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John 6:29
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent. (KJV)
There is a not a verse of scripture in all of Holy Writ that
does not demonstrate that faith in God is a work more definitively than this
one. Those who would use Paul's teachings in Ephesians 2:8-9 to advocate
salvation by faith without works cannot explain this teaching of Jesus away.
He Himself referred to belief as a work, therefore salvation is dependant upon a
work of man. Belief is a mental exercise which requires a decision and
personal resolve, therefore belief in and of itself is a work of man. Faith is
also defined as work in scripture by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1:11.
There are a number of scriptures which are used to push the
false doctrine of salvation by faith alone. John 6:29 is one of the main
ones which advocates of this doctrine refer to in order to support their
conclusions. It is important to keep in mind that the wording of this
verse defines belief as a work. This alone causes a major contradiction in
the teachings of salvation by faith alone because it is the contention of those
who support this doctrine that salvation is obtained by faith without works.
It is difficult to explain that salvation is exclusive of works when belief is a
work of man upon which salvation depends (John 3:18).
The next hurdle that proponents of salvation by faith alone
must face is that if salvation is by faith alone, then faith or belief plus
nothing is all that is required if one wants to be saved. Faith plus
anything is not faith alone. Faith is either alone or it isn't. If
one adds anything at all to faith, then it cannot be faith alone because it is
no longer standing alone.
To quote Jesus in Luke 13:3, "I tell you, Nay: but, except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish". If salvation were by faith
alone, repentance would not be a requirement for salvation. Faith plus
Repentance is not faith alone. There is not a reasonable person out there
who claims Christ as their savior who can argue against the necessity for
repentance. They don't even try, yet they fail to think beyond their
convictions far enough to realize this basic simple logical truth. Faith
plus anything is not faith alone, repentance is a requirement for salvation,
therefore salvation cannot be by faith alone.
So, using this logic, one can plainly discern the simple fact
that "believing on Him whom He sent" means far more than just a mental belief in
Jesus Christ. This use of the word belief must therefore include
repentance. This is a very common figure of speech used even today.
It is called a synecdoche [si-nek-duh-kee]. This figure of speech uses a
part of something to represent the whole or vice versa. To illustrate a
rancher may refer to his herd of fifty cattle as "fifty head". The term
"All hands on Deck" is used to mean "everybody present yourselves". In the
past, the name "Russia" was used to refer to the "Soviet Union". John's
use of the word "believe" cannot mean belief alone because we know of the need
for repentance, therefore when one eliminates that from consideration, it is
obvious that a part of something was used to illustrate the whole. Belief
in this passage therefore encompasses not only repentance, but confession,
baptism, worship in spirit and in truth and faithful obedient Christian service
until death. All of these things were directly commanded by Jesus Christ
and are further supported by the rest of scripture.
Another way of looking at this word "believe" is that to
believe in Jesus Christ is to believe everything He taught concerning salvation.
He taught repentance, therefore to refuse repentance would be to disbelieve
Jesus. The same can be said about confession, baptism and the other works
of righteousness He commanded. Jesus taught in Matthew 7:21, "Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven". Clearly Jesus
is teaching here that works in the form of doing God's will are required in
order for one to enter the kingdom of heaven. One could draw a mental
image of a doomed man standing before the Judgment seat having left baptism out
of his life and Jesus saying to him, "You did not believe me when I commanded
baptism". To obey is to believe and to believe is to obey.
Leaving either one out of the equation negates the other.
Disobedience is equated with unbelief in scripture.
Consider Hebrews 3:12, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God". These were
Christians being written to, being identified as "brethren". They
are believers but by departing from the living God, they are guilty of unbelief.
Their rebellion and disobedience to God is identified in scripture as unbelief.
Later in the same context, we read, "Hebrews 3:18-19 And to whom sware he that
they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? And we
see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. (ASV) See
also NKJV and ESV. Disobedience is equated with unbelief in scripture,
therefore the logical opposite is that belief and obedience are similarly
linked.
The honest student of scripture has all the evidence necessary
in order to look a little deeper than the surface of John 6:29. Clearly
Jesus had more in mind than a simple mental acknowledgment of who He was.
The totality of scripture demands it, logic demands it, and the context demands
it. And if this isn't enough to convict one of this simple truth, then we
have the words of James in chapter 2:17-26,
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith
without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made
perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had
received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also.
KJV
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