Saved by faith alone. A surmised understanding?

[mailmandan]

Type in "faith alone" to bible gateway or e-sword or some other Bible app and see what comes up

Heres the results:


BIBLE SEARCH RESULTS

1. James 2:24
   You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

Don't confuse an empty profession of faith/dead faith that remains alone - "barren of works" (James 2:14) with faith that trusts in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. (Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9) James is discussing the evidence of faith (says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:14-18) and not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God. (Romans 4:2-3)

Therefore, having been justified by faith (faith + what? faith plus nothing - hence, faith alone) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

 

[Everlasting-Grace]

The following is an example of a definitive statement:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Please note that none of the pronouns in the above verse are in question. There is no question as to who is the way to the subject nouns.

In Ephesians 2:8-10 the pronouns "you" and "yourselves" are purposely not defined, making the verse general in nature.

Who does the "grace" apply to?
Those that are saved.
Who are those that are saved?
Those that the "grace" is applied to?

Do you see the issue?

If you believe that the grace in Ephesians 2:8-10 applies to everyone then you are a Universalist.

Ephesians 2:8-10 is purposely written in the general.

There is no way around this.

It still in no way denies what i said.

We have been saved BY GRACE - Who is we? Those who are saved.

How were they saved? By Grace

What means was this grace applied? - Through faith

Was anything else involved? And not of ourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.

So my comment still stands.

You failed to answer my question. Other than Grace what else is involved? according to paul in this passage?

 

[montana123]

Why are there no verses that actually state that we are saved by faith alone? There are a number of churches that hold to this understanding but why no examples of such a simple notion?

The Bible says we are saved by faith, and not by works but this is when we are initially saved for it is all we can do.

Paul said out of faith, hope, and charity, love in action, works, that charity is the greatest.

Which John said without charity the love of God does not dwell in them.

So do not love in words, neither in tongue, but in deeds, works, and in truth.

Love is greater than faith, and faith works by love.

So no love then no faith.

It is not faith alone, but it is love alone, and all things stem from love which is why love is the greatest for no love then nothing is implied to the person to be saved.

Which we are saved by grace through faith, but if no love then no faith then no grace.

When a person receives the Spirit then they have to have works of love to have saving faith.

Which love that can only be done in action is to love people, and help them with their needs, which love is the fulfilling of the law.

Which is why Paul said if any person teaches that godliness is gain from such withdraw yourselves having food, and clothing, be content.

For the love of money is the root of all evil, for it neglects the poor and needy, and love is the fulfilling of the law.

Which Paul said if they covet money then they have erred from the faith, and if they do not have charity then they are nothing.

And James said if they do not have charity then their faith is dead.

Which Paul and James say the same thing which they are talking about when a person receives the Spirit after they are saved by faith, and not by works, which then they have to have works which are works of the Holy Spirit to love people.

Love is greater than faith but many people say we are saved by faith alone, and then they neglect the love part meaning their faith does not apply in their life because of their actions to not love like they should.

For it is not a part time thing but an all the time thing.

1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

 

[p_rehbein]

Why are there no verses that actually state that we are saved by faith alone? There are a number of churches that hold to this understanding but why no examples of such a simple notion?

Stirring the pot are we?

Faith:

noun

1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something:
   "this restores one's faith in politicians"
   Similar:
   trust
   belief
   confidence
   conviction
   credence
2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof:
   "bereaved people who have shown supreme faith"
   Similar:
   religion
   church
   sect
   denomination
   persuasion
   • a system of religious belief:
     "the Christian faith"
     Similar:
     religion
     church
     persuasion
     affiliation
   • a strongly held belief or theory:

Faith is belief. See John 3:16 for the definitive statement you seem to be seeking. Or, if your just stirring the pot, then at least be honest enough to say so.... Twisting words just to stir the pot (IMO) serves no purpose other than to create foolish debates,

2 Timothy 2:23

“But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.”

King James Version (KJV)

 

[Pilgrimshope]

Type in "faith alone" to bible gateway or e-sword or some other Bible app and see what comes up

Heres the results:


BIBLE SEARCH RESULTS

1. James 2:24
   You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? ( genesis 22) Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:21-24‬ ‭

faith is when we hear what God said and believe him like ish when God warned him he was going to flood the earth and how to build an ark and be saved from the flood and enter into a covenant with God Noah believed and obeyed him and was saved but if he wouldn’t have done the work to build the ark he would have also drown

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬

faith is sometimes interpreted by some as “ I have faith so now I need not obey Gods word “ but really it is when we hear Gods word , believe what he’s said , and act upon it believing we’ll receive the promise.

faith is why we would repent and obey God because we believe his word

and faith isnt the alternative to hearing his word and obeying because we believe he exists

 

[Chester]

please note: I did not add the word alone to anything

Please read the passage.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God —

Read carefully

1. We are saved ( a completed action)
2. This salvation is by Grace - (unmerited)
3. This grace is supplied through faith
4. It is a gift of God (unearned - God paid the price in full)
5. it is not of ourselves.

so tell me,

In this passage, Besides Grace, what else is required?

if nothing else is required. then by definition, it is grace alone..

please note: I did not add the word alone to anything

Please read the passage.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God —

Read carefully

1. We are saved ( a completed action)
2. This salvation is by Grace - (unmerited)
3. This grace is supplied through faith
4. It is a gift of God (unearned - God paid the price in full)
5. it is not of ourselves.

so tell me,

In this passage, Besides Grace, what else is required?

if nothing else is required. then by definition, it is grace alone..

