What Kind of Faith Saves?

Q: What does the Bible say about saving faith?

The Bible teaches that saving faith is belief in God and His promises, as exemplified by Abraham's faith. Saving faith, as articulated in Romans 4, is not based on works but solely on belief in God's promises. Paul writes that Abraham believed God, and this faith was credited to him as righteousness. This demonstrates that justification before God is obtained through faith alone, without the need for works. In contrast, James 2 highlights that true faith is evidenced by actions, as it is a living faith that produces good works. Thus, while saving faith is founded on belief in God's grace, it naturally manifests in a believer's life through obedience and acts of love.

Q: How do we know justification by faith is true?

Justification by faith is affirmed in Scripture, particularly in Paul's epistles, and is foundational to historic Reformed theology. Justification by faith is supported by multiple passages in Scripture, notably Romans 3:28, where Paul emphasizes that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. This teaching is pivotal in the Reformed tradition, asserting that salvation comes from God's grace and not human merit. The example of Abraham in Romans 4 further illustrates this principle, as his faith is presented as the means by which he was declared righteous before God. The harmony between Paul's teachings and the message of grace received is a cornerstone of Reformed theology, confirming that our standing with God is grounded in faith alone.

Q: Why is the distinction between faith and works important for Christians?

Understanding the distinction ensures that salvation is recognized as a gift from God rather than a result of our efforts. The distinction between faith and works is essential for Christians because it clarifies the basis of salvation. Faith is the means by which sinners are justified, as taught in Romans 4, while works are the fruit of that faith. If we conflate faith with works, we risk undermining the grace of God, mistakenly believing that our efforts contribute to our salvation. Paul argues that boasting is excluded because justification is not earned; it is a free gift. Conversely, James highlights that genuine faith results in good works. This relationship illustrates that while works do not save, true faith in Christ produces a life transformed to reflect God’s glory through obedience and service.

