The Foolishness of Faith Alone

Many struggle with the idea that God requires nothing of sinners to be saved by his grace. Even their faith, which points to their salvation, is gifted to them by God (Eph 2:8-9). Sola fide “faith alone” is more about the object of our salvation than the one with faith. Jesus saves sinners. This is what we are putting our faith in. It is not faith in our faith. How do good works then play into “faith alone?” In this episode, Jon walks the listener through several passages of scripture connecting our relationship with Jesus by faith alone.

Easy-Listening Legalism

Jon and Justin follow up on the conversation last week about smuggling works into faith. Today’s episode is a little different than the norm. The guys critique teaching from John Piper, John MacArthur, and Doug Wilson on the relationship between faith and works. Multiple excerpts and quotes are cited, all of which are available in the show notes. The reason for this episode is to defend the clarity of the gospel–that we are saved by Christ alone and receive his merits by faith alone, apart from any works we could ever do.

Smuggling Works into Faith (with Mike Abendroth)

Jon and Justin are joined by Mike Abendroth, pastor of Bethlehem Bible Church and host of No Compromise Radio. The guys have a conversation about faith–and, in particular, how works are often smuggled into faith in the evangelical church. How do we appropriately define saving faith? How do we understand the relationship between faith and works? Why is it that obedience, love, and good works are regularly woven into the definition of faith?

How Pietism Ruins Good Works

It sounds a little crazy to say that the gospel terrifies Christians. But it clearly does. Christians are prone to qualify the grace of God in Christ. Christians are prone to hedge on justification by faith alone. At times, Christians can even be unsettled by the preaching of Christ from all of Scripture. Why are these things so? Jon and Justin consider history, fear-based theology, pietism, law/gospel confusion, and Christ-centered preaching in today’s episode.

How acceptable are our good works?

How acceptable are our good works? We all have bad days, but on our best days what does the Father think of our obedience? Is He only concerned with sincerity of heart? Does He approve of those who give their best effort? The answer: Scripture tells us that our best attempts at holiness are so […]