One of the most central teachings of Christianity is the concept of faith. The significance of biblical faith cannot be overstated. As the Hebrews writer put it, “without faith it is impossible to please Him…” (Heb. 11:6). [All Scripture references will come from the ESV unless otherwise noted] With that said, every Bible student ought to give serious thought to the biblical meaning of faith. Sadly, there is scarcely a more misunderstood and disputed concept in all the Bible than saving faith. It seems that a God “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4) and who “…shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34b) would reveal such a vital truth as saving faith clearly enough that all men should be able to fully understand it. This writer contends that He did.
The goal of this article is to set forth the biblical definition of saving faith and to cut through the muddy waters surrounding this essential tenet of salvation in Christ. In order to do so, we will 1) establish the fact that salvation in Christ is only achievable by faith in the name of Christ, 2) allow the Bible to clearly define said faith, and 3) consider the relationship of faith to works as set forth in the New Testament to determine if the recipient of salvation must do anything in order to be saved from sin and enter into the kingdom of God (e.g. repentance, confession, baptism, holy living).
As for the means of one’s salvation, this author affirms that salvation is a free gift from God obtained by grace, through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). Furthermore, this gift of salvation is for all who believe in Jesus as the Son of God (John 3:16). It is likewise true that no man may ever do enough good deeds to earn his salvation (Eph. 2:9). For this cause, we must fully agree with Paul’s assessment of things in Romans 3:28 that “…one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). Therefore, no one has any grounds of boasting in anything but the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14).
At this point, bible interpreters disagree as to what this means in terms of the need for obedience on the part of Christians. Does the truth that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works mean those who teach that the Bible demands obedience to receive the gift of salvation are in opposition to God’s will? In the minds of many, it does. The question is, does the Bible sustain this contention? To answer this question, we turn to the most influential faith only advocate, the sixteenth century German theologian, Martin Luther.
Luther took Paul’s teachings in Romans 3-4 further than Paul did. In his German translation, Luther added the word “alone” in Romans 3:28 although it was not in the Greek text. Due to this belief, he relegated the book of James to an appendix and called it a “right strawy epistle.” The reason was that Luther felt James’ insistence on salvation by faith in conjunction with works was contradictory to Paul’s teachings in Romans and Galatians. We will discuss the idea of faith versus works later. For now, this introduction to the idea is sufficient to help us understand what Luther and others mean by the term “faith.” Luther’s definition of faith is a mere mental assent or acknowledgment that Jesus is Christ. Is this the biblical concept of faith?
To define the biblical concept of faith, we must consider a couple of interpretive principles. First, we must honor the context of every passage of Scripture. This means 1) the specific statement (in this instance that justification is by faith apart from works of the law), 2) the immediate context (the verses immediately before and after the statement), 3) the context of the biblical book, and 4) the remote context which is the entirety of the Bible. Second, and related to the first principle is the law of non-contradiction which means we never pit one passage of Scripture against another. If two biblical statements appear to contradict one another, then our interpretation of one or both must be faulty because God knows everything (1 John 3:20) and He never lies (Tit. 1:2).
If Luther’s definition of faith is true, then the epistle of James is uninspired and must be rejected. Most people who hold a faith only position are not willing to take this plunge, and this author rejects the notion outright. Therefore, whatever Paul taught in Romans 3-4 about faith apart from works of the law cannot mean what Luther concluded. For this cause, we turn to the context of Romans 3-4 for answers.
First and foremost, we must understand the specific law Paul had in mind. From the previous section in Romans 2:12-3:20, we may confidently conclude that the law under consideration is Moses’ Law and particularly the rite of circumcision (cf. Jn. 7:22). Judaizing teachers plagued the early church with attempts to impose circumcision and keeping Moses’ Law on Gentile converts to Christ (cf. Acts 15). Furthermore, the conclusion of Paul’s argument for justification apart from law was that Abraham was justified before being circumcised. The reason was that he believed God concerning his promises. Paul contrasted his faith with working for a wage (Rom. 4:4). The clear implication is that Abraham’s works did not obligate God to justify him. God did this by His grace based on the faith of Abraham. When we consider everything the Bible says about the faith of Abraham, we cannot conclude that the faith mentioned was a mere mental assent. It was clearly an active, obedient faith.
A further observation from the context of the book of Romans is Paul’s purpose statements found in Romans 1:5 and 16:26. In Romans 1:5, Paul sets forth a very clear objective for the grace and apostleship they had received. By inspiration he said it was “…to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations.” In his closing statements in Romans 16:25-26, Paul doubled back on this statement, and this time he connected it with the gospel and preaching Christ. The gospel had been kept secret for long ages, “…but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.”
One last teaching from Romans 2:6-11 is worth mentioning just here. Paul, within the same context as Romans 3-4, left no room to question the events of the great Day of Judgment. According to the apostle, God will “render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” Paul contrasted faith and the lack thereof. However, he did so in terms of obedience and disobedience, good works and evil works. So, we are talking about that which biblical faith produces. We now turn our attention to another popular passage among faith only advocates to further define biblical faith.
