What Are the Marks of Genuine Faith? Part 2

By Bruce Mills

In my last post, I discussed those things which may be present in someone’s life, but which neither prove nor disprove the presence of genuine faith. I would now like to discuss those things which are reliable proofs of the presence of genuine saving faith in someone’s life. When these things are present in one’s life, that individual can have assurance that he has truly been redeemed.

1. Love for God. Rom. 8:7 says, “The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God.” The unsaved person cannot love God and has no desire to love Him. However, the true child of God, despite his often failing his heavenly Father, will have a life characterized by delight in God and His Word. This is evidenced by several passages of Scripture. Let me list just a few found in the book of Psalms.

Psalm 1:1-2
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 42:1-2
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

Psalm 119:97-100
O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts.

So, the first mark of genuine salvation is love for God. Every one of us should ask ourselves, “Do I love God? Do I love His nature? Do I love His glory? Do I love His name? Do I love His kingdom? Do I love His holiness? Do I love His will? You see, a supreme love for God is decisive evidence of true faith.

2. Repentance from Sin and Hatred of It. This is the flip side of the first point, the love of God. The person who genuinely loves God will have a built-in hatred of sin. It is impossible to love two things that are contradictory to one another. Jesus categorically declared, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). If one truly loves God who is holy and righteous, he will have a deep abhorrence of sin.

Let me put it this way: If I said to you, “I love my wife, but I couldn’t care less what happens to her,” you would question the genuineness of my love because true love always seeks the highest good of its object. So if I say, “I love God,” then I will have to hate sin because sin offends God. Sin blasphemes God. Sin curses God. Sin seeks to destroy God and His work and His kingdom. Sin killed His Son. So if I say, “I love God but I tolerate sin,” then you have every reason to question my love for Him. I cannot love God without hating that which is set to destroy Him.

Proverbs 28:13 declares, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” That verse links the two inseparable parts of true repentance: the confession and the forsaking of sin.

The true believer often hates sin even while he is doing it and always after he has done it, because it is completely contrary to his new nature in Christ.

True repentance is more than simply being sorrowful over sin. Many people are sorry for and feel guilty about their sin. After he betrayed Jesus, Judas became sorry for His sin, to the point that he committed suicide, but he did not repent of his betrayal or ask Jesus’ forgiveness, and he is eternally condemned to hell.

True repentance always involves godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9), which is not the sorrow which often comes when one is caught or shamed or public humiliated, but rather godly sor-row is sorrow that comes because one has disobeyed and offended his Lord.

If a person’s sin does not bother him and increasingly convict him, that genuineness of that person’s salvation is questionable. The test for true repentance is not an individual’s sorrow over how sin has harmed himself or others, but whether or not he is sorrowful for how his sin has offended his Lord. Our sin is a slap in the face of a holy God, and a true believer will recognize it as such and seek forgiveness.

But true repentance not only involves confession, but it also involves turning from sin. I should be grieved over my sin. I should ask myself, Do I have a settled conviction of the evil of sin? Does sin appear to me as the evil and bitter thing it really is? Does conviction of sin in me increase as I walk with Christ? Do I hate it not merely because it is ruinous to my own soul but because it is offensive to my God whom I love? Does it grieve me more when I sin than when I have trouble? In other words, what grieves me the most: my misfortune or my sin? Do I find myself grieved more over my sin than over the sin of others? That’s the mark of salvation, true saving faith...it loves God, so it hates what God hates, which is sin.

3. Genuine humility. A proud person cannot be saved. By that I mean, the individual who trusts in his own ability to please God and who considers himself spiritually superior to oth-ers has not reached the point at which he can be saved. Salvation begins when one admits his absolute poverty of spirit and inability to do anything to please God. Like the prodigal son, the sinner who comes to his spiritual senses and recognizes his awful sinful condition, and then go to his heavenly Father and humbly confesses his sin and the fact that he is unworthy of forgiveness, is the one who will find God’s grace.

4. Devotion to God’s glory. The true believer will do what he does because he wants to glorify God. Sure, he fail in all of these things, but the direction of his life is toward loving Him and hating sin and being genuinely humble and self-denying and knowing his unworthiness and being totally devoted to the glory of God.

