Understanding Saving Faith
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him."
- Hebrews 11:6
The Scripture does not say that without faith it is difficult to please God. It says that it is impossible. Faith is the key word in determining man's relationship with God. It is God's chosen means whereby man obtains forgiveness of sins and enters into eternal life. It is the channel which connects sinful man with a holy God through the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. Again and again the Bible states that man is saved through faith. It is so basic that those who are the children of God are called believers and those who do not belong to God are called unbelievers.
What is the nature of that faith? How is it to be exercised? What does it involve? What is the difference between true faith and a professed faith which is not real in the eyes of God? The answers to these questions from many quarters show a wide difference of opinion as to both definition and practice. Surely on this critical issue there should be a solid, clear consensus among those who call people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that they might be saved. Unfortunately, this is not so.
In his book, "Man, the Dwelling Place of God", A.W. Tozer has written eloquently on "Faith: The Misunderstood Doctrine". He questions whether the popular conception of this doctrine is Biblical and points to the lack of spiritual evidence of reality in many who profess faith in Christ. He says, there is "real danger that a doctrine that is parroted so widely and received so uncritically by so many is false as understood by them". He suggests that those coming to church meetings have not had faith adequately defined so they can understand what it means. There is little appreciation of the warning given by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 about those who believe they are bound for Heaven but will be turned away. The key reason that the Lord Jesus gives is that people heard what He said but failed to act upon His sayings. That is undoubtedly one of the principle reasons for the weak or non-existent moral impact upon society made by the largest number of professing believers in history. Tozer asks about this questionable faith: "If it makes no difference in man, why should it make any difference to God?"
COMMON CHURCH PRACTICES
The Christian world has commonly reduced its explanation of saving faith to being in mental agreement with certain doctrines. Yet if there is one theme echoed by ranking Christian spokesmen on this subject it is a stern rejection of this idea. On top of the false idea of mere mental assent, there has been placed by church leaders various practices whereby people are called upon to signify their faith. The practices, in the thinking of people, tend to become the equivalent of saving faith. They completely rely upon these actions for acceptance before God. These practices have become increasingly institutionalized, given some kind of sanctity by their widespread prevalence in churches. One might divide them into categories for consideration.
Formal Church Means. These include baptism, catechism classes (instruction with memory work), confirmation (taking vows upon yourself, previously made by "godparents" at baptism) or church membership. Of these, only baptism is mentioned in Scripture. Many believe erroneously that baptism is the sure door to salvation. Genuine saving faith is rather a qualification for baptism (Acts 8:37).
Personal Means. This is usually exercised by asking God to forgive us our sins, without any particular ideas about the Christian Gospel or the Lord Jesus. It is hard to reconcile this idea with the fact that hundreds of millions of people in almost all religions, or with none at all, ask God to forgive them simply out of His goodness and mercy. Is this "asking" the same as biblical saving faith?
Evangelical Formulas. Over the years, especially through revivalist campaigns and mass rallies, certain procedures have been formulated which have no Biblical or early church precedent. These include coming forward to the front of a meeting, raising your hand, rising to your feet, saying "Amen" to someone's prayer, repeating a formula prayer from a booklet, repeating the prayer of another, signing a "decision card", and writing one's name by a verse in the Bible (as John 3:16).
These practices might be less objectionable if they were not often followed by assurances from a worker that the person is saved. "Now that you have accepted Christ, you can be sure of salvation." The "convert" is then introduced to someone else saying, "John just got saved. Praise the Lord". Can the worker tell a person confidently that this has truly happened and that the person's name is now written in the Lamb's Book of Life, especially when we do not have an advance copy? We can certainly say the person has come to discuss it, has prayed and has even made a profession of faith in Christ. We cannot say with authority that some outward form or expression gives an assured salvation. We are saved when we believe in a saving way, according to the judgment of God who looks upon the heart.
DEFINITION AND EXAMPLES OF FAITH
There are several examples of saving faith used in the Scriptures. One significant instance is Abraham's faith, since he is cited in Romans 4 as the pattern of saving faith. Genesis 15:6 says, "He believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness". What did he believe? He believed God that he would have a son, though he was an old man, and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. He had first believed God when he obeyed His command to leave Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 12:1-4). He likewise believed God when he obeyed Him in offering up Isaac (Genesis 22). Abraham's faith was not mental agreement as to abstract statements about God. It was one which led him to obedience. The word used in Genesis 15:6 is one which indicates Abraham "amen-ed" God.
