The Truth: We Are Saved By Faith Alone

[BrandenRush]

It is a free gift, we agree on that… However, the gift cannot be used if it is not opened. One cannot just sit there staring at the gift. One must act on it. Everyone gets the gift but it is those who respond by opening it that get the benefits of the gift.

Christ died for EVERYONE but is it those who respond to in faith (which is also a work because faith requires a consent of the intellect and the will), who will receive the reward of heaven. Let’s not forget also that 1 Cor 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Love is a work and it’s greater than faith!

God doesn’t revoke it! But we can certainly walk away from it and be cut off.

Romans 11:22-23
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

You can’t be cut off from something you don’t already have!

I think that we agree more on the act of responding in faith than what meets the eye. You call it a work where as I am more inclined to see it as merely possessing faith in Christ and not necessarily a work. I do however agree that you must have a response in faith.

 

[havemercy]

I don’t have to listen to what “churches” say. Just read John 15, and get over it already: What you do and fail to do matters, eternally. Big surprise, this is what the Catholic Church teaches! Thanks be to God.

 

[mom2three]

I think that we agree more on the act of responding in faith than what meets the eye. You call it a work where as I am more inclined to see it as merely possessing faith in Christ and not necessarily a work. I do however agree that you must have a response in faith.

The reason for saying it is a work is because the faith requires action… you don’t just “faith”. You do something… for example, many say a prayer of repentance.

In addition, there are many things that we are called to do in order to gain eternal life. This is why we say we must have faith and good works in response to the free gift of God’s grace.

1 Cor 13:2
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

*Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. *

Have faith or no one will see the Lord? No. Live in peace and be holy!

Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,* but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven**.*

Only he who has faith? No. We have to DO something (obey God) to enter the kingdom of heaven!

*Matthew 19:16-17
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” *

If you want to enter life, believe? Have faith? No. Obey the commandments!

*Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. *

If we are to come after Jesus, we must DO something… we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily!

*John 6:51, 53
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. *

Here, even Christ tells us we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood in order to have LIFE! Faith alone? No.

*Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. *

Faith ALONE? No. Whoever believes AND is baptized will be saved!

 

[BrandenRush]

The reason for saying it is a work is because the faith requires action… you don’t just “faith”. You do something… for example, many say a prayer of repentance.

In addition, there are many things that we are called to do in order to gain eternal life. This is why we say we must have faith and good works in response to the free gift of God’s grace.

1 Cor 13:2
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

*Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. *

Have faith or no one will see the Lord? No. Live in peace and be holy!

Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,* but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven***.

Only he who has faith? No. We have to DO something (obey God) to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Matthew 19:16-17
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

If you want to enter life, believe? Have faith? No. Obey the commandments!

Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

If we are to come after Jesus, we must DO something… we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily!

John 6:51, 53
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Here, even Christ tells us we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood in order to have LIFE! Faith alone? No.

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Faith ALONE? No. Whoever believes AND is baptized will be saved!

I am sorry to say, but as so many times this happens in the CC it is just too much info. It is much simpler. Listen to what scripture says on salvation and you get a very clear picture. Jesus died and gave us what we could never earn. Not hard to see. We are saved by grace through faith. NOT works. Works are what we do because we are saved not because we need them to be saved. Very simple.

 

[BrandenRush]

I don’t have to listen to what “churches” say. Just read John 15, and get over it already: What you do and fail to do matters, eternally. Big surprise, this is what the Catholic Church teaches! Thanks be to God.

If what you do ultimately matters beyond forgiveness, then Jesus died for nothing. So many Catholics portrait reality that Jesus died for nothing and that you need all the dogma and doctrine of the CC to be saved. NOT true!

 

[Madaglan]

Originally Posted by BrandenRush:

If what you do ultimately matters beyond forgiveness, then Jesus died for nothing. So many Catholics portrait reality that Jesus died for nothing and that you need all the dogma and doctrine of the CC to be saved. NOT true!

I don’t fully agree with you on the second sentence. I would say that a great number of Catholics today downplay the necessity of believing all the Church believes for salvation. Many Catholics would also emphasize that Protestants (including those vehemently in disagreement with Catholic positions) are nonetheless imperfect Catholics by virtue of their Trinitarian baptism. Many Catholics would tend to see Protestants as members of churches that are vehicles of salvation, although only through Christ and the Catholic Church.

 

[Goth_Catholic]

Branden, Luke 10:27 thou shall love God…AND THY NEIGHBOR AS THY SELF 28 do this and thou shall live

also Jesus told the rich man to obey the commandments, he replied he has and went on this way. But Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter heaven.

