Do you rely on faith rather than relying on Christ to be saved?
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| William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1880) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
He loved vile sinners and loved them so much that He gave His only Son, sparing Him neither humiliation nor pain nor poverty. Were God to ask us to make an equal contribution to our salvation, none of us could have any hope. Mercifully, He does not. Which of us could love as He loved? He asks only that we believe.
The core of this believing is trust. Of course, that is not all. For example, faith involves knowledge. This is why evangelism is of such importance. Without faith there is no possibility of salvation, without knowledge there is no possibility of faith, and without preaching there is no possibility of knowledge (Romans 10:14). Certainly the Gospel must come in the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:5), but without the literal, factual message, faith has nothing on which to build.
Faith also involves conviction or assent. A believer is persuaded of the truth. This is emphasized in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the hypostasis of things hoped for.” What hope longs for lies in the future and can easily seem hypothetical and flimsy. But to faith the things hoped for are weighty and solid. They have substance. The believer does not see them, but he is certain of them. In many circles such conviction is unfashionable. But biblical believers are sure. They know that Christ is Lord, that He has died for their sins, and that He has risen as the Conqueror of death.
Such intellectual belief is not by itself saving faith. This was the error of the Sandemanians in eighteenth-century Scotland. Suspicious of Whitefield’s emphasis on a real experience of grace, these preachers reduced faith to what they thought were its bare essentials: “Believe that things happened exactly as the apostles relate them and you will be saved.” The obvious answer to such a construction is that it is less than the faith of devils, who not only believe but shudder (James 2:19).
The core of this believing is trust. Of course, that is not all. For example, faith involves knowledge. This is why evangelism is of such importance. Without faith there is no possibility of salvation, without knowledge there is no possibility of faith, and without preaching there is no possibility of knowledge (Romans 10:14). Certainly the Gospel must come in the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:5), but without the literal, factual message, faith has nothing on which to build.
Faith also involves conviction or assent. A believer is persuaded of the truth. This is emphasized in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the hypostasis of things hoped for.” What hope longs for lies in the future and can easily seem hypothetical and flimsy. But to faith the things hoped for are weighty and solid. They have substance. The believer does not see them, but he is certain of them. In many circles such conviction is unfashionable. But biblical believers are sure. They know that Christ is Lord, that He has died for their sins, and that He has risen as the Conqueror of death.
Such intellectual belief is not by itself saving faith. This was the error of the Sandemanians in eighteenth-century Scotland. Suspicious of Whitefield’s emphasis on a real experience of grace, these preachers reduced faith to what they thought were its bare essentials: “Believe that things happened exactly as the apostles relate them and you will be saved.” The obvious answer to such a construction is that it is less than the faith of devils, who not only believe but shudder (James 2:19).
It is perfectly possible for someone to believe all the facts about Christ and yet do nothing about it. This is why the Reformers stressed that faith did not mean simply believing whatever the church teaches. Nor does it mean merely believing that we ourselves are saved.
The terms used in the Bible to describe faith make plain that it involves decision as well as conviction. It means turning to, looking to, coming to, fleeing to, and bringing all one’s burdens to Christ. It means seeking and receiving and leaning on Christ. It means trusting Christ so much that we are prepared to face the judgment seat with no other protection than His obedience and blood.
This obviously implies that faith has a clear and specific focus: Jesus Christ. Christ Himself, however, is many-faceted, and faith acts differently according to which aspect of Him we are contemplating. For example, confronted by His deity, faith worships; confronted by His humanity, it feels a profound sense of empathy. In the same way, faith relates differently to Christ as prophet, as priest, and as king. Traditional Protestant evangelism has tended to focus almost exclusively on Christ as priest, with the result that faith is often seen exclusively in terms of coming to Him with our sins. By any standards this is a priceless facet of faith. But it is only one facet. Faith also listens to the voice of Christ as prophet, deliberately placing our intellects under His authority. Again, faith responds to Christ as king, serving Him and looking to Him for protection and deliverance.
All of these are but different aspects of the one Christ, but we do not all come to Him by the same road. Some first see Him as Almighty God, others as the true man. Some come to Him first as priest, but many others come to Him as prophet or king. The important thing is that we all arrive at Him.
One other point also emerged toward the end of the Reformation: It is possible to exaggerate the importance of faith. That may seem strange, but a moment’s reflection will tell us that we can easily find ourselves relying on our faith rather than relying on Christ.
There are probably many Christians who would never admit to holding this position theologically who nevertheless live by it in practice. When they feel their faith strong, they feel right with God; when they feel their faith weak, they don’t feel right with God; and because their faith is more often weak than strong, they seldom feel right with God.
This obviously implies that faith has a clear and specific focus: Jesus Christ. Christ Himself, however, is many-faceted, and faith acts differently according to which aspect of Him we are contemplating. For example, confronted by His deity, faith worships; confronted by His humanity, it feels a profound sense of empathy. In the same way, faith relates differently to Christ as prophet, as priest, and as king. Traditional Protestant evangelism has tended to focus almost exclusively on Christ as priest, with the result that faith is often seen exclusively in terms of coming to Him with our sins. By any standards this is a priceless facet of faith. But it is only one facet. Faith also listens to the voice of Christ as prophet, deliberately placing our intellects under His authority. Again, faith responds to Christ as king, serving Him and looking to Him for protection and deliverance.
All of these are but different aspects of the one Christ, but we do not all come to Him by the same road. Some first see Him as Almighty God, others as the true man. Some come to Him first as priest, but many others come to Him as prophet or king. The important thing is that we all arrive at Him.
One other point also emerged toward the end of the Reformation: It is possible to exaggerate the importance of faith. That may seem strange, but a moment’s reflection will tell us that we can easily find ourselves relying on our faith rather than relying on Christ.
There are probably many Christians who would never admit to holding this position theologically who nevertheless live by it in practice. When they feel their faith strong, they feel right with God; when they feel their faith weak, they don’t feel right with God; and because their faith is more often weak than strong, they seldom feel right with God.
They have allowed faith to become their rock, and as they try to stand on it, they quickly discover that it is only sand. This is what led one of our Scottish theologians to exclaim, “Was faith crucified for you?” We cannot put our trust in our trust. We must put our trust in Christ. He alone is solid rock.
