Faith Alone Debate with Neil Dembeck

OPENING STATEMENT

The Equivocation fallacy exists when a term with different meanings in different contexts is treated as if it has the same meaning in all contexts. For example, the word ARM can be used to describe the action of giving someone a weapon. We armed the troops for battle. It can be used to describe the weapon itself such as ''side arm'' or firearm. Finally, it can be used as the body part that actually carries the weapon. He held the rifle in his arms.

Words mean things but they only mean the right things if defined and contexed correctly. Today, I will be refuting a false doctrine based solely on dishonest equivocations- the doctrine of Sola Fide or "faith alone''. This doctrine asserts that instead of requiring faithfulness, or action, salvation only requires what they call faith, which is actually only an assent to faith. They reduce God's grace to nothing more than His unmerited favor, something we are not required to, or even able to, cooperate with.

To support their position, protestants will often point to Ephesians 2:8-9, which they assert describes Grace merely as the freely given favor of God, not something substantive. They assert that this gift is directly available to anyone simply for the asking. Just one chapter later, however, Paul calls himself a steward or dispenser of God's Grace. If Grace is not a thing, it cannot be dispensed. If someone has been given the authority to dispense that Grace, the reception of that Grace, while remaining free from cost, is formulaic and thus requires action and "faith alone" goes poof.

My opponent will claim that God gave us a ''faith alone'', ''Bible alone'' path to salvation but that is baloney alone. Matthew chapter 18 tells us that a faith disagreement is solved by taking it to the Church. Revelation chapter 5 tells us that the church is a Kingdom of Priests who will reign on earth and Acts 20 says bluntly;

28 Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Faith alone doctrine denies the very faith it purports to uphold. Remember, Jesus said in Luke 10:16 those who reject you, reject me and Him who sent me. If you are a faith-alone proclaimer, you are a Christ denier. It is just that simple.

Sola Fide or ''faith alone'' is a repulsive and insidious lie that perverts the gospel and insults both the Justice of God and the power of God. This doctrine warps and mangles the true gospel message to make it sweet to the taste so that you don't detect the poison inside it.

In an emailed answer to a question, my opponent said to me that a saved Christian cannot do anything to lose his salvation because he did not do anything to merit it. In other words, our actions, good or bad, are not relevant to the issue of salvation. This offends basic common sense because, if my actions are not relevant, I had no need of being saved in the first place and if I repeat the actions that caused me to need to be saved, it only makes sense that I need to be saved again. In the 2nd chapter of his second letter, Peter describes this as a dog returning to his own vomit.

The Bible never gives us an easy Gospel. Never. Never once does the Bible proclaim that we are to lay back on our hammocks and trust in the finished work of Jesus. This doctrine is the root of many of the world's ills today because people have convinced themselves they can follow any depraved whim their heart desires, as long as they have some kind of faith in Jesus. A faith that they are free to define for themselves. Religion made easy and repackaged for a me-first generation.

The Bible tells a completely different story.

Matthew 3 tells us that every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. Matthew 5 tells us that only the merciful will receive mercy, only those who mourn now will dance later and only the peacemakers will be called children of God.

In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus tells us plainly that the road to heaven is narrow, rocky and difficult and few will be able to navigate it. In Matthew 11, He tells us that the Kingdom of heaven is taken by violence.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us, in words too clear to miss, that only those who feed the poor, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked and visit the imprisoned have any chance at heaven.

Again, I do not know my opponent so I will assume he has a good heart but how can he stand here and tell us that Sola Fide is the Biblical gospel when you can't get through the first New Testament book without seeing this doctrine eviscerated?

The true gospel is this- actions and consequences. Good actions lead to heaven, bad actions lead to hell. It is crystal clear.

Sola Fide is a false gospel created by the equivocation of words in a few selected places, to the exclusion and detriment of all of the rest of scripture. Its proponents mangle Paul's words in places like Romans 4 and 10 and Ephesians 2 but if you really pay attention, Paul doesn't actually denounce works, he denounces boasting and empty works, he doesn't exempt us from the moral law, he proclaims the mosaic law as an insufficient shadow waiting for a savior,

Paul's words are clear enough in Colossians 1 when he said:

I rejoice in my sufferings and, in my flesh, I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

He wasn't mincing words in Romans 2 when he said;

6 For he will render to every man according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

12 All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Certainly, James was even clearer.

5 Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme that honorable name by which you are called?

8 If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” said also, “Do not kill.” If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

18 But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Faith Alone turns these verses on their ear by suggesting that the same God that commanded these works of obedience, created us as too feeble to reach them and set as a standard, an absolute level of perfection we cannot reach. In the protestant schema, we literally hide behind the robe of Jesus so the Father cannot see our unrighteousness because Jesus is standing in the way. It's a doctrine that is deeply offensive to God's Omniscience, Omnipotence and Justice.

The real gospel is one of transformation. God cannot declare an unjust sinner justified. God cannot lie, God cannot ignore His own Justice. God must make the unjust sinner justified and He does so by the merits of Jesus suffering and death and the blood He shed at Calvary. The Blood doesn't cover the sinner like a blanket, it scours him from the inside out, ripping off the old self and creating a new one. It's a process that hurts but it's the only way. As for the contention that only perfection is allowed, the Bible gives us the clear key for unlocking that. Those who show mercy will be shown mercy. This condition is meaningless if Jesus is doing all the work and I'm just laying on the hammock trusting.

