Are We Saved by Faith Alone?
The New Testament repeatedly teaches that salvation is received through faith.
Paul writes:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8–9)
That truth must remain at the center of everything we say about salvation.
We cannot earn salvation.
Christ did the saving work. God provides salvation by grace, and we receive what He has provided through faith.
So where does baptism fit?
If baptism is something a person does, does including baptism in conversion turn salvation into salvation by works?
Or have we created a conflict that the New Testament writers themselves did not see?
The place to begin is by asking:
What did the biblical writers mean by faith?
GOING DEEPER
Salvation Is by Grace
Before discussing baptism, we need to make something absolutely clear:
We are saved by God's grace.
We do not deserve forgiveness. We cannot live well enough to erase our sins. We cannot place God in our debt by accumulating good works.
Paul says:
“It is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Jesus did what we could never do for ourselves.
Nothing we say about repentance, confession, or baptism should ever turn those responses into achievements by which we earn salvation.
But What Kind of “Works” Is Paul Rejecting?
Does Paul mean that if a person does anything at all in response to God's offer, salvation becomes earned?
That cannot be what he means.
Faith itself requires a response. Repentance requires a decision. Confession requires speaking. Calling upon the Lord requires action.
Yet none of these earns salvation.
So the important distinction is not simply between doing something and doing nothing.
It is between:
trying to earn salvation
and:
trusting God enough to respond to what He says.
Don't Stop at Ephesians 2:9
Paul's thought continues into verse 10:
“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Paul is not against obedience.
He is against boasting.
We are not saved because our works deserve salvation. But those God saves are created in Christ for good works.
Grace does not eliminate obedience. Grace produces it.
What Does James Say About Faith?
James approaches the subject from another direction:
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”
(James 2:14)
James is not attacking genuine faith.
He is attacking a claim to faith that never acts.
He concludes:
“Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
(James 2:17)
James does not say genuine faith is unnecessary.
He says genuine faith acts.
Do Paul and James Contradict Each Other?
Paul says:
“A person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”
(Romans 3:28)
James says:
“A person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
(James 2:24)
But they are confronting different errors.
Paul confronts people who think they can establish their righteousness before God by works.
James confronts people who claim to have faith while refusing to obey God.
Paul says:
You cannot earn salvation.
James says:
A faith that never acts is dead.
Those truths do not contradict each other.
Abraham Helps Us See the Difference
Both Paul and James use Abraham.
Paul writes:
“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
(Romans 4:3)
James says of Abraham:
“His faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
(James 2:22)
Was Abraham saved because he accumulated enough good works to deserve God's favor?
No.
Abraham trusted God.
But what did trusting God look like?
He obeyed Him.
Hebrews puts it simply:
“By faith Abraham...obeyed and went.”
(Hebrews 11:8)
Notice the connection:
By faith—he obeyed.
Biblical faith is not the opposite of obedience.
Biblical faith produces obedience.
The “Obedience of Faith”
Paul himself uses a remarkable expression.
At the beginning of Romans he speaks of bringing about:
“the obedience of faith among all the nations.”
(Romans 1:5)
Near the end of Romans he returns to the same idea:
“so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.”
(Romans 16:26)
Paul's gospel of grace and faith does not produce passive belief.
It produces:
the obedience of faith.
What Did Faith Look Like in Acts?
Now return to the conversion accounts we have already studied.
At Pentecost, people heard Peter preach Jesus. They were “cut to the heart” and asked:
“What shall we do?”
Peter told them:
“Repent and be baptized...”
Then Luke says:
“Those who accepted his message were baptized.”
Their baptism did not compete with faith.
It resulted from accepting the message.
The Ethiopian heard Philip preach Jesus and was baptized.
Lydia heard Paul's message, the Lord opened her heart, and she was baptized.
The Philippian jailer was told:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
Then Paul and Silas taught him the word of the Lord, and that same night:
“he and all his household were baptized.”
Again and again, belief acts.
The Philippian Jailer
The jailer's story is especially helpful because he asked:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul and Silas answered:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
(Acts 16:31)
If we stopped there, we might conclude that nothing more happened.
But Luke keeps writing.
They taught him the word of the Lord, and:
“immediately he and all his household were baptized.”
Then Luke describes him as rejoicing because he had “come to believe in God.”
Luke can describe the whole response as believing, while that response includes hearing God's word and being baptized.
That is important.
Does Baptism Replace Faith?
Absolutely not.
Without faith, baptism has no biblical meaning.
Paul writes:
“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God...”
(Colossians 2:12)
Faith is right there.
The believer trusts God's working.
Baptism is not a substitute for faith.
It is meaningless without faith.
Does Faith Make Baptism Unnecessary?
The same New Testament that says:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”
also says:
“Repent and be baptized...”
“Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
“All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.”
“All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
And:
“Baptism...now saves you...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
We should not use the faith passages to cancel the baptism passages.
And we should never use the baptism passages to weaken salvation by faith.
Both belong to the same New Testament.
What About “Faith Alone”?
Here we need to be precise.
If faith alone means that we cannot earn salvation and our only hope is trusting what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, that expresses an important biblical truth.
But if faith alone means that genuine faith need not respond to what Christ commands, James gives us a serious warning:
“Faith without deeds is dead.”
The issue is not whether faith saves.
It does.
The issue is:
What kind of faith does the New Testament describe as saving faith?
Biblical faith hears God.
Biblical faith trusts God.
And biblical faith responds to God.
Does Repentance Compete With Faith?
Jesus said:
“Unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
(Luke 13:3)
Peter said:
“Repent...for the forgiveness of your sins.”
(Acts 2:38)
Does requiring repentance mean we are saved by works rather than faith?
No.
Repentance is part of turning toward God in faith.
The same question should be asked about confession and baptism.
If Christ commands a response, obeying Him does not mean we have earned what He gives us.
The gift remains a gift.
Grace, Faith, and Obedience Fit Together
Perhaps we can put the New Testament picture this way:
Grace is the source.
God provides salvation we could never earn.
Christ is the Savior.
His death and resurrection make salvation possible.
Faith receives.
We trust what God has done in Christ.
Faith responds.
It repents, confesses Christ, calls upon Him, and obeys what He commands.
None of those responses earns the gift.
God still does the saving.
That is why Paul can teach salvation by grace through faith and also speak of:
“the obedience of faith.”
There is no contradiction.
Let Every Passage Speak
Ephesians says:
“By grace you have been saved, through faith.”
James says:
“Faith without deeds is dead.”
Romans speaks of:
“the obedience of faith.”
Acts says:
“Those who accepted his message were baptized.”
Colossians says believers were buried and raised with Christ:
“through your faith in the working of God.”
We don't need to choose which passages to believe.
Believe all of them.
Then build our understanding large enough to include everything God has said.
That is the approach we have followed from the beginning:
Read First. Conclude Later.
Continue Your Study
Next Bible Study
Was Saul Saved Before He Was Baptized?
Saul saw the risen Jesus on the Damascus road.
He believed. He obeyed Jesus. He spent three days fasting and praying.
Yet Ananias still told him:
“Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
Had Saul's sins already been forgiven on the road?
Or does Ananias' statement tell us something important about when Saul completed his response to Christ?
We'll examine the whole conversion account next.
Related Bible Studies
The First Gospel Sermon
Buried and Raised With Christ
What About Cornelius?
Read First. Conclude Later.