{"id":89654,"date":"2025-08-23T15:04:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T20:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=89654"},"modified":"2025-08-23T15:04:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T20:04:59","slug":"what-about-faith-only","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-faith-only\/","title":{"rendered":"What About \u201cFaith Only?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Mike Riley<\/p>\n<p>It is not uncommon to hear sincere religious folks speak of being saved by &#8220;faith only&#8221;. They say, &#8220;All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.&#8221; 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 &#8220;faith only&#8221; salvation need to understand that there is a world of difference between salvation &#8220;by faith&#8221; and salvation &#8220;at the point of believing.&#8221; 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&#8217;s deal honestly with the following observations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Saul obviously believed while on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:6). However, if Saul was saved &#8220;at the point of faith&#8221;, 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), &#8220;<em>And now why tarriest thou? arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 22:16).<\/li>\n<li>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&#8217;s inspired message, they asked, &#8220;<em>Men and brethren, what shall we do?<\/em>&#8221; (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: &#8220;<em>Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins &#8230;<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 2:38). The expression &#8220;<em>for the remission of sins<\/em>&#8221; means &#8220;in order to have sins remitted&#8221;. 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The real difference between those who believe that &#8220;faith only&#8221; saves and biblical salvation is the exact point in time at which sins are forgiven. Since sin is contrary to God&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s sins are remitted (Acts 2:38) and &#8220;washed away&#8221; (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&#8217;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 &#8211; not before.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Mike Riley It is not uncommon to hear sincere religious folks speak of being saved by &#8220;faith only&#8221;. They say, &#8220;All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.&#8221; Their statement is designed to convey the concept that one is saved at the exact moment of belief in Jesus. Those who&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","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-89654","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":68821,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-case-of-the-philippian-jailor\/","url_meta":{"origin":89654,"position":0},"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 &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/saving-faith-is-obedient-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":89654,"position":1},"title":"Saving Faith Is Obedient Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Abernathy Many passages could be cited to show that one must believe (have faith) to be saved. However, believing is more involved than the sole mental act. Ultimately, believing in the Lord is to do what He says, and refusing\u00a0to obey\u00a0His will is an expression of disbelief! The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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":89654,"position":2},"title":"Doesn&#8217;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 &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7847,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-you-misinterpreting-the-scriptures-unless-you-teach-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":89654,"position":3},"title":"Aren&#8217;t you misinterpreting the Scriptures unless you teach faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I agree with you on many points however I believe that you make many hasty judgments and contradict yourself many times over.\u00a0 Whether you are Nazarene, Pentecostal, Baptist Church of Christ, etc. it truly does not matter because salvation is not found in your denomination rather in Christ Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"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":89654,"position":4},"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 &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10976,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-saves-us-from-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":89654,"position":5},"title":"What Saves Us from Sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 28, July 11, 2008 We are not saved by one thing to the exclusion of all others, for there are many factors that work out our salvation. Rather than focus on just one passage that speaks of our being saved, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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\/2008\/09\/saved.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89654","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=89654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}