 

[Verisimilitude]

If what you do ultimately matters beyond forgiveness, then Jesus died for nothing. So many Catholics portrait reality that Jesus died for nothing and that you need all the dogma and doctrine of the CC to be saved. NOT true!

Of course it matters, which does not invalidate why Christ lived/died/Lives, nor does it invalidate the teachings/positions of the Church. I have been struck recently by how Protestants in particular fight so hard to justify why they do not want to rejoin the Church. It’s almost funny.

 

[mom2three]

I am sorry to say, but as so many times this happens in the CC it is just too much info. It is much simpler. Listen to what scripture says on salvation and you get a very clear picture. Jesus died and gave us what we could never earn. Not hard to see. We are saved by grace through faith. NOT works. Works are what we do because we are saved not because we need them to be saved. Very simple.

I’m not talking about what we “earn”. I’m talking about our response to God’s grace that gives us eternal life.

You tell me to listen to what scripture says and at the same time, you completely IGNORE what it says. Scripture does not ANYWHERE say that one is saved by faith ALONE.

If you read ANYTHING I posted FROM SCRIPTURE, you would indeed see that we DO need works to be saved (in addition, of course, to faith).

I suppose you could just toss out all those scriptures and create your own gospel but all you have is half the truth. If I looked at scripture the way you do, I could make a VERY strong case for WORKS ALONE.

If you really believe all of Scripture, as you claim, then how are you able to interpret ANY of those passages to mean that we are saved by faith alone?

Perhaps you should take your own advice. Listen to Scripture. It’s very simple.

 

[Milliardo]

I am sorry to say, but as so many times this happens in the CC it is just too much info. It is much simpler. Listen to what scripture says on salvation and you get a very clear picture. Jesus died and gave us what we could never earn. Not hard to see. We are saved by grace through faith. NOT works. Works are what we do because we are saved not because we need them to be saved. Very simple.

But you still forget the Judgment passages, where we see that God’s basis for Judgment are works. Not just faith, but works. So we are saved by what we do, coupled with faith. It is not only by faith alone. Try finding any passage about Judgment without works mentioned.

 

[Allweather]

Jesus said that we must accept the gift of heaven as a child accepts a gift. I trust that you have been around children on Christmas morning. See how easy it works. Salvation is based upon belief and a growth of faith in progress. The faith is in progression not your chances at salvation. God doesn’t grant it today and think of revoking it tomorrow like the CC makes it seem. Read scripture on this.

I think Branden is on the right pathway. Salvation is a process. Faith grows in time as one cooperates with God’s gift of faith.

But he’s a little confused about the idea of God “revoking” salvation. God revokes nothing. Man takes himself out of God’s grace by deliberately turning away into mortal sin. It is an important distinction. Man throws his salvation away. God does not revoke it. In fact, it is God’s earnest desire that all be saved, and he makes every avenue available to us for that end.

Anyways, keep thinking about this, Branden… you are on the right road to understanding true religion.

 

[DixiesFinest]

Don’t allow anyone or any church tell you that you need to do good works to win your way to Heaven. It is a lie. Scripture screams that we are saved by our faith in Christ and that works are the results of our faith, not the saving mechanism. Jesus said to accept Heaven like a child accepts a gift. That doesn’t mean going to mass everyday and going to confession once a week is going to buy your ticket to Heaven because it won’t. You won’t find Jesus through the mazes of the Roman Catholic church. You will find him by reading and studying Scripture and praying to him and seeking him in all that you do. The church can’t save you, Mary can’t save you, only faith in jesus Christ can save you no matter how much of a sinner or how little of a sinner you are!

Funny, I found Him there.

Correct, Our Lady does not provide salvation…obviously.

Here, this might help…

catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9710chap.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0303sbs.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9402vbv.asp

 

[Fisher]

mercygate;2452863]The Good Thief episode is often used to illustrate “faith alone.” To the extent that this man had no opportunity to demonstrate a living faith by “working out his salvation with fear and trembling” – as St. Paul admonishes in the Epistle to the Philippians – he IS saved by his faith. But as with so much in Scripture, the principle that of him who is given much, much is required applies in the normal course of events. The Catholic Church has always affirmed deathbed conversions. Which, of course, you will know, having been Catholic for decades. There is no contradiction between the Good Thief’s redemption and the notion that faith cannot be merely a said affirmation.

Philippians 2:12, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Psalm 51:12, “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.”

