Salvation is just by faith and not by works

[AllTheGoodNamesAreTaken]

My understanding ( in a nutshell );

Salvation is by God's grace through faith in Christ Jesus;

"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

No longer under the law of works;

"Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith."

So as a sinner, saved by grace ( through faith in Christ's work and not my own ) I will indeed do God's work, walking in His Spirit;

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

 

 

[Guest shiloh357]

St. Paul wrote : " God will render to every man according to his works. To them indeed, who according to patience in good work, seek glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life . "

Is this not saying that eternal life , in the order of grace , not in the order of the Law , is dependent on good works ? 

 

No, because the phrase it doesn't relate to salvation, but to the Christian life.   How we lived as a Christian will be judged by works.   Rom. 2:7 reflects the character of one who is saved.   Romans 3 makes it very clear that no one who is unsaved is seeking after God, they don't do the things you cited in Rom. 2:7.   So this isn't talking about people are saved.

[robin hood]

Are not any works we do ( as sanctified believers ) God's work, and not our own?

You have hit the nail on the head with those words .

We are TOTALLY  dependent upon grace .

Any good works we do are through the Holy Spirit working within us .

So when some say they are not happy with being saved by faith alone because there is lots in the Bible about doing good works , they are also saying , or should be saying , that the good works in the realm of grace which shows their faith to be alive are in reality the works of God working within them .

It's all about grace .

The faith we have which leads to our salvation , and the good works we do in the realm of grace as part of the living out of our salvation .....these are all through grace .

 

[thereselittleflower]

Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone.   Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained.  Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation.   Eph. 2:8-10 states the proper relationship of works to salvation.   We are saved by grace through faith apart from works (so that none of can take credit).  This is done so that we can do the works God foreordained that we would do.

Salvation is Jesus + 0.

 

"Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone."

 

Agreed   faith in Jesus alone.   You can have faith in no one else and be saved.

 

This does not mean faith alone.

 

"Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained. "

 

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

" Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation."

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

As for the rest of your post it makes no sense in relationship to anything I've said.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2015 by thereselittleflower

[other one]

Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone.   Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained.  Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation.   Eph. 2:8-10 states the proper relationship of works to salvation.   We are saved by grace through faith apart from works (so that none of can take credit).  This is done so that we can do the works God foreordained that we would do.

Salvation is Jesus + 0.

We also don't get great from the works that we do for it is expected of us to do them as born again Christians......    but if you are a born again, there will be works for that's what born again's do naturally.

[Guest shiloh357]

Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone.   Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained.  Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation.   Eph. 2:8-10 states the proper relationship of works to salvation.   We are saved by grace through faith apart from works (so that none of can take credit).  This is done so that we can do the works God foreordained that we would do.

Salvation is Jesus + 0.

 

"Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone."

 

Agreed   faith in Jesus alone.   You can have faith in no one else and be saved.

 

This does not mean faith alone.

 

"Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained. "

 

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

" Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation."

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

As for the rest of your post it makes no sense in relationship to anything I've said.

 

 

 

 

 

No, we are saved by faith alone and in Christ alone.     James does not teach salvation by works.   James two isn't talking about how to be saved.  He is not giving a treatise on salvation like what we have in Ephesians 2 or John 3.    James is  a book that deals with practical Christian living.

The point James is making is that our works justify (affirm) our faith.   Genuine faith produces corresponding action.  James uses two people whose faith was affirmed by what they did (Abraham and Rahab).    James use the word justification to speak to how we are justified before men, not before God.   James isn't using the term "justification"  the same way Paul uses it in Rom. 3. 

James simply refers to how our works prove that our profession of faith is genuine.   Faith, like love, is operative nature.  Both are demonstrated by works.   

If all you have is an empty profession and no corresponding actions, then you don't have faith; you have mental assent.  No one is saved by mental assent.   That's what is meant by "dead faith."

James is speaking to Christians about the need to live out their faith, not merely give lip service to it.

Ephesians 2:8-10 makes it clear that salvation is apart from works.  We saved by faith alone in Christ alone.   If you are trusing in personal piety/goodness to earn salvation, you are not a Christian.   You are a hell-bound sinner

[archaeologist55]

The Holy Bible is quite clear that works of any kind do not save. In fact, the Holy Bible emphatically states that if someone is trying to earn salvation by works or merit, that person will not get saved till they repent (change their mind) and cease trying to earn salvation. Works done for salvation mean no salvation. They mock Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

 

you are correct. salvation is by faith but you need to mention grace. without God's mercy no on ewoul dbe saved.

 

we do good works because we love God.  good works are not a part of our salvation  but a result of it.

[thereselittleflower]

Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone.   Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained.  Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation.   Eph. 2:8-10 states the proper relationship of works to salvation.   We are saved by grace through faith apart from works (so that none of can take credit).  This is done so that we can do the works God foreordained that we would do.

Salvation is Jesus + 0.

 

"Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone."

 

Agreed   faith in Jesus alone.   You can have faith in no one else and be saved.

 

This does not mean faith alone.

 

"Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained. "

 

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

" Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation."

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

As for the rest of your post it makes no sense in relationship to anything I've said.

 

 

 

 

 

No, we are saved by faith alone and in Christ alone.     James does not teach salvation by works.   James two isn't talking about how to be saved.  He is not giving a treatise on salvation like what we have in Ephesians 2 or John 3.    James is  a book that deals with practical Christian living.

 

There is no verse which states we are saved by faith alone.

[robin hood]

Works within the realm of grace , not works according to the old law , must have a part in our entry into the Father's Kingdom otherwise what Jesus says must be wrong .

He teaches that our reception of eternal life is dependent on the good works we do , good works within the realm of grace , not good works according to the old law .

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

[Guest shiloh357]

Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone.   Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained.  Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation.   Eph. 2:8-10 states the proper relationship of works to salvation.   We are saved by grace through faith apart from works (so that none of can take credit).  This is done so that we can do the works God foreordained that we would do.

Salvation is Jesus + 0.

 

"Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone."

 

Agreed   faith in Jesus alone.   You can have faith in no one else and be saved.

 

This does not mean faith alone.

 

"Works are the result of salvation, not the means by which it is obtained. "

 

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

" Good works are not done in concert with faith to attain salvation."

This is contrary to the scripture in James.

 

As for the rest of your post it makes no sense in relationship to anything I've said.

 

 

 

 

 

No, we are saved by faith alone and in Christ alone.     James does not teach salvation by works.   James two isn't talking about how to be saved.  He is not giving a treatise on salvation like what we have in Ephesians 2 or John 3.    James is  a book that deals with practical Christian living.

 

There is no verse which states we are saved by faith alone.

Eph. 2:8-9 states that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works.   It is very clear that works have nothing to do with salvation.  There is not one verse about how we are saved and includes works as  a means by which is obtained.    Jesus is the sole object of our faith where salvation is concerned.  Because is eternal life.  Salvation is a person.   Salvation is Jesus.   

Salvation is a gift (Rom. 6:23)   You cannot earn a gift.   You are not good enough to be pleasing to God through what you do.  No one is.   No one can do anything good enough to earn salvation.    Salvation  is not a reward to be earned and it is not a prize to win.    Salvation is a gift that is free and freely given. 

If you are trying to earn salvation, then you never know from one day to next if you are saved;  you'd never know if you are accepted by God.  You would never know until you die if you did enough and if what you did was good enough.  There would never be any assurance or peace that you are actually saved.