Now, I want you to open your
Bibles with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 4. I have two texts that I want to read,
Romans 4 and then James chapter 2. I'm speaking on the subject,
what kind of faith? is saving faith. What kind of
faith is saving faith? Now tonight, I'm going to continue
this message and give an example of that faith that saves. This
morning, the question, what kind of faith saves? What kind of faith is saving
faith? Then tonight, an example of that
faith that saves. Here are two passages of Scripture
which seem to conflict. They seem to be saying the opposite. Romans 4, verse 3. Romans 4, 3. For what saith the
Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness, holiness, acceptance. Now to
him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of
debt, but to him that worketh not, this is Abraham, that worketh
not but believes. He doesn't work for salvation
or work for acceptance or work for righteousness, he just believes. On him that justifies the ungodly
his faith is counted for righteousness. Now keep that scripture there
and turn to James 2. Now, here are two apostles of
Christ, Paul and James, writing about the same man, Abraham,
and they seem to be saying quite the opposite. Now, you just heard
Paul say, Abraham was justified by faith without works. Now,
here is James in James 2, verse 20. James 2, 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Now what's going on here? Paul in Romans chapter 4 says
Abraham was justified by faith, by believing God without works,
without any consideration of works whatsoever. And James comes
along later and writes that it was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered up Isaac. Well, what Paul is teaching in
Romans 4 is justification before God. He's plainly declaring that
the justification of our souls before God is by faith without In other words, in the satisfaction
of God's holy law, it's not our doing, our working, but Christ
doing, our representative, our substitute. His suffering, His
obedience. In putting our sins away, it
is His death, His blood, and not our sacrifice, but His alone.
And in Romans 3 verse 28, right above Romans 4 there, just look
and see what Paul says here. In Romans 3, let's look at verse
25, speaking of Christ, whom God, Romans 3, 25, whom God has
set forth, declared, put him in a prominent place to be a
capitulation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness,
not ours, but his, for the remission of sins of the past through the
forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness,
that God may be just, and the justifier of him that believeth
in Jesus. Now, where is boasting? It's
excluded. By what law? Works? No. But by
the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith, by faith without the deeds of the
law. In Romans 4, this is what David
taught. Romans 4, 6. Listen. Even as
David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works. This is David's message too.
Saying, verse 7, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin, will not impute iniquity. And this
is by faith. So Paul, in Romans, when he talks
about Abraham believing God, and because of faith being accepted
and declared righteous, he's saying it's totally without works.
And this was the heart of our Lord's message. He said, Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you
rest. He said on the last day of the feast in John 7, he said,
Oh, everyone that's thirsty, come unto me, and out of your
bellies shall flow rivers of living water. One day our Lord
was communing or talking with a group of known sinners, and
the Pharisees saw him and they said, talking to his disciples,
they said, why does your master, why does he fellowship with and
talk with these sinners? Doesn't he know what kind of
people these are? These are sinners, these are publicans, these are
people who are known sinners, and our Lord turned to them and
said to the Pharisees, the world don't need a doctor, but they're
going to sin. I'm not come to call the righteous,
I'm come to call sinners to repentance. Go learn what that means. I will
have mercy and not sacrifice. This was a message of the Apostles.
The Apostle Paul said, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am cheap. Romans 10, 9 and 10 says this,
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart, God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For the heart man believeth unto righteousness, not with
works of the flesh, By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified. It's not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to his mercy he has saved us. Nothing I've ever done before
I met God, nothing I shall ever do after I met God will make
any contribution to my acceptance with God. It's in Christ, it's
through Christ, it's by Christ, it's because of Christ. And that's
the message of our Lord. That's the message of the apostles. That was the message of the Reformation.
When you think of the Reformation, right away, of whom do you think?
The Reformation, Martin Luther. 500 years ago, in 1400-something,
in that one, you know, 1400s, Martin Luther. When you think
of the Reformation, you think of Martin Luther. Martin Luther
was born the son of a poor couple, a minor, and his father and mother
wanted him to be a priest, and he wanted to be a priest. He
wanted to be in the things of God. He wanted to be identified
and associated with the kingdom of God and the work of God. Well,
of course, he went into the religion of his day, medieval Catholicism. And medieval Catholicism in that
day was a religion, as it is now, of works. There were the great monasteries
and convents and places where they trained priests and nuns
and so forth and so on. Indulgences were sold, confessional
booths, all these things. Martin Luther went away, he became
a monk. And he tried to please God. He
tried in so many ways to please God. The Bible wasn't in the
hands of the common people. The Bible was chained to a lectern
in the libraries of the Catholic churches and seminaries and monasteries. And that's where Martin Luther
read the Bible. And immediately when he started reading the Bible,
he ran into a conflict. Here was his religion of work.
and duties and deeds and celibacy and all of this sort of thing.
And here was a scripture which he read, the just shall live