Another expression which parallels the idea of belief in the Lord is "the fear of the Lord", since it is grounded in true faith (Deuteronomy 31:12-13, et al). Job, a pattern believer, is identified as one who was "fearing God and turning away from evil" (Job 1:8, 2:3), stating his condition both positively and negatively. When Abraham said of Gerar, "there is no fear of God in this place" (Genesis 20:11), he was describing a place in which there was none who trusted in the true God. To fear God is to hold Him in deepest reverence. Other Old Testament words for faith are batach (to put confidence in, rely upon) and chasah (to take refuge in).
One cannot believe in the Lord and at the same time retain any commitment to other gods (2 Kings 5:17). Committing one's self to God excludes the idea of remaining autonomous or self-ruling.
In the New Testament, the noun pistis means firm persuasion, based upon hearing (Romans 10:17). The verb form means to place confidence in; to trust and to rely on. The words for believer and unbeliever are variants of this word. The fundamental idea is one of confidence in what God has said, particularly about the Lord Jesus and what He has accomplished for our salvation. This firm persuasion or conviction implies commitment to the Lord and concurrent submission to Him.
EQUIVALENT EXPRESSIONS FOR FAITH
Just as "fearing God" expresses faith, so other expressions are used for entering into salvation. These include receiving Him (John 1:12), hearing God's Word (John 8:47) in the sense of responding (John 12:47), beholding the Son (John 6;40, 12:45), coming to Jesus (John 5:40), following Him (Mark 2:14), calling upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13), confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9), and looking unto Him (Isaiah 45:22). A very striking expression for personally appropriating the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice for us is found in John 6;53. "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you". This is an act of faith. Obeying will be discussed later. No one expression should be pressed as though it included the sum of doctrine about how to be saved. In this connection, one thinks of accepting "the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Salvation is a gift in the sense that it cannot be earned. It is not a ticket to heaven passed out at church meetings, without commitment to the Lord and reliance upon His finished work. Condensing the message of faith into a simple invitation to "receive this free gift" surely does not deal honestly with the whole teaching of Scripture about how to be saved. The same could be said for reducing it all to the idea of asking (John 4:10). Believing is more than asking. The verse Revelation 3:20 is not a proper foundation for the advice to "just ask Jesus into your heart" and then you will be saved. This is surely one of the most abused salvation formulas. The verse is not used in an evangelistic context.
GOD'S WORD AS BASIS OR GROUND OF FAITH
When the Philippian jailer was saved, it is said that he and his house were "believing in God" (Acts 16:34). This does not refer to God's existence, but rather to something that the jailer had been told by the apostle Paul concerning the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). We usually believe something that we have read or which has been told to us or has arisen from some source. What is the basis or ground of what we believe in a saving way? It is the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13, Romans 10:17). Faith comes by hearing, or reading, or by word from God's servants as to what God has said (Romans 10:14). We believe "the witness of God" in the Scriptures (1 John 5:9). We believe that God is true in what He says though every man be found a liar (Romans 3:3-4). We believe "in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago" (Titus 1:2). Faith thus is attached to the testimony of God given to us throughout the Holy Scriptures. It is not faith in the creeds or traditions of churches, the human assurances of leaders or family members, no matter how well meaning, nor the subjective confidence of our hearts in what we think personally. If faith is not directly attached to what God says in His Word, then it is resting it is on another foundation. It is the Bible that tells us about a God who is willing to redeem His people, a God who sent His Son to die for us on the Cross, a Christ who is "able to save to the uttermost (forever, completely) those who draw near to God through Him" (Hebrews 7:25). Without that, all our faith would rest upon the shifting sands of human subjectivity. The apostle proclaimed "the testimony of God" because it is essential to saving faith (1 Corinthians 2:1).
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS OBJECT OF FAITH
There is no question but that the New Testament presents the Lord Jesus as the object of saving faith. He invited people to come to Him, follow Him, trust in Him, and obey Him. It is "whoever believes in Him" that has eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:7). Others may call this idea narrow-minded, bigoted and extreme, but Jesus Himself is the authority for this exclusive claim that rejects all other religious approaches to God. He says, "I am the Door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved" (John 10:9). To those who seek some work which they might do to please God, He replies, "This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29). This is not a meritorious work whereby one can earn salvation. The Gospel of John declares that it is written "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31).
