The doctrine of salvation by faith alone is a popular means by which many in the religious world have been deceived into believing they have obeyed the will of God and live under the presumption they are disciples of Christ. While the doctrine has been around for many years, Billy Graham did much to propagate the idea of salvation by faith alone. He writes, “Those who surrender their lives to Him and receive Him into their hearts. It is this act which makes you a Christian” (My Answer, 9\/15\/55). Pulpits throughout the land offer an invitation of false hope when honest people are seeking the way of salvation. What they are given is a doctrine of men that is not found in scripture.<\/p>\n
Martin Luther said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” While he played with semantics, Luther suggested in opposition to the works salvation of the Roman Catholic Church that one had simply to have faith to be saved. Neither is true (salvation by works alone; salvation by faith alone) and yet many people are still being led to believe that accepting Christ as their Savior and Lord is all it takes to “make” a Christian.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, the only place in the Bible (all sixty-six books) that “faith” and “alone” is found is written by James in James 2:17 – “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone<\/em>” (James 2:17 – King James Version). The American Standard Version renders the passage, “Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.<\/em>” Martin Luther believed that James contradicted what Paul wrote but it never changed the truth of Paul’s writings nor James because “no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God<\/em>” (II Peter 1:21).<\/p>\n Not one example of a person becoming a New Testament disciple by “faith alone” is found in scripture. There are many examples of conversion (Acts of the Apostles) but none are told to say “yes” to Christ and at that moment experience the new birth. Does eternal life begin the moment we accept Christ as Savior and Lord? Not according to the Bible. Why do so many people believe in such a doctrine when there is no evidence of teaching in the word of God?<\/p>\n The great tragedy of the doctrine of salvation by faith alone is the deception it brings to the hearts of those who honestly are seeking the truth of deliverance from sin and in the mind of God fail to achieve that blessing. Why? The apostle Paul warned Timothy of the dangers of the doctrines of men. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:3-4). The doctrine of salvation by faith alone is a falsehood.<\/p>\n Is faith necessary for salvation? “Without faith it is impossible to please Him<\/em>” (Hebrews 11:6). What did Peter tell those gathered on Pentecost (Acts 2:36-41)? What instructions were given to the Samaritans in Acts 8:5-13? How did the Ethiopian become a disciple of Christ (Acts 8:35-38)? How did Paul explain his conversion (Acts 9:1-19; 22:1-21)? Cornelius found the truth in Acts 10 as did Lydia in Acts 16:13-15; the jailor in Acts 16:25-34 and the Corinthians in Acts 18:8.<\/p>\n What must you do to be saved today? Follow the same pattern as found in the New Testament. That is the only way to be a Christian (Luke 6:46-49).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Kent Heaton The doctrine of salvation by faith alone is a popular means by which many in the religious world have been deceived into believing they have obeyed the will of God and live under the presumption they are disciples of Christ. While the doctrine has been around for many years, Billy Graham did…<\/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":[27],"tags":[53,1008,47],"class_list":["post-58345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith-alone","tag-faith-only","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-only\/","url_meta":{"origin":58345,"position":0},"title":"Faith Only","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Russell published in\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2005 Even Martin Luther didn't deny baptism as an expression of faith and as necessary to salvation. There were five Latin phrases, known as the \"Five Solas\" that became the mantra of the Protestant Reformation. These five ideas developed\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\/2006\/10\/luther.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-greatest-question\/","url_meta":{"origin":58345,"position":1},"title":"The Greatest Question","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Foy E. Wallace, Jr. The question of all questions is \"What think ye of the Christ?\" What one thinks of Christ determines his thoughts and actions on every question. The correctness of faith depends on the correct answer to the superlative question \"What think ye of Christ?\" The question\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":618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-romans-51-teach-we-are-saved-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":58345,"position":2},"title":"Doesn’t Romans 5:1 teach we are saved by faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Doesn't\u00a0Romans 5:1\u00a0teach that we are saved by faith alone? Answer: Romans 5:1\u00a0says, \"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" This proves that justification requires faith, but your stated goal was to prove that justification was by faith\u00a0alone. There is no\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":58345,"position":3},"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":67015,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/not-by-faith-only\/","url_meta":{"origin":58345,"position":4},"title":"Not By Faith Only","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton When the Bible says, \"not by faith only\" (James 2:14-24), why is it that you hear major denominations claiming that salvation is \"by faith alone\"? I would be embarrassed to hold to a doctrine that directly contradicts the word of God. If the Bible actually taught\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":87257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-martin-luther-taught-about-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":58345,"position":5},"title":"What Martin Luther Taught About Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton While Martin Luther may have taught the idea of salvation by \"faith alone,\" you might be surprised to learn that he did not think faith alone excluded baptism. It was an umbrella term that included repentance and baptism. 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