The only condition for salvation is faith in Jesus. We are saved sola fide, i.e., through faith alone, apart from works.
But sola fide is meant to safeguard an even more important principle, namely that salvation is solus Christus, by Christ alone. Since Jesus is the only Savior, we are called to believe in Jesus alone. Understanding that principle helps resolve a debate about salvation.
The question is, what happens when someone believes that Jesus is the Messiah in some sense while also thinking that salvation depends partly on doing good works? Christendom is filled with people who believe in Jesus but think they have to be good to be saved. Does God save them due to their partial faith in Christ while overlooking the fact that they are also partly trusting in their own works?
I believe the answer is no. Just as Scripture teaches an antithesis between faith and works, it also teaches an antithesis between trusting in Christ and trusting in your works. If you believe salvation depends partly on Christ and partly on your works, then you do not believe in Christ alone, which means not believing in Christ at all.
I know that is a strong claim to make. I would not make it unless I thought it was taught in Scripture. Here are six arguments supporting it.
1. All the major evangelistic presentations in Scripture state that salvation comes through faith in Jesus. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). In other words, to believe the saving message means believing we are saved through faith in Jesus. By contrast, Paul explains that when someone believes that salvation is based on faith plus works, they are “turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ” and believing “a different gospel” that brings a curse to those who preach it (cf. Gal 1:6-9). I conclude that when an unregenerate person believes a works salvation gospel, they are turning away from God, not to Him, and cannot be saved.
2. Paul wrote, “Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace” (Rom 11:6, emphasis added). Here is another antithesis. Grace and works are mutually exclusive systems of salvation. Many teachers in Christendom have tried to mix the two, but Paul is clear that adding works nullifies grace (i.e., “grace ceases to be grace”). I conclude that if an unbeliever is expecting to be saved based on a mixture of grace and works, he has nullified grace, not received it.
3. Paul taught that “But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness” (Rom 4:5). This speaks to the intentions of the person seeking salvation. Faith is only credited as righteousness when you stop working for it. You must come to the point where you stop working for salvation. If an unregenerate person is working for his salvation, I conclude his faith is not credited for righteousness.
4. We see that principle in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Lord intended to teach a lesson to people “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else” (Luke 18:9, emphasis added). In the parable, two men go to the Temple to pray. One is a religious Pharisee, the other a sinful tax collector. The Pharisee boasted in his righteousness. He obeyed the law, especially compared to the tax collector (he graded his personal righteousness on a bell curve!), and assumed his standing before God depended on what he did. In other words, he was a prime example of trusting in himself. Meanwhile, the tax collector would not even look towards heaven but kept striking his chest and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” The lesson is that the sinful man who asked for mercy went to his house “justified,” while the Pharisee who trusted in his righteousness did not. I conclude that if an unbeliever expects to be saved based on his personal righteousness (i.e., his works), he will not be justified.
5. In Galatians, when Paul described how to live the Christian life, he put the dynamic as a contrast: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Not I, but Christ. Paul was self-conscious about not living the life himself but of trusting Christ to live His life through him. Later, Paul warned the Galatians that “if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all…You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace” (Gal 5:2, 4). There is that contrast again between doing something yourself versus trusting Christ to do it. Paul was addressing believers who were falling into legalism, and it was affecting their sanctification. By trusting in themselves, they did not trust Christ and became alienated from Him. If that can happen to believers in sanctification, I conclude that it can also happen to unbelievers in justification. In other words, if an unbeliever tries to be saved based on keeping the law, he will find that Christ is of no benefit to him for salvation, and he will stay alienated from Christ and will not attain grace.
6. In Romans, Paul said the Jews did not obtain righteousness because they “did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works” (cf. Rom 9:30-32). That is consistent with the previous points. I conclude that if an unbeliever expects to be saved (justified) partly based on his works, he will fail to attain (or better, receive) salvation.
Salvation by faith alone is Christocentric. By excluding human effort, it confesses Christ to be the only basis for our salvation. No other name has been given under heaven for salvation—so believe in Him, not yourself!
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