Salvation By Faith Alone (Part 2 of 2)

By George E. Meisinger

George Meisinger is dean of Chafer Theological Seminary, as well as teaching in the Old and New Testament departments. He earned a B.A. from Biola University, a Th.M. in Old Testament Literature and Exegesis from Dallas Theological Seminary, a D.Min. in Biblical Studies from Western Seminary, and is presently pursuing a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology. He also pastors Grace Church in Orange, California. His email address is: cts@school.com.

Introduction

Part one of this article [1] reviewed the first century controversy that raged over eternal salvation: Is it received by faith alone in Christ alone, or must good works follow to authenticate one’s salvation? The book of Galatians argues forcefully that no works (before, during, or after the moment of faith in Christ) contribute to one’s eternal destiny in heaven.

The debate rages on—evidenced by quotations from today’s cultic leaders and modern Reformed Theologians between whom there is not an eyelash of difference. They both insist on joining good works to faith: some along with and some after the moment of faith in Christ.

Then we turned our attention to essential passages that deal with the subject of how a person receives eternal salvation, starting in Romans 4. We continue now at Romans 11.

Faith, Works, and Election (Romans 11:6)

And if by grace, then it is no
longer of works; otherwise
grace is no longer grace.
But if it is of works, it is no
longer grace; otherwise
work is no longer work. [2]

εἰ δὲ χάριτι, οὐκέτι ἐξ
ἔργων· ἐπεὶἡ χάρις
οὐκέτι γίνεται χάρις. εἰ
δὲ ἐξἔργων, οὐκέτι
ἐστὶχάρις· ἐπεὶ τὸ ἔγον
οὐκέτι ἐστὶν ἔργον.

If our eternal election is by means of grace, and it is, then what is grace? Grace is God’s favor that He grants to man—it is favorable action to which He is not bound. [3] That is, He is not bound except where the dictates of His own divine attributes bind Him, e.g. faithfulness (immutability) to His promise (veracity) to save the one who does not work, but believes. God’s gracious acts toward man manifest themselves in providing for sinful man’s eternal justification without cost through Christ’s redemptive work (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 2:5, 8–9).

Because of man’s sinful and hostile nature (Romans 3:23; 5:10), it becomes clear that God’s grace is a free gift toward those who have no legitimate expectation of divine generosity, nor sufficient reimbursement to make for it. The absolute freeness of God’s provision of eternal life, we see by the usage of the adverb graciously (δωρεὰν), which denotes what is freely given, without cost, without paying. [4] For example, the believer is justified freely by His grace (Romans 3:24) and the Lord invites everyone to take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).

Because God’s gift of eternal salvation is without cost to man, then, by logical necessity, [5] it is no longer of works. No deed, no accomplishment, nothing humanly-originated matters, whether before, during, or after one’s first act of faith alone in Christ alone.

Grace and works are antithetical. “To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” (Romans iv. 4.) “If by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.” (Romans xi. 6.) Grace of necessity excludes works of every kind, and more especially those of the highest kind, which might have some show of merit. But merit of any degree is of necessity excluded, if our salvation be by grace. [6]

The giving and receiving of eternal life must be this way, for if it were different, grace is no longer grace. If election to eternal life is by works, grace no longer has the nature of grace (an unmerited free gift). It has become something other than grace, distorted beyond recognition.

An act done with any expectation of a return from the object on which it is wrought, or one which is meted out as a matter of justice, recompense, or reward, is not an act of grace. This is specially noted in Romans 11:6. [7]

Faith Applied to Christian Experience (James 2)

Because of centuries of misguided interpretation of James 2, some deploy this passage to support the notion that genuine faith inevitably produces good works. If good works are not present, they say, “Faith is dead—it is not a faith that saves eternally.” James says nothing of the kind.

We should note, first, that James writes to Christians, not unbelievers. He does not seek to show unbelievers how to reconcile to God, but to show believers how to walk to please the Lord. We know that James teaches Christians, not unbelievers, because of how he addresses his audience throughout the book:

• They have been brought forth [born again] by the Word of truth (1:18). Regeneration is the basis for James calling them beloved brethren (1:16, 19; 2:5) and eleven more times brethren, or my brethren (1:2; 2:1, 14; 3:1, 10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 10, 12, 19; cp. 1:9; 2:15).
• God is their Father (3:9), denoting a common bond in the family of God.
• The Spirit dwells in them (4:5)—an indication that they are eternally bound in the family of God (Romans 8:9–11; cp. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
• They look for the coming of the Lord, though needing patience while waiting (James 5:7).

