Jesus Never Said “Faith Alone”

https://medium.com/@tannerthesecularist/the-lie-of-faith-alone-that-hijacked-jesus-message-5b0a1fd7ab13

Jesus never preached it. Paul sold it. Luther doubled down. And now millions think belief is a shortcut to salvation.

“Faith alone” is the most overrated, over-preached idea in Christianity — and Jesus never said it.

People think it came straight from heaven. In reality, it came from Paul’s pen and Martin Luther’s rebellion. Jesus had a completely different message. But the church took a shortcut, and now millions think belief is a golden ticket to paradise, no questions asked.

Paul’s Shortcut: Ditch the Jewish Law

Paul was the first to push this “faith alone” stuff. Why? Because he was trying to sell Christianity to non-Jews — Gentiles — without all the baggage of Jewish law.

In his letter to the Romans, he wrote:

“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3:28)

Boom. That’s the line Luther loved. But here’s the twist: the original Greek never says “faith alone.” Paul said faith apart from works of the law — as in Jewish law, stuff like circumcision, kosher food, Sabbath rules.

Paul wasn’t saying “you don’t have to live a good life.” He was saying, “Gentiles don’t have to become Jews first.”

In Galatians 2:16, he repeats himself:

“A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Again — he’s talking about Jewish law, not morality or compassion or doing what’s right.

Paul was creating a new doorway into the faith: one that let you in without cutting your foreskin. That was the pitch.

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Jesus Never Said “Faith Alone”

Go read the Gospels. Jesus didn’t walk around saying, “Just believe in me and you’re saved.” He didn’t say, “Ignore everything and trust the process.” He told people to act, love, forgive, serve.

In Matthew 25:31–46, he lays out what Judgment Day looks like. And guess what? It’s not a quiz on theology.

He says the sheep (the saved) are the ones who:

Fed the hungry
Gave water to the thirsty
Welcomed strangers
Clothed the naked
Cared for the sick
Visited prisonersAnd the goats (the condemned)? They didn’t do any of that.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:45)

Where’s “faith alone” in that?

Nowhere. According to Jesus, you don’t get in by belief. You get in by action.

The Rich Man Test: No Pass for Belief

In Mark 10:17–22, a rich man asks Jesus:

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Perfect moment to say “Just believe in me,” right?

But no. Jesus says:

“You know the commandments…”

Then, when the guy says he’s kept them, Jesus adds:

“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor… Then come, follow me.”

That’s a hell of a lot more than just “faith.” It’s sacrifice. And the man walks away sad because he had a lot of stuff.

Jesus didn’t chase him down shouting, “Wait! Just believe in me!” He let him go.

Martin Luther — The Rebellious Monk Who Edited the Bible

Martin Luther picked up Paul’s line and ran with it. He was sick of the Catholic Church selling indulgences and demanding penance. And rightly so — those practices were corrupt. But instead of just calling it out, Luther rewrote the rules.

He added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28 in his German Bible.

Paul never wrote that. The Greek doesn’t have it. But Luther wanted to make the point loud and clear: forget good deeds, forget the church — just believe.

He even said, “The epistle of James is an epistle of straw,” because James calls out his bullshit directly:

“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)

That’s the only time the phrase “faith alone” appears in the entire Bible — and it’s used to reject the idea.

Lazy Gospel for Lazy Believers

“Faith alone” is popular because it’s easy. You don’t have to give anything up. You don’t have to love your enemies. You don’t have to feed the poor. You don’t even have to be a decent human being. Just say the words, say the prayer, maybe get dunked in some water, and boom — heaven.

It’s a con. A loophole.

People say things like, “Hitler could have been saved if he repented at the end.” Really? You think that’s justice? You think that’s divine wisdom?

This is what happens when you treat belief like a cheat code. You turn salvation into a technicality.

Paul Was Selling a Product. Jesus Was Living a Truth.

Paul was a brilliant marketer. He spread Christianity farther than anyone. But make no mistake — he was customizing it for the Roman world.

Jesus? He never left Judea. Never watered down the message. He told people what they didn’t want to hear:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father.” (Matthew 7:21)

Doesn’t get clearer than that.

Before You Go

Jesus preached action, love, and sacrifice. Paul packaged it into something that could survive in Rome. Luther weaponized it to smash the Catholic machine.

But in the process, they twisted the original message.

You can’t follow Jesus while ignoring what he said. “Faith alone” isn’t faith in Jesus — it’s faith in Paul’s version of Jesus.

And that’s not the same thing.

Read the whole piece? Good. Now I want your take. Are Christians today following Jesus or just Paul’s repackaged pitch? Leave a comment and let’s talk about it.

Comments:

Eddie Lau
Yes, Jesus never said ‘faith alone’, you are right.

But Jesus chose Paul as His vessel to speak (Acts 9:15). Then at least you should pay Paul some respect, sir.

Jesus did not say ‘faith alone’ may probably because it’s a difficult truth that apostles (who followed Him for 3 years) could not bear at that time. That needs the Spirit of Truth to come and guides all to know (John 16:12-13).

So ‘faith alone’ is necessary for us to get 100% Grace, otherwise we may be cursed (Galatians 3:10) or fallen from Grace (Galatians 5:4), etc.

But Paul never says there’s no work, ok?

Ephesians 2:10 NKJV
[10] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We believers of Jesus Christ are God’s workmanship to do His good works. Praise the Lord.

Please take note of the ‘good work’, not bad works.

The point of ‘faith alone’ should be now well established. If anyone wants to be saved by works (like many religions, actually almost all other), they can do bad works (indeed this is true as many can try to use all kinds of methods to earn money to pay their sin debts ). Is that clear why ‘faith alone’ is so important?

The Holy Bible actually includes The Book of James as counterbalance.