This last Scripture reminds us that a believer cannot believe whatever he pleases about the Lord Jesus. We should not create a subjective Jesus according to our own wishes and trust in Him. We should be bound to the testimony of God about Him. It is always good to ask an inquirer, "Who is Jesus?". To say He was a great man, a prophet, even the foremost man in history is insufficient.
John's Gospel begins with the statement that Jesus is the Word of God and that as the Word of God He existed from eternity. "In the beginning was the Word" (not those things which began to be) - "and the Word was God". As God the Son, He is both distinct from God the Father ("with God") yet co-identified with God ("was God"). Jesus is not God the Father but He is God the Son and as such interacts with the Father within the remarkable unity of the one, yet plural God. As the Son of God, He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He entered a world which He had created but which did not know Him (John 1:10). Most of His own people (the Jews) did not receive Him, that is, as their Creator God and Savior. It is in the sense of receiving Him personally as one's divine Lord that "as many as received Him" such become the children of God (John 1:12). These are the ones who "believe in His name", meaning all that He is. If they do not believe that He is the I AM (the name of God from Exodus 3:14), Jesus says they will die in their sins (John 8:24, 58). Jesus told the people, "I and My Father are one", the last word being a word of essential unity (John 10:30). This caused His hearers to attempt to stone Him. When He asked why, they replied
"For a good work we so not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You being a Man, make Yourself to be God" - John 10:33
The above is explained so that workers will understand that receiving Christ is not a matter of saying a prayer (as often understood), but rather a matter of believing who He is, our Creator, our Lord, who came to earth to save us. Thomas understood this at last when he said, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Both ideas (Lord and God) are implied when it says in Romans 10:9, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved". Jesus was proclaimed as both Lord and Christ, the promised Deliverer of the Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 2:36). The apostolic proclamation of Christ emphasized His resurrection from the dead and hence His victory over sin and death (Acts 2:31-32). It was the risen Lord Jesus to whom men and women were called to salvation. He said, "Come unto Me" (Matthew 11:28). Salvation is in a Person. "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12).
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST BY FAITH
Salvation involves a personal relationship with Christ. The New Testament word for faith is often followed by other words which add light to the subject. A common construction is pisteuo eis, with Jesus as the object (John 3:16, 8, Acts 20:21). Leon Morris says, "Literally this means to believe into. It denotes a faith which, so to speak, takes a man out of himself and puts him into Christ" (Illus. Bib. Dict, p. 497). R.E. Nixon (Zondervan Pict. Ency. of the Bible, Vol. II, p. 485), says that this construction suggests "not only intellectual credence but also moral commitment to the person of Christ and is absolutely central to Johnnine thought". This "faith union", as it has been called, is the basis of the comparison with human marriage in Romans 7:3-4. There it points out that believers are "joined to another" meaning Christ (see also Romans 6:5) in a lasting union. As regarding secular usage, "Deissmann in Light From the Ancient East gives several convincing quotations from the papyri to prove that pisteuein eis auton meant surrender or submission to. A salve was sold into the name of the gods of a temple; ie., to be a temple servant. Milligan agrees with Deissmann that this papyri usage of eis auton, is also found regularly in the New Testament. Thus to believe on or to be baptized into the name of Jesus mean to renounce self and to consider oneself the lifetime servant of Jesus" (Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, Dana and Mantey, section 111, pg. 105). One has said "coming to Christ is not just walking up to Him and shaking hands. It is turning yourself over to Him, body and soul."
Another construction is pisteuo epi, or believe upon (Acts 9:42), indicating the Lord. Finally, pisteuo hoti, or believe that means that certain things are true of the Lord. We must believe that He is "I AM" or God (John 8:24), the Christ or Messiah prophesied of old (John 20:31) and the Son of God, asserting His deity (1 John 5:5). This brings us to the broader context of what we must believe to be saved.
