faith alone – La Vista Church of Christ

Faith Takes Work

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:12:10 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

The argument that baptism is a "work" but faith is not is not sound. There is far more work involved in faith than in passively letting someone immerse you in water. Think about it.

Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Think of the mental work involved in listening to the evidence of God's message and "searching the scriptures" to find out what is so (Acts 17:11). The process of coming to conviction involves assessment of your life and how it stands with God, assessment of the evidence for Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God, and whether the evidence supports that conclusion. The teaching process with the hearing and learning from the Father (John 6:45) involves "laboring" for the food that does not perish (John 6:27). Mental and emotional labor is, in this case, far more "work" than passively allowing someone to immerse you in water in Jesus' name. In fact, when you have labored for the food that does not perish, the teaching is clear that you will receive remission of sins at a definite point of faith, namely, when you are immersed in the name of Christ (Acts 2:38-41; 22:16; I Peter 3:21).

You have faith in the operation of God, that He will do the work of cutting off your sins when you are buried with Christ in baptism (Colossians 2:12). So, faith trusts God to cut off the sins when He said He would. The hard "labor" on your end is in the teaching and learning that brought you to call on God to operate as you unite with Jesus in baptism (Romans 6:3-6). God does the work of grace when your faith leads you to repentance and baptism. Baptism is the point of God's work. It is not a work of the law of Moses. It is not a work of merit that earns you anything. It is simply faith calling out for God to do His work when He said He would, and you are simply calling upon Him and trusting Him.

Don't forget that faith involves the labor of hearing and learning, sorting, and coming into the power of conviction. This is where your action is greatly involved and brings you into reconciliation with God.

The Proper Explanation of John 3:16

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 23:19:03 +0000

by Carl O. Cooper

The fact is, John 3:16, when taken in its proper context, teaches that salvation is by works of obedience when accompanied by proper faith.

It’s true! This verse, read in its proper context, does not teach “saved by faith alone.“ In reality, the context of this verse teaches just the opposite. It teaches that we are saved by faith, when accompanied by proper works. Now, if you are associated with one of the denominational churches, just how many times have you heard that said? Never, right! Almost all of the people in the various denominational churches read John 3:16. When they interpret the meaning of this verse, based on their own “world view” of salvation, they conclude that salvation is obtained by “faith alone.” They almost always include another doctrine, and they say that “works have nothing to do with being saved.” This is a common teaching among most denominational churches around us. But the fact is, John 3:16, when taken in its proper context, teaches that salvation is by works of obedience when accompanied by proper faith. Let’s take a closer look at these verses, and you can see, without doubt, the proper meaning for yourself.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).

What in the world does Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness have to do with being saved by faith in God’s only Begotten Son? Be careful here because this sets the context of what these Scriptures are trying to get us to see. Moses lifting up the serpent is very important if you really do want to understand what is being taught here.

Do you remember the story of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness? It’s found in Numbers 21:8-9. Let’s look at these verses and see how they apply to John 3:14-16.

“Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”

The story goes like this: The Israelites had been released from slavery in Egypt. They sinned against God in the wilderness, and God sent poisonous snakes among them to teach them to repent. If they were bitten by one of the “fiery serpents,” they died. But God made a way for these people to be saved. It required two things. The first thing required was faith in God that would cause them to obey His instructions and do what He required. If they had followed God’s instructions as He required, they would have been saved. The second thing they had to do was obey God and look at the serpent that Moses had placed on a pole. If they did this, God said they would not die from the bite of the snake. Sounds easy, right?

But let’s put this into proper perspective. Here is a part of the picture that we seldom even think about. Let’s look at Exodus 12:37-38: “And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.”

Wow! What a crowd of people. The Bible tells us it was 600,000 men, plus women and children. Most scholars estimate this nation of people at 1.5 million to 2 million. Have you ever considered this? They lived in tents. There were no permanent houses available for them in the wilderness. If we were to consider four people to a tent, that would be about 500,000 tents. What a city of tents and people. According to the internet, the population of Forsyth County, where I live (including the cities of Winston-Salem, Kernersville, Clemmons, King, Lewisville, and others), was 260,202 in 2021. The population of the people of Israel was 7.5 times what it is today in the entire county where I live in North Carolina. What does this information have to do with looking at the serpent Moses placed on a pole? Well, suppose you were in my county of Forsyth, and a poisonous snake bit you. If you could be saved from this snake bite by looking at a serpent on a pole located somewhere over in downtown Winston-Salem, would you find some way to get there so you could see it? Or would you be stubborn and rebellious and refuse to look at the snake on the pole? Would you claim that looking at the serpent was not necessary because we are saved by “faith only” and works have nothing to do with our salvation? Somehow, I don’t think you would refuse to do the work of obedience God has required you to do.

