IF FAITH ALONE
IS ENOUGH TO BE SAVED, WHAT ABOUT LOVE?
By ROMMEL V. SAN
PEDRO
PROTESTANTS PROCLAIM that faith alone is enough to be
saved, but is this teaching really biblical?
If they would only truly examine the Scriptures, they would learn that though
faith is extremely important and absolutely necessary, love is greater.
The importance of love
Love is greater than faith:
“And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (I
Cor. 13:13, New International Version)
If love is greater than faith, then how can anyone
believe that salvation is by faith alone?
Loving God, moreover, is not merely an emotion, but is shown by
following God’s commands:
“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
(I John 5:3, Ibid.)
This is why our Lord Jesus Christ taught that the
greatest command is to love God (Matt. 22:36-39) and only those who love God
will receive the crown of life:
“Blessed is the man who
perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the
crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12,
NIV)
If loving God, as our Lord Jesus
Christ taught, is the greatest command, and only those who love God will
receive the crown of life, then how could Protestants say faith alone is enough
to be saved? Does that mean then that a
person does not have to love God? And
that all he has to do is believe in God to be saved?
Faith by itself is
Dead and barren
Further proof that faith alone is not enough to be saved
is the biblical teaching that faith without works is dead:
“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is
dead.” (James 2:17, New Revised
Standard Version)
It is also barren (James 2:20). If something is both
dead and barren, then how could anyone expect that this would lead to
salvation? How could anyone be of value
to God? God expects us to do good
things or works:
“My brothers and sisters,
what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good
things? Can this kind of faith save
him?” (James 2:14, God’s Word)
This rhetorical questions shows that faith without works
can not save. A person can not be
justified before God by faith only:
“You see then that a man is
justified by works, and not by faith only.” (James 2:24, New King James Version)
In this verse, the words “by faith only” are preceded by
the word “not.” In other words, the
doctrine that a person is saved by just believing in God or in Jesus as Lord
and personal Savior and not by obeying the commands of Christ and God
contradicts the Bible.
No one will expect demons to be saved, yet they believe
(James 2:19). So those who profess this
kind of faith are not wise, but fools whose faith is useless (James 2:20)
The good required
For Salvation
What about if man does something good? Doing good does not mean just anything that
people regard as good. The law or
command of God is what is good (Rom. 7:12).
God’s commands are found in the Bible (II Tim. 3:15-17). The Bible, therefore, is the source of the
true teachings which equip God’s people to do good works. Even though God wants people to be saved, but
they have to know the truth:
“This is good and pleases God
our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”
(I Tim. 2:3-4, New Living Translation)
The truth is the word of God (John 17:17).
The truth that Christ taught
Christ did not teach that faith alone is needed for man
to be saved. He even criticized those
who called Him Lord but did not obey Him and did not really believe in Him:
“What good is it to mouth the
words, ‘Lord! Lord! If you don’t live by My teachings?” (Luke 6:46, The Voice)
If someone really accepts Jesus as his Lord, then he
ought to obey the teachings or commands of Christ. Christ commanded those who want to be saved
not just to believe in Him but to enter Him:
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.”
(John 10:9, NKJV)
Those who entered are found in the one flock (John
10:16). The flock is the Church Of
Christ:
“Take heed therefore to
yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you
overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.”
(Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation)
Therefore, the command to enter the Church Of Christ is
from Christ.
Not enough to be in the
True Church
When Christ was asked the question: “What good thing
shall I do that I may have eternal life?” he answered, “If
you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:16-17, NKJV).
The apostles also reiterated the importance of obedience:
“My friends, I want you to
remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you
hold firmly to it. But if you don’t,
your faith was all for nothing.”
(I Cor. 15:1-2, Contemporary
English Version)
By obeying Christ’s commandments, members of the true Church remain in His love:
“I have loved you even as the
Father has loved me. Remain in my
love. When you obey my commandments, you
remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his
love.” (John 15:9-10, NLT)
Choose life
Why would God inspire His words
to be written in the Bible, send our Lord Jesus to preach His words, and teach
people about salvation, and yet not expect people to obey? From the very beginning God gave a choice:
“I call heaven and earth as
witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you
may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and
the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD
swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
(Deut. 30:19-20, NKJV, emphasis ours)
God gave
mankind a choice between life and death, between blessing and cursing, but told
them to choose life by loving Him through obedience and clinging or trusting in
Him. If they did that, then they would
dwell in the land. It is mankind’s hope
that one day they will live forever with God and Christ. Without faith it is impossible to please God
(Heb.11:6). Faith is absolutely necessary
to be saved. But just like what Apostle
Paul declared:
“If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (I Cor. 13:2,
NIV) *
Copied from PASUGO GOD’S MESSAGE/October 2014/Pages
33-35/Volume 66/Number 10/ISSN 0116-1636