Second, in 1:19 James gives the three-part outline of his epistle as: be swift to hear (1:21–2:26), be slow to speak (3:1–18), and be slow to wrath (4:1–5:6). This is important for rightly interpreting the book. Particularly, it tells us to understand chapter two in the light of be swift to hear. Chapter two delineates for Christians what James means by swift to hear: Thus these verses teach believers how to live now that they are God’s people. There is no justification for assuming James seeks to show unbelievers how to receive eternal life.

Third, those born again, whom he urges to walk in a worthy manner, must put aside sinful thinking and behavior and welcome the implanted Word (1:21a). The seed of the Word has the inherent power to take root in one’s life, then bring about many beneficial fruits. For example, James says the Word rooted within a person is able to save your souls [8] (1:21b), referring to his brethren in the Lord. God has already saved his readers in the sense of granting the new birth, eternal life, and forgiveness. Yet, they still need to be saved. At this point, someone may ask, “From what do Christians need to be saved?” James gives several clues. For example, various trials (1:2), lack of wisdom (1:5), and the death-dealing power of temptation and sin (1:14–15)! Christians need to be saved—delivered or rescued—repeatedly from these things. However, if our experience is to be daily deliverance, the Word must become implanted in our souls (fulfilling swift to hear), and we must be doers, not mere hearers (also fulfilling swift to hear).

Fourth, chapter two further develops swift to hear, bringing into play the crucial role of faith—the Christian’s daily exercise of faith. Being swift to hear, as a doer of the Word, means not becoming sidetracked with partiality toward the affluent, while neglecting to minister to the poor (2:1–13). In fact, if my brethren fail to minister to those with pressing needs, what, James asks, does it profit (2:14a)? If a brother or sister is destitute of life’s necessities, and we do not minister to them, again, he asks, what does it profit (2:15–16)? Now what is the problem? His fellow believers are not swift to hear; not being doers of the Word. Accordingly, no profit, no practical benefit, results from their faith.

In this light, James asks Can faith save him (1:14)? Can faith, so entangled with partiality and disconnected from merciful works, deliver or rescue a believer from life’s troubles and the deathdealing power of temptation and sin? The required answer is “No!” Instead, such a believer will experience overwhelming trials along with temptation and sin that bring forth death (1:15; 5:19–20). Not eternal or the second death, but temporal death, a death-like experience (cp. Romans 7:24; 8:6)!

James concludes this subsection saying thus faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (2:17). He does not say that an unbeliever does not have faith and, therefore, needs a miracle from God to implant faith within him. He does say that a believer, indifferent to the pressing needs of fellow believers, has faith by itself. He has faith, but it is lonesome; it has no works to keep it company. Moreover, when one’s faith is without works—not exercising itself though merciful deeds—it is dead in the sense that it is non-productive. A fruitless faith is like a fruit tree that does not bear fruit. It does not profit, being without practical benefit to others. James reinforces this point in 2:20 by again saying, faith without works is dead. The critical text uses a different term for dead here (ἀργός), than in verses 17 and 26. It would mean “idle, useless” [9]—the Christian’s faith without works is dead or profitless.

Fifth, James illustrates his point by showing that both Abraham and Rahab (2:21–25) were justified by works. James now underscores his challenge to born again believers with the positive examples of two Old Testament believers. When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar (2:21), he had been born again for some 40 years. God had imputed righteousness to Abraham for his faith years before and his eternal destiny was never in question after that first act of faith. His good work regarding Isaac did not justify Abraham in God’s eyes (vertical justification, by faith alone), but in the eyes of men (horizontal justification, by faith plus works). Some writers throw in a catchy expression here claiming that “faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone.” Their implication is that saving faith inevitably produces goods works, thus construing James to say that works justified Abraham. Moreover, they speculate, if works are absent, then one has not received eternal life. [10]

