Salvation, Justification, & “Faith Alone”

3 main things identified with salvation in the Bible: Repentance, Faith in Jesus Christ, and Baptism (1 Pt 3:21 most prominent). Once in a state of salvation, God’s grace will enable us to do good works out of love for God. If we commit grave sin, we can come back through repentance, faith, and sacrament of confession (John 20).

“By Faith Alone” by Steve Ray – 27 min
- John 3:16 is in the present tense – he who “is believing” – so it is continuing, not a one time event.
- The opposite of the scriptural word “believe” is “disobey”.
- So believe is like a hot dog. Order a hot dog. Frozen dropped on table. Confused. Wait we got a communication problem. I thought you would understand I would want a cooked hot dog with all the dressings. You didn’t ask for that? Paul says “you must believe” = it’s a pregnant word, like a zip file. The word “believe”is packed with so much, like a code word. We don’t get it. Believe = obey in the Bible. Believe in Jesus’ mind – “believe in me” – where you actually put your life on the line – where you believe enough to obey him, die for him, deny your own life to lose it. Believe is a verb.
Justification Sola Fide: Catholic after All? By Chris Malloy
Doesn’t John 3:16 clearly indicate that faith alone is necessary for salvation? by Catholic Answers

We Can Work It Out By Tim Staples
Why does the Church teach that works can obtain salvation? by Catholic Answers
What role do good works play in our salvation? by Jimmy Akin – 3 minutes
- Jesus’ passion death and resurrection are sufficient for salvation and they are so sufficient that they enable God giving us charity when He justifies us enabling us to do supernaturally good works pleasing to God – loving your enemies example – that grow out of our state of justification. Romans 2: 6-7 – He gives eternal life for “working good”. Good works are a product of God’s grace.