Not by Faith Alone

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

The bible has warnings near the beginning, in the middle, and in the end, against adding to the Word of God.

“² Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”  Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32

“Do not add to his words,
    or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. Proverbs 30:6

“¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”  Revelation 22:18-19

One glaring example of adding to the Word of God is practiced by many Christian churches:

It’s a deliberate misquote of Ephesians 2:8. The verse actually says “⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—”

The common misquote adds two words:

⁸ For it is by grace alone you have been saved, through faith alone —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

If that isn’t adding to the word, I don’t know what is. It’s presented, preached, and taught as if it were scripture.

This is not only and addition; it is contrary to other scriptures which make it clear that faith, or believing, is worthless without its proof: obedience. Even the demons believe, but the problem is that they don’t obey. “¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James 2:19

A verse in 1 Peter even implies that those who don’t obey the gospel aren’t in God’s household.

“¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17

Now I’ll explain my understanding of that verse. God’s household, of course, is the family of God; the Church. It is a sobering thought that judgment is to “begin with the household of God”. That in itself implies that faith alone is not enough. As for the meaning of “those who do not obey the gospel”, I explained in “A Thorough Study of Baptism” that the gospel is defined in I Corinthians 15 :1-4 as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that submitting to baptism is the initial obedience to that gospel.

Peter even associates baptism (literally meaning ‘immersion’) with salvation.

“²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”  1 Peter 3:21

Now, we all fail to obey the commandments in the Word, so my take on this is that the difference is whether we are completely surrendered in our spirit, our heart, to Jesus, even though the flesh is weak and we all often stumble. If our attitude and intention is to obey whatever God commands, then His wonderful grace will cover the gap between intention and practice.

The point is that faith alone is not enough. In fact, the only place in the bible where we find the two words “faith” and “alone” joined together is in James 2:24  “²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”

There is a difference between explaining the scripture and adding to it as if it were gospel.

When explaining the meaning of scripture, a preacher or teacher is not (or should not be) claiming to be infallible. It is understood that the explanation is just being given as his or her best understanding and application of the particular passage.

We have biblical examples for explaining.

One example is in Nehemiah 8:1-8. Verse 8 says “⁸ They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.”

Another example is Acts 2, where we see Peter’s first sermon. After making his case that Jesus was their Messiah, quoting many Old Testament scriptures (the New Testament hadn’t been written yet), and retelling much of their history as God’s chosen people, he went on in verse 40:

“⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

On the other hand, we have additional warnings besides the clear commands not to add to the Word.

In 2 John verse 9, the idea is phrased a little differently but it’s similar to the idea of adding to the Word: “⁹ Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”

To “continue in the teaching” is to at least strive to follow it and to obey; not just to have faith and let it go at that.

I’ll close with one more example of the importance of going beyond simple faith.

“²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  ²⁷ So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 11:25-27

In that passage, Paul is explaining that the Lord’s Supper is so important and so solemn an occasion that we need to go deeper than just believing. We need to examine our hearts to be sure we are putting that belief, that faith, into action and practice. This is written to people who obviously believe and have faith; otherwise they wouldn’t even be taking the Lord’s Supper. Faith alone is not enough.

I write this not to condemn or to judge, but to encourage and exhort myself and all who believe in Jesus to do their very best to go beyond belief and on to obedience.