Romans--Major Ingredients of Saving Faith

Faith is supernatural. Faith, which is God’s gift, is infallible because it is a Divine revelation. Fallible faith may believe an infallible Object. The demons have that kind of faith. It indicates mental assent to an infallible Object. They believe God is God. An infallible faith cannot believe a fallible object. Faith, which is the gift of God, rests in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. It will not be sidetracked by circumstances, afflictions, or opinions. It is driven on by the grace of God until it rests in Christ in conversion.

A fallible person may possess infallible faith. Those who have God’s gift of faith remain fallible, but the gift is infallible because it is supernatural. Infallible faith is given to fallible individuals. Infallibility belongs only to Jehovah.

The true gospel must be proclaimed that one may know something about Christ’s Person and Work. Everyone possessing God’s gift of faith will embrace the message of Christ which will result in conversion. Faith is not a blind thing. Some religionists claim to preach Christ without creed or doctrine. Nevertheless, the person who comes to Christ must believe that He is. That is creed. He embraces the Person of Christ. That is doctrine. There is no Christ separate from creed and doctrine.

Although faith is more than acceptance of a creed and doctrine, it always involves them. Men believe on Christ through doctrine. John 17:20 says, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” One must know that the eternal Son came into the world through the virgin, lived an impeccable life as He walked among the sons of men, became the elect’s substitute on the cross, arose victorious from the grave, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. These are learned through His word. That is creed and doctrine without which one does not have Christ.

Saving faith is a part of the new creature; therefore, it cannot be the cause of one becoming a new creature. The exercise of faith is a contributing factor to conversion but not to the new birth. Faith is the gift of God. The principle of faith is imparted when God regenerates a person.

Faith is not the cause of itself. It does produce acts of grace but not the principle of grace. Man is not saved “for” but “in” his faith. The principle of faith is the gift of God. Saving faith makes all of life meaningful and draws the elect of God out of themselves. Thus, the true meaning of faith is “forsaking all, I take Christ.” Each of the letters in the word “faith” portrays the ingredients of saving faith—

• “f”—forsaking—The person who possesses saving faith forsakes all. “…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…” (Phil. 3:8-10).

• “a”—all—The person who possesses the principle of faith forsakes all and looks to Jesus Christ alone. “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” (Heb. 12:2).

• “i”—I—The individual who possesses saving faith says with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

• “t”—take—The regenerated person takes Christ in a conversion experience. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

• “h”—Him—Forsaking all, the regenerated person embraces the Lord Jesus Christ. “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (I Pet. 1:8).

God does not give saving faith to all people in the world. John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” The word “world” is used three different ways in this verse: (1) the world inhabited by men—“He was in the world”; (2) the material world—“…the world was made through Him”; and (3) the majority of men in the world—“…the world did not know Him.”

Contrast the words “His own” in John 1:11 and in John 13:1. John 1:11 says, “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” John 13:1 says, “…Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” In John 1:11, the words speak of the Lord’s own Jewish people. In John 13:1, they refer to His elect from among all nations. The word “right” in John 1:12 is not potential but actual. Privilege does not stand for any sort of halfway faculty which does not include the full and complete effect. The right is given to those who have already believed. The Arminian replaces a present result with an undecided capability. Men become children by regeneration and sons by adoption.

Saving faith is a complex subject. It is not so simple as to exclude the Holy Spirit from producing it. In II Corinthians 4:13, Paul calls it the “…spirit of faith….” Faith does not result from arguments. Regeneration does not result from reason overpowered by argument. Confessions are easily achieved by a good debater, but confession alone does not prove that one is born again. Saving faith does not stop with confidence in Scripture. It goes beyond Scripture to the One to whom Scripture points—Jesus Christ.

Saving faith is the act of the whole man. It is not merely an act of the understanding. The whole man includes all his faculties. Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” It includes his heart, conscience, mind, and will. It is not merely an assent of the mind. Faith includes the whole man.

Saving faith is not opposite to knowledge. It is the highest kind of knowledge, which is worth more than all other knowledge. Saving faith is a living faith in the living God. Living faith looks not at circumstances but to God who controls circumstances. It does not look to men but to God who controls men. Living faith does not stagger at the promises of God. Abraham’s faith was living, supernatural, and infallible; therefore, he did not stagger at God’s promise. Living faith drives a person to the living Christ.