by faith. He read that. It's in the Bible
four times. The just shall live by faith. Live before God. Not by works. Not by doings. Not by duties. By faith. And he struggled with that. And
he went to one of his teachers with it and he warned him about
it. Warn them to stay away from that. Any kind of teaching that
intimated that a man could be accepted of God except by what
he does. When Martin Luther had thoughts
like you do, and he lived in a little cell, had a stone floor
and a bunk, and he used to take fallen bushes when he'd had thoughts
of sin, and he'd beat his body, his naked body, till it bled
to get his mind off his sins, on this pain. He had fasted,
he had grown out food for days. They found him unconscious on
the stone floor of that little monastery cell trying to find
God, trying to find appeasement and acceptance with the Holy
God. Found him almost dead. Reviled him, feed him, get him
strong again. He grew right back. He kept reading
that scripture, that just shall live by faith. According to his
own testimony, he went to Rome. I don't know anything about St.
Peter's great cathedral and all that, but Martin Luther said,
in that great cathedral, with all of its superstitions, and
all of its heresy, and all of its handed down traditions, There
was a staircase. There was a staircase. And they
claim that this staircase was brought there from Pilate's hall.
And it was that staircase up which the Lord Jesus walked.
That's the tradition. This staircase was the one upon
which our Lord walked when he was in Pilate's judgment hall.
And on this staircase are drops, red drops. supposed to be the
blood of Christ, covered with glass. And these pilgrims, like
Martin Luther, these monks and pilgrims would go there to that
old cathedral. And Martin Luther said he went.
And they would crawl up those stairs on their hands and knees.
This is what he was doing when this experience took place. He
was crawling up these stairs. And he was kissing each spot
on those stairs and praying, Maybe. Mother of God, pray for
us poor sinners. He's kissing this blood beneath
the glass, crawling on his hands and knees, trying to find favor
with God. You say, how ridiculous. What
do you mean how ridiculous? It's what people are doing all
over the world. It's what people are doing all over the world.
They're not believing, they're not receiving Christ, they're
not casting themselves on his mercy, they're not looking to
his cross, they're not yearning into his rest, they're doing,
doing, going about to establish a righteousness. And Martin Luther
said he was crawling on his hands and knees, kissing those drops,
and a voice seemed to say, and it was the calling to Scripture,
Martin Luther, the just shall live by faith. And he said, I jumped up on my
feet and ran down those stairs and out of that building, out
into God's free air, out into God's sunshine, out into God's
liberty, and looked into the face of my Lord and said, I believe,
I believe, I believe. He said, I left it. I left the
bondage. I left the superstition, I left
the mystics and mysteries, and I found all the revelation in
Christ. And that man gave his life to
preaching this message that just shall live by faith. So strongly
that he kind of argued with James. He kind of had problems with
what I'm going to preach as I go on with this message this morning.
But let this be established. It is not for the works which
we have done, or shall hereafter do, hath God decreed on sinful
worms salvation to bestow. The glory, Lord, from first to
last, is due to Thee alone. Ought to ourselves we dare not
take or rob Thee of Thy throne and crown. We dare not do it.
Justification is by faith. I die for that. I preach it. Never allow this glorious truth
to be compromised, for by grace are you saved through faith.
That not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, not
of works, lest any man should boast. For if righteousness come
by the law, Christ died in vain. Now let's turn to Romans 5. Romans
5 verse 18. Romans 5.18. Now listen to this. Now this is so clear. What it's saying is all of our
righteousness, all of our acceptance, all of our redemption, sanctification
is because of Christ, in Christ, and through Christ. Romans 5.18.
Therefore, as by the offense of one, Adam, judgment came upon
all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness of one."
The what? Free gift. The free gift. It's not for sale. It's a free
gift. "...came upon all men unto justification
of life. For as by one man's disobedience,
Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous." Christ. That the offense might abound,
but where sin did overflow, where sin did abound, grace did much
more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign, God's grace, God's mercy, through
righteousness unto eternal life of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now
then, is that clear? Have I set that forth clearly?
Justification by faith. The redemption of a man's soul
is by faith, not by works. Works don't enter in. All right,
how do you suppose that an untaught, unregenerated religious man or
woman, natural religious, how do you suppose they'll respond
to this message? Their response is twofold. Twofold. This is the average
natural religionist. When you tell him salvation is
by Christ, through Christ, in Christ, by faith in Christ, by
his obedience, his death, what I do has nothing whatsoever to
do with my acceptance of God, how's he going to react? The
first is this. Here's his first reaction. He'll justify a sinful life,
a worldly life, a careless life, with the grace of God. He'll
say, all right, I'm saved by grace. Then it does not matter
how I live. It does not matter how I walk.
It does not matter how I talk. I'm saved by Christ. So godliness
and holiness and honesty and obedience has no claim on me.
I'm justified by grace, then how I live and how I walk and
how I talk and how I behave does not matter at all. Paul knew
that they'd say that, so in chapter 6, just after he's finished talking
about this righteousness in Christ alone, he brings that thing up,
chapter 6 verse 1. What shall we say then? If salvation is by grace and
mercy and the work of Christ and by faith and what I do has
nothing whatsoever to do with my justification before God,
