Many people believe faith alone saves. They tell us to believe in Jesus and say the “sinner’s prayer” for salvation. The only problem is, the Bible does NOT teach it.
Faith is essential to salvation. No one will get to heaven without believing in Jesus (Jn. 14:6). However, nowhere does the Bible teach that faith alone saves you. In fact, it says just the opposite. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (Jas. 2:24).
Many rulers among the Jews believed in Jesus but refused to confess Him (Jn. 12:42). They feared being kicked out of the synagogue. The Bible says they “loved the praise of men, more than the praise of God” (Jn. 12:43). Paul said, “… For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). Those among the rulers who believed were yet lost because they pleased men, not God.
Saul of Tarsus believed on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). He went to the city, waiting to be told what to do, and prayed (Acts 9:11). When Ananias arrived, he told Saul, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). If salvation is at the point of faith alone, and Saul believed after the Lord appeared to him, then why was he told to be baptized to wash away his sins?
Salvation is not by faith only. Rather, one must believe and be baptized to be saved (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38).
Steven F. Deaton
