Is faith alone enough to get you into heaven.?

Question

Some religous groups preach the "faith alone" salvation plan. If you have enough faith-then nothing will keep you out of heaven.

Interesting.

The bible says, "You see that a man is justified by works and not faith alone." James 2:24

Answer 1

FAITH+WORKS=HEAVEN/HELL :) in all religions if u believe ME :P

Answer 2

The Christians want to make it as easy to become a Christian as possible. The whole thing started when Paul said quoting Jesus that "it is more important what comes out of a man's mouth than what goes into it." He used this to condone his idea that Gentiles who wanted to become Christians should not have to follow the Jewish dietary laws. Which by the way, Jesus himself followed, because up until Paul's decision, noone was considered a Jew if they did not follow the Kosher laws from the Bible or be circumcised. Mary had Jesus circumcised. So who was Paul to change this. So nowadays Christians have absolutely no restrictions on what they can eat and they are not circumcised. And as you point out and anyone who has any spiritual realization can understand, we can't do whatever we want and just have faith. Of course, having said that, God can do whatever He wants, but He also wants us to make an effort to be righteous and that means acting properly and living our life always attempting to stay on the path. "Do unto others, as you would like them to do unto you." Isn't that works? Aren't we doing something that would be pleasing to God. I'm just wondering.

Answer 3

The bible states that you need to have faith in Jesus-not just faith. There are some people who have more faith in the fact that there is no heaven or hell-then I have faith in God and Jesus, but that will not keep them from going to hell, But the fact that I have faith-faith in the fact the Jesus is god and that he died on the cross for my sins, that he is real, and that he rose again as our eternal savior-that faith will get me into heaven! How can you justify that? James is saying that if I HAVE the faith that I proclaim to have, then my "works" will testify to my faith! It will not be my faith alone that justifies my place in heaven-though it is faith alone that gets me into heaven!

Answer 4

That is correct, Faith in Jesus Christ is what saves a person, and that alone and not works, lest anyone boast. what that particular scripture that you quoted really means in its context is that works are the direct result of a faith in Jesus Christ. Tasting the fruit of His grace and salvation Christians are to yearn to be more like him and to win others to Him. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit causes a believer to have a desire to do good works. and good works are something we all should do and must do because of his love dwelling inside us. Heaven cannot be earned. If it could be earned by our good deeds, then faith in Christ is a joke.

Answer 5

i think you are taking that out of context. it is saying that faith is fullfilled with good works and it doesnt say necessary. also when it says YOU see that a man is justified, hes talking that when people see the man not God seeing the man, with faith and works he is justified as a believer in Jesus. the justified is in the eyes of other people. if you read the chapter before it will make sense.

Answer 6

When Jesus said "It is finished" I think He was referring to the necessary work that needed to be done to redeem man from the fall. Anything beyond what Christ declared as done would be to negate the sufficiency of His death as payment. To add anything else to this wouldn't that mean that it is faith plus merit for our justification? The bible says it is by grace alone that we are saved. Does works have a place here? Absolutely, but it is works as an outgrowth from faith. Faith while it can be said is a committing of the whole of self, heart mind and soul to God, it can be boiled down to the simple idea of trust. If I say I have faith, I am telling you that I trust in the sufficiency of the cross and His act on my behalf. I can have works of charity and compassion but without the prerequisite of trust (faith) in Christ my works of righteousness is filthy rags. By faith in Christ I am then led to works of righteousness that are rooted not in my self but in Jesus. True faith will have the evidence of Christian character which means I act on behalf of God to the world around me. When I stand before Him I want to point to Christ my redeemer and not my own merit for entry to heavens gate. How about you?

Answer 7

You have to have faith, but you also have to try to be a good person, and respect the guidelines in the Bible. Faith alone won't get you into heaven - you have to believe, but that belief should want to make you a better person, a more godly person. God doesn't ask perfection - we all sin - but he asks that we try.

Answer 8

Without works to demonstrate our faith, our claim to follow Jesus would fall far short, for the Bible clearly states: "Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself."—James 2:17.

Answer 9

I agree with you.

Jesus also said only those who do the will of the Father in heaven will achieve salvation.

So, yes, many Protestants emphasize Paul's teachings about faith, and I think there is truth in those teachings. But truly believing in God and being transformed by Christ should lead to doing God's will, which includes loving your neighbor and being a servant to all.

peace

Answer 10

not only faith ,faith should be translated into actions and good deeds to prove it as matter of fact those who claim that faith is enough are hypocrite cuz words are easy to be said but actions differentiate between the real believer and the hypocrites

Answer 11

anthonyinkc,
"Is faith alone enough to get you into heaven.?"
The understanding of what faith is, is crucial to the discussion. One definition of faith in this context is to trust. Not being simply belief. There has to be an action involve with belief; giving, fasting, praying, etc. You hang your body on the word of God and with the knowledge of what God requires, you move forward.

"Faith is an action, based upon belief, sustained by confidence." -- Dr. Gene Scott

The claim in Romans 10 tells us to do exactly that:
Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

You can clearly seeing the Act of Faith at work. It is 'spoken', a conjugated verb from the verb 'to speak.' That's an action.
The belief is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that if you believe and confess, you are saved, as in confidence of the believer who can say to any that doubt, "God's word told me so." That's faith. That's a Christian 'Faithing.' As in: To Faith. Using the word 'faith' as a verb.

And then you quote James the Lesser from the Epistle of James. I have much to sy about James, who was a Legalist, proven within the texts supplied by those that decided that James should be in the Bible. Fine. If James can be in the Bible, he can also be interpreted. Fair game. The problem James had, as I said before, is that he was a legalistic Jew turned Christian. This is evident in Acts 15, and Acts 21. It is also evident in Galatians:
Galatians 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
James was the leader of the Christian church at Jerusalem, he had a habit of intimidating those that preached faith, even Paul at times.
Paul's message of Faith and Grace is often reconciled with the message of James, but as the scriptures are rightly interpreted, they cannot be.

Perhaps I will go further into that at a future time.

So the answer to your question is YES. Once understood, faith can even move mountains! It can save those who trust God. If you have faith in God, you are connected to God.