{"id":19527,"date":"2009-07-21T22:04:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=19527"},"modified":"2020-01-31T22:10:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-01T04:10:20","slug":"arent-there-passages-that-say-we-are-saved-by-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-there-passages-that-say-we-are-saved-by-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Aren’t there passages that say we are saved by faith?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

You say<\/a>\u00a0that “You will never find where the Bible says that baptism is a symbol, or that one is saved at the point of faith.”<\/p>\n

What about Luke 7:50? Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”<\/p>\n

Ephesians 2:8\u00a0“For it is by\u00a0grace you have been\u00a0saved<\/strong>, through\u00a0faith<\/strong>\u2014and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I don’t want to put words in brother Bronger’s mouth, but in the context of his article, he was talking about salvation under the New Covenant. At the time that Jesus told the woman that her faith saved her (a faith demonstrated by her washing Jesus’ feet with perfume and her own tears, which was also a demonstration of repentance), they were living under the Law of Moses. The Lord Jesus granted her forgiveness. Her faith saved her, but it wasn’t faith alone as you seem to be implying. Faith was the motivation for her change of heart and her actions.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 2:8 is under the New Covenant, but again the context does not state that salvation was by faith alone. What it states is that through faith a person receives God’s gift of salvation. However, you are making an assumption to say it was only faith.<\/p>\n

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:4-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notice that faith is not isolated. We were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Faith is demonstrated in the things a person does. “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only<\/em>” (James 2:18-24).<\/p>\n

But not only that, notice that Paul states that because of God’s mercy we were made alive and raised up with Christ. This is an allusion to what Paul discussed elsewhere: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin<\/em>” (Romans 6:4-7). So, no Ephesians 2:8 isn’t talking about a faith isolated from all else. In the context, Paul assumes that their faith had already motivated them to be made alive and risen with Christ — actions that are accomplished through baptism.<\/p>\n

Faith is the motivation that brings about salvation, but it is not exclusively what saves a person, such is not taught in the Bible. See:\u00a0What Saves a Person?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: You say\u00a0that “You will never find where the Bible says that baptism is a symbol, or that one is saved at the point of faith.” What about Luke 7:50? Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Ephesians 2:8\u00a0“For it is by\u00a0grace you have been\u00a0saved, through\u00a0faith\u2014and this not from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[53,1008,47],"class_list":["post-19527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-faith-alone","tag-faith-only","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44056,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-luke-748-50-prove-that-baptism-is-unnecessary\/","url_meta":{"origin":19527,"position":0},"title":"Does Luke 7:48-50 prove that baptism is unnecessary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need help with the following question: Does Luke 7:48-50 prove that we do not need to be baptized to be saved? Can you help me with an answer that shows that these verses are not inconsistent with the teaching that baptism is essential for salvation? It is being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68821,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-case-of-the-philippian-jailor\/","url_meta":{"origin":19527,"position":1},"title":"The Case of the Philippian Jailor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton He wanted to know, \"What shall I do to be saved?\" (Acts 16:30). The simple answer: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ\u2026and you will be saved\" (Acts 16:31). The details of why believe in Jesus, what to believe about Jesus, and how to express faith in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36760,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/by-grace-through-faith-with-the-washing-of-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":19527,"position":2},"title":"By Grace Through Faith with the Washing of Water","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Notice the prepositions: by, through, and with. The Book of Ephesians uses all three to describe what is involved with our salvation. It teaches we are saved by grace. It teaches we are saved through faith. It teaches we are saved with the washing of water\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46614,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-faith-has-made-you-well\/","url_meta":{"origin":19527,"position":3},"title":"Your Faith Has Made You Well","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 18:35-43 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While looking at some of the miracles of Jesus in order to answer a question, I noticed something that I had not seen before \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you look at the various miracles, you soon realize that faith on the part of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/at-what-moment-in-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":19527,"position":4},"title":"At What Moment in Faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:6,8). Of this, there is no controversy. The question is, \"At what moment in faith does salvation or remission of sins actually become ours through faith?\" Has God designated an exact moment? The answer is very clear unless one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-teaching-is-a-work-then-it-doesnt-save-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":19527,"position":5},"title":"Since teaching is a work, then it doesn’t save. Right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Telling others about Christ is a work. \"For by grace we are saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast\u00a0\" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Answer: There was a branch of the Baptist denomination that fully accepted the idea that being saved was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}