There are so many “faith only” advocates in the religious world. It’s beyond me to understand this when the Bible is so explicit about faith and works. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other.
Let’s examine this a little further. We know that one who practices Christian religion of any sort must have faith, that is, believe in God and His power, the gift of His Son, etc. One of the very first Scriptures that most Christian people ever learn about is Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God for the one who comes to Him must believe that He is [that is that God exists] and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” This is just a basic fact of any “Christian” religion because it makes sense. In the first place, if you don’t believe in something, you certainly are not going to make any effort to make it successful. In the second place, you must believe that there is reason for believing in an entity, in this case, a reward for our faithfulness and diligence.
Continuing in this 11th chapter of Hebrews, we see many examples of faith being exercised by different people: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the walls of Jericho compassed about and falling, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel, the prophets, etc. The list of faithful accomplishments is enough to impress and bring to attention even the greatest skeptic.
Others “through faith” (verse 33), subdued kingdoms, did righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, when weak were made strong, were valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead raised to life, others were tortured, others had trials of cruel mocking and scourging, bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, in mountains, in dens and caves (through verse 39). Why would anyone suffer the torment of all these things? Because they had faith that caused them to believe in the power of God to sustain, encourage and lift them up, calling them righteous and these were the fruits of their efforts in His service! They had work to do for God, and they never shirked their duty.
How does this relate to us today? These wonderful examples were given for our benefit: “whatever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The examples in the Bible are given to lend support to our courage and determination to do the right thing. Even though the faithful of old suffered horrendous things, they were given strength from God to endure and leave an example for us to do the same.
James said, “by works was faith made perfect” (James 2:22). This is the end result of Abraham being willing to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. God stayed his hand and provided a sacrifice, but Abraham had to have faith enough in God to show that he was willing to do what God requested. God operates just this same way in dealing with sin in our lives: “God is faithful Who will not suffer you to be temped above what you are able but, will with the temptation, make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Even though He could do so, God is not going to clear temptation to sin from your path. That would be preempting His cause – that of you demonstrating your faithfulness. Another Scripture bears this out: “The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Peter 2:9).
When folks try to tell you that they will be saved by “faith only,” don’t get caught up in their web. Instead, look at these great examples of faithful people of the Bible and take the same stance with those touting “faith only” that James said we should have: “Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Ask God to give you the strength to always righteously do His works and be pleasing to Him.
