Do Protestants reject Bible teaching on "faith alone"?

Question

The phrase "faith alone" is only used once in scripture, in James 2:24: "You see that a person is justified by what he does and NOT by faith alone." Who was right, the Bible or Martin Luther?

Here is more of James 2, demonstrating that this is not a single verse, as CJ claims:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

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 continues leading up to the verse I quoted:

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Those who are arguing that faith is necessary for salvation (which is true) are avoiding the question of whether FAITH ALONE is biblical.

Those who claim that faith always implies good works should note James's contrary example: "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs . . . ."

Answer 1

Holy Scripture is right. Faith alone teaching is heresy. Faith without works is dead. How can you call yourself Christian with a dead faith? When Paul talks about being saved by faith he is talking about a living faith, an active faith.

Answer 2

The Bible and Martin Luther are both correct. C S Lewis put it nicely, saying that faith and works are like the two blades of a pair of scissors. You cannot have scissors without two blades! If a person has saving faith, he will have good works (whether you happen to notice them or not). But a person can appear to have good works without having saving faith!

This is proven by Abraham. His faith was genuine, as demonstrated by his obedience to God in being prepared to sacrifice Isaac. Now, he didn't actually sacrifice Isaac, for God was testing his faith, not his works. That is why God stopped him going that far. The work of sacrifice was not necessary. Because Abraham had faith to believe God's promise could not be broken (reckoning God could resurrect Isaac) he exercised faith. Romans chapter 4 explains Abraham's faith: ''If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God.' Do read that entire chapter!

When the Bible speaks of 'faith alone' it does NOT mean 'only faith' because faith is always found in tandem with good works. But the moment a person begins to trust his good works as in any way contributing towards his salvation, he is lost in sin for 'all that is not of faith is sin' (Romans 14:23). For works to be 'good', they have to be done in faith! We're back to the scissors again!

Answer 3

Yes, they do. If Protestants really believed the Bible, they would instantly reject "faith alone" based on James's explicit refutation.

But James did not think this up out of thin air. James applies Jesus' teachings about the necessity of works. For example, Matthew 25 relates Jesus parable about the sheep and the goats. The goats had plenty of faith, but they neglected works of charity--feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick.

The Bible is right; Martin Luther and his heirs are wrong. But given Luther's notorious antisemitism, I can understand why he might want to reinvent Christianity as "faith alone."

Answer 4

First~ Let me say that lumping all non-Roman Catholic "Protestant" is a bit simplistic.
Second~ I do not believe that you can separate faith and works. Yes, we are saved by grace but salvation is not a once for all event. We must cooperate with grace otherwise you get the myth that "Since I'm saved I can machine gun a busload of school kids and I'll still go to heaven."
Neither do our works alone save us. I do not believe in the Catholic doctrine of supererogation. We cannot do so much good that there is grace left over to share.
I believe that we are to cooperate with God's grace, let the Spirit lead us and in following we show our love of God and each other. Following is a verb it requires us to act.
We can spend our time re-fighting the battles of the 16th century or we can learn from those battles. We can live in the 21st century, fight the battles of our day and work together to make the world a better place and show we are Christians by our love.

Answer 5

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,


James 2:24 is talking about faith without works. Faith without works is dead, you have to be a light to the world to show them how God has worked in your life. This has nothing to do with salvation.


I believe that faith alone can lead to salvation. Christ said he is the only way. Dont you think if there was more to that he would have said the only to the father is through me...once you show me your works and prove it to me you are worthy?

I understand the Apostles were great men of God, but i do not live my life by the laws of man.

Answer 6

Works do not save. If works could save then you could earn your way into Heaven and communion with God. That goes against Biblical teaching and would make Christ's sacrifice worthless. Only faith in Christ as savior and Lord can save you.

However, then you begin to want to do works and good deeds because you are a changed person. The works become an outward sign of an inward faith and reveal that you are saved. The works do not save you but they are a proof that you are saved.

Answer 7

You have to read that in context. James was talking about works being the exercise of our faith. In other words, faith (what I believe) is nothing if I do nothing with it. James even points out, "You say you believe in God. Good! Even the demons believe and shudder in fear." So what good is faith if it remains in your head?

Works is the testimony of faith. We simply do as or what we believe. We walk in what we believe. We obey because we believe. We act upon what we believe. If there is no action, then what we believe is dead - faith without works is dead, as James said.

So, works do not save us, but faith does. Indeed, our own works cannot save us - this is why Jesus came to save us. Faith told us to accept the call of God for salvation, but accepting is the work which affirms the faith.

I believe that Luther found out that we are saved by GRACE and that, THROUGH FAITH. We accept what God gives us, grace, through faith. If we do not accept, we do not have faith, or we do not believe. I believe I can walk, and I walk based on the knowledge that I can. If I believe I can walk and do not walk, what good is my belief?

Answer 8

Jesus himself teaches that we will be judged by our words (Matthew 12:36-37.), deeds (John 3:19-21.), and heart. All of these things necessarily involve actions. We are Commanded to love God, love each other. These are deeds.
Saying that faith alone saves is true, as long as it bears fruit. Saying belief alone saves is like saying life insurance will save your life.

Answer 9

The faith that saves is an application oriented faith. It is not a faith in works but a faith that works. Faith alone saves, but not a faith which is alone.

Answer 10

It alway`s amazes me how they can over-ride revealed scripture when it suits them to, isn`t it uncanny how CJ seems to know James so well so as to change the very meaning of this passage?