Perhaps the most widely known passage in all of Scripture is John 3:16. It has been called, and for good reason, the golden text of the Bible. The faith only advocate teaches that John 3:16 is the sum total of the plan of salvation. While it is truly a capsule of the gospel, this verse like all the rest, does not stand in isolation. It must be viewed in context as well. Truly this verse teaches that eternal life is extended to all who believe in the only begotten Son of God. If kept in isolation, it is possible to draw the conclusion that simply believing that Jesus is God’s Son is all there is to salvation. However, when we consider the rest of Jesus’ words in John 3:16-21, we see that the condemnation of those who do not believe (vs. 18) is due to their unwillingness to come to the light because of their evil deeds.
If this evidence is not compelling enough, in John 3:36, the apostle John clarifies Jesus’ teachings, and in the process, defines biblical belief for us. The statement in this verse is that “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (NKJV/KJV). This passage is straight forward that the key element in salvation is belief or faith. It is true that faith is the determining factor, but the translation in the KJV and NKJV is lacking.
The verb translated “believes” in John 3:16, 36 is the Greek verb pisteuo. It’s basic meaning is to believe, trust, or be convinced of a thing. When one believes in the Son of God, he is convinced of His truthfulness. He places his confidence in Him. In the Greek language, like the English language, a term such as pisteuo may be negated with the addition of the Greek prefix alpha represented by the English letter a-. This is equivalent to the English prefix un-. So, if the apostle intended to negate the word belief, as the KJV/NKJV translations appear to support, one would expect to find the Greek term apisteuo underlying the term “does not believe.”
However, the term that is translated “does not believe” here is another word entirely. The Greek term is apeitho which is correctly translated “does not obey” in the ASV/NASB/ESV and other translations. The obvious conclusion is that John, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, contrasted belief in Jesus with disobedience to Him. If disobedience is the opposite of belief, then the only proper conclusion is that belief equals obedience. If there remains any doubt at this point, we turn to another passage that uses these terms in the same manner.
In Hebrews 3, the writer reminds his readers of the rebellion of Israel when the spies returned from viewing the land of Canaan. In Hebrews 3:18-19, the writer concludes his argument with two statements pertaining to those with whom the Lord was angry. In 3:18, he says “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient (apeitho)? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief (apistia).” The same comparison is made in Hebrews 4:2, 6. These instances lead to but one conclusion: biblical faith (i.e. saving faith) is obedient faith. This conclusion is unavoidable because in all three examples, belief is contrasted with disobedience, and disobedience and disbelief are used interchangeably. None of this supports earned salvation in any way, but it does disprove the notion that saving faith is a mere mental acknowledgment of the facts about Jesus.
To further solidify the truth of obedient faith as the only kind the Bible knows, consider the words of our Lord in Matthew 7:21-23 where He says outright that many people who think they have been working on His behalf will be surprised to learn that He never knew them. The reason given was that “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” The faith only advocate is at a loss to explain how or better yet why one who gave no mental assent to Jesus as God’s Son would say to Him Lord, Lord and continue to describe their many efforts to work on His behalf.
A similar passage that connects obedience to salvation is Hebrews 5:9 which says that Christ became the source of eternal salvation to all who “obey Him.” When we take this alongside John 14:15, we learn that those who obey Him are those who love Him. 1 John 2:3 gives keeping His commandments as the litmus test to determine if we know Him. Later in 1 John 2:29, John connects working righteousness with being born of Him. This is in perfect harmony with Peter’s words in 1 Peter 1:22-25 where he told those Christians they had purified their souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, and were therefore born again through the word of God that lives and abides forever. Notice he did not say they had purified their souls by merely believing the truth through the Spirit.
Therefore, the only way to reconcile these passages that clearly teach obedience to the will of Christ with the teachings of John 3 and Romans 3-4 is to understand that biblical faith is obedient faith. With this biblical definition of faith in mind, we turn our attention to the final question we seek to answer. Do works of any sort play a part in man’s salvation?
First, we must take note that the term “believes” in John 3:16 and Romans 4:3 are active verbs, meaning the believing set forth is actually something the individual does. Therefore, faith itself is a work of some kind as Jesus clearly said “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Jesus plainly called faith a work. Second, if faith and works are opposed to one another, the Hebrews writer penned the silliest description of faith ever written in Hebrews 11. Every example held up says by faith such and so did… Yet this is precisely the position Luther and other faith only advocates espouse. Does Paul’s description of faith and works in Romans 3-4 contradict James’ description of the two in James 2? Could it be that each writer wrote the truth about faith and works, but they used the term works in two different senses? We must remember that to prove a contradiction, we must prove that the two statements are talking about the same object, at the same time, and in the same sense.
This writer is convinced that Paul and James were discussing two different types of works in their respective writings, and therefore both are absolutely correct in their assessment. If that is the case, then we have reconciled the above statements pertaining to salvation, and the only thing left to do is determine what is the Lord’s will (e.g. belief, repentance, confession, baptism, holy living) and faithfully obey it. This is the only faith the Bible knows.
