proudpapa
Jun 16, 2012
Does the Bible say that we are Justified by faith alone??
Does the Bible say that we are Justified by faith alone??
"You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone." - James 2:24
"For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” - Matthew 12:37
"and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:24
"For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." - Romans 3:28
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," - Romans 5:1
"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!" - Romans 5:9
In the above passages I believe it is clearly stated in scriptures.
1. We are justified by faith that comes along with works. If works are not present in a faith that it is not true faith. It is not the works that save someone but the true faith that is active with works. James 2:24
2. Jesus taught that we are justified by our words, with our mouth of confession of believing in His Name, he will mention us before the Father and His holy angels. Faith is therefore not silent it speaks. Matthew 12:37
3. It is also taught in scriptures that we are justified as a free gift that cannot be earned. It is 100% free and can only be accepted and acted upon. Romans 3:24
4. The works of the law will never justify any. So we must be justified apart from the law and its works. Therefore our justification looks to Christ who came as a new covenant, new promise to us from God. Romans 3:28
5. We are justified through faith. So it is not a one time belief that saves us but our justification is based upon a continual believing in Christ and His redemption until the end. We cannot ever be free from needing His grace. Romans 5:1
6. We have been justified and make righteous to God through the blood of Christ. And we will be saved from the coming wrath and judgment of God as we abide in Christ and His atonement for us which will produce an active faith daily. Romans 5:9
Our security is in Christ alone. But the scriptures do not teach faith alone. For faith apart from works is dead. Faith also needs to be active for demons have faith but do not live in righteousness. Faith also needs to have a voice we need to confess Christ before others. Faith also needs to rest and trust daily and be reckoned upon.
"Does the Bible say that we are Justified by faith alone?"
Faith is not possible without grace.
We have heard so much about Being Saved by Faith Alone, that I actually for some reason thought that there was a verse that said by Faith Alone and there is but what it says is just the opposit as saying that we are Justified by faith alone. Faith and Alone are found in James ch 2 17 Even so (faith), if it hath not works, is dead, being (alone.)
James ch 2 v 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only (alone).
What do you see has been some of the implications of adding the Word (Alone) to the scripture, When Scripture says just the opposit??
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
1) sermonindex: are the above verses of the Holy Word truth or not?
2) this thread needs to be accounted for by all moderators of this website forum
3) based on this thread alone, it is clear that the gospel of Jesus Christ - the whole meaning behind his Holy Word - is not known
hi, the definition of faith:hear the personal directive word from God, (ramah) receive this word< believe this word , obey this word.God told noah to build a ark...etc God told abram to leave ur and seek a city... this is beyond the law. God told me that He sent His Son to die in my place and to die to myself and receive Him as my Lord and i simply obeyed.jimp grace is that directive word from God to direct you to His plan for your life.
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
1) sermonindex: are the above verses of the Holy Word truth or not?2) this thread needs to be accounted for by all moderators of this website forum
3) based on this thread alone, it is clear that the gospel of Jesus Christ - the whole meaning behind his Holy Word - is not known
Hi FaithAlone,
Great to see you here!
The keyword in both of the scriptures that you posted above is 'LAW', works of the law are contrasted with works of the Spirit throughout the New Covenant.
We are saved by faith, and the evidence of out spiritual regeneration is carried out daily in the works that we do. This is the very core of what James is talking about and the verse that Western Christianity hates.
A regenerated thief will return what he has stolen because he was regenerated. Returning what he has stolen was not a condition for his regeneration but it is the fruit of genuine conversion (a work of the Spirit).
Here are some works of the Spirit:
You pray for those that persecute you.
You honestly love your enemies.
You don't return insults with insults (ouch this hurts, myself guilty but the Lord is not through with me yet).
You have apologized to those whom you have offended or sinned against in the past.
The doctrine of 'faith alone' (please understand that I'm not directing this at you personally, seriously) has produced many 'twice the sons of hell' (Jesus' words) who sincerely believe that they are saved, but if you took them to court and demanded that they show any fruit of this salvation they would have no evidence to enter into the Heavenly court. These false converts are WORSE off then they were in the first place because now they think they are saved and their journey ends at a point where they never seek the Lord any further.
The Lord is not fooled by these people, if they can't fool men then how can they fool the King of Kings?
I think the discrepancy here is arising from confusion on the different aspects of salvation: justification (the actual legal declaration of not guilty towards the sinner) and regeneration and sanctification (the sinner becoming a new creation with a new heart and new desires that then matures in holiness and grows spiritual fruit...inseparable from one who has truly been declared not guilty but separate from that actual decretive moment).
Romans 4-6 expound on this:
God justifies the ungodly (4:5); those whom are justified are so purely by the righteousness of Christ (5:17-18); such a belief would lead men to believe they could sin then that grace would abound, but they would only prove they have not been justified (6:1-2); for only the fruit of sanctification ends in eternal life (6:22).
Error can come when only one side of the equation is emphasized: antinomianism waits for those who stress only faith; works righteousness for those who count works as necessary for salvation.
Error can also come when the order in which these changes occur is confused (ordo salutis). If sanctification is necessitized for salvation, then the gospel is dwarfed; if the reality of the ontological change of regeneration is left unmentioned, then the character of God and His goal in salvation is maligned.
All that to say, it would be proper to say both that people are justified by faith alone and yet will not be saved without the works of sanctification. It's the understanding how they fit together that is crucial.
Great Post learjet!!
Did Faith save Noah?? yes
Did Faith alone save Noah??
Sermon Index is making a mockery of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Continually you want to add your works to the acquiring and maintaining of your salvation. Actually it is "your salvation", as it is not the salvation of Jesus.
