Prominent Religious Doctrines:
"Salvation At The Point Of Faith 'Alone'"

Probably the most common doctrine in the religious world today is salvation at the point of faith alone. Almost any religious person today will tell you that once they "accepted Christ as their personal Savior," they were saved from their sins. Is this true? What does the Bible say about man's salvation?

The Bible teaches:

1. People saw salvation when John preached (Lk. 1:77, 3:6).
2. Salvation came through Christ (Matt. 1:21; Lk. 2:30, 19:9-10; Jn. 3:17, 10:9, 12:47; Acts 4:12; I Tim. 1:15; Heb. 7:25; Jas. 4:12; Rom. 4:25).
3. Paul and Barnabas showed people "the way of salvation" (Acts 16:17).
4. The Gospel is God's power to salvation (Rom. 1:16; Eph. 1:13; Jas. 1:21; I Cor. 15:1-2; Gal. 2:16).
5. Man must believe and confess Christ in order to be saved (Rom. 10:9-10).
6. "Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation" (II Cor. 7:10). Repentance of sins saves man (Acts 2:38).
7. God's grace saves us (Tit. 2:11, 3:7; Acts 15:11; Eph. 2:5, 8; II Tim. 1:9; Rom. 3:24).
8. Obedience to Christ saves us (Heb. 5:8-9; Rom. 2:13; Matt. 7:21; Jas. 2:24).
9. Faith saves us (Mk. 16:16; I Pet. 1:9-10; I Cor. 1:21; Heb. 10:39; Lk. 8:12; Acts 10:43, 13:39, 16:11; Eph. 2:8; Rom. 3:25, 28, 30, 5:1; Gal. 3:8).
10. Salvation is seen in God's longsuffering (II Pet. 3:15; Rom. 3:25).
11. People were commanded to "save themselves" (Acts 2:40; I Tim. 4:16).
12. The preaching of the Gospel saves (I Cor. 1:21).
13. Baptism saves us (I Pet. 3:21; Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38, 22:16; Tit. 3:5; I Cor. 6:11; Jn. 3:3-5; Eph. 5:26).
14. The one who endures to the end will be saved (Matt. 24:13; Mk. 13:13).
15. The word of God/Christ saves (Jn. 5:34; II Tim. 3:15; Acts 11:14).
16. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13).
17. The blood of Christ saves us (Rom. 3:25, 5:9; Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:22; Rev. 1:5).
18. We are saved by the life of Christ (Rom. 5:10).
19. We are saved by hope (Rom. 8:24).
20. We must love the truth in order to be saved (II Thess. 2:10).
21. God's mercy saves us (Tit. 3:5).
22. God saves us (Rom. 3:25, 30, 8:33; Gal. 3:8).
23. Our own words can save or condemn us (Matt. 12:36-37).
24. Those whom God saves have been called by the gospel (Rom. 8:30; II Thess. 2:14).
25. Finally, the Bible says that God wants all men to be saved (I Tim. 2:4).

Believe it or not, this is not a complete list! After finding 25 things that the Bible says saves us, would anyone dare say that one of these things "alone" could save us? Why is it that so many "religious" people believe that faith "alone" will save a man? We have listed several passages that state that faith will save you. Yet, where is the passage that says faith "alone" does anything? The only time we read about faith "alone," the Bible says it will not justify a man, but is dead (Jas. 2:24, 26)!!!

Some may say that we are "mixing categories." That is that there are things that God has done to bring about salvation, and then things man must do. No one denies this. I believe and teach that there are things God has done in order to bring about man's salvation. For man to try to "do it on his own," would result in nothing but his dying in his sins. Dear reader, take a sheet of paper and go back through the things we have listed. Draw a line dividing the sheet in two, and on one side of the line write at the top of the page, "What God does." Then, on the other side of the line write, "What man does." Write down all that God has done to bring about salvation for man and then what man must do in response. I can assure you that you will not have a "lop-sided" list; nor will there be many things which God has done, and only one thing that man does for salvation!

If we can look into the Bible and find anything besides faith that man must do in order to be saved (ex. repent of past sins, confess Christ), then man isn't saved by faith "alone" is he? We are not denying the importance of faith in Christ at all. Without faith, we will die in our sins (Jn. 8:24; Heb. 11:6). However, we must not get caught up in the false teaching that says that faith "alone" saves us!