75 Question 29 If men won’t obey God’s law, are they saved?

Titus 1:16  “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

Faith is not just a belief about the creation of the world nor is it simply knowledge of the relationship between the almighty God and mortal man; it is a way of life.

So then, if this way of life is being treated merely as a theological belief, such as a set of beliefs boxed away in the back of the mind, receiving no spiritual food and having no actual place in life, is it actually faith?

James 2:16-20  “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!   Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”

According to James, no, faith without works is dead and a dead plant is no plant just as a person who has stored faith away in the attic of their mind is dead to their faith, living not by the spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:15  “And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Luke 3:9  “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”