then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? If where
sin abounded, grace does much more abound. Where sin overflowed,
grace does much more overflow. Then let's continue in sin that
grace may abound. He says, God forbid. How did
you come to that conclusion? God forbid. How shall we, that
are dead to sin, live any longer therein? And let's look at verse 15. Same
chapter, Romans 6. What then? Shall we sin because
we're not under the law? We say the curse of the law is
gone, the covenant of the law is gone, the judgment of the
law is gone, and we're not under law, it's not our rule of life,
the love of Christ is our rule of life, we're not under law,
we're under grace, then shall we sin, live like we please,
because we're not under law but under grace? God forbid. That's
the first reaction. He'll either justify a sinful
life, by the grace of God, or secondly, he will justify an
unfruitful life. A person may say, well, I don't,
I certainly believe we ought to live righteously and godly
in this present generation. And that's certainly not my reaction.
I don't react that way. Shall we sin that grace may abound?
Because we're not under love but under grace, we just go ahead
and sin, live, Ungodly? No, I don't believe that. But
here's another reaction. People will justify an unfruitful
life. In other words, there's some
people I know, and you know, who profess to believe what we
call Calvinism, what we call sovereign grace, free grace,
free grace. And they show God it is free
because they never give anything. They justify this thing of free
grace and they do nothing for others. They support no gospel
ministry. They identify with no church.
They serve in no capacity. They give no help along the way
to those in need. They witness to no one. They
do not give any sacrifice whatsoever to the family of God or the kingdom
of God. They're truly without works of
any kind. I'm saved by grace without works. Then I won't do anything. Now
this is what James is dealing with. Turn to James chapter 2.
This is the very thing he's dealing with. The Apostle Paul, and this
is true, this is from Genesis, from Abel's sacrifice all the
way through our Lord's ministry and the Apostle's ministry. that
just shall live by faith without works. Have I made that clear,
Brother Tom, Jim? Salvation by grace, free grace, plus nothing minus nothing. And Paul immediately, he says,
now you folks, you folks that say that you're saved by grace
and your lives are questionable and your conduct and your honesty
and your integrity. Now he said, God forbid, that's
not what we're teaching. God forbid. And then James comes
along and he says, this faith that says I'm saved by grace
without works, that does not produce any works of faith, God
forbid, that's wrong too. Look at James chapter 2 verse
12. All right, let's look at this carefully. James 2, 12. So speak ye, and so do ye, as
they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. You know,
we talk about people who shall be judged by the holy law of
God. Out here, the holy law of God says I shall not bear false
witness. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet,
thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Honor thy father
and thy mother, and the people of this world are going to be
judged by that law of God. Then what kind of law are we
going to be judged by? We're going to be judged by the
law of God under which we live, the law of liberty. That's right. Isn't that what he's saying?
So you speak. And you do as people who are
not under a law. The law was not made for the
righteous, but for the unrighteous. But you are under a law of liberty. God has set you free. Over in
the book of Galatians, chapter 5, listen to the Galatians, chapter
5, verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Christ has made
us free in the law of liberty. Let me show you another verse
that teaches that same thing in James 1 25, back up above
James 2 and verse 25 of James 1. Listen. He talks about over
here, look at verse 22 of James 1. Be ye doers of the word and
not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any be a hearer of the
word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face
in the glass. And he beholdeth himself, goeth
his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he is. But
whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deeds. In other words, I
look into this law of liberty. Christ has been merciful to me.
Then I go show mercy. God has been kind to me, then
I go show kindness. God has forgiven me, then I forgive. That's what this law of liberty
is. It's looking into the law of
liberty and going out and doing those things that are agreeable
to the law of liberty. You see that, Bob? So speak ye
and do ye as those who shall be judged by the law of liberty.
Christ in his grace has made me free, then I shall be gracious.
God has been generous to me, then I shall be generous. God
has helped me when I was down, so I'll help those that are down.
That's the law of liberty. Look at verse 13. For he shall
have judgment without mercy that show no mercy. The man who has
shown no mercy to the poor, no mercy to the distressed, and
no mercy to the people of God's body, Why, he'll receive judgment
without mercy. What's the statement? Mercy rejoiceth
against judgment. What does that mean? It means
just this. Those who have received mercy and shown mercy are not
afraid of judgment. Mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Mercy is not afraid of judgment.
The man who has received the mercy of God, and that mercy
has been productive in his own life. He's not afraid of judgment. That's exactly what that's saying.
Verse 14, and here's an example. He says, What does it profit
my brethren though a man say he hath faith and hath not works?
Can that faith save him? Can that kind of faith save him? Faith is not historical only. It's not a faith of words. It's
a living faith. A man who says he has faith and
does not have works of faith and labor of love, can that kind
of faith save him? Suppose a brother, in other words,
his faith's in word only. In word only. He's not devoted,
he's not dedicated, he's not kind, he's not compassionate,
he's not generous, he's not gracious, he has no works. Listen to this.
It's in word only. If a brother or sister's naked,