5. Prayer. I am not speaking of some type of formal prayer which is learned by rote and quoted in church on a regular basis. Rather, I am speaking of the continual heart cry of a genuine Christian who cannot help but call out to God, who is his heavenly Father and whose own Spirit is within him to generate that yearning.

As American’s greatest theologian and one of my heroes, Jonathan Edwards, succinctly observed, “Hypocrites are deficient in the duty of secret prayer.” That’s true. Hypocrites may pray publicly because hypocrites want to impress people, but they are deficient in the duty of secret prayer. A true believer with true saving faith has a personal, private prayer life which seeks communion with God.

6. Selfless Love. This is love, not only for God, but also for other people, especially fellow Christians. The person who does not sincerely care for the welfare of true believers is, him-self, not a true believer, but still abides in spiritual death. Throughout his first epistle, the apostle John continually emphasized how love was the evidence of genuine faith.

1 John 2:9-10
The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

People who say, “Well, I would go to church, but I just can’t stand being around Christians,” need to examine their hearts to see if they are truly in the faith. True believers love being with and around other believers. They enjoy meeting their needs, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

7. Separation from the World. God’s Word calls believers to be in the world but not of it. Again, the apostle John addressed this issue in his first epistle.

1 John 2:15-16
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

On the other hand, 1 John 5:4-5 tells us, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

And throughout Ephesians 4 which addresses the Christian’s walk, we see that believers are not to be characterized by the things that are normal for the world, such as immorality, impurity, covetousness, greediness, lying, anger, theft, unwholesome filthy speech, bitterness, drunkenness, slander, and wrath. And then Paul concludes that whole litany of sins with this instruction: “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Eph. 5:11). So believers are to live lives which are separated from the world in terms of practicing the sin the world loves to practice.

8. Spiritual Growth. The parable of the soils in Matthew 13 teaches us that true believers will grow spiritually to varying degrees, because by faith they have genuinely received the seed of the gospel. And Paul tells us in Phil. 1:6 that he was “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” That word “perfect” means “to bring to completion.” True believers will grow spiritually because God is the One who is at work within them to bring about that growth.

9. Obedient Living. This is closely related to being separate from the world, but this is the positive side. Whereas separation from the world has to do with avoiding the world’s sin, obedient living is following the Scripture’s instructions about what we are to do. Again, we return to John’s first epistle:

1 John 2:3-5
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought Himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

So, we are to obey God’s Word and live like Christ lived. He was always obedient to the Father and always obedient to the Word. And therefore, our lives will be marked by good works. Although no one is saved by his good works, those who are truly saved will produce good works. Paul told the Ephesians, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

So look at your life. Paul says in 2 Cor. 13:5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” Do you see all those things, including selfless love, separation from the world, spiritual growth, and obedience? If so, that’s evidence of a saving faith. But if those things aren’t there, don’t be misled because you have some of those first seven things we looked at which don’t really prove anything about the genuineness of salvation. You need to “be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you” (2 Peter 1:10).

What Are the Marks of Genuine Faith? Part 1

By Bruce Mills

What are the evidences of genuine saving faith? That is an important question, because there are many people in our churches, communities, and culture who think they are believers, but in actuality, they are not. But before we consider the answer to that question, I would like to consider some of the things many people exhibit in their lives which neither prove nor disprove the presence of genuine faith. Although these things will be evident to some degree or another in true believers, they can also be seen—sometimes even to a high degree—in unbelievers. So what are these things which neither prove nor disprove genuine salvation?

1. Visible morality. A person can be outwardly moral and yet not be saved. Many Roman Catholics and Mormons live lives which are outwardly moral and put many Christians to shame by their high standards of behavior.

I know a Roman Catholic lady who attends early morning mass every single day before going to work. She is a kind, sweet lady. By the world’s standards, she is one of the most outwardly moral people you would ever meet; much more so than many genuine Christians that I know. But she is deceived by her false religion which promotes a salvation based on her good works and, therefore, she is lost and on her way to hell.

Do you remember the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked what good thing he should do to obtain eternal life? Jesus answered him to keep the commandments. He asked Jesus, “Which ones?” so Jesus listed several of them for him. When he responded back, “All these things I have kept,” Jesus did not challenge his sincerity. According to outward appearance and his own human perspective of obedience, he was probably telling the truth. But when Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor and then, “Come, follow Me,” Matthew tells us the man “went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property” (Matt. 19:16-22).

