If you belong to a church that teaches you are saved by faith alone, and that “faith” can be defined as nothing more than a verbal pronunciation of “I accept Christ” then I’d like to learn more about your perspective on a few things. I know, I know, you’ll think I’m just attacking you, but I promise I’m not, I really want to know what your perspective is.
1. How does your church interpret the scripture in James 2:24 – “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” The Greek phrase ouk ek pistewV monon means “not by faith alone.”
2. How about James 2:17 – “…faith without works is dead.”
3. Or 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul states that if he had “all faith” but lacked charity, he would be nothing (1 Cor. 13:3), and concludes that among faith, hope, and charity, charity is the greatest (1 Cor. 13:13). If charity is greater than faith, and without charity a person is nothing, how can a person be saved by faith alone?
The answer is simple. We are saved by faith alone but faith is never alone. A person who is saved through faith alone cannot help but want to do good works. When a person is saved through faith alone, God gives him a new heart that desires to do good works. We do good works, not to be saved, but because we are saved.