The creed book of one popular denomination says, “that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” But is it true? Does the Bible say that if one believes on Jesus, it makes no difference what else he believes or does? Are you surprised that the Bible says plainly that faith alone is not enough?<\/p>\n
In James 2:14-12, the Bible addresses the question of “faith alone” by talking about a man who believes but does not obey. James asks “Can faith save him?<\/em>” (James 2:14). His answer is a clear No! Even demons believe (James 2:19) to no avail. Man is justified “not by faith only<\/em>” (James 2:24) because “faith without works is dead<\/em>” (James 2:26).<\/p>\n In John 8:30-36, Jesus spoke to some who “believed in Him.” But they were not yet saved – Jesus said they also needed to obey His word to be made free. They were believers, but they were not yet free from sin. Later, in John 12:42, some among the rulers believed on Jesus but would not confess it. Were they saved? No, Jesus said plainly that one who will not confess Him on earth will be denied before God (Matthew 10:32-33).<\/p>\n In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says that some who believe enough to accept Him as Lord will be lost because they “practice lawlessness” in spite of their belief. Our practice can affect our salvation! The New Testament speaks of the possibility that one may believe “in vain” (I Corinthians 15:2). Luke 8:13 speaks of some who believe and then fall away. We are told in Acts 8:13 that the sorcerer Simon believed, yet in Acts 8:20-23 we see that his heart had become not right with God, and he was back in the “bond of iniquity.” Obviously, something more than believing was required.<\/p>\n These scriptures do not minimize the value of faith. Faith is an absolute requirement for forgiveness, but it is not the only one. John 1:12 says believers have the “power to become children of God.” They are not yet children of God, but they have to power to become such because faith empowers all the other things that believers are told to do (Acts 8:35-39; I Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:26-27; Acts 22:16). Certainly faith is the foundation, but it is the beginning, not the end.<\/p>\n It is not enough to “simply believe,” or to believe and say a sinner’s prayer. When the Bible says “not by faith only<\/em>” (James 2:24) it should be clear that something else is required.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Erin Percell The creed book of one popular denomination says, “that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” But is it true? Does the Bible say that if one believes on Jesus, it makes no difference what else he believes or does? Are you surprised…<\/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],"class_list":["post-59760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith-alone","tag-faith-only"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-romans-51-teach-we-are-saved-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":59760,"position":0},"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":67015,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/not-by-faith-only\/","url_meta":{"origin":59760,"position":1},"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":60949,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/at-what-point-does-faith-save\/","url_meta":{"origin":59760,"position":2},"title":"At What Point Does Faith Save?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richie Thetford Many denominations will have us believe that we are saved by faith\u00a0before we do the action in accordance with God's command. No doubt you have seen those on television attending a huge denominational service who are invited to come forward at the conclusion of the service 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":15877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-and-works-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":59760,"position":3},"title":"Faith and Works (Sharp)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp The doctrine of salvation by faith alone is fundamental to Protestant theology. The old Methodist Discipline stated, \u201cWherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.\u201d The Standard Baptist Manual, by Edward T. Hiscox teaches, \u201c... the great\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":36481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-apeitheo-in-john-336-translated-not-obey-in-some-versions-and-not-believe-in-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":59760,"position":4},"title":"Why is apeitheo in John 3:36 translated “not obey” in some versions and “not believe” in others?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Something interesting that I came across last week in studying: John 3:36 is a commonly quoted scripture. The KJV, NKJV, and Youngs roughly say: \"He who believes (pisteuo) in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe (apeitheo) the Son shall not see life, but the\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":7082,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-justification-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":59760,"position":5},"title":"Isn’t justification by faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Isn't justification by faith alone? Answer: It is common for people to approach the Scriptures with blinders on, seeking to prove their point by selective use of passages from the Bible. I find it amazing that when I state that justification is\u00a0not by faith alone that people turn this\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\/59760","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=59760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}