Paul was clearly discussing works of merit in Romans 3-4 because he says as much in Romans 4:4. Paul’s entire point was that no man may keep the law in such a way as to bring God into his debt to save him. He points out that if a man could merit his salvation by law keeping, it would no longer be a gift, and Jesus would have died for no reason. Yet, in the conclusion of another favorite faith only passage, Paul proclaims forthright that we are created in Him for good works (Eph. 2:10). Hence, the reason He saved us by grace through faith was to bring us to walk in the good works He prepared beforehand for us to do.
This notion harmonizes quite well with Paul’s charge to the Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Again, this is not meritorious work of which Paul speaks, unless he is contradicting himself. Thus, we clearly see that Paul uses the term works in multiple ways. If we can grant that Paul does so, why can we not conclude the same about James? It seems that some are uncomfortable with James’ assessment because it places obligations on the recipient of the gift. However, this should not pose a problem.
We have all received gifts from our fellow man. We all know that when a person gives us a gift, we have not earned that gift in any way. We likewise fully understand that until we reach out our hand and open or receive the gift, we do not enjoy the benefits intended by the giver. The same is true of salvation in Christ. The truth is we are saved by grace (the gift) through faith (opening the gift). Grace is God’s part; faith is man’s part. This does not in any way contradict the biblical message of faith. Indeed, it upholds it perfectly.
The point in James’ epistle is that faith prompts action. In its simplest form, faith means trust. Faith is achieved by hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17). Thus, when anyone reads (hears) God’s word, if they have faith in it, this means they trust that it is true. The only way to demonstrate such faith is when the things spoken are put into practice. For instance, by faith we may know with certainty that God requires repentance on the part of all (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9). By faith we may also confidently conclude that confessing Christ before men is necessary if we hope for salvation (Matt. 10:32-33; Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9-10). By faith we may also conclude that God demands continued faithfulness, even if it costs us our earthly lives (Heb. 10:26-29; Rev. 2:10).
If pressed on these points, most faith only advocates will agree that repentance and confession are essential parts of the plan. Yet, when we come to the notion of baptism in water, which is clearly commanded throughout the New Testament, this is labeled a work and rejected from God’s plan of salvation. This writer contends that faith, repentance, and confession are more of a work on man’s part than baptism, but all of the above are necessary for entry to the body of Christ. To demonstrate, we turn our attention to some of the passages concerning baptism.
To begin, we consider the Great Commission given the apostles directly from the Lord Jesus. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus declared who will receive the blessings of salvation. Here He commanded the apostles to go into all the world preaching the gospel. He then named two conditions for the reception of salvation: belief and baptism. Some quibble that in His negative statement about those who would be lost He only names those who do not believe. This in no way negates the coordinate conjunction He used to join belief and baptism in the positive statement concerning salvation. This conjunction places belief and baptism on par in the statement made. As for His negative statement, if one does not believe, he/she certainly will not be baptized, so there was no need to name them specifically.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave one imperative/command (make disciples) connected to three participles (go, baptizing, teaching). An interesting aspect of participles is that they get their time element and their force from the connecting verb, in this case “make disciples.” Also, the participles describe the way to accomplish the command given. So, we have the command to make disciples (converting the lost), and three participles that give the way to accomplish this command (going, baptizing, teaching). If we leave out any of the three participles, we cannot complete the command to make disciples.
A short time after Jesus’ ascension back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth, just as He promised He would (John 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:12-15). The first full gospel sermon recorded for our learning is found in Acts 2. Here we learn what it means to preach Jesus. Upon hearing an airtight case for the deity of Christ and the truth that they had killed the long-awaited Messiah, Peter’s audience arrived at the kind of faith that saves. They were cut to the heart and asked what they had to do to correct their sin problem. Peter’s answer was to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
Here again we have the inspired record placing equal value on two actions leading to forgiveness or salvation. In Mark 16:16, it was belief and baptism; here it is repentance and baptism. What we learn from this is that in every conversion account, God starts where people are. In this case, they already believed (had faith) so much so that they were cut to the heart. No one is cut to the heart by that which they do not believe. It is noteworthy that both repent and be baptized are in the imperative mood or the mood of command. Again, the coordinate conjunction “and” places both elements on par. To argue against the essentiality of baptism is to argue against the plain teaching of the inspired apostle.
Another passage to consider is Acts 22:16 where Saul of Tarsus is commanded to be baptized. To understand this passage, we must turn to Acts 9 for further details. After encountering the Christ on the road to Damascus, a humbled Saul sought redemption from his guilt. The Lord told him to go into the city and receive instruction on what he must do (9:5-6). From this point, he was blinded for three days and neither ate nor drank (9:9). In verse 11, we learn another important point in this narrative; Saul was praying. So, at this point Saul had demonstrated belief (he asked what to do), repentance (did not eat for three days), and prayer over these events. By the testimony of the faith only advocate, Saul should have been cleared already, yet Ananias gave him something further to do.