THE SAVING MESSAGE OR CONTENT OF FAITH
In spite of the centrality of the Lord as the object of faith, it is misleading to separate Him from any context as to what He did to accomplish our salvation. A verse such as Acts 16:31 is not a complete statement of the message of salvation, but rather one sentence in a Scriptural narrative. The message, of which Jesus is the central personage, is called the Gospel or good news. The Gospel by which the Corinthians were saved when they believed, included the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, as well as its purpose, "for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The Lord commanded His disciples to preach the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). The sequence of salvation for the Ephesians was that they first heard the word of truth, the Gospel, then they believed the Gospel, then they were sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). The Gospel was proclaimed and then believed (1 Thessalonians 2:9, Acts 15:7). There is a particular power in the message itself that leads to salvation in the receptive soul (Romans 1:16). Any who would alter its basic content or seek to add religious works, such as circumcision, to its requirement of faith under divine curse (Galatians 1:6-9). There are brief references to elements of the Gospel which do not constitute a full statement. This is true of simply calling people to belief in Jesus. His blood or sacrificial death is mentioned in Romans 3:25. The Cross, where He died, is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:18. The resurrection is emphasized in Romans 10:9, Acts 17:3, 18, 31-32 and many other places. No one aspect should be emphasized so as to exclude the other elements.
This powerful message in the living Word of God concerning salvation leads to regeneration, the new birth (1 Peter 1:23). The apostles therefore were careful to fully preach Christ wherever they went (Romans 15:19-20), sowing the wonderful seed (Matthew 13:3-8). Paul said, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel )1 Corinthians 9:16). From this description of necessary content, we see that knowledge is necessary for salvation. Proclamation brings the knowledge of the truth to others (1 Timothy 2:4) especially as to the way of salvation (Luke 1:77). That is what necessitates preaching (Romans 10:14), the distribution of the Word of God by printed page, the sending of missionaries and evangelists. Men must hear not only of the present living Lord Jesus but of His substitutionary death for our sins (1 Peter 3:18), necessitated by the wages of our sins (Romans 6:23). This prepares the hearer to understand how God will justify through faith the one who believes in Jesus (Romans 5:1). Such evangelization will not lead people to a dependence on past prayers, "dedications" and rituals as a hope of heaven. Rather they will have a clear knowledge and trust in Him who is the center of the Gospel.
OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL INVOLVED IN FAITH
The will, the emotions and the intellect are all involved in saving faith. The Lord Jesus said, "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God" (John 7:17). When one is willing to do God's will, he is ready to submit his will to God, which means to obey Him. Neither willingness nor readiness implies the need to do prior works, or to abstain from evil ones, before submitting to Christ. The call of God to man from Old Testament times has always been, "Obey my voice". It has always been to a rebellious, sinful people (Deuteronomy 8:20, Jeremiah 7:23-28). God calls upon people to choose life or death and offers blessings or a curse, depending on their choice (Deuteronomy 30:19). The call to obey the Lord is part of the section quoted in Romans 10:6-8 about the near availability of salvation to those who are willing (Deuteronomy 30:10-14).
Disobedience is classified as unbelief (Hebrews 3:18-19). Disobedient people, in the sense of habitual practices, are unsaved people (1 Peter 2:7-8, Romans 10:21). Thus they are called "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2, 5:6). This does not mean one who disobeys the Son in any instance, but rather one who refuses the rule of the Savior (Luke 19:14-27). Jesus wept over His rejection by the people of Jerusalem and said that He was willing to save them but they were not willing (Matthew 23:37, Luke 19:41-42). Therefore saving faith is an act of the human will, yielding to the living Lord. The act leads to an inner willingness to obey Him. "You obeyed from the heart that form (mold) of obedience into which you were delivered. Being then freed from sin you were enslaved to righteousness" (Romans 6:17).
To obey Christ (or the Gospel) is a parallel expression to believe in Christ (or the Gospel). "He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36, NASB). The coming judgment of God shall be upon those who "do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 Peter 4:17). Salvation is "the obedience of faith" (Romans 1:5, 16:26). This is more than believing the facts. The Spirit of God is given in salvation to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). The golden chain of salvation to stated in 1 Peter 1:2. We are "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood". An act of obedience is involved in accepting the proclamation of the Gospel and the call of God (Romans 15:18). Believers are seen as "obedient children" (1 Peter 1:14).
