Why do people think that it's by faith alone that youa re saved?

Question

I don't get that! i tihnk it's by faith and actions that one is saved! even then, i'm not God, he can be say who is and isn't. By the concept baffles me. if you break every single commandment yet you claim to love Christ you are still saved? You can be a serial killer/rapist and go to church and claim thou shall not kill is essentail to one's salvation, beleive in chirst and you are saved...That doesn't make sense to me...everyone sins, no doubt. But knowing that you are sining and still doing it, and claiming to love Christ, i think it's contradictory. "Yes i raped and killed my wife but i do love Jesus", "Yes I molested that girl, but I love Jesus", "Yes i did bomb that building but i love Jesus"...is it just me?

Answer 1

This is an imporatant question you ask and I hope you will bear with this answer.

Are any of us so good that we could have gotten to heaven without Christ?

Speaking for myself, I cannot withstand God's justice.  If God gives me justice then I will go to h**l right along with the unrepentant rapist or wife killer.

I require God's mercy.  And if I require God's mercy then who am I to deny it to someone else?  If I appear to God to be envious of the quantity of mercy lavished on someone else then couldn't that be construed as regret that I did not have "more fun" with more sin before I came to Christ.

Christ gave us these clear examples of how bounless His mercy is.  Here is a repentant man who had no time to do any good work of any kind, but Christ promises Him that he will be saved.

Luke 23

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[f]"

43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Also there is this parable which is very insightful to your question about the 11th hour scenario.

Mathew 20

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.

   "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.

      "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Sorry so long.  I hope that helps.

Answer 2

Faith is the start of everything. Why do you continue ur education-because you have faith that you can achieve whatever it is u set out for urself and then ACT on it. Why does a child try riding a bike- because he/she has faith that they'll be able to ride it and then ACT on it. That child is going to fall multiple times before getting it, just like a colleg student will go thru some trials of ups and downs before getting, but just because he falls, he shouldn't claim that he can do it.

Don't judge others for their actions as you don't know their heart, only God does. That's why you pray that they continue on w/Godly ways and if you someone fall down, wouldn't you think that it's your job to go over and give him whatever assistance you can.

Would it look okay if someone left a child laying on the ground after he fell from his attempt??

Answer 3

Well, I was raised that no one really knows if or not they are saved until Judgment Day. So, this is why I don't say I am saved, even though I believe in God and struggle to strengthen my walk with Him. I was raised with the belief you have to live righteously and accept Christ as your savior to be saved. Believing in Him is not enough. Anyone can believe in Him, but not everyone lives the life that will enter them the pearly gates.

So, only God knows if or not we are saved, not me, not any human. We can be confident we're saved, but we'll find out for sure when we pass on. If we can know for sure we are saved now and accepting Christ as Saviour is enough while here on earth, why live morally, right? What would be the point of Judgment Day?

Jesus said to believe in Him so we MAY be saved. Key word, MAY. That is not definite. So, by not knowing if we will be saved until we pass on and Judgment Day, we then are to spend our lives fitting to God best way we can, so we may be saved in the end. And even the minister can't tell someone they are saved.  

Answer 4

God helps those who help themselves.

Answer 5

Because they want to. It makes them feel good, when they know what will happen to them after life, that they will be saved and go back to their creator and might see again their family members.

Furthermore the huge majority wants to be in peace and loved and also trust someone. And trusting somebody who is like God or Jesus, who teach love and not hate makes you feel better.

Answer 6

Its easier than trying to live the life God asks of them. Far simpler because then you are not required to do anything.

Answer 7

You must be born of God. A child of God does not practice sin. Works follow repentance as surely as seeds germinate with sunshine and rain.



There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 8:1ff

Answer 8

your faith and the strength of that faith is what drives you and motivates you to live the life you lead. Faith and God's grace is all there is..

Answer 9

What we think doesn't matter. What God says in the Bible matters.

Works are a sign that we are saved. James 2:17 says that faith without works are dead. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if we are in Christ, we are a new person.

If there are no works and no change, I would highly suspect that there is not a true faith and the person is not saved.