Yes, Ephesians 2:8,9 clearly says that we are saved by grace. All five of the points you gave are what the text says! Yes, and amen. But what the passage does not say is that there is nothing else involved or required. And we know clearly from other Scriptures that no one could be saved apart from Jesus having died and risen again. So it is incorrect to say we are saved by grace alone.

 

[Chester]

Why are there no verses that actually state that we are saved by faith alone? There are a number of churches that hold to this understanding but why no examples of such a simple notion?

We are not saved by faith alone. You are right that no Scripture says this.

If it faith alone, one could ask "whose faith?" "my faith" of course! (So then I save myself . . .????)

We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9). Though there are other texts that say that we are to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (as Paul told the Philippian jailor). Scripture in various places makes it very clear that we are not saved by works. And of course all this could not come about without the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I much prefer to start with Scripture to see what it says about being saved. I do not start with a doctrinal tradition such as the "Five Solas" and then work backward to find them in proof texts.

 

[Lamar]

Stirring the pot are we?

Avoiding the issue are we?
No one has a issue with "faith" the subject is "alone". How did you miss that?

Faith is belief. See John 3:16 for the definitive statement you seem to be seeking. Or, if your just stirring the pot, then at least be honest enough to say so.... Twisting words just to stir the pot (IMO) serves no purpose other than to create foolish debates,

John 3:16 is a very general statement. A statement so general that it is used by every "Christian" denomination from Catholic to Mormons.
If this is your "definitive" verse I suggest you do not grasp the meaning of the word.

The verse does not even define what is to be believed, hence its use by many churches.

Again, if faith alone theology is correct where is the example. General statements attesting to the need for faith is not proof text.

We do not in our everyday lives accept such reasoning. Nor should we in our theology.
Unless we are inclined to believe such.

 

[wattie]

Why are there no verses that actually state that we are saved by faith alone? There are a number of churches that hold to this understanding but why no examples of such a simple notion?

John 5:24 is an example. Belief on the Lord Jesus Christ, to be given eternal life. One time event.

Also John 3:16

John 6:40

Belief=faith

The core thing being it is thru faith in Jesus alone that gives eternal life.

When James wrote about faith without being dead.. The context is of people who have faith already and what they do with it. Their works didn't convert them, but did show they had faith.

You gotta understand when the bible shows someone already having faith...rather than their works actually converting them.

 

[Everlasting-Grace]

Yes, Ephesians 2:8,9 clearly says that we are saved by grace. All five of the points you gave are what the text says! Yes, and amen. But what the passage does not say is that there is nothing else involved or required. And we know clearly from other Scriptures that no one could be saved apart from Jesus having died and risen again. So it is incorrect to say we are saved by grace alone.

Jesus dieting and rising is the payment of Grace, so saying grace alone is in effect saying through the work of Jesus

 

[The_old_guy]

Why are there no verses that actually state that we are saved by faith alone? There are a number of churches that hold to this understanding but why no examples of such a simple notion?

You have been misinformed because of the following verses (Ephesians 2:8,9): "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." We are saved by grace through faith and when God declares us not-guilty in his sight as our Judge (justification). Also, he saves us with his gift of the new birth, as Jesus explains in John 3:3. It's more complicated and more glorious than only through faith. What you heard was probably contrasting salvation by works with salvation by faith. Of course, it's the latter.

 

[PaulThomson]

Don't confuse an empty profession of faith/dead faith that remains alone - "barren of works" (James 2:14) with faith that trusts in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. (Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9) James is discussing the evidence of faith (says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:14-18) and not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God. (Romans 4:2-3)

Therefore, having been justified by faith (faith + what? faith plus nothing - hence, faith alone) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

The Bible never says we are saved by faith ALONE. There are other things we need to practise to become more and more saved/whole.

2 Pet. 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We are called and chosen to be conformed to the image of God's Son.

 

[mailmandan]

The Bible never says we are saved by faith ALONE.

I already thoroughly covered this in post #16. You don't need to add the word "alone" next to "belief/faith" in each of these passages of scripture that I listed in post #16 in order to figure out that the words, "belief/faith" stand alone in connection with receiving eternal life/salvation. Hence, FAITH ALONE. Do these many passages of scripture say belief/faith "plus something else?" Plus works? NO. *So, then it's faith (rightly understood) in Christ alone.

There are other things we need to practise to become more and more saved/whole.

