God's Will: Faith (part 2)

God’s Will: Faith (part 2)

God’s will is faith in Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospel. This is certain and undeniable. But what is faith? I’ll start with what its not.

Faith is not only knowledge. Faith cannot be void of knowledge but merely knowing is not faith. Knowing what? The content of the gospel. The gospel proclaims and announces the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to reconciliation with God. The gospel commands repentance and faith in its hearers, repentance from sin and faith in Christ. The gospel makes known the riches of God’s grace and mercy and reveals His wrath and hatred against sin. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Knowledge of these things do not save. Many have a knowledge of the historic events surrounding the life and death of Jesus, even the resurrection but this does not save for this is not faith. Everyone living at the time of Jesus, even His greatest enemies, testified to His life and death. History makes plain the historic reality of Jesus. Knowledge about Jesus cannot save for anybody at anytime can have knowledge about Jesus.

Faith is not only knowledge but it cannot be void of knowledge. Faith must have an object, and the object of saving faith is Jesus, you cannot have saving faith if you do not know the gospel. What of the gospel must be known to be saved? How much content must one have? I am convinced, though I would not argue this point, that any knowledge of the gospel, no matter how small, is enough to save. We do not need to have a theological degree from a seminary to be saved nor do we need to read countless authors or go to seminars and lectures. Faith trusts Jesus not knowledge. Ultimately faith is a gift of God not an intellectual consent from man. Faith is not merely knowledge nor is knowledge alone faith.

Faith is not only believing that what the gospel proclaims about the death of Christ is true. This is essential to faith but it is not faith. This differs from knowledge. Knowledge recognizes the historic reality of Jesus, this goes a step further and believes the testimony of the gospel. This is a tricky place and I hope I make sense of it. The knowledge I wrote about above is a knowledge of a historic reality, now I am talking about what cannot be measured historically. Now I am speaking about the truth revealed from the gospel, that what took place in the historic objective past accomplishes all that God has testified concerning that event. This is close to saving faith, even essential to saving faith, but still not saving faith. This speaks in this way, “I know that what Jesus did is enough to save me from my sin, I believe that what Jesus did is the only way to heaven.” This is not saving faith.

Faith is not only knowledge of historic fact nor assent to what the gospel proclaims about salvation. Saving faith goes still further for it not only believes the historic facts and not only assents to salvation in Christ but it then looks to Christ for that salvation. Example: If I put a chair in front of you, you could know that it is a chair (this would be knowledge), you could believe my testimony that the chair can support you (this is assent), but you are still not in the chair (this is looking to Christ). Faith has knowledge, assent and then trust.

Continuing with the chair: faith rests in the chair (Jesus). Faith is primarily a trusting and receiving. It is more then knowledge and more then assenting to propositions. Saving faith rests in its object, it sits in the chair. Jesus, however, is far more complex than a chair. For we turn to chairs for comfort and rest and not a lot else. But we do not turn to Jesus only for comfort and rest, if these are all that we look to Jesus to provide we will not be in Jesus; He will surely provide these things but Jesus is not only about our rest and comfort. Jesus is about our salvation (and all that it entails: sanctification, glorification, etc). When we look to Jesus with a saving faith we look for far more then comfort, we look to escape the wrath to come, the wrath that is treasuring up against our sin. We look for forgiveness and reconciliation. If Jesus is a chair it is a chair surrounded by fire and imminent danger. This is a chair that will cost you everything to sit in. This chair is small and confined, even difficult to sit in. Yet, the fire and danger all around us strongly urge and even comfort us in this chair.

Faith sees. Faith is amazing for it sees what others do not see. Faith believes God and therefore understands what is really happening. Faith knows that God is true and His word is true and therefore rests in Him as the only hope. Faith sees sin as sin. Faith sees God as God. Faith knows that apart from Jesus it is condemned. Faith looks at the current circumstance and says, “I believe a Day of fire and judgment is coming. I believe I am an evil and fallen sinner. I believe that nothing I can ever do will cover my sin. I believe that for all my sins, even one sin, I am deserving of wrath. I believe I am guilty before a holy God. What shall I do? Nothing. I will rest in Jesus’ work on my behalf. I will not try harder or work more, no, I will trust Jesus to save me.” Faith receives salvation. Faith closes with Christ. It does not rest in knowledge or feelings, but in Jesus. Jesus has promised to save those who believe, if you believe you will be saved.

The great danger is that we rest in our knowledge of the gospel or even our agreement with the gospel, but have we trusted the gospel to save us? Do we now rest in Christ’s work or do we still look for other ways to please God. Are we seeking merit with God or do we return to Jesus at every doubt and question and worry? Faith has a certain certainty to it. That does not mean that saving faith is perfect faith but merely a believing faith. “I believe I am saved for Jesus tells me that if I believe in Him I will be saved therefore I am saved because I believe.”

