What is “saving faith?” In Hebrews 10:35-11:1 the Apostle Paul is writing to church people whose faith he was trying to build up because they were being persecuted for their belief in and obedience to God, meaning to His Word. Beginning in verse 35 Paul tells us not to lose our confidence (faith) which, if retained and lived by, will produce great rewards in the future. Such faith, he tells us in verse 39, will produce “the saving of the soul” IF, Jesus reminds us, we maintain it “unto the end” (Mat. 10:22). The focus of this series involves the soul-saving faith Paul was writing about. As the Holy Scriptures make abundantly clear, there are two type of faith: God’s Biblically-defined faith and Satan’s church-defined faith. The difference is of life and death importance.

“Saving faith” is the opposite of the faith being practiced and proclaimed by professing Christendom. Popular faith, Paul tells us in verse 39, is the kind of faith that causes one to experience “perdition,” meaning the loss of one’s soul. This series will shine the light of the Holy Scriptures on the difference between Satan’s church-defined faith and the Lord’s Scripture-defined faith. Let us begin our in-depth, Isaiah 28:9-13 type search of God-defined Truth concerning this most important subject, which is the Biblical, God-spoken faith that, if obtained and practiced until the end of our lives or the return of Jesus Christ, will produce eternal life. No one is saved and born again in this life. Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope.

Today, literally billions of people, like the multiplied billions before them, believe that in order to receive instant, once-you’ve-got-it-you-can’t-lose-it salvation, one need only “believe in Jesus Christ.” This is the church-defined faith that dominates the lives of billions of people today. Although the hundreds of differing, contradicting, competing, self-proclaimed “churches” disagree on many things, they all agree on one issue–faith, specifically, which faith is the true, God-created, Scripturally confirmed faith. Only a tiny remnant of believers embrace God’s Biblically-revealed faith. All others have embraced Satan’s version which leads them to the forbidden tree of which they eat freely. Following Adam’s sin, God said that Adam had made himself a god by taking unto himself the power to define good and evil (Gen. 3:22). God would later note that, having assumed that power, man had reversed His (God’s) Words and was calling good evil and evil good (Isa. 5:20). Note also the woe (curse) He had placed on those who were doing so. Nothing has changed. Having replaced God as the determiner of good and evil, man has also redefined the meaning of faith. Man’s definition rules the church to this day. As a result, the world feels the “woes” (curses) God repeatedly pours out on the world’s masses, including the counterfeit church. Read The “Voices” of God and Would God Do That? Key words–Voices and Would respectively.

God’s “saving faith” is rejected and ridiculed within church circles. The Truth that the faith of Jesus Christ is the standard by which all who would be saved must measure themselves is also rejected. What is also rejected is the Lord’s Biblical command to produce evidence of Biblical faith in the areas of what one does, says and thinks. The church calls such obedience WORKS, which she summarily rejects. Like transsexuals who claim to be a particular sex but cannot produce the existential “proof” of their claims, those who reject God’s definition of saving faith cannot produce the “proof” of their claims in the realm of reality. Through the Apostle James (2:10,14,17,18,20,24,26) the Lord demands proof of one’s Biblical faith–proof that false faithers cannot provide. In James’ epistle God demands proof of one’s saving faith in the form of WORKS (doing, speaking and thinking in line with His Law). Because God requires more than mental activity, Martin Luther called the Book of James a “straw book,” meaning that it had no value in the Christian sense. Those who followed him (protestants) agree with him to this day, as do those in the mother (Catholic) church from whence they departed. For a historical study of that religious split read Simon of Samaria. Key word–Simon.

Embracing Biblical faith involves rejecting church faith. Revelation 3:14-18 reveals God’s attitude toward the mixing the two faiths which turns the double-minded believer into vomit which He says He will spew out of His mouth. Having Christ-level faith means to take God at His Word. Conversely, to doubt His Word means to “DISPISE” BOTH HIM AND CHRIST (Lk. 10:16). To despise Them is to show them “DISHONOR.” In John 5:23, Jesus tells us that we must honor both Himself and His Father. To doubt one Word in the Holy Bible means that one despises and dishonors both Members of the Godhead. Yet, billions believe that the God and the Christ they despise and dishonor have saved them and will allow them to live with Them in paradise forever. Now we will look at some of the so-called “contradictions” Bible doubters use to “prove” their case concerning whether one can take God’s Word at face value, or if man needs to edit it in order to determine which Words can be believed and which must be ignored. This involves determining which faith is the true faith. In modern parlance: to decide which is the “real real.”

“Verily, verily (truthfully) I say unto you, He that believes in Me has eternal life” (John 6:47). This “headline” is true, IF the believer studies, believes and obeys the Lord’s “fine print” relative to that quote along with other relevant Scriptures using God’s study instructions found in Isaiah 28:9-13 where He identifies those who will study His Word correctly. Note two things: (1) He is addressing those who will study his instructions (Law) as written, and (2), that He states His instructions twice. Woven within the process is FAITH, without which following His study instructions will have no effect.

To discern God’s perfect will for us we must know the difference between God’s Bible-based faith and Satan’s church doctrine-based faith. Those who adhere to the “faith=salvation” theme refuse to study the “contradictions” that disprove their point. In this study we will study those “contradictions” which in fact prove that the church’s version of faith is not merely wrong, but dead wrong.