To prove Sola Fide is false, all we have to do is use the very texts my opponent will us to try and prove it is true. He will quote Ephesians 2:8-9 and suggest that proves that works are excluded from the process of salvation and that salvation is a free gift of God, All we have to do is add verse 10 and exegete the text correctly. Let's do that.

8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God;

9 Not of works, that no man may glory.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.

Nowhere do these verses suggest that salvation is a free gift. The verse says "It is the free gift of God" and the IT is Grace. Salvation is the result of the IT, not the IT itself. Secondly, the verses never suggests that the process of salvation excludes our works only that works are not the source of our salvation. Grace is the source, and faith is the reason but verse 10 shows us that works are the means.

Read the verse again. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.

The verse clearly shows that Christ's recreation of us is carried out in us, by Him, through our works.

It is the painful process of welding our will to His and, make no mistake, this is how we are saved. I'm sorry if this disappoints those who think we can say one prayer and take the rest of our life off. Paul says in Philippians 2 that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. That doesn't sound like a free ride to me.

My opponent will argue that I am suggesting that Christ's sacrifice was insufficient, so I have to add to it. This is nothing but word soup. It is exactly the sufficiency of Christ that transforms my work from filthy rags to produced fruit. This is produced fruit that He demanded. I most conform my will to His, not because of his alleged insufficiency but because of His actual Sovereignty and Justice. They are known as the 10 Commandments, not the 10 suggestions. It is not me rejecting the sufficiency of Christ, it is him rejecting the power of Grace,

What about Romans 10:9. They like to go with that one too.

9 For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

and verse 13

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.

It sounds as if Paul is simply saying that stating that Jesus is Lord, believing He has been raised and calling on His name is enough. This is clearly an equivocation based on the abuse of context. The solution? Read the whole chapter.

In verses 4 and 5 we see that accepting Jesus as Lord means actually doing the works required by His Justice.

Verse 12 says 12 For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon him. This provides the context of whosever shall call on His name shall be saved. Jesus says in the Gospels, many who cry out "Lord, Lord" will be lost so clearly speaking His name is not enough. Paul is stating that there is no distinction among classes of persons, Jew or Greek. Whoever does God's will is going to be saved.

Like I said before. Words have to be taken at their meanings.

To Confess Jesus as Lord would be a formal confession. 1 Timothy 6 is a good example.

The greek 3671 homologia {hom-ol-og-ee'-ah} from the same as 3670; TDNT - 5:199,687; n f 1) profession 1a) subjectively: whom we profess to be ours 1b) objectively: profession [confession] i.e. what one professes [confesses]

The same sense is present in "believe in thy heart''. It means to believe, in, trust in and lean on". It goes far beyond intellectual assent and requires action. These verses do not support Salvation by "Faith alone" but Salvation by faith and trust working in action. This understanding is in harmony with the rest of Scripture. What my opponent translates as faith is really faithfulness. In Matthew 25, Jesus shows that the ones who enter heaven are the faithful not the faith professors. The ones excluded are not the ones who said the wrong words but the ones who did the wrong deeds.

My opponent would have you believe that faith is fully sufficient for salvation, thus the term "faith alone". The Bible teaches that faith is not the only virtue, or even the greatest. Paul tells us of faith, hope and love, love is the greatest virtue (1 Corinthians 13). In John 12, Mary of Bethany received forgiveness because of her great love and 1 Peter 4 says love covers a multitude of sins. The good Samaritan? saved by love. The reprobate in the Temple saved by Love. The good thief on the cross? Saved by Love. Love has a cost. James 2 says even the demons believe.

How can my opponent claim faith alone is sufficient when the Bible clearly shows that it isn't. Faith without love is lip service and no one is going to be saved by lip service. Faith allows the reception of Grace which makes good works and perseverance possible. To defy that Grace is to nullify the alleged faith behind it. Separating works from faith is like trying to separate water from wet.

You cannot claim faith in Jesus and defy obedience to the church, as He demands in Matthew 18:15-18. Obedience is the fruit of love. Humility is the fruit of love. Long suffering is the fruit of love. Good Works are the fruit of love.

My opponent tonight will try to sell you on a false dilemma of faith vs works or faith alone vs faith plus works. The true dilemma is actually professed faith vs lived faith. Where real faith is present, hope and love are present. Where hope and love are present, fruit is present. I am not trying to sell you on faith plus works, He is trying to sell you on Faith minus works, which is a lie.

What about Romans 11:6? If salvation is of works, then Grace is no longer Grace. We already covered this. If Salvation is of my works, then I initiated it. They are my works. We agree that Salvation is of Grace by Faith. What my opponent will claim, and cannot defend is that this Grace ends the process in a singular action. This Grace turns on the power. I must respond to that power.

Open a Bible. You won't find one example of faith that wasn't tested in the crucible of suffering. Why should we entertain that idea now? It is a phantom.