All Biblical references in the following post are from the King James Version using a tool from Blue Letter Bible. Scriptures can be viewed within the post by hovering the mouse cursor over the highlighted Bible references. Any other significant references are available at the bottom of the post, with their in-text citations marked by a number in brackets (e.g. [1]).
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
Throughout this examination of Biblical salvation, I have used Ephesians 2:8 as my outline for the breakdown of the posts in this series. This has carried us through (1) why salvation is necessary, (2) how believers are saved through the work of Christ, and (3) how the grace of God has made salvation available. In other words, we have covered the “saved” part of the verse and the “grace” part, so all we have remaining is to cover the final piece of this equation: faith.
I believe faith is simultaneously the most accepted and misunderstood part of this discussion about salvation. Faith and the questions that go with understanding it account for many of the disagreements and misunderstandings within the Christian church, both modern and ancient. Many of the issues addressed by the apostles who were inspired to write Scripture were regarding the Church’s understanding of how to live out their faith correctly. These issues and others continued to be addressed by many of the early Church fathers and throughout the 2000 years since the death and resurrection of our Lord. Medieval Christendom, the Protestant Reformation, the Great Awakenings, and the current state of the church (split into approximately 45,000 different groups and denominations [7]) are all results of differing interpretations of how to act out faith.
In the first portion of this post, we will look at a Biblical definition of faith. The Scripture in the heading of this post, Hebrews 11:1, is as clear of a Biblical definition as there is. Yet, while it is easily quoted, it is not so easily understood. The Greek word used in this verse for faith is pistis, which means to be convinced, convicted of, or to believe something [6]. Many people are quick to say they believe something, yet what they mean in many cases is that they think it is true. The opinion that something is most likely true is much different than being truly convinced that that thing is true. True faith in something means that you would stake everything on the truth of that thing. Matthew Henry summarizes faith well in a portion of his commentary on Hebrews chapter 11:
“Faith is the firm assent of the soul to the divine revelation and every part of it, and sets to its seal that God is true. It is a full approbation of all that God has revealed as holy, just, and good; it helps the soul to make application of all to itself with suitable affections and endeavors; and so it is designed to serve the believer instead of sight, and to be to the soul all the senses are to the body.” [5]
As Matthew Henry explains, real faith (or belief) is knowledge without requiring sight. It is the realization that something is true, even if that thing cannot be fully seen or comprehended. Even though we cannot see God, cannot prove using manmade science that Christ rose from the dead, and cannot physically see the fulfillment of all of His prophecy and promises, we can see insurmountable evidence of all of these things in Scripture and through all of Creation. That is faith. It is the evidence that Christ is true within our very souls – and we are without excuse by which to reject Him (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1). Those who deny this evidence and reject God are usually starting from the wrong assumptions. When people trust in their knowledge and understanding first, they often try to use science and logic to prove whether God exists or not. This often leads to flaws in science and logic due to the flawed nature of mankind itself. To properly understand God and science, God must be the starting point and base assumption rather than science being the basis. We will always interpret evidence through our biases and assumptions, so we must be careful that we have the truth as our foundation.
Now that faith has been defined, I would like to cover some of the main disagreements in Christianity regarding faith. As I mentioned in the last post, I would like first to cover the main break in Protestantism between Calvinists and non- Calvinists. The most fundamental point of disagreement is in the source of faith. To be clear, no true Christian will ever say that faith is not from God. 1 Corinthians 4:7 makes it clear that everything we have is from God. What separates Christians here is whether God has offered faith as a gift that can be chosen or has placed faith irresistibly within those He has chosen [1]. Calvinists claim that faith cannot be a choice made by human beings, as that puts too much credit on their part. They believe that for God to be given total credit for salvation, mankind can have no part or choice in the matter. Calvinists interpret Ephesians 2:8-9 to say that each piece is a separate gift from God: grace, salvation, and faith. They say that this means that faith can only be present in those God elects.
