by faith alone?

Caveman quoted Romans 3:19-20, and asked...

Is Salvation by faith alone?

Caveman,

Salvation is the work of God alone. Psalm 3:8

Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17



Caveman73 said...


FAITH ALONE!!!
ROM 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

NOT BY FAITH ALONE!!!!
JAM 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.



Caveman,

The process of "saving" (salvation) is provided by God alone. The process begins with the grace of God, which reaches down to a man and makes him recognize his sinfulness. A man chooses either to accept God's grace or to reject it. The grace of God cannot be earned.

Paul is correct. A man is not justified by the Law. The Law makes a man aware of his sinful condition.

James is not saying anything contrary to what Paul said in Romans. Your suggestion that he said something contrary shows that you have chosen to misread what James is actually saying.

James is talking here about two kinds of faith: a faith that saves and faith that does not save. He asks (rhetorically)

"Can such a faith save?"

The "works" that James is talking about are a product of a "faith" that is alive. The faith that saves is alive, and is evidenced by the works that stem from it. A faith that is dead does not produce works.

The analogy here is that a branch that is alive produces fruit, and a branch that is cut off will not produce fruit (cf. John 15:5) The fruit on the branch is evidence that the branch is alive.

What you are suggesting (erroneously) that James means is akin to saying that by our effort to attach fruit to a dead branch, that we can make the branch alive. You are suggesting that James is saying that attaching "works" to a dead faith that we can make the faith alive. A careful reading of James 2 reveals that this is not what James is saying.

Notice also that faith is not a human work.

Rather, faith is a gift granted by God (cf. 2 Tim 2:25, Phil 1:29, John 6:37,65)