James teaches nothing of the sort. Chapter two addresses believers who are not swift to hear, i.e., not doers of the Word. He addresses Christians who have seriously compromised their testimony to the poor, not to mention in the eyes of a smart, affluent unbeliever who sees through their partiality. They thus are of no profit, no practical benefit, to others and even the testimony of their faith before others is in question. It is true that God knows their first act of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. It is true that God credited their first act of faith for righteousness. No man sees that transaction between God and the believing sinner. Yet, if these believers are to recover their testimony before the poor and rich, they must do more than believe. Their presently idle, useless, nonprofitable, thus dead, faith has to come alive with good works. Then as with Abraham and Rahab, works will justify them in the eyes of the poor and rich, who presently see them in an unfavorable light. In this way only—faith plus works—can they horizontally authenticate their eternal relationship with God (to other people), which is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Sixth, James wraps-up his challenge to believers falling short of swift to hear with a quite personal and subtle exhortation. He concludes by saying as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (1:26). Before verse 26, James has mostly urged believers to light a fire under their idle, useless faith in order to profit others. He alluded, however, to how an active faith (a) vindicates oneself before others (1:21), (b) helps bring one’s faith to maturity (1:22), and (c) makes one a friend of God (1:23). By means of an analogy, verse 26 gives us wonderful incentive for being swift to hear, a doer of the Word. James says that as the human spirit is the body’s animating source of physical life, so good works are a source of animating life to one’s faith. Good works not only profit fellow believers, but oneself. They breathe life, vitality, and energy into our faith. Moreover, faith also comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). James adds that the use of faith vitalizes a dead faith. As we are swift to hear! As we become doers of the Word, applying its great teachings and principles in our daily lives!

To sum up: deploying this passage to support the notion that saving faith inevitably produces good works severely distorts James’ contextual flow. Saving faith—in the sense of receiving eternal life and forgiveness—is not the subject of James 2. His readers are already born again, are beloved brethren, call God their Father, and possess the indwelling Holy Spirit. Moreover, the author challenges believers to be swift to hear, not unbelievers to faith in Christ. He urges Christians to put the Word into practice. He further answers the question “From what do Christians need to be saved?” The death-dealing power of sin is a substantial part of the answer. In addition, James points us to the positive experiences of two believers, Abraham and Rahab, whose works vindicated their faith in the eyes of others, not in the eyes of God. Then, finally, James exhorts believers to activate their idle faith by good works, because, not only will they profit others, but will animate their own faith for greater service in God’s plan. To blend Paul’s teaching into this scenario, we should say that good works done while walking by means of the Spirit breathe vitality into our faith (cp. Galatians 5:16 with 2 Corinthians 3:5).

The Nature Of Faith

The Matter of One’s Ability to Believe

Some suppose that unbelievers cannot believe, in keeping with a doctrine of total inability. One author says, “God specifically denies that the lost can believe or do anything pleasing to Him.” [11] Later he adds, “Scripture is saying that the lost do not want to believe and that they cannot.” [12] He quotes passages that establish that man, in his unregenerate state, cannot know the things of God, or please God. Yet, no passage in Scripture says that man lacks the ability to believe.

Three passages verify that unbelievers are people who do not believe, not ones who cannot believe. First, Luke 8:12 reveals that the devil works to snatch the gospel out of unbelievers’ hearts, then includes the phrase lest they should believe and be saved (ἵνα μὴ πιστεύσαντες σωθῶσιν). The grammatical construction requires the hearers’ ability to believe, which Satan comprehends. Thus, the devil works to snatch the gospel from their hearts, so that people will not believe. It is not that they cannot believe, but that they will not believe, if Satan first plucks the Word from their hearts. They will not, because they lack the necessary truth to believe. The non-Christian’s problem is not total inability to believe, but their total need for divine illumination upon the content which they should believe.

