“The Content of Saving Faith”
By Reverend Anthony Kennedy
Thru the ages humankind has tried multiple different avenues or ways to obtain salvation, redemption, and reconciliation with God. While the object of saving faith in every age is reconciliation with God. The means of these reconciliation attempts has changed in the various dispensations. With all that man has tried nothing has prevailed. The only thing that can save man and reconcile him to God is that of saving faith. In the present dispensation, the content of saving faith is and can be found only in the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ at Calvary.
The author’s hope and intentions are that by the conclusion of this paper the reader will have a clear understanding of what saving faith consist of and if he/she has not come to a saving faith that the Lord may bless them by revealing himself to them.
The ways people tried to obtain salvation, redemption, and reconciliation with God was by offering animal sacrifices. The bible states, “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Others tried to earn salvation through keeping the Old Testament law. To this attempt the bible states, “By deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). Still others tried by attempting to do good works for salvation, but the bible rightfully says, “all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). While this list is not exhaustive it does point to the fact that before Jesus came people were not saved by their sacrifices, their law abiding, nor their good works.
Saving faith contains an intellectual element. We believe the truth of the gospel. We recognize in Christ and in his work God’s provision for our salvation. We accept thus the historical facts and the interpretation of their meaning as these are written in the records. But this alone is not saving faith. Saving faith is more than an intellectual understanding of to the truth of the gospel message: as James 2:19 clearly points out, the demons believe—and shudder. The correct information that the demons’ have about God is not enough to gain them God’s favor. To better understand saving faith and the content of it, we will have to look to scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to the correct meaning.
The need for saving faith began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The account as recorded in Genesis Chapter three, we read that devil enticed Eve into eating fruit from the tree that God had told Adam no to eat from. While the devil tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, Adam watched and willfully allowed it to happen and not only allowed it but he himself partook of the fruit as well. Due to this act of rebellion on Adam and Eve’s part a spiritual death (separation from God) as well as a physical death sentenced unto them which resulted in a need for reconciliation to God and a redeemer. Man will not live forever but God in His mercy and grace made provisions for humanity. Children will be born to man so that humanity will be able to endure and continue. This sin of rebellion brought a spiritual decay and nakedness that man has been trying to cover ever since, passed down from generation to generation.
In God’s mercy and grace, He tells how he will defeat sin and redeem humankind back unto himself. This redemption and ultimate victory will come through Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman. Galatians 4:3-5 “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” reiterates this provision.
As disbelief was so prominent in the sin of the first Adam so faith is most prominent in the redemption through the second Adam. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”
Let us look at a familiar passage to begin discerning the content of saving faith. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Though this is not the first passage recorded in the bible addressing the content saving faith it is however a good one to begin with because it is familiar to most. When turning to verse sixteen, which contains what is the best-known verse in Christian Scripture, the reader finds one of the primary theological summaries concerning salvation in the New Testament. In this passage the reader will discover the content of saving faith as well all necessary components to obtain that faith.
Saving faith begins with God’s love, “For God so loved the world.” God’s love was so great that He sent His only Son to tell the world about God’s love. This does not mean that God approved the conduct of men, but that he had benevolent feelings toward them, or was earnestly desirous of their happiness. God hates wickedness, but he still desires the happiness of those who are sinful.
God displayed His love through the most precious gift of all when He Gave His only begotten Son. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6) “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)
Through God’s Son (Jesus Christ) man can inherit eternal life and never perish. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace. (1 Thess 2:16)
Between God’s love and inheriting eternal life the reader finds the content of saving faith, “Whoever believes in him” the content of saving faith as found in this verse is none other than Jesus Christ the Son of God. Apart from John 3:16 it would be hard to find another statement in the Bible clearer than the very words of the Jesus Christ when he said: ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life (Jn 6:47) . Jesus also reiterates this in John chapter eleven when he says “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26)
While the content of saving faith is Jesus Christ the act of saving faith is in believing in the person of Christ and His atoning work on the cross. Many passages are found in scripture that teaches one must believe “in” Jesus Christ unto salvation and not just about the person. Jesus did not say “he who believes Me,” stressing what Jesus said, but he who believes in Me. On the relationship of the message of salvation and the object, Ryrie comments, “To believe in Christ for salvation means to have confidence that He can remove the guilt of sin and give eternal life.” The confidence is in the person of Christ to save but the message must first be heard to know that He died for sins and offers salvation to all.