By his refusal to obey Christ, the man demonstrated that his outward obedience to the law was not done out of love for God or for the purpose of His glory, but was done out of self-love and for the purpose of his own self-interest. When commanded to give all of his possessions as well as all of himself to Christ, he refused. And by that refusal, even his seemingly good works were exposed as spiritually worthless works, because they were done out of selfish motivation.

2. Intellectual knowledge of God’s truth. It is possible to have a great deal of knowledge about God’s Word and yet be unsaved. Like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, many scholars throughout the centuries have devoted their lives to careful study of Scripture. But because they did not believe or obey the truths they studied, those truths became a judgment against them, and they remained as lost as the primitive tribesman who is unaware there is such a thing as Scripture.

Many years ago I was teaching through the book of James and was enjoying using a particular commentary because of its ease of understanding. The author was a former dean of students and Bible professor at a small evangelical Bible college out west. He had attended two excellent seminaries in pursuit of his degrees.

I was with my pastor at an event at which John MacArthur was speaking, and my pastor and I were standing backstage with John before he went out to speak. During the conversation, John mentioned that he was about to start teaching through the book of James, so I commented that this particular commentary was excellent. A look of sadness came across John MacArthur’s face and he said, “Unfortunately, that man turned away from Christ and became involved in a homosexual relationship, and is living and practicing that lifestyle. He is a reprobate and an apostate.”

Needless to say, I was shocked, but it was a lesson for me that great Bible knowledge is not evidence of genuine saving faith.

3. Religious Involvement. In the Old Testament, the Lord repeatedly condemned the Israelites for their meticulous outward observance of the Mosaic ordinances and ceremonies while having no trust in Him. They faithfully conducted their sacrifices, but failed to genuinely trust in Yahweh.

4. Active Ministry in Christ’s Name. Outwardly, Judas was as active as the other disciples, as evidenced by the fact that he was the keeper of the money bag for the disciples. And when Christ sent out the disciples to minister in His name, Judas obviously went with them. So for the better part of three years, he considered himself a follower of Christ. But we all know that he never was a true believer. And at the end of Matthew 7, Jesus said that at the final judgment, that some would think that they had been serving Him, but were not. He said,“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (vs. 21-23). So active ministry—even as a pastor, Sunday School teacher, seminary professor, or whatever, is not an indication of genuine salvation.

5. Conviction of Sin. This may surprise some of you, but just because someone feels guilty about their sin does not mean that they are a true Christian. Many unbelievers feel great guilt about the sin in their lives, as evidenced by the many people who reside in mental institutions around the world who are so burdened by the knowledge of their sinfulness that they cannot function in society. Their guilt over their sin became so overwhelming that it made them insane—but it did not cause them to flee to Christ.

Still, there are others who are convicted of their sin, and instead of turning to Christ, they determine to reform themselves. Many people who have been long and deeply enslaved by a particular sin have been able, sometimes through sheer will power, to rid themselves of it. But successfully forsaking a particular sin by their own will power does nothing more than make them even more susceptible to other sins, particularly pride.

Using Judas again as an example, even he felt conviction over his sin of betraying Christ, and committed suicide as a result. But he was not a believer in Christ; in fact, in His high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus called him “the son of perdition” (v. 12).

6. Assurance of Salvation. The world is filled with people who are sincerely convinced in their own minds that they are right with God and that their place in heaven is secured. They truly believe that their good deeds outweigh their evil deeds and that God will accept them on that basis.

If being persuaded that we are right with God truly made us right with Him, we would not need the warnings we find in the Bible about being deceived by false hopes. Yet Scripture is full of warnings to unsaved people who think they are saved (Matt. 7:21-23; James 1:22).

7. A Past “Decision for Christ” Experience. There are many people who make a decision for Christ when they are young and yet, they live their lives with no evidence of the reality of that profession. Sometime down the road, some of them begin to doubt the reality of their decision, and the worst thing that can happen is for someone to say to them, “No, no. Don’t you remember? When you were eight years old, you prayed and asked Jesus into your heart, so don’t have any doubts now. If you can find your Bible, look inside the front cover, because I remember that you wrote down the date there. Don’t doubt your salvation, just believe.”

