Quote Source – Charles Ryrie
A Biblical Christian worldview perspective – A reader offered the following quote from the renowned theologian, Charles Ryrie, in an attempt to reconcile the Catholic vs. Biblical Christian plan of salvation.
I think Charles Ryrie said it well in “Basic Theology” (page 300). “Faith and works are like a two-coupon ticket to Heaven. The coupon of works is not good for passage, and the coupon of faith is not valid if detached from works.”
My Response
True, but what is at issue is the timing of “faith” and “works.” All false teachings, including Catholicism, require the second before the first. Christianity stands alone in its theology where faith alone RESULTS in salvation; works are a consequence of that initial faith. This is a critical difference based on what God calls out in Scripture.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Romans 10:9 – If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
So, our acceptance by faith, in God’s grace, of Jesus Christ, expressed outwardly (mouth) based on an inward change (heart), is what saves the Biblical Christian. Further, that is the only way to receive God for eternity in Heaven.
John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Biblical Christianity is a function of God’s grace in providing a way for mankind to receive Him, by faith, through Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins. Once that happens, we desire to serve Him by doing His will (works).
James 2:14,17 – What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? … So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Faith without works is “dead” because it is a false faith.
John 14:15 – If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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