What shall we do? (Part 2 -- Faith)

It really should be sufficient to say "You must believe" or "You must have faith". The only problem is that the biblical concept of faith has been so distorted and so surrounded with misconceptions that we can't just leave it at that.

I want to make the point strongly up front that we are saved "by grace through faith, ... not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph 2:8,9). We need to understand that our salvation is a gift of God. It is a gift that none of us deserve. There is no way that we could earn it by anything that we do. God gives us this grace on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ. The work of salvation was done by Jesus Christ and all glory goes to Him. Our part is simply the choice of accepting that grace through faith or rejecting it through unbelief.

But what is faith? Specifically, we need to understand what the New Testament writers meant when they talked about faith.

Faith is conviction

In Hebrews 11:1 the writer says "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (NKJV). Perhaps the NIV words it more clearly, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." One who has faith regards something he cannot see as though he could see it. He regards the thing he cannot touch as though he held it in his hands. In fact, he is more sure of those things that he cannot see, but believes in, than he is of those things he can see (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). How else could Christians throughout the ages have faced certain death to obtain an invisible, yet imperishable crown?

This conviction is not based on fantasy, or wishful thinking, but upon the solid evidences God has provided in His word. Christ proved Himself to be the Son of God through many "infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3; 2:22). So faith is conviction, based on evidence, of the truth of things we cannot directly see or feel. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him."

Faith is trust

Biblical faith is not just the conviction of the truth of facts, but it is trust in a person. It is one thing to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, it is another to put your faith in Him (John 12:42-43). James 2:19 says, "Even the demons believe -- and tremble!" Paul expresses this trust well in 2 Timothy 1:12, "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day."

Faith requires a change of life

We can talk about skydiving in the comfort of my living room all day. But nothing answers the question, "Do you trust the parachute?" like jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet. If you don't trust that your parachute was properly packed, or if you don't think your sky diving instructor know what he is doing, you won't jump. The same thing is true about your faith in Christ Jesus. We talk about believing in Christ, about trusting in Him, and about making Him Lord. But when it comes to daily living, do we "jump" or do we stay in the plane?

Christ said, "But why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things that I say?" James put it this way, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17). Later he says of Abraham's faith, "Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" (James 2:22).

Some may object that I'm contradicting myself. On the one hand we are not saved by works, yet on the other we we must work! If time permits, I'll address this issue in more detail in a later post. For now I'll just note two things. First, I'm saying no more or less than what scripture says. Ephesians 2 clearly states we are saved by grace not by our works, yet James 2 says we cannot be saved by faith without works. The second point is that I don't believe these passages are contradictory. I believe Ephesians is pointing out we cannot earn our salvation on our own. James is pointing out that we cannot profess faith without the accompanying change of life.

Biblical faith is life-changing. Conversion to Christ isn't something you do one weekend, and then go on with the rest of your life. Conversion to Christ becomes your life. Too often we decouple faith from godly living. Too commonly we decouple our hearts from our actions. How can we say we have faith if we continue to live in sin? How can we say "I'm not perfect, but God knows my heart" when we make no effort to change? It is like the man who claims to be a skydiver who has never gone up in the plane! We cannot give God our hearts without giving him our lives. We cannot put our faith in Jesus, yet continue to live for ourselves.

--PG

What shall we do? (Part 1)

In Acts 2, when the men of Israel came to the realization that they had put to death the Son of God, the cried out, "What shall we do?" Similarly, the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 asked, "What must I do to be saved?" This is one of the most important questions in scripture -- what does a man need to do to be saved?

In our increasingly secular, yet loosely "Christian", society the answer seems to be "not much". When a public figure dies, if anything is said at all about the home of their eternal spirit, everyone seems to assume the departed has gone to heaven. Have they? I don't mean to be heartless about this, but the question is too important to trust to presumption and wishful thinking. In this series of posts I want to examine what the scriptures say about this subject. This first post will explore some common ideas about the subject. In the following posts we will look at what the scriptures have to say.

Many hold the idea that if you live a good moral life, God, who is merciful, will welcome you into heaven. Hell is reserved for the truly evil, like Hitler or Osama Bin Laden (maybe). But we face the problem that we are all guilty of evil according to God's standard (see post Good People). None of us will be saved by our own righteousness. So if we are all evil, how will God decide who is saved and who is lost?

Another view is that, while we have all sinned, God is merciful. God is love. How could a loving God send souls to eternal torment? So then, God will forgive. Yes, God is love, but God is also just. And yes, God will forgive. But we need to understand the basis and conditions upon which that forgiveness is given.

Finally, many have the understanding that the question "What must I do to be saved?" is misguided. You can't do anything to be saved. Salvation is a gift of God. It is done entirely on God's part. You have nothing to do with it. God chooses who will be saved and the Holy Spirit comes upon them and saves them. Once they are saved, there is nothing they can do to change that unalterable act of God. They are saved no matter what they do. Yes, believers are to live sanctified lives, in gratitude to the God who saved them. But such behavior is not strictly necessary for salvation. Is this what scripture teaches?

Stay tuned.

- PG