That being said, works are ONLY a sign we are saved. They do not save us. It's similar to a sheep going, "Baa", because it is a sheep. If I went, "Baa", it would not help me become a sheep one bit. Christians do works, because they are saved. Doing works do not save us one bit.

This is what the Bible says about works.

Titus 3:5  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 2:8-10  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (9)  not by works, so that no one can boast.  (10)  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

John 6:27-29  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." (28)  Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"  (29)  Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Matthew 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22)  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' (23)  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Notice we HAVE to do the will of the Father to be saved. They depended on works to save them and failed. What is the will of the Father? It is:

John 6:40  For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Here is what our works add up to: filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6  All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

P.S. Salvation is a FREE GIFT!

Romans 5:16  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

How many parents give a gift to their kids on Christmas and say, "This is a gift. You could never afford this gift. Now, go get your piggy bank and give me all your money to pay what you can." Nobody does that. That's crazy. It wouldn't be much of a gift. Please. Let us not cheapen what Christ did on the cross by thinking we can add anything to it.

Answer 10

You might want to read Ephesians:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast..."

Ephesians 2:8-9

However, true belief in Christ and a declaration of love for him can be seen in obedience to him:

"If you love me, you will obey what I command."

John 14:15

And James said that he would show his faith through his good works:

"But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."

James 2:8

So you could say that you are saved by faith alone but you demonstrate the evidence of that faith through your actions and words. At the end of the day, faith without works is dead:

"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

James 2:26

EDIT:

"But knowing that you are sining and still doing it, and claiming to love Christ, i think it's contradictory."

Yes it is... For such people they need to read 1 John and Hebrews:

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"

Hebrews 10:26-29

"The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

1 John 2:4-6

However, given my righteousness is filthy rags compared to his righteousness and there is nothing I can do to earn my place in heaven, I must believe that it is by my faith in Him that I am saved and I will demonstrate the faith that I have by living in accordance with the hope I have in the world to come - after all, faith is the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1)

Answer 11

It is not just you . I can not understand this thinking , it is not in line with bible teachings .

Answer 12

Jesus said "PAID IN FULL" on the cross.

Which part of that makes you think you need to add to it?

All believers are still sinners.  If you are now in sinless perfection, then we must all bow down and worship you immediately.

Of course, the Bible calls those who think they're in sinless perfection, liars.

And who are you to judge the sins of others, when your sins are just as disgusting and nasty?  The Bible says that if you broke one, you broke them all, so that which you judge others of, is true of you.

What you're teaching, is a false gospel of works (Galatians 1:6-9).

The Bible makes it clear that salvation is a FREE GIFT (in other words, not related to or dependent on our works or behavior), and salvation is truly by faith alone (John 3:16, John 6:29, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 10:9-10).

Answer 13

Rom 3:27 Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  

Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.  

saying I love Jesus is not enough and if someone is knowingly committing sins against God then I question his or her salvation in the first place.

anyone can say sorry but you have to mean it and repent because you can't fool God,he knows your heart and he will know if someone is for real and if they are not they will have to pay for what they do.

anyone can come to God with a sincere heart and ask forgiveness but notice I said a sincere heart(God knows the difference) but they will still have to pay for any crimes they committed here.

it only takes faith(sincere faith)

you can not fool God.

Answer 14

Here is the true BIBLICAL answer: (anyone can quote a bunch of scripture- but to understand the scriptures is what we are after)

So here is the long and short of it:

We are sinners; And in our fallen state we cannot please God, for all our most righteous deeds are as filthy rags to God. He examines them with eyes of blazing fire- in perfect holiness and absolute righteousness. Our works are insufficient to save us.

To please a Perfect and Righteous God- we need to have a perfect righteousness. This is something that we are unable to provide.

Therefore God- in His mercy and grace - knowing that we were absolutely helpless to save ourselves- provided a way for us to be reconciled. However- His plan was not contrary to the demands of His holy Law- but was in accordance with His Law.

This was His plan:

He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ- to fulfill all of the Law's requirements on behalf of those who would believe.

And not only this, but Jesus would also take upon himself the just punishment that was due to us for our having transgressed God's holy Law. So not only did he live the life that we could never live- but he died the death that we deserved to die. This is called: Substitutionary Atonement.