No, if no evidence of godly living results from that event, no matter how strong and genuine the profession seemed to be, it is no proof of salvation, and those people should doubt the genuineness of their profession.

So, these are some of the things which may be present in a person’s life, but neither prove nor disprove the genuineness of one’s salvation. But there are some reliable proofs of saving faith. God does not leave His children in uncertainty about their relationship to Him. But we will wait until the next post to examine those.

The Testing of Abraham Part 1

by Robert Fraire

Genesis consists of 50 chapters that take us from the creation of the universe to the movement of the descendants of Israel into Egypt. These thousands of years cover such events as Creation, the Fall, the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel. So it may come as a surprise that in the middle of this book are 14 chapters that contain the life and actions of one man: that man was Abraham. These chapters, 12-25, contain some of the most important truths which are referenced many times by the New Testament authors. One of these events is the testing of Abraham in the sacrifice of Isaac. This history is recounted for us in chapter 22.

My purpose in this post is to begin to set the context of chapter 22. God made a covenant with Abraham that he would be the father of a multitude and that his seed would bless the whole world. This covenant plays a central role in God's testing of Abraham so let us start by looking at the establishment of this covenant. The promise of God is found in chapters 12, 13 and 15 then in chapter 15 starting with verse 8 we read...

8He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?"

9So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

10Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

(In verses 11-16 God details events that will occur)

17It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
"To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

This passage gives us the vivid picture of how seriously God takes his own promises. The animals being cut in half and laid opposite each other would cause the blood to empty out of the halves onto the ground in between them. In essence this would cause a "river" of blood to be formed. It is through this river that the "smoking oven and flaming torch passed between the pieces". This oven and torch is a picture of God, and He is the one who passes in the river of blood. At no time does Abraham pass through the pieces. God is the one committing himself here.

This picture then is that God says to Abraham that he would keep His covenant with him. And that if He failed to keep his word He would be bound to pass through the blood (which signified the death of the covenant maker). In other words, NOTHING, would keep God from keeping His word, on penalty of His own death!

Verse 18 makes it clear that God made a covenant with Abraham that day. We will have to keep this truth in mind as we move forward to God's testing of Abraham. In the next installment of this series we will look at how God progressively reveals how He will bring about the fulfillment of His will in the life of Abraham. And finally we will take these truths into the actual testing of Abraham.

Choosing Who We Vote For

By Bruce Mills

We are now in the height of the political election season. The Democratic Party convention was held this week, and next week is the Republican Party convention. Party platforms have been established and legions of the party faithful are now eagerly attempting to convince the public of the validity of their candidate's positions, in an effort to receive the votes needed to elect the candidate.

The question for Christians is, are there any particular issues that are so important to the Christian faith that a believer should not vote for a politician who holds to a position which does not square with Christian doctrine? Or should political issues be considered as matters which should be kept separate from one's faith?

The answer to these questions centers on the value one places on God's Word and its instructions to us, as well as the hermeneutical approach one takes when interpreting the Scriptures. If God's Word is seen to be the inerrant, infallible, written revelation of God to man, then what it has to say is infinitely important for establishing what one believes about these matters and how that impacts one's life. Its teachings become the driving force behind every belief, every action, and every decision one makes. And if one adopts a literal-historical-grammatical approach to the interpretation of Scripture, he or she will not attempt to allegorize or reinterpret the plain statements of Scripture to mean something which better fits with what that individual might wish the Scripture would say. Instead, the Christian will subjugate his will and desires to that which God's Word teaches.

Therefore, when one uses this two pronged approach and examines moral issues such as abortion and the institution of marriage, we find that the Bible clearly teaches that God is the One who created human life and forms each person in the womb, and that marriage is a union of one man and one woman. No other conclusion can be made if one is consistent in using this approach to the Bible and its interpretation. Therefore, it is clearly a violation of the tenets of the Christian faith for man to decide that God-created human life can be terminated by man's choice, and the God-ordained pattern for marriage can be reconstructed into a homosexual union.

So how should this impact one's political viewpoints and how one votes? The simple answer is that we should view every issue of life through the lens of Scripture, because the Bible provides the only objective, infallible standard for how we interpret these matters. What God has to say about these things is far more important than what any person believes. That means that His standards on every issue of life, particularly moral issues such as abortion and marriage, must become our standards and convictions. And because our convictions drive all that we do, we cannot do anything but support and vote for those who hold to views consistent with God's Word and refuse to support and vote for those who hold contrary positions.