If Saul was forgiven at the point of his faith, why then did Ananias command Saul to “arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins?” Peter already gave the answer earlier when he declared that they should repent and be baptized “for the forgiveness of sin.” In 1 Peter 3:20-21, Peter comes right out and says that baptism saves us. Lest Peter be dubbed a legalist or pharisee, he explained that the external washing had nothing to do with said salvation. Indeed, it was an appeal to God for a good conscience. This is in perfect harmony with Ananias’ instruction to Saul. Recall that he told him to “arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
In this context, we have two imperatives (be baptized and wash away sins) and one participle (calling on the name of the Lord). If we remember the use of participles correctly, the calling on the name of the Lord happens at the same time as the imperatives to which it connects. When we consider the teaching of Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”, this passage sheds a new light on what that means. This is the only way to reconcile the idea of calling on His name for salvation with Jesus’ statement that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” (isn’t that calling on His name?) shall enter the kingdom.
These passages leave no room to claim that God did not command baptism as a part of the plan of salvation. Those who decry baptism as a work and therefore relegate it to the realm of the non-essential have overlooked some important matters in these texts. In the passages where believing is attached to salvation, the subject is active (Jn. 3:16, 36; Mk. 1:15; 16:16; Rom. 3:22; 4:24; 6:8; 10:9, 11, 14; 1 Cor. 1:21; Phil. 1:29; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 1:16; Heb. 11:6). Likewise, in the passages which connect repentance with salvation the subject is active (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22; 17:30; 26:20; Lk. 15:7; Rev. 2:5, 16, 21; 3:3, 19). And again, in the passages that relate confession to salvation the subjects are again active (Mt. 10:32; Lk. 12:8; Rom. 10:9; 1 Jn. 4:2-3). However, in the passages where baptism is commanded for forgiveness, the subject is passive (Mk. 16:16, Acts 2:38; 8:36; 10:48; 22:16; Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12). Add all of this up, and baptism is the least work of them all. Perhaps God saw this belief system coming?
If the commandment of our Lord is insufficient to convince the faith only advocate of the necessity of baptism, perhaps a closer look at the mechanics of baptism will be helpful. In Romans 3:24, Paul leaves no question that the redemption of which he speaks based on faith in Jesus Christ is found in Christ. This is congruent with his statement in Ephesians 1:3 which places all spiritual blessings in Christ. This universal affirmative means that absolutely no spiritual blessings may be enjoyed outside of Christ. Hence, if the Bible student may know that which puts one in Christ, he/she may be assured of salvation. This is because they have biblical faith in the divine record. Stated another way “they have believed God and it is counted to them as righteousness” just the same as Abraham.
Again, the biblical record speaks in no uncertain terms as to the means of being placed in Christ. In Romans 6:1-7, Paul emphasized the absurdity of continuing in sin because we are under a system of grace and faith. His contention is that upon becoming a Christian, we die to sin. Literally we put to death our sinful self. In verses 3-4, he gives the mechanics of the process. He said “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Galatians 3:26-27 teaches the same truth. It is through faith that we become children of God in Christ Jesus (3:26). In verse 27, Paul says “for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” We should look closely at the term “for.” The Greek term here translated is gar. One Greek scholar defines gar as “A causative particle standing always after one or more words in a clause and expressing the reason for what has been before, affirmed or implied.” To break that down, Paul is saying the reason we are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ is because (causative particle) we were baptized into Christ.
The implication of these two passages is quite clear. If we leave the creeds, manuals, and catechisms of men out of our interpretive work and let the Bible interpret itself, we will conclude baptism is the work of faith (not merit) that places the previously alien sinner in Christ where all spiritual blessings, including salvation, are found.
As for it being a work of man, the only active participants in the process are the ones immersing the individual and God Almighty. The one immersing has no other role than assisting the passive recipient with doing that which they cannot do for themselves. Colossians 2:12 clearly demonstrates that it is God who is the active party in Scriptural baptism. The subject of baptism is “buried with Him (passive-TH) in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him (passive-TH).” The catalyst of the whole thing is “through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
Thus, the only proper conclusion to draw from our study is that saving faith, as defined by the Bible is obedient faith. As such, the only faith that saves is the faith that searches God’s will and humbly seeks to obey the commandments given. This includes believing, repenting, confessing Christ, being baptized into Christ, and walking in newness of life.
It is difficult to grasp the militant desire of so many to refuse such a clear command of God as that of the submissive act of baptism. The Scriptures are scarcely clearer on any subject than they are on this one. If one desires to treat baptism as a work and discount it based on Romans 3-4, they must first demonstrate that it is a work of merit found within the Law of Moses of which Paul writes in this great book. That this is not the case, all freely admit. If then, one still desires to consider baptism a work of merit, let us not forget that the subject in baptism is passive (i.e. they are not earning anything). On the contrary, when one believes in Jesus, they are active (they are working). The same is true of repentance, confession, and holy living. These things truly are works, yet no one seems ready to cast these aside and call them the devices of a band of legalists. Biblically speaking there is no tension between faith and works. Works of merit and works of the flesh are at odds with biblical faith. But works of faith, such as belief, repentance, confession, and yes even baptism are built in to the biblical term faith. This truth is everywhere evident in the New Testament.
