Faith Alone

“And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)

This passage is a beautiful truth in that through our faith in Christ, we receive the free gift of eternal life. However, we must be careful because this passage is often twisted, especially within false teachers' health, wealth, and prosperity gospel circles.

If we read this passage outside the true Gospel, we cannot be “rewarded” without faith. In the faith-healing world, you cannot be healed, blessed, or receive any blessing from God. But God is sovereign; God can do whatever he wants.

In John 5, we find Jesus at the pool of Bethesda. There he speaks with a man who has been crippled for a very long time. The man sits by the pool, unable to get into the waters believed to have healing properties. Jesus heals the man and tells the man to get up, take his mat, and go home.  On his way home, the Pharisees confront the man because the healing took place on the Sabbath, and the man was carrying his mat, which was against the law. The man told the Pharisees that he did not know the name of the man who healed him but that he told the man to pick up his mat and go home. Jesus, despite the man not having faith or even knowing Jesus, healed the man. This is not the only time Jesus performed a miracle on those without faith in Him; the widow's dead son is another example of this type of healing (Luke 7:11-17).

Faith healers and those who preach a prosperity gospel preach salvation through works. They say you must be obedient, have works, and do these things to receive salvation, which is a lie. Works are a fruit of salvation; they are not found at the root of salvation. It is a twisting of the Gospel. When we are saved through faith, we are able to become obedient, something we are unable to do when we live in the world. If we are genuinely saved, we will display works of faith because of our love and devotion to God.

The writer of Hebrews is clear. Without faith in Christ, we cannot be made righteous before God and cannot please God. We cannot be near God or in a relationship with God unless we believe and have faith in Christ and are thereby justified. Remember, God is holy and cannot be joined with sin. Our reward? We know that our reward is to be justified, rejoined with God, receiving eternal life by grace, through faith in Christ, as written in scripture, for the glory of God (hefty sentence, but it is worth it.)

Faith and repentance are necessary for salvation. All other things, justification, sanctification, and eternal life, are free through that faith, handed to us by the blood of Christ.

Grace and Peace!