If all one needs to be saved is faith in Jesus, then many Bible Scriptures are unexplainable in that they contradict such statements as John 6:47 where belief in Jesus supposedly guarantees salvation. I compare the “only believe” theory to someone watching gasoline being poured into an engine and believing that gasoline is all that is needed to make an engine produce power. Fuel is indeed necessary to produce power. However, upon further examination one finds that there are many more parts to the engine, without which it could produce nothing. The “further examination” equates to studying Biblical “fine print.” Gasoline alone cannot produce mechanical power. However, when combined with other WORKING parts, it produces power far greater than the engine’s physical size would indicate. The WORKS going on inside the engine is what enables the gasoline to be turned into power. The same principle applies to salvation. FAITH starts the spiritual “engine” and keeps it going; the engine’s WORKS is what gets the job done.

To the John 6:47 “headline” which equates belief in Jesus and salvation, the Savior Himself provides the “fine print” that places the statement in its proper perspective: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who DOES (works) the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Mat. 7:21). Note that FAITH PLUS WORKS PRODUCES SALVATION. One without the other is useless. Faith in Jesus has no value unless it is accompanied by obedience to His Word/will. THE HOLY BIBLE, summarized in the Ten Commandments, IS THE WILL OF GOD IN WRITING. Why else would He have preserved it for thousands of years? Why else would He use it to instruct His people at the end of the age as Paul tells us in First Corinthians 10:11? Why else would He use the writings of the prophets and apostles as the foundation for the New Testament Church as he tells us in Ephesians 2:20? Why else would God prompt the Apostle Peter to write that “Holy men of old spoke (and wrote) as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit? (2 Pet. 1:21). In summary, faith and works go hand-in-hand. One without the other is useless. There is an old saying that “One hand washes the other.” Try washing one hand alone. That is like having faith without works. The “only believe” mantra relative to salvation came straight from the mouth of Satan. Adam and Eve believed God’s words (Gen. 3:2,3). However, their works did not match their faith. That didn’t end well. It won’t end well for their “only believe” descendants either.

What we are dealing with are called “CONTRADICTIONS” by the “only believe” contingent who make up the vast majority of those whom God calls “My people who are called by My name.” Read “My People Who Are Called By My Name”: Who Are They? Key word–People. The above statements are only two of many found in the Holy Scriptures that carry the “contradiction” label. Let us examine a few more of them.

Many religionists label Romans 3:20 and 2:13 as contradictions. In 3:20 Paul writes: “Therefore by the deeds of the Law will no flesh be justified in His sight ….” But in 2:13 he had written: “For not the hearers of the Law are just(ified) before God, but the DOERS of the Law will be (remain) justified.” Without further study, these two statements, written by the same writer in the same letter, would seem to contradict each other.

Then there is Ephesians 2:8,9: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. It is not of works, lest any man should boast.” Many would say, “Enough said; case closed. Only faith is necessary to produce salvation.” But what about James 2:14 where he asks, “can faith save” (the soul)? And what about 2:20 where he states that, “FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.” Biblically-commanded works consist entirely of obedience to God’s Word–His Law by which every human being will be judged (Jn. 12:48). Works of obedience can be defined as “faith demonstrated.” Without the demonstration, faith is just a word.

Isaiah 28:10 reveals that God’s Truth must be searched for, found, believed and obeyed in order for it to produce the many promises God has offered those who do so, including salvation. Read the first 14 and 13 verses of Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 respectively in which the Lord tells us what He will do FOR them if they believe and obey Him. Then read the rest of those chapters to learn what God promises to do TO those who do not believe and obey His commands. The problem lies in the fact that churchites read only the “headlines” (verses 14 and 13 respectively) and totally ignore the “fine print” found in the remainder of the chapters. Without the combination (“fine print”) to a safe filled with money (“headline”), the owner of the safe remains poor. One without the other is worthless.

By putting all of the Scriptures relative to faith together we find that there are two, very different types. The type embraced by professing Christendom is of the dead variety which requires no corresponding works, without which one’s faith accomplishes nothing. For example, one can know (have faith) that there is electricity available that will cause the light in the ceiling to come one. But until the believer does the WORK of flipping the switch, his “knowing/believing/faithing” accomplishes nothing–HE REMAINS IN THE DARK. Paul speaks to and about the Institutional Catholic/Protestant Religious System in Second Corinthians 2:3,4 where He says that the Lord’s Gospel (light) has been hidden from those who are lost. He notes that the god of this world (Satan) has “blinded the minds of those who do not believe (have saving faith in God’s Word/light) so that the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, cannot shine on them.”

Of late there has been a salvation sale on television and the internet. Slick, “repeat after me” salesmen are flooding the airwaves with a promise of heaven based solely on the transchristian model I wrote about in a previous series. Key word–Transchristians. “Believe and receive” is the mantra coming from the smiling Edenic serpent oil purveyers. The product they all pitch is an instant change of destination without a change in life’s direction. “Come as you are, stay as you are. No behavioral change required” is the instant payoff they offer. Theirs is a rebirth in which there is no race with rules of participation that must be obeyed that Paul wrote about. There is no self-disciplined reversal of life required by John and absolutely no persecution from religionists as Jesus prophesied. His “Sin no more” order isn’t even mentioned. Relative to sin, all that is needed is repentance each time Adam’s sin gene kicks in. Mary and Grace have it covered. The fix is in, so sin and grin, for in the end, you still win. Pie in the sky, sin till you die, for in the sweet bye and bye, you’ll still get to fly.”

As I have stated before, this ministry was designed by the Lord to be directed toward professing Christendom. The end-time, Laodicean church is Satan’s playground. It is my prayer that there are within that body some who are seeking God’s Truth who, upon reading or hearing it, will believe it, escape from Satan’s clutches, embrace God’s Truth and receive the rewards for doing so. I praise God for those who have already done so. To those who know the Truth but refuse to come to it I warn not to linger in the devil’s darkness, for night is coming when God’s light will not be available. Behold, twilight is here and the darkness approaches. L.J.