It has often been said that there are no rebels in the kingdom of God. Those who refuse the authority of Jesus are classified as His enemies and therefore doomed (Luke 19:14, 27). Even they will be compelled to bow the knee to Him in a coming day, for God's glory but not for their salvation.
"At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow..." - Philippians 2:10
SUBMISSION TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS AN OBJECT OF FAITH
Some people have imagined that they can neatly separate receiving Jesus as Savior from the fact that He is Lord. Presumably we could thus receive "the gift of salvation", often illustrated as a package under a Christmas tree, and defer until some later date the need to have Him as Lord. Juan Carlos Ortiz has likened this to standing up in a marriage ceremony and saying about your wife-to-be, "I receive you as my own personal cook", separating this aspect of the relationship from the responsibilities of the full marriage commitment. The object of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ and we have no authority to bisect His person when we come to be saved. He is called the Lord over 500 times. It is the regular form of personal address to Him by the disciples. It is manner in which He is proclaimed in the Acts (2:36, 10:36, 16:31, 20:21) and in the epistles (Colossians 2:6, 2 Corinthians 4:5, Romans 10:9). Only about a dozen times is He mentioned as Savior alone.
Those who support the idea of separating His lordship from His saviorhood misrepresent the position of their opponents in order to appeal to evangelical prejudice. They say we are saved by faith alone and not faith plus lordship. Of course, it is not faith plus lordship but a faith that involves the full Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no right to narrow the scope of faith by narrowing the identity of the Person. It is said that we are calling people to a dedication to His lordship. Rather we are calling people to receive Him, not to dedication to a doctrine. Ojectors say it is not possible to define "how much lordship", ignoring the fact that one could easily ask the question "How much faith"? Of course, it is not how much but in whom we are trusting. The two are not to be completely separated. The Lord did not hide the terms for following Him in preaching to the unsaved multitudes. There is no indication in the teaching of the Lord Jesus that one can be saved by a faith which postpones as a mere option the idea of being His follower. The invitation to "follow Me" (is a call to being a His disciple). It should not be divorced completely from coming to Christ. The critics say we are "subtly adding works to faith", but there is no meritorious work involved in submitting to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. They say no man can know the full scope of the lordship of Christ when he is saved or be expected to apply this in advance, which is true. The unsaved should not be expected to do this. They should be open to whatever He commands. They say that Lord in Romans 10:9 means only that we believe that Jesus is God but does not include the idea that He is also our Master. How could one receive Jesus as God and refuse the lesser idea that He is also Master? He who believes truly that Jesus is God will assuredly acknowledge His authority as Lord.
All of this is a very sad dispute in the household of faith. The dispute would not exist if the issues were fairly stated, not misstated, in discussions. Leave it as Paul stated it, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:31). You cannot have a part of Him. Salvation comes when there is "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
GOD'S GRACE AND THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK ARE NECESSARY TO FAITH
God's initiative is essential for any person to be saved. Left to man's own devices, none would be saved. God is presented in Scripture as the Great Seeker of His fallen creatures (Genesis 3:8-9). "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Unless God had sent His Son to earth we could not be saved. Unless He gave His Spirit to convict us of our sin and need, we could not be saved. Unless His Spirit regenerated us into new life, we could not be saved (John 3:5). Unless God drew us to His Son, we could not be saved (John 6:44). This last verse does not state that only a select few are drawn, as some infer (John 12:32). Without the undeserved favor of God (grace), we would not have the opportunity to receive the gift of salvation, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is correct to say that faith is the gift in verse eight, both from the contextual flow as well as from the agreement in gender of the words. "That" is neuter, referring to the whole matter of salvation. Salvation is a gift in the sense that we cannot buy or earn it by human efforts, not in the sense of a free ticket. Yet clearly salvation is of the Lord in initiation, provision, accomplishment and protection. None of this should be used to deny what has been stated previously about the necessity of human responsibility in both proclaiming and receiving the divine message.