Second, according to 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 the devil throws a veil over the mind’s-eye of non-Christians, effectively blinding their minds. Why? Lest the light of the gospel … should shine on them (εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐγάσαι τὸνφωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου). Why this effort to prevent unbelievers from hearing the gospel? Because the devil knows that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). He knows that people must have the gospel to believe. Their faith in its message not only results in eternal life and forgiveness, but causes the satanic kingdom to lose another citizen (cp. Colossians 1:13). The devil knows this and thus labors to prevent people from understanding the truth. His blinding labors leave man in a state of spiritual darkness, ignorant of the gospel. That is the bad news. The good news follows in verses 5–6. According to verse 5, the apostles continued to preach the gospel in spite of the devil’s efforts to keep a veil over the hearts of unbelievers. Verse 6 explains why: The illumination of the Holy Spirit penetrates the blackest satanic darkness, which Paul illustrates from the first day of creation (Genesis 1:3). The same God who said Let there be light in the darkness that blanketed what then existed (Genesis 1:2) also shines the light of the gospel into the unenlightened hearts of unbelievers. This is the convincing ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:9–11). The Spirit accomplishes what no man can do, undoing Satan’s blinding. Therefore, the apostles preached the Word.

Third, Romans 6:17 tells believers that they obeyed the doctrine that pertains to their eternal deliverance, while they were still slaves to sin. What did they, as unbelievers, obey? The command to believe the message that gives eternal deliverance. When did they believe it? While they still were slaves of sin.

But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered (Romans 6:17).

It was not that regeneration enabled them to believe. Neither was it that God caused their enslavement to sin to end, enabling faith. Rather, this passage affirms that they believed while still slaves of sin. Thus, the idea of total inability is foreign to this context. Man has sufficient ability to believe the gospel, when the Holy Spirit illuminates his mind.

How do we reconcile Luke 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:3–4, and Romans 6:17 with Ephesians 2:1? In the latter passage Paul says that unbelievers are dead in trespasses and sins. Some infer that this means that one cannot believe (total inability). Yet, context does not say this. Letting the immediate passage take the lead, to be dead is to be alienated from God who is the source of spiritual life (cp. 2:12). Accordingly, to be dead is to be cut-off from the life of God, from eternal life. Thus, this says nothing about one’s inability to believe. Though one might deduce that such a dead man cannot believe, yet we have a New Testament illustration that a dead man may respond to the voice of God: Lazarus (John 11). In other words, since Lazarus in his grave responded to Jesus’ voice, then we may conclude that an unbeliever, who is spiritually dead, is able to respond to the illuminating voice of the Holy Spirit. The problem is not the unbeliever’s ability to believe when the Spirit illumines; the problem is his inability to know and understand apart from the supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit (illumination and conviction).

In addition, what about Cornelius (Acts 10)? Luke’s narrative begins with this centurion as an unregenerate man, dead in his trespasses and sins. Yet, he was not like a rock, unable to respond to God. To the contrary, Cornelius the non-Christian was a devout man and one who feared God and he gave alms and prayed to God always (10:2). He received revelation from God (10:3, 22) and the Lord acknowledged his prayers and alms (10:4, 31). When Peter preached the gospel to him saying that whoever believes in [Jesus of Nazareth] will receive remission of sins (10:34–43), the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word (10:44). There is not one jot or tittle in this context to suggest that Cornelius the non-Christian was totally spiritually insensitive. He was able to hear the message and believed the message, because God illumined the truth to this spiritually dead man.

Belief and Persuasion (Acts 28:24)

There are two responses to the gospel: to believe, or to disbelieve. In this verse, Luke contrasts persuaded with disbelieved, showing that “persuaded” and “disbelieved” are opposite sides of a coin. Accordingly, not to believe is not to be persuaded. On the other hand, to believe is to be persuaded of the truth of the gospel, thus Luke expresses “believe” with its synonym, “to be persuaded.”

What about the term “persuade” (πείθω)? The New Testament uses it both in active and passive senses. That is, Scripture uses it of men trying to persuade someone that the gospel is true—this is the active use. Alternatively, theWord may use it of someone becoming convinced that something is true—the passive use.

Here are examples of someone taking initiative (active voice):

• Luke 11:22 speaks of armor in which a man trusted (πείθω), adding the nuance of trust to the notion of persuade.
• Acts 18:4 reveals that Paul persuaded, or convinced Jews and Gentiles.
• Acts 19:8 speaks of reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.
• Acts 28:23 shows the apostle trying to persuade, or convince others about Jesus.

