If salvation is by faith alone, why does Jesus say we must renounce everything for his kingdom?

Question

Matthew 10:39: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Mark 8:35: For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Luke 17:33: Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Matthew 5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:23: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Mark 8:35: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Mark 10:21/Luke 18:22: "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Luke 9:24: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Luke 17:33: Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
John 12:25: The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Answer 1

Faith must go hand-in-hand with Hope and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13). This means that a Christian must live the Christian Life, do good, and "Run the Race to the end", in order to be saved. Non-protestants would say that Faith Alone, is a new and dangerous doctrine, unknown to the Early Christians.

It is dangerous because "Faith Alone" can lead people to falsely believe that , however they live their lives, their salvation is assured on the basis of one pledge at an emotion-filled meeting. Christianity becomes a sort of celestial fire-insurance. Once you have your policy, you're covered. Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that Faith is of vital importance, but it is not the only thing a Christian needs to be saved.

Evangelical Protestants have dozens of "proof texts" for salvation by Faith Alone. These litter their tracts, and many are known by heart. These texts can seem very convincing when presented by a passionate evangeliser to someone who knows little of the Bible.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3.16)

For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Rom 3. 23, 24)

Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5. 1)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no-one can boast. (Eph 2. 8,9)

None of these texts actually use the words "faith alone". They stress faith, which all Christians would agree with. All Christians would likewise agree that works alone are not enough to save us. But they are necessary to salvation, as an outworking of Faith. What is wrong is that the above quotations have been taken in isolation from the rest of Scripture, which shows that faith must be accompanied by works.

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. (James 2. 14-17)

You believe that there is one God, Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder. (James 2. 19)

You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. (James 2. 24)

The above text is the only appearance of the phrase "faith alone" in the New Testament - and that is to condemn the doctrine.

Protestant theologians often tend to ignore what Jesus taught about this subject. Let's look at some of the things that Jesus said on the subject of Salvation.

Matthew 6: 14 “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (NIV).

Therefore what we DO (works) is vital to our gaining forgiveness.

Matthew 7: 21 "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."

Matthew19: 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” (NIV).

Perhaps that's still not clear enough. Some Protestants will still say, "Yes. Good works are fine, but they are optional. Faith, being 'born again', is what saves." Jesus, however, lays it right on the line in the following text.

Matthew 25 :31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32 “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 “He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 ‘I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 ‘When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 ‘When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 ‘I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (NIV).

Can anyone read these words of Jesus, and still argue that works count for nothing in salvation? Or that salvation is by faith alone? That doctrine is clearly unbiblical. Even Paul acknowledges this.

Romans 2: 6 God will give to each person according to what he has done.
7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. (NIV).

Answer 2

I agree with those saying faith alone(or faith only in your mind, not in actions) is not what will bring you to heaven. There are many verses I've read in the Bible that say we must do good works. I think good works and doing what is right are ways we show outwardly our faith. I think if we ignore that in the Bible's warnings saying faith without works is dead, we will have a great surprise at judgment. You are saved by grace through faith. You do not have faith if you do not put it into action.

Additionally:
Also I think of in the Bible when it talks about the final judgment. Some will come to the door saying "Jesus, Jesus." And he will say to them that he doesn't know them and go away from me. Personally, I want Jesus to know me.

Answer 3

You cannot have faith if you serve two masters. That is the point Jesus was making.
If you swear you love Jesus and seek Him, how can you be truthful to this if there is another love in your life, the love of the flesh? The answer is you cannot, because where you love your flesh is where you do not love the Lord. Therefore, you do not have faith in the Lord. Sure, you could have 99% of your faith based in the Lord, but its that 1% that means there is something out there you believe to be greater than the Lord. As a result, you DO NOT have faith in the Lord.

Hope this helped.

Answer 4

The first couple of verses are the same speech but written by different people, so he's not saying it over and over and over. You're just reading the same speech through four different authors.

Second. Jesus asks the disciples to give up all they have in faith that He will take care of them. There are two seperate messages here. One, That by faith you will enter heaven. Which means that your faith that God exists and that Jesus is your saviour will get you into heaven. On a side note Jesus makes a point that worldly possessions like money and material things get in the way of your relationship with God. If your relationship with God becomes weak it is harder to live a life through Christ without sin.

Answer 5

It is only by faith in YHVH that we can recieve His power which is requisite to obedience and faithful living. He offers a marriage contract. Take His name, follow His rules, enter into life. Believers followed Torah for 300 years after the Messiah, until obedience was outlawed by the "Christian" church. In other words, it is by faith alone, but faith that isn't reflected in choices and actions is not really faith.

Answer 6

I believe faith and works go hand and hand. Without faith,your works are meaningless and without works, your faith is meaningless. Just saying I believe, and then you do not change your ways(which I believe is the start to good works)but continue to live your life as before, your faith is false. I believe you have to totally submit yourself to God, trust in Him and His word and then strengthen your faith thru your works by changing your life around and leading and living your life to and for Christ.

Answer 7

Remember- in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-the Jews are still under the law-still in Old Testament times. Jesus is talking to Jews and not Christians. There is a big difference.
Christianity did not have its beginning until after Pentecost (Acts 2), and did not really get up and running until Paul's ministry (Acts 13).

The Bible is clear on this:

8 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.
Eph 2:8-9 (NIV)

Answer 8

If salvation is by faith alone, Jesus must sure have liked to listen to himself talk. He seemed to have done a lot of pointless talking about what is right and wrong.

Answer 9

Why cant people get it? Cant you see that God wants to bless you- greater than your can imagine if you just give it up for Him?

I have gained more than I can imagine for making that choice.

Answer 10

People don't like to hear the "you must sell everything you own and give it to the poor" part. They tend to pretend they didn't see that part.

Answer 11

It's just a re-enforcement of the first commandment.