Does this mean that a candidate's positions must square with ours on every issue before we can vote for him or her? No. Only those positions which center on moral issues about which the Bible provides instruction are affected by these principles. Thus, a candidate's position on abortion and gay marriage become "litmus tests" for whether a Christian votes for or against that candidate, whereas, a candidate's approach on national defense or how to stimulate the economy do not necessarily rise to such a level of importance.

This is a very different approach than the world takes, which sees abortion and gay marriage as only impacting a few people; namely, those involved in the situation, whereas issues such as national defense and the economy affect everyone. Thus, most people view those issues as the important issues which should decide how one votes. But believers are called to value God's Word above all else. Therefore, they should consider the topics which it addresses as the most important issues to consider when deciding which candidates to support.

"Free Will" and Evangelism

by Bruce Mills

Most of my Christian friends—other than many of those who attend my church and a few others—are Arminians in their doctrine of salvation. That is to say, they believe that every person has the ability in and of himself to choose to receive Christ as Savior. For the vast majority of them, this viewpoint is based entirely on their own experience in coming to faith in Christ. It is not based on any in-depth study of the doctrine of salvation and the differing viewpoints of James Arminius and John Calvin. For most of them, it is entirely centered on their own human understanding and perspective of salvation, without any effort to understand the critical issues which are involved.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it simply is not found in Scripture. The Bible constantly portrays man as completely dead in sin, enslaved to sin, and totally unable to choose to do anything other than sin. Man is not merely spiritually sick—he is spiritually dead! He is a religious and moral cadaver. Therefore, man rejects the gospel because it is man’s nature to do so.

So then, no one has “free will” as defined by the Arminians, because a person’s will is the extension and invariable expression of his nature. No creature ever acts in violation of its nature and, therefore, every person willingly chooses to reject the gospel because that is the desire of his heart. No one is free to act or choose contrary to his nature any more than an orange tree is free to produce almonds. Thus, no one seeks to come to Jesus because it is not his nature to come. In fact, it is man’s nature, and therefore his will, to flee from Christ.

So why is it that, when confronted with the gospel, a person may choose to believe the message regarding his lost, sinful condition and God’s forgiveness through Christ’s substitutionary atonement, and then come in repentance and faith to believe? It is only because God, in His sovereign grace, grants that person the faith to believe.

I recently read a wonderful quote from George Whitefield, written back in the 18th century, which illustrates what I have been saying. Whitefield wrote:

“Come, ye dead, Christless, unconverted sinners, come and see the place where they laid the body of the deceased Lazarus; behold him laid out, bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths, locked up and stinking in a dark cave, with a great stone placed on top of it. View him again and again; go nearer to him; be not afraid; smell him. Ah! How he stinketh. Stop there now, pause a while; and whilst thou art gazing upon the corpse of Lazarus, give me leave to tell thee with great plainness, but greater love, that this dead, bound, entombed, stinking carcase, is but a faith representation of thy poor soul in its natural state; for, whether thou believest or not, thy spirit which thou bearest about with thee, sepulchered in flesh and blood, is as literally dead to God, and as truly dead in trespasses and sins, as the body of Lazarus was in the cave. Was he bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths? So art thou bound hand and foot with thy corruptions; and as a stone was laid on the sepulcher, so there is a stone of unbelief upon thy stupid heart. Perhaps thou hast lain in this state, not only four days, but many years, stinking in God’s nostrils. And, what is still more effecting, thou art as unable to raise thyself out of this loathsome, dead state, to a life of righteousness and true holiness, as ever Lazarus was to raise himself from the cave in which he lay so long. Thou mayest try the power of thy own boasted free-will, and the force and energy of moral persuasion and rational arguments (which, without all doubt, have their proper place in religion); but all thy efforts, exerted with never so much vigour, will prove quite fruitless and abortive, till that same Jesus, who said ‘Take away the stone’; and cried, ‘Lazarus, come forth’ also quicken you.”