The following are examples of what happens to one persuaded (passive voice), i.e., he comes to depend, trust, or rest his confidence in something:

• Luke 16:31, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.
• Luke 20:6, the people are persuaded [sure, certain] that John was a prophet.
• Acts 17:3b–4, this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded.
• Acts 28:24, be persuaded, be convinced, come to believe. Here “persuaded” is opposite “disbelieved” (ἐπείθοντο … ἠπίστουν).

Did Paul persuade unbelievers by his ability to communicate? No! The Holy Spirit used his words—which were God’s words—to persuade them. God is the One who says Let there be light (2 Corinthians 4:6; Genesis 1:3). Note another passage where being persuaded relates to eternal life.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe (ἀπειθέω) the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).

To not believe (ἀπειθέω [13]) is to refuse to believe the Christian message, even to refuse to be a believer, or to reject the Christian message (cp. Acts 14:2; Ephesians 2:2). [14] One theologian defined faith, in keeping with the biblical emphasis on being persuaded, in this way: “Faith is the reliance of the mind on anything as true and worthy of confidence.” [15] He elaborates saying:

But in the strict and special sense of the Word, as discriminated from knowledge or opinion, faith means the belief of things not seen, on the ground of testimony …. in the New Testament God is said to have borne witness to the truth of the Gospel by signs, and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost (Heb. ii. 4); and the Spirit of God is said to witness with our spirits that we are the children of God (Rom. viii. 16). The Word in these cases is μαρτυρέω, to testify. This is not a lax or improper use of the Word testimony; for an affirmation is testimony only because it pledges the authority of him who makes it to the truth…. When, therefore, it is said that faith is founded on testimony, it is meant that it is not founded on sense, reason, or feeling, but on the authority of him by whom it is authenticated. [16]

To sum up, we may say that the nature of faith is personal persuasion of the truth, which inherently includes trust or confidence in the gospel. What is not included in the biblical conception of faith is an inherent and mysterious quality that inevitably manifests itself in good works. That notion derives from an ill-conceived aspect of a theological system, not from the biblical text.

Salvation as a Gift (Ephesians 2:8–9)

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

That not of yourselves is the operative phrase and the pertinent question is: “To what does that refer?” According to Greek grammar, it cannot refer to either grace or faith, because the pronoun that is a neuter gender, while grace and faith are feminine gender nouns. Corresponding terms must agree in gender. Instead, that refers to the preceding conceptual notion, i.e., God’s provision of a salvation that is by grace through faith. [17] His salvation is of grace because He provides and initiates eternal life apart from all human effort; it is of faith because man must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, our so great salvation is not of ourselves because the faith one exercises has no virtue or merit in itself. The virtue and merit are in the object of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Moule has a helpful illustration from his day and age:

When lately the vast dam of the Nile was completed, with all its giant sluices, there needed but the touch of a finger on an electric button to swing majestically open the gates of the barrier and so to let through the Nile in all its mass and might. There was the simplest possible contact. But it was contact with forces and appliances adequate to control or liberate at pleasure the great river. So Faith, in reliance of the soul, the soul perhaps of the child, perhaps of the peasant, perhaps of the outcast, is only a reliant look, a reliant touch. But it sets up contact with Jesus Christ, in all His greatness, in His grace, merit, saving power, [and] eternal love. [18]

When one believes, what happens? From the divine side, God sends a person with the gospel who delivers it (Romans 10:14–15) being illustrated by Peter whom the Lord sent to Cornelius (Acts 10). As the believer proclaims the gospel, the Holy Spirit convinces, or illuminates, the mind of the unbeliever (John 16:8–11). The convicting ministry of the Spirit (16:8, ἐλέγχω) means He brings the gospel to light, exposing it to the mind’s-eye, thus convincing one of its truthfulness. [19]

Matthew 16:15–17 illustrates such illumination (16:17, ἀποκαλύπτω), denoting God’s disclosure, or bringing to light, of truth. What Peter had become persuaded of—had come to believe—about Christ was not from the source of flesh and blood, but from God.

Paul prays for God to illuminate the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:17–18). As far as sequence goes, verse 18 indicates what happened when they became believers: The eyes of your understanding having been enlightened (πεφωτισμένους τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν). Being enlightened not only expresses what God did for them in the past, but that what He did remains an abiding potential throughout their Christian experience. Enlightenment may continue to be their experience, thus Paul prays that God will give Christians an on-going spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (2:17).

