I try to make it clear to my followers and readers that we should steer clear from "Protestant" churches. I say this because most, if not all, "Protestant" Pastors teach Salvation is by Works. However, many of their supporters, upon hearing me say this, fail to see how they are teaching Works Salvation. It can be confusing as these pastors will nominally affirm the doctrine of Faith Alone, the teaching that all we need to do is put our trust in Jesus to be saved, no works required. But, these Pastors always add the caveat, "but true faith is never alone." Their followers eat up this garbage as though it's this deep and profound theological observation, but in reality this is literally retarded.
"True Faith is never Alone"
The popular statement, "Salvation is by Faith Alone, but True Faith is never Alone," is self-contradictory and false. If we were to put in other words, this is essentially saying, "Salvation is by Faith Alone, except it's not by Faith Alone." How does this make sense to people? One could blame the education system for not teaching basic logic, but this violates the most basic logical principle, the Transitive Property.
The Transitive Property can be explained by this formula:
If x=1,
and y=1,
then x=y.
x, y, and z represent objects.
= represents a relationship between said objects.
To make it a little bit less abstract, imagine You are related to the Father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. What if you then found out that your friend Jack is also related to Martin Luther. Using the Transitive Property, we can conclude (given the previous information) that You are related to Jack.
In formula form:
If You = Martin Luther,
and Jack = Martin Luther,
then You = Jack.
To get back to the statement, "Salvation is by Faith Alone, but True Faith is never Alone," we can apply the Transitive Property to it to show that it is self-contradictory. First, let's refresh ourselves on what "Salvation is by Faith Alone" means.
How Salvation Works: The Bible teaches that we are in sin and incapable of getting to heaven because of that sin. But, Jesus came to save us from this condemnation by taking the punishment we deserve for our sins. All we are asked to do, in order to be saved, is to just believe on Jesus. We are not required to Keep Commandments, Repent of our Sins, or Change our Lives, to be saved. Faith Alone, without Works.
"Salvation is by Faith Alone," truly means Salvation by Faith, without Works. So to say, "Salvation is by Faith Alone, but True Faith is never Alone," is really to say, "Salvation is by Faith without Works, but True Faith always has Works."
Let's apply the Transitive Property to this:
If Faith = Salvation,
and Faith = Works,
then Works = Salvation.
So, if Faith is the means by which we receive Salvation, and Faith will always produce Works or else it's not Faith, then we can conclude that you need Works in order to be Saved.
As we can clearly see right here, the statement "Salvation is by Faith Alone, but True Faith is never Alone" is, in essence, the same as saying, "Salvation is by Works." How does this logically make sense? If Salvation is by Faith Alone (which really means Faith without Works), then how can Salvation be by Works? Do we need Works or not? It is a Logical Contradiction.
The fact is that Salvation cannot be by Faith Alone, if True Faith is never Alone.
Why is this Teaching so Popular?
Some people may be asking, why is this teaching so popular if it's self-contradictory? Why haven't people noticed that this teaching is flawed? Some may chalk this up to the failure of modern schooling, the rising illiteracy rates; and that may all be true for the average Church-goer, but for the Pastors, I think that the reason for teaching this is much more sinister. Whether intentional or not, these Pastors are "backloading" works into the gospel.
What is "Backloading"?
"Backloading" works into the gospel is the opposite of "frontloading" works into the gospel. "Frontloading" is classic Works Salvation. They say, "in order to be saved, you must do (x) good work(s)." They teach that Salvation is by Works, that Faith Alone isn't enough and that you must work to earn your Salvation. This is flawed though, because it's obviously wrong.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
"Backloading" on the other hand, is essentially the same as "frontloading," except for the fact that it's more subtle. Unlike flat-out Works Salvation, "backloaders" will affirm the position of Faith Alone Salvation. However, they secretly slip in works salvation, even having just affirmed Faith Alone. Hence it is called, "backloading," because it is slipped in through the back while you're distracted by their apparent acceptance of Faith Alone.
"Backloading" is intended to make you doubt your Salvation, perhaps even preventing you from truly getting Saved, by making you look at your Works to affirm you're really Saved. By making statements like, "but true faith is never alone," they make you doubt your faith. You begin to look at yourself and say, "Am I really Saved? I know Salvation is by Faith Alone, but if I really had Faith, I would be seeing good Works. Are my works good enough to be saved?" Just like frontloading, backloading puts the weight on us to do enough works to earn our Salvation.
Why Backloading is wrong
The fact is that if you are looking to your own Works to affirm your Salvation, then you aren't looking to Jesus to affirm your Salvation. Our Salvation has absolutely no correlation with our Works. We are not Saved by our lifestyle, repentance, commandment keeping, or anything that we do. Our Salvation is totally thanks to Jesus. Let's look to Jesus if we want to find assurance for our Salvation.
"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." - Titus 3:4-7
You don't have to worry about doing good works. You don't have to worry if you've done enough to be saved. Our Salvation is safe in Jesus's hands. Let's trust in our Kind and Loving Savior and stop trusting in ourselves.
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