Not Jesus
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Mt. 7:21-24).
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19, 20).
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mk. 16:16).
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Lk. 6:46).
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5).
“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15).
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (Jn. 14:21).
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” (Jn. 14:23-24).
“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14).
“be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations” (Rev. 2:26).
“my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12-14; cf. “I know thy works,” Rev. 2, 3; Rom. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:17).
Not Peter
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…Save yourselves” (Acts 2:38, 40).
“But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:35).
“And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:48).
“ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth” (1 Pet. 1:22).
“baptism doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21).
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Pet. 4:17, 18).
Not Ananias
“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
Not Paul
“By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” (Rom. 1:5).
“the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds…But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good” (Rom. 2:5, 6, 10).
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Rom. 6:3-5).
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Rom. 6:16-18).
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13).
“the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:25, 26).
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27).
“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Gal. 5:6).
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Php. 2:12).
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Php. 4:9).
“putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:11-13).
“the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thess. 2:15).
“And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed” (2 Thess. 3:14; cf. 3:6, 15).
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8; “infidel”=unbeliever).
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16).
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12).
Not James
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (Jam. 1:22).
“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jam. 1:25-27).
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” (Jam. 2:14).
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (Jam. 2:17).
“But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (Jam. 2:20).
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (Jam. 2:24).
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (Jam. 2:26).
Not John
“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 Jn. 1:6; cf. 1:7).
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 Jn. 2:3-6).
“every one that doeth righteousness is born of him” (1 Jn. 2:29).
“Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 Jn. 3:7).
“And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him” (1 Jn. 3:24).
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 Jn. 5:2-3).
“this is love, that we walk after his commandments” (2 Jn. 6).
“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).
Conclusion
“Faith only” is only found once in the Scriptures: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). Man is saved by grace through faith without works of the Law of Moses (Eph. 2:8-19), but man does not access grace until his faith obeys God’s New Testament commands to become saved (Acts 2:38, 40; 10:35; Rom. 6:16-18; 1 Pet. 1:22; Heb. 5:9, etc.). Man must continue to have an obedient faith to remain saved (Heb. 10:23-31; 2 Pet. 2:20-22; 1 Jn. 1:6, 7; Rev. 2:10, etc.).
The idea for this article came from an article by Royce Frederick