We learned in a previous chapter that there are two parts to salvation (salvaging). Perhaps it would be better to say there are two salvations–the salvation of the soul and the salvation of the life, or as the previous chapter emphasized, the salvation from the garbage can and the salvation to the recycling. The first is what David was talking about in Psalm 51:12. Notice the words, “'My salvation.” The second is the one that is mentioned in Philippians 2:12. Notice the words, “work out your own salvation.” Notice, I am not commanded to work out God’s salvation, for I cannot do that. I am, however, commanded to work out my own. I have no part in the salvation of my soul; I do have a part in the salvation of my life.

God reminds me that His salvation is not of works (Ephesians 2:8,9). However, immediately He tells me that I was created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Ephesians 2: 10). This coincides with Philippians 2:12 which admonishes me to work out my own salvation. This means His salvaging is not of works and my salvaging largely depends upon my works.

1. His salvation is all His work.
2. My own salvation includes my works.
3. Good works are prepared for me. Ephesians 2: 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Notice that the works were foreordained that I should do them.
4. I am His work.

 

[Scarecrow]

James 2:2 Faith without works is dead.

I believe they go hand in hand. You cant separate the two for a true believer.

 

[Fisher]

“Not by reason of good works that we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us” (Titus 3:5).

Then where do works come in? James answers that question. “Show me thy faith without works, and I from my works will show thee my faith,” he says (James 2:18). Works follow faith. Faith produces works. If you are saved your life will show it. You work for God because you ARE saved, not in order to be saved. “Faith without works” is dead.

 

[justasking4]

I’m not talking about what we “earn”. I’m talking about our response to God’s grace that gives us eternal life.

You tell me to listen to what scripture says and at the same time, you completely IGNORE what it says. Scripture does not ANYWHERE say that one is saved by faith ALONE.

f you read ANYTHING I posted FROM SCRIPTURE, you would indeed see that we DO need works to be saved (in addition, of course, to faith).

 

[justasking4]

“Not by reason of good works that we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us” (Titus 3:5).

Then where do works come in? James answers that question. “Show me thy faith without works, and I from my works will show thee my faith,” he says (James 2:18). Works follow faith. Faith produces works. If you are saved your life will show it. You work for God because you ARE saved, not in order to be saved. “Faith without works” is dead.

James is not teaching that it is the works themselves that saves us but rather we “show” we are saved by our works. These works come from the heart of a saved person who is saved by faith in Christ.

 

[Anacletus]

Don’t allow anyone or any church tell you that you need to do good works to win your way to Heaven. It is a lie. Scripture screams that we are saved by our faith in Christ and that works are the results of our faith, not the saving mechanism. Jesus said to accept Heaven like a child accepts a gift. That doesn’t mean going to mass everyday and going to confession once a week is going to buy your ticket to Heaven because it won’t. You won’t find Jesus through the mazes of the Roman Catholic church. You will find him by reading and studying Scripture and praying to him and seeking him in all that you do. The church can’t save you, Mary can’t save you, only faith in jesus Christ can save you no matter how much of a sinner or how little of a sinner you are!

Shouldn’t you be passing out Jack Chick books at a parking lot somewhere?

 

[Fisher]

James is not teaching that it is the works themselves that saves us but rather we “show” we are saved by our works. These works come from the heart of a saved person who is saved by faith in Christ.

Thats what I was saying.

 

[SFLCatholic]

You seem far too confused which does not surprise me at all if your mind is filled with all of the Catholic rhetoric (which I am not faulting you for). It is outlined in scripture very well and very simple. Jesus said that we must accept the gift of heaven as a child accepts a gift. I trust that you have been around children on Christmas morning. See how easy it works. Salvation is based upon belief and a growth of faith in progress. The faith is in progression not your chances at salvation. God doesn’t grant it today and think of revoking it tomorrow like the CC makes it seem. Read scripture on this.

What Scripture are you reading? Everything you quoted here is based on action. You are confused. But you can change that. Stop following a defective theology. Convert to Catholicism.

accept = act
accepts = act
trust = act
works = act
salvation = act
belief = act
growth = act
faith = act
progression = act
grant = act
think = act
revoking = act
read = act

You even go to the point of saying “See how easy it works.” So, you acknowledged accepting Faith as a work.

Jesus was a man of action and requires it of His followers. Just as the hemorrhaging woman touched His cloak to be saved (Mat. 9:20 - 22), it was the act of reaching out in belief and faith that caused the communion.

We must act upon our faith even if only initially to be granted a communion with God. There is absolutely no way to get around action and work to be saved. Faith alone is not enough.

I am glad you posted. Every time I read these stupid Protestant arguments about Faith alone, I become a stronger Catholic. Keep sharing your defective nonsense.