While many Christian denominations disregard or sleight the importance of repentance, confession, and baptism in the receiving process of salvation, hardly any will disregard faith as important (save for such denominations holding universal approaches to salvation). The scriptures clearly teach in blatant form the necessity of faith in experiencing salvation. Just explore these verses and see for yourself: Mk 1.14-15, Mk 16.16, John 3.16-18, John 5.24, John 6.46-51, John 8.24, Acts 16.29-33, Rom 3.21-26, Rom 10.9-13, Gal 2.15-16, Eph 2.8-10, Heb 11.6, and 1 John 3.23. The scriptures view faith as a “stepping-forward,” not into darkness as some presume (“blind faith” advocates), but rather a “stepping-forward” into light.
But what is faith? Heb 11.1 says that faith is being sure of what is hoped for and certain of what is not yet seen. Phil 1.27 states that the mind is involved in faith, and 2 Thess 2.13 emphasizes a consent to something as true. Biblical faith has, at the center of its being, the aspect of trust, though this trust is preceded by the assent of the gospel as true. The two main Greek words used in the New Testament for faith (pistos and pisteuo) reflect these two main connotations of faith. Faith begins with assent and belief; this is an act of the mind, a judgment of the intellect that a particular statement or idea is true. Faith thus involves the knowledge of something (John 10.38) and the assent of the will to that knowledge (1 John 2.3). This assent is the assent of the truth we hear through the testimony of other people. It is an assent to the truth of Christ’s testimony (John 14.6, 18.37) and to the testimony of the apostles and prophets and seen in biblical writings (Eph 2.20). It is a belief that the testimony is true without firsthand experience of that which is being testified (2 Cor 5.7, Heb 11.1, 1 Pet 1.8-9). This is not a blind faith, as many assume, but, rather, is backed-up by reason, logic, and evidence. One can believe the gospel to be true but that is not enough (as will be explored in a moment); one must believe the gospel to be true and commit oneself to the implications of this belief; this is true, biblical faith. This is where trust comes in: it is the decision of the will to act upon the truth that is assented to. Trust is a personal surrender to the implications and consequences of the truth, a personal surrender of everything we are and everything we have to Christ (2 Tim 1.12), knowing that Christ will take care of us. We are to trust in Christ alone for our salvation; trust is relying on God alone for salvation (Gal 2.16, Phil 3.9, John 3.16-26, Acts 10.43). The sinner, in faith, believes in the truth of Christ and runs to him, throwing his sins at God’s feet and trusting Christ alone for salvation; it is an embrace of the gospel with one’s entire being (1 Thess 2.13). So biblical faith has two primary aspects: assent and trust. Some Christians make the mistake of disregarding trust and holding onto assent all on its own. However, faith as assent only is hopeless: demons assent that the biblical God is the true God (Jas 2.19-20), and demons believe Jesus is His Son (Mk 1.24, 5.7); however, they do not experience salvation. Why? Because they are not committed to His will (an exploration of salvation in the roles of angels will not be given here). So assent must be followed by trust! Jas 2.17-26 emphasizes in striking language that assent-only belief is useless, and we see in the gospel narratives that many Pharisees believed Jesus’ testimony but refused to commit for fear of their peers (John 12.42): they missed out on salvation. In the New Testament, faith involves assent and trust, and in the Old Testament, it was the same: the Jews assented to YHWH being the one true God, and they committed their lives to Him (at least the pious ones did).
How does biblical faith come about? It begins through teaching and hearing (Rom 10.14-17), and the hearer of the teaching must be preceded by a willful assent to the teachings as true and a commitment to them; thus their will is renewed (or touched) by God (1 Cor 2.14, 2 Cor 4.4). In this sense, the mind becomes enlightened (John 6.44, Acts 13.48, 2 Cor 4.6, Eph 1.17-18), and the hearer of the gospel thus assents to its truth and puts his or her trust in it. Faith, it must be stressed, too, is a mystery that cannot be peeled apart: it is a gift from God (Eph 2.8), and yet it is an attitude of the spirit freely exercised (John 14.1, Acts 16.31); so faith is both a divinely-bestowed gift and an uncoerced human activity. Quite the paradox!
