by R. L. Morrison

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).

He who denies salvation by faith, denies the plain truth of the Bible. The passage just read is one of many which teach salvation by faith. Another well known scripture, John 3:16, says, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life." Although there are many scriptures that teach one is saved by faith, there is NO scripture in all the Bible that says one is saved by faith ONLY. Many people today teach that a sinner is saved at the point of faith, or when he accepts Jesus as his own personal Savior. They who so teach pervert the word of God and bring condemnation upon themselves and upon those who accept their doctrine as truth.

Perhaps you ask, "If one is saved by faith, but not by faith only, just how does faith work in saving someone?" This question is answered by the Bible. When we learn the answer, we will have learned that faith only does not, and cannot save. Let us examine what the Bible teaches.

First we should learn that in the Bible faith is used in a comprehensive sense. An example is Heb. 11:30. "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down ..." This refers to a period of the history of Israel found in Joshua 6. In verse 2, God said to Joshua, "See, I have given into thy hand Jericho." In the verses that follow, we learn what the people had to do to receive the city. God instructed all the men of war in Israel to march around the city once each day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to march around it seven times. After doing so, the priests were to blow the trumpets of ram's horns and all the people were to shout. When they did these things, the walls of Jericho fell down and every man went straight ahead into the city. But the walls of Jericho did not fall until the people of Israel had obeyed every commandment of God. They marched around the walls of the city thirteen times, the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted, and the walls fell. The writer of Hebrews says they fell by faith. But when??? When God said to Joshua, "See, into thy hand have I given Jericho"? No, not at all. The walls of Jericho fell when faith in God had been expressed in action by the people doing exactly what God commanded them to do.

Surely no one doubts that God gave them the city. It was by grace. They did not earn it. Never before that time nor since then has a city been taken in that way. They did not receive it when the promise was made, but when they expressed their faith in action, the walls fell. Had the people of Israel refused to obey God, do you think those walls would have fallen?

In 2 Kings 5, the account of the Syrian leper, Naaman, who came to the land of Israel to be healed, teaches us the necessity of an active faith.

Naaman came to the king of Israel to be healed. Of course, the king could not do so. When Elisha, the prophet of God, heard this, he requested that Naaman be sent to him. In due time, he came to Elisha's home. The prophet sent a message to him, saying, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times ... and thou shalt be clean" (2 Kings 5:10). But Naaman became angry. He expected something more, a great display of power. He turned and went away in a rage.

Then his servants came near and reasoned with him. They suggested that if he had been told to do some great thing, he would have obeyed. So why not wash and be clean?

Their wisdom prevailed, and Naaman journeyed to the Jordan River. There he dipped himself seven times, as Elisha had commanded. Upon doing so, he was healed of his disease. One can easily understand how faith required action. His complete obedience to God's will obtained the healing. (It was not the water itself that provided the healing.) Would he have been healed in unbelief and disobedience? Or when he dipped 3 or 5 times? No! Complete obedience was absolutely necessary.

The faith by which a sinner is saved today is also a faith that includes and requires obedience. An inactive faith is useless. Hear Paul: "We are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). Now, how many had put on Christ? Paul answers: Just as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. No more, no less; only those who have been baptized. Paul plainly teaches that being baptized into Christ is a part of the faith which makes one a child of God. One can readily see that the faith that saves is an active obedient faith. Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).

Again: "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Christ, were baptized into his death?" (Rom. 6:3). This passage and Gal. 3:27 are the only ones in all the New Testament which tell us how one gets into Christ, in whom we find salvation (2 Tim. 2:10). This is not accomplished by faith only, but by obeying all the commandments of God concerning salvation.

Think again of the Israelite people at Jericho. They heard what God said to Joshua. He told them what they must do. They believed it. Their faith led them to do all God required. When they had fully obeyed, the walls of Jericho fell.

So it is with the sinner today. Jesus said faith saves, (one must believe), but He also taught that one must repent (Luke 24:27). A confession of faith is also essential (Rom. 10:10). Notice this is a confession of what one believes about Jesus, not a confession of sin, or one's belief that God has pardoned him for Christ's sake. Then again, Jesus said, "He who believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). The faith that saves the sinner is the faith that leads to complete or full obedience to the word of the Lord. Salvation is by faith, it is a gift of God, but one MUST obey God to obtain it.

In Hebrews 11, the author defines faith, and then tells us what men in past ages have accomplished by it. These things are examples of what has been done by those who believed what God said.

First, he says, Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Some have stated it like this. Faith gives a present subsistence to the future things which are hoped for. In verse 3, he refers to the creation of all things. The only evidence offered is simply stated. "In the beginning God the heaves and the earth." We know they exist and because God said He spoke them into existence, we believe that is WHY they exist. No one has ever disproved that simple statement.

The writer refers to Abel, who "by faith" offered the sacrifice that God commanded. This simply means Abel heard, believed and acted. He obeyed what he was told to do.

Enoch "walked" with God; that is, he lived in obedience to God's will. He was bodily translated into heaven. He had NOT seen God, but he heard and believed what God said.

Then the writer says "Without faith it is not possible to please God." This has always been true. It will continue to be true. Without faith, no one can be pleasing to God. But that faith is the result of hearing, believing and obeying.

I read, long ago, what some one said was a little girl's answer to the question, "What is faith?" She said: "It is believing what God said, without asking questions." Can you improve on that?

Have you obeyed God and acted upon your faith?