More and more saved? Either we are saved or else we are lost. (John 3:18) There is no middle ground or degrees of being saved.

2 Pet. 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

By cultivating the qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7, believers can be sure that God has called them and elected them. These fruits will confirm it. Make sure you have been called and elected.

Romans 8:30 says, and those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. All of them. Notice how Paul uses the past tense for a future event to stress its certainty.

By cultivating the qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7, Christians can be sure that God has called them and elected them. These fruits will confirm it. Make sure you have been called and elected - bébaios (an adjective, derived from bainō, "to walk where it is solid") – properly, solid (sure) enough to walk on; hence, firm, unshakable; (figuratively) absolutely dependable, giving guaranteed support (security, surety). To practice these qualities gives evidence of salvation, though they are not the basis (or cause) of salvation. They are the effect. Cause of being in Christ (FAITH) effect of being in Christ (FRUIT).

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 8). For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins (vs. 9). What is the object of the forgetting? Is this forgetting temporary because this believer had fallen into error or does this lack of fruit exist because this person’s "cleansing" was merely an external reformation that did not come from a truly changed heart? The genuineness of their profession will be demonstrated as they express these virtues. These fruits confirm their divine source.

In verse 10, we are exhorted to give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.
Proverbs 24:16 - For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

We are called and chosen to be conformed to the image of God's Son.

We must not confuse the process of ongoing or progressive sanctification with justification.

 

[Mem]

We must not confuse the process of ongoing or progressive sanctification with justification.

I think equating justification with salvation is the common mistake because of its similarity to the concept of guilt by association. We are asked in a court of law to produce evidence in order to secure our justification, and likewise, salvation produces fruit as the evidence of our salvation. And as we grow, in sanctification (in faith and grace, and mirroring our Lord in those characteristics more and more), the fruit becomes more prolific. So, since James 2:24-6 is speaking toward justification, it is not a sufficient prooftext without inference that salvation is not through faith (in the grace by which, if without, salvation is otherwise impossible) alone.

 

[Adstar]

Why are there no verses that actually state that we are saved by faith alone? There are a number of churches that hold to this understanding but why no examples of such a simple notion?

(Romans 3:23-28) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; {24} Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: {25} Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; {26} To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. {27} Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. {28} Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

 

[PennEd]

Please note: It is you who is adding "alone" & "only" into the verses. Paul could have simply wrote the verses in a definitive tone if he had wished. He chose to write the verses in the general.

"For it is by food you are fed, and that not of yourselves, but a gift of God through farmers."

How silly to think I'd need to add "ONLY" to make the point that it is only food that feeds and nourishes our bodies.

 

[Lamar]

(Romans 3:23-28) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; {24} Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: {25} Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; {26} To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. {27} Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. {28} Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

As the verses state: "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law".

Agreed but what about the question of salvation based upon faith alone???
All of us accept that the deeds of the law are not needed.

 

[Lamar]

"For it is by food you are fed, and that not of yourselves, but a gift of God through farmers."

How silly to think I'd need to add "ONLY" to make the point that it is only food that feeds and nourishes our bodies.

Your example proves my point.

There are many kinds of foods as there are many kinds of faith.
Are we allowed to choose the faith that we are to believe as we are allowed to choose our food?

Since the word "faith" is not defined in this verse then adding "alone" undermines the teachings of the rest of the Bible.
Hence the lack of "alone".

Adding "alone" changes this general verse into a all encompassing statement that I suspect even you would not accept.

The verse is purposely written in a general sense and should not be interpreted as a panacea for all questions related to salvation.

Even Muslims have faith that Jesus was a great man of God.
That faith will not save them unless you interpret the verse as "alone"...think about it.

 

[Lamar]

What you heard was probably contrasting salvation by works with salvation by faith. Of course, it's the latter.

"Works"???

What type of works are you referring to?

 

[Lamar]

The Bible clearly states in many passages of scripture that we are saved through belief/faith "apart from additions or modifications." (Luke 7:50; 8:12; John 1:12; 3:15,16,18,36; 6:40,47; 11:25,26; Acts 10:43; 11:17; 13:39; 15:7-9; 16:31; 26:18; Romans 1:16; 3:24-28; 4:5; 5:1; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 2:16; 3:6-9, 26; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 3:9; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:39; 1 John 5:13 etc..).

Now you don't need to add the word "alone" next to "belief/faith" in each of these passages of scripture in order to figure out that the words, "belief/faith" stand alone in connection with receiving eternal life/salvation. Hence, FAITH ALONE. Do these many passages of scripture say belief/faith "plus something else?" Plus works? NO. *So, then it's faith (rightly understood) in Christ alone.

Not to be confused with an empty profession of faith/dead faith that remains "alone" - barren of works. (James 2:14-24)

If you have to claim that "alone" is implied in every one of your 33 verses but not actually stated then your theology is rather weak.

Can you not find even one verse that supports your "faith alone" theology without this presumption???

Must you shoehorn this adjective/adverb into every one of your proof texts???