Preacher Deception Faith Alone And No Works?

[TitusTwoWife]

I won't be debating anyone about this video but I thought I'd share it anyway simply because I love the ministry.

 

[David]

I won't be debating anyone about this video but I thought I'd share it anyway simply because I love the ministry.

There is a real warning in this video, but the warning needs to be aimed where Scripture aims it.

Yes, false conversion is real. A man can say “I believe,” talk about grace, claim faith, and still be dead in sin. Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” ~Matthew 7:21. Mere words do not save. A profession with no new life is not saving faith. It is an empty mouth talking over an unchanged heart.

James is not attacking true faith. He is exposing fake faith. He says, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” ~James 2:14. Notice the issue: “though a man say.” James is dealing with a man who claims faith but has no evidence of life. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” ~James 2:17.

Dead faith does not lose salvation. Dead faith never had life.

So yes, if a person claims Christ but has no repentance, no hatred of sin, no desire to obey Christ, no love for the brethren, and no fruit of the Spirit, Scripture gives that person no comfort. “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him” ~Titus 1:16. That is not weak Christianity. That is a false profession.

But this video goes wrong when it starts speaking as though works become part of the basis of our justification before God. That is where the gospel gets muddied.

Works prove living faith. Works do not justify the ungodly before God.

Paul says, “to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” ~Romans 4:5. That is plain. God justifies the ungodly by faith, not by works. Titus says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” ~Titus 3:5.

So obedience follows salvation. It does not become the ground of salvation.

The video says Abraham was not justified by works initially, but was justified by works afterward, and then applies that to us. That is dangerous language. James is not teaching that works finish what faith began. James is showing that Abraham’s works proved his faith was real. “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” ~James 2:22. His obedience revealed living faith. It did not become the blood of Christ. It did not replace grace. It did not complete the finished work of the Savior.

Christ said, “It is finished” ~John 19:30. Hebrews says, “after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” ~Hebrews 10:12. If Christ’s sacrifice for sins is finished, then stop talking as though man’s obedience completes his justification.

The video also says “everybody was justified.” No. Scripture does not teach that every person is savingly justified. Jesus said, “he that believeth not is condemned already” ~John 3:18. Romans says the righteousness of God is “unto all and upon all them that believe” ~Romans 3:22. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient, but justification is not applied to unbelievers apart from faith.

This is what scripture actually says, without men's opinions changing the meaning. To the man hiding behind “faith alone” while living in sin: your faith is dead. You have not found grace. You have exposed a false profession.

To the man making works part of the ground of justification: you are not protecting holiness. You are confusing the gospel.

Both errors are deadly. One turns grace into empty talk. The other turns obedience into a false foundation.

The Bible does not teach push-button salvation, where a sinner mouths words and remains dead in sin. But the Bible also does not teach works-based justification. True faith rests in Christ alone and produces obedience. False faith talks about Christ while remaining barren.

Christ saves. Faith receives. Works follow.

If works never follow, the faith was dead. But if works are made the basis of justification, Christ’s finished work is being dishonored.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” ~Romans 5:1.