My fellow Christians, I am confused by some of the things my Catholic friend has been telling me. He has told me that we are not saved by faith alone, and told me that the Bible doesn't say that we are saved by faith alone. I showed him some verses, but he pointed out that none of them say we are saved by faith alone. He showed me James 2:24 where it says we are not saved by faith alone. I am beginning to doubt my faith. Please reassure me and show me how I can prove that we ARE saved by faith alone!
2006-10-23 06:54:31 · 20 answers · asked by bookworm29 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Thank you guys, I know all that, but I need something to prove it to my Catholic friend. His argument is pretty convincing. I am afraid that he's right! Help!
2006-10-23 06:59:16 · update #1
We are NOT saved by faith alone. The phrase "faith alone" appears only once in the NT and is immediately preceded by the word NOT. While Christ's work in salvation is done, we are still required to accept it and/or reject it. This is a day by day, moment by moment activity. Note that in the NT, references to works that do not lead to salvation refer to "works of the Law," or the following of the 600+ Levitical laws.
Take a few minutes to listen to this:
http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/download/mp3/sola_fide.mp3
God Bless,
MoP
2006-10-23 07:01:36 · answer #1 · answered by ManOfPhysics 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
All the verses in James are saying is that if you claim you have faith but don't back it up by how you live, then you need to re-examine your salvation. It is saying that the evidence of salvation is what you do for the Lord. That is all. There is nothing to worry about. Remember the verse by your fruits you shall know them. (Matthew 7:16) Same case. Faith saves you, works for God is the proof.
A good example is my brother. He claims he is a christian, but the day he prayed and asked Christ into his heart, after he still didn't beleive Jesus could save him. Now he is living the exact same way he was before. there was no change.
Matthew 7: 21-23: talks about people that claim Christ on this earth, but God will deny them in heaven. Why? He will say I never knew you. If you look at the list of things they did, many would think they were believers, but they were relying on works alone. They never had a relationship, and that is why God never knew them.
Satan will try to get you to doubt you are a believer. I reccomend this to every believer. Write down the day you got saved in the front of your Bible. Every time Satan lies to you, open up God's word. The truth is right there.
2006-10-23 07:12:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is not to be dealt with in bits and pieces, but as a whole. Context determines the application of scriptures. For example when the Scriptures say that we are saved by faith, of course this is true. But what is faith? It is defined in Hebrews 11:1. Then, in the rest of Hebrews chapter 11, examples are given of persons like Noah and Abraham showing what faith made each of these DO. So faith has always required some action, not just sitting around and believing. So there is not contradiction.
2006-10-23 09:47:19 · answer #3 · answered by linniepooh 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ephesians 2:8-9
Read it and be at peace! ;-)
OK, you're still panicking...here's what James 2:24 says "Ye see then, how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone."
Now go back to verse 14- "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works, can faith save him?"
verse 17-"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being ALONE."
If a person has a true saving faith, their life is transformed, and their good works come naturally through, if you do not see the "fruits" of their salvation, they are not truly saved and their good works are just that....ALONE without faith, which goes back to Ephesians 2:8-9.
I'm curious to know how long you've been saved...this sounds very typical of the devil...getting a new Christian to doubt his salvation.....
On another note..you might want to tell your friend that Jesus didn't suffer for us on the Cross, so that when we get to heaven we can "snap" our spiritual suspenders and say, "Look at all the good things I did to get into heaven...." wouldn't make much sense, would it? He paid it all, and it's all by faith!
2006-10-23 06:56:55 · answer #4 · answered by lookn2cjc 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Let me tell you dear there are two kinds of people in spirituality. One who talk, discuss, write and read about religion and second who practice religion. The faith doesn't need any logical explanations. No God has written any book in any religion on this earth. Men write books men read them and there are relative meanings. What is stated in this verse is related to those who do all the bad deeds and then try to justify it by confessing or praying regularly to God. This kind of 'faith' will be meaningless and a manipulation of words.
The purpose of faith is to infuse virtue among people so that they love the creatures around them and there is peace and harmony.
If you feed a stray dog once it will come back to you daily for bread...because it has faith in you...its faith won't require any book to believe that you will feed him again.
So deeds guided by faith will only be virtuous. A man doing good deeds is by default doing religion because God will love him for his virtues.
A man doing sins, hurting others etc will not be favoured by God even if he sings prayers to Almighty. The verse is thus meant for these kinds of people.
One has to understand that every quote is not for everybody although it is true and acceptible to everybody. A doctor has 500 medicines but he will not give all the 500 to everybody.
So keep the faith! Doubts will just waste your time. Do good work like helping others, so that you don't have time for such debates with your friends.
2006-10-27 05:37:01 · answer #5 · answered by Helping Hand 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can not earn salvation, it is a free gift.
On the other hand the demons believe, but they are not saved.
Paul wrote that faith without love (a work or action) is valueless. (1 Cor 13: 1-4)
True faith moves you to do things.
Heb 10:26 helps us appreciate the difference between good actions / works and sin.
If we practice sin after knowing what is bad and good, there is no salvation.
Repentance of sin, also requires turning around and not doing the wrong again.
Not doing wrong is not enough, to show our appreciation for what God has done we must do works that befit repentance.
2006-10-23 08:27:10 · answer #6 · answered by TeeM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are indeed saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone. Think of the example Jesus used of a tree and its fruit. A good tree naturally produces good fruit, and a bad tree naturally produces bad fruit. Good works can only come from faith. Paul says in Romans 8:7-8 that the flesh is hostile to God and cannot hope to please him. The only way to do works that are good in God's sight is through faith. Good works naturally happen when faith is alive in you.
When James is writing, he is writing against people who think that they can have just faith without works. He says in 2:14, "Can that faith save him?" He is really asking, "Is that even faith at all, since it has no works with it?" In verse 18 he says "Show me your faith apart from your works." But he is asking a rhetorical question, because you can't show faith apart from works since faith always has works with it. All this leads up to verse 24, which should be uderstood as saying, "we are not saved by 'faith' alone, since faith is never alone." (See James 2:26).
The best thing to do is have your friend explain to you what Jesus means in his fruit/tree analogy. You are saved because you believe that Jesus died to forgive your sins. When you believe that, the Holy Spirit works good works through you. Works are symptoms of faith, but Jesus saves you.
2006-10-23 07:55:07 · answer #7 · answered by Sine Nomine 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Catholic Bible is different than king James because they add and subtract things from it. There is a warning about this in revelations. Ephesians 2:8-9 says we are saved by grace through FAITH! Email me at poka_dt@yahoo.com for support and more answers to your questions!
2006-10-23 07:01:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Your friend is correct.
I suggest that you also read Matthew 25: 31 - 46. God will deny those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, etc.
Don't get me wrong, faith is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to be saved. Also, works alone will not save you.
We are saved by the grace of God. Salvation is a free gift. Grace from God makes itself known through faith and works of charity.
Contact me if you have any questions or if you wish to discuss further.
2006-10-23 07:01:35 · answer #9 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Have peace. Catholicism is a works based denomination. I used to be one.
James is saying that there should be evidence of our faith by your life. There should be a conversion of your heart - not perfect, but controlled by the spirit to produce good fruit.
As long as you believe and trust in Jesus, you are saved by grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)
2006-10-23 07:12:48 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