FAITH is a conundrum in the Christian faith because it isn’t always clear how it works.
How Does Faith Save?
The Saved by Faith conundrum originated from a theological concern for what happens to those who lived before the Law or before Jesus. Perhaps you have struggled with this same concern. For the Jew, being made right with God is all about following the Law handed down by Moses. For the Christian, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. So, with both sides considered, what happens to all those whose lives pre-date the Law or Christ? Are they automatically sent to hell because their lives occurred at an “inconvenient” time? The simple answer is, “NO!” The Apostle Peter said it this way in 2 Peter 3:9 (NCV):
The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.
And, if God has made provisions to save all those who “change their hearts and lives” how did this work?
Abraham: The Ultimate Example of Faith
The proponents of this theory point to Abraham. During his life, Abraham demonstrated powerful, unshakeable faith in God by following the instructions given to him by God. His faith was a legend among his people – so much so that he was known as the father of faith.
The author of Hebrews recorded Abraham’s life in this way:
8 It was by faith Abraham obeyed God’s call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go. 9 It was by faith that he lived like a foreigner in the country God promised to give him. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had received that same promise from God. 10 Abraham was waiting for the city that has real foundations—the city planned and built by God.
So, if Abraham was saved by faith, where does the Law or Jesus fit into the equation?
Can we be “Saved by Faith Alone?”
The “Saved by Faith (Alone)” conundrum minimizes God’s plan for salvation and ignores His role in the process of justifying us. Another misunderstood verse in this simplified form of salvation quotes Paul in his letter to the Romans:
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1: 20 NLT)
Reading this verse might lead you to conclude that, for centuries, anyone who saw God’s invisible qualities in His creation and accepted them as from God, in faith, might be saved. So, does God save people simply because of their faith? The proponents of this theory would say YES.
Why I Reject This Theory: To be reconciled with God to the point that we can spend eternity with Him requires two components:
- First, we must express our faith in Him. And, like Abraham, our faith must be a true and sincere faith that is both powerful and unshakable (or, at least, moving in that direction). If, as pointed out in Romans, we “see” God in His creation and turn to Him for help — that is the beginning of faith.
- Second, God must accept our faith and justify us in that faith – a 2-step process. As God explained to the prophet Samuel “the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Therefore, no one can fool God. When God “justifies” us, the result is “just as if” we never sinned. When God accepts our faith, He grants us mercy (bypassed judgment for our sins) and declares us justified – worthy of salvation.
We Decide, God Justifies
Throughout history, God has been justifying His people.
- He justified Abraham because of his great faith in God and because he obeyed His God.
2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:2-3 (NIV)
The words “credited to him as righteousness” are key because Abraham did not earn this credit; God, in His mercy, gave it to him because He accepted Him.
- He justified the Jews to the extent that they obeyed God, had faith in Him, and followed His Law. I say “to the extent that” because of what Luke says in the book of Acts:
38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. Acts 13: 38-40 (NIV)
- He justified all those who accept His Son, Jesus, because of what Paul says in Romans:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3: 23-24 (NIV)
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! Romans 5:9 (NIV)
The importance of justification was a key concept that came out of the Reformation, where Martin Luther and John Calvin (among others) expressed their disagreements with the Catholic Church. Over time, five phrases (known as the five solas) were developed as a way of capturing the essence of the Reformation. These five solas were:
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- Sola gratia – by grace alone.
- Solo Christo – by Christ alone.
- Sola fide – by faith alone.
- Soli Deo gloria – by the glory of God alone.
- Sola scriptura – by the holy scriptures alone.
These five phrases are helpful, but as John Piper puts it, “five prepositional phrases hanging in the air with no clause to modify are not helpful in making clear what the great controversy of the Reformation was about, nor do they clarify the essence of the true Christian gospel.” ((https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-god-really-save-us-by-faith-alone)) Like many concepts in Christian thought, the idea was good, but the execution was lacking. What was missing, according to Piper, was the work God does to justify us in preparation for the five solas. God justifies us by a grace that we cannot earn. Applying this modification, John Piper connects the dots:
Justification before God is by grace alone, with no merited favor whatever; on the basis of Christ alone, with no other sacrifice or righteousness as the foundation; through the means of faith alone, not including any human works whatsoever; to the end that all things lead ultimately to the glory of God alone; as taught with final and decisive authority in the Scriptures alone.