Christ became our substitute and our surety to secure the salvation of those who would believe in him.

Roman Catholics will cry about this and proclaim- this is not fair, we must do SOMETHING! We cant just believe, and be saved! God doesn't just forgive people that easily- He is a Righteous God!

But here is the biblical reply- We never claimed that God forgives sin for NOTHING- this is not true. God does not just let sin go unpunished! No- He is Righteous- and punishes ALL SIN.

ALL SIN WILL BE PUNISHED- either in Christ on the cross- or in yourself in h**l forever- but no sin escapes the wrath of God- period.

And so in order to accomplish the forgiveness and reconciliation of His people- Jesus Christ became our Federal Head- that is- our legal representative- JUST LIKE Adam was the Federal Head and legal representative of all his people- (the whole race).

You see, when Adam was living in the garden of eden- he was on trial, and was being tested according to his obedience to God. If he succeeded, then all of his posterity would be blessed- and if he failed, then all of his posterity would be cursed. Well you know what happened- HE FAILED- and he plummeted the entire race- (All who are in him) into sin and rebellion. Romans Catholics do not complain about Adam being the representative of his people- so why do they complain about Christ being the representative of his people?!!

Here is how it works:

Christ offered himself on the cross as the payment for the sins of his people- and the wrath of God (that was actually due to us) was poured our upon Christ! He was our substitute. And this sacrifice was a perfect sacrifice- for Christ was perfect. Therefore he offers his righteousness to all and bestows his righteousness upon all who believe. All who are in Christ have had their sins payed for and have receive a perfect righteousness whereby they can stand before God on that last day and be declared righteous! This is good news!

Here is my question to you:

What can you add to that which is perfect? NOTHING!

If you can add to it- then it was not perfect; and if it was perfect, then by you adding to it, you actually taken away from its perfection. This is true about the merits and the works of Christ- they are perfect. We can add nothing to them- for God is fully satisfied with what Christ has accomplished and offered on our behalf.

The Bible says that this righteousness is a gift. We can not earn a gift- and we cannot work for a gift- A GIFT IS SIMPLY RECEIVED.

How do we receive this gift? The Bible teaches that we receive the gift of salvation BY FAITH- period. Here are some passages that support this wonderful news for helpless sinners:

(Romans 6:23) "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

(Galatians 2:16) "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

(2 Timothy 1:9) "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us before the world was."

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)!

Answer 15

They dont read their Bibles like Chriss

Just readers of the word not doers of the word

Gee Chris why did you remove your so called bible references to faith alone because I exposed you for the liar you are..

'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 (Ephesians 2:8-9).

"...No lie is of the truth."

1John 2:21

"And his coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all wicked deception to those who are perishing. For they have not received the love of truth that they might be saved. Therefore GOD sends them a misleading influence that they may believe falsehood, that all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have preferred wickedness."

2Thess 2:9-12

Again! Need I say more?

"Woe to you that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter."

Isaiah 5:20

"...HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, AND HAS NOT STOOD IN THE TRUTH BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHEN HE TELLS A LIE HE SPEAKS FROM HIS VERY NATURE, FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF LIES."

JOHN 8:44

Now that verse settles it. Lying comes from Satan. The truth comes from GOD.

"BUT AS FOR THE COWARDLY AND UNBELIEVING, AND ABOMINABLE AND MURDERERS, AND FORNICATORS AND SORCERERS, AND ALL LIARS, THEIR PORTION SHALL BE IN THE POOL THAT BURNS WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, WHICH IS THE SECOND DEATH."

REV 21:8

Pretty strong words for those who propagate lies.

"FOR THE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN AGAINST ALL UNGODLINESS AND WICKEDNESS OF THOSE MEN WHO IN WICKEDNESS HOLD BACK THE TRUTH OF GOD."

ROMANS 1:18

"BUT WRATH AND INDIGNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE CONTENTIOUS, AND WHO DO NOT SUBMIT TO THE TRUTH BUT ASSENT TO INIQUITY."

ROMANS 2:8

"...AND THERE SHALL NOT ENTER INTO IT ANYTHING DEFILED, NOR HE WHO PRACTICES ABOMINATION AND FALSEHOOD, BUT THOSE ONLY WHO ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB."