and has no food, and one of you say to them, depart in peace,
be ye warmed and filled, and notwithstanding you don't give
him those things for the body, don't give him some clothes and
some food which is needful, what will it profit him? Will your
words warm him? Will your words feed him? Of
course not. Words won't feed him and words
won't clothe him, and neither are words of religion saved.
That's what he's saying. Even so, faith, if it's in word
only, and hath not works, is dead. Now, we talk about works
without faith are dead works. Works without faith are dead
works. Even so, faith without works is dead faith. Works without faith are dead
works. need to be repented of. But I'll
tell you, faith without works is dead faith. That's what he's
saying here. Yay, verse 18. Now watch this.
A man may say, in other words, a believer may say to another
man, you have faith. You believe God's sovereign.
These are your words. These are your words. This is
what the believer is saying to this man. You have faith. You
believe God's sovereign. You believe Christ died on the
cross. You believe in one God. You believe man's totally depraved.
You believe that the Holy Spirit is invincible. You believe these
doctrines. You have faith. You say you have
it. I have works. I have works. I worship God. I read the Word. I give. I'm identified with God's people.
I help the poor. I help the missionaries. I witness,
I do these things. I have works. You have faith,
you have faith in words, you say you're Calvinist, you're
a sovereign gracer, you believe it. I have works. I'm not saying
anything about my faith. I'm just saying I have works.
I'm faithful and dedicated, sacrificially dedicated to the kingdom of God.
Show me your faith. Show me your faith without your
works. Let's see your faith. You say you have faith? You say
you have faith? I'm not saying anything about
my faith. I'm saying I've got works. Works of faith and labor
of love. You say you have, show me your
faith. That's what you, show it to me. How you gonna do it?
Show me your faith without your works. It cannot be done. If
you have no works of faith, you have no labor of love, you have
no dedication to Christ, you have no compassion on others,
you have no sacrifice for his kingdom and his glory, you can't
show faith. You can't show faith. So he says
here, I'll show you my faith. I'll show it to you. I'll demonstrate.
I'll put it on display. Here's my faith. I won't talk
to you about my doctrine. I'm not going to talk to you
about it with words. I'm going to show you that I'm
going to worship God. I'm going to support the gospel.
I'm going to help these people. I'm going to forgive those who
need forgiving. I'm going to show mercy to others.
I'm going to have a good attitude and a good spirit. And let's
change all your conclusions." Isn't that what he's saying?
That's exactly what he's saying. We're going to be judged. We
say we are at liberty. God has set us free. You're going
to be judged by that law of liberty. How you have reacted and responded
to that freedom. We don't have freedom to serve
ourselves, we have freedom to serve our Lord. That's the law
of liberty. My only liberty and freedom is
to serve him. to be a channel of blessing,
to be a channel of mercy, not to sit over here in my rocking
chair and brag about my Calvinism, or brag about my doctrine, or
brag about the truth I believe. Let's see truth in operation.
That's what verse 18 says. You got faith? You got faith? Your faith's in words. Because
he says in verse 19, you believe there's one God? The devil believes
there's one God. You believe God is a God of sovereignty?
The devil believes that. You believe God is a God of election?
The devil believes that. You believe God is the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? The devil believes that. That's
what he's saying. You believe there's one God?
One God. And all that isn't included in that one God. Verse 20, But
will you know this, O vain man, what a vain fellow you are, what
a foolish man you are, that faith without works is dead? Now then, he says, was not Abraham
our father justified? Was not his faith proven? Was
not his faith demonstrated? Was not his faith put on display
by his works? Where was Abraham justified when
he believed God? What did Abraham do when he believed
God? He walked with God. He left his home, not knowing
where he was going. He gave in to Lot. He would not
allow the world to make him rich, or he'd put his son on the altar.
He did all of these things because he believed. He believed, and
then his faith. How did Abraham believe God?
He acted like it. And that's what he's saying in
verse 21. Was not Abraham our father, was not his faith justified
by his works? when he offered Isaac his son.
Do you have any doubt about Abraham believing God? Well, no, but
I know he believed God. How do you know he believed God?
How do you know he believed God? By the way he performed. That's the only way. Alright,
I'll bring it to a close. You see, verse 22, how that faith
wrought with his works How did faith walk with his works and
by his works was faith perfected, was faith revealed, was faith
manifested? And the scriptures fulfilled
what said Abraham believed God. And it was imputed to him for
righteousness and he was called a friend of God. You see, do
you see James says how that by works a man is justified and
not by faith only? Faith, let me say this and I'll
close. Faith alone saves, but it's not a faith that is alone. That's right. Faith worketh by love. Faith
produces. Faith changes a person. Changes
a person. Makes him a new creature. And
that's how he proves that he believes in God. Alright, tonight
I'm going to continue this and bring the second message on an
example, a picture of that kind of faith. Alright, Mike, come
meet us in 383.

What Kind of Faith Saves?

What does the Bible say about saving faith?

How do we know justification by faith is true?

Why is the distinction between faith and works important for Christians?

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What Kind of Faith Saves?

What does the Bible say about saving faith?

How do we know justification by faith is true?

Why is the distinction between faith and works important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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