IS BELIEF ALONE SUFFICIENT?
ELDER J. H. PAUL.
There is a very large class of professed Christians who maintain that if an individual does no more than simply believe in Christ, he will be saved eternally in God's Kingdom of glory. We do not purpose to disparage the value of belief or faith, for these principles occupy a very important position in the plan of human redemption; but it is the design to show that the doctrine which predicates salvation upon belief only is erroneous, and consequently dangerous.
The evangelist writes: "And this is eternal life, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent" (John xvii: 3). Conjoin this statement with another passage of Scripture, which reads thus: "And hereby do we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him" (1 John ii: 3, 4).
The teachings of these Scriptures are—First: No one can be saved, or obtain eternal life, without a knowledge of God, and of Christ. Second: Those who fail to keep the commandments of the Savior do not possess a knowledge of God; and hence the conclusion is inevitable that there is no salvation without obedience to the Gospel laws and ordinances. This conclusion is in direct harmony with the statements of the Apostle Paul, who says: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power" (2 Thess. i: 7, 8, 9). Again: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt, xxviii: 19, 20). Thus the disciples were sent forth with a mission to convert all nations if possible, and they were instructed to enjoin upon those who became Christians obedience to "all things whatsoever" Christ gave as commandments to the early Apostles. His language is so comprehensive that no command can be omitted.
"Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" (Gal. iii: 7). But, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham" (John viii: 39). Here it is substantially stated that those who have Christian faith are adopted into the family of Abraham, thus becoming his children; but this privilege is accorded to those only who do the works of Abraham. How this ancient Patriarch obtained the right to be called the "Father of the Faithful" is thus set forth: "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Gen. xxvi: 5). These were the works of Abraham, and those who are counted worthy to belong to his family, or to the "household of faith," must also obey God's voice, and keep His charge, commandments, statutes and laws. According to Scripture, no evasion of this requirement is possible; for those who are Abraham's children obey the commandments of God.
St. James speaks to the point under consideration thus:
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James i: 22-25).
Now, what is the "word?" St. Peter answers this question decisively: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. . . . But the word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you" (1 Peter i: 23, 25).