a concept may be popular, and while many may agree that it is a comforting doctrine, the Bible does not teach that faith alone will save a person.
If we are going to show today that at the point of belief, a person is not saved, what would we have to do? We would need to present some clear-cut cases in Scripture of people who believed in Jesus, yet who were still lost. If we can do that, then we can show clearly that faith alone is not the point at which a person is saved.
Let’s look at five examples in the New Testament of people who believed in Jesus (that is, all they had was faith), yet who were not saved.
John 1:12 tells us, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” At the point of belief, those people still had to become something that, at that particular point, they were not. Belief puts a person in the arena of those who may then do the rest of the things that God has said a person must do to become a child of God. But the passage does not say, “As many as received Him, He made children of God.” It does not say that at the point of belief, they were children of God. Rather, it says that they had the right to become children of God.
In John 12:42 the Bible says, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.”
Even among the religious leaders, there were many who believed in Jesus. If the doctrine of faith-only salvation is true, then at this point these people must have been saved.
But can a person be saved without confessing Jesus?
Not according to what Jesus Himself said!
In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said, “If you do not confess Me before men, I will not confess you before the Father who is in heaven. But if you do confess Me before Men, I also will confess you before the Father who is in heaven.”
In John 12:42 we find people who believed in Jesus. If the doctrine of faith-only salvation is true, then those people must have been saved. Yet Jesus said, ““If you do not confess Me before men, I will not confess you before the Father who is in heaven. If you will not say that you believe in Me, I will not say to the Father, ‘This is a child of Mine.’”
So, here we find an example of people who believed in Jesus, yet who would not do the rest of what God commanded them to do.
In John 8:30,44 we find an example that makes it abundantly clear that a person can believe in Jesus yet sill be a child of the devil. John 8:30 says, “As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.” Then, in verse 44 Jesus said to those same people,
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Jesus had been preaching.
And what happened?
Many believed in Him.
Yet to that same group of people Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil.”
What do we learn from this teaching?
A person can believe in Jesus, yet still be a child of the devil.
Why?
If a person is not willing to do the rest of what God said, then you are not yet a child of God but are still a child of the devil. At the point of belief, a person must then work toward obeying God’s plan of salvation.
In Acts 9:4-6 we find Saul being confronted by the Lord while traveling to Damascus. He responds by asking, “Who are You, Lord?” Christ said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul then asked, “Lord, what would You have me to do?” Saul recognized that Jesus was Lord, and he believed in Him as Lord. He even called him “Lord.”
But was Saul saved at the point that he recognized Jesus as Lord?
Absolutely not!
Ananias comes to Saul and asks, “Why are you tarrying?” He then tells Saul, “Arise and be baptized, washing away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
At the point of Saul’s belief, his sins were not gone.
He was not yet a child of God because he had to do God’s will.
Let’s stop here and think about something else.
Oftentimes, in association with the idea of faith-only salvation, I hear people say, “To be saved, all a person must do is believe in Jesus and say the sinner’s prayer.” That prayer goes something like this: “Dear Jesus, I believe that You are the Savior. I accept You into my heart, and ask you to come and fill my life.”
Is that correct?