Donald Guthrie comments in New Testament Theology, p. 582, about the relationship between God's elective purpose and man's opportunity to respond. He writes, "When Jesus says, `You do not believe, because you do not belong to My sheep' (John 10:26), he suggests that only sheep can believe. There are passages which suggest a predetermined action of God to ordain some decision on one hand and human response (faith) without which no one can inherit eternal life". The explanation of this paradoxical tension has divided believers for centuries. The wise must finally leave it all to God. Some would point to God's elective purpose as involving in some way the foreknowledge of God (1 Peter 1:2, Romans 8:29). Others view this as mistaken, in which case the mention of foreknowledge is mysteriously irrelevant. Certainly the omniscience of God foresees all that will happen in the future, regardless of the degree to which human action is considered. In that sense then, those who are destined or appointed to eternal life will believe (Acts 13:480. It is plain however that the Lord Jesus was grieved over those who were unwilling to believe (Matthew 23:37). There is a universal provision for the sins of all men to have saving faith, implying opportunity (1 John 2:2). Even the heathen are said to have the witness of creation and conscience (Romans 1:19-20, 2:15), so that they are without excuses for unbelief.
The Scriptures do not indicate that man cannot believe because God has failed to give him the necessary enablement. Christ rebuked his hearers for unbelief and wondered why they did not respond (Mark 6:6, John 8:46-47). There is frequently resistance to the Holy Spirit by man (Acts 7:51). Stubbornness and resistance to His love are the real reason for remaining lost (Isaiah 1:18), as well as a love of darkness rather than light (John 3:19). God calls on men to listen that they might live (Isaiah 55:3). It is not that they are not able. They are not willing.
CONTINUATION AND ENDURANCE OF FAITH
There is a very encouraging word in Philippians 1:6. "I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus". Saving faith is not limited to the time when a person makes a commitment to Christ for salvation. Faith is not a passing phase or momentary decision but the beginning of a permanent relationship. Four times the Scripture says, "The just shall live by faith". Leon Morris (Illustr. Bible Dict., p. 497), writes of the three tenses in which the verb pisteuo, the Greek word for faith is found. "The aorist tense points to a single act in past time and indicates the determinative character of faith...the present tense has the idea of continuity...the perfect tense combines both ideas." Saving faith is not temporary faith but one that endures.
The Scripture supports this. Assurance of salvation depends upon our continuation on the hope we have in the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:23, Hebrews 3:6, 12, 14, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2). This is not salvation depending on behavior. The verses cited indicate that defection from faith indicates that it was not real. Abiding proves reality (1 John 2:24). Defection proves lack of reality (1 John 2:19, 2 John 9, 2 Peter 2:20-22). Judas Iscariot is an example of such apostasy and the book of Jude adds an extensive description of apostates, those who fall away (Jude 11-16). The endurance of true faith is supported by God's provision of new life in Christ and the indwelling presence and power of His Holy Spirit. It is also maintained by the intercessory prayer of the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 7:25). Saving faith is not temporary "faith", which is really pseudo-faith (Luke 8:13).
MORAL AND TRANSFORMATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF FAITH
"If any man be in Christ he is a new creation; old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is a very clear statement of the life-changing impact that occurs when a person is born again by the Spirit. How could people with the life of God now functioning in them and the Holy Spirit indwelling them exhibit no change from the old life? The changes might be either subtle or dramatic at first, depending on the kind of life lived before. Even a person who has not lived an exceedingly immoral life should be aware of selfishness and neglect in seeking a relationship with God. Therefore change should be expected in those who have truly passed from death into life, from darkness into light.
One has asked, "If a man is not saved from his sins in this life, from what is he saved?" The change was certainly dramatic in the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:9), in the early Jewish converts (Acts 2:40-47), in the company of the disciples who left all to follow Jesus. Faith which does not result in a life change marked by good deeds is said to be dead (James 2:14-16). Can such a faith as this save a man, asks James. The answer is no. In commenting on this under the heading "Mere Belief", G.W. Bromiley (New Inter. Stan. Bible Ency., p. 270), says, "James is warning against the antinomian conclusion that mere assent is the justifying faith of Abraham and his believing successors, and in this James and Paul are wholly at one (cf. also Hebrews 11). While faith in Christ justifies, this faith is demonstrated in works, which operates by love (Galatians 5:6), and which necessarily implies obedient action." (Antinomianism is the description of teaching that insists that the moral law has no place in the life of the believer because he is under grace. L. Berkhof (Systematic Theol., p. 508), writes, "Antinomians consider assurance to be the whole of the essence of faith. They ignore all other activities of faith, and regarded faith as simply an intellectual acceptance of the proposition, `Thy sins are forgiven thee'".
