Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ<\/em>” (Romans 5:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n“By” or “through,” as the New International Version translates the word, are both acceptable translations. Faith is absolutely required for salvation. But neither “by” nor “through” imply that this is all that is needed or that it is the final point on the path to salvation. Romans 6:3-7 makes it clear that Paul saw that baptism was also necessary. Romans 10:8-10 makes it clear that hearing the word and confession are also needed.<\/p>\n
It is not proper to compare how a person was saved prior to the Law of Moses to how someone was saved under the law of Moses. Nor is it proper to compare the same person to someone living under the law of Christ.<\/p>\n
When it was noted: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness<\/em>” (Genesis 15:6), Abram had not yet been circumcised. Yet God said several years later, “He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant<\/em>” (Genesis 17:12-14). Clearly, if Abraham refused circumcision, he would not be saved. Yet, under the Law of Christ circumcision of the flesh is not a requirement for salvation (Galatians 5:1-4).<\/p>\nGod required something more than a declaration of faith. I would argue that the world’s definition of faith is faulty because it states that faith is something that can exist without evidence. As James noted, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also<\/em>” (James 2:26). This is the flaw many makes when reading Paul’s writings. They assume that Paul sees faith as they do — as something that has nothing to do with effort; yet Paul started and ended Romans talking about “obedience to the faith<\/em>” (Romans 1:5; 16:26).<\/p>\nWill prayer save a person? Let us look at the case of Saul, later called Paul. He had a vision of Christ (Acts 9:3-6). He fasted and prayed for three days (Acts 9:9-11). But, as Paul recounted later, Ananias still told Paul: “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord<\/em>” (Acts 22:16). The vision, the fasting, the prayers did nothing for Paul’s sins. He still had them until they were washed away in baptism. “Corresponding to that, baptism\u00a0now saves you<\/strong>\u00a0— not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (I Peter 3:21).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, I was reading your article on\u00a0the NIV\u00a0and I found it very informative! I just want to start off by saying thank you I had no idea there were a few discrepancies I needed to be aware of. With regards to this, I had a question. I completely agree with the point…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,49,53,1071,1510,47,1226],"class_list":["post-42364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-faith","tag-faith-alone","tag-justification","tag-prayers","tag-salvation","tag-sinners-prayer"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87454,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-counted-mean-in-romans-45\/","url_meta":{"origin":42364,"position":0},"title":"What does “counted” mean in Romans 4:5?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness\" (Romans 4:5 KJV). I'm trying to figure out what the word \"counted\" means. Does the word \"counted\" mean \"considered?\" When it says \"his faith is counted for righteousness,\" does\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":39149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/justification-by-works-in-james\/","url_meta":{"origin":42364,"position":1},"title":"Justification by Works in James","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Earlier, I wrote about Paul's discussion of justification by works in the first four chapters of Romans. In it, he says that justification by works requires perfect obedience to God, which no one but Jesus has achieved. Thus, Christians must seek salvation by faith apart from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/abrahams-sacrifice-of-isaac-226x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39052,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/justification-by-works-and-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":42364,"position":2},"title":"Justification by Works and Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford At the end of Romans 3 and the beginning of Romans 4, we encounter the most famous of Paul's teachings: justification by faith in Jesus. Throughout the context, he contrasts it with justification by works. Abraham was not justified by works, nor was David, nor can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/baptism2-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-comparison-of-romans-4-and-james-214-26\/","url_meta":{"origin":42364,"position":3},"title":"A Comparison of Romans 4 and James 2:14-26","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Sasser Recently, we have been listening to a speaker on this radio station discussing the 4th chapter of Romans as compared to the 2nd chapter of James. It was obvious, from some of his statements, that he was trying to make Paul teach salvation by faith only and\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":20009,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-work-to-become-more-righteous-is-it-true-you-are-not-accepting-gods-righteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":42364,"position":4},"title":"If you work to become more righteous, is it true you are not accepting God’s righteousness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Jeff, A friend posted this on Facebook. I've read it over and over, and I just can't grasp what is being said. I'm always skeptical when a writer only quotes one Bible verse when he has so much to say. Sounds to me like a false doctrine or\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":38682,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-redemption-in-christ-an-examination-of-romans-319-521\/","url_meta":{"origin":42364,"position":5},"title":"The Redemption in Christ: An Examination of Romans 3:19-5:21","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sean P. Cavender Paul indicted all people, both Jew and Gentile, as guilty of sin before God (Romans 3:19). It is due to man's ungodliness that the wrath of God is revealed, and He will judge all sin as worthy of death (Romans 1:18,32). The reality of sin is\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42364","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=42364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}