Why do I think this issue is important? Because we must always remember that while it is our responsibility to proclaim salvation, we must never forget that it is God who saves. God uses our evangelistic efforts as the instrument by which He accomplishes His sovereign purposes in bringing some to salvation, but it is His prerogative to bring about results when the gospel is given. If we ever begin to think that our gospel presentation can be so fine-tuned as to become an incontrovertible convincing argument which will cause individuals to see their sin and then, using their own “free will,” choose to believe and generate within themselves the faith and repentance that are necessary for salvation, the result will be that our methods will quickly degenerate into similarity with those of snake oil salesmen.

J. I. Packer puts it this way. He says that if we regard faith and repentance merely as the product of human effort, “we should regard evangelism as an activity involving a battle of the wills between ourselves and those to whom we go, a battle in which victory depends on our firing off a heavy enough barrage of calculated effects. Thus our philosophy of evangelism would become terrifying similar to the philosophy of brainwashing.”

It is only when we recognize God’s sovereignty in every aspect of salvation, from beginning to end, that we can avoid these errors as we share our faith. No decision for Christ is ever the result of a slick, well-articulated gospel presentation, and no rejection of Christ is ever the result of a stumbling, inept presentation of the gospel. Every person who comes to faith in Christ does so because God has chosen that person in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and then draws that person in time, giving him the gracious gift of faith to believe. Our duty as Christians is to do our best to share the gospel with everyone we can, using the most effective means available to us, but entrusting the results to our sovereign Lord.

Faith Alone!

by Robert Fraire

Recently I was asked about the "contradiction" in the Bible concerning the sufficiency of faith in the realm of salvation. The question went like this. How can you say that salvation is by faith alone when James 2:20 clearly says otherwise? Or put another way: In James 2:20 and 2:24 we read:

20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Yet Romans 3:28-30 reads

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law ... since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

Now on the surface these two passages might seem to be in contradiction. So what are we to do? Do we shrug our shoulders and say it is some sort of mystery? NO, we must not do so. It would be a fatal flaw in the Christian faith if it could be successfully argued that the Bible teaches (in the same manner and sense) both salvation by faith apart from works, and salvation by faith requiring works.

If so basic a tenant of Christianity such as salvation is unclear or self contradictory, then what is the Gospel message? Christianity would be irrational. Unfortunately too many Christians are willing to live with this proposition. We too often don't do the work necessary to find out what the Bible really teaches and instead settle for a "blind faith" that says, "I love Jesus and He loves me, so I'll leave the Bible for those theologians."

That is not our calling. God has given us His word in order for us to read it and put its words into practice. Are you willing to state that God either chose to be unclear when he inspired scripture or was unable to be clear? God forbid.

So let us look at what does the Bible teach concerning faith and works. In this post I will lay out a summary of the Biblical view of Saving Faith and Works. Then is latter posts I will explore many other issues that play into this truth.

The bottom line is that Salvation is an act of God. He chose us (Eph 1), He called us (John 6:44), He regenerated us (John 3). It is this regenerated person with a new nature that is able to truly comprehend the truth of his condition and his need for Jesus Christ. This man understands and believes God (faith). At this point it becomes a reality in time that the man's sin were imputed onto the account of Christ and God imputes Christ's righteousness onto the account of the man (2 Cor 5:21). At this point God declares the man justified, he is now irrevocably "saved" and all without any works (or meritorious actions) on his part. Even the faith he exhibited was due to God's work of regeneration. In this way his faith was a gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8,9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So then what does the passage in James mean? Did James get it wrong. Should the book of James be removed from the Bible as some have suggested in the past? No and No.

Looking at the context of James 2 with give us the picture.

James 2:21-23
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God.

Here James is explaining his terms. He demonstrates that Abraham didn't just profess that he had faith. He, in fact, acted in obedience to God which demonstrated the faith that he already possessed. Abraham would not have been willing to offer Issac on the alter, if his "faith" had been a lie. Those that truly believe in God with act in accordance with that belief. If you claim that you believe in God and then do directly what he commands that you not do then it demonstrates a lock of faith.

In other words in James 2:24 when he makes his conclusion that man is justified by works and not by faith alone. He means that we are justified by True faith. And that faith will in fact lead to us living and doing what God commands. We are not saved be something called "faith" that has no Godly actions associated with it.

This is exactly in harmony with the rest of scripture. Since God has made us new creatures in Him, we act like new creatures that love God and strive to please him.

I pray that you will ponder these truths and not settle for an irrational faith.