The word faith seems simple enough but understanding it can mean the difference between a liberating relationship with Christ, or slavery to religious ritualism. In today’s world, the word is colored with many different meanings. We often hear secular songs on the radio talk about “keeping the faith,” but faith in what? Or who?
The original Greek root for faith is “pistis,” meaning “conviction of the truth of anything, belief” (Thayers Greek Lexicon). In the context of the Bible, it generally means belief in relation to God. When it relates to salvation the emphasis is specifically placed on the saving work of Jesus and His resurrection (Romans 4:24, 10:9). One of the central beliefs of the Reformation, the time when Protestants challenged the widespread corruption in the Catholic Church (16th century A.D.), was that Christians are saved by sola fide, or “faith alone.” We see this teaching in passages like Galatians 2:16 “a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” And in John 6:28-29 when people asked Jesus what kind of works they had to do to merit salvation, He replied that “The work of God is this, to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:28,29).
The Sola Fide doctrine was especially important for Reformers because the Catholic Church had created a system of legalism, or works-based righteousness, that opened the door for all kinds of abuse. Luther protested (hence the Protestant Reformation) and called people back to faith as the sole channel for salvation. From his own struggles as a Catholic priest, he knew that trying to merit his own righteousness only led to disillusionment and despair. But when he learned how to trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross, instead of depending on his own works, he finally experienced lasting confidence and peace.
BUT WHAT ABOUT WORKS?
But what about all the Bible verses that seem to indicate people will be judged by our actions? Think of James 2 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (vs. 24). Or the sermon on the mount where Jesus also said that “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19-20). Don’t these verses seem to tell us that our works, not faith, will determine our eternity? Taken alone we might be mistaken into believing that faith isn’t really sufficient to bring salvation. But that extreme is based on an incomplete understanding of faith.
The book of James is often misunderstood in the context of Paul’s teachings on faith, but if we explore it carefully it actually highlights something very important. Faith isn’t just intellectual assent to something the Bible teaches it’s something that makes good works inevitable in a persons’ life. After discussing the issue of favoritism in the Church, James begins to deal with people who try to separate themselves into different camps, some want to think of themselves as “faith” Christian’s while others might think that they’re “works” Christians. But James goes on to say that real faith is inseparable from good works, “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:18-19). I have personally known people who hold to a “cheap grace” kind of Christianity who believe that they can go to heaven while deliberately living in sin because they’ve attended church services and said certain prayers. They might be classified as a “faith” Christian. I’ve also known people who think that they’ll go to heaven because they lead very strict religious lifestyles, but they also fail to demonstrate God’s love and consistently abuse other people. These might be classified as “works” Christians. But the truth is that neither group actually has faith or works.
RECOGNIZING WHAT REAL FAITH IS
Faith isn’t just about performing some ritual or reciting some creed, it’s a living trust in God that allows Christ to dwell within our hearts (Ephesians 3:17). If we really trust God’s promises in Scripture, we’ll orient our lives in such a way that our beliefs will shape the way we live. Even Paul, the champion of Sola Fide, says that what really matters in a person’s life isn’t fulfilling the commandments, but holding to a faith that demonstrates itself through love, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision (obeying religious laws) means anything, but (only) faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6, parentheses mine).
As Christians it’s important to recognize we can’t earn God’s love or acceptance through religious rituals or culture. Through the sacrifice of His Son, God has already accomplished the work of salvation on our behalf and nothing we can do will ever equal that. He’s provided forgiveness and we apply that to our lives through faith. But faith that’s real will always manifest itself through love in person’s life—love for God, and love for people (Matthew 22:36-40). So, when Jesus said that we will be known by our fruit, or the quality of our works, He wasn’t saying that if we do x, y and z, we’ll go to heaven. He was asking us to examine the nature of our hearts. A heart regenerated by faith can’t help but blossom beautiful things, even if it takes time. But if Christ isn’t living in our hearts through sincere faith and trust, why would we expect good works to follow? The real question is what kind of faith do we have? a faith that genuinely trusts God and manifests itself in His ultimate love, or one that has the appearance of something religious on the outside but fails to manifest the fruits of Christ. The question isn’t whether we’re saved by faith or works, but whether the faith we claim to walk in is dead, or alive.