“So what is biblical faith’s role in salvation?” First, it brings freedom from condemnation (i.e. justification) (John 5.24, Rom 8.1). Second, it brings participation in the divine life (John 14.19). Third, it brings us to peace and friendship with God (reconciliation) (Rom 5.1). Fourth, it brings us sanctification (we are made holy) (Acts 26.18). Most importantly, God’s saving grace as always been received in faith. We see this in both the Old Testament (Gen 14.6, 2 Chr 20.20, Jonah 3.5, Hab 2.4) and the New Testament (John 1.12, 3.15-18, 36, 6.47, 20.31). The very theme of Romans (“man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law”) plays into this very well.
“Can we tell if we have true faith?” Some people believe that one cannot really tell whether or not their faith is genuine or not; however, the scriptures are very clear about this. In answer to this question, they scream, “Yes! You can tell!” 1 Cor 13.5 tells us to test ourselves to see if we are really in the faith. How do we do this? Simple: if our faith is real, it will show itself in “fruit.” “Fruit” does not mean how many people we lead to Christ; I have seen someone terrified for their salvation because they had not yet led anyone to Christ, so I stress this heavily: “fruit” refers to the lifestyle we live. Is our lifestyle radiant of Christ? Is it obedient? Is it a lifestyle of pursuing the will of God? Is our lifestyle different from when we did not have faith? If so, we’ve produced fruit; if not, we have not produced fruit. Our “fruit” will not be perfect: no one is totally perfect, and so no one will totally obey; but those with genuine faith will desire and pursue obedience to God’s will. The one whose faith is shown false by lack of fruit stands condemned, for their faith is fake, even if they are convinced it is true.
One very important topic for discussion is the “conflict” of faith and works. The great question is, “How does faith tie in with good behavior, good works, and obedience to God? Can we get by without obeying God if we have faith?” Behind this question, I believe, lies two polar motivations: either a person genuinely wants to know because they truly love God and are looking for answers to their questions, or a person wants a loophole because he or she wants “fire insurance” from God while having no real love for Him or desire to do what He wants. This conflict arises from the (apparently) two contradictions between major biblical writers, the Apostle Paul and the brother of Jesus, James: Paul says, “Genuine faith is expressed in ethical behavior,” and James says, “Genuine faith is intimately coupled with its expression in good works.” How do we reconcile these statements? Two models have been given for this reconciliation. The first is the “Faith & Works Apart” model; it states: “In order for one to experience salvation, one must have faith, live a lifestyle of repentance, confess Jesus as YHWH, be baptized, and (incorrectly) do good works.” This model is unbiblical. The biblical model states: “In order for one to experience salvation, one must live a lifestyle of repentance, confess Jesus as YHWH, be baptized, and have faith; this faith, if genuine, will produce good works naturally.” Therefore, faith does not include works, but it produces works. One can state it this way: “When a person puts trust in Jesus Christ and surrenders his or her entire life to him, the implications of this decision are good works.” This ties in with the question, “How do we know if our faith is genuine?” If “fruit” (which is a changed lifestyle, including good deeds) is present.
It is genuine belief and faith in Christ that brings salvation. How can we tell if our belief is genuine or not? We can tell by our repentance. Christ says that if we do not repent, we will perish. This is not legalism. Christ is saying, “If your faith is real, you’ll be saved. And real faith is accompanied by real repentance.” The Jewish view of faith has, at its heart, repentance. We must understand this. Belief—even “serious” belief—is empty without repentance.
One might ask (and many do), “What if my faith is frail, even doubtful at times?” The right answer: “The power is not in the faith itself, but in the object of faith, who is Christ. Even if your faith is, at times, paper-thin, if you still live a life commitment to Jesus Christ even when it hurts, you are doing okay.”
No comments:
Post a Comment