By Brian Mitchell
One of the major biblical disagreements among those who profess a relationship with God through Christ lies in a difference of understanding concerning how a man is saved. Those in the denominational world often claim that we—meaning the Churches of Christ and a few other groups—are guilty of teaching a “works based salvation” as opposed to a “faith based salvation.” They argue that we believe a man is saved by baptism (a work—something he does) which they believe is a direct contradiction to the biblical teaching that a man is saved by his faith alone, without any additional acts of obedience.
The interesting thing to me is that Bible specifically teaches that man’s faith (his belief) is also something he does and is described in Jn.6:29 as a work. Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (Jn.6:28-29). Thus, the disagreement in reality, lies not in the belief that there are no works a man must do to be saved, but rather in what those works are.
The fact of the matter is that those in the Lord’s Church—or at least this preacher—do not believe in a works based salvation—Eph.2:8-9. I believe that a man is saved: by grace through faith and that it is the gift of God—Rom.6:23. And that it is not of works (meritorious acts by which we earn our own salvation), lest any man should boast (by saying God owes me salvation because of what I have done). I do not, however, believe that a man is saved by faith alone without obedience to the commands of God.
In fact, the Bible says that even the demons believe—Jm.2:19—and yet who would argue that the demons are saved? If we are saved by what we believe in—our faith—then why were the demons not saved? The answer is because there is obviously something more to salvation than mere belief. “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (Jn.12:42-43).
So what is the real truth of the matter? The real truth is that I do believe that a man is saved by faith for such cannot be denied. However, I disagree with most Christian denominations in regards to the point at which one’s faith saves Him. For the majority of the Christ believing world, it is at the point of acquiring one’s belief/faith that he is saved. For me it is at the point of expressing one’s faith in obedience that one is saved. I still believe, as the Bible teaches, that I am saved by faith (Jn.3:16), I just believe that my salvation occurred when my faith manifested itself in actions of obedience (Jm.2:14-26).
According to James, faith without works always has been and always will be a dead faith and a dead faith cannot save anyone. And thus, while I do believe that a man is saved by faith it is only after that faith acts in response to what God has done through Jesus Christ to reconcile us to Himself that it saves us. The question is; what kind of faith do we have? The kind that is characterized by belief only or the kind that moves us in obedience to the will of God? Only one saves!!!
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