Let me distinguish now or even split a fine hair. We are saved by grace through faith, faith is not what saves, but it is Jesus that saves through faith. If we get that backwards we end up looking to our faith. Faith is only as good as its object in which its place. When doubt arises, do not look at your faith, but at Jesus. Is He sufficient? Is He able? Is He true? Not you! There is great danger in looking at your faith as the cause of salvation, it’s not, Jesus saves through faith. Faith merely receives what He has done, faith does not do anything to cause salvation. Jesus is the one to be looked to, for it is His life and death in your place that saves you. We have undervalued the work of the cross and look at it as merely a potential for salvation as if Jesus almost did enough but now it is up to you. This view of Jesus’ cross makes faith into the one thing that we need to treasure more then Jesus, it makes faith the work that finalizes salvation. It is not. His blood shed for your sins was enough to save you, He has applied His finished work on your behalf through the gift of faith.

Faith is a gift, as much a gift as was the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf. God completed salvation on the cross, by faith we come to rest in what He has done for us, but we do not add to it. This is easy to examine in your life. Is your greatest strength your faith or the truth of the cross? What calms your soul? Looking at your faith or at the finished work of Jesus on your behalf? Ephesians 2 tells us that salvation is by grace through faith and that, (faith,) not of yourselves.

So much of the problem consists in the fact that our understanding of the work of Jesus is weak. We look at the cross not as a finalized transaction but as a pending charge. We have weakened the object of our faith. When Jesus cried out, “it is finished,” we wonder if it really was. We are not sure of what was really accomplished on that day. I cannot begin to set before you every scripture that tells of what was accomplished but I will a few, the ones that have held the most sway in my life, (because I am partial.)

Matthew 1:18-25, the story of the birth of Christ. An angel is speaking to Joseph about Mary’s pregnancy and telling him what he must do, including, what he must name the baby, verse 21, “And she will conceive and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Before the sacrifice of Christ on the cross it is prophesied what will take place: He will save His people from their sins. Note, it does not say try to save, make salvation possible, open a way for people to save themselves, but, that He will save His people. It is a definite thing that will happen, He will save His people from their sins. Your choices are to believe that He saves His people from their sins or that He failed. Those are the two options.

Hebrews 9:12, “He (Jesus) entered once and for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Colossians 1:13-14, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, by His blood.” Note, it is past tense, “He has delivered, has transferred,” and how was this done, how were our sins forgiven, but by His blood. You will not find scripture speaking of the lack of Christ’s sacrifice or the need for more or the nearly complete salvation that is waiting on us.

The gospel is the proclamation of what is true in regards to Jesus, it announces what has taken place and then commands us to repent and believe, not to make it true but to receive its truth. When we degrade the work of Jesus, we automatically exalt the work of man. If what Jesus did was not enough, which it was, then we are left with something to boast of. No matter how small a role you may a sign faith in salvation you exalt it far beyond what it is.

How do I picture the difference in these two gospels? What does the gospel proclaiming faith as the agent of salvation look like compared to the gospel proclaiming Christ’s death as the agent of salvation? I think the best picture is this. The false gospel says we are drowning in sin, but we are thrown a life preserver in Jesus and when we take hold of that preserver by faith we are saved. The true gospel says we are face down and dead in the flood of our sins, we have been floating in this filth so long we are dead and bloated, but Jesus swims out to us in all our filth on the cross and drags our dead bodies back to land where He supernaturally resuscitates us with His very life. He came to where we were to save us, we did not go to where He is. The depths of what happens when we degrade the death of Christ is amazing, suddenly sin is not quite so sinful, man not so wicked, Jesus not so glorious, grace is easy and mercy is passive and the love of God does nothing but sit and wait on us. Away with this nonsense. Jesus accomplished on the cross all that the word ascribes to Him.

Does your faith save you? No more then a dead man is saved by “accepting” the charge from the defibrillator paddle. Yes, we are saved by faith but that faith merely receives what Christ has done, it does not complete it nor add to it. The easiest way and most helpful way for me to understand this is like this, “Jesus saves, through faith.” We are saved by Jesus through faith. Jesus remains the object and focus, faith is merely the eyes to see what He has done. Faith looks up on the shore of God, into the face of Jesus, coughs the last of the filth from its lungs, and knows that it was rescued, saved, apart from it doing anything. Faith rests looking up into the face of the One Whom saved you.



(I am not denying that faith is necessary to salvation, scripture makes it clear and certain, I am merely trying to keep faith in its place. We as wicked man look to have some place, some boast in our salvation. Let faith be what it is, childlike trust and receiving. Faith, like the whole of salvation, is a gift from God. Salvation is by grace through faith.)