Saving faith is believing in the Gospel which is the good news that Christ came for all to be a propitiation for the sins of man. It is believing that man is a sinner in need of a savior. It is believing that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for man’s sins. Saving faith is believing that Jesus is who he says he is. Saving faith is also trusting in the person of your belief.
Saving faith holds an important connection with every act and condition of salvation. It is by faith that men come into vital union with Christ, through faith that they are justified, through faith that they can acceptably worship, through faith that the Christian lives, through faith that his sanctification progresses, it being the means of his conquering the world, of his exercising hope in the future, and becoming more and more identified with Christ in his spiritual reign here and hereafter. These facts evince its importance and the necessity of fully understanding what is meant by it.
Chafer writes concerning saving faith and that of salvation; “Salvation is by grace through faith. It is the result of the transforming work of God for man, and not the result of the work of man for God. It is that which God does for the one who trusts the Saviourhood of Christ. By that trust, Christ is received personally as the divine Redeemer who shed His blood as a sufficient ransom for the guilt and penalty of sin, as the One who reconciles by having taken away the sin of the world, and as the divine Propitiation who, as Substitute, met every formal accusation brought against the sinner under the holy government of God.
Having now learned that through John 3:16 that saving faith consists of believing in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross let us begin to see what we are to believe.
We need to believe in what God said concerning our depravity. As a whole humanity is desperately wicked and every thought in its heart is evil continually. Paul explained that “no difference” existed among human beings because all have sinned and fell short of the glory (expectation) of God and that none is righteous (right with God), no, not one. Paul meant that man, when he sinned, failed to measure up to what God expected of him. This is another way of saying that sin is without excuse. Whether this is correct or not, “all men” have personally sinned and therefore they stand condemned. Our absolute best attempts to be right with God are as filthy rags.
Due to humanity’s depravity and an inability to reconcile oneself to the Father, God provided a way to be reconciled through His Son Jesus Christ unto Himself. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This passage reminds the reader that the penalty for man’s sin (notice no “s” on the end of sin) is death. God told Adam in the Garden of Eden that if he was to eat “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Romans 5:12 tells us “as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Adams sin in the garden brought death to all humanity.
God in His mercy and grace provided a means to be reconciled to himself. As we continue in this verse will find that means. The reconciliation was found in a gift “but the gift of God.” The gift was eternal life through His son Jesus Christ as also seen in John 3:16. It clearly states that the only way to eternal life is through the gift of God. The gift was a gift of grace, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” says that man is saved by grace which is a gift of God.
Let us now look at this gift of grace to wit God has given to humanity, the gift of His Son in whom we are to believe. Jesus accomplished our salvation by becoming a man, by suffering and dying for us, and by raising us to new life in and with him. His work of salvation began in eternity when he purposed with his Father to accomplish our redemption. In his incarnation, he brought the promise of salvation into the world. The substance of his earthly ministry was to proclaim this salvation, both by his teaching and by his actions, including his many miracles. Those who recognized what he was doing and who worshiped him as Savior were told that they were “saved” (Mark 16:16), even before his death and resurrection, because they believed the promise that he brought with him.