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves..." - Ephesians 2:8
Two of the most quoted sections in Scripture which teach salvation by grace through faith, apart from meritorious or salvation-earning works are Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5. These verses are immediately followed by Ephesians 2:10 and Titus 3:8 which insist that believers are to display good deeds as the expected consequence of their salvation. The practice of righteousness is a mark of a saved person (1 John 3:7). The practice of sin, especially lawless and habitual sin, is a mark of one who will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 John 3:4-10, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5-6, Galatians 5:19-21). People are warned about listening to those who try to deceive them on this issue by insisting that a sinful life is no disproof of salvation (Ephesians 5:6, 1 John 3:7). Those who "profess to know God but by their deeds deny Him" are said to be detestable (Titus 1:16).
In an effort to separate the issue of righteous living from the assurance of salvation, some teachers point out that justification and sanctification are entirely different, which is certainly true. Justification is a Divine act whereby a holy God pronounces the sinner who believes in Christ to be righteous and acquits him from all charges (Romans 3:24, 4:4-5). Sanctification, which comes from the word "to set apart", means the separation of the sinner negatively from the defilements of sin and positively to the purposes of God. However, because the terms are different in definition, these teachers suggest that it is necessary to separate sanctification from salvation. They would limit salvation to the word justification. This implies that holiness has nothing to do with salvation. The answer to this argument is that although justification and sanctification are different terms, both are concurrent, in coming to Christ and in following Him.
Sanctification is an integral part of the salvation experience (Acts 26:18). We are saved and called to a "holy calling" (2 Timothy 1:9). We are set apart positionally as saints from the moment of salvation (1 Corinthians 1:2). Saints means "holy ones". Salvation's purpose includes holiness. Having died with Christ and hence being justified, it is inconceivable that we should continue to live in sin (Romans 6:20. Salvation is presented in differing tenses in the New Testament. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. We are being saved from the power of sin. We shall be saved from the presence of sin. The same three tenses are used in speaking of our sanctification. There can be no salvation without sanctification, either positionally in Christ, or practically in life (Revelation 22:11, 15). "Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24).
The above statements are not intended to imply that believers never sin or that there is no such thing as failure or temporary alienation from the fellowship of God. Yet one cannot practice sin, lawless sin, rebellious living as a way of life, and still have Biblical hope of being one of the "children of the light". One of the greatest props to such false hopes has been the misuse of 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 concerning the so-called "carnal Christian". Immaturity and division are mentioned in this context, not habitual, lawless sin. Many so-called "carnal Christians", or who think they are, are deluded souls with a false profession.
RELATION OF REPENTANCE TO FAITH
The discussion concerning life change should have alerted us to the idea that there is no reason to turn to Christ as Savior from sin (Matthew 1:21), if one has no desire for such a change. Many people would like God to spare them from their current difficulties or give them an insurance policy to go to heaven. However they may wish to continue living the same life style as before to some degree. The forerunner to the coming of Jesus was John the Baptist, sent to prepare the way of the Lord by preaching the necessity of "repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:2-3). Those who heeded his message were baptized by him, "confessing their sins". John made plain to them that God sought changes in their lives not empty words (Luke 3:8-14). We can see that repentance is related here to an attitude about our sins. He did no ask them to weep for days, stop sinning first, reform their lives or make some kind of atonement for their wrong-doing (penance). He did seek a desire in their heart to have a change in the way they were living. This is totally consistent with the Old Testament message of God to a sinful people. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and He will have compassion on him" (Isaiah 55:7).
In the New Testament, Jesus says, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:3, 5). His disciples went out and preached that the people should repent (Mark 6:12). Peter's first sermon on the day of Pentecost, after the Resurrection of Christ, cut with conviction to their hearts. When they asked what needed to be done to be right with God, Peter answered, "Repent" (Acts 2:38). The warning was repeated many times (Acts 3:19, 11:18, 17:30, 26:20). It has been said by many that to repent means the same thing as to have faith, yet the two are carefully distinguished in Acts 20:21. The words do not mean the same at all. Repentance leads to faith in Christ. That is why John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord.