REV 21:27

Let all who have eyes to see, see, and ears to hear, hear.

"These then are the things, which you shall do: Speak you truth everyone to his neighbor: judge you truth and judgment of peace in your gates. And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his friend, and love not a false oath, for all these things I hate, said the Lord."

Zech 8:16-17

"Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." Prov 12:22

"A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall not escape." Prov 19:5

"The lip of truth shall be steadfast forever; but he that is a hasty witness frames a lying tongue."

Prov 12:19

"He that speaks that which he knows, shows forth justice; but he that lies, is a deceitful witness."

Prov 12:17

"Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh His soul detesteth: haughty eyes, A LYING TONGUE, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief, A DECEITFUL WITNESS THAT UTTERETH LIES, AND HIM THAT SOWETH DISCORD AMONG BRETHREN."

Prov 6:16-19

Wow! Who wants to be on the wrong side of GOD? Those who spread lies are there already

I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit."

Romans 9:1

"To this I have been appointed a preacher and an Apostle (I tell the truth, I do not lie), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth."

1Tim 2:7

"Rather we are to practice the truth in love, and so grow up in all things in Him who is the head Christ."

Eph 4:15

"Wherefore, put away lying and speak truth each one with his neighbor, because we are members of one another."

Eph 4:25

"O men, how long are you dull of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek after lying?"

Psa 4:3

"But if you have bitter jealousy and contentions in your hearts, do not glory and be liars against the truth. This is not the wisdom that descends from above. It is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where there is envy and contentiousness, there is instability and every wicked deed."

James 3:14-16

"Keep yourselves therefore from murmuring, which profiteth nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction; for an obscure speech shall not go for naught, and the mouth that believeth, KILLETH THE SOUL."

Wis 1:11

"Honor and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the fool is his ruin."

Sir 5:15

"Ever learning yet never attaining knowledge of the truth."

2Tim 3:7

"For there will come a time when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap up to themselves teachers according to their own lusts, and they will turn away their hearing from the truth and turn aside rather to fables."

2Tim 4:3-4

A few reasons why some people would rather not search for the truth...

They have a closed mind.

They are afraid of what they may find.

They have a fear of the unknown.

They are set in their ways and fear change.

Their pride is greater than their desire for the truth. It is human nature, not to want to admit to a mistake.

They have a habit of automatically condemning something of which they know nothing.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, "Not many men want to die to their lower selves; it costs so much. Some prefer to have a cosmic religion, which NEITHER PUTS RESTRAINT ON THEIR PRIDE NOR CURBS THEIR PASSIONS."

Answer 16

Some people say they love Jesus. Remember people do lie.

Answer 17

It takes faith, and asking forgiveness to be saved.  

Salvation is a free gift given to us by God, and by "us" I mean anyone who asks for it and truly wants it, therefore repenting of their sins and taking on a whole new way of life.

Anyone can ask for forgiveness and be forgiven, God wouldn't be God, so loving and gracious if he picked and chose who he wants to forgive and who he doesn't.

I was molested and abused for most of my childhood and I pray that those men sought out God and asked for forgiveness for their terrible sins.

Heaven is a reward that we must earn by works, after we are saved.

There are going to be 7 judgments come judgment day, and the first three have to do w/ the believer.

1) Judgment of the believers sins.

2) The believers self judgment.

3) Judgment of the believers works, NOT SINS..

EDIT to your additional details...

I agree w/ you, and happy that there are people out there that actually get that.

Perhaps this is what the bible says about the whole world being decieved by satan.  It is him, satan that makes people believe that all it takes is to say that you have faith and you will be welcomed into heaven w/ by God Himself....

It's more than that, and there are going to be a lot of disappointed, so called "christians" come judgment day.

Answer 18

True saving faith will always lead to repentence. Paul's Epistles offer his eyewitness testimony of the lives he has seen changed...

as well as his own testimony in Titus.

The Bible says salvation is by grace through faith, not of works.  

Answer 19

It is faith and actions but only actions caused by faith which means its really coming from the faith - the resulting actions are not the root cause.