The evidence is clear on these matters. God has spoken. The only question left to answer is, do you have faith in God’s will, or is your faith in a humanly devised scheme of redemption. Paul was equally clear that when two people teach different gospels, they cannot both be in good standing with the Lord (Gal. 1:6-9). Won’t you believe the good news and place your trust in Him?
The goal of this article is to set forth the biblical definition of saving faith and to cut through the muddy waters surrounding this essential tenet of salvation in Christ. In order to do so, we will 1) establish the fact that salvation in Christ is only achievable by faith in the name of Christ, 2) allow the Bible to clearly define said faith, and 3) consider the relationship of faith to works as set forth in the New Testament to determine if the recipient of salvation must do anything in order to be saved from sin and enter into the kingdom of God (e.g. repentance, confession, baptism, holy living).
As for the means of one’s salvation, this author affirms that salvation is a free gift from God obtained by grace, through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). Furthermore, this gift of salvation is for all who believe in Jesus as the Son of God (John 3:16). It is likewise true that no man may ever do enough good deeds to earn his salvation (Eph. 2:9). For this cause, we must fully agree with Paul’s assessment of things in Romans 3:28 that “…one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). Therefore, no one has any grounds of boasting in anything but the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14).
At this point, bible interpreters disagree as to what this means in terms of the need for obedience on the part of Christians. Does the truth that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works mean those who teach that the Bible demands obedience to receive the gift of salvation are in opposition to God’s will? In the minds of many, it does. The question is, does the Bible sustain this contention? To answer this question, we turn to the most influential faith only advocate, the sixteenth century German theologian, Martin Luther.
Luther took Paul’s teachings in Romans 3-4 further than Paul did. In his German translation, Luther added the word “alone” in Romans 3:28 although it was not in the Greek text. Due to this belief, he relegated the book of James to an appendix and called it a “right strawy epistle.” The reason was that Luther felt James’ insistence on salvation by faith in conjunction with works was contradictory to Paul’s teachings in Romans and Galatians. We will discuss the idea of faith versus works later. For now, this introduction to the idea is sufficient to help us understand what Luther and others mean by the term “faith.” Luther’s definition of faith is a mere mental assent or acknowledgment that Jesus is Christ. Is this the biblical concept of faith?
To define the biblical concept of faith, we must consider a couple of interpretive principles. First, we must honor the context of every passage of Scripture. This means 1) the specific statement (in this instance that justification is by faith apart from works of the law), 2) the immediate context (the verses immediately before and after the statement), 3) the context of the biblical book, and 4) the remote context which is the entirety of the Bible. Second, and related to the first principle is the law of non-contradiction which means we never pit one passage of Scripture against another. If two biblical statements appear to contradict one another, then our interpretation of one or both must be faulty because God knows everything (1 John 3:20) and He never lies (Tit. 1:2).
If Luther’s definition of faith is true, then the epistle of James is uninspired and must be rejected. Most people who hold a faith only position are not willing to take this plunge, and this author rejects the notion outright. Therefore, whatever Paul taught in Romans 3-4 about faith apart from works of the law cannot mean what Luther concluded. For this cause, we turn to the context of Romans 3-4 for answers.
First and foremost, we must understand the specific law Paul had in mind. From the previous section in Romans 2:12-3:20, we may confidently conclude that the law under consideration is Moses’ Law and particularly the rite of circumcision (cf. Jn. 7:22). Judaizing teachers plagued the early church with attempts to impose circumcision and keeping Moses’ Law on Gentile converts to Christ (cf. Acts 15). Furthermore, the conclusion of Paul’s argument for justification apart from law was that Abraham was justified before being circumcised. The reason was that he believed God concerning his promises. Paul contrasted his faith with working for a wage (Rom. 4:4). The clear implication is that Abraham’s works did not obligate God to justify him. God did this by His grace based on the faith of Abraham. When we consider everything the Bible says about the faith of Abraham, we cannot conclude that the faith mentioned was a mere mental assent. It was clearly an active, obedient faith.
A further observation from the context of the book of Romans is Paul’s purpose statements found in Romans 1:5 and 16:26. In Romans 1:5, Paul sets forth a very clear objective for the grace and apostleship they had received. By inspiration he said it was “…to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations.” In his closing statements in Romans 16:25-26, Paul doubled back on this statement, and this time he connected it with the gospel and preaching Christ. The gospel had been kept secret for long ages, “…but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.”
One last teaching from Romans 2:6-11 is worth mentioning just here. Paul, within the same context as Romans 3-4, left no room to question the events of the great Day of Judgment. According to the apostle, God will “render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” Paul contrasted faith and the lack thereof. However, he did so in terms of obedience and disobedience, good works and evil works. So, we are talking about that which biblical faith produces. We now turn our attention to another popular passage among faith only advocates to further define biblical faith.