James 2:17,20 NKJV
[17] Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [20] But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Just the same as Ephesians 2:10, James explains work is important just to show that the believers have good faith.

I pray that I have done a good work here. Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord.

Tanner on Fundamentalism
Paul definitely had a big role in shaping early Christianity — and yes, Jesus chose him for that (Acts 9:15). But that doesn’t mean Paul’s letters perfectly match what Jesus originally taught, or that we can’t question how people later interpreted them.
Paul never said we shouldn’t do good works — Ephesians 2:10 even says we’re created to do good works. The issue is how “faith alone” got pushed as a shortcut, making some people ignore Jesus’ call to love, sacrifice, and actually do stuff for others.
James 2:17 and 2:20 are important because they say faith without works is dead. So faith isn’t just about believing in your head or saying the right words — it has to show up in what you do.
The whole “faith alone” thing really blew up with Martin Luther. He leaned heavily on Paul but was quick to reject anything in the Bible that made good works seem important for salvation. He even called James “an epistle of straw” because it didn’t fit his focus on faith alone. Plus, Luther added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28 in his translation, even though the original text doesn’t have it.
Today in America, many people give money to churches as part of their faith, believing that faith alone will bring them salvation. Meanwhile, those churches often don’t need more money and don’t always use donations to directly help people in need — which would be considered good works. This disconnect shows how “faith alone” separates belief from the actions Jesus called for.

Roy D Blendell
The Christic Way is ontological, not intellectual. It is about BEING rather than merely believing.

William McIlhenny
May I ask a question
Paul’s letter to the Hebrews 10 ch. v 19 to 39. 11 ch 1 V 40
talking a about faith
What do think!!!

Mary Lou Cornish
Hey, Tanner! I took a hiatus from Medium for a while, but am back and reading and writing again.
I have a few questions to ask of you.
Do you believe that there is an afterlife? If so, how do you envision that afterlife? Lastly, how do you achieve said afterlife?
Thanks for your responses ahead of time. MLC

R D
“Lazy Gospel for Lazy Believers”

The title Had me in splits. 👌👌👌

I’m catholic and I learned about Judaism. I have to say Christianity is a con to me. Not the real Jesus though.
After learning about Judaism I haven’t been able to go to church. It’s been two months. Easter was a blip.. Poor Yeshuhua would not recognise Christianity today if he decided to come back now.

Lloyd Gardner
Paul and Jesus were on the same page, both being led by the Father and the Spirit. Paul was severely persecuted and martyred for being led by the Sprit to confirm and explain Jesus’ teaching.

Lloyd Gardner
John 3:16 and the thief on the cross

Nsxaviermd Narithookil sauriar Xavier
I hope your message would reach a lot of Chistians.

Christina Kinsey
Faith alone…? I have never believed that as apart from finding faith incredibly hard , it excludes those who don’t have faith or follow other traditions
Real faith might or might not involve a deity but it has love at its heart . That l can accept

Jeff Barlatier
Genesis 15:6 says, “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” This verse highlights Abraham’s faith and trust in God’s promises, even before those promises were fully fulfilled and before Jesus Christ or Paul was ever born.

Dr. J
The fact is that the depth of Paul’s mystical experiences failed to match or exceed Jesus’s. If they did then he never would’ve diverged from Jesus’s core message because faith isn’t aligned with it.

Don Hartness
The core of the problem, IMO, is what we mean by this word “faith”. Today’s Christendom (rooted in the tradition you cite) has turned this word into an intellectual ascent to a propositional truth.
Christian faith is so much more than that. It is the belief that, if you are daring enough to live your life in accordance to what Jesus taught, you will find God and all that comes with that discovery. It’s an insane approach when you dig deeper, so insane that it is often only the desperate that try it.
I have, and my faith was justified. It is because of this journey that I am disgusted with all that Christianity has become.
By their fruit you will know them.

Spiritchev
Your concept of faith is mistaken. Paul and Jesus did not preach a different gospel, nor were they preaching a different Christ. Just like Jesus was not preaching a different God than the God of Israel in the Old Testament. God didn’t change, how we view God changes as he is revealed to us in our experience and life in him.
Faith is not merely saying, “I believe “, or believing certain theological facts about God. It’s about a firm conviction, a persuasion, that God is everything he says he is, and that we can trust him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It’s resting in him. It’s relying on his strength, on his grace to give us the power to do the works of God. It’s to trust that we can surrender ourselves to him, and let him transform us into the image of Christ. Faith without a demonstration of that faith is dead. But true faith is letting God work through us and in us to demonstrate that faith.

This is the faith that both Christ and Paul not only preached, but demonstrated in their lives. It’s the same faith that they called those that would follow to practice. The reality is that without the grace of God, nobody can do the works of God, that’s why it’s grace and not our own works that save us.

haglocsu@att.net
Most people tend to spin what they read or write to reflect their own opinions. You can justify almost anything with some quotation from the Bible.

D Is For Darwin
2 Kings 6:6-7 “Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.”
Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”
Evidently you have never attempted to live by faith. Jesus fulfilled each and every prophecy about living by faith.

William Marut
Regarding salvation, let’s ask those who are in the best position to know (those who came back from the dead):

Lazarus
• Reference: John 11:1–44
• Raised by: Jesus
• What he said about salvation: Nothing recorded.

Widow of Zarephath’s Son
• Reference: 1 Kings 17:17–24
• Raised by: Elijah
• What he said about salvation: Nothing recorded.

Shunammite Woman’s Son
• Reference: 2 Kings 4:18–37
• Raised by: Elisha
• What he said about salvation: Nothing recorded.

Man Raised After Touching Elisha’s Bones
• Reference: 2 Kings 13:20–21
• Raised by: Miraculous contact with Elisha’s bones
• What he said about salvation: Nothing recorded.