Faith that does not purify the heart is not living faith. True faith purifies one’s life. It grows from faith to faith. Saving faith leads to good works (James 2:14-26). Faith that does not lead to obedience is dead. It is unreal, opposite to living. Saving faith is dynamic. Faith justifies the man. Good works justify the faith that justifies the man. Works do not justify men. Good works, which are fruits of faith, justify the faith of those who have been justified by faith.

Justification is by faith alone, but faith that justifies will not remain alone. Faith, the inward act of receiving, must not be confounded with obedience. It is fruit. It is a work required by God and which God enables men to perform—“Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29).

Faith has the capacity for increase (II Peter 1:5-11). The Lord’s disciples requested Him to increase their faith in Luke 17:5. Degrees of faith are determined by one’s possession of knowledge of such truths as God’s absolute sovereignty, man’s depravity, Christ’s vicarious work on the cross, the freeness of God’s grace, the power of the Divine Comforter, etc.

Life gives an entrance into the kingdom. An abundant life will give an abundant entrance. In John 10:10, Christ said, “…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Abundant entrance results from increase of faith. When a person exercises faith, he realizes how small his faith is and desires its increase.

The Lord gives greater discernment to some than others (I Cor. 12:8-9). The Holy Spirit gives special faith to those whom God calls to be elders. Thus, they are enabled to lay hold of God’s promises and apply them in a manner by which others are incapable.

Many desire faith they have seen manifested by others at the time of death. The Lord gives dying faith when it is needed. Living faith is given to the living.

Saving faith perseveres. Untried faith is uncertain faith. Trial of faith produces precious faith. The substance of precious faith is precious promises, precious blood, and precious stone. (Read I Peter 1:5-2:7; II Peter 1:4.)

Persevering faith is contrasted with temporary faith. During our Lord’s sojourn on earth, some believed for a time. Persecution caused them to cease following the Lord. When Jesus Christ put them to the test by proclaiming His sovereignty, they said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). The Lord repeated the principle, and John 6:66 says, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” In verse 67, the Lord Jesus asked the twelve if they would also go away. In verses 68 and 69, Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” True faith perseveres. In Hebrews 10:39, the writer says, “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

Conclusively, saving faith is the gift of God; therefore, it is supernatural. It is infallible because it is from God Himself. Saving faith has confidence in the testimony of God. Saving faith is based on knowledge. It is not blind. Saving faith is part of the new creature. That which is part cannot be the whole. Saving faith makes all of life meaningful and draws the elect of God out of themselves. Saving faith is not so simple as to exclude the Holy Spirit from producing it. Saving faith is a living faith from the living God. Saving faith leads to good works. Saving faith has capacity for increase. Saving faith perseveres.

If your faith is God-given, it is not temporary or historical. It is living faith from the living Savior. Test your faith by considering the following questions:

1. If there is no more in saving faith than the human element, is it different from the faith of demons? (James 2:19).

2. Is faith the fruit of election or conversely? (Acts 13:48).

3. Is faith a part of God’s gift of salvation or man’s contribution to salvation? (Hebrews 11 and 12).

4. Is salvation throwing out a lifeline for man’s faith to grasp?

5. Is salvation the glory of God’s grace, or is glory divided between God, who provided the machinery of salvation, and man whose faith operates that machinery?

6. Is man the captain of his soul by virtue of his faith?

7. Did Christ die upon condition of man’s believing or that the elect could believe?

8. Do men vote Christ into the office of Savior by their faith?

9. Do all men have faith? (II Thess. 3:2).

10. Is saving faith the gift of God? (Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29; Heb. 11:1-2).

11. Does God have sheep who have not believed? (John 10:16).

12. If faith is merely a human act, can it be called holy? (Jude 20).

13. If faith is no more than a human act, how can it be said that God begins a good work in us? (Phil. 2:12-13).

14. What kind of faith will Christ not commit Himself unto?

15. Is life necessary to belief? What kind does it require? Natural? Supernatural?

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.