Perhaps the most widely known passage in all of Scripture is John 3:16. It has been called, and for good reason, the golden text of the Bible. The faith only advocate teaches that John 3:16 is the sum total of the plan of salvation. While it is truly a capsule of the gospel, this verse like all the rest, does not stand in isolation. It must be viewed in context as well. Truly this verse teaches that eternal life is extended to all who believe in the only begotten Son of God. If kept in isolation, it is possible to draw the conclusion that simply believing that Jesus is God’s Son is all there is to salvation. However, when we consider the rest of Jesus’ words in John 3:16-21, we see that the condemnation of those who do not believe (vs. 18) is due to their unwillingness to come to the light because of their evil deeds.
If this evidence is not compelling enough, in John 3:36, the apostle John clarifies Jesus’ teachings, and in the process, defines biblical belief for us. The statement in this verse is that “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (NKJV/KJV). This passage is straight forward that the key element in salvation is belief or faith. It is true that faith is the determining factor, but the translation in the KJV and NKJV is lacking.
The verb translated “believes” in John 3:16, 36 is the Greek verb pisteuo. It’s basic meaning is to believe, trust, or be convinced of a thing. When one believes in the Son of God, he is convinced of His truthfulness. He places his confidence in Him. In the Greek language, like the English language, a term such as pisteuo may be negated with the addition of the Greek prefix alpha represented by the English letter a-. This is equivalent to the English prefix un-. So, if the apostle intended to negate the word belief, as the KJV/NKJV translations appear to support, one would expect to find the Greek term apisteuo underlying the term “does not believe.”
However, the term that is translated “does not believe” here is another word entirely. The Greek term is apeitho which is correctly translated “does not obey” in the ASV/NASB/ESV and other translations. The obvious conclusion is that John, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, contrasted belief in Jesus with disobedience to Him. If disobedience is the opposite of belief, then the only proper conclusion is that belief equals obedience. If there remains any doubt at this point, we turn to another passage that uses these terms in the same manner.
In Hebrews 3, the writer reminds his readers of the rebellion of Israel when the spies returned from viewing the land of Canaan. In Hebrews 3:18-19, the writer concludes his argument with two statements pertaining to those with whom the Lord was angry. In 3:18, he says “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient (apeitho)? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief (apistia).” The same comparison is made in Hebrews 4:2, 6. These instances lead to but one conclusion: biblical faith (i.e. saving faith) is obedient faith. This conclusion is unavoidable because in all three examples, belief is contrasted with disobedience, and disobedience and disbelief are used interchangeably. None of this supports earned salvation in any way, but it does disprove the notion that saving faith is a mere mental acknowledgment of the facts about Jesus.
To further solidify the truth of obedient faith as the only kind the Bible knows, consider the words of our Lord in Matthew 7:21-23 where He says outright that many people who think they have been working on His behalf will be surprised to learn that He never knew them. The reason given was that “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” The faith only advocate is at a loss to explain how or better yet why one who gave no mental assent to Jesus as God’s Son would say to Him Lord, Lord and continue to describe their many efforts to work on His behalf.
A similar passage that connects obedience to salvation is Hebrews 5:9 which says that Christ became the source of eternal salvation to all who “obey Him.” When we take this alongside John 14:15, we learn that those who obey Him are those who love Him. 1 John 2:3 gives keeping His commandments as the litmus test to determine if we know Him. Later in 1 John 2:29, John connects working righteousness with being born of Him. This is in perfect harmony with Peter’s words in 1 Peter 1:22-25 where he told those Christians they had purified their souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, and were therefore born again through the word of God that lives and abides forever. Notice he did not say they had purified their souls by merely believing the truth through the Spirit.
Therefore, the only way to reconcile these passages that clearly teach obedience to the will of Christ with the teachings of John 3 and Romans 3-4 is to understand that biblical faith is obedient faith. With this biblical definition of faith in mind, we turn our attention to the final question we seek to answer. Do works of any sort play a part in man’s salvation?
First, we must take note that the term “believes” in John 3:16 and Romans 4:3 are active verbs, meaning the believing set forth is actually something the individual does. Therefore, faith itself is a work of some kind as Jesus clearly said “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Jesus plainly called faith a work. Second, if faith and works are opposed to one another, the Hebrews writer penned the silliest description of faith ever written in Hebrews 11. Every example held up says by faith such and so did… Yet this is precisely the position Luther and other faith only advocates espouse. Does Paul’s description of faith and works in Romans 3-4 contradict James’ description of the two in James 2? Could it be that each writer wrote the truth about faith and works, but they used the term works in two different senses? We must remember that to prove a contradiction, we must prove that the two statements are talking about the same object, at the same time, and in the same sense.
This writer is convinced that Paul and James were discussing two different types of works in their respective writings, and therefore both are absolutely correct in their assessment. If that is the case, then we have reconciled the above statements pertaining to salvation, and the only thing left to do is determine what is the Lord’s will (e.g. belief, repentance, confession, baptism, holy living) and faithfully obey it. This is the only faith the Bible knows.
Paul was clearly discussing works of merit in Romans 3-4 because he says as much in Romans 4:4. Paul’s entire point was that no man may keep the law in such a way as to bring God into his debt to save him. He points out that if a man could merit his salvation by law keeping, it would no longer be a gift, and Jesus would have died for no reason. Yet, in the conclusion of another favorite faith only passage, Paul proclaims forthright that we are created in Him for good works (Eph. 2:10). Hence, the reason He saved us by grace through faith was to bring us to walk in the good works He prepared beforehand for us to do.