From the human side, remember that the ability to believe is not man’s problem. His problem is that he does not know—does not understand—the gospel, because Satan blinds him and seeks to pluck the seed of the gospel out of his heart (Luke 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:3–4).

To counter the blinding work of the devil, when one hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit illuminates the unbeliever’s understanding. At the point of understanding—the moment of truth—three possibilities exist:

1. The person believes, resulting in the new birth and eternal life. If later he doubts, or even rejects, it has no effect on his status in God’s family (cp. 2 Timothy 2:11–13).
2. The person doubts, thus is still not born again, still in a searching mode.
3. The person rejects (disbelieves) and remains in danger of missing eternal life, yet so long as he lives the opportunity exists.

Now notice what Martha said, recounting how she had received eternal life. In John 11:25–27, Jesus tells her—and all of us—what God’s requirement for eternal life is:

1. First, He reveals the content one must believe, coupled with the results: resurrection (shall live) and eternal life (shall never die) (11:25–26a).
2. Second, Jesus asks a pointed question: Do you believe this? That is absolutely all He asked (11:26b).
3. Third, Martha responds with a positive affirmation: Yes, Lord. In addition, notice she follows that with the object of her faith: I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world (11:27).

What is the result for those who believe? Universally, when one believes the right content (that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, John 20:31a), it results that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31b). One act of faith in Jesus Christ culminates in eternal life, imputed righteousness, and forgiveness.

So faith is the way and means of our Justification. By Faith we are united to Christ. By that union we truly have a righteousness. And upon that righteousness the justice as well as mercy of God is engaged to justify and acquit us. [20]

Nowhere does John’s gospel add repentance. Nowhere does he include good works as an inevitable and necessary result of faith. Eternal life is a free gift by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; each person needs to establish firmly this truth in his mind. Then and only then should he attempt to advance in the Christian way of life and learn the importance of good works to meet pressing needs (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:8, 14).

The Role of Repentance

Part 1 of this article cites modern cultists and Reformed Theologians, who insist that eternal salvation requires that one repent (turn physically and emotionally from sin), usually with sorrow. [21] The kingdom of God or eternal life, they allege, is not for people who want no change in their lives. Others see repentance not as a change of lifestyle, but change of mind, thus eliminating a logical tension between salvation by grace and salvation by works.

What, then, is the place of repentance in God’s plan? First, observe that the apostle John clearly states that his purpose for writing is to show how one may have life in [Christ’s] name (20:30–31). John was moved by the Holy Spirit to state his purpose, thus we must conclude that he accomplished his goal: the gospel of John records for mankind everything one must do to have eternal life. To suppose otherwise assumes that John either misrepresented, or failed to achieve, his purpose. A proper view of inspiration does not permit such suppositions.

A second observation is that nowhere does John’s gospel mention or allude to repentance (μετανοέω; μετάνοια). [22] Since we must not suppose that John fails to teach us how to achieve eternal life, it is clear that God does not require repentance for such life. This is not an argument from silence, as an objective Greek scholar [23] points out, but an argument about silence. John does not mention repentance precisely because it is not germane to his subject. [24] God does not require one to repent to receive eternal life; He requires faith alone in Christ alone (period)!

Third, what about the many passages that do mention repentance? It is obviously an important theme in the Bible. This article does not have the space to examine every occurrence of the terms for repent. [25] However, we may make two points: (1) “No text in the NT (not even Acts 11:18) makes any direct connection between repentance and eternal life. No text does that. Not one.” [26] Many New Testament passages urge Christians to repent of sin to avoid divine discipline (e.g., Revelation 2–3). Most assuredly, they do not lift up repentance as a prerequisite to receive eternal life.

If, in order to be saved, we must repent and believe, then believing is not the only condition of eternal life and sola fide is not true. Intellectual honesty would abandon the charade of justification by faith alone, if repentance were an independent condition. This is true whether one attaches such repentance at the beginning of faith, or attempt to finesse it into the picture after the moment of faith as a so-called inevitable and necessary fruit of faith.

Conclusion

I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand (1 Peter 5:12).