Repentance means a "change of mind" but we cannot know what this change of mind is about unless we see how it is used. There are other uses of the word, as with God, where the meaning is different. Unger's Bible Dictionary defines it as "a fundamental and thorough change in the hearts of men from sin and towards God". H.A. Ironside in "Except Ye Repent", says it is to "change one's attitude toward self, towards sin, toward God, toward Christ". The use of the word repent in Revelation 2:5, 21, 3:3, 19, Acts 8:22 and 3:26 includes the idea of willingness to turn from sin, not just to believe in Jesus. It is not faith plus repentance but a faith which includes repentance.
It is sometimes argued that because the word repent is not used in John's Gospel and only once in Romans about salvation, that it is not necessary. These two books are important but we have no authority to eliminate a teaching found in the Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelation because it is not expressly mentioned in certain books. Certainly when Jesus brought the woman of Samaria to acknowledge her immoral life, he was seeking her acknowledgement of sin (John 4:17-18). When he warned a man to "sin no more" (John 5:14), he was not ignoring repentance.
Another objection is that repent is only a word for the Jews. Yet the New Testament says it is for both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 11:18, 20:21). It is argued that since the sinner is "dead in sins" (Ephesians 2:1), he is incapable of any such response to God. Ironside writes, "To say that because a sinner, whether Jew or Gentile, is dead toward God, therefore he cannot repent, is to misunderstand the nature of that death. It is judicial, not an actual death...he is spiritually dead because he is separated from God".
Those who oppose repentance as necessary to salvation have rightly pointed out that the word does not require prolonged anguish of soul, reformation of life or cessation of sinning as a prior condition to saving faith. Obviously, we need the enabling power which is accomplished through regeneration unto new life and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to effect such change. However, unless we have a change of mind (repentance) about continuing to live as before (rebels against God or disobedient sinners) and wish to turn to Christ for a genuinely new life, then we are not prepared to make Christ our Lord and Savior.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING APPEAL
This extensive discussion may leave some with the feeling that we have made "simple faith" so complicated that it would be beyond the understanding of the young and simple. After all, the thief on the cross came to Christ without understanding all these aspects (Luke 23:39-43). This is a fair objection. We must remember that "the good thief" was face to face with Christ and in the hour of dying extremity. Yet he exhibited more comprehension than many of those praying to "accept Jesus" today. He looked to the Lord Jesus as one who would be victorious over death. He acknowledged Him as a King who was able to take even a thief into His heavenly kingdom. He turned from being a fellow blasphemer with the other thief and took sides with the Lord (Matthew 27:44). He bowed to His authority and committed himself to the Lord for salvation. That was sufficient.
What has been said here is thoroughly Biblical and not that complicated. Prevalent misconceptions about saving faith often are unscriptural and overly simplistic.
We may summarize by saying that salvation begins with the initiative of God in sending His Son to save us (Luke 19:10). This is all of grace. He draws us unto Himself and convicts the sinner of the need of salvation by His Spirit (John 16:8). God sends His messengers to proclaim the good news that God is willing to save sinners through His Son. It is God the Son who came, died on the cross for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice and rose from the dead a victor over sin, death, and hell. When we understand this, repent, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, obey the Gospel and rely entirely upon the Christ to save us apart from any works of our own, then the Holy Spirit regenerates us and gives us new life. This life will endure and be characterized by transformation.
All of this implies several things:
- The only person who needs a Savior is one who has recognized his own sinfulness and helplessness to bring about salvation by his own efforts.
- That person must necessarily depend upon what God provides for salvation, which is His Son who made the substitutionary sacrifice for us.
- That person seeks a true relationship with God through Christ alone, as one who becomes His Lord and Savior through faith which will result in obedience to God's Word.
- The purpose of God is to change lives here and now, bringing us to follow the Lord Jesus, as well as take us to heaven.
In dealing with those outside of Christ, we need to be sure that we have done a thorough job in determining where they are in their thinking and what they need to know. We also need patiently to take the time to make clear the complete message of salvation. If people have no clear understanding of what they are doing and what it implies, we have hurried them beyond the opportunity to have a sincere faith, an informed faith, a saving faith, in order to reap a quick "decision" by rote prayer. We have thereby done them a great and dangerous disservice, possibly leading them to a false profession and unfounded assurance. We are not saved by prayers or rituals. We are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, through true faith. He is the Person to whom the Gospel directs us.
O. J. Gibson
Rev. July `95