The same is true in the context of John 3:16. You can now see how the statement in John 3:14 about Moses lifting up the serpent applies to our salvation today. Yes, it’s clear. Faith is required, alright. But so are works of obedience that God has commanded. Look at these verses in James 2:19-24. With this new information, these verses should now become crystal clear.

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

Not Faith Only

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:17:42 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

When they say Romans speaks of salvation “by faith only”, they have a different Bible than I have ever seen. Romans speaks of “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5), but never puts “faith” and “only” together anywhere. It speaks of people who “knew God” but “they did not glorify Him as God” (Romans 1:21). That is faith only, and it never will save anyone.

Romans 6:16 speaks of obedience “leading to righteousness.” You are not counted righteous until obedience leads to it. So, that is a faith with the quality of obedience built in and understood. Romans 6:17 said you were “delivered” from the bondage of sin when you “obeyed from the heart.” Did you notice again that “obeying” is built into faith and that we are not “delivered” apart from “obedience?” But what we “obeyed from the heart" was “the form of doctrine” which looks back to the form of death to sin, burial with Jesus in baptism, and rising to walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:3-6). We obeyed this form from the heart!

If you did not obey this form from the heart, then you were not delivered from the bondage of sin, and you did not “unite together “ with Jesus, and you did not “rise up with Jesus from the grave of baptism to walk in newness of life.” Faith only holds you still bound to sin and death. Nothing in the book of Romans is going to override this fact. If someone is inserting “only” with faith, they are contradicting Romans instead of telling you what it actually says, and you remember the devil doing that very thing to alter God’s word in the Garden of Eden. Don’t let him trick you again by inserting “only” where faith actually calls for “obedience” from the heart!

By Works or Not?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 16:44:16 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

An atheist thinks he sees the following verses as "contradicting" each other.

Atheist: Salvation by Faith or Works:
• Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith…not a result of works.”
• James 2:24: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Answer:

Once again, the atheist shows his ignorance of context and word usage. In Ephesians 2, the “works” are contrasted with “grace through faith”. Thus, works of perfect-law-keeping where grace is not needed. None is right with God because of works (perfectly doing what is right without sin). We have all sinned; therefore, works are not the basis of our right standing with God.

However, James is not on that same topic at all. He is talking about the nature of faith. Is it an active and obedient faith? Or is it faith alone with no works (actions) to show it? He speaks of works in an entirely different way than Paul does in Ephesians 2.

Paul speaks of meritorious works of perfect law-keeping where grace is not needed. If I do the law perfectly (work), I don’t need mercy. On the other hand, since I need mercy and need grace, what kind of faith do I need? Is it mental faith alone? Or does it yield in obedience to Jesus? (Hebrews 5:9). Does it need to be like the men in John 12:42, where they believed in Jesus but would not confess Him? Is that a faith that saves? No! We have to have the kind of faith that confesses Jesus and obeys Jesus.

James is speaking of works of faith, not works of merit (perfect law keeping). So, again, both verses are true, and in context do not contradict each other at all. Our right standing with God is “not of works” (our perfect and sinless performance) but by grace through faith. What kind of faith is involved? A working, obedient, active faith. This needs mercy and grace, and these come through an obedient faith in Jesus. In fact, remission of sins comes to those with the kind of faith to "repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins," and please note that the "gift" is given at that moment, not when they first came into mental faith alone (Acts 2:36-41). Their faith was not just about belief, but a working faith.

What About “Faith Only?”