Unfortunately, Mr. Piper’s wisdom was not incorporated into the “Saved by Faith workaround.” Those who subscribed to it put too much emphasis on faith (an act of man) and not enough on being justified (an act of God done in His infinite mercy to us).
Our Inheritance Depends on Faith, but it is Given by the Grace of God
Justification is not the only nuance of God’s plan missed by the proponents of this concept. Over time, God slowly revealed how the path to reconciliation with Him would involve a few turns and twists that, in the end, would help us better appreciate the God who created us.
After Abraham, God introduced His people, the Jews, to the Law as given to them through Moses. God knew that having a “powerful and unshakable” faith in an invisible God was a tough order for all but someone like Abraham. So, if the goal was to be justified (reconciled, saved) by God, having a standard to aim for might help. God’s purpose in delivering the Law to the Jews was to simply “show them the way” to attain the goal of becoming “holy, because I am holy.” ((Leviticus 11: 44 (NIV))) If one applied the Law with a reverent and obedient faith in the God who gave it, their chances of being accepted by God greatly improved. The Apostle Paul explained this concept in Romans 4: 16 (AMP):
16Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all—
Paul makes a huge claim when he says that:
- “[INHERITING] the promise (of salvation/ reconciliation/ justification from God) depends entirely on faith”
- “in order that it may BE GIVEN AS AN ACT OF GRACE” (God’s “unmerited favor and mercy.)”
- “So that the promise will be [LEGALLY] GUARANTEED TO ALL.”
- “not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law” (Or try their best to do so).
- “but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham” (and believe in the one, true God who is the Father of us all).
- Ultimately, we know that God (the Father) sent us Jesus (the Son) to provide us with an object of faith we could actually approach and, through Him, qualify for salvation.
The promise of salvation/justification is legally guaranteed when we have faith. However, there is one last lesson God wanted to teach His people before they could truly experience God’s saving grace. That lesson was – that the OBJECT of our faith mattered. In the Old Testament, whether it was Abraham or the Jews, the object of their faith was focused on God, the Father. There was nothing inherently wrong with that faith except God had conditions (“be holy, because I am holy.”) ((Leviticus 11: 44 (NIV )) which could never be met. So, everyone was dependent upon God’s grace to be accepted into His Kingdom. Finally, God sent into the world Jesus to become the new object of our faith. Why was this necessary? Because Jesus removed the barrier of sin that always separated us from God. He did this by sacrificing Himself on a cross to wash away all that sin so we could now come before God as “holy and blameless” because we had shifted the object of our faith to Jesus.
The OBJECT of our Faith is Key
Paul covered this topic in his letter to the Galatians. In verse 5 of chapter 3 (NCV) he asked: 5 Does God give you the (Holy) Spirit and work miracles among you because you follow the law? No, he does these things because you heard the Good News (of Jesus) and believed it (had faith in it).
Paul is pointing out a critical shift in the object of their faith (from the Law to Jesus) and in the actions resulting from their faith (simply following the Law or performing miracles as a result of the gift of the Holy Spirit).
Paul further points out that “Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.” (Verse 6) But Abraham was never burdened by the Law. Paul points out that the problem with the Law is – it is the wrong object of our faith. “10 But those who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse, because the Scriptures say, “Anyone will be cursed who does not always obey what is written in the Book of the Law.” God’s plan for our salvation was never dependent upon us following the Law. According to Paul, the Law was both a “curse” and a “guardian” to the Jews. A curse because no one could ever obey all that is written in the Book of the Law. And a guardian because “the law was our guardian leading us to Christ so that we could be made right with God through faith.” (Verse 24) In God’s plan, He gave the Law to the Jews to show them that, in a world dominated by sin, they would need a standard by which they could discern what was good. But discernment is not enough! To see what is good in God’s eyes while knowing that we will never achieve His standard only results in being “held prisoners by the law. We (the Jews) had no freedom until God showed us the way of faith (Jesus) that was coming.”
In summary, the Jews were locked into placing the object of their faith in the Law and couldn’t make the transition into realizing that Jesus’ mission was to release them from being prisoners of the Law. Making Jesus the object of their faith would bring them the freedom to practice their faith. The Gentiles had no problem with this concept because they were not bound to the Law.
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