Is justification by joining the church, getting baptized, and doing good works, or by believing?

Les explains that Romans 3 first establishes that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God—the immoral, the moral, and the religious alike. The very next verse says such sinners are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, and that justification is by faith in His shed blood. Christ is just, fair, and honest in being the justifier of them that believe. Les contrasts this with the things many people think they must do—join the church, get baptized, do this and do that—but Scripture says He justifies those who believe. Abraham is then given as the epitome of faith: he staggered not in unbelief but believed God. This simplicity, Les notes, throws people a curve.