The true grace of God implies that a false notion of the grace of God existed. Pseudo-grace is a grace that in any way weds works to faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. Grace and works are antithetical ideas (Romans 11:6). If someone teaches that we must believe plus anything to be saved, that is not grace. Similarly, if anyone teaches that works are a necessary and inevitable result of faith, that is not grace. They teach an erroneous notion of salvation by grace through faith. Neither Ephesians 2:8–9 nor James 2 teach the inevitability of works. [27]

To the contrary, the beloved apostle says all that needs to be said for eternal life:

God loved the world in this manner that He gave His uniquely begotten Son, that every believer in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). [28]

One needs no more than this simply yet profoundly stated message to pass from darkness to light, from death to life. Accordingly, Jesus says, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life (John 6:47).

—End—

Notes

1. George Meisinger, “Salvation By Faith Alone: Part 1,” CTS Journal 5 (April-June): 2-27. Pages 2–3 dealt with the first century and 3–8 with modern times.
2. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture citations are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV), 1982.
3. Walter Bauer, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2nd ed. [BAGD] [Logos CD-ROM 2.1e] (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979).
4. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains [Logos CD-ROM] (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989).
5. BAGD [CD-ROM].
6. Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology [Logos CD-ROM] (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
7. Robert B. Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. [Logos CD-ROM] (London: Niebet, 1897; reprint, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974).
8. The expression save your souls does not mean to save one from hell, but to save one’s life from present trials, temptations, and the death-dealing power of sin. See Zane Hodges, The Gospel Under Siege: Faith and Works in Tension, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: Redención Viva, 1992), 26–28.
9. BAGD [CD-ROM].
10. This is theological eisegesis—a reading of one’s theological system into James’ text.
11. Curtis I. Crenshaw, Lordship Salvation: The Only Kind There Is (Memphis, TN: Footstool, 1994), 14.
12. Ibid., 15.
13. BAGD [CD-ROM] says “since, in the view of the early Christians, the supreme disobedience was a refusal to believe their gospel, ἀ. may be restricted in some passages to the mng. disbelieve, be an unbeliever. This sense, though greatly disputed (it is not found outside our lit.), seems most probable in J 3:36; Ac 14:2; 19:9; Ro 15:31, and only slightly less prob. in Ro 2:8; 1 Pt 2:8; 3:1, perh. also vs. 20; 4:17.”
14. Louw & Nida [CD-ROM].
15. Hodge [CD-ROM].
16. Ibid.
17. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 335. The repetition of by grace you are saved further supports this as the referent. Paul’s first use of the phrase (Eph. 2:5) is a parenthetic explanation of our complete salvation, i.e., God made us alive together with Christ, raised us together [with Christ], and seated us together [with Christ]. Accordingly, “that” (vs. 8) denotes not “grace” or “faith,” but our grace-given salvation received by faith alone.
18. H. C. G. Moule, “Justification by Faith,” in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, 4 vols. (Los Angeles, CA: Bible Institute of Los Angeles, 1917; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 3:150.
19. BAGD [CD-ROM].
20. Moule, “Justification,” 154.
21. Meisinger, “Faith Alone,” CTS Journal 5 (April-June): 3-8.
22. Paul likewise does not mention repentance in the book of Galatians, which is noteworthy, because he defends the gospel of grace vigorously against legalists who seek to pervert the free grace nature of the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:6–9). If repentance were a necessary component of receiving eternal life, it seems reasonable that he would have mentioned it.
23. “Objective Greek scholar” means one who does not manipulate the Greek language to read theological presuppositions, or preconceived notions, into the New Testament text, but as a tool to pull out of a context its own meaning. May God increase his number!
24. See Zane Hodges, “Arguments from Silence, and All of that: Repentance Reconsidered,” Grace in Focus 13 (May/June 1998): 1-4.
25. For a significant step toward interpreting passages that include the notion of repentance, see Zane Hodges, Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation, chapter 12 (Dallas, TX: Redención Viva, 1989; Grand Rapids: Academie, 1989).
26. Hodges, “Arguments from Silence,” 4.
27. Ephesians 2:10 clarifies God’s purpose in salvation as it relates to good works. Definitionally, purpose is intended result, but not necessarily actual result. In 2 Peter 3:9 does God’s purpose in being longsuffering toward us mean that all shall come to repentance? Absolutely not. Likewise in Ephesians 2:10 not all believers shall walk in good works.
28. Author’s translation.