It is obtained by
faith
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The Holy
Scripture states that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans
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But what did
Jesus do in order to save the world? He offered His flesh and His blood. Let me
explain to you this fundamental concept. Sin entered the world through one
man, called Adam, and it passed upon all men, thus all have sinned (Romans |
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As I have
already said, the deliverance from the bondage of sin is received through
faith in Christ, therefore not by good works, whether they are done before or
after a man’s conversion, nor by water baptism which follows faith, but only
through faith. That’s why salvation is by grace, because in order to obtain
it a man needs only to believe in the One who sets man free from sin, that
is, Jesus. And since salvation is received by the grace of God and not by our
merits, anyone who has received it has nothing to boast about before God. He
can glory in the Lord, that is, he can take pride in having received this
great salvation from the hand of God solely by His great mercy. However, many
people have set aside the grace of God by saying that salvation depends on
the merits of man, on his sufferings and many other things (among these
people are the Roman Catholics, the so called Jehovah Witnesses, and the
Mormons). Therefore, in this Bible study, I want to reaffirm with all
boldness and strength that salvation can be obtained by a man only through
faith. Here are some passages of the Scriptures which attest in an
unequivocal way that we are saved only through faith. |
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When the keeper of the prison in |
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Notice how
the apostles answered that frightened prison keeper: “Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ” immediately and with one accord, because this shows that the
message of salvation they preached to men was based on the faith in Christ
and not on men’s merits. The apostles could answer that question at once and
correctly (for they told him that he had to believe in Jesus Christ in order
to be saved) because they had shod their feet with the preparation of the
gospel of peace (Ephesians |
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Paul said to the Romans: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for
it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek” (Romans |
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This
passage means that it is the message of the Good News that delivers all those
who believe in it from sins. And we are witness of the salvation worked by
the Gospel in those who were once slaves of all kinds of sins: men who were
formerly fornicators, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, covetous men,
sorcerers, liars, have been set free from the sin which they served through
faith in the Gospel. |
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Paul says to the Ephesians: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). |
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We who
have believed in the Gospel of our salvation have been set free from our sins
through faith in the Gospel. We can’t say that we have been saved from our
sins because we gave alms, we visited the sick, the widows and the orphans,
or because we gave food, drink and some clothes to those who needed these
things, because we all have obtained this great salvation not through good
works, but through faith alone; I say it again, ‘through faith alone’; faith
in what? Faith in the Gospel of the grace of God. If a man could be saved
through his good works, Christ would have died in vain, and therefore it
would be useless to preach the Gospel to all those who think that they can be
saved by doing good to themselves and to their neighbour. But besides this,
it must be said that if a man could be saved through some good works he would
have something to boast about before God because he could say that he deserved
to be saved. In other words, he could say that salvation was the fruit of his
labors and he would never say that salvation is the fruit of the labor of
Jesus Christ’s soul. He could say that he suffered many things in order to be
saved, and he wouldn’t say that it was Jesus Christ, the Righteous, who
suffered for us who were unjust in order to set us free from the bondage of
sin. However, as Paul said to the Romans “Where is boasting then? It is
excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith” (Romans 3:27),
because we know that a man is saved through his faith in Jesus Christ. This
is the reason why we have nothing to boast about, because we have been saved
by the law of faith and thus by grace. Yes, by the grace of God, because it is
through faith alone that we have been saved. |
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Paul says to the Thessalonians: “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). |
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The
apostles gave thanks to God because God was pleased to save the believers of
Thessalonica according to His eternal purpose. But how did God save them? Did
He save them through good works? No, but He saved them through the
sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth. Once again the Scripture
confirms that salvation is obtained through faith in the truth and not by
good works. Where are the merits of man then? They are excluded by the law of
faith. |
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Paul says to the Corinthians: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the
gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you
stand, by which also you are saved ….” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 – NKJV), then he
tells them the Gospel which he preached to them, and afterward he says to
them: “So we preach, and so you believed” (1 Corinthians 15:11 – NKJV). |
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From these
words of Paul we learn that the Corinthians were saved through their faith in
the Gospel and not by good works they had done. Some of them had been
adulterers, fornicators, idolaters, effeminate men, homosexuals, thieves,
covetous, extortioners, drunkards and revilers (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), but
they were saved from their sins through their faith in the Gospel, apart from
the deeds of the law. This is the reason why the message of Christ is called
the Gospel of peace, because in order to have peace with God, that is to say,
in order to be reconciled to God, sinners don’t have to do meritorious deeds,
but they must believe on the name of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, how
could the message of Christ be called Good News if the Bible stated that in
order to be saved a man has to do good works? Wouldn’t such a statement
contradict the essence of the Gospel? Of course, it would contradict it; for it
would mean that Jesus came to save us freely, demanding only repentance and
faith in Him from us, but we must work with Him (that is to say, we must do
good deeds) in order to be saved from our sins! What a contradiction!! |
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Paul says in the epistle to Titus: “For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in
malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:3-5). |
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From these
words of Paul we learn two things: the first is that we have been saved and
therefore we can say that we are saved, without running the risk of being
presumptuous; the second thing is that we have obtained this salvation not by
good works we have done but by the mercy of God, who has begotten us again to
a new life through the Word of God planted in us (the washing of
regeneration) and through the renewing which the Holy Spirit has worked in
us. |
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Paul says to Timothy that God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). |
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Once again
Paul says that God has saved us by grace and not because we have done some
good works; but He says also that God gave us His grace before the world
began, that is, before the foundation of the world. If this passage is not
sufficient to make you understand that our salvation did not depend on some
good works we have done, but on the mercy of God who was pleased to save us
who did not deserve to receive anything from Him, I quote the following words
which Paul wrote about Esau and Jacob to the Romans: “(For the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It
was said unto her [Rebecca], The elder shall serve the younger” (Romans
9:11-12) and also these other words of Paul: “So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans
9:16). These words destroy all those arguments which induce people to rely on
good works in order to be saved. |
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The apostle Peter said in the presence of the other apostles and the elders
in Jerusalem: “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we
are saved, just as they [the Gentiles] are” (Acts 15:11 – NIV). |
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Now, Peter
said that they who were Jews by birth were saved by grace just as the
Gentiles were, even though the Jews were circumcised in the flesh and they
had the law of Moses containing the commandments of God. But why didn’t Peter
say that they who were Jews had been saved by the deeds of the law, while the
Gentiles, who had not the law, had been saved by grace? Because they (who
were Jews by birth) also had to believe in order to be saved (therefore they
had not obtained God’s salvation through the law). The words of Peter make it
clear that in order to be saved a man must believe, because God’s salvation
is given both to the Jews and the Gentiles freely. We conclude, therefore,
that God will save the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through
faith. |
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Other passages
of the Scriptures which confirm that we are saved by faith alone and not by
good deeds |
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Paul says to the Romans: “But what saith it [the righteousness which is of
faith]? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there
is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:8-13) |
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As you can
see, in order to be saved a man doesn’t have to do good works but he has to
confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in his heart that God
raised Him from the dead. Isn’t simple and clear the way of salvation which
is written in the Scripture? Of course, it is. |
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Brothers,
I exhort you to hold on to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith
in Christ Jesus and not to forsake it, otherwise you will set aside the
sacrifice of Christ, you will declare that Christ died in vain and so you
will fall from grace. Talk with one another about it so that you might be
strengthened, and proclaim it to the sinners so that they also might repent
and believe in Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of God, that’s why in order to believe in Christ for their salvation sinners
need to hear of Christ, of his atoning sacrifice. Let the cross, the cross of
Christ, be preached with all boldness because the message of the cross is
able to save man from sin. There is no other message that can save man, and
you know it very well because it was through the message of the cross that
you were saved by the grace of God. |
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Now we are slaves of righteousness
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As we have
just seen, the Scripture clearly states that we have not been saved by works of
righteousness which we have done, but we have been saved through faith in
Christ and thus by the grace of God. However, the Scripture states also that,
having been set free from sin, we became slaves of righteousness and
therefore we must do good works. This part of the counsel of God was
proclaimed by Jesus Christ, who said to His disciples that He had chosen them
so that they should do good works. Here are His words: “Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). Afterwards, Paul
confirmed it by saying to the Ephesians that we “are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10), and to Titus that Jesus Christ “gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). |
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But why
should we be zealous for good works? Because Jesus said: “Herein is my Father
glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8),
and: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16); these words of
Jesus mean that by doing good works we cause the name of God to be glorified.
So let us do good works, so that the name of our God may be glorified. Furthermore,
you must bear in mind that by doing good works we lay up treasure for
ourselves in heaven, which is the reward that on that day the Lord will give to
us (and this is a stimulus to do good works). For when Jesus told the young
ruler to sell what he had and give to the poor He said to him: “And you will
have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21 – NKJV), and Paul told Timothy to
command those who are rich in this present age “to do good, to be rich in
good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will
lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age” (1 Timothy
6:18-19 – NIV). |
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I conclude
by saying this: we believers know that by our faith we have been saved from
sin and from this evil age, however we know also that now we are slaves of righteousness,
thus we must offer the parts of our body in slavery to righteousness by doing
all kinds of good works. But whereas when we were slaves of sin we did not
reap any benefit from our evil works which we are now ashamed of, now that we
are slaves of righteousness the good works we do for the sake of the Lord and
the elect make our call and election sure and they enable us to lay up for
ourselves treasures in heaven, a good treasure for the time to come, and we
will never regret doing them and we will never be ashamed of them. Therefore,
the works of righteousness are useful, very useful; let no one despise them. Let
those who despise the good works know that the Scripture states that “as the
body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James |