Have you ever heard the saying, “We’re saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone”? At a first glance it sounds good, because we affirm that Christians do live a changed life after being born again. But upon further inspection, the saying doesn’t make any sense. I understand that those who affirm this slogan are trying to make sure people know that true Christians obey God, but it’s entirely unhelpful because it twists the real meaning of faith (which is knowledge, assent, and trust) into an action (obedience). If the faith that saves is never alone, then we are not saved by faith alone, and we are saved by faith in Christ alone. This might seem like arguing semantics but it’s actually a very important distinction, although subtle enough to pass as equivalent.
Faith and faithfulness are two different things. Faith says “I’m trusting in who Jesus says He is and what He did to save me”, while faithfulness says “I want to honor Christ with my life out of love and faith and gratitude because He saved me.” If flipped around, we end up thinking and preaching to others that saving faith means obeying God (including forsaking sin), and that is not what faith is. We do not obey God in order to be saved, we obey God because we are already saved the moment we trusted in Jesus. If we had to obey God in order to be saved, how much obedience and forsaking of sin is necessary before you could have assurance that you’ve been received by God? We are sinners until the day the Lord takes us home, so how is it possible that obedience and forsaking sin is necessary for salvation? The only thing necessary for our salvation is the Person and work of Christ on our behalf.
There is so much unnecessary confusion and pain from this subtle lie being told in the Church that faith and works go together to make up “true saving faith.” But God says quite literally the opposite: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28, emphasis mine). What does “faith apart from works” mean? It means faith apart from work. I don’t mean to sound cheeky, it really just is that simple. We (the ungodly) are justified (declared perfectly righteous by God Himself) apart from any of our actions: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” (Romans 4:4-8, Psalm 32:1-2). Do you see what God calls it if we earn salvation by our works? Wages. Just like a paycheck from a job; you do the work, you get paid. But what does God call salvation through faith? A gift, not wages. We don’t pay for gifts, we receive them. This issue gets to the core of the gospel and how Christ alone is sufficient for our whole salvation. Faith and works cannot and should never be conflated when talking about what saves a person, because it is Christ alone who did the work to save us; He paid the price, and we are the blessed who simply receive His grace as a gift with empty hands.
Receiving salvation as a gift is offensive to the self-righteous heart. “How dare you!” it says; “Do you think you can just take what you have not earned?! What right do you have, a dirty sinner, to come to the holy, Most High God and just ask for His mercy with nothing to offer Him in return?! You should be ashamed for even thinking such blasphemous nonsense.” But do you remember what God said? “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, His faith is counted as righteousness.” God justifies the ungodly who trust in Jesus, not those who have cleaned themselves up first (which is impossible to do). Jesus our High Priest is who gives sinners the confidence to be so bold as to come to the Father and ask for His mercy and receive His unmerited favor: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16). How is it possible to have the audacity, as a rebellious enemy of God, to come to Him in need of His grace and expect to receive His mercy? The self-righteous will admit we can’t be perfect, so you just need to turn from enough sins, be sincere enough, be obedient enough, have enough faith, be sorry enough for your sins against God… But how much is enough? Try to peel back all the layers, there is no center to that onion. No amount of turning from sin or obedience or even faith gives us the right to receive God’s free gift; our merit is Christ Himself and His word. We will never be able to render to God what He deserves from us; we’ll never be worthy in ourselves to receive His gifts of eternal life or adoption or any other of His blessings. Jesus alone is worthy, and in Him He gives us the right to be called children of God and to receive His promises as our own: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
Is the enemy in your ear telling you that you haven’t proven yourself to be worthy of being saved by God? Are self-righteous people telling you the same? Is your own heart condemning you? Is the world calling you a hypocrite because it expects Christians to be perfect? Turn your eyes now to Jesus who has defeated the enemy, who shames all self-righteousness by His perfection, who is greater than your condemning heart, and who has overcome the world. Jesus defeated everything and everyone that stands between you and God and welcomes you as His own, clothed in His righteousness. Have the audacity to believe salvation is a gift, paid in full by Jesus; because God Himself says so.
Gospel Assurance 