|
site last
modified
February 26, 2008
|
|
|
Doesn't Romans 5:1 teach that we
are saved by faith alone?
Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
This proves that justification requires faith, but your stated goal was
to prove that justification was by faith alone. There
is no indication of exclusiveness in this verse. James tells us clearly
that it is not exclusively faith when he said, "You see then
that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James
2:24). Now you are in a pickle. Do you claim that James is wrong and,
therefore, uninspired? You see Paul's statement in Romans 5:1 and James'
statement in James 2:24 do not contradict as they are written. The contradiction
only occurs when you try to make Paul's statement exclusive.
Yet, even for "faith alone" people, they cannot
fully subscribe to the statement. I know of no one who actually claims
that salvation comes from man's faith alone. After all:
- Jesus said, "For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew
12:37). Oops! That isn't faith.
- Paul said, "for it is not the hearers of
the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified"
(Romans 2:13). Oops! There is that nasty four-letter word "work".
- Paul said, "being justified as a gift by
His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus"
(Romans 3:24). Here justification is through the redemption which is
in Jesus. Faith is involved (verse 25), but it is not faith alone.
- Paul said, "Much more then, having now been
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through
Him" (Romans 5:9). Here we clearly see that it is not faith
alone. Notice that it is just a few verses past Romans
5:1. Jesus had a hand in our justification, so justification is not
by man's faith alone.
- Romans 5:16-18 - Justification came by the act of
one man, Jesus the Christ.
- Romans 8:30 - Those God called are justified.
- I Corinthians 6:11 - "Such were some of you;
but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."
Notice the word"washed," this calls to mind Acts 22:16. By
baptism a person is sanctified and justified.
- Titus 3:7 - We are justified by God's grace.
- James 2:21 - We are justified when our faith is demonstrated
by our works. "Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?"
It is not faith alone, but faith working
in harmony with working obedience. You see when Paul talked about faith
in Romans, his concept of faith was one that worked. He started the letter
with, "Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for
obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom
you also are the called of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:5-6). And he
ended his letter on the same note. "Now to Him who is able to establish
you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now
has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known
to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for
obedience to the faith" (Romans 16:25-26).
The Bible doesn't teach that salvation is exclusively by faith. That
was a doctrine that originated with men. The Bible has always taught that
salvation occurs when faith is joined by obedient action to the commands
of God.
|
Glass Street church of Christ 