This notion harmonizes quite well with Paul’s charge to the Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Again, this is not meritorious work of which Paul speaks, unless he is contradicting himself. Thus, we clearly see that Paul uses the term works in multiple ways. If we can grant that Paul does so, why can we not conclude the same about James? It seems that some are uncomfortable with James’ assessment because it places obligations on the recipient of the gift. However, this should not pose a problem.
We have all received gifts from our fellow man. We all know that when a person gives us a gift, we have not earned that gift in any way. We likewise fully understand that until we reach out our hand and open or receive the gift, we do not enjoy the benefits intended by the giver. The same is true of salvation in Christ. The truth is we are saved by grace (the gift) through faith (opening the gift). Grace is God’s part; faith is man’s part. This does not in any way contradict the biblical message of faith. Indeed, it upholds it perfectly.
The point in James’ epistle is that faith prompts action. In its simplest form, faith means trust. Faith is achieved by hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17). Thus, when anyone reads (hears) God’s word, if they have faith in it, this means they trust that it is true. The only way to demonstrate such faith is when the things spoken are put into practice. For instance, by faith we may know with certainty that God requires repentance on the part of all (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9). By faith we may also confidently conclude that confessing Christ before men is necessary if we hope for salvation (Matt. 10:32-33; Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9-10). By faith we may also conclude that God demands continued faithfulness, even if it costs us our earthly lives (Heb. 10:26-29; Rev. 2:10).
If pressed on these points, most faith only advocates will agree that repentance and confession are essential parts of the plan. Yet, when we come to the notion of baptism in water, which is clearly commanded throughout the New Testament, this is labeled a work and rejected from God’s plan of salvation. This writer contends that faith, repentance, and confession are more of a work on man’s part than baptism, but all of the above are necessary for entry to the body of Christ. To demonstrate, we turn our attention to some of the passages concerning baptism.
To begin, we consider the Great Commission given the apostles directly from the Lord Jesus. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus declared who will receive the blessings of salvation. Here He commanded the apostles to go into all the world preaching the gospel. He then named two conditions for the reception of salvation: belief and baptism. Some quibble that in His negative statement about those who would be lost He only names those who do not believe. This in no way negates the coordinate conjunction He used to join belief and baptism in the positive statement concerning salvation. This conjunction places belief and baptism on par in the statement made. As for His negative statement, if one does not believe, he/she certainly will not be baptized, so there was no need to name them specifically.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave one imperative/command (make disciples) connected to three participles (go, baptizing, teaching). An interesting aspect of participles is that they get their time element and their force from the connecting verb, in this case “make disciples.” Also, the participles describe the way to accomplish the command given. So, we have the command to make disciples (converting the lost), and three participles that give the way to accomplish this command (going, baptizing, teaching). If we leave out any of the three participles, we cannot complete the command to make disciples.
A short time after Jesus’ ascension back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth, just as He promised He would (John 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:12-15). The first full gospel sermon recorded for our learning is found in Acts 2. Here we learn what it means to preach Jesus. Upon hearing an airtight case for the deity of Christ and the truth that they had killed the long-awaited Messiah, Peter’s audience arrived at the kind of faith that saves. They were cut to the heart and asked what they had to do to correct their sin problem. Peter’s answer was to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
Here again we have the inspired record placing equal value on two actions leading to forgiveness or salvation. In Mark 16:16, it was belief and baptism; here it is repentance and baptism. What we learn from this is that in every conversion account, God starts where people are. In this case, they already believed (had faith) so much so that they were cut to the heart. No one is cut to the heart by that which they do not believe. It is noteworthy that both repent and be baptized are in the imperative mood or the mood of command. Again, the coordinate conjunction “and” places both elements on par. To argue against the essentiality of baptism is to argue against the plain teaching of the inspired apostle.
Another passage to consider is Acts 22:16 where Saul of Tarsus is commanded to be baptized. To understand this passage, we must turn to Acts 9 for further details. After encountering the Christ on the road to Damascus, a humbled Saul sought redemption from his guilt. The Lord told him to go into the city and receive instruction on what he must do (9:5-6). From this point, he was blinded for three days and neither ate nor drank (9:9). In verse 11, we learn another important point in this narrative; Saul was praying. So, at this point Saul had demonstrated belief (he asked what to do), repentance (did not eat for three days), and prayer over these events. By the testimony of the faith only advocate, Saul should have been cleared already, yet Ananias gave him something further to do.
If Saul was forgiven at the point of his faith, why then did Ananias command Saul to “arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins?” Peter already gave the answer earlier when he declared that they should repent and be baptized “for the forgiveness of sin.” In 1 Peter 3:20-21, Peter comes right out and says that baptism saves us. Lest Peter be dubbed a legalist or pharisee, he explained that the external washing had nothing to do with said salvation. Indeed, it was an appeal to God for a good conscience. This is in perfect harmony with Ananias’ instruction to Saul. Recall that he told him to “arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
In this context, we have two imperatives (be baptized and wash away sins) and one participle (calling on the name of the Lord). If we remember the use of participles correctly, the calling on the name of the Lord happens at the same time as the imperatives to which it connects. When we consider the teaching of Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”, this passage sheds a new light on what that means. This is the only way to reconcile the idea of calling on His name for salvation with Jesus’ statement that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” (isn’t that calling on His name?) shall enter the kingdom.