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 20:04:59 +0000

by Mike Riley

It is not uncommon to hear sincere religious folks speak of being saved by “faith only”. They say, “All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Their statement is designed to convey the concept that one is saved at the exact moment of belief in Jesus. Those who are proponents of “faith only” salvation need to understand that there is a world of difference between salvation “by faith” and salvation “at the point of believing.” The Bible teaches salvation by faith (John 3:16; Romans 5:1; Acts 16:31-34; Mark 16:16; Romans 4) but it does not teach salvation by faith only. If you doubt that statement, then let’s deal honestly with the following observations:

Saul obviously believed while on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:6). However, if Saul was saved “at the point of faith”, then he was saved from his sins while he still had his sins. Note that when Ananias appeared to Saul three days after his encounter with Jesus (Acts 9:9), he told Saul he must do something(cf. Acts 9:6; Acts 22:10), “And now why tarriest thou? arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
On the day of Pentecost, the Jews were convinced that they had murdered the son of God, coming to believe what they had previously denied. Being convinced by Peter’s inspired message, they asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Now, if they were saved at the exact time of belief, there was nothing else for them to do. When Peter answered their question, he told them to do something: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ...” (Acts 2:38). The expression “for the remission of sins” means “in order to have sins remitted”. One cannot have sins remitted unless he still has his sins, which proves that their sins were not removed at the point of their faith or belief.

Conclusion

The real difference between those who believe that “faith only” saves and biblical salvation is the exact point in time at which sins are forgiven. Since sin is contrary to God’s law (I John 3:4), it must be God who forgives sin. Therefore, it is God who gives us the answer as to when sins are forgiven. God says that it is at the point of one’s baptism that he is buried with Christ and dies to his old sins (Romans 6:3-7). Furthermore, it is in baptism that one’s sins are remitted (Acts 2:38) and “washed away” (Acts 22:16). It is in baptism that we come into a relationship with Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). And Peter says it is baptism that saves us (I Peter 3:21). Predicated upon man’s faith and repentance, God regenerates us in baptism so that we are raised to walk in newness of life as a new creation (Titus 3:5; Romans 6:4-5; II Corinthians 5:17). This is when God says He forgives us – not before.

A Cruel Lie

Jeffrey Hamilton — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:54:02 +0000

by Nathan Smelser

An aged gentleman says, "Well, I believe in God, what else is there?"

His health is dire; I had asked if he knew the Lord.

Folks: Observe the disastrous consequences of "easy believism."

This gentleman had likely been assured that as long as he believed in God, all was well. There is no need to go further, to learn the Word, to follow the Lord diligently.

But what does the Word say?

God will ultimately deal out "retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." (Excerpt from II Thessalonians 1)

There is a God to know. There is a gospel to obey. It therefore needs to be read or heard and understood. And then there is a life to live in Christ because one believes His promises (e.g., Hebrews 11, etc.).

Is God cruel to punish? Not at all! Every good thing we have and enjoy is a gift from Him! If we are the least bit understanding and grateful, we ought to want more of His goodness and to be willing to do the hard things that He asks of us to become what His grace is instructing us to become (Titus 2:11-14).

He created us, He suffered and died for us, He fills our lives with many good and beautiful things. But if we think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads to repentance, do we think that we will escape His righteous judgment? (Romans 2:3-4)

Given all that He has done and continues to do to draw us to Himself, God is not cruel to punish those who think little of His goodness toward us.
However, teaching "belief only" is a cruel, cruel lie that leads to wasted lives, regret, and sorrow. Without correction, it leads to eternal separation from the God who is the source of all good things: Those who do not believe and obey "...will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (II Thessalonians 1:9) What a description of hell!

Don't be separated from the God of all good!

May God give this gentleman and all of us even more time to learn and obey, and may we all diligently seek Him.

How Many Facts in “Faith Only”?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:38:46 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

Those brethren who now teach that salvation is at the moment of faith before repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins (they say that is “faith plus works”) never seem to get around to telling us what all is included in their “faith only” concept. For example, how many facts, and what are those facts that trigger the grace? How much “work” will it take to learn those facts? Doesn’t the work of learning those facts shoot the whole argument of faith only in the foot?

Does someone have to learn and believe that Jesus came in the flesh (I John 4:1ff)? A person might believe in a "Jesus" but not believe He was deity come in the flesh. Must he work to learn the truth on this issue? John says yes.

So, faith must include learning the right facts about Jesus. That takes a form of effort or work. Is that "faith plus works"? There was faith in a Jesus and work to ensure it was the right Jesus. Must a person "labor for the food that does not perish" (John 6:26)? Is that faith in Jesus plus the labor it takes to obtain and utilize His food? Is that "faith plus labor?"

