By Bob Wilkin
Many people charge that the faith-alone view of salvation is easy believism. A while back I did a seven-minute YouTube video entitled, “What Is Easy Believism?” Check it out if you have time.
In this article, I’ll discuss whether believing in Jesus for everlasting life that can never be lost is easy. Is it?
If you ask people from non-Christian religions, they will say that having a blessed afterlife is not by faith in Jesus Christ. It is by following the tenets of their religion. One must stay on the path that leads to salvation. That is true for Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religions.
But what about within Christendom?
The cults do not believe the faith-alone message.
Most Protestants don’t believe the faith-alone message either.
Neither do most Catholics and Orthodox people.
If the message of faith alone, apart from works, is so easy to believe, why do so few people believe it?
The obvious answer is that it is not easy to believe. It is hard to believe.
But why is that the case?
First, it is hard to believe because it runs contrary to human nature. We think we have to earn our way in this life and in the life to come.
Second, it is difficult to believe because most traditions, even within Christianity, do not teach it. It is a view with far fewer adherents than the faith-plus-works perspective.
Most religions, including most within Christendom, oppose the faith-alone-in-Christ-alone position in print, in social media, on television, and face-to-face.
In an article entitled, “What is easy believism?” gotquestions.org–in opposing what it considers easy believism to be–makes this bold statement:
“Faith alone” does not mean that some believers follow Christ in a life of discipleship, while others do not. The concept of the “carnal Christian,” as a separate category of non-spiritual believer, is completely unscriptural. The idea of the carnal Christian says that a person may receive Christ as Savior during a religious experience but never manifest evidence of a changed life. This is a false and dangerous teaching in that it excuses various ungodly lifestyles: a man may be an unrepentant adulterer, liar, or thief, but he’s “saved” because he prayed a prayer as a child; he’s just a “carnal Christian.” The Bible nowhere supports the idea that a true Christian can remain carnal for an entire lifetime. Rather, God’s Word presents only two categories of people: Christians and non-Christians, believers and unbelievers, those who have bowed to the Lordship of Christ and those who have not (see John 3:36; Romans 6:17–18; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:18–24; Ephesians 2:1–5; 1 John 1:5–7; 2:3–4).1
The last paragraph in that article is quite telling:
Salvation is certainly free, but, at the same time, it costs us everything. We are to die to ourselves as we change into the likeness of Christ. Where easy believism fails is its lack of recognition that a person with faith in Jesus will lead a progressively changed life. Salvation is a free gift from God to those who believe, but discipleship and obedience are the response that will no doubt occur when one truly comes to Christ in faith.2
Compellingtruth.org has an article entitled “Easy Believism–What Is It?” The concluding paragraph reflects the same thinking as found at gotquestions.org:
The Gospel is easy to believe in one sense, yet the call to follow Christ is difficult. In fact, Jesus taught, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Therefore, easy believism is not an accurate expression of the call to follow Jesus. The call to believe in Christ is one based on faith, yet a faith that leads to action and a changed life.3
An article at John MacArthur’s Grace to You website heartily agrees:
The gospel according to Jesus explicitly and unequivocally rules out easy-believism. To make all of our Lord’s difficult demands apply only to a higher class of Christians blunts the force of His entire message. It makes room for a cheap and meaningless faith—a faith that has absolutely no effect on the fleshly life of sin. That is not saving faith.4
I could supply many similar quotes. Opposition to the faith-alone message is widespread in Christendom.
Third, Satan opposes the grace message (e.g., Luke 8:12; 2 Cor 4:4), making it hard to believe.
Do you believe in believism? Do you believe the message of John 3:16? Is it true that all who believe in Jesus will never perish and have everlasting life? If you believe that, you are an outsider as far as most people are concerned. If you share your faith with others, people will oppose what you are saying. They may mock you to your face or behind your back.
It is not easy to believe that simply by believing in Jesus, a person is saved once and for all. Jesus said that the way is narrow that leads to life, and few find it (Matt 7:13-14). Paul made it clear that the message of works salvation is the man-pleasing message and that the message of justification by faith alone, apart from works, is the God-pleasing message (Gal 1:10).
Easy believism? Hardly. It is hard to believe something that is widely rejected. But it is the truth. And once you believe, you know you are secure forever in Christ. That is truly good news, don’t you think?
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Bob Wilkin is Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society. He and Sharon live in Highland Village, TX. He has racewalked ten marathons.
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1 See here: https://www.gotquestions.org/easy-believism.html. Note: We do not say, as gotquestions.org charges, that someone who prays a prayer or walks an aisle is eternally secure. We say that someone who believes in Jesus for everlasting life has that life. We do not believe or teach decisionism.
2 Ibid. What the author writes here is contradictory. Salvation cannot be a free gift and also cost us everything. Jesus paid it all. We pay nothing.
3 See here: https://www.compellingtruth.org/easy-believism.html. Note: The author confuses salvation and discipleship. Instead of faith in Christ being the condition for irrevocable salvation, he suggests following Christ in discipleship is the condition.
4 See here: https://www.gty.org/library/Print/Blog/B160404.