Those of us who are non-Calvinists would reply to all of this by saying that faith in Christ is a choice of free will. For God to truly love the world, as in John 3:16, Christ must have been given for all rather than just the few elect. Perhaps the best way of understanding salvation is to use the analogy of a gift. If salvation is a gift that God is metaphorically offering by reaching out His hand to us, then do we deserve any credit for reaching back and accepting the gift? An undeserved gift does not warrant any pride or credit on the part of the receiver. God gets all the glory for salvation. This perspective goes into Ephesians 2:8-9 with the interpretation that Calvinists are making a grammatical error. Ephesians 2:8-9 does not separate salvation, grace, and faith. It is the whole concept of salvation by grace through faith that is a gift of God [1].
This may seem overcomplicated and nitpicky, but it is important because true Biblical salvation requires people to choose Christ freely. If faith is only present in those God has hand-picked, then there is no free will. When this is applied to theology, God emerges as a wrathful deity who arbitrarily chooses some for salvation and others for damnation. Following that line of thinking, everything that occurs is simply based on His whim. According to Calvinists, Christians should worship Him for this supreme will in all things, including sending some to Hell by His own choice. In contrast, if God is offering Salvation through Christ by free will, then His love is truly evident in the world. He is entirely capable of forcing His will upon all of Creation, yet He allows humans to freely follow Him or not. And in His loving offer of free will salvation, He has made a Way of rescue from sin.
Another big disagreement about faith I would like to address regards the relationship between faith and works. The big question here is: Is there anything we must do as Christians to receive salvation? The answer can be taken deep into the weeds of argument and careful wordplay. For the sake of time, I cannot go into every detail of this argument that has been taking place since the very writing of the New Testament. I will try my best to accurately, albeit bluntly, analyze the main perspectives on this. The two main perspectives that I want to outline will use the same wording from Scripture: salvation comes by grace through faith, not by our works. Yet with some analysis, the practice of this concept can differ greatly from one group to another.
The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is that justification comes through faith alone, but believers are required to have works that cooperate with the faith to gain salvation [3,4]. The main works required in Catholicism are referred to as sacraments. The three specific sacraments required for justification and salvation are water baptism by a priest, penance (reparation) for sins committed after baptism, and the eucharist (communion) at mass [2]. They often use James 2:24 as proof of this doctrine. To quote an article from the Corpus Christi Catholic Church [4], “Our faith in Jesus must be manifested by doing what He asks us to do, which includes many, many works.”
The Protestant reply to this Catholic doctrine would be Paul’s words from Ephesians 2:8-9. The works-based concept of salvation has been a misconception since even the time of the Old Testament. While baptism and communion are important practices to remember and thank our Savior by, they do not have any place in earning salvation. The author of Hebrews makes it clear that even the Law was not a source of salvation. The list of Old Testament heroes in Hebrews 11 recounts that these people were saved because of their faith, not their perfect adherence to a set of rules. The questions that arise here are: “But where does James chapter 2 come into play?” and “Doesn’t James contradict Hebrews and Ephesians?” This can be confusing because James 2:24 says that works do justify a person and that faith alone is not enough. To explain this seeming contradiction in Scripture, we must understand that the authors are using the word justify in two different ways. Whereas Hebrews and Ephesians use the term “justified by faith” to mean made righteous through faith, James is simply saying that true faith will have proof. He is saying in James 2:21-22 that Abraham’s faith was justified (or proven) by his works. Justify can mean both “to regard as righteous” and “to prove or show to be just” [8]. The good works ultimately come from Christ as the source. Simply put: Christlike works are not required to gain salvation, but they are a proof of salvation (Matthew 7:16-20).
To summarize this Salvation Series, I would like to briefly work through the Scripture we have focused on. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “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.” It is the wholly underserved, unearned grace of God that brought about a way of salvation. That salvation came through the ultimate sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who took the punishment that we deserved. We can accept that gift of Salvation only by choosing to place our faith in Christ. We must stake our very existence on our choice to follow Him, understanding that we cannot earn salvation through good deeds. We must allow Jesus, the true vine (John 15:1) to change our hearts and use us to produce good fruit.
While this series discussed some of the important details of the Biblical process of salvation, it is by no means comprehensive. I hope that these last four posts have helped in your understanding and that they encourage you to study further. If you have any questions or comments on this topic or would like suggestions on where to look for further study, I encourage you to comment on this post. If you have any other questions, comments, or suggestions for future post topics, please contact us through the “Contact” page on the website or through the Facebook page.