It is horrible exegesis of the scripture to take a random verse here and there, and then out of context, to tried to justify your works contributing to salvation.
The conform message of the Gospels - Acts - Romans, and all the Epistles is that we are saved by grace through faith not of works. And this Gospel is everlasting / eternal life - remember Jesus said "I give unto them eternal life and they shall NEVER perish".
How important is the question "What is the true Gospel?" - enough for the apostle Paul to write:
Galatians 1:8-9
8 But should we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again: If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which ye have received, let him be accursed!
If any man preaches any other Gospel, let them be damned to hell.
If the moderators of this forum want to ignore this thread - as they usually do with the real essential threads of the faith - so be it, but I am telling you that that is not "earnestly contending for the faith" and I believe is a symptom of being rooted not in Christ.
Some great post here!
"Does the Bible say that we are Justified by faith alone?"
Yes. BUT there is a great misunderstanding by many in the evangelical church today to what Faith is.
To many it means just a mental agreement or a one time decision we make. However it seems clear to me (as has already been pointed out) that faith is always defined as an act of obedience to what God says. Consider Hebrews chapter 11. All those who are described as having faith did something that demonstrated their faith.
This is what James is making clear when he says "faith without works is dead." He is describing a profession of faith that is not real faith.
I understand that the word faith and faithfulness are the same word in the original greek. Therefore it could be enlightning if we used the word faithfulness in place of faith.
So yes we are justified by faith alone, but real faith that can be seen.
Rom. 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.
In brief, James is examining two kinds of faith: one that leads to godly works and one that does not. One is true, and the other is false. One is dead, the other alive; hence, "Faith without works is dead," James 2:20. But, he is not contradicting salvation/justification is by faith alone.
Notice that James actually quotes the same verse that Paul quotes in Rom. 4:3 Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
James 2:23 says, "and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.'" If James was trying to teach a contradictory doctrine of faith and works than the other New Testament writers, then he would not have used Abraham as an example. Therefore, we can see that justification is by faith alone and that James was talking about false faith, not real faith when he said we are not justified by faith alone.
The conform message of the Gospels - Acts - Romans, and all the Epistles is that we are saved by grace through faith not of works. And this Gospel is everlasting / eternal life - remember Jesus said "I give unto them eternal life and they shall NEVER perish".
Um, nice try but I made clear in my first reply to this thread what James is talking about.
James (the Lord's brother) made clear what his words were, they mean what they say and say what they mean.
Again, works are the fruit of salvation, salvation is not the fruit of works.
You say you are saved? Show me your works.
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The barren teaching of faith alone is the bane of Westernized Christianity. "Come forward friend, say a prayer friend, you are saved" yet nothing is ever manifested in their lives that resembles change. They had a run in with the Living God and nothing is changed?
TWICE THE SONS OF THE HELL.
James 2:14-24 (in context):
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that —and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”
[b]and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
Let's see here. You have been a member of this forum for how long? A little over a day. And you are an expert on what Sermon Index believes and what the moderators do?
Bro I suggest you cool your jets and check out some of the archived threads. Also listen to some of the sermons. No one is implying you are saved by works. But a saving faith will have works that come out of a regenerated heart. Check out Eph. 2:8-10.
The old Puritains would say that that it is faith alone that saves. But saving faith s never alone. Or you are saved by Christ Jesus as unto good works. Go look at John 15 in the vine and branches. Fruit or good works flow out of a faith union with Christ.
Can't explain it any simpler than that.
By the way you might want to read the SI guide lines. They are our code of conduct on this forum. And welcome to the discussion. But please do respect the administrators. They are extending you much grace by allowing you to come and post.
Bearmaster.
Faith alone for salvation, must mean a gift from God to believe in Jesus death and resurrection for sin. Death to meet God's righteous demand through the shedding of blood, regarding the sins of many. Resurrection by Christ being raised from the dead so that those who believe in His death can walk in newness of life. To argue that faith is sufficient for one to be fully saved and not to include walking in resurrection life is rather like saying that one has only seen the blood and failed to see the resurrection. It is like saying I am a god. Scripturally, only the Father sees the blood of Christ because only the Father has demanded it. Just as only God sees the blood which the High Priest under the Law of Moses threw upon the mercy seat. If anyone else has attempted to barge their way into the Holy of Holies to witness the blood they would have been struck dead. Even the High Priest didn't know whether he would make it out alive. He was required to abide by every letter of the Law in order to make certain his coming out again.
The blood of Christ is ever before the Father in heaven. A Lamb newly slain enters into heaven and presents Himself before the Throne of God and is accepted by God whereafter is sung a new song. The Lamb newly slain is before the Father. Not before men. The blood is before the Father, not before men. Be bold and enter into heaven before the Father understand that you have a sound basis for confidence before God. But to say that you can then walk as you please before men is to show that you have not understood God's righteous requirement to walk faithfully. Salvation is more than receiving eternal life by faith. It is also walking by Grace through faith in order to please God. To say otherwise is to deny the meaning of Baptism as well as the coming kingdom of God and Christ. It is to neglect your salvation and to risk rejection of Christ when He returns. The blood is before the Father not before men. Jesus gave two keys to the apostles. Both of which attend to salvation of men. The one is the preaching of the gospel of Grace and repentance towards God who has accepted the shed blood of Christ. The other is Baptism which speaks of death in Christ. One died for all therefore all have died. It speaks of being buried with Him in death and being raised up with Him in resurrection of life so that we might walk in newness of life. If we accept the Blood and reject the walking how can we say we are yet saved.
You are saved by faith alone. Therefore make sure your works are the works of faith, as were Abraham's.
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