Faith Alone

The question that everyone is asking is this: how do I get to Heaven? One of the most common answers to that question, if not the most common, is by doing good works. However, the Bible teaches something vastly different from this. See, Christianity is unlike any other religion. Most religions are about what you have to do. Christianity is about what has already been DONE. All you have to do is believe. This is what sola fide, the the principle “by faith alone,” is all about. Paul talks about this concept of salvation through faith throughout his letters, but primarily in the book of Romans. Romans 3 tells us that

all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

but it goes on to tell us that God has graciously given his elect the gift of justification, which is to be “received by faith.” In the following chapter, Paul builds upon this concept of sola fide by providing textual evidence from the Old Testament. He explains that Abraham was not justified because of his works, because if he was, his salvation would be his “due” and something that he could boast about. Instead, the Bible says that salvation “depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on [God’s] grace” Now, grace is something that we will get to later, but it is something that ties directly into this concept of salvation by faith alone, and a verse that I want to leave you with is Ephesians 2:8a:

For by grace you have been saved by faith

 And thus, the answer to the opening question is this: you can get to Heaven solely by believing in the risen Savior.