How many facts about Jesus must be learned and claimed before that faith is the saving kind? Was Muhamed's faith in Jesus as a prophet the saving kind? No? Then there has to be a certain content that must be obtained to have the right saving facts, and that, my friend, takes far more effort than letting someone dunk you in the water in Jesus' name.

"Labor" (work) is involved in learning and coming to the correct and sufficient facts that enter us into salvation. You can't believe anything you want to about Jesus and be saved. Jesus made that very clear in Matthew 7:21-23.

Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9), not to all those who believe a few selective facts about Him. The Bible never says you can be saved by faith alone, and it certainly does not let us choose which facts we will believe. Be careful that you have not been fed the wrong information that results in you having "another Jesus" (II Corinthians 11:3-4), the wrong one, and the wrong content of faith in the wrong Jesus. The wrong Jesus will never save us! Be very careful here!

Hearers Only

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 16:47:28 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

The Holy Spirit inspired James to write: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves“ (James 1:22 NKJV).

There are only two choices:

self-deception because of only hearing the word and
truth because you are a doer of the word.

Hearers-only are deceived mainly because of the self-deception of “faith only.”

Some preachers advocate that the doctrine of faith-only is very full of comfort. Yet, the Bible says it ought to give us much discomfort. James also said that faith only is “dead.” You are not alive to God when all you do is hear His word but don’t do what is required.

Those preachers and teachers today who advocate a salvation by “faith only” are among the ones that James said are “deceived”. One should never advocate a position plainly denied by the word of God. The doer of the word is the one that will be blessed “in what he does”(James 1:25). Hearers-only are not blessed, though they have faith only enough to hear only. The Spirit revealed the truth; we must hear it, teach it, and do it.

Not Quite …

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 23:48:14 +0000

by Steven Haper

What we believe may not be quite right, according to God’s word.

Not quite…

How many people sincerely believe that the forbidden fruit of the tree from which Adam and Eve was an apple? But where in the Scriptures does it say this? [It doesn’t!] The Scriptures say, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17), but nowhere in that is it said what kind of tree it was. And when they ate of the tree, the Scriptures say, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6), but, again, nowhere does it say what kind of tree or what kind of fruit.

The idea comes not from the Bible but from Milton’s Paradise Lost, where he names it as such. When Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, he substituted a word, malus, that, as an adjective, means bad, but as a noun, means apple. But many people believe it because that is what they’ve always heard.

And how many wise men came to see the baby Jesus? Most people would tell you without hesitation that it was three, and just about every movie and TV show has that number. But the Scriptures, again, do not teach such! The Scriptures say, “wise men from the East came to Jerusalem” (Matthew 2:1). So, where does the number come from? Most likely because the Scriptures tell us that these same wise men “presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11) and assigned one gift per wise man, hence three wise men. But the Scriptures do not teach such! Again, many people believe this because it is what they have always heard and seen illustrated.

And how about what is necessary for salvation? Some say “faith alone,” some say “grace alone,” and some say “by faith alone and by grace alone” [if you can figure out how salvation comes by two things, but claim by each alone]. They will even cite Ephesians 2:8-9 as their support. But what does that passage actually say? It 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.” Nowhere in those words will you even find the word “alone.” It doesn’t say it! Yet men continue to cite it as support for this false idea, and some will even insert the word, not content with what the word of God actually says!

Friends and brethren, be careful with what you believe! It may not be what the Scriptures teach! And what will we say to our Lord when we stand before Him in the end?

The Umbrella Nature of the Term “Faith”

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 01:08:02 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

One preacher (Stephen Whitsett) argued the following:

"In the same way, it would be possible that Acts 2:38 is indeed communicating the fact that they were to be baptized “as the result of” or “because” they already had believed and in doing so had already received forgiveness of their sins (John 1:12; John 3:14-18; John 5:24; John 11:25-26; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:39; Acts 16:31; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 1:12-14). This interpretation of the passage is also consistent with the message recorded in Peter’s next two sermons to unbelievers where he associates the forgiveness of sins with the act of repentance and faith in Christ without even mentioning baptism (Acts 3:17-26; Acts 4:8-12)."

