No, you have not. You have listed things that spring from faith and belief. Jesus clearly says that belief is the key. The things you mentioned are the fruit of belief. If you do not believe, you will do none of the things you mentioned. Faith and belief are all we need.
Faith/belief is absolutely necessary, but it is NOT all we need. There are certain actions of faith that God requires for salvation to be given by Him and received by us. Yes, those actions are inspired by our faith, and according to James 2, are the soul of our faith.
One of the clearest statements of this truth is found in Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, “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.” This passage makes it explicit that salvation comes as a gift from God, received through faith alone. If any action or effort on our part contributed to salvation, it would no longer be a gift but something earned.
If those actions were done in an attempt to earn salvation, you would be right. But God put salvation on the table while we were still sinners, before we had done, or could have done, anything to "earn" it. You are reading Eph 2:8-9 as if it is saying that there is NOTHING man has to do to receive salvation. That is not true. Rom 10:9-10 explicitly says that the physical action of verbally confessing Jesus as Lord RESULTS in our receiving salvation. This means that the physical action of verbal confession is a condition for receiving salvation, and is an act of faith that is required.
Furthermore, Romans 3:28 reinforces this point: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Paul clarifies that righteousness before God is based entirely on faith, not religious deeds or obedience to the law.
Yes, he clarifies his point in saying what particular works are excluded: WORKS OF THE LAW! Not all works, but works of the Law.
This is consistent with Abraham’s example in Genesis 15:6, which says, “Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” Abraham was justified before God simply by believing, not performing any action.
He believed God, and acted accordingly. Without action, faith is dead and worthless (James 2:20, 22, 24, 26).
Jesus Himself emphasized that faith is the only requirement for salvation. In John 3:16, He declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” There is no mention of additional conditions—just belief in Christ. Similarly, in John 6:29, when asked what work God requires, Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” He does not list rituals, good deeds, or moral effort—only faith in Him.
Everywhere that "believe/belief" is found in the NT, it is the Greek word "pistis" which means "faith". Belief is not simple intellectual assent to the truth of the Gospel, but is an active, productive, living faith. Further, as was pointed out in another forum by someone, there are 213 passages that only mention "belief" in reference to salvation. But since Scripture is ALL God's inspired Word, EVERY passage of Scripture MUST agree with EVERY other passage. This means that the general, vague, "faith" passages must be read as being clarified and completed by the more specific passages that mention specific actions that are required to receive salvation: like Rom 10:9-10, 1 Pet 3:21, and Acts 3:19 among others.
If salvation required anything beyond faith—such as good works or religious rituals—it would suggest that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient.
It would not suggest that at all. God's power was fully sufficient to heal Naaman where he sat on his camel while he was talking to the prophet. But God gave him a condition for being healed, and if he met that condition he would be healed (the action of dipping, and the water itself, having absolutely no healing power of their own), but if he did not meet the condition then he would not be healed.
However, Galatians 2:21 states, “If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” This means that requiring anything beyond faith would undermine the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work. The Bible teaches that His sacrifice was sufficient for our salvation (Hebrews 10:10, 14).
Your conclusion is faulty. His sacrifice was entirely sufficient, but that does not prevent Him from establishing conditions for reception of His gift to us. For example, let's say that you have a Billion dollars, and I am broke. Not only am I broke, but I make $1 a year and for the necessities of life I must spend $1.05 per year to survive (I am in debt and have zero chance of getting into the black ever, no matter how long I live). Now, suppose you decide that you are going to give me a car. You purchase the car with your wealth, and you tell the dealership to hold the car until I show up to collect it. Then you tell me that in order to get the car that already has my name on it, I must go to the dealership and tell them my name. Questions for you:
Is the car mine while it is at the dealership?
Does me showing up in any way contribute to the purchase of the vehicle?
Did I "earn" the vehicle by showing up?
Does it do me any good until I show up?
If I never show up to get it, will it ever benefit me?
This is what God has done. He is rich in power while we are in debt to sin with absolutely no hope of ever saving ourselves. He, out of His richness of love, power, and mercy purchased for us salvation. But He does not lay it in our lap, we must have and exhibit faith in order to get it. And this is exactly what Scripture confirms when it says that we must repent in order to receive forgiveness (salvation)(Acts 3:19), and we must confess Jesus as Lord verbally in order to receive salvation (Rom 10:9-10), and we must be baptized (immersed) in water in order to be saved (Acts 2:38, 1 Pet 3:21, John 3:5, Rom 6:1-7, Col 2:11-14, Gal 3:26-27, Eph 5:26-27, among others).
Some argue that works are necessary for salvation, often pointing to James 2:17, which says, “Faith without works is dead.” However, this does not contradict salvation by faith alone. Instead, James teaches that true faith naturally produces good works, but the works themselves do not save. Paul clarifies this in Romans 4:5, saying, “And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Works are a response to salvation, not a requirement for it.
Again, this is not what Scripture says. Rom 10:9-10 says clearly that the physical action of confessing Jesus with the mouth RESULTS in receiving salvation. And this echos what Jesus Himself said in Matt 10:32-33.
In conclusion, the consistent teaching of Scripture is that salvation comes by grace through faith alone, without the addition of works or human effort. Faith is the instrument through which we receive Christ’s righteousness, and adding anything else would diminish the sufficiency of His work on the cross. Therefore, belief and faith alone are what save us—nothing else.
Yes, salvation is a gift (grace), and it is received through faith. Faith is not real, alive, or effective if it is not accompanied with actions, so there is no "addition of works" because the concept of faith of necessity includes works.
No, faith does not require action. Faith produces action.
Show me your faith without works (can't be done).
I'll show you my faith in my works.
James teaches that if one claims to have faith but there is no external change, it is not genuine. It is dead. He DOES NOT then say that we can bring it to life by adding good works.
What make a man a living being? Gen 2:7 says that when God breathed our soul into the body He had made, the body became a living being. James says that action is the soul of faith. Without action faith is not alive, it is dead, worthless, meaningless, and incomplete.
Correct, it 8is part and parcel of salvation. A work of the Holy Spirit in a person.
Repentance is not a work of the Holy Spirit. It is an action that is commanded of us in response to God's love.
Yes, the marching was an act caused by their faith as were the walls falling.
The marching was an act of faith that was a condition upon which God knocked down the walls.
Their faith was demonstrated because it was a genuine living faith; sadly, they abandoned that faith in their next battle.
Some did, not all.
His dipping was an effect of faith. Unless you believe he was faithless until he dipped, but then why would he have bothered? If he had not obeyed, it would be because he did not believe. That is the only plausible conclusion. This man was suffering from a terrible skin disease. If he believes the cure is at hand, he will not then run off and abandon it.
He did not believe that dipping would cure him. But he was convinced to try by his servant. And when it worked, then he believed that God really is God. But his faith in action, fulfilling the command of God, resulted in God healing him.
Notice in 2 Kings 5:15 that he says,
"Then he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel...". NOW I know that there is no other God. He did not believe (intellectual assent) until the healing was real, but he demonstrated faith in that he did what was commanded anyway.
