Through history, Christians have debated about the relationship between faith and righteous conduct as essential elements that may determine salvation.
Some
have emphasized holiness of life as a determinant factor; others believed that
only intellectual faith was enough to guarantee salvation, while others again, have
taught that not only faith and good conduct are necessary for salvation, but
also the performance of basic rituals, like Baptism and Confirmation.
But
regardless of these positions, all Christians have always agreed that faith is
the essential element required to attain salvation, and that without faith,
good conduct and sacraments are pointless, unable to save for themselves.
The
Bible teaches that “without faith it is
impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6).
Since
Christianity has as a pillar of faith the belief that all humans come into
existence destitute of Salvation due to Original Sin, it is understood that
good behaviour alone could not attain this salvation, let alone the fact that
no human is totally free of personal sin during a lifetime, making therefore
all men and women always guilty of something, which will contributes to their eternal
damnation. To be open to God’s grace and to the benefits of the atonement
provided in Jesus Christ, it is of logical consequence to think that only those
who believe in God, in Jesus Christ and in his work, would have access to it, those
who don’t believe in it, won’t.
Even
in the case that the performance of Sacraments were necessary for salvation and
that our personal conduct would be taken into account at the Last Judgement,
without faith, neither sacrament nor good conduct will save anyone. Ordinances can
be performed under personal faith or under the faith of the community, as in the
case of infant baptism; and good conduct, charity and other meritorious actions
can be done, but without the belief that God exists, these ceremonies and
actions could not possibly be counted as being done in obedience to God, and as
a consequence, lose all kind of transcendental value.
For
this reason Jesus said to his disciples in the Great Commission:
“Go into all
the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16).
In
this verse, even when water Baptism is suggested as necessary for salvation,
the lack of faith is counted as enough to condemn the person. Here Baptism is a
second requirement as an addition to an initial faith, but without that faith,
Baptism becomes irrelevant.
Another
element where faith plays a crucial role is in forgiveness of sins.
Even
in the case where our personal conduct, good and bad, would be assessed at the
Last Judgement, all humans, even the best of us, would at certain moment in
life, fall into sin, which will stain that clean record we had hoped to present
before God at the Last Day. Only through faith we can repent and ask God for
forgiveness to be cleaned of all our sins and continue to hope for eternal life
in Glory. Without that faith in Jesus
and his power to forgive, this would be impossible.
Faith
is the root of all justification and salvation. Faith vivifies sacraments and
opens the way to forgiveness. Faith is the initial element that brings a human
being into a relationship with God; without faith, every religious performance
loses purpose, and forgiveness becomes unable to be attained at all.
Certainly
some Sacraments are necessary for salvation (Jn. 3:5), and it is also true that
our personal conduct will be examined and taken into account during our
judgement (Mt. 7:21), but there will be times when the performance of
Sacraments will not be possible, and times when our personal conduct will be stained
with various sins. Only through faith, justification will be possible without
Sacraments, and only through faith, we will be absolved from our sins before
God.
Faith
in God, in Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and in the Gospel, is what
vivifies everything else in Christianity, but without that faith, everything
else loses all purpose. Faith is the only key that ultimately opens the door to
Heaven. Without that key, the door cannot be open.
“Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this
grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God”.
(Ro.
5:1-2)
Omar
Flores.
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