In the first part of this paragraph, he says it is possible that the 3000 were baptized “as a result of” already having forgiveness of sins. In the final sentence of his paragraph he was not wise enough to catch that he has forgiveness associated “with the act of repentance and faith in Christ”. He had argued that “repent” is connected to “eis” (which he defines as “because of”), and thus, he has remission of sins in place before repenting. He argues that you must repent because you already have remission of sins. He digs his hole deeper now because if his earlier argument is so, then he has remission of sins before “repentance and faith.” He can’t say Acts 2:38 means “repent because of the remission of sins,” but Acts 3:19 means to repent to have sins blotted out. You can’t have it both ways. Either repentance is to have remission of sins in Acts 2:38 or repentance and faith are because of the remission of sins via his appeal to Acts 3:17-26; 4:8-12. He has tried to argue both ways, but now he is entangled in the contradiction of his own argument.

He argues that the moment a person believes, they “had already received forgiveness of sins” and gives a string of references, none of which say or imply that claim. So, sometimes, he argues that repentance is before the remission of sins, and sometimes, he argues that repentance is after the remission of sins.

John 1:12 says that the believer has the right to become children of God. It does not say that they became children of God at some mysterious moment that some faith entered their brain.
John 3:14-18 makes no claim about the moment in faith that one is forgiven. John 3:21 shows that it is faith that “does the truth.” So, this passage actually refutes his claim.
John 5:24 speaks of the believer passing from death to life but does not describe the moment or how much hearing of Jesus’ word is involved, whereas John 12:42 shows some men who believed but would not confess Jesus. Did their faith cause them to pass from death to life anyway, without confessing Jesus? So, John 5:24 does not say what all is included in faith. If confessing is included, so are repentance and baptism.
John 11:25-26 tells us that faith is involved but not what all is involved with faith. Is confession and repentance involved? Are those necessary ingredients of faith? If so, then so is baptism. If confession and repentance don’t have to be mentioned, then baptism does not either. If faith is an umbrella term that automatically includes other ingredients such as confession and repentance, then the word faith is umbrella enough to include baptism and not exclude any of these.
Acts 10:43 doesn’t do any better since believing in Jesus includes repentance, confession, and baptism. If confession is included, then faith is an umbrella term that includes other specifics under its generic nature.
Acts 13:39 is the same way. If faith must be characterized by repentance and confession, then it must also be characterized by baptism in the name of Jesus.
Acts 16:31 goes on to show that it was a faith that needed baptism at the same hour of the night. Again, the nature and content of faith do not exclude baptism but rather include it.
Acts 26:18 again uses the umbrella term “faith,” but that word includes repentance, confession, and baptism. You don’t truly believe if you don’t repent and don’t confess Jesus and are not baptized in the name of Jesus. Faith is the general term that includes these elements and does not exclude any of them.
Romans 10:9 shows that it is a faith that moves to confession with the mouth. Thus, faith includes confession, which he already showed, including death to sin and burial in baptism in Romans 6:3-6. So, faith includes all these items and does not exclude any of them.
Ephesians 1:12-14 does not show a faith that excludes confession, repentance, and baptism. Involved with trusting Him is trusting Him enough to repent and be baptized.

So, there is not one verse that says or implies that there is a magic moment of faith. Besides, what is included in faith? Is salvation given the moment someone says, “Jesus is good?” Do I need more information? Do I believe without knowing about His virgin birth, His being in the flesh, His dying on the cross, His resurrection? How much information magically does the trick? Does it do the trick before repentance? If so, then you have agreed that there is a lot packed in that word faith and that not just any level of faith will do the trick. You have argued to let us know that repentance and confession are involved with faith before it is a faith that saves. But once you admit that repentance, knowledge of Jesus’ fleshly life, sacrifice on the cross, resurrection, and confession are all essential elements and characteristics of saving faith, you have lost any argument that baptism is also not included.

“Faith” is an umbrella term that includes all the elements of knowledge, confession, repentance, and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. If you can’t prove how much knowledge is essential, and you can’t prove that confession and repentance are excluded, then you can’t prove that baptism is excluded. You lose the whole argument! Faith is an umbrella term that covers the entire range of things essential to a saving kind of faith. James clearly said it is “not by faith only,” a faith that does not include obedient action (James 2:14-24). So, baptism is part of the faith that brings us into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). Isolating some verses that mention faith is not enough to establish the exact moment in faith that we enter into Christ. Paul told us the exact moment in faith that our sins are cut off (Colossians 2:12). I believe the Spirit revealed moment!