Salvation Through Faith
What does it take to be saved? According to Christ, we must show faith in Christ as our personal savior. That is the one requirement that is echoed again and again throughout the New Testament.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. - Ephesians 2:8
Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. - John 3:17
If all it takes is faith in Christ to be saved, why then is there so much conflict among Christians? We have hundreds of denominations based on different unspoken requirements that we as humans have decided are necessary for salvation. The Catholic church requires faith in the pope and certain rituals such as tithing to the church, going to confession, and participating in communion. Baptists require baptism into their specific denomination. Many denominations even hand out baptismal certificates. At no point in time were people baptized into denominations. Nor were they given certificates to "authenticate" their baptism.
Although faith involves more than verbal declaration of belief, the Bible tells us exactly what it means to show faith.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." - Romans 1:17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? - James 2:14-20
I know that it is not our works/actions that save us; however, when you have true faith, your actions reflect that. You cannot claim to have faith in Christ and still only focus on serving yourself. Continuing to lie, cheat, steal, and hurt others shows a lack of faith. Christ himself talks to the pharisees about this very thing. The verbally claim to have faith in God but they don't visit prisoners, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc... When those people cry out "Lord, Lord." His response is "I don't know you."
We are given two commandments, love God and love others. We show our faith by following those two commandments. Why do we insist on adding man-made requirements? You have to follow certain people, be part of a certain denomination, get baptized into the right denomination, wear the right clothing, give the right amount of money to the right denomination, participate in the right church activities, etc... The saddest part of all of this is that we're told to avoid tradition and separating ourselves into denominations.
Attention Christians, if you tell someone that all it takes is faith in Christ to be saved, you can't turn around and tell them that they're not saved if they're unbaptized, aren't part of your church, choose to use a musical instrument to praise God, etc... Don't get hung up on the tedious, unimportant details. Keep the focus on Christ, God, and love.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. - Ephesians 2:8
Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. - John 3:17
If all it takes is faith in Christ to be saved, why then is there so much conflict among Christians? We have hundreds of denominations based on different unspoken requirements that we as humans have decided are necessary for salvation. The Catholic church requires faith in the pope and certain rituals such as tithing to the church, going to confession, and participating in communion. Baptists require baptism into their specific denomination. Many denominations even hand out baptismal certificates. At no point in time were people baptized into denominations. Nor were they given certificates to "authenticate" their baptism.
Although faith involves more than verbal declaration of belief, the Bible tells us exactly what it means to show faith.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." - Romans 1:17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? - James 2:14-20
I know that it is not our works/actions that save us; however, when you have true faith, your actions reflect that. You cannot claim to have faith in Christ and still only focus on serving yourself. Continuing to lie, cheat, steal, and hurt others shows a lack of faith. Christ himself talks to the pharisees about this very thing. The verbally claim to have faith in God but they don't visit prisoners, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc... When those people cry out "Lord, Lord." His response is "I don't know you."
We are given two commandments, love God and love others. We show our faith by following those two commandments. Why do we insist on adding man-made requirements? You have to follow certain people, be part of a certain denomination, get baptized into the right denomination, wear the right clothing, give the right amount of money to the right denomination, participate in the right church activities, etc... The saddest part of all of this is that we're told to avoid tradition and separating ourselves into denominations.
Attention Christians, if you tell someone that all it takes is faith in Christ to be saved, you can't turn around and tell them that they're not saved if they're unbaptized, aren't part of your church, choose to use a musical instrument to praise God, etc... Don't get hung up on the tedious, unimportant details. Keep the focus on Christ, God, and love.
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