Christ’s saving work is his death on the cross, where he made “atonement” for our sins—the payment that reconciles us to the Father and puts us “at one” with him. On the cross, Jesus took our sins on himself, and paid the price for them by his death, so that those who believe in him and trust in his work on their behalf are saved through him rather than by anything we may achieve or perform. Christ became humanity’s propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. The word propitiation is defined as “averting the wrath of God by the offering of a gift.” It refers to the turning away of the wrath of God as the just judgement of our sin by God’s own provision of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Almost every passage related to the cross could be called into evidence in determining the divine reason for the sacrifice on the part of the Son of God. In these divine records two great truths are evident: He died as a substitute for someone else, and that someone else is every individual in all the lost world of humankind. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5, 6); “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Jno. 1:29); “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jno. 3:16); “Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead” (2 Cor. 5:14); “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1); “That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9); “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jno. 2:2). Jesus’ death on the cross was that of a substitution. He died that humanity might not die. This was done once for all and does not need to be done again. While hanging upon the cross, Jesus cried out “it is finished.” With this statement, he was proclaiming that the judgement of sin and the sufficient grounds of salvation for every sinner was accomplished. It was accomplished for every person and in such perfection as to be fully satisfying to God the Father.
So, the questions remain “What is content of saving faith and how can it be found only in the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ at Calvary?” Saving faith is the knowledge of and trust in Jesus Christ that is required for salvation. “Faith” in the New Testament refers to trusting in Christ alone for salvation. It is also used as the content of belief, as when Jude in chapter 3 refers to “the faith” that has been delivered to the saints. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”
On the relationship of the message of salvation and the object, Ryrie comments, “To believe in Christ for salvation means to have confidence that He can remove the guilt of sin and give eternal life.” The confidence is in the person of Christ to save but the message must first be heard to know that He died for sins and offers salvation to all. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Saving faith is not just about believing in the signs and miracles that Christ performed. John in his gospel give an exceptionally good explanation for the signs and miracles. He writes, “these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” The Israelites did not deny the miracles, they believed them, but they did not believe in the God that these miracles pointed to. They spurned God. They did not believe in God. Believing the miracles was not enough. They failed to believe in the content of saving faith, God Himself.
Saving faith as the scriptures claim is that people have always been saved based on Christ’s death for their sins. The Old Testament saints as well as those of New Testament before Jesus died are included in this claim. When the bible speaks of Jesus’s atoning work it speaks of Jesus as “the lamb slain before the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). In the mind of God Christ’s death was as good as done even before the world was formed. Isaiah wrote of the death of Christ in the past tense when he penned, “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6) Paul says, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” (Rom 3:25, emphasis added). God could pass over the sins of men committed before Jesus came because, in His mind, Jesus had already paid for those sins. Therefore, before Jesus came, people were saved based on His death for their sins.
The saving faith of the Old Testament was still “Faith Alone in Christ Alone.” Paul says that “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness…But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Rom 4:3, 5) . Using Abraham as the example, Paul demonstrates that, before Jesus came, people were saved by faith alone, not by their works. But faith alone in what? “Abraham believed God,” but what did God tell Abraham to believe? It does not say God did or did not tell Abraham to believe in Christ. But Jesus said, “…Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56) . Some two thousand years before Jesus, Abraham looked by faith ahead in time and believed in the coming Christ for eternal life. Therefore, he was saved by faith alone in Christ alone.
With saving faith of the Old Testament being “Faith Alone in Christ Alone” it only makes sense that it would lend itself to be the same in the New Testament. While I know this has been presented before it bears mentioning again here, “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Christ saves by grace through faith. He saves by His act on the cross from the penalty and punishment of sin (justification), gradually over the Christian’s lifetime from the power and persistence of sin (sanctification), and ultimately, once for all at a Christian’s death or at Christ’s coming from the very presence of sin (glorification). Salvation is all of grace. No one is able to offer anything in addition to what Christ did on the cross, where He suffered in the place of guilty sinners. Indeed, anything that is added actually subtracts. Jesus did it all.
The gospel writer Luke writes in the book acts that, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Again, in chapter 10, “through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Luke also records Paul’s words concerning Christ’s work in salvation, “that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, “ He also writes in the gospel attributed to his name, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.”
Matthew in recording the narrative of Christ conception and birth records the conversation between Joseph and the angel, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
If the content of saving faith was found in any other than Christ, he would have gone to the cross in vain.
In conclusion, I would like to quote John in his letter, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world… I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.”
Having come to the end of this paper the reader has received a clear understanding that saving faith is and can be found only in the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
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