These passages leave no room to claim that God did not command baptism as a part of the plan of salvation. Those who decry baptism as a work and therefore relegate it to the realm of the non-essential have overlooked some important matters in these texts. In the passages where believing is attached to salvation, the subject is active (Jn. 3:16, 36; Mk. 1:15; 16:16; Rom. 3:22; 4:24; 6:8; 10:9, 11, 14; 1 Cor. 1:21; Phil. 1:29; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 1:16; Heb. 11:6). Likewise, in the passages which connect repentance with salvation the subject is active (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22; 17:30; 26:20; Lk. 15:7; Rev. 2:5, 16, 21; 3:3, 19). And again, in the passages that relate confession to salvation the subjects are again active (Mt. 10:32; Lk. 12:8; Rom. 10:9; 1 Jn. 4:2-3). However, in the passages where baptism is commanded for forgiveness, the subject is passive (Mk. 16:16, Acts 2:38; 8:36; 10:48; 22:16; Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12). Add all of this up, and baptism is the least work of them all. Perhaps God saw this belief system coming?
If the commandment of our Lord is insufficient to convince the faith only advocate of the necessity of baptism, perhaps a closer look at the mechanics of baptism will be helpful. In Romans 3:24, Paul leaves no question that the redemption of which he speaks based on faith in Jesus Christ is found in Christ. This is congruent with his statement in Ephesians 1:3 which places all spiritual blessings in Christ. This universal affirmative means that absolutely no spiritual blessings may be enjoyed outside of Christ. Hence, if the Bible student may know that which puts one in Christ, he/she may be assured of salvation. This is because they have biblical faith in the divine record. Stated another way “they have believed God and it is counted to them as righteousness” just the same as Abraham.
Again, the biblical record speaks in no uncertain terms as to the means of being placed in Christ. In Romans 6:1-7, Paul emphasized the absurdity of continuing in sin because we are under a system of grace and faith. His contention is that upon becoming a Christian, we die to sin. Literally we put to death our sinful self. In verses 3-4, he gives the mechanics of the process. He said “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Galatians 3:26-27 teaches the same truth. It is through faith that we become children of God in Christ Jesus (3:26). In verse 27, Paul says “for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” We should look closely at the term “for.” The Greek term here translated is gar. One Greek scholar defines gar as “A causative particle standing always after one or more words in a clause and expressing the reason for what has been before, affirmed or implied.” To break that down, Paul is saying the reason we are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ is because (causative particle) we were baptized into Christ.
The implication of these two passages is quite clear. If we leave the creeds, manuals, and catechisms of men out of our interpretive work and let the Bible interpret itself, we will conclude baptism is the work of faith (not merit) that places the previously alien sinner in Christ where all spiritual blessings, including salvation, are found.
As for it being a work of man, the only active participants in the process are the ones immersing the individual and God Almighty. The one immersing has no other role than assisting the passive recipient with doing that which they cannot do for themselves. Colossians 2:12 clearly demonstrates that it is God who is the active party in Scriptural baptism. The subject of baptism is “buried with Him (passive-TH) in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him (passive-TH).” The catalyst of the whole thing is “through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
Thus, the only proper conclusion to draw from our study is that saving faith, as defined by the Bible is obedient faith. As such, the only faith that saves is the faith that searches God’s will and humbly seeks to obey the commandments given. This includes believing, repenting, confessing Christ, being baptized into Christ, and walking in newness of life.
It is difficult to grasp the militant desire of so many to refuse such a clear command of God as that of the submissive act of baptism. The Scriptures are scarcely clearer on any subject than they are on this one. If one desires to treat baptism as a work and discount it based on Romans 3-4, they must first demonstrate that it is a work of merit found within the Law of Moses of which Paul writes in this great book. That this is not the case, all freely admit. If then, one still desires to consider baptism a work of merit, let us not forget that the subject in baptism is passive (i.e. they are not earning anything). On the contrary, when one believes in Jesus, they are active (they are working). The same is true of repentance, confession, and holy living. These things truly are works, yet no one seems ready to cast these aside and call them the devices of a band of legalists. Biblically speaking there is no tension between faith and works. Works of merit and works of the flesh are at odds with biblical faith. But works of faith, such as belief, repentance, confession, and yes even baptism are built in to the biblical term faith. This truth is everywhere evident in the New Testament.
The evidence is clear on these matters. God has spoken. The only question left to answer is, do you have faith in God’s will, or is your faith in a humanly devised scheme of redemption. Paul was equally clear that when two people teach different gospels, they cannot both be in good standing with the Lord (Gal. 1